Caleb (The K9 Files Book 11) Read online

  He laughed. “From what I can see, you’re doing just fine on your own.”

  “It’s so strange,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s one of those fun things that we did together that I don’t know when it ever became something more than a hobby.”

  “That’s because we like to do things with our hands.”

  “You got me into that,” she said in a teasing manner. “How many hours did I spend in the workshop with you?”

  “We built some pretty crazy things,” he said, grinning. “Yep, we sure did.” Just then his phone rang.

  She dropped her hand and stepped away so he could pull out his phone.

  He frowned as he answered it and said, “Hey, Badger. I’m here.”

  “Good,” Badger said. “Just checking in that you arrived safe and sound.”

  “Yep, I’m here safe and sound,” he said. “Haven’t had a chance to check out where the dog went missing from yet though.”

  “That’s fine,” he said. “The owners apparently moved.”

  “Which owners?”

  “The ones who took possession of the dog. They’ve moved into town.”

  “Interesting,” he said. “Well, I still need to get back to the old place where the dog disappeared.”

  “And you’ll have easy access because it’s for sale, and nobody’s living there,” Badger said.

  “Did the owners say why they moved?”

  “His wife didn’t like the country living.”

  “So why did they want a dog then?”

  “Maybe she thought it would make her feel safer. I don’t know,” Badger said. “We can’t ever count on what people think.”

  When he hung up, Caleb nodded. “Strange.”

  “What’s that?” Laysha said lightly from beside him. He explained what happened with the family. “So maybe they got rid of the dog so that they could move into town and not deal with him? Because no way you could take a big dog like that to live in a small apartment.”

  “All they had to do was refuse it,” he said. “A long list of people want to adopt a War Dog.”

  She shrugged. “Save face maybe? Or maybe they were involved in something they had to get out of—fast.”

  “Well, I’ll get the couple’s current address from Badger.” And he quickly sent Badger a request. “I’ll talk to the family, and then I will follow up on their original place of residence.”

  “Well, I’ve got the next few days off because of all the overtime I’m owed,” she said, “so, if you want anybody to ride along, let me know.”

  Chapter 3

  Later that evening Laysha walked into the kitchen to see Caleb sitting at the table on his phone again. She raised an eyebrow. He smiled, put the phone down, and said, “The rental truck is being delivered in an hour.”

  “Good,” she said. “You ready for dinner then?” And she lifted a basketful of fresh veggies she had pulled from her garden.

  He grinned. “Absolutely,” he said. “I’ll probably take a drive out tonight, although I might leave it until early in the morning.”

  “You do you,” she said comfortably, as she walked into the kitchen and filled the sink with the basket of vegetables. She washed the carrots and the fresh lettuce that she had.

  Caleb noticed that she also had two steaks marinating. “Do you want me to light the barbecue?”

  “Please do,” she said. She quickly prepped the veggies, including chopping bell peppers to go into a big salad. She also had a tin foil packet of sliced potatoes, and, as soon as the barbecue was up to temperature, she put them on first.

  “This brings back a lot of memories too.”

  “Used to be a lot more than just the two of us back then,” she said.

  “But I like it just being the two of us,” he said. “It’s the good part about the group back then.”

  “That’s because the group back then included a lot of crazy people.”

  “I know,” he said with a sad smile. “Times change though, don’t they?”

  “They absolutely do.” She smiled. “I’m happy being alone.”

  “Are you?” he said in surprise. “You always looked to be somebody who liked people.”

  “Yep, I do like people,” she said, “but, at some point in time, you also realize that you aren’t really who you are meant to be until you have spent time alone to figure out who that is.”

  “Now that’s deep,” he said with a grin.

  “Maybe.” She shrugged, thoroughly enjoying having him back in her world again. She knew it wouldn’t be for long, and he certainly wouldn’t stay just because she asked him to. And no point in asking him to because it was not where his heart lay.

  Not long thereafter, as she sat down to a hot-off-the-grill barbecued steak, she lifted her glass of wine and said, “To us.”

  He immediately picked up his glass and echoed her cheer. “I forgot,” he said, looking around, “how I feel when I’m here.”

  “Because it’s easier than remembering,” she said.

  He looked at her, startled.

  “Then remembering the hard parts.” She shrugged and continued, “I went through the same thing. I walked away from so much of what was important to me because I thought what I was creating was more important. Instead it was just different. And walking away was easier because going back hurt. Plus, it seemed like I’d spent so much time and energy to walk away from what I’d had that it didn’t make any sense to go back to it.”

  “And how does it feel now?” he asked curiously.

  “It feels right,” she said. “As if I had walked away from something that I shouldn’t have, and I’m grateful to circle back here, to have it again now.”

  He studied her, slowly nodded. “Maybe that’s what this trip is all about,” he said. “If Jackson and Sarah are happy together, should I hold it against them? No. Obviously your news startled me, and I’m glad to know it ahead of time,” he rushed to say, “but it does give me something to think about that I had hoped not to.”

