Rhys Read online

  The guy looked at it and nodded. “Yeah, he asked me what I was doing, and I told him that I was delivering pizza.”

  “Interesting,” Rhys noted. “When you leave, can you get me his license plate?”

  “Yeah, I guess. I’m parked just across from him, I might be able to.”

  “And text it to this number.” And he pulled out his card and gave it to him.

  The guy looked at the card and whistled. “Wow, I don’t even know what department that is.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Rhys said. “Just text me when you get it.”

  “Is he hassling you?”

  “Not me, but the woman who lives here alone.”

  At that, the other man’s face screwed up. “That’s just messed up.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Rhys confirmed. “That’s why I want to know who it is. Somebody did a random drive-by shooting here today.”

  “You know what? I heard something about that around town. Something about a shooter.”

  “I don’t know for sure that it’s him,” Rhys stated, ever mindful of not accusing somebody without proof, “but I would like to know who’s hanging around.”

  “You got it,” the delivery guy replied enthusiastically, and he pocketed the extra tip. “Thanks, man.” And, with that, he stepped out and headed back to his car. He gave a wave to the guy in the vehicle and then carefully drove off.

  Probably two minutes later, Rhys got a text. And there was the plate number. With a smile he immediately picked up the phone and then winced. “Damn, I forgot about what time it is.”

  “What difference does that make?”

  “Badger’s most likely asleep,” he stated.

  “Ah,” she replied. “I mean, presuming we’ll make it through the night, you can contact him in the morning.”

  But, at her wording, he looked at her and nodded. “You know something? Screw it. I don’t like what you just put into words. If Badger’s awake, he can find out. If he’s not awake, he’ll get my text in the morning. But I sure as hell don’t want it to be a case of we should have contacted him, and we didn’t.”

  And he quickly sent the license plate with a short explanation to Badger. He got a confirmation almost immediately and a thumbs-up, saying he would run it. Rhys smiled at that. “And look at that. Badger’s still awake.”

  It came back a few minutes later as stolen.

  He whistled. “Look at that. The black vehicle out there is stolen, some two days ago,” he shared. “Badger’s contacting the police.”

  “That won’t do a whole lot of good either,” she muttered. “I don’t exactly have a decent rep here.”

  He quickly texted that to Badger, but his boss didn’t give any explanation or any comment. He didn’t say anything.

  Deciding to take a chance, Rhys phoned Badger. “Hey, I know it’s late there, but you’re obviously up.”

  “I am. I’m just looking through my book to see who I can contact.”

  “Taylor says she hasn’t had much luck dealing with anybody here.”

  “I got that message too,” Badger noted. “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure I know somebody decent up there.”

  “I hope so,” Rhys said, “because I’m pretty sure that’s the guy who did the drive-by shooting—or at least it’s the same truck.”

  At that, Badger whistled. “We need to get that vehicle off the road, if nothing else.”

  “And you also know he’ll just turn around and steal another one.”

  “If he stole it, yes, but he may not have,” Badger noted. “We’ll get to the bottom of it. How’s Tallahassee?”

  “You know what? I think he’s settling in pretty well,” he replied, looking over at the dog, even now staring at the pizza box with a voracious hunger that Rhys knew was completely made up. “And right now he’s trying to coax pizza out of everybody.”

  “Ha,” Badger said, “sounds like he’s reverting to a normal dog.”

  “All of them, when training’s over, are exactly that, just a dog.”

  “No just about it,” Taylor corrected loyally. “He’s a hell of a dog.”

  “Sounds like Tallahassee found himself a champion,” Badger noted.

  “Absolutely,” Rhys murmured. “A lot of good things to be said about that.”

  “Agreed. Let’s just see if we can solve one problem and then move on to the next.”

  “Ha, why would we do that,” he muttered, “when we could take on all the other problems at the same time?”

  At that, Badger laughed. “Jager told me that you were always like that.”

  “Well, I don’t know about always like that,” he noted, “but injustices drive me nuts.”

  “Welcome to the club,” Badger said. “Welcome to the club.”

  And, with that, he hung up.

  Chapter 4

  Taylor woke with a start and lay in her bed, wondering where she was and what had just happened. But recognizing her bedroom, she sagged back into the comforter and relaxed. She was home, and, considering the way she felt, she’d gotten some quality sleep. That was a small miracle in itself. She hadn’t done well sleeping since her accident. She always had those few nightmares—all about those unresolved issues that she knew perfectly well the shrinks had alluded to, but she had avoided getting into.

  Nobody wanted to talk about the problems she’d had before, during, or after any of that military trauma. But to think that now something was rotten in her world here made her even angrier. This was supposed to be her safe space; this was supposed to be a place where she could heal, recuperate, get back to life in some sort of meaningful way. It wasn’t supposed to be a place where she was under siege, which is what it felt like.

  She thought about the man sleeping in the spare room and about Tallahassee, how she had let him into the house for the first time last night. She was still in an uncertain relationship with the dog, although one that was growing quickly. She’d wanted him to have a few days to get used to being here versus at the shelter. And yet, since she’d been here, it’d been nothing but chaos.

