Rowan Read online

  Now if only he could get a picture of the male. That took another ten to fifteen minutes, and then finally the male came into view, and his heart almost stopped. Was it even possible? Because, from his memory, the dog looked to be Hershey. He quickly took several photos, and he sat, staring at them on his camera, shaking his head. Of all the things that he really expected, in his heart of hearts, he had hoped to find his dog. But, jeez, to think of Hershey here, trying to live under these circumstances—and, of course, he had taken on and was protecting the female and her young ones. Rowan shook his head at that. Somehow these lost critters had formed a family all on their own.

  His heart broke for the horrors of what they’d been through, but, at the same time, he was absolutely ecstatic to see that they were doing so well. Although the female was suffering, and Rowan wasn’t sure about the status of the third pup—doing not so well either—but they were alive at this moment. They’d survived. If Rowan and Brandi could get them some emergency assistance, they might just all pull through. It would take a lot of work, but, first off, the bulk of that work would come from everybody learning to trust each other. And that was a whole different story.

  These animals were feral now and had been for weeks.

  He tilted the camera around a little bit more, trying to get a better view, taking as many snapshots and more video of the animals as he could. And then finally he slowly withdrew the camera, hearing a growl. Rowan wasn’t exactly sure what Hershey heard, but, just in case it was directed at Rowan, he pulled the telescoping pole back toward him, letting it close with very soft clicks, as it went from eight feet down to a one-foot pipe with his camera on the end. He quickly tucked everything into his backpack and slowly inched his way back out again.

  It was a whole different story trying to go in reverse. By the time he made it back out again, he was hot and sweaty. The sun was up high, and it was hot, and a weird stillness hung in the air around him, which had him more alert than ever. He sat here for a moment, wiping the sweat off his face, as he looked to see where Brandi sat. She was still sitting at the same spot. He pulled out his phone and sent her the screenshot of the one dog. He included a note. Is this her?

  Instead of a text back, he got a phone call. “Oh, my God,” she said into his ear. “That’s her. That’s her.”

  “Well, she’s hurt,” he said, “and it looks like those are her pups. A third one is in there as well.”

  “Dear God,” she whispered. “I never thought …” And he heard the emotions choking her voice.

  “We’re a long way away from getting her out of there safely though,” he said.

  “But she should know me,” she said into the phone. “I should be able to walk in and help her.”

  “Stop,” he ordered, his voice hard. “She’s not alone.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think my dog is in there, guarding her,” he said. “That’s a whole different story.”

  “Why?” she asked suspiciously.

  “Because he is a military-trained guard dog,” he said, “and, short of him recognizing me, it’ll be very difficult to get him to calm down. She’s hurt, and he’s doing everything he can to help her.”

  “Well, that’s good though,” Brandi said.

  “It’s good,” he said, “but I had esophageal surgery, and my voice doesn’t sound the same anymore. I don’t know how the dog will even remember me because of all the surgeries I’ve had.” He said this all calmly, his mind working on the problem.

  “Well, we can’t just leave them there,” she said. “Like you said, Lacey’s injured, and she’ll need some attention. And her third puppy …”

  “And they need the right attention,” he said. “If we try to make a grab for any of them, you and I will both get bit.”

  “Well, I don’t want to bring in a rescue service,” she said. “They’ll go in there with loops and chains and haul the dogs away. Good luck with us trying to reclaim them.”

  “Do you have any suggestions?” he asked.

  “Well, somehow we have to separate them,” she said. “Then bring Lacey out,” she added.

  “She may not be able to walk,” he said. “I think Hershey has been hunting and bringing food back for her and the pups. The dog food is making it that much easier on them,” he said, “but it’s not necessarily enough.” Just then he thought he caught a glint of something up on the hill across from him. “Did you see anybody else around?”

  “No,” she said. “We’re completely alone here.”

  “Interesting,” he murmured. “I just saw something reflecting the light up there, and that’s not normal.” He shifted ever-so-slightly as he tried to get the light out of his eyes, while he sorted out what he was seeing. But, when the reflection came again, he froze because, from his military memories, he knew exactly what that was. He whispered into the phone, “Get yourself into a hiding place right now.”

  “Why?” she cried out in surprise.

  “Do it,” he said urgently. “Now!”

  And the only sound he heard after that was the snap as the rifle fired in her direction.

  Chapter 5

  Brandi ducked behind the tree as the wood splintered on the bark above her head. She stared in shock, wondering what the hell just happened. In the distance she heard Rowan screaming at her to duck. She slid farther around the tree, sinking to the ground, her hand to her heart, and she realized that the loud sound had been a gunshot. Somebody had actually tried to shoot her. Or was it an idiot hunter? She wanted to believe that more than her first thought, but it was just as unnerving to consider an asshole up there firing at anything that walks. She’d thought she’d heard shots a couple times during her weeks of searching for Lacey—hopefully just putting near-death animals out of their misery—so it’s not like it was unusual, but this one was damn close.

  And not directed at a four-legged animal.

  Up the hill above, she heard a rustling movement. She dared not look around to see if the shooter had bolted or not. And she didn’t know what the hell was happening with Rowan, but, as she twisted to look, instead of coming down to help her, he’d gone up the hill after the shooter.

