Hindsight, p.5
Hindsight, page 5
“Mutt,” Maddie said flatly. “He was donated to the Seeing Eye program by a breeder of German shepherds. But evidently some other dog of dubious ancestry saw fit to pay his mother a clandestine visit. He appeared healthy and had a wonderful temperament so he was accepted in the program.”
Kendra took a step forward and then she knelt, tentatively reaching out and gently stroking Harley’s ears. He lifted his head and gazed at her intently…and she was aware once more of that feeling that he was trying to tell her something…
And then he growled.
Kendra shuddered. “Oh, shit.” She glanced at Maddie. “That snarl sounds like a cross between a panther and a lion and totally deadly. No way would anyone see that ‘wonderful temperament’ if they heard that. It doesn’t make sense.”
“And everything has to make sense to you, it all has to fit together. You haven’t changed.” Maddie shrugged. “I can see it. It was hard for me to understand what Elaine was talking about. I still have trouble. I don’t have her empathy for animals. But when Elaine first brought Harley home from the vet, she knew he was going to be a headache. He was very depressed and so quiet it was almost a relief when he’d give that lion roar.”
“Difficult to imagine.” But now that Kendra was up close and personal with Harley, she could see what Maddie meant. In the dog’s silence, she could sense the intensity, the aloneness, even…desperation. “You said she brought him home from the vet? What was wrong with him?”
“Elaine said he’d had a battle with a fire caused by an exploding gas pipe.” She shrugged. “And I don’t want to sound schmaltzy, but she really thought he had a broken heart. That’s a little harder to fix.”
“If anyone could do it, Elaine could.” Kendra was looking into those strange eyes, trying to read what Elaine had seen. Did she heal you, boy? She healed a lot of us over the years. But no one can heal her now.
“You’re right.” Maddie had to clear her throat. “But she didn’t have much time to do it, though I believe she was making progress. The dog was responding to Elaine, and she was even bringing him here to stay in her office during the day so that she could work with him on her breaks. And I wasn’t lying to you. Harley didn’t sound like that during the first year of his training. He couldn’t have been a more perfect service dog. In fact he was so extraordinary, he’d been assigned earlier than expected because an eight-year-old boy, Terry Calder, needed a dog and his trainer thought Harley could handle his needs. It worked out beautifully and they were both ecstatic at being together. But a gas main blew up in his neighborhood and Terry was killed.” She grimaced. “It’s likely he was killed instantly by the explosion itself, as his parents were, but Harley wouldn’t believe it. He dragged the boy through that burning house to the front door and stayed there barking until the firemen heard him and managed to break down the door to get to them. But it was definitely too late by then.” She reached down and patted Harley. “This one almost died, too. Severe smoke inhalation, they had to operate twice on him. But he’s well now except the damage done to his vocal cords. Needless to say, when the Guide Dog Foundation directors heard what he sounded like after he recovered, they no longer wanted him as a Seeing Eye dog. Service dogs have to be almost perfect in every way so that they can interact with the public.” She made a face. “Though they did give him a medal for his service at the fire. But he wouldn’t eat, he was almost catatonic, after he lost the boy. Dr. Napier did his best, but he was finally considering sending him to a shelter as a solution when he thought about Elaine. Naturally Elaine took him, but she really didn’t know what to do with him, either. She was just edging along trying to use Harley’s instinctive love of people, particularly kids, to bring him back. But they’re all afraid of him now.” She looked Kendra in the eye. “Admit it, even you were scared.”
“I won’t deny it. How can I?” But she wasn’t afraid now. Elaine had tried to understand and save this dog. She had seen his pain and tried to soothe it. “So what are you planning on doing with him, Maddie? You volunteered to take him in after Elaine died. You must have some feeling for him.”
“You want me to take him? I’m not that noble. He doesn’t really like me. He didn’t like anyone but Elaine after his Terry died. And I wouldn’t have volunteered to take care of him except I heard him howl.”
“What?”
