“Then what did the dog do?”
“I don’t really know.” He paused. “The guy got back in his truck, and the woman got in her car, and everybody disappeared again. I could finally get home. It was only a few houses away, for heaven’s sake,” he said, with a wave of his hand toward the road.
“So, you didn’t catch sight of where the dog went after that?”
“Took off into the bushes, as far as I know.”
“But the dog appeared to be more protective of the woman and the child?”
“Either that or he didn’t like the yelling,” Joe said. “I had a dog like that once. Anytime anybody raised their voice, he got upset.”
“Did it sound like the dog was upset?”
Joe looked at him and frowned. “It sounded more like the dog was upset at the man doing the yelling. But I can’t say much more than that.”
“Well, that’s good to know. Thank you.” Taking a look around, Greyson asked, “Have you seen the dog around since the accident?”
“No, I don’t think so,” he said, “though I didn’t really get a good look. He was some kind of a shepherd-looking thing. Other than that, it was just a dog.”
“Okay. Thank you for your time. You’ve been very helpful.” Then he stopped and said, “You mentioned the woman was from around here. Any idea where?”
“I’ve seen her drive up and down the road, so she must live around here somewhere. There probably aren’t more than thirty houses along here, so you might spot her car in the driveway.”
“Good enough,” he said. “Any details on the car?”
“Small silver car, Pontiac, I think.” He stepped back to close the door.
“Thanks again,” Greyson said, and the door closed with a sharp click.
Not exactly friendly but at least he’d shared some information that was useful. He had confirmed that the dog had been there at the fender bender.
As Greyson walked up the street, he was looking for the small silver Pontiac, wondering where the woman lived. And what the dog had to do with any of this. He checked on one side of the road, then came down the other side. When he was at the very top of the block, he came across a small silver Pontiac parked in a driveway. A big driveway. The same one he had traced Kona to.
He walked up, checked the vehicle, and found a ding to the fender and some paint transfer. He walked up to the front door and knocked. When a woman answered the door, he smiled, loving the sight of the happy toddler in her arms.
“Sorry to bother you, but I’m here looking for a dog that’s gone missing.”
Immediately he could see her walls go up, and she stepped back slightly.
He held up his hands in a nonthreatening manner. “I’m here on behalf of the War Dogs program. A dog was at the shelter down the road. On the day that you were involved in a fender bender, the dog went missing.”
Her face cleared a little bit, as she looked from him to her car and then back to him again. “A shepherd-looking thing?”
“Yes, a Malinois-shepherd cross,” he said. “Have you seen it?”
She nodded slowly. “I saw it today.”
His eyebrows shot up, and eagerly he asked, “Where?”
“I think it got into my neighbor’s garbage,” she said.
He frowned at that because it wasn’t typical behavior for one of these dogs, but, if she was starving, then maybe. “And that was today?”
“A few hours ago, yes,” she said, and she pointed down the road. “He went in that direction.”
“Did you see it the day of the accident?”
She wrinkled her face and nodded. “I guess you can call it an accident,” she said. “It was more of a threat though.”
“What do you mean?”
She winced and said, “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” Then she stepped back as if to close the door.
He stepped forward and immediately saw fear cross her face. “I’m not here to hurt you,” he said in a soft voice, “but I would like to know what you meant. Anything that involves the dog is something I need to know about. I’m trying to recapture the dog. She served a lot of good years in the military, and I’d like to see to it that she has a decent retirement life.”
“I hear you,” she said, “but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it. I thought I saw it leave the alleyway a few hours ago.”
“That’s fine,” he said, “and I’ll certainly check it out. I’ll stake out the alleyway and see if that’s where she’s getting food from. What I really need to know is what you saw at the accident.”
“All of a sudden, he was there,” she said with a shrug. Her son made an odd sound and reached up, patting her cheek. She smiled, kissed him on the tip of his nose. “It was a particularly disturbing scenario,” she said, turning her attention back to Greyson. “The other guy hit me with his truck and then came out and started yelling at me. I was really worried for my son. He was crying, and, the next thing I know, the dog was there.”
“Did you recognize this man?”
She shook her head. “No.” Then she opened her mouth and added suddenly, “He said it was a message from my ex.”
He stared at her in shock. “What?”
She nodded. “At first I wondered if I’d misheard him,” she said. “The dog got between us and was barking threateningly at the man. He was getting really ugly about the dog, but it seemed like the dog was more of a danger than he was. He got back into his truck and sped off. And, because we’d already stopped all the traffic, I jumped into my car and headed straight home. The dog bolted off to the side somewhere. Obviously I was pretty upset, and so was my son, so we took the rest of