  She gave a startled laugh at that. “Dear God,” she said. “He’s not even armed. What will he do?” But somehow she figured that he knew what he was up to, and it wasn’t for her to judge. He’d already shown more enterprise and skill than she’d expected, and now they had actually found the dogs. It looked like his dog and her dog, plus the pups. Although her heart was overwhelmed, she was terrified for what Lacey was going through in there. The fact that she wasn’t moving showed that she was injured. And that just broke Brandi’s heart. How long had Lacey been injured and was it from the fire? But then how had she hung on this long with the puppies? She had to be in terrible pain. Brandi’s phone buzzed a few minutes later, as she sat here, tucked up against the trunk.

  Don’t move.

  She snorted at that. But quickly texted back I’m not.

  Coming your way.

  She froze at that because she hadn’t heard anything. She dared not turn around and peer around the trunk either. When she heard the ever-so-slightest sound on her left, she shifted closer to the right. Her phone buzzed again. I’m coming up from fifty yards away.

  She sent another message. Are you alone?

  Yes, he got away. Damn it.

  She sighed in relief and twisted slightly to see Rowan coming toward her. When he was within speaking distance, she stood and stepped around the tree. “Did somebody just try to shoot me?”

  He looked at her, his face grim. “I would ask you that question myself,” he said, “but, from my viewpoint, that’s a yes.”

  She shivered, wrapping her arms around her chest, even in the hot afternoon. “Why?” she cried out.

  “That would be my next question,” he said, a note of humor in his voice. “It’s hard to imagine what’s going on, and I don’t know if it’s got anything to do with the dogs.”


  She stared at him in surprise. “Why would it have anything to do with the dogs?”

  “Because we’re here, and we found the dogs,” he said. “So I can’t tell you any more than that.”

  “Right,” she said. “We have to get up there and get Lacey out.”

  “That’s an ideal circumstance,” he said, “but there are definitely some challenges to that.” As he slid down the last little bit toward her, he asked, his gaze searching, “Are you okay?”

  She nodded and said, “It took me a few minutes to figure out what just happened.” She crouched behind the tree, giving him a bit of space so that he could join her. “I just don’t understand why.”

  “I don’t know either,” he said, “but we need to figure it out.”

  “Well, it was probably random,” she said hopefully, “with nothing to figure out.” She looked back toward where the dogs were. “What do we do about them?”

  “I’m not sure,” he said. “I’ve got leads for them, and we can probably entice the puppies outside, but, going up against Hershey and Lacey, I don’t know.”

  “If Lacey is hurt,” she said, “she should be pretty docile. She was never much of a fighter.”

  “Yet … she’s also been through a lot recently,” he reminded her. “Plus she’s had puppies, and is a protective mother now. And they’ve been on their own for weeks.”

  She nodded. “I still think I could get close to her.”

  “Maybe, but I don’t know that you can get close to her with Hershey standing guard.”

  She looked at him sideways. “How different is your voice now?”

  “Different enough,” he said slowly. “And I don’t know what Hershey may have gone through since he knew me. As soon as he recognizes me, I think it’ll be fine, but I don’t know what it’ll take for him to recognize me.”

  “You could try talking to him, seeing if you can get him to remember you. Maybe not your voice per se but obviously you have some commands that he’s used to hearing.”

  He looked at her in surprise and nodded. “I was just figuring out what commands I could give him that might have been unique between me and him. Commands that he would recognize from me, as his handler. The thing is, if he’s bonded to Lacey and the puppies, that might overrule anything that I can do to reach him.”

  “I don’t know about that,” she said. “As long as he realizes we’re not here to hurt anybody, I think that will help.”

  “And tell me,” he said in a conversational tone, “if we do get the dogs, where are we taking them?”

  She winced at that. “I was just sitting here, waiting for you, wondering about that, because I’m in a small furnished apartment.” She looked at him. “Where are you?”

  “At the motel up the road,” he said. “And, if we have an injured dog, she’s gonna need vet care.”

  “Lacey’s vet is not too far away from here,” she said. “We’d have the puppies and Hershey, if it’s Hershey, then Lacey would have to go in for care.”

  “And a huge price tag is attached to what will probably be long-term care and/or surgery or emergency care for at least two of the dogs,” he said.

  She stuck out her jaw. “And I would happily pay it to save them,” she said.

  He nodded. “Just making sure, communicating our plans here.”

  She relaxed slightly and nodded. “I get it,” she said. “At the same time, we can’t just leave them here.”

  “Not short of coming here every day with dog food for them though,” he said.

  “What if they take off for another spot, food or not, to avoid us altogether?”

  Rowan nodded. “If you want to sit here for a bit, I’ll see if I can get closer.” With that, he headed toward the green patch where the dogs were. She heard the male growl when Rowan got about ten or twelve feet away. And what he did next completely surprised her. Instead of backing up, he took three steps forward and sat down cross-legged on the hillside. And then he just waited.

