CHAPTER TWELVE
C HAPTER T WELVE
Matt stretched a tight shoulder in the passenger seat of Bree’s SUV while she drove toward the farm. “You’ll be home in time for Kayla’s bedtime.”
“I don’t like missing dinner with the kids.” Bree made a right at a stop sign. “But bedtime is somehow worse. I don’t know how long Kayla will still want me to read to her. I hate to miss a single night.”
“I love a good bedtime story too.” Occasionally, Kayla asked Matt to read to her. It always felt like an honor.
They’d dropped the go-bags with forensics and picked up Claire’s phone. Forensics had downloaded the contents, but since Claire didn’t share an account with her parents, Matt wasn’t sure if the information would be very useful. He wanted Josh and Shelly Mason’s digital information.
Bree planned to return the phone to the teen in the morning.
Matt’s phone beeped with a voicemail from Cady. Something about the forensics lab gave the building poor cell reception. Calls didn’t always go through.
Matt stabbed the “Play” button.
Cady’s voice sounded strained. “I need your help with something. Could you stop by when you have a chance?”
He tried to call her back, but the call went to her voicemail. He tapped the phone on his leg.
“Everything OK?” Bree asked.
“I don’t know. Cady asked for help, but I can’t get through to her.” He slid the phone into his pocket. “Do you think the kids would mind if I miss bedtime?”
“They’ll understand. They love Cady. Go see her. You won’t be able to relax until you do.”
“Thanks.”
A few turns later, she stopped at the farm. He kissed her, climbed into his Suburban, and headed for his sister’s place a short drive away.
He parked in front of the kennels of the house he’d built after the shooting had ended his career as a deputy. The property was huge, with kennels, a pond, and plenty of acres for working dogs. He’d intended to train K-9s as a second career. Except his sister had filled the kennels with rescues before he could even get started.
The family had played musical houses over the past months. Cady had lived with her four rescue dogs in her own little home, but now that Matt was living with Bree, it made sense for his sister to move into his larger property and be on-site with the kennels. Recently, Todd had rented out his place and moved here with her.
Matt stepped out of his Suburban into the fading twilight. The kennels erupted into a frenzy of barking.
His sister emerged, one hand on her back. Athletic and nearly six feet tall in her socks, Cady carried pregnancy well.
Matt kissed her on the cheek. “You look great.”
Cady smiled. “Thanks.”
“Did you get the results back?” Matt almost kicked himself for asking. What if they weren’t all right and she didn’t want to talk about it?
“Yeah. Everything is good.”
“Fantastic!” Relief bubbled up in Matt’s chest.
Cady rubbed her stomach, which looked like she’d swallowed a volleyball. “I’ll be glad when this is all over.”
“I know.” He patted her shoulder. “Now, what can I help you with?”
“It’s two things.” She turned and walked toward a small shed, leaving the din of the kennel behind. “Todd converted this into a quarantine kennel. We needed to make changes with that new canine respiratory disease going around.”
“Good idea.”
“Now we keep all newcomers here until they’re vetted. We built three separate enclosures and use an air filter. It’s the best we can do, considering we don’t even know how the disease spreads.” She rolled the sliding door, exposing a four-by-four vestibule with three interior doors. Cady opened the first door and stepped aside. “Take a look.”
Matt poked his head in the doorway. A furry gray lump slept on a bed raised off the concrete floor. As he entered, the lump raised its head. “A puppy?”
“Look closer.”
Matt crouched. The puppy stood, stretched, and fell out of its bed. From the gangly limbs, he estimated it was about three or four months old. Matt watched it sort out its feet. Its eyes were yellow gold. “That’s not a dog.”
“Nope,” Cady said.
The pup sniffed the air but did not run toward him.
“That’s a wolf. Where did you get a wolf puppy?” Matt assessed the pup. It was thin, with scraggly fur. “Whoever had this animal didn’t know how to care for it.”
“Some guy had it on a leash when I was picking up an owner surrender. I knew it wasn’t a dog right away.”
“Did the guy know?”
“First, he tried to hide it, then he said it was a Siberian husky puppy.” Cady rolled her eyes, making it clear what she thought of that story.
“Bullshit.” Matt sighed. “Do you have his information?”
“He wouldn’t give it, but he let me take the pup.” His sister excelled at de-escalating situations and talking people into relinquishing animals they couldn’t care for properly.
“So, he knew it was illegal.” Wolves were endangered. It was illegal to keep one without a special permit. Even wolf-hybrid dogs were illegal in New York State.
“That’s what I thought,” Cady agreed. “It felt like a precarious situation, so I didn’t push and was glad to get the pup away from him.”
Matt hoped the guy didn’t have additional wolf puppies or other illegal animals. Unfortunately, the exotic pet trade was booming. “Can you describe the guy?”
