at her and the dog as he walked away.
She took a second look, noticing the beads of moisture clinging to the dog’s back. Water. Food. Kai was beginning to realize she hadn’t factored the dog into her plans at all. Good thing that dog isn’t going home with me.
Finally, it was her turn at customs and once again, the signature on Amigo’s papers raised an eyebrow and garnered an automatic clearance stamp. “Must be some special dog,” the officer commented.
“Apparently,” Kai muttered, grabbed the documents and pushed the trolley through the security doors. By the time she checked in at the car rental, Kai knew her schedule was already way out of whack. She tried to quell the rising frustration.
Remotely unlocking the SUV, she opened the rear hatch. It occurred to her that there was no way she’d be able to lift the dog into the vehicle while it was still in its crate. She looked around for a porter, kicking herself for not thinking of getting one as she left the terminal. Then she remembered the leash Corporal McDougall had handed her, together with a paper certifying the dog’s various vaccinations. “Helps to have a vet on base,” he’d mentioned, “and access to certain medical supplies.”
She dug into her carry-on for the leash. “All right, you can do this, Kai Westfield. You’ve handled bigger critters than this sorry-looking mutt.” She unhitched the crate door and slowly opened it. “Easy boy,” she murmured. But instead of leaping into freedom, the dog crouched in the far corner. “Come on, boy. Just let me get this leash onto your collar.”
The dog refused to cooperate, and Kai was reluctant to stick her hand into the crate any farther. She was afraid he might lunge at her, especially if he had been as deeply attached to the captain as McDougall had said. Her brother had once owned a dog like that, and it had eventually had to be put down as no one else in the family could handle it.
“Maybe if we see eye to eye on this, buddy.” She sat on the pavement and peered into the open crate. The dog gave her a baleful look.
“Some motivation, perhaps?” She rummaged around in her handbag till her fingers grasped the end of a granola bar. “Don’t know how old this thing is, but you probably won’t care.” Tearing off the wrapper, she extended the bar into the cage.
The dog’s nose twitched. He slowly rose off his haunches and followed the bar out of the crate and onto the pavement. Kai quickly clipped the leash onto the collar as he wolfed down the last of the bar. He licked his lips, stretched and looked back at her before wobbling over to the rear tire and cocking his hind leg.
Right, thought Kai. Gotta get that business over with. Finished, the animal turned to face her as if to say, “Now what?”
“Exactly my sentiments,” she muttered. “I guess some water would be good.” She pulled out the half-empty bottle she’d had on the flight. “Sorry, no fancy bowl.” She tipped some into her cupped palm and held it out. Curious, he moved forward, sniffed her hand, peered apprehensively at her and then lapped up the water. Kai repeated this until the bottle was empty.
She hoisted the empty crate into the rear of the SUV. The dog stared thoughtfully at her for a moment before leaping into the back next to the crate. Kai slammed the hatch and got into the driver’s seat. “Okay. Let’s get this show on the road.” She took a look at the dog in the rearview mirror, turned the key and shifted into gear.
Fifteen minutes from her destination, she checked the mirror for the umpteenth time, marveling that an animal that had never experienced life outside rural Afghanistan could so blithely snooze through early rush hour in one of the largest cities in the States. Making up for the trauma of his first flights, she guessed. And with any luck, she thought, turning into the residential area where Captain Rossi lived, she’d soon be tucked into her own bed.
The enclave was typical of many affluent residential areas. Tree-lined streets without sidewalks, well-tended lawns, landscaped gardens and homes that were more upscale and unique than the cookie-cutter variety found in newer commuter subdivisions. Not that Kai knew much about suburbia, having grown up on a soybean farm, but for most of her teen years she’d yearned for just such a lifestyle. Anyplace, anywhere but Lima, Ohio.
She slowed the car to a crawl, scanning the street numbers on the mailboxes at the end of each drive, braking suddenly when she spotted the house on her right, just ahead. The lurch aroused the dog, who gave a low moan and staggered to his feet. There were two vehicles in the driveway, but she was able to pull up behind one of them. Turning off the ignition, she sat for a moment, staring at the Georgian-style redbrick home with its small porch flanked by white colonnades, and white shutters framing the windows of both stories. A pretty home even in late March.
Kai wondered whether she ought to leave the dog in the car or take him up to the door with her. Then she thought that perhaps the dog’s arrival was meant to be a surprise and decided Captain Rossi would be thrilled to find Amigo standing on his doorstep.
But when the door swung open, her theory fizzled out. A young woman with long blond hair stood before Kai. Her slight frown suggested puzzlement, and as her gaze shifted from Kai to Amigo, her expression changed to disgust.
“Yes?”
Kai figured that since she wasn’t holding out a pamphlet of any kind, some added pleasantry might have been made, like “Hello,” or even “Can I help you?” Still, she smiled.
“I’m looking for Captain Rossi. Is this his house?”
“What do you want with him?”
Kai forced her smile wider. “Oh, not me so much as this dog. He’s a surprise for the captain.”
“What?”
“It’s a long story, best told by the captain if he’s available.”
“Well, he’s definitely not available. He’s recovering from serious injuries, and the last thing he needs is—”
“Who is it, dear?” An older woman appeared in the background.
Captain Rossi’s mother? Kai turned her smile to the salt-and-pepper-haired woman. “Sorry for the intrusion, Mrs., uh, Rossi? I understand your family has endured some, uh, difficult days lately, but the men in Captain Rossi’s squad pitched in to send Amigo to him.” She inclined her head toward the dog. “And since I was heading for New York, they asked me to bring him to, uh, to the captain.” She stopped, defeated by the growing displeasure in the older woman’s face.
“As you say, we have indeed endured difficult days, and I’m afraid that none of us has the energy, the time nor even the interest in adding a dog to the equation. So if you wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you returned the poor creature to the people whose misguided sympathies assumed we—or even my son—would want it.”
The tiny hairs on the back of Kai’s neck bristled. Ignoring the satisfied smile on the younger woman’s face—girlfriend? wife?—and trying hard to hold her temper, she said, “The problem is, you see, that the men who sent Amigo are back there. In Afghanistan.”
Mrs. Rossi drew her lips together in a tight line. “If you insist on leaving the dog, I shall simply have to call Animal Protection. They’ll dispose of it for me. It’s up to you.”
The eyes that beaded in on Kai were cool and unyielding. After a long, uncomfortable moment, Kai murmured, “I hope Captain Rossi won’t be too disappointed.”
“He—” Mrs. Rossi began, but stopped when the other woman placed a hand on her arm.
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” the younger woman said and closed the door.
Kai didn’t move, thinking perhaps the whole scene was a mistake and someone—maybe Rossi himself—would fling the door open again. No such luck. Mustering as much dignity as she could, in case those formidable eyes were peering out through the sheer drapes in the bay window, Kai pulled the dog back to the SUV.
After he reluctantly clambered into the rear, she sagged into the driver’s seat,