“That’s what I was thinking,” he agreed. “I just wanted to hear your thoughts too.”

  She nodded. “And I get it. Probably a lot of shit going on around you right now, but I’m hoping that it’ll calm down now.” Then she stopped and looked at him. “Have you talked to Jim yet?”

  “I talked to him on the phone earlier.”

  “How is he doing?”

  “A little worried about everything that’s going on. A little worried about what he’ll find when he gets to his house, but otherwise he’s holding pretty well.”

  “Is he badly injured?” she asked, with a frown.

  “No, not badly, but it’s a dent to his confidence for sure. It’s hard to take a beating like that and just get up and walk away as if it’s nothing. With a little support, I’m sure he’ll do just fine.”

  “I hope so,” she said. “I really liked his parents.”

  “And I think you’ll probably really like Jim too,” Jenner added. “He seems like one of the good guys.”

  “We definitely need more of those,” she stated, with an eye roll.

  “We do, indeed. Now”—he rose—“I’ll head out and see if I can track my War Dog again.”

  “Good luck. Maybe at least check to see if the dog food’s gone.”

  “I will.” He nodded. “And this time I’ve got my pockets full of more. I also picked up a leash and a collar for the dog.”

  “You really think you’ll get close enough to put something like that on Sisco?” she asked.

  “I hope so,” he murmured. “There has to be a way to get the War Dog back again. Otherwise, well, …”

  “We don’t need any more people taking potshots at Sisco,” she muttered, finishing his sentence.

  “You’re right. I’ll see you later.” He stopped, turned to her, and said, “I’m glad your morning went okay.” And giving her a gentle smile, he left.

  With him gone, she felt an emptiness that she wasn’t expecting in her own home. She wandered out to the front, as she watched him leave. He lifted a hand and waved. She waved back, feeling foolish. And yet why wouldn’t she wave? She really liked the man. Seemed so foolish, made her sound like a schoolgirl all over again. And that was a dangerous scenario. She hadn’t experienced anything quite like that in her life before and surely wasn’t ready for it now. Definitely not now.

  As she stared around at the house that was all hers, she muttered, “You’re just rebuilding your life. Absolutely no reason you can’t be friendly with him though.”

  It’s just that she knew full well that friendly led to other things and that led to all kinds of problems down the road. She wasn’t sure she could deal with the heartache.

  “Doesn’t have to be that way,” she said, arguing with herself.

  But, of course, just because it didn’t have to be, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be. Sighing, she turned to do what she loved the most, especially whenever she got stressed or upset.

  She started to bake.

  And, with that, she set up her cameras and did a live show, her first in several weeks. So what if she was upset? Maybe somebody else could benefit from her day.

  Jenner headed up to the hills. He’d barely made it to the top of one when his phone rang. Glancing down, he didn’t recognize the number. When he answered it, the sheriff was on the other end. Jenner winced at that.

  “We’re out looking for those damn dogs,” he announced. “We called off the search last night, but, if you see them, let me know.”

  “I’m out in the back myself, looking for the War Dog.”

  “Well, if we find him first, you know what’ll happen,” the sheriff growled, his tone hard.

  “And yet you don’t know that Sisco has anything to do with this pack of wild dogs,” Jenner argued.

  “Won’t matter. These dogs in packs are dangerous. Apparently they surrounded another woman in town. Her husband was coming home, driving his vehicle, and ran them off. But we can’t have this happening over and over again.”

  “No, we can’t,” Jenner agreed, “but I bet it was just two of them involved.”

  “Yes, but a third dog was in the vicinity, so I’m sure as hell not letting that dog off the hook either.”

  “Did the third dog do anything?”

  “I don’t know. The woman was pretty upset and couldn’t talk much. The husband was also fairly traumatized. They’re not giving details at the moment.”

  “I would like to talk to them, if I can.”

  “You need to stay out of it.”

  “Oh, and why’s that?” Jenner asked, his tone cool. “You and I both know I have to report back to the war department on this.” At that, the sheriff stopped, and Jenner could almost hear the wheels turning in the guy’s mind through his phone.

  “I’ll consider it,” he muttered, “but we’re taking these dogs out.”

  “You can take out the leader of the two wild dogs,” he began, “but I’m not sure that the other wild dog is bad news. I know the alpha is too far gone, but the beta may be redeemable.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” the sheriff huffed, “but nobody here will give a shit either way.” And, with that, the sheriff hung up.

  Taking a slow deep breath, Jenner quickly texted an update to Badger.

  Badger phoned him almost immediately. “He’s really hot to kill them all, isn’t he?”

  “He is,” Jenner responded, “and I get it. I mean, once they start traumatizing people, the locals—whether cops or the general public—will shoot to kill. From what I’ve seen so far, Sisco isn’t anything like the wild ones.”

  “And that distinction won’t matter, as far as everybody else will be concerned.” Badger groaned. “So focus and tell me. Can you find Sisco first?”

  “I’m up in the hills right now,” he replied. “The War Dog seems to be hanging around these other two, but I don’t think he has been integrated into the pack. The pack’s pretty broken right now, after losing two of its members, and that’s even more dangerous because, if these dogs are wild, they will run through town and pick up other dogs to join their pack.”