  The thing about dogs like this is, they had to get comfortable in your presence, and they had to understand that you weren’t gonna just leave because they growled. Rowan was still struggling with the shot that had been fired in Brandi’s direction. There had to be a reason for it, and he didn’t think that it was random in any way. But he didn’t think she was willing to talk about what else might be going on in her world. She’d been very closemouthed about everything so far. Not scared but distant.

  Protective maybe? He was all about that because you didn’t know who exactly was for you in the world and who was after you. But to think that somebody had followed her up the hillside and even now could be circling back and around was a daunting thought. As he sat here, he heard Hershey growling in that low-key manner he had.

  “I know you don’t recognize my new voice,” he said, “and for that I’m really sorry, but you should remember some of the things that we used to do together.” He picked up a stick, even though it was charred on one side. He snapped it in half and tossed one toward the dog. “I remember how you used to love to play with sticks,” he said. “I remember how you used to love to fetch and bring them back to me.”

  With that, he threw the other half of the stick into the brush. “And I know you’ve got yourself a new family here, and I’m all for it,” he said. “I can’t believe the scenario that we both found ourselves in. I had no idea where you were or that you had been retired or that you’d been adopted or that you’d been separated from your new civilian family,” he said. “Believe me. If I’d known an adoption was an option, that you were ready, I would have been the first one in line, and for that I’m sorry too. I was so caught up in my own surgeries and nightmares of healing that I probably, at the time, wouldn’t even have considered taking in a dog. But you’ve been to hell and back, and, for my part in any of that, I’m sorry.”

  He kept his voice low and conversational, knowing that the dog would struggle with the actual voice but not the tone. And then Rowan shifted closer another six inches. The dog kept growling, but the tenor didn’t change. Rowan leaned down toward them, completely relaxed. “If you let me take a look at her,” he said, “I might be able to help her.”

  Of course no answer came from the brush. And then he remembered something. He pulled out a peanut butter and honey and oatmeal protein bar from his pocket. His favorite kind that he’d been eating for decades. It’s one thing that he used to share with Hershey, when they were out and about and had done without food for too long. He broke off a small piece and tossed it in the direction of Hershey. And then he deliberately turned his back. He took a bite himself and broke off another piece. When he turned to look back, the first piece had already been snatched. He smiled and threw a second bite. “Maybe you remember this,” he said gently.

  He could see down below that Brandi sat with her back against the tree, watching them. He gave her a reassuring smile.

  She was more concerned about her female in there. How Brandi had been coming for weeks on end and hadn’t found any of them said a lot for how well Hershey had done his guard-dog-rescue thing here. But there were also miles and miles of charred land all around. Although this wasn’t the only green patch, it was one of the deepest green patches Rowan had seen yet.

  As he took a third bite, he broke off a third piece for Hershey and threw it out to him but, this time, not quite as far. If Hershey wanted this piece, he’d have to come out of the shelter a little bit. And Rowan turned his head away and had another bite. As he broke off another one, he turned to look up and found himself staring straight at Hershey’s eyes.

  He took a slow, deep breath and said, “Hello there, buddy.” His heart lit with joy. “I’m so sorry my voice is different now, but you know one thing? Hopefully my scent isn’t. My body’s been through a lot of doctors and hospitals and all that good stuff,” he said, “but it’s still me on the inside. That hasn’t changed.”

  Afraid to talk too much to the dog just yet, much less reach out, Rowan continued gi
ving Hershey time and little bits of the protein bar. At one point, he looked up, and the dog stared at him in confusion. “Hey, Hersey,” he said, as he reached up a hand.

  The dog leaned forward and sniffed his fingers. He reared back and then leaned forward again. Rowan knew Hershey was confused; the scent was close but not quite right and from a long time ago. Rowan leaned forward again, and this time he put up the other hand, the one that hadn’t had surgery. Hershey sniffed and then whined.

  Rowan smiled. “Hey, boy. I am so glad I found you.” And just like that, a switch flipped, and Hershey launched himself at Rowan. Hershey’s tail wagging, he jumped, circled him, jumped again, this time completely tackling Rowan to the ground. Rowan lay here on his back, laughing, letting the dog greet him.

  “It’s been a long time, boy.” He gently cuddled the great big goof, walked his hands across Hershey, gently loving him, caring and rejoicing in Hershey’s greeting, knowing that this bond had never been broken. That was the thing about animals. They remembered. It took Hershey a bit to get around Rowan’s different smells and his different voice, but, after that, it was a done deal.

  Finally Hershey laid down, half on top and half beside Rowan, and dropped his head on his chest. Rowan just held Hershey for a long moment. “It’s been a tough couple years, hasn’t it, buddy? I heard you got to retire and yet look at what happened to your retirement, but then something similar happened to me too.” He reached up and gently scratched the dog.

  He heard Brandi’s voice off to the side, who said, “The two pups are coming out toward you.”

  He reached up a hand gently, coming in contact with soft fur. The pup backed away a little bit and then came back again. Hershey barked, and pretty quickly both pups surrounded him. Rowan chuckled at the furballs. He said to Brandi, “You can try coming up, if you want.”

  “Is it safe?” she asked in a dry tone.

  He shrugged. “No clue, but Hershey recognized me, and he trusts us enough that he got the pups here now.”