Page 57 of K-9 Prime Target

When Liam pulled his SUV into her driveway, Nina started to open the car door, then froze. “We didn’t leave the front door open like that,” she said.

“No, we didn’t.”

She shoved out of the car and headed up the walk at a jog. “Nina!” Liam called, but she ignored him.

She stepped into chaos—stuffing bursting from slashed upholstery, the contents of a bookcase swept onto the floor, pictures knocked from the wall. “Sky!” she called. “Angel!”

“Nina!” Liam followed her into the house.

“I can’t find the dogs,” she said, and moved on into the kitchen. The mess here was worse—the contents of the cabinets and refrigerator spilled across the floor, dishes and glasses smashed. She stepped through puddles of syrup, her shoes crunching on broken glass. She froze again at the back door. It, too, stood open, the panels splintered. The violence of the destruction made her sick to her stomach.

Liam put a hand on her shoulder. “We need to get out of here and call the sheriff,” he said.

She stared up at him. “Where are the dogs? What if he hurt the dogs?” She turned and moved back through the rooms, calling for Sky and Angel. She looked in the bathroom, under the bed and in closets. Behind her, she heard Liam calling for them, too. But no furry faces emerged, and no wagging tails greeted her.

“They’re not here,” Liam said. “Sky and Angel are gone.”

* * *

Liam had sheltered in dirt-floored cellars, listening to bombs falling nearby. He had tiptoed past lines of enemy soldiers, facing imprisonment or death if he was discovered. He had photographed members of drug cartels who might turn on him at any moment, but he had never been as terrified as he was now. Angel—his best friend and companion, his responsibility—was gone. He had left her alone for a few hours, and now he couldn’t bear to think what might have happened to her.

“Sky! Angel!” Nina, tears in her voice, walked through the ransacked rooms, calling for the dogs. Liam pulled her close and she burst into tears.

“Let’s go outside,” he said. Being inside, amidst all this destruction, was too upsetting. “I’ll call the sheriff from there.”

Nina pushed away from him and wiped at her eyes. “Maybe the dogs were frightened and ran away,” she said. Not waiting for a response, she hurried outside, shouting for the dogs.

He spotted his laptop in the debris and picked it up. The screen was smashed. Thank God he had had his camera equipment in the car with them this morning.

He moved past the splintered door, into the backyard. Nina’s property backed onto the national forest. The location was peaceful and private, but that also meant no neighbors had a view of the back door. The stalker had been free to wreak havoc in broad daylight.

He phoned 911 and reported the break-in, then joined Nina in calling for the dogs. She was crying again, and he felt like joining in, but fought the feeling. Nicholson might be watching them, reveling in their distress.

Two sheriff’s department vehicles arrived. Liam and Nina met the sheriff and another officer Liam didn’t recognize at the front door. “You say someone broke in?” the sheriff asked.

“The back door is broken open,” Liam said. “It looks like it was attacked with an axe. The house is ransacked.”

“Our dogs are missing,” Nina said.

The lawmen followed them around to the back of the house. When the sheriff saw the door, he sucked his teeth. “Have you been inside?” he asked.

“We walked through the house,” Liam said.

“We were looking for the dogs,” Nina added.

“You should have called us before you went in,” the sheriff said. “Whoever did this might have still been in there.”

“There’s no one in there now,” Liam said.

“Wait here,” the officer said. Both men went into the house. Nina turned to face the woods. Liam knew she was searching for the dogs. A full ten minutes passed before the sheriff and the deputy emerged. “Did whoever did this leave anything behind?” the sheriff asked. “Any more notes?”

“No,” Nina said.

“We didn’t spend a lot of time looking,” Liam said.

“Do you think whoever did this was looking for something?” the sheriff asked. “Any idea what that might be?”

“I don’t think they were looking for anything,” Nina said. “I think it was Nicholson. He just wanted to hurt me.”