“The day that Elaine died, I heard him howl. He’d never done that before. I’d heard that scary bark, but not that horrible, mournful howl. The vet told Elaine that he howled for Terry for weeks after he died and then just gave up and went into depression.” Her eyes were tearing. “Harley knew Elaine was dead. He knew he’d lost someone else. Just as we’d lost her. I couldn’t help her, so I thought I’d do what I could for him. I offered to keep him for at least a couple of weeks. After that, I’ll try to find him a home, but it probably won’t work out. He has a handicap that’s hard to take.” She swallowed hard. “So there you are. Another tragedy added to the one that happened to Elaine and Mr. Kim.”
“Bullshit. There has to be something we can do. Saving this dog was one of the last things that Elaine tried to make happen before she was killed. We can’t cheat her of it.” Kendra rubbed Harley’s broad nose, velvet soft, so different from that harsh, fierce snarl that was meant to be a bark. She had been terribly touched by the story of the sacrifice that had caused his hideous hoarseness. What must it be like to reach out in love and have it be mistaken for violence? And she had an idea that beneath the intense, searching emotion she could see in the dog’s eyes, there might be pure love. “I’d take him, but I’m never at home. If he needs people contact as much as Elaine said, my neighbors would be calling the police at the first howl.”
“Absolutely,” Maddie said. “I guarantee they’d be knocking on your door. But you’re working with the FBI these days as well as your music therapy groups. You can figure it out, Kendra. Because I don’t know how long I can fight off Allison. She has a good heart but this school is everything to her. She’s not going to let Harley get in the way of helping the kids.”
“And she shouldn’t.” She was frowning. “That doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice one for the other. We just have to make the best choice and then go with it.”
“Choice? Harley’s more like a challenge. I’m not much into challenges these days, Kendra.”
“Challenge?” Kendra went still. Something had just occurred to her. “Yes, you’re right, he is a challenge. Let me think for a minute…”
Chapter
3
Kendra’s Condo
Fifth Street
I’m coming down to your place,” Kendra said when Olivia picked up her call two hours later. “I just dropped off my luggage at my condo and I don’t care if you want to cry yourself to sleep. She’s dead, Olivia. I’ve been keeping a stiff upper lip and being professional and all that crap for the last few hours.” She didn’t bother to wait for the elevator but was running down the steps. “Now I deserve to have a drink with my friend who loved her as much as I did. So suck it up, Olivia.”
“Just shut up.” Olivia’s voice was as husky as Kendra’s. “You only called me on your way home because you knew we’d both be a mess if you hit me with it face-to-face. I’m over the worst of the shock now and I’m not going to bury my head under the covers.” She threw open her front door as Kendra reached it. Her eyes were red from crying and she pulled Kendra forward into her arms. “But it should never have happened.” She hugged her close and whispered, “She was so good, Kendra. Why?”
“We don’t know. That why I went there to try to find out.” She wiped her wet cheeks. “Mr. Kim’s death must have had something to do with it. It will just take time to figure it out.” She went over to Olivia’s bar and poured them both a glass of wine. She brought them back and handed one to her. “But I don’t want to wait,” she said wearily. “She was family, Olivia. It wasn’t only what she taught me, but what she made me teach myself. I’d ask her a question and she’d tell me to look inside myself and if I couldn’t figure it out then she’d tell me.” She dropped down on the couch and patted the cushion next to her. “Come and sit and talk with me. I need to remember everything about her. You were already at Oceanside when I came, and you were closer to her than I was. It’s you who would take me to her whenever I had a problem. I’d been born without sight and you didn’t lose yours until you had that automobile accident. So you were able to kind of bridge the gap between us.”
“Yes, I was closer to her than you were.” Olivia sat down and took another drink of wine. “I could talk to her.” She paused. “Do you know I went to see her on the night I heard that the stem cell operation to give you your vision was a success? I was so happy for you.” She finished her wine. “And so damn jealous that it was killing me.”
