Page 14 of One Last Stand

“Sorry, pal. We have to go in there.”

He took a step, and for the first time, Shadow didn’t budge, just emitted a whine.

“Hey, listen, we’re just going to see if you have a family, okay? This is a good thing.”

Shadow looked at him, and something in his eyes made Shep crouch in front of him. “I won’t leave you there. Really.”

The dog considered him for a moment, then suddenly slurped his chin.Oh?—

Shadow got up, and when Shep moved toward the building, the dog heeled.Yeah, good dog.

They went inside, and Shadow’s ears pricked forward. He sat, panting hard as Shep stood in front of the desk.

Somebodywas stressed out.

“I’ll send someone out to get him,” said the woman. She wore a nametag—Nora.

He leaned on the counter. “Listen, Nora, I know you’re busy. And the last thing you want is a guy coming in here needing help with his stray dog. But see . . . I think this dog actually belongs to someone. And I keep thinking about a little girl who lost her best friend and is really scared and worried, and I’m thinking, I’ll bet you’d like to get this guy back to his family as much as I would.”

She looked up at him, raised an eyebrow.

“I just want to get him scanned. Then”—he looked at Shadow, who stared up at him with those big brown eyes—“I’ll take him home with me.”

Not forever. Just until they found his home.

“Fine.” Nora picked up a small handheld scanner. She came around the desk, through the swinging doors, and felt around Shadow’s neck. She scanned him and looked at the readout.

“Yeah, he’s in the system. Let me look him up.”

She returned to her computer. Typed in the number on her scanner. “Okay, says that he’s from Minnesota. No one has listed him as missing, but there’s quite a bit of information on him—says he’s a legit companion dog for people with PTSD.”

No wonder he was so well trained. “He has an owner?”

“Yes. We can try to contact him. And you’re welcome to leave him here until we do.”

He looked at Shadow, back at Nora. “No, I made a promise. But I’ll leave my information.”

She handed him a Post-it note and a pen. He wrote down the information, then handed it to her. “Does he have a name?”

“Yeah. It’s Caspian.”

Cool name.

“Okay, Caspian, let’s go home.”

Caspian thumped his tail and got up, leaning into Shep.

He couldn’t help but smile. Okay, yes, maybe he was in a different place. Temporarily.

They got into the car, and he made a stop at a pet store, loading up on food, a collar and a leash, bowls, a tug toy, and a plush bed, even a couple dog cookies.

Set him back a crisp three hundred smackers. But Caspian happily gnawed on the bone in the back seat as they returned to his townhome, the sun dropping into the sea to the west, behind the ragged mountains. It was nearly dark by the time he turned onto his street, despite the before-dinner hour.

He’d fry up a steak and share it with Casp, and . . .Oh brother,maybe they were made for each other. Two lost, sad bachelors without their people.

The driveway lights didn’t flicker on as he drove into the darkness of his double garage.Weird.But he opened his car door, then the back door, and Caspian jumped out.

He dropped the dog’s leash as he opened up the back end, shouldering the food bag, grabbing the other loot.

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