the office/workroom she and Barb were still setting up. But a whine from the living room had her changing direction.
“Hey, girl,” Jana said softly. “Quiet, now. We don’t want to wake up Barb.”
Rusty whined again.
Would she rather let the dog pee on the pad in the crate and then have to wash it or accompany Rusty outside—in the dark—and let the pup do her business in the backyard?
It’s our darn yard, she thought as she opened the crate and reached for the leash.
Nope. No leash. Rusty rushed past her to the back door.
Jana followed, flipped on the kitchen light over the sink and the back door light that lit part of the yard. She unlocked the back door and pushed the screen door open. Rusty bolted outside and squatted just beyond the steps, which meant the dog hadn’t yet learned what part of the yard was meant to be her lavatory or she just couldn’t hold it anymore.
Snagging the big flashlight they were leaving on the kitchen counter, Jana went outside. The light at the back door didn’t reach the farthest end of the yard, and she didn’t want to step on something that might object when she took the dog back there in case Rusty needed to do more than piddle.
The pup found something of interest back there, and whatever it was it didn’t slither or crawl away from the flashlight beam. Then Rusty looked toward the house and wagged her tail.
Something in the dark, moving toward them. Must have climbed over the fence. Or jumped over the fence.
Gods, was this one of the fighting dogs she’d been told to watch for because they were a danger to the children in town as well as pets?
She reached for the gun she wasn’t carrying as she aimed the flashlight beam toward a big shape that was just a little darker now than the yard—and got an annoyed growl in response as she shined the light right into Virgil’s eyes.
She jerked her wrist to shine the light down. “Sorry. Didn’t know it was you.” Now she felt foolish for thinking the dogs would come to a settled street that had Wolves living in the house at the corner. But better to think about the dogs than to think about the fact that she was wearing nothing but her tank top and boxer pajamas since she hadn’t expected to be seen by anyone except, maybe, her housemate.
Virgil gave Rusty a quick sniff and lick, which must have been enough reassurance, because the pup went back to exploring the yard. Then he stood on his hind legs and shifted.
Jana looked away but not before she’d seen more of her boss than she wanted to see. Did he think her clothes were some kind of invitation? Or …
“What?” Virgil sounded like his usual gruff self.
Act like you’re both in uniform. Act like you’re not in your pj’s and he’s not naked. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone. You startled me.”
“You said you wanted to talk. You were outside with Rusty and awake.” He cocked his head and studied her with those amber Wolf eyes. “Maybe awake.”
Oh, she was plenty awake now. Plleeeennnnty.
“You wanted to talk,” Virgil repeated.
Yes, she did. But not in her backyard in the dark when she was and he was … Gods.
“Why are you up so early?” she asked, changing the subject because she couldn’t remember what she’d wanted to talk to him about. Not looking at him but knowing what she’d see if she did look was darn distracting.
Virgil focused on her house. “Some humans who settled a few streets from here took cats to be part of their packs.”
“Adopting the animals left behind is good.” She knew Barb was planning to approach Evan and Kenneth about giving one of the available parakeets to Maddie since the girl had been so taken with Buddy the day Barb had looked after the children.
“The bad dogs found the cat who went outside. Cats are fast, but it wasn’t fast enough. Not against that pack.”
“Oh gods.” She’d have to tell Barb.
Virgil growled. Rusty immediately stopped exploring and returned to Jana, pressing against her leg.
“Barbara Ellen wants to believe they are not bad dogs,” he said, the growl still under the words. “But they are. They don’t hunt to eat. They hunt to kill because they like to kill. Do you see the difference?”
“Yes.”
“Big dogs. Big pack. They can take down bigger prey—or prey with weapons.”
Suddenly Jana understood what Virgil was doing in her