“C’mon, boy. Let’s do your walk.”
Maverick’s ears perked up at the word. Getting to his feet, he gave her that doggy smile that made her laugh. Maybe walking Maverick would get her into a better mood.
She attached his harness and leash, and led him out the door and down the street, practicing giving the dog commands in English the first time around the block, and then in Italian. She could do this. She was getting a handle on the body language needed to be in a leadership position.
When she got back to the house, she unhooked Maverick’s leash to let him do his nightly exploration of the backyard. No sign of Rob yet. She checked her cell for a text. Nothing.
Maverick disappeared into the bushes at the back of the property. Must smell a critter back there. Maybe a rabbit.
She called to him, unwilling to have him hunting a sweet bunny. “C’mon, Maverick. Get out of that bush!” She headed into the gathering gloom, muttering. “You’d never do this to Rob. C’mon!”
When she reached the Malinois, she heard him give a low-throated growl. Her step faltered. He wouldn’t growl at a rabbit, would he? Please, don’t let it be a skunk. She peered into the large bush that nearly covered the fence behind it.
What the hell? She saw a lidless plastic container on the ground with what looked like ground beef in it. “Maverick! Leave it!” What were the Italian words for ‘leave it alone’? “Altolà! Lascialo!”
Maverick sat and didn’t get any closer to the meat. He continued to growl low in his throat. She grabbed his harness and pulled him away, not letting go of him until they were both inside, both panting.
She gave him a dog treat. “Good boy, Maverick.” She patted his head, relieved that she’d been able to get him away from the suspicious meat. Damn, now she needed to go out and dispose of it. She poured some kibble into his bowl and filled his water before leaving the house to retrieve the square plastic container. She tied it in a plastic shopping bag and dumped it into the trash can.
Who would have put food in a container in her backyard, especially under a bush? Maybe she should have it tested. She retrieved the plastic bag, putting it into a styrofoam cooler she found in the garage. She put the cooler in the trunk of her car.
The next step was to call the vet. She got a recording and left a message and her number. She kept checking on Maverick, looking for signs of illness during the ten minutes it took for Dr. Waring to call her back.
MJ pulled herself together to explain what had happened.
“Is he acting sick at all?” Dr. Waring asked.
“Not really. What should I look for?”
“The signs will be different, depending on what the underlying poison is, but sometimes, the first sign you’ll see is drooling, vomiting, or diarrhea. There may be excessive thirst. He might seem dull and act abnormally. If there’s liver failure, he might become too weak to stand. Watch for signs of jaundice; you know, where his eyes or gums seem yellow. Are you seeing anything like that?”
“No, he’s staying close to me, but he seems to be himself. I don’t know if he ate any of it, or licked any of it. It didn’t look like it, but I’m not sure.”
“Why don’t you monitor him for the next hour? If you see any signs that concern you, call me back, and I’ll meet you at the office to look at him.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
Feeling somewhat better, MJ hung up and called the Malinois over to take a closer look. He came right away and gave her a doggy smile as he sat down next to her. She petted him. He looked okay, but what did she know? She wished Rob was here.
She let out a sigh. Rob wasn’t here, so she needed to handle this. He wouldn’t be around forever. She had to learn to take care of her dog. If only she knew if the meat was poisoned.
Her next phone call was to her brother Nick. “Hey. I need your help. I just found a container with ground beef hidden under the bush at the back of my yard. I don’t know how it got there, and I’m worried someone poisoned it. Luckily, Maverick’s growling clued me in. It doesn’t look like he ate any of it, but I just don’t know. I called the vet, and she told me what to look for. God, I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to him! Trevor trusted me.” She couldn’t help letting out the sob that had settled in the back of her throat.
“Calm down, honey. You were right to call the vet. Do you think somebody is trying to poison your dog?”
“I don’t know, but it seems suspicious. I think I ought to get it tested or something.”
“I’ll call Bo. He can take it down to the lab at the Sheriff’s Department and have it tested. Where’s Rob?”
“I’m not sure. He left right after supper.” She wasn’t about to tell Nick about their fight.
Where was Rob? She shouldn’t need him. She was an independent woman, and when she needed someone, her brother was only a phone call away.
“I’ll be over,” her brother interrupted her thoughts. She hung up, and slid down the door, until she was sitting on the floor.
