Kyron, page 6
The man immediately shook his head. “Not with three legs, no,” he replied. “We do get dogs around here once in a while but not in that kind of condition,” he murmured. “I haven’t seen anything myself.” He pondered for a moment. “However, I remember one of the other security guards talking about a lady, who had a neighbor who recently saw a dog.” He frowned, pulled out his phone, and sent off a couple texts. “I’m just checking with her to see.” Moments later, his phone pinged, and then he shook his head. “She doesn’t know where it was, but it was three-legged apparently.”
“Well, that’s a very good indicator,” Kyron said, with a smile. “No idea where it was, huh?”
The security guard was texting again. “It certainly wasn’t here.” He looked around. “I definitely would have seen that. A War Dog, huh?”
“Yeah.” Kyron nodded. “A highly trained War Dog that was supposed to retire to a home here but apparently ended up having issues. The people didn’t report the dog as missing, so it’s been gone a couple months.”
The man winced at that. “Two months in this weather is bound to be pretty rough.”
“That’s exactly why I’ve been sent here, to try to find her and to see if she’s okay.”
“Well, that’ll be tough, if she’s not okay, since it’s been so long—unless somebody is helping her or took her in, making her life a little bit better.” The guard grimaced. “I really hate it when people pull crap like that. All they had to do was tell somebody that they couldn’t handle the dog.”
“Exactly,” Kyron noted in full agreement. He left him his name and number and added, “Look. If anybody sees anything or if you hear any more about where this dog may have been seen, I’d appreciate it if you could let me know immediately.”
Just then the security guard’s phone buzzed again. He pulled it out and raised a finger. “Wait. … Linda says it was on the other side of town, heading out toward the highway.”
“Okay, that helps.”
“But that was a couple months ago, she says.”
“Of course it was, and the dog could have done some heavy traveling in the meantime.”
“Well, if she’s good at traveling, then I would think so. But, if she’s only on three legs and potentially not in the best physical shape, she wouldn’t have gone too far, would she?” the security guard asked curiously.
“Well, that will be the question I’ll end up trying to figure out,” he replied, with a smile. “Thanks for your help, man, and, if you hear anything else, let me know.” With that, Kyron returned to his truck. He still had three more addresses to follow up on and now a fourth area to check out. This last one sounded a little more promising, as the actual people reporting it sounded a little bit more viable. However, as the crow flies, he headed out to the next closest area, following the GPS. When he got there, all he saw were houses, streets, and snow. People were outside, walking their dogs and talking with their neighbors, but a storm brewed in the distance.
He pulled up beside an older man, who was walking two dogs, and he stopped and talked to him. The man shook his head and pointed to somebody else. That’s what Kyron did, going from one person to another, each knowing somebody, who knew somebody else, and, at the end of a couple hours, he didn’t have anybody who had a viable sighting.
As he walked a little bit farther along and studied the terrain, he realized this area was likely all wrong for Beth. The War Dog needed more room, more outdoor space. The vehicles would be something she would be quite comfortable with, but she wouldn’t necessarily stick around this area because no food was here. This was a well-maintained neighborhood, with lots of dogs in residence, so garbage cans would be the only real source of food. And maybe that’s what the dog was doing, going from garbage can to garbage can. Still, this neighborhood seemed too tidy for a dog living off the land.
Just as he headed back to his vehicle, someone called out to him. He looked up to see the first man who he’d spoken to, now walking toward him.
“I just talked to my wife, and she heard that, near one of the schools, a three-legged dog had been seen. Apparently someone had picked up this dog and was keeping it in a pen.” The man gave Kyron further directions.
“Okay.” Kyron reoriented himself and thanked the man for the information and drove down the street. At this rate he’d be talking to half the town before he had any usable information that panned out.
As he headed toward the newest lead, he noticed this area was completely different, where the homes were much farther apart, and the lot sizes were much bigger. The residences may be situated closer along the street, but some had very large backyard spaces behind them.
When Kyron noted a full pallet of dog food at the end of a driveway, he stopped and got out. It was very unusual to see the average homeowner getting that type of bulk delivery. Walking over, he met a woman coming out, clearly sweaty and tired, brushing strands of hair off her face. He stepped forward and said, “Hey, I can’t say I’ve seen too many people get dog food by the pallet.”
She looked up at him and then nodded. “Yeah, it was a donation, from one of the dog food companies.” She pointed toward the back, behind her house. “I run a little animal rescue.”
“Ah,” he said and brightened considerably. “That makes sense. I’m Kyron. I don’t suppose you’ve seen a three-legged dog anywhere, have you?”
She frowned. “Maybe,” she replied cautiously. “Who’s asking?” He smiled at that and quickly explained. She shook her head. “I’m Miranda. Wow, that’s not what I expected you to say.”
“No, I suppose not,” he agreed, with a smile. “But does that mean you have or you haven’t?”
“I have.” She then pointed down the road, toward where the next house was. “Old Man Macintyre brought home a three-legged dog out of the blue one day and kept it locked up in the back. Apparently the dog had other ideas and took off.”