Cady nodded. “He was in his early thirties. Six one or two, wiry, shaved head. Dressed in a muscle shirt, ripped jeans, and biker boots.” She tapped her forearm with the opposite hand. “He had a tattoo of a sword with roses wrapped around it.”
“Where was this?”
Cady checked her phone and read off an address.
Matt wrote it down, recalling a meth lab Bree had busted near there a couple of months before. “Not the best area.”
“I know.” Cady nodded. “I didn’t go alone.”
Matt held his tongue. He could be overprotective. Cady was a smart woman. She didn’t take foolish chances. He had to trust her, not treat her like she was a child. Even though, to him, she would always be his baby sister.
“I brought the pup here,” she said. “I don’t even know who to call. I’ve never had this happen before.”
“I’ll contact the zoo.” Matt and Bree had encountered illegal exotic animals the previous winter, including venomous snakes. The memory gave him a phantom ache in his leg where he’d been bitten. “Can you hold on to him until tomorrow?” Matt pulled the door closed, leaving the skinny animal in peace.
“Sure.” Cady rested her hands on her rounded belly. “He’s probably better off here than at the animal shelter. At least I’ll keep him isolated. I gave him water and puppy food. I hope that’s OK.”
“Best you can do for now. It’s possible it’s a hybrid. The zoo will figure it out and hopefully find it a home,” Matt said as they left the shed. “You had something else you needed?”
“Yes. A normal thing.”
“Good.” Matt followed her into the din of the kennel. As always, it was full of dogs. Some wagged at their doors, desperate for attention. Others slunk to the back of their enclosure, wary of people. Matt’s heart ached at them all, but he knew his sister worked tirelessly to place every dog in a good home.
Cady stopped in front of one of the larger cages. Inside, a tall, lean dog leaped at its kennel door.
“That’s a Belgian Malinois. How did you get him?”
“He was an owner surrender. The guy saw a movie with a Belgian Malinois military dog star and had to have one. You know how that goes.”
“Usually, not well.”
“Nope. The owner couldn’t control him at all. When I went to pick him up, he ran straight up a wall onto a first-story roof, which summarized why the owner needed to rehome him.”
“How did you get him down?”
“I taunted him with a rope toy.” Cady patted her belly. “I surely wasn’t going up after him.”
“He looks serious.” Matt and the dog assessed each other. Matt blinked first. The dog practically vibrated with energy. “Does he have a name?”
“Not yet.” Cady’s mouth thinned. “I don’t think he’s going to make anyone a good pet, Matt.”
“Probably not. This is not a couch potato. It’s a working dog.”
“Like Greta,” Cady said.
Greta had a similar story. Matt had recognized her potential and pulled her from the rescue.
A Labrador mix in the next cage lunged onto the chain-link divider, the dog’s tail wagging like a helicopter blade. The Malinois exploded into a fury of barking and growling. The other dog backed down and whined.
OK. Not dog friendly. “Is he aggressive toward people?”
“He hasn’t tried to bite anyone, but he’s wired for action. He has a lot of energy. Todd’s going to take him running and see how he does.”
“Exercise will help, but this kind of dog needs mental stimulation,” Matt said. “Let Todd run with him, and I’ll start working with him too. We’ll see what he’s got. He’s the right breed. Looks intelligent. Definitely not timid. All good qualities in a working K-9.”
“Thank you.”
“No worries. If he works out, it’s a win-win. K-9s from specialty breeders are expensive. We have nothing to lose here.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Love you.”
“Love you back.”
He drove home. Kayla was asleep, but Matt stopped in Luke’s room to say good night. He changed his clothes and went down to the home office.
Bree was at her desk, drinking tea and staring at her laptop.
He filled her in on his trip to the kennel.
“I have three thoughts.” Bree smiled. “One, I’m so glad Cady is doing well. Two, I would love another K-9, but I’ll have to work on the board of supervisors. We’ll need money for training and equipment. Hopefully, they see how valuable Greta is and get on board.”
“The public has been supportive.”
“This is true,” Bree said. “Our K-9 fundraisers have been successful, and Greta has improved the department’s public image overall. People love dogs.”
“And three?”
She frowned. “Your wolf pup reminds me that I responded to a call about an alligator in Grey Lake last night. It was right before Claire’s 911 call came in, so I forgot about it.”
“An alligator?”
“Yep. The caller had been drinking, so I wasn’t convinced he actually saw one at the time.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m wondering if I should have taken the call more seriously.” She lifted a shoulder. “It seemed so impossible. Still does.”
“I thought I’d seen everything, but this is my first illegal wolf puppy,” Matt said. “Who needs a wolf as a pet?”
“People are weird.” Bree shook her head.
“People are also stupid, and stupid is dangerous.”