Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dante
When Reino’s truck pulls up in the driveway, I walk down the steps to greet him. Having warned me that he was on his way to the house, I waited outside.
Once he’s parked, I lean through the open window on the passenger side and come face to face with a wiry-haired mutt.
Reino leans an arm on his window. “The vet book is in the glove compartment. His shots as well as his tick and deworming treatments are up to date.”
Kent baptized him Flash when he adopted him from a shelter. From the few encounters I’ve had with the dog, it was clear that Kent trained him well.
Flash tilts his head this way and that, studying me with one ear standing up and the other flopping down.
“Hey, boy.” I scratch his chin. “You need a new home.”
“He passed the socialization test with flying colors.”
As he’s a mature dog, I wanted to be sure he’s compatible with kids.
Reino strokes Flash’s back. “He’s a good boy. Intelligent too.”
I open the door. Flash doesn’t hesitate to jump down. That’s a good start. At least he’s not scared to explore a new territory.
After closing the door, I hold up a finger. “Sit.”
Flash sits down immediately, his brown eyes trained with eager attention on my face.
“I think he’ll do.” Reino chuckles. “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be happy to take him.”
“Thanks,” I shoot over my shoulder as I flick my fingers at Flash and start walking back to the house.
We stop on the porch. “Do you like balls? Want to meet someone who loves playing with balls too?”
Flash wags his tail.
“Come.”
I open the door and go ahead, keeping an eye on him over my shoulder. He looks around and sniffs here and there, but he doesn’t run off to investigate on his own, which is another reassuring sign. He’s been taught to obey commands without getting distracted easily.
His nails clack on the floor as he runs behind me with his tail in the air and his head held high.
Good.
He’s behaving confidently and not scared.
Tatiana exits the kitchen just as Flash and I arrive at the door.
She gasps. “Who’s this?” Going down on her haunches, she holds out her hand for him to sniff. “Hey there, cutie. Look at you. What a handsome boy you are.” She glances at me. “Can I touch him?”
“He’s house trained and used to people.”
She reaches out slowly and pats his head. “Whose dog is it?”
“It was Kent’s.”
She goes still. “Was?” When I don’t reply, she straightens. Alarm flashes in her eyes. Despite the marital bliss that has her face permanently glowing these days, those green pools appear as haunted as ever. “What happened?”
“He double-crossed me.”
I don’t have to say more. She knows what that means.
Her cheeks pale. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Shoving a hand in my pocket, I tilt my head toward the dog. “His name is Flash. He needs a new home.”
Catching on, her mouth pulls into an O. “Do you think he’ll be a good match for Noah?”
“Reino took him to a dog trainer. I didn’t want to take any risks. He passed all his tests. We spoke about adopting a dog for Noah, but if this isn’t what you want, I’ll understand. I can find him another home.”
“No.” Her face crumples with an adoring look. “I feel so sorry for him. Do you think he knows?”
That Kent is gone? Animals know these things. “At least the dog is eating normally and didn’t object to Reino taking him for his walk.”
She bends down and scratches him behind the ear, muttering endearments.
I let my gaze play over her beautiful face, remembering last night and already wanting more of that when I should be focused on Flash. “Shall we find Noah?”
“He’s playing in the backyard.” She beams with delight. “He’s going to be so happy.”
Making my way to the back door, I pat my thigh for Flash to follow me. “Let’s give it a test-drive and see how it goes.”
“I’ve always wanted to get him a dog.”
I stop. “You remember that?”
“Not exactly.” She flushes a little. “I can’t explain how I know it. I just know it’s something I wanted to do but circumstances got in the way.”
Those circumstances being running from one dump to the next to save her and our son’s lives.
She shrugs off the comment. “It’s intuition, I guess.”
Tatiana and I walk outside with Flash sandwiched between us.
Noah is practicing his kicks in the goal net. When he sees us, he drops the ball and comes running.
“Daddy!”
Not used to boisterous voices and actions, Flash hides behind me.
Noah crashes into my legs, nearly knocking me off my feet.
“Hey, buddy.” I catch him to prevent him from bouncing off my shins and landing on his ass. “I brought a visitor.”
Flash peeps out from behind my legs.
“A dog,” Noah exclaims.
Flash doesn’t retreat, but he tucks his tail between his legs.
“He’s an older dog, and he’s not used to young kids,” I explain. “You have to speak calmly and move slowly so that you don’t frighten him.”
“Okay,” Noah whispers, looking at Flash with big eyes.
“Not that softly,” I chuckle. “His name is Flash.”