“Interesting. Have you seen it around lately?” When she hesitated, he knew that was a bingo right there, and he smiled at her gently. “You obviously have your hands full here.” He walked over to the pallet, bent down, and picked up one of the big dog food bags, and flung it over his shoulder. “And you obviously care about animals. I came to town for the sole purpose of making sure this one is okay.”
“I guess I’m always a little hesitant because people like to keep dogs like that for the wrong reasons, as if they’re curiosities or some sort of trophy.” He stared at her. She nodded. “Right, I mean it’s not exactly an animal you want to showcase. It sounds like he’s already been through way more than enough.”
“She actually.”
“It’s a female?” she asked softly.
“Yes, and fixed.”
“Good.” She nodded. “Most of these animals have already been through so much. I can’t even wrap my head around the idea that, on top of it all, she was a War Dog.”
“Well, the fact of the matter is, she’s no longer a War Dog, and she deserves the best chance for retirement and the best chance at a home life that she can get,” Kyron explained.
“Right,” she murmured. She bent down, picked up another bag. “You can follow me with that, if you like.” Then she led him around to the back, where she had the side doors of the garage open.
As he stepped inside, he noted that the entire garage was sectioned off into pet foods. Setting the bag on the floor, he stated, “I’m sure that amount of dog food is a godsend.”
“You’re not kidding,” she agreed. “I’ve got hay coming tomorrow for the horses. Although I might push that back a few days.”
“So, you have horses here too?” he asked. “Wow, that takes a lot of dedication.”
“All it takes,” she replied, her tone sounding borderline bitter, “is a heart.”
He stopped and gave her a small smile. “Hey, remember why I’m here?”
She nodded. “I am trying to remember that, but I also don’t know who you are. You can pretty much say you’re anybody, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot to me.”
That sat him back on his heels a bit, and he wasn’t sure how to improve things, but, if she’d seen the dog, he needed to do whatever he could. “Obviously you’ve come up against some jerks in this world, and I’m sorry about that,” he replied. “But I’m really just here to help the dog.” Walking back outside, he grabbed another bag, threw it over his shoulder, then bent down, smiling at how the knee replacements were functioning just fine, and scooped up a second bag under his arm.
When she watched him grab the second one, her jaw dropped. “Wow, nice trick.”
“Spent a lot of years working in the service.”
She stopped, studied him. “Were you a K9 handler by chance?”
“I was for a long time,” he admitted, “and then I just couldn’t handle it anymore.”
“Handle what?”
“I couldn’t handle the deaths, the accidents, the problems, and the fact that I wasn’t allowed to love them because they had to be moved on to other trainers and other handlers as well.” He sighed, shaking his head. “It ended up being something I just couldn’t do.”
“I couldn’t do that at all,” she shared instantly.
Although the garage door was open for them, he also noted a gate in the backyard fencing and quite a few dogs barking and roaming around freely. “How many dogs do you have here?”
“I’ve got nine at the moment,” she told him, “and fourteen cats. Some are indoor cats. Thankfully I just placed the rabbits with a rescue. But I’ve still got a llama, horses, and a goat.” She shook her head. “People get these ideas that having a pet is so great, until they realize they have to look after the animal on an ongoing basis, including buying food, getting veterinary care and training, and it seems like the minute there is a bump in the road, so many of them find a way to just dump the animal. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found animals tied up to my front door.”
“Wow,” he replied in shock, “that’s just crazy.”
“I know, and other rescue operations are here in town, larger facilities that are official organizations,” she stated. “But anybody who knows me also knows that I lack the ability to say no,” she admitted, “and they tend to take advantage.”
“And yet you would want them to take advantage, if that meant securing the animals and keeping them safe, because whoever would do that in the first place isn’t somebody who deserves to have them anyway.”
Chapter 4
Miranda studied the man before her, obviously strong and fit, yet he walked with a bit of a limp, but he was saying all the things that she appreciated hearing. She just didn’t have much faith in human nature anymore. Was he just saying it to get information from her? But really, what information did she have to offer?
Had she seen the dog? Possibly.
Could she help him get the dog? Possibly.
Would she want to do that? She wasn’t sure, primarily because she didn’t trust him. He carried bags and worked steadily at her side, until all of the dog food was stacked neatly in the garage. He looked around and murmured, “Got to be hundreds of dollars worth of pet food here.”
“A thousand, actually,” she corrected him. “I work at a local veterinary office part-time, usually just on Saturdays—unless he needs me otherwise—to cover the vet bills for my animals. The company sales rep was there one day, and we were talking about my problem with getting dog food in bulk, and he offered to send some over. Imagine my surprise when this showed up.” She waved her hand at the empty pallet that the stranger, Kyron, had picked up, immediately asking where she wanted it.
“Well, I can undoubtedly find a use for it,” she noted, “so let’s put it in the backyard.” She quickly went ahead of him, while he carried the pallet, then opened up the gate to the backyard. Immediately they were inundated with dogs. He put the pallet down where she wanted it, then stopped for a moment to survey the animals. With a big grin, he crouched down, albeit somewhat awkwardly, and gave the animals his attention.
