The dog barked once, and he cuddled her up closer. He took a long moment to scratch her under the chin, to rub the top of her head, to run smooth hands down her throat and her neck. He leaned over and gave her a big hug.
“You’re such a sweetheart,” he said. “I certainly understand that every animal will bite given the right circumstances, but it’s hard to know what that circumstance would be in your case, if you didn’t bite the psycho sister. But, if you do bite someone, I hope it is that nasty sister because she deserves a couple good bites. But even that thought just made you sick somehow though, didn’t it? Just thinking about all that vile nastiness in your mouth was bad enough, huh?”
He continued to talk to Bernie gently in a soft tone, just giving Tucker time to stretch out and Bernie time to ease back a little bit. She seemed totally willing to listen to his voice to stay calm. No reason for her not to. No threats were around, no aggravation or arguments were happening to disturb her peace. Everything was very peaceful out here. He wondered if it was too peaceful or if just that inner sense he had said that his world was usually full of chaos and war. Not since he’d been hospitalized obviously but, before that, it seemed like all he had were various elements of strife, one way or another.
But not now. And that was important to hang on to.
As he sat here, musing about the changes in his life, the restaurant door opened, and Addie came back out, carrying a large bag and a tray of coffee cups. He rolled down the window and said, “I should have thought that you might need somebody to help you carry stuff.”
“As you can see, I did just fine,” she said with a smile, as she held out the few things in her hand. “If you’ll grab the cups,” she said, “I’ll come around and bring the rest of the food.”
He took the two cups, put them in the holders in the dash. She walked around, opened the door, and hopped in. Immediately Bernie snuffled all over the bag.
“No,” he said, “Bernie, that’s not for you.”
She gave him the most soulful look in her eyes, and Addie laughed. “I might have picked up a sausage sandwich for her,” she said.
He just rolled his eyes at her. “You know it’s not good for her.”
“A lot of things aren’t good for her,” she said, “but, at this point, I don’t think that’s the priority.”
“I can’t argue with you there,” he said with a smile. He looked down at the dog. “You’re already spoiled, that’s all.”
She gave a woof and laid down between them, her eyes like a hawk as they unwrapped egg sandwiches. Tucker took a bite, loving the taste of the sausage patty—even though he knew it was probably loaded in sodium and fat—but, for once, he didn’t give a crap. “These are really good.”
“I’m enjoying it too,” she said, studying the sandwich in her hand. “It’s funny the things that you end up liking.”
“It works for me,” he said. “Just think about how more traffic would benefit a place like this.”
“It’s also one of the reasons why I wouldn’t come though,” she said. “I prefer much less traffic than more.”
“You and me both.” He smiled, and the two of them kept eating.
By the time Addie was down to the last bite, she held it out to Bernie. She immediately whimpered and wagged her tail, inching closer. Addie gave it to her, then pulled out the extra sandwich for her. Bernie was very animated in her appreciation. The sandwich was gone in about two gulps.
Then Addie lifted her coffee, took a sip, and winced because it was still too hot. “How about we go take a look? Now that the food’s gone, we can take the coffee with us.”
“I was just going to suggest that,” he said, popping his dirty wrapper into the paper bag. He held it out for hers and then hopped from the truck, letting Bernie out on his side. He reached for his coffee and walked up to a garbage can to dump their trash bag. He turned, hit the button on the key fob to lock up his truck, and then waited for her to catch up with him and Bernie.
“Are we expecting to find something here?” she asked.
“I hope to find something, but expecting? I don’t know about that. It would just be nice.”
“Great,” she said. “I’ll tell you where we found you but …”
“No,” he said, “show me where you found my phone.”
She stopped, oriented herself, pointed in the right direction, and the three of them quickly followed that path. When they got to the edge of the parking lot, a cement barricade stopped vehicles from driving farther. She asked, “How did the guy carry you over this?”
Bernie was already sniffing the area.
Tucker bent down, took a look, and nodded. “One guy. A fireman’s carry maybe. Or two guys. Even so, probably had to shuffle over this with the added weight,” he said, “and then managed to lose my phone in the process and didn’t notice because he or they were in such a panic.”
“Still … would have been easier for him to just attack you in the truck,” she murmured.
“I wasn’t actually in the truck at the time. Remember?” he said. “I’d already come outside to walk Bernie.”
She gave a woof in agreement.
“Right,” Addie said, “so maybe you were already walking the dog over here?”
He frowned, nodded, and said, “That’s quite possible actually, and maybe I had my phone in my hand, and, when I went down, he wouldn’t have noticed. It was getting dark out at that time. That makes the most sense of all,” he said with a bright smile, looking at her.
She shrugged. “I’m not just some dumb bunny.”
He burst out laughing. “You’re nothing like a dumb bunny,” he said, reaching out a hand. She hooked hers into his, and they carefully walked toward where he’d been found. Bernie was on alert the whole way.
Chapter 10
Addie noted how quiet Bernie was, how her ears twitched at every noise. She watched Tucker study the ground, looking for hidden signs that she couldn’t possibly even recognize. She thought about asking him what he was looking for but figured it would just distract him. So she waited, as they made one pass, two passes, and then three passes, finally noting that they were moving outward from the main pathway a couple feet every time. “What do you expect to find on the outer edges?” she asked.
“Tracks,” he said. “Most people don’t take as much care on their way out as they do on the way in. They almost panic, trying to leave as fast as they can.”
“And yet we’re still walking the same pathway he took on the way in?”
“Only for the moment,” he said. “I’ll switch, and we’ll start looking wider soon.”
She nodded and waited and did exactly what he said, and then he came to a stop at a group of trees. “He stopped right here,” he said. “Look at all these footprints.”
She noted the flattened ground cover and saw it had been well trampled. “Or it could have been somebody else,” she suggested.
“It’s possible,” he said, “but not likely, given the circumstances of what already happened here.”