Page 17 of Rescue Them

“Sure.Why?”James asked, Lyle explained about the guy who had been in.

“He looked at the dogs as though they were nothing.I gave him forms, but he just left, and I want to make sure Mitchell doesn’t let him take any of the dogs.I think he’s one of those men from a fighting ring or something.”Just the thought had him shivering.

“Okay.I’ll tell Mitchell and have him look at the tape.”

“He left in a hurry.Are all the dogs safe?”It occurred to him that if this guy was after dogs for fight training, then he might come back and try to steal the dogs he wanted.“We need to tell Mitchell that he may try to break in.People like him just don’t really care about anything other than what they want.”

James hugged him.“You did really good.Mitchell deals with people like that all the time, and he’ll know what to do.”He checked his phone.“Mitchell is on his way back.”

“Oh, good.”He leaned against James as another car pulled into the drive.He hoped it was Mitchell, but it seemed to be the man he’d spoken on the phone with earlier and his family.

James released him, and Lyle wished he could have held him longer, but he put on a smile and walked the family through the enclosures.James walked with them, and once they had picked out their dog and finished the paperwork, he told them goodbye and waited for Mitchell to return before getting ready to leave.

When Lyle returned to his car, three happy doggie faces greeted him, but Daisy wasn’t there.

His pulse raced as he looked again, counting and recounting, but only three adorable faces looked back at him.How in the hell did she get out?“Daisy,” he called and ran back into the shelter, calling and checking the aisles.But he didn’t find her.With each passing moment, all he could think was that the man who wanted two dogs had taken one of his on his way out.God, what if she was going to be used as bait for fighting dogs?Just the thought was enough to make his blood run cold.

He hurried back to the car and checked around it and under it.“James,” he cried and waited until he came around the side of the building.“Where’s Daisy?”He was in a full-on panic now.

“Don’t worry.We’ll find her.She must have slipped out when I put the dogs back in the car.”He seemed so calm, and for a second Lyle hated it because he was panicking more and more by the second.“Go that way around the house, I’ll check outside the barn, and we’ll meet up here.She isn’t going to go far.Maybe she’s just exploring.”

“Yeah… okay.”Maybe she was exploring how to give him a complete heart attack.Still, he hurried around the house, watching for her brown-and-white coat, checking anywhere she might have scampered out of sight.As he rounded the last corner, he was beginning to worry even more that she was gone.Just the thought of anything happened to her was enough to—

“Lyle,” James called, and he looked up to find him carrying Daisy in his arms.

“Is she okay?”he asked, racing over to both of them.James transferred a panting Daisy into his arms, who looked up at him with her huge black eyes as if to say, “What’s all the fuss?I was having fun.”

“She’s fine.I found her around the side of the barn.She was sniffing and seeing what was there.It’s my fault.She must have wriggled out as I was getting Dash untangled from his leash.”

“As long as she’s okay.”He buried his nose in her fur and lightly stroked her as he put her in the car.

“Why don’t you go ahead and take them home?I’ll stay here and take care of things until Mitchell gets back.”

“Are you sure?”Lyle asked, relieved.Bringing the dogs had been a bad idea.Yeah, they got to run and stuff while they were out on a leash, but mostly they spent time sleeping in the car, and they could have just as easily done that at home.

“Just go on, and I’ll see you later.”He smiled before hurrying back toward the shelter.A still shaken but mostly relieved Lyle got in the car and drove home.

Chapter 8

JAMES WATCHEDthrough the window as Lyle pulled away and out of the shelter drive.What an idiot he was—he should have kept a closer eye on the dogs once he had finished their walk.He had thought they were all in the car when he’d finished, but instead Daisy had wriggled away, and Lyle had been in a full-on panic.The worst part was that James hadn’t known what to do for him.He’d wanted to soothe him, but would he even accept it?After all, it was James’s fault that Daisy had gone missing.He should have been more careful and paid closer attention.

Hell, he was doing it again.James pulled his mind out of the mess he’d created and tried to get it back on task.The dogs had all been fed and watered, including the new ones.He had been going to some of them out in the run, but that was before Daisy had gone missing.Now that Lyle was gone, he’d need to wait for Mitchell to return in case anyone else dropped in.Which meant he would answer the phone and wait.

Thank goodness Daniel pulled in an hour later.“Mitchell is almost done at the clinic.He took care of the two dogs he brought in and got a couple of emergency calls.”Daniel worked at the clinic now.He had started out at the shelter but was in vet school now and helped out at the shelter when needed.

“We had some excitement.We think a dogfighter was in.A guy wanted two dogs, and we buried him in paperwork, so he left.Lyle noted the time he came in so that we could look at any video we might have.”

“Excellent,” Daniel said as James handed him the note.“I’ll run though the files and see what we have.These dogfighting rings are getting to be more and more of a problem.My neighbor was going into the Giant to get groceries yesterday.A lady was walking her small dog when a large one jumped out of a car and attacked it.My neighbor, Jeff, called me right away and raced over.When I got there, the little dog was dead and the owner of the pit bull was trying to get the dog back in the car, most likely to get away.Three other cars all pulled up behind him to block his way until the police got there.”His breathing came faster just telling the story.

“Do you think it could be the same guy?”James asked.Daniel pulled out his phone and showed him a picture, but James hadn’t seen him.“Can you text Lyle the picture?”He gave Daniel his number, and soon the picture went through to him as well.

“Is this the man you saw earlier?The one who wanted two dogs?”James added as explanation.It took a few minutes for his reply.

“Yes.He was all business and seemed cold to me.”

“The police know who he is, and I’ll pass on the information that he’s trying to acquire additional dogs.The dog he had was already put down, so he’s going to be on the hunt for a new one and for dogs he can use in training.”

“Oh crap,” James muttered.“And we’re going to be a prime location.”