Chapters (78)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- Discover More
- About the Author
- Also by Owen Laukkanