Page 28 of Rescue Them

“Can you trust them?”James asked.“I mean….”

“He’s not a terrorist or anything.Just a guy whose hobby is bringing sex offenders into the light by tracking their online activity and then getting enough info to get the police involved.He doesn’t want his name to get out, but this sort of thing would be right up his alley.”He sounded kind of happy.

“Okay.Well, see what you can find out.”Lyle had no intention of going back there.He had figured they would just follow the guy.He hadn’t expected to feel like he was getting caught in some sort of trap, and truthfully, he was just happy to be back in town.

“I will,” Wes agreed and got out of the car, but James stayed in his seat.

“You scared me when you called.I was afraid you might get hurt.”He took Lyle’s hand.“I don’t like doing this.I really think we should let the police handle it.”

Lyle sighed.“I know.And I won’t go back there.We can let Wes’s friend see what he can find, and then we’ll turn everything over to the police.Let them deal with the whole mess.I promise.”He leaned forward, and James kissed him.

“You know, I do love how passionate you are about all this.I just want you to stay safe.”He kissed him quickly and got out of the car.Lyle watched as he strode to his car and got inside before driving away.All Lyle could hope at this point was that his level of crazy hadn’t driven James away.

LYLE ANDthe dogs sat outside James’s duplex, wondering if he should get out and knock.He hadn’t heard from him since their escapade last night, and he wondered if he really had frightened him away.Dash yipped from behind him as if to say, “Stop dawdling and go get him.”Finally, he got out of the car and walked up to the building just as James came out.

“Are you ready for dinner with my mother?”Lyle asked, half expecting James to tell him that he had changed his mind and wouldn’t be able to go.

“Sure.”He went to the car, and Lyle got in as well, driving the short distance to the house his mother had in the Old Mooreland section of town.James was quiet, and Lyle kept glancing over and wondering what he was thinking.Maybe this was a bad idea after all.“I prepared myself for anything.”

“I thought that maybe I had scared you away,” he admitted.“My particular type of crazy can be too much sometimes.”

James scoffed.“We all have our brand of crazy.Just because you haven’t seen mine yet doesn’t mean it isn’t there.I’m sure it will show up eventually.”He smiled and then got out of the car.“Wow, did you grow up here?”

“No.Mom bought this house a few years ago.She always loved it, and when it came on the market, she sold the house we had and moved here.”It was a single story, crisp white trim against red brick, but spread out over a double lot with large mature landscaping.It had been built in the late twenties and was opulent inside.Lyle led the way up the walk, each of them with two of the dogs, and they went inside.“Hey, Mom.”

She came out of the kitchen, a spotless apron over her dress.When she cooked, it was like the food didn’t dare get on her clothes.“You’re right on time.”

“Yes, Mom,” he told her and got a quick hug.She and James shook hands, and then they went into the kitchen.“So how are you feeling?”He let the dogs off their leashes, and they set about exploring.

“I’m fine, and you are forbidden to ever ask me that question again.I hate it when people do that.It makes me feel as though I’m going to keel over at any second, and I don’t want to spend weeks or months in that mode.If I’m unwell, I’ll tell you.”She turned back to the stove.“Why don’t you set the table for me?”The dishes were already out, so he got on the task, leaving his mother and James to talk.That was a frightening prospect, but he supposed that if he wanted them to get along, he had to let them get to know each other.Though he never knew what his mother was going to say.

He set out the plates and silverware, adding the glasses at each place before returning to the kitchen, with the dogs following him to where James sat at the snack bar with a glass of wine.“Your mom was telling me about the time you decided to go swimming in the LeTort in January.”He snickered.

“I was seven and it was warm outside, so I thought the water would be warm.”Lyle shrugged and tried to make as little of it as possible.

“I thought my heart was going to stop and that Lyle was going to die of hypothermia, especially since the current took him downstream and he was heading toward the tunnel under the road.But I got him out and warmed him up in the car as I brought him home.I was terrified, but he just told me from the back seat that he was fine and that he wanted to go swimming again.”She sipped from her glass.“I got us a Y membership.It was safer.”

“Do you swim?”James asked Lyle.

“Yeah.I used to swim competitively.I don’t do that any longer, but I go a few times a week to the pool.It gets my heart pumping and helps me stay trim.”

“We should swim sometime.I was on the team at the Y when I was a kid.I didn’t keep up with it as I got older.But I do love the water.Though I didn’t try to go swimming in the creek in January.”

“Yeah… we’ll have to.I have the Y membership still and I swim there.I suppose you use the pool on campus.”

“Sometimes, and I go to the Y as well.I like the equipment there, and if I want to work out, I don’t need to compete with the college athletes for space and equipment.They can get a little competitive.”James finished his wine, and Mom refilled his glass.

“So.I understand you decided to chase after these dogfighters,” Mom said, and Lyle turned to James, who shook his head.“I have eyes and ears everywhere.”

“I’m not going to confirm or deny that, and whoever you’ve been talking to hasn’t been giving you completely accurate information.All I did was follow them for the safety of the dogs.I know where they are meeting, but I didn’t confront anyone, and I left right away.”He wasn’t going to tell her that James went with him.“I want these people behind bars.You should see how these dogs are kept.It’s terrible, Mom.”

She shook her head.“You were always so concerned about everyone else.”She looked down at where the dogs sat in a semicircle around her, waiting for something to drop to the floor.With Mom, they were going to wait for a long time.“Do they know they won’t get anything?”

“Dogs are the epitome of hope,” James said.

“I brought some food for them,” Lyle explained.“I’ll feed them after we eat, and they’ll be fine.Corky never fed them people food.She said it was spoiling them and that if we did, the dogs would come to expect it, and she didn’t want that.”

“Did she raise the dogs for a reason?”