  And the fact that Tallahassee had seemed to connect with her so quickly just helped her to realize that she was the one who was more uncomfortable with the dog than the dog with her. But then she hadn’t been raised with them all her life, whereas it’s obvious that Rhys himself had worked with Tallahassee over the years. She was almost jealous of that. Something was special about a bond with an animal where you knew exactly where you stood and how important it was that you continued on your path for the animal. She’d get there; she knew that.

  And to have the dog around was a huge comfort. She’d just been uncertain as to how to handle it. She’d asked the shelter about training opportunities but was also quite aware that the timing was not necessarily something that she would manage easily, not when her leg was still something she had to work with.

  She wondered idly if Rhys would spend a few moments and help her out with some elementary dog training tips. He would understand. She’d been more than stunned when she’d seen his prosthetic. And yet why should she? She wasn’t the only one missing a limb in this world, no matter how much she tried to make it feel like she was alone and like the world was against her. She wasn’t and it wasn’t. It just felt like that. And she’d felt alone for a long time now, ever since the military had refused to back her up on the sexual harassment issue.

  And knowing that the same asshole was trolling her at home had made her feel even worse. It shouldn’t be allowed; there should be some kind of assistance for people like her. And yet, so much of the time, the public assistance from the local cops was for others in more need. Or not even about more in need, just somebody who wasn’t in the military. Maybe because the military supposedly took care of its own? Yet sometimes people, like her, fell through the cracks. Getting taken care of ended up being something completely different than what she had thought it would mean.

  It wasn’t fair, but, as she’d come to realize, an awful lot in life wasn’t fair, and it didn’t matter a damn where the hell you fell on that spectrum. You would still get hit with some unfairness at one point in time or another. She got up, and, grabbing her one crutch, hopped her way into the shower, where she had a quick wash. Then she made her way back into her bedroom, where she put on her prosthetic and got dressed.

  Afterward she slowly made her way downstairs. She’d hoped not to wake him, only to find him sitting in the kitchen, Tallahassee sprawled at his side. The minute Tallahassee saw her coming down the stairs or heard her, he jumped up and came over to greet her. She gave him a lovely greeting and looked over at Rhys. “Is it okay to have him in the house all the time?”

  He looked up with understanding and nodded. “At this point in time he would be a great guard dog, family comfort dog, whatever you need,” Rhys explained, “but they definitely like their creature comforts.”

  She nodded. And then shamefaced she added, “I didn’t know. I didn’t want to be mean and leave him outside, but, at the same time, I just wasn’t sure if it was safe.”

  “It’s safe,” he assured her. “As you can see, he’s more than happy to see you.”

  “And what are the chances of him taking over my bed at night?”

  At that, Rhys laughed out loud. “Honestly? Probably pretty good,” he admitted. “I’m not kidding. They’re very much creature comfort dogs at this stage. Not all of them, of course, but, like any dog, he can forget about the kind of training he’s had up until now. He’s just looking for a place to retire.”

  “I am too,” she agreed bluntly. “I had hoped this was it.”

  “Is there any reason not to be here?” he asked, looking at her.

  “Just the trouble that we’ve got right now,” she stated, unintentionally using a pronoun that included more than just her. He didn’t make a comment on it, for which she was grateful. She wasn’t sure if she was including him in that or just Tallahassee. She walked over and asked, “You ready for coffee?”

  “Absolutely,” he said. “I thought about making some earlier, but I didn’t want to impose.”

  She laughed. “It’s hardly imposing,” she murmured. “Besides, you probably make a better cup than I do.”

  “I do make a mean cup,” he agreed, “but it’s your coffee maker. So you’ll know it better than I do.”

  She shrugged and put on the coffee as she always did. “Well, I’m putting it on. If you don’t like it …”

  “It’ll be fine,” he said.

  She sat down at the opposite side of the table and asked, “What are you working on?”

  “The rundown on the license plate of the vehicle, as well as where it was stolen from,” he shared.

  “In other words, you’re working,” she noted, with a wince.

  “Sure,” he said. “I was awake a while ago, and I didn’t want to disturb you. Badger already sent me this information.”

  “And who is this Badger character?”

  “I don’t know him as well as I know Jager.” Rhys then quickly explained about the team.

  She stared at him. “Wow, they sound like they are very together.”

  “They are. And, if you think they’re anything better or different than you, you’re wrong,” Rhys stated. “All of them are missing limbs, and some of them more than one.”

  She nodded. “I think one of their best assets is themselves.”

  “Oh, I agree completely. They have been a team for a long time, so, when one needs help, they’re all there for them.”

  “I had thought, when I was signing up for the military, that I was signing up for a similar type of thing,” she murmured. “I didn’t expect to be so badly let down.”

  “And I’m sorry for that,” he replied. “It’s not what I would have wanted for you either.”

  She shrugged. “I guess there’s just no way to know sometimes, is there?”