  “I have heard of that happening,” Badger muttered. “I’ve never seen it firsthand though.”

  “The small towns are often where a whole pack would come through town, and they’ll bite and force another dog in, until it has no option but to run with it. And either it survives or not. Yet it’s how they increase their numbers.”

  “Great,” Badger said. “Sounds like the human gang world. I hate hearing that.”

  “There’s nothing good about wild dogs, except that they’re yet another of God’s creatures. It’s just the way we’ll have to deal with them when they go like this. And we don’t even know what this is,” Jenner admitted. “I get that the sheriff won’t give a crap about a lot of things.”

  “No, he won’t. By the way, how’s the bed-and-breakfast?”

  Surprised at the abrupt shift to such a mundane topic of conversation, Jenner replied, “Actually it’s great.”

  “Have you met up with your ex-wife?” he asked, an odd note in his voice.

  At that, Jenner remembered his conversations with Kellie that had focused on Laura. “No, I have contacted her, but she’s been avoiding me.”

  “Interesting,” Badger said.

  Jenner frowned, wondering what his boss was up to. “Maybe not so interesting. She’s eight months’ pregnant with her husband’s child, so there won’t be any reconciliation, if you are hoping for that. By the way, Kellie at the B&B is great.”

  Badger chuckled. “I’m not so much sure that Kat is looking for a reconciliation as much as she’s hoping that you will find peace and can move on with somebody else, somebody better suited.”

  “It would be the bed-and-breakfast lady, if anybody,” he joked. “Even then, that’s not likely to happen.”

  “Why not?” Badger asked.

  Such open and honest curiosity was in his voice that Jenner didn’t take offense. “I’m not here long enough.”

  “Ah, so now there’s some sort of time frame?”

  “No, I guess not,” Jenner noted cautiously. “I really don’t know what I’m doing after this.”

  “So leave it open. You might find out you want to stay there.”

  Jenner looked around, shrugged, and said, “It’s a beautiful-enough countryside, but there’ll have to be a reason.”

  “Yeah, well, the bed-and-breakfast owner might be enough of a reason,” Badger teased.

  Jenner thought about the woman, who, even now, awaited his return, and frowned. He really liked her, and definitely something was there, but, with everything else going on, it wasn’t what he would focus on. “It would have to be something pretty special,” he murmured to his boss.

  “Give it a chance,” Badger noted.

  At that, Jenner groaned. “Stop matchmaking.”

  Badger burst out laughing. “Hey, when you’re happy, you want everybody else around you happy.”

  “I get that, but there’s happy, and then there’s pushy,” he quipped.

  “On that note, I’ll ring off.”

  “Good idea,” Jenner agreed, with an eye roll.

  He had really enjoyed the bit of time he’d spent with Badger. Of course Jenner had spent more time with Kat, helping her with her prosthetic designs. She was an incredibly brilliant woman and had spent so many years and so much effort helping people like him that Jenner had been more than happy to come and take care of this job for them. Besides, any animal in Jenner’s world needed the same care and love and attention that every other animal needed. Humans too.

  And, when a dog had served our military, had given its life and part of its body—in this case with Sisco’s damaged ankles—it made even more sense. One injured veteran helping out another. Jenner thought about that for a moment, pondering whether Sisco’s damaged ankles were a part of the reason why the War Dog was hanging back. Yet Sisco didn’t appear to be slowed down at all with his injuries. Not from what Jenner had witnessed.

  Sisco also wasn’t any less aggressive than the wild pack of dogs, when needed. However, with the other two ganging up on people and probably chickens and such, did Sisco save his energy, maybe accounting for his injuries? If so then, that could account for some of Sisco’s hesitation to engage.

  Jenner just wasn’t sure what was going on in the animal’s mind. Not that anybody ever knew things like that. Still, it made Jenner look at Sisco sideways, trying to figure out just what the War Dog’s thought processes were.

  As he climbed farther up the hill, urgency driving his feet faster and faster, he was happily surprised at the way his old prosthetic was holding up. It was something that he always had to be wary of. The skin would get quite puffy if he overworked that leg on any one day or if he in any way damaged the prosthetic ankle joint. A small irritation became a dangerous sore very quickly.

  Up at the next rise, he took the best vantage point that he’d already sourced out and sat down and waited. He was too far away to see if the dog food he’d left out was still there. He was going on the assumption some critter had eaten it. He just hoped it was the right one. What he was looking for was any sign of a disturbance. Depending on where the wild dogs were at, it shouldn’t take too long. And, sure enough, about ten minutes later, he wondered about the continued silence and if he’d picked the right place or not.

  Then he heard shouting in the distance. Immediately he stood and headed in that direction, hoping the locals hadn’t gotten involved.

  Once the locals got in the act, then things could get really ugly. He had to save the War Dog, first if possible. The trouble was, he just wasn’t sure it was possible anymore. And Jenner wouldn’t want to be the one to tell Badger that he had failed. He knew Badger wouldn’t hold it against him in the circumstances going on here, but Jenner would hold it against himself. And, with that, he picked up the pace and started to run.