Kendra went still. “You never showed it.”
“Because I’m smart, and a great actress, and I love you like a sister. I’d never let how I felt spoil the gift you’d been given.” She stood up, got the wine bottle from the bar, and brought it back to the couch. “It would have poisoned both of us. But it was a pretty hard blow to take.” She refilled their glasses. “Not only were you leaving me in the dark alone, but it might be forever. And I wasn’t sure as you moved forward in your new world if we’d be able to keep what we had. So I lied until I learned to deal with it. And I did learn that, Kendra.” She nestled close to her. “No poison. No jealousy. All gone. But I needed someone to talk to that night.”
“And you went to Elaine.”
“She let me talk. She let me rejoice for you. She let me cry for myself. It was the start of the healing. By dawn I was a little drunk, but I was on my way back.” She smiled. “And we toasted my friend Kendra, and the miracle that had come into all our lives that day.”
“I wish I’d known.” She had to swallow to ease the tightness of her throat. “Yes, there was a miracle, but you both gave me a very special gift that night.”
“No, not me, that was courtesy of Elaine.”
“I don’t agree.” Kendra raised her glass in a toast. “But here’s to Elaine, the giver of many gifts.”
“Elaine.” Olivia drained her glass. She filled their glasses again. “I’m getting a little woozy. Did I mention I started before you got here?”
“Doesn’t matter. It numbs it a little.” She sipped the wine. “I had to go to the Big Rock tonight, and I was thinking how she’d have story time there for all of us once a week. They were usually about the sea, or mermaids, or wonderful mysterious creatures from the depths. How we loved those stories. All those kids she helped over the years were—”
“Why are you here?” Olivia suddenly interrupted to ask. “You were in Afghanistan and suddenly you’re here investigating those murders? Where’s Lynch?”
“Later. I don’t want to talk about Afghanistan. And I certainly don’t want to talk about Lynch.” She filled Olivia’s glass again. “It’s time to remember Elaine…”
* * *
4:40 A.M.
“Your phone is ringing,” Olivia said drowsily. She lifted her head from the arm of the couch where she’d curled up and fallen asleep sometime in the past few hours. Then she was digging through Kendra’s handbag on the coffee table. “Whoever it is keeps calling back.” She threw the phone on Kendra’s lap. “Answer it or turn it off.” She suddenly straightened. “Unless it’s Griffin with some word about Elaine.”
“I doubt it.” Kendra gazed blearily down at the phone. “Too early in the game to get any—” She inhaled sharply as she looked down at the ID. “Oh, shit. I forgot him.”
Olivia frowned. “Lynch?”
“Of course not. Metcalf.” She jumped to her feet. “I’ll be right back. Will you make coffee? We might need the caffeine.” Then she was running out of Olivia’s condo and up the steps to her own floor.
She heard the howling as she reached the second landing.
She heard the cursing as she threw open her front door. “I’m sorry. I got distracted and then I fell asleep.”
Metcalf glared at her. “Tell that to your super. He’s been up here twice because your neighbors are complaining you’re keeping a lion in your condo.” He looked balefully down at Harley, who had backed him against the far wall of the foyer. “And that dog doesn’t like me. I don’t care what your friend Elaine said about him having such a wonderful disposition. He’s been at that front door waiting for you since you went down to see Olivia. Between the growling and the howling, he had to have been heard by everyone on this floor.”
But Harley had suddenly noticed Kendra. He tore across the room and skidded to a stop in front of her, his tail wagging excitedly. He lifted his head and opened his mouth to—
She quickly put her hand on his muzzle to change the greeting from a roar to a whimper of questioning alertness. “Nonsense. You should have just given him a little attention.”
“He didn’t want it. All he wanted was House Hunters.”
“What?”
“When I realized you weren’t coming back anytime soon, I flipped on the TV. I tried to watch SportsCenter, but—”
“SportsCenter? You disappoint me, Metcalf. I thought you’d be watching the Syfy channel.”