  “Cases like sexual harassment, sexual assault,” he noted, “they’re always difficult. Sometimes I’m thoroughly in agreement with how some of these cases work out, and a lot of times I’m not. I have seen both sides of it, where women have called rape—just to get back at some guy—and then where the women were raped and don’t even say a word because they’re petrified of how they’ll get viewed.”

  “I’ve certainly seen that too,” she murmured. “I just never really thought that, when push came to shove, I would be in the category that got ignored.”

  “No, I don’t imagine anybody ever is,” he agreed. “I’ve also asked for part of your records to see just what might be coming.”

  “You what?” she asked, staring at him.

  He shrugged. “If this harassment issue is related, we need to know all about it.”

  “You can’t just get that though,” she stated in shock. And then she looked at him closer. “Or can you?”

  “We are all former military, so we have a lot of connections, and I can ask for these records,” he explained. “Plus I was sent here initially because you are the guardian of a War Dog, so our welfare checks ensure Tallahassee gets a great retirement situation. Now you’ve told me more about your personal situation that the military should know about as well. If they are not listening to you, then maybe they’ll listen to Badger and to me. So the more you tell me, the easier this investigation will be, both mine and maybe the military’s.”

  “I don’t have a problem telling you anything. I have it all down in a file.” She shrugged. “I thought I would have to go to a military court over it. Who knew that there wasn’t even a case.”

  He winced at that. “Let me take a look at it.”

  She shrugged and got up, headed to the far end of the living room, where her desk was, and came back with a file that she dropped on the kitchen table. “This is what I have.” She then walked over to the coffeepot that was now done and poured them both some coffee.

  “Interesting,” he said. “It’s pretty thick.”

  “I collected everything I could—mostly because I was pretty pissed off and fed up with the way I was being treated. And realizing things might go missing, I made sure I had a physical copy as a reference,” she declared in a hard tone.

  She wanted to see his reaction as he flipped through the file, but she also needed to know what he was looking at too at the time. She couldn’t do both, but it didn’t really make a difference, as his expression gave away nothing. She’d already been through this file time and time again. She waited as he studied the information.

  He nodded. “Sounds pretty standard.”

  “Sure, it’s a she-said/he-said scenario,” she stated. “And that never goes well for the woman.”

  “I don’t think it’s even so much about the woman as much as it never goes well for the accuser,” he clarified. “There are several cases of males being raped as well.”

  She winced at that. “We never even bring up that particular scenario in life, do we?”

  “Very few males will report it,” he stated. “Just like you, it doesn’t go well for the male accusers either.”

  “It’s a sad world we live in,” she said.

  “It not completely heartless, but it’s definitely got issues.” He closed the file, accepted the cup of coffee from her, and asked, “What are your plans for today?”

  She shrugged. “Not sure I have any. I probably need to get some more food in the house, from one source or another. Other than that, I’ll try to do my exercises and adjust to being home again.”

  “And yet you’ve been here for a couple months?”

  At that, she nodded. “It sounds as if I should already have my exercises set as a habit, right?” she replied, with a note of humor. “Yet the reality is, I’ve been to doctors multiple times since I got home, for additional physical therapy, and only just now am I more or less on my own. And I’m still working on setting some sort of a routine.”

  “Hey, I get it,” he said. “I’m a little bit further along than you on some of this but not enough to make a big difference. I have exercises to do as well, especially stretching. My back’s pretty scarred up. I lost a big strip of muscle on it and some tissue. I mean, I tend to wear a shirt all the time, even when swimming, because it scares people.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “That’s not something you need to worry about around me. I don’t scare easily.” Then she flushed, considering the way sounds set off her PTSD.

  “I’ll keep that in mind, if it gets hot enough,” he replied easily. “What about you? How badly were you injured?”

  She nodded, while shrugging. “I was lucky, in one way. I was loading up some big metal pans, reflector sheets,” she explained, “at the time of the blast. So that protected me from some of the worst of the accident. The foot, of course, didn’t make it, and I’ve got quite a bit of scar tissue in and around my scalp. I wear my hair a certain way to hide as much of that as I can.”

  “Well, I didn’t notice,” he said, “so you’re doing a good job there.”

  She shrugged. “It’s a learning process.”

  “It is, and it’s not one that ever goes away,” he added. “I went through a whole period where I hated my life and hated everything, but it didn’t last long because there’s just not enough energy to stay in that wallowing mentality.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked, with another attempt at humor. “Because sometimes it’d be really nice to just blame the world.”

  “Maybe for you that works, but it never did for me.”

  “No, it’s not working for me either,” she muttered. “Which is why I was thinking that Tallahassee here might be a good addition to my world.”

  “I think he probably would,” Rhys agreed.

  “Do you really?” she asked, giving him a sharp look. “Because I don’t know anything about dogs.”

  “And that you can learn,” he stated. “You have to come from heart, and, from there, everything else is learnable.”

  “Learnable and trainable.”

  “Exactly.” He smiled. “And Tallahassee has taken to you quite well.”