Page 2 of No Going Back

Damn it.

Sean shoved the phone in his pocket and went inside the dilapidated building to pay for his gas. The man behind the counter had to be as old as the country. The crinkly face broke into a grin. “Hey, young fellow. What can I do for you?”

Hadn’t he seen him filling up the truck? Sean glanced around the store to see what he could grab. He wasn’t buying any food with a layer of dust on it, but he grabbed some oil and a jug of antifreeze.

When he put them on the counter, the man nodded. “Muffins are fresh. My granddaughter made them up this morning. You need a wife? She’s a great baker. Cook, too.”

Sean grinned. “No to the wife, but I’ll take a couple of muffins and the gas along with these.”

The man cackled and totaled the price on a notepad. Sean rounded it up and dropped cash on the counter. If the man was totaling with a pencil, he likely didn’t pay the monthly fee for a credit or debit machine, so he didn’t bother to ask.

The blueberry muffins smelled delicious, and he tossed the bag onto the seat after he’d stowed the antifreeze and oil in the tool box attached to the truck bed.

He had time to decide on direction before he reached the next highway. North to Vermont and his Army brothers? Or continue east? South? Back home to Miami and all its memories?

A sign pronounced that Bad Choices Road was a mile ahead. He’d have to mention it to Troy to see if he wanted to add a similar one to his town.

Grinning to himself, Sean took the road out of nothing more than curiosity and a desire to put off making a decision about direction for a few more miles.

For twenty minutes, there was nothing but empty land. Then a few farms popped up. Peanuts maybe. Of his Army buddies, Levi was the farmer. He’d know for sure.

Sean wondered what his friend was doing these days. Last he’d heard from Troy, Levi was picking up short contract work, similar to Sean himself. Apparently, his buddy wasn’t over their last mission in the Army either. While Sean was taking construction contracts, Oz was working farms.

Just thinking about his buddy’s call sign made Sean smile. Levi wasn’t fond of his Oz nickname. But that’s what you got when you were a farmer from Kansas and everyone had seen the Wizard Of Oz movie.

The couple of houses he passed were abandoned. Smaller homes that had likely been passed over for something more modern. Like everything else, farms were more automated, and he imagined the people who’d lived in these homes had moved out, whether by force or by choice, he couldn’t say.

He was past the next abandoned house when he slammed on the brakes. There was no one else on the road, so he backed up to make sure he hadn’t been imagining things.

Nope.

Sean swung the truck into the driveway and pulled up in front of the porch. An enormous dog, highland cow, or Yeti, stood on the porch howling. A thick chain attached him to the porch railing, and the behemoth was yanking at it for all he was worth.

The house looked long-abandoned, and Sean’s blood heated. Who the hell would chain a dog to an empty property? There had to be a special level of hell for people like that.

The dog sat on its haunches and howled as Sean exited the truck. “Hey, buddy. It’s okay. We’re going to get you unchained.”

Closer up, the beast looked feral. Dirty and matted. His eyes were barely visible behind the mop, and he looked like he was all filthy fur and had no meat on his enormous bones.

Sean thought about calling out to see if anyone was in the building, but he decided to deal with the dog first. Anyone who owned this dog didn’t deserve his respect. He went back to the toolbox and dug through his tools until he found bolt cutters. He also grabbed a water bottle from his cooler and a mug.

“Okay, bud, we’re going to get you out of here. First, we’ll get you a drink. Are you thirsty?”

The dog looked from Sean to the water and whimpered. Sean poured water into the mug and held it to the dog’s mouth. “Can you lap that up? I don’t have a water bowl.”

It didn’t take any time for the beast to slurp back all the water, barely wasting a drop. While he was drinking, Sean ran his hand over him. Definitely male, underfed, and abandoned.

Fury ripped through him. “I’m totally pissed, my friend, but not at you. I’m going to cut the chain further away from your body first. Don’t be scared of the noise. I’m going to help you, so no eating me. I’m a tough old bastard and wouldn’t make a good meal. But we’ll get you something soon.”

Sean used the cutters to snap the chain. Instead of being afraid, the dog tried to get his gigantic nose in the way to watch the proceedings. In the end, Sean had to sit on the porch with the dog under his arm while cutting through the metal.

He kept talking, getting the animal used to his voice. He’d worked with another Army buddy, Garrett, aka Scooby, long enough to know some tricks around animals. Not that this one needed a lot of tricks. He was a friendly giant.

“What’s your name, boy? We’re going to need to call you something. Shaggy would work, but that was Garrett’s dog’s name.” The memory made Sean smile sadly. Shaggy had been the best dog he’d ever met. She’d been a hero that day, but none of them were likely to get over that loss completely. Especially Scooby.

He drew his attention back to the mutt. “Sasquatch? Tiny? Marmaduke? Tank? Jabba?”

At the final name, the dog barked and licked Sean’s face. “Jabba? That’s the one you want?”

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