“If you don’t have a place to keep her isolated, I
don’t mind taking her home with me,” Janey volunteered. “I have two
open cages at the kennel. She looks like a sweet girl,” she
crooned. “I can fit her in between two females so she’ll get some
peace.”
“Are you sure? I’ll pay a kenneling fee, of course.
It’s a better option than putting her in the garage for the next
few days until they can spay her.”
“Some of the more reputable vets don’t recommend
spaying when the bitch is in heat. Something about the blood
vessels being fragile; I’m not sure exactly. I don’t have any studs
coming in for a month, so I have room until her estrus is over. It
would be safer for her that way.”
Gil and Janey worked out the details of fees and
visiting hours until Molly could go back to a vet. Red persuaded
his new friend out the dog door when Ken called us to the
table.
****************
“So, let me get this straight,” Gil said. “Ken is
Teresa’s un-gay personal assistant who is now going out with
Teresa's best friend Janey, whose brother is Bas. Bas and David are
best friends, and for a while, they both were dating you. Damn! I
really wish I’d known you then; I bet it was hilarious when they
were hijacking each other’s dates.”
“It got a lot more difficult after Bas found the GPS
I stuck on his rental vehicle,” David joked.
I choked on my bite of egg. “You didn’t!” I turned a
shocked face to David. “You are a devious and underhanded man,” I
pronounced in awe.
David swooped in for a quick kiss. “It wasn’t as
intrusive as the bug I found in the cab of my 4x4. Thank goodness I
swept for devices the morning after he found us at the Manito Park
gardens.”
“I won’t even ask where you guys are getting these
electronics.” I shook my head.
“I won’t ask either,” Gil added with a chuckle. “But,
we’ll have to talk if I need advice on surveillance equipment.”
“What was funny was Bas trying to wheedle date
information from Ken or me.” Janey told us, smugly. “I made a
hundred dollars for disclosing the schedule when David took you to
dinner and dancing in Spokane Valley a month ago.”
“I got my laptop reconfigured with some really cool
upgrades when David wanted to find out about the canoe trip down
the Little Spokane River.”
Red popped in through the dog door.
“I got a whole
steak when David wanted to know which casino show you were going
to.”
Molly followed him in. I could hear her excited panting
from where we sat in the dining room.
“How did that work when you can’t talk to him?” I
wondered aloud.
“
David knew you were going to a casino. He named
each one and I barked when he said the right one.”
I faced David. “You even bribed my dog?” I was
speechless. Really? Even the dog had been in on it?
“Good job,” Bas praised. “I never thought to ask Red.
I won’t underestimate you next time pal.” It wasn’t clear if his
praise was for David, or Red. I shook my head in disbelief at how
far they went during 'The Siege.'
Red nosed at my knee and dropped something in my lap.
“What’s this for?” I asked, picking up what felt like a dish
towel.
“
Your mouth was gaping. I thought I’d give you
something to mop up with in case you start to drool,”
he said
cheekily.
“Oh stop it, you crazy dog.” I shoved the towel in
his direction. “Here, take this back to the kitchen then go play
outside with Molly.” The towel was tugged from my light grip and I
felt his tail smack me as he wandered away.
We were all drinking coffee on the back deck when
David asked about an update on Officer Blair. Gil sounded
apologetic, “All I can officially say is he is on administrative
leave pending an investigation. We have no clear motive, and
Mike—that’s Detective Stephens—and I have racked our brains trying
to think of any past cases he’s worked on which put him in contact
with someone who might have a particular interest in your
skills.”
Gil huffed out a frustrated breath. “Mike brought
your name to Lt. Faber about two days before we contacted you to
ask if you could come to the station and talk. That afternoon was
the first time your involvement was mentioned to task force
members. The email account, that received the picture and video
files, was activated within twenty-four hours of my mention to the
task force.”
“Someone acted quickly in response to what must have
seemed like an implausible story from Detective Stephens,” Bas
said, “And furthermore, Blair took a huge career risk secretly
filming footage of, what was in essence, a task force meeting.
There had to have been major motivation from his outside
party.”
“What types of cases has he worked on previously?” I
asked.
“I can’t give specifics, but generally speaking:
drugs, drugs, and vice. He had only been with the department for
ten months or so; former military, Army Ranger, for eight years,
prior to joining SPD.”
“Do you know his specialty?” David linked his fingers
with mine on the tabletop before he continued, “Was it
computer-based?”
“No, not computers,” Gil gave a thoughtful pause. “I
think it may have been something to do with explosives actually.
I’m trying to think of what…” he gave a deep groan. “Shit, I think
he handled dogs doing work with demolitions.”
“Not just no, but hell no,” Bas exploded, from his
seat. David’s arm tightened around me as if he was following
whatever conclusion Bas had reached.
“It appears you and Red may have been scouted as
potential assets for possible military applications,” David
explained. “If the files were emailed to a representative of a
military branch, it is possible you’ll be approached to do some
work for Uncle Sam.”
“I have no problem with helping where we can, but
Team Red is a unit. If you and Bas don’t agree, we don’t do it. I
know you both have your own work and career goals, and I respect
that, but I will not blindly go—pun intended—off to help anyone if
you or Bas aren’t there to oversee the risks. If safety means
sticking with small jobs to help SPD, then I’m okay with that
limitation.”
There was an extended period of silence, and I could
imagine meaningful eye-contact between Bas and David. David spoke
first, “We have actually talked about this in relation to your
possible work with the police. My contributions to PreClan can be
done anywhere I have access to a computer. I’m working on a few
programming projects right now, but my schedule leaves me free to
accompany you when and where you’re needed. Bas and I find the idea
of volunteering for police work very rewarding, and we are in a
financial position which allows us to indulge ourselves.”
“My salary from PreClan is very lucrative, I don’t
need to go back to work for another year, or more, unless I want
to, so I’m also flexible to accompany you,” Bas continued. “If you
are approached by a representative of the military or government,
we can formalize the four of us as a team available to hire out for
select projects. I can think of dozens of applications for Team Red
that would expose you to only low risk. Team Red can charge a
consultation fee, and require expenses be covered up front, if
someone wants us bad enough.”
“I am so jealous,” Gil whined. “Working with Red
would be fascinating as well as amazing. The more I observe him in
action, the more impressed I am by his comprehension and ability to
compartmentalize the data he smells. I was wondering if his nose is
sensitive enough to differentiate between, for example, grades of
cocaine or base ingredient concentrations in meth. We have no way
of knowing, from a regular dog, if that’s even possible. Little
nuances can help us trace the spread of some drugs without waiting
on lab results.
“I also wonder if the ability to talk with Red lies
in Teresa’s ability as a receiver. If that were the case, would she
be able to communicate with more than one dog. Shoot!” he further
theorized, “Is it even limited to only dogs?”
Gil’s idea startled me. I never considered I might be
able to communicate with animals besides Red. How would I even
attempt to test the idea? What prompted Red to say those first
couple of words to me? Since I didn’t hear his thoughts all day
long, I assumed I filtered him out, but maybe he had to concentrate
to send?
Gil had given me a few new ideas to consider. “We’ll
have to come up with some strategies to explore those questions,” I
said. “I’m suffering from information overload right now
though.”
David’s hand made soothing circles on my back. “We’ll
all get together and talk in more depth. It’s purely conjecture, at
this point, if the military will contact you. I may be able to dig
up some intel, now that we have a guess as to what Blair possibly
did with the files.
“Gil, you brought up some interesting points
regarding the communication bond, as well as questioning how
specific Red’s nose can be. Assuming his nose is equivalent to
other canines, Red’s edge is our ability to ask him questions, and
gather additional insight a regular dog wouldn’t know was
important.” David then stressed, “Whatever we decide, we will have
to maintain better secrecy than we’ve done so far. The fewer
members of task forces present while Red is working, the better.
And, if we decide to test Red’s nose, the tests will have to be
with individuals who already know about Red. No new people should
be added to our circle of confidants, without us approving it
first.”
“Understandable,” Gil agreed. “There’s no reason for
anyone, other than a second observer, to be with me when I access
the drug locker for testing Red. I can pick someone who has already
seen him in action. Call me when you’re planning a trip downtown
and I’ll set something up so we can see how specific he can get
with that nose of his.”
“How fluent is your ASL, Gil?” Bas asked, referring
to his American Sign Language skills. “It’s obvious you caught on
to David and me at the station. We learned because our squad
volunteered to take classes with the hope it would help our team’s
efficiency. It’s not a common military practice.”
“I didn’t learn in the military. My dad is deaf; my
whole family is fluent,” Gil said.
I chimed in here, “We will have to consider if there
is some sign language I can learn too. While I can’t see others, it
may be a way to relay what Red is telling me if we are in a
position where I don’t want other people to know he’s talking.
There’s a slim chance someone, like Gil, may pick up on it, but it
might give me a new tool.” I tried to visualize how much easier it
would be to sign as Red talked instead of verbal translation. “I
already know the ASL alphabet, although it would probably take me
an hour to sign ‘Watch out he has a gun in his boot!’ because I’ve
had no reason to practice.”
“I can rent some ASL videos from the library,” Ken
interrupted. “I think it would be great to learn how to sign. I’d
be happy to go thru the lessons with you and we can learn
together.”
“I’ll do it, too,” Janey chimed in. “I don’t have any
litters being weaned right now. The website we set up is still
raking in a steady income for both of us, so I’ll be able to
practice with you and Ken.”
We were going to be one big ASL family. It would be
slow going for them to teach me, but we would find a way to make it
fun. “So,” Ken asked, “will this be like every foreign language—we
learn the swear words first?”
“No,” Bas replied, seriously. “Not in front of the
dog…” we all chimed in together with him, “… he repeats
everything.”
We ended up setting a time to meet with Gil at the
police station on Tuesday morning so Red could try identifying
specifics about the drugs the detective had on hand. Red was
excited to try the new test although he wasn’t too excited about
the cocaine because it made him sneeze. Gil suggested, if he had
problems with the coke, he could try putting more emphasis on the
meth ingredients. Arrangements finalized, and after a few quality
moments with Molly, Gil left and the rest of us settled in for a
lazy afternoon.
It was movie night, but instead of picking a movie,
Janey pulled out four copies of a popular erotic BDSM novel to
distribute to the group. She had us skip to the “good parts” as she
called them and each person was assigned a character. Janey
directed the men to select a cartoon character voice to use when
reading their portion of the book. We were all in hysterics by the
time Christian, read by Bas as Foghorn Leghorn, finished an
intimate encounter with Ana, read by Ken as Tweety Bird. I think
reading erotica might have become our favorite group activity, how
sick is that?
Saturday night found David and me cuddled up in my
window seat. I was resting my head on his chest, enjoying the
steady beat of his heart and the rhythmic cadence of his breathing.
When he spoke to me, the words rumbled and echoed in the ear I had
pressed to his warm skin. “The security light came on. There goes
Red, chasing the cat who jumped down off the fence.”
I could feel a slight shift in the body beneath me as
David looked toward the nightstand clock. He laughed, “It’s almost
midnight. He must have been waiting under the deck for the cat to
cross over to his yard. We are talking about a serious obsession
here.”