  Chapter 11

  Waiting was hell. Kellie was still emotionally wrought from the court case earlier this morning and now was upset over what was going on around her. She decided to bury her time and attention into baking again. She already had guests coming this weekend, and they would hopefully appreciate some home-grown cooking. If nothing else she knew that Jenner would.

  She hated to admit it, but she was baking more for him than anyone else. Something about the man drew her to him. I mean, what was not to like about a man who would go to bat for a dog, who’d already suffered plenty under people’s abuse. And obviously the dog had learned from that abuse and had taken one look at the sheriff and had taken off. Or the sheriff hadn’t gotten to Jim’s place for that first animal check quite as early as he’d said, or alternatively maybe the dog realized a stranger was at home, and he’d taken off. Sisco could be still be hanging around, waiting for the Stippletones to return.

  When they hadn’t, the War Dog would have fended on its own for a while. But at what point in time would that have become a bigger issue?

  She didn’t know how that worked; she just didn’t want to be surrounded by dogs anymore. She’d never considered herself anything but an animal lover, but the moment those four wild dogs had terrified her, she didn’t want to even get involved in something that would look in any way scary.

  She knew that made her a coward, but what was she supposed to do after that run-in?

  She kept looking outside for any sign of Jenner. That was not good either, like she was waiting on him all the time now. It was easy to put it down as just being interested in what was happening—or even worried about this mess. But it was much more than that. She was worried about Jenner, and, being caught up with the dogs, she was worried about a lot of things. And a big worry was for his personal safety. She really liked the guy and liked that he joked around—he was one of the good ones. She didn’t want anything to happen to him.

  After several hours of making videos and baking, putting on laundry, getting dinner set up and ready to go, answering the phone and even a couple emails with inquiries on her bookings, she still couldn’t shake off the feeling that Jenner should have been home by now. She looked down at her phone and then shook her head. “No, you’re not going to text him. The man’s busy. Leave him alone.”

  And yet nothing seemed to discourage her. At last, giving in, she quickly sent him a text and asked him how it was going. He responded almost instantly with a thumbs-up. She wasn’t sure what that meant, except that he was fine and either couldn’t say more or didn’t want to.

  She could take a hint at that. At the same time, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do right now. Surely she could do something to help. She sent him a message, asking, Just that to report?

  He sent back a thumbs-down emoji. She considered that and then realized, chances were, he couldn’t even talk right now. Frowning at that, she thought she would phone the hospital and see how Jim was doing. And then she looked down at her cookies and smiled. Maybe she could take him something.

  Quickly packing up a selection of what she’d just baked, she headed to the hospital. Maybe, if she was lucky, he would be awake and available, and she could go in and talk to him and introduce herself. She felt the need to apologize because she had assumed the other man was him. When she got to his hospital room, she knocked at his door. When she heard “Come in,” she opened the door, poked her head around, and asked, “Hey, may I come in for a minute?”

  “Sure.” He looked at her and asked, “Who are you?”

  She winced at that. “I’m your neighbor—the one who thought that squatter was you.”

  He stared at her and then slowly nodded. “Ah, Jenner told me about that.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I knew your parents. … Yet I had never seen a picture of you to know what you looked like. If I had, I would have called the cops.”

  He nodded. “And I wouldn’t have looked like that person anyway anymore, so no need to feel guilty.”

  “Well, no need on your part maybe. It’s a whole different story on my part,” she explained, “because I do feel guilty, terribly guilty. All I had to do was make a phone call.”

  “I guess, when something like that happens, it’s hard to shake off, wondering if you could have done something or if somehow you could have known.”

  “Exactly,” she agreed, “and it feels like I should have known, and yet I don’t know how I could have.”

  He chuckled. “I get it. Maybe instead of guilt you could just let it go and realize that, as soon as you did find out something, you did something about it.”

  “It took Jenner to get to that point though.” She sighed, as she sat in the visitor’s chair. “However, I did bring a peace offering.”

  He frowned. “Like what?” She opened the tin so the fresh aroma of cookies wafted out. His grin flashed. “You can come visit anytime. Wow, I haven’t had home-baked goodies in a very long while.”

  “Yes, it’s funny, but I think that’s how most men feel, unless they have partners who actually bake,” she noted. “So I brought you a selection of this morning’s work.”

  He looked at her and asked, “You made all these this morning?”

  She nodded. “When I get nervous, I tend to bake,” she said, with a shrug.

  “And why are you nervous?”

  She explained about what was going on, and he whistled. “I knew some stuff was happening today,” he shared. “I just didn’t realize it was to that point.”

  “It is, and I know Jenner’s really worried about the War Dog he’s searching for, … Sisco.”

  “Oh, I like that name,” Jim stated. “I know there were dogs around me, after my attack. It seemed like one hung around afterward too, but honestly I was in too much pain to know much more than that.”

  “Right. I’m sorry about that. And then, once Jenner retrieves the dog, somebody needs to look after the dog.” She winced. “I’m still kind of nervous about them.”

  “With good reason,” he noted. “I was so glazed over with pain that I don’t really know what was going on with the dogs.”

  “Of course not,” she replied instantly. “And I’m so sorry you went through what you did.”