That was another thing she really appreciated, somebody who knew when to take a moment. Because, with the animals, although they would ask for attention, they didn’t always get what they wanted at the right time. They would keep asking, until they realized none was coming their way. And, with him, as a stranger, the animals were obviously quite interested in who he was. They also were calming down and accepting him at a rate that she found surprising.
She also trusted animals far more than people, and, if her animals thought Kyron was okay, well then, maybe he was. When he stood up again, laughing, he said warmly, “You have a great place here.”
She frowned. “Not the usual response I get from people.”
“Because they’re not animal people.” He shrugged. “There are definitely times in life where you have to pick the people or the animals that you want to hang out with and just ditch the rest.”
She snorted with laughter at that. “Yeah,” she agreed. “Except that a lot of people don’t see the same side of that.”
He nodded. “I get that. I’m an animal person, have been all my life,” he noted quietly. “If I hadn’t gone into the service, I probably would have done something along the medical line with them.”
“A vet?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “That always seemed like far too much time in school. Honestly, you running a rescue like this gives me ideas.”
She frowned, tilted her head. “Like your own rescue?” she asked. “Because, if you want to give it a shot and if you’ve got a place and if you can take a few animals, I am more than happy to help you get started,” she declared.
He looked at her, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. “I don’t know where I’ll end up yet. I’m not sure I want to stay around here.” He paused. “This town holds a lot of uneasy memories for me.”
“I think it does for a lot of people,” she agreed. “In many ways it’s a wonderful town. Yet, in other ways, not so much. Aspen is a big city, and you’ll have all the elements that go along with it,” she explained, “including people who are great. And then the assholes come along and get pets for their kids for a holiday, then dump the pets when they are tired of the added responsibilities.” She sighed. “Believe me. I’ve got several that were found that way.”
His gaze hardened, and she once again felt relieved that he was such a devoted animal lover.
She nodded. “If you’ve got land, then a rescue would be huge. But you also need an income or lots of donations because these little darlings will bleed you dry.” She cheerfully pointed at the animals milling around and then nodded toward the horses in the enclosure behind her.
“This is what I have, plus I lease out the backyard from the neighbor, but he’s talking about selling because property prices have gone up so much, and he wants to get out of town,” she added quietly. “If that happens, I have no idea what I’ll do with the horses.”
“And I suppose nobody’s around to help you out.”
“Well, apparently a great-uncle of mine just found out from my grandma that I was doing this, and he cut me a check to help out.” She beamed with happiness. “Honestly, that seemed like a miracle and has allowed me to order hay for the whole winter and to restock supplies.”
“Hopefully your neighbor won’t sell too quickly.”
“He says he’s still thinking about it, but, as you know, things can change pretty fast,” she murmured. “And, yeah, moving the horses and all that hay would be a problem but not impossible.”
“Have you got it yet?”
“No, it’s coming tomorrow.” She paused, staring at him. “Why?”
“Will they unload the truck for you?”
She nodded. “They have a trailer, and they’ll just slide everything off on this side of the fence.” She pointed out where she had a big rough-looking fence that held the last of the hay that she had right now.
He nodded, his hands on his hips as he looked around.
“It’s pretty rough looking, I know.”
“Hey, what you’re trying to do is the rough part,” he noted, with a shrug. “But, yeah, forty acres would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
“Wouldn’t it?” she agreed. “That would be awesome, but my first thought is, how much it would cost to put in fencing.”
“One hell of a lot,” he replied. “And yet so worthwhile.”
“Well, anytime you feel like you’re pulled to come lend a hand with the animals,” she suggested cheerfully, “I won’t say no to help.”
He turned to face her. “Does that mean you trust me?”
“Let me just say that the animals trust you, and I can work with that.”
He nodded. “They’re pretty good judges of character, aren’t they?”
“Usually,” she murmured, “but they’re not infallible though.”
He smiled. “No, that’s true, but, for the record, I’ve never done anything to hurt an animal in my life. And, if I could figure out a way to do something like this,” he stated, “I would be all over it.”
She stared at him, so curious. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “I’ve seen how rough the K9 military life can be, and how hard and yet still rewarding it is for the animals. They get a lot of love, a lot of feedback, and they’re well treated and are supposed to be retired to good homes”—he shook his head—“which is why I’m so angry about this one.”
When he told her what had happened, she could feel her own stomach clenching in fury. “I don’t understand why they couldn’t have just said, Hey, guys, we can’t handle this dog.”
“Because it’s admitting failure,” he noted quietly. “I’m not sure how much you understand about human nature, but—”
She held up a hand. “I understand enough,” she replied quietly. “And, for some reason, admitting failure or otherwise acknowledging that you can’t handle something or that you changed your mind is something that most people are incapable of doing. It just pisses me off because then the animals suffer, when they don’t need to.” She saw that he agreed with that.