Noah frowns. “Why Flash?”
“Because he’s as fast as a flash of lightning.”
“Is he mine?” Noah asks, his small face hopeful.
“That depends on how well he settles in with us. Would you like us to adopt him?”
Noah bobs his head up and down. “Yes.”
“Come here, Flash.”
Flash comes out from behind me and stops next to my leg.
“That’s called to heel,” I tell Noah. “If you want him to stay at your side, you need to tell him in a firm voice, “Heel.”
“Heel,” Noah says in a serious but subdued tone.
Flash lifts his butt and sits down again.
The sound of Tatiana’s laugh is carefree and beautiful. “He’s such a clever dog. He just repeated that command like a pro.”
“If you want him to heel at your side, you have to pat your thigh like this.”
I show Noah how.
At the second try, Flash moves to Noah’s right side and sits down next to him.
“Oh, wow.” Noah looks at me. “Did you see that?” He bends down and pets Flash. “You’re the cleverest dog in the world.”
Tatiana shoots me a smile.
“Shall we see how good Flash is at fetching a ball?”
“Can he play with my soccer ball?”
“Not unless you want it deflated. His teeth will damage it, and the ball is too big for his jaw. Let’s try a tennis ball for now. If everything goes well, we can buy a ball that’s adapted to a dog of his size.”
Noah sprints to the container on the deck in which we keep his inflatable pool toys and returns with a tennis ball.
For a while, Tatiana and I watch as Noah and Flash get acquainted.
She leans against me, snuggling with her shoulder against my arm. “I think it’s going really well.” Her voice is a little sad. “Poor Flash.”
What she’s really saying is that she feels sorry for both the dog and its dead owner.
Noah, out of breath after so much running, flops down on the lawn. Flash immediately sits down next to him.
Noah puts an arm around the dog. “Are you thirsty? I’ll get you water, Flash.”
It’s an endearing scene.
She glances up at me. “What do you think?”
I pull her closer with a hand on her hip. “They’re a good match.”
After Flash’s adoption, I spend time with Noah teaching him how to handle the dog and general facts about the behavior and needs of canine pets.
At first, I’m always present when Noah is with Flash, but as time goes by and the integration evolves smoothly for both Noah and the dog, I allow him to spend short periods with Flash on his own while I remain in the background.
When I’m sure that Noah’s got a handle on the new situation and that Flash is happy, I return my full attention to work related matters.
A few uneventful days go by during which I don’t get any closer to finding Tatiana’s kidnappers.
The emblem on the back of the lighter pistol leads me to a guy who makes pistols on order.
He tells me the lighter was for one of his clients, a woman who wanted to give her husband something different for his birthday.
When I tell him who I am, he’s quick to share her telephone number with me.
It doesn’t take long to find her address, which is listed on her cell phone contract.
I take Ulysses with me as Reino is keeping an eye on the house. He promised Noah they could play ball with Flash.
The woman who opens the door of a fancy apartment in an affluent neighborhood has platinum blond hair and glacial blue eyes.
I judge her to be in her early sixties. She wears a maxi dress with a flowery jacket.
Strings of colorful beads are wound around her neck.
The diamond on her ring finger is worth at least two luxury yachts.
She leans on the door frame, looking me up and down as she drags on a cigarette before saying with a slight Russian accent, “I know your face.”
I raise a brow. “Do you?”
“From the tabloids. You’re the bachelor who only dates blondes.”
I lift my left hand where the gold band on my finger catches the light, a ring I bought and forced my wife to put on my finger. “Married now.”
She utters a hoarse laugh. “She’s a lucky girl.” Sliding her gaze to the gun in the holster that shows beneath my jacket, she adds, “Or maybe not.”
The fact that she’s not concerned about the weapon or about opening her door for an armed man says she’s used to being around firearms and she’s not afraid of me.
She should be.
“I was hoping you could help me,” I say.
She takes another drag from her cigarette and blows the smoke sideways. “Is that so?”
“You bought a lighter pistol for your husband, Gavril Dmitriev.”
She narrows her heavy-lined eyes. “Oh, you mean the scumbag who promised to be faithful until the day he dies?”
Touché. “The weapon was involved in an incident. I’d like to speak to him.”
Scoffing, she tips her ash on the polished floor of the landing. “You’ll just waste your breath on that bastard. I can tell you right now where that zippo gun is. He gave it to a whore at the strip club where he fucks away his money.”
“He gave away a birthday gift from his wife?”
“Ex-wife.” Her red lips stretch into a humorless smile. “What can I say? He ran out of money to pay the whore.”