He shrugged. “I tried. They were showing a Battlestar Galactica episode I’d already seen a hundred times.”
“Oh, good. For a minute there, I thought I was going to have to take away your geek card.”
“Not necessary. Anyway, the dog’s howling suddenly got unbearable. So I flipped the channel. And I kept flipping it. He only stopped howling when I put on HGTV.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Specifically, a show called House Hunters. They were having some kind of marathon. Do you realize all they do on that show is look at homes?”
“Yes. It’s very popular.”
He shook his head. “I don’t get it. Anyway, it kept Harley quiet for a while. I actually fell asleep on your sofa. But when they started showing infomercials, everything changed. That’s when he started stalking me around the living room.”
“Stalking,” she repeated skeptically. “He’s a service dog. They don’t stalk.”
“Don’t tell me that. I did my best, but he’s very selective.” He said flatly, “He’s Jekyll and Hyde. With me he’s Mr. Hyde. He showed me in no uncertain terms that he’d had enough and wanted to follow you. And after a while he got impatient and started stalking me around the living room until I started phoning you for help. Then he stopped and sat down as if he was waiting.”
“Really?” She tilted her head, gazing speculatively at the dog. “Do you suppose he’s that intelligent? Instigate a call and then wait for a response? Maddie said that he was one of the smartest dogs Elaine had ever seen. But that would take an amazing degree of—”
“I don’t care,” Metcalf interrupted. “I just want to get out of here and finish the night in my own bed without having to dog-sit your lion wannabe for one more minute.” He stalked past her, carefully avoiding brushing against Harley. “You owe me, Kendra.”
“Yes, I do.” She was stroking Harley’s throat, and the lion-growl was almost like a purr. “And I’m grateful. I needed that time alone with Olivia before I brought Harley into the mix. Thank you, Metcalf.”
His scowl turned to a grudging smile. “You’re welcome. Just don’t ask me again.” He paused as he opened the door. “I take it you have plans to pawn off this mutt on Olivia? She is blind, so I guess that makes some kind of sense. Does she think she needs a Seeing Eye dog?”
“Absolutely not.”
He gave a low whistle. “Are you in trouble…”
The door closed behind him.
He was probably right, she thought wryly. She gave Harley a quick hug before grabbing the leash she’d put on the foyer table. She clipped it to his collar and got to her feet. “Come on. It’s time we got to work. Elaine thought you were worth the effort and we’ve got to convince Olivia that you’ll make a good team. Who knows? Elaine might even have planned on doing this herself.” She wrinkled her nose as he gave a lion-bark. “Or not.”
But Harley was staring at her alertly and took an eager step toward the door.
“Okay, I’ll follow your lead. I guess we’re in this together.” She opened the door. “Elevator or stairs?” But Harley was already pulling her toward the staircase, and she had to run to keep up. “Whatever…”
Two minutes later Harley was jumping on Olivia’s door with his full weight. When Olivia opened it, he whirled into the living room of the condo like a golden tornado. He turned round and round in a dizzying circle and then lifted his head and roared.
Olivia’s jaw dropped. “What the hell is that?”
“Harley. I think he’s excited to meet you. I haven’t seen him act like this before.” Kendra entered the condo and slammed the door. “He’s Elaine’s latest project. He has a few problems but nothing we can’t work out.” She ran over and put her hand on Harley’s head to stop him from bark-roaring. “If we can keep the super from kicking him out. Metcalf said he was causing a disturbance when I left them alone together.”
“Imagine that,” Olivia said dryly. “Does he look as fierce as he sounds?”
“No, he looks like a big, adorable mutt who needs a home…and a job.” She paused. “He’s a Seeing Eye dog, Olivia.”
She stiffened. “Oh, no,” she said fiercely, “Don’t you dare try to do that to me, Kendra. You know I don’t want a service dog. I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can. You’re the most independent woman I know. Heaven forbid you get a little help from man, woman, or child.”