  “Well, how quickly you deal with it will also tell you how much you actually care about it,” she murmured.

  He nodded slowly. “And again, something I hadn’t really thought about.”

  “Nope. But that’s the … the troublesome part of all this, isn’t it?” she said. “We tend to get into a rut, and we think that we’re done, but we really aren’t.”

  He laughed. “No hardship in being here with you right now,” he said. “I have to tell you that.”

  “We were best friends,” she said, “and I’m so happy to see you now.”

  “Did you have a bunch of friends from that era, or did you get a new friend group after your marriage broke up?” he asked.

  She gave him a lopsided grin. “No, everybody from the past had moved on. I’d separated because it was the right thing to do, and everybody else had their new worlds. People were getting married. People were moving away,” she said. “The old group wasn’t there anymore. And then, of course, when I did get divorced, nobody understood, and nobody seemed to realize what was going on. I think we made some people uncomfortable, and the friends he had before we got married, he still had, whereas I didn’t,” she said. “So, when I came back to my old home, this house,” she said, “I started all over again. I was alone, and I didn’t really know what to do about it at first.”

  “I think that’s part of that whole acclimation process, isn’t it? Because I didn’t come back anymore as well. I moved out, put everything in storage, and it’s still in storage,” he said with a shrug. “And I’ve done as much overtime work as I can. Times off, I travel.”

  “You always had the travel bug,” she said. “Is that out of your system yet?”

  “It’s out,” he said. “I still like doing things, keeping busy, but,” he said, “I no longer have that … that push. Back then that was the push to get away from everything in my life that I hated.”

  “Because it’s easier to avoid it all,” she said with a nod. “Isn ’t that lovely?”

  “Not really,” he said, “but it’s nice to come to this point where I’m okay with it.”

  She nodded and smiled. “So tell me what the game plan is with the dog.”

  “Would have been easier if I’d been here months ago,” he said, “but I’m not sure we’ll get off ground zero because it depends on whether anything is even left to find.”

  “It’s been a long time.”

  “I know. I don’t understand why the commander didn’t move on this lost War Dog originally, but I think somebody checked up on it, and then the War Department was closing down, and nobody followed up.”

  “Which is too bad because that dog’s already given so much of his life,” she said. “He’s a veteran, like you. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

  “Nothing ever does, and unfortunately military animals are not given the respect that they should be.”

  “I know,” she murmured. “So why don’t we go for a drive tonight?” she asked.

  “I don’t know how far away it is.” He brought up the address on his phone, and the two discussed the best way to get there. As soon as they finished eating, he said, “You know what? Maybe we should. You up for a drive?”

  “Absolutely,” she said. “Do you want to bring the dogs or not?”

  He thought about it and nodded. “Yes, let’s bring them. This Beowulf might have an easier time if he recognizes other dog lovers.”

  “Good thought,” she said. They quickly cleaned up the dishes, and, as she stepped outside, she was surprised to see a truck here. “I forgot you brought in a rental.”

  “Yep, I did,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a bother. I knew I would possibly have to leave everything at the drop of a hat, and I didn’t want to impact your world too much.”

  She shrugged. “You still didn’t have to.”

  “Maybe not, but,” he said, “I’m not taking advantage.”

  “You always were too honorable for that,” she teased.

  “Nothing wrong with being honorable,” he said with a grin.

  “In your world,” she said, “that’s like one of the biggest things to be.”

  “It is, indeed,” he said and got in behind the wheel.

  She opened up the passenger door and let all the dogs in. Not Graynor. He stayed behind.

  Caleb smiled as he asked, “Do they still ride in the front?”

  “They ride where they want to ride,” she said. “Front, back, wherever.” She laughed. “If they’re in your way, they’ll go into the back seat just fine too.” They quickly shuffled the dogs into the back seat, and he headed out. “How far do we’ve to go?” he asked.

  “I’ve got it up on my GPS,” she said.

  “Good, let’s go see what there is to find.”

  It took them twenty minutes, and twenty minutes through traffic he didn’t think was too bad. He was delighted that her place was as close as it was because he figured he’d have to come back and forth several times. By the time they reached the rural property, he smiled and said, “Well, Beowulf should have been happy here. The property looks to be a couple acres, I guess.”

  “I’ll bring it up,” she said and quickly checked the details. “The couple don’t own it at all,” she said. “It’s owned by a corporation out of California.”

  “So it was a rental property?”

  “I have no idea. Looks like a shell company too,” she said, digging quickly into the internet. “Still doesn’t have anything to do with the dog though.”

  Caleb pulled into the driveway, and they hopped out, letting the dogs loose. The dogs mingled around the truck, excitedly sniffing at their heels as they walked around. Caleb walked up to the front porch and knocked on the door. She watched from the driveway, looking to see if anybody was out on the property. When no answer came at the door, he turned and looked at her.

  She shrugged. “They said it was empty, and you’d have full access.”

  “True.” He gave another quick look, shrugged, opened the front door, and stepped inside.

  It was empty, as far as he could tell. And, with Laysha and her dogs running behind him to come inside too, he walked through the place, looking for any sign that anybody had been here recently. But it looked to be unoccupied for at least the last couple months. But then it was hard to tell. At least a month. Maybe that was a better take.

  As they went through the house, she said, “It’s just a family home. Nothing different, nothing scary, nothing surprising.”

  “Nope, not at all,” he said. He stepped out on the back steps and took a look around. “This looks all pretty normal too.”

  “Have we checked all the rooms inside?” she asked, as she returned inside, heading toward the front door.

  “No, I don’t think so.” He turned, took a second look around outside, and said, “Nothing going on out here.”

  “But you didn’t really expect there would be, did you?”

  “No, not really,” he said, “but one can always hope.” He tossed her a grin, catching up with her, and opened up what looked like a big storeroom door off the kitchen. As soon as he did, he backed away, coughing and hacking, holding his sleeve over his nose. She came up behind him, gasped in shock, and he quickly turned her away and moved the dogs out of the way and slammed the door shut.

  “What the hell was that?” she asked.

  He already had his phone in his hand. “A dead body,” he said.

  She stared at him in horror. “But who?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I didn’t want you to see that. I’m calling the police now.”

  “The police. Great,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “Is Detective Ansel Lowery still around?”

  “I think so,” she said. “He’ll love this.” She laughed. “He bailed us out of so much trouble,” she said, as Caleb made his way through several phone calls to get to Lowery.

  When he identified himself, Lowery said, “Oh, my God. Where the hell are you?”

  “I’m in El Paso, staying at Laysha’s house,” he said, “but I’ve been looking for a K9 on behalf of the War Dog Department,” he added. “We came to the last-known residence, and we were doing a quick check because it’s empty. Apparently the adoptive couple moved into town,” he said. “Buuut …” He paused for a long moment.

  Detective Ansel Lowery asked on the other end, “But what?”

  “We found a body here.”

  “Seriously?” he exploded. “Do you guys ever do anything but get into trouble? You’ve been in town what? Five minutes and you’ve already found a corpse?”

  “It’s not our fault,” he said. “And remember. When we got into trouble years ago, it was years ago.”

  “Funny how the years just fall away,” Lowery said with a note of humor. “I’m sending out a team and the coroner.”

  “Good.”

  “Male, female, or did you not look?”

  “The dead body is inside a closed room, and the smell’s pretty ripe. I didn’t get a good look. However, by the decomp, I would say the person died at least several days ago.”

  “Well, we’ve had a lot of warm weather here,” he said. “Give me the address again, so I can confirm the ownership. And who did you say was living there before?”

  Caleb filled in the detective on all the details, as much as he could, and said, “Laysha’s sitting on the back deck. We’ve got her dogs here with us.”

  “Well, stay where you are,” he said. “I’m about thirty minutes away.”

  “Will do.” Caleb hung up and quickly called Badger and updated him.

  “Seriously?” Badger said. “A dead body in the empty house?”

  “Yeah. I had to pass over as much of the information as I had to the cops, but they’re on their way now.”

  “Oh, they’ll be looking for all kinds of information at this point,” Badger said. “Give them anything you can of course,” he added. “We need to solve this, and let’s not have it derail ou r search for the dog.”

  “I guess the question is, could it be connected?”

  “No way to know for sure yet, but we have to assume that there must be some connection just because it’s the same property.”

  “Sure, but it’s been a long time since the dog was here.”

  “Yes, it has, at least as far as we know, and the couple supposedly moved out shortly afterward. What we don’t have is necessarily the truth on any of this.”

  “Good point,” Caleb said. “I hear the sirens. I’ll talk to you with an update later.” And he hung up. As he turned, Laysha stood there, pointing at the front. “I know. The cops are here,” he said. “Let’s go talk to them.”

  He noted that she had leashed all three dogs, and, as they walked out to the front, two cops stood there, discussing what was going on, and then a third vehicle pulled in. Out of that one stepped Ansel Lowery. Caleb walked over and shook his hand.

  The detective smiled. “Well, it’s good to see you two. Nice to know that all’s well in your corner of the world, but, jeez, it’d be nice if you didn’t keep calling me for the wrong reasons.”

  “It’s been a long time since we’ve called you,” Laysha protested. “And this is a particularly ugly reason for calling you,” she admitted. “The decomp’s like seriously bad.”

  Chapter 4

  Laysha stayed outside and watched while the cops went inside with Caleb. He seemed to fully adapt to the presence of a dead body. And maybe that was his military experience, but, for her, that smell was shocking and then to see—which she didn’t even really see anything—just a crumpled pile of clothing and something like … looked almost yellow and green and putrid. She sighed when Caleb finally came out.

  He walked toward her, wrapped her in his arms, and said, “Sorry you had to see that.”

  “I don’t even know what I did see,” she said, “but it was pretty nasty.”

  “Yep. Anything like that is,” he said with a nod.

  “I gather you’ve seen things like that before?”

  “I have,” he said, “not that it ever gets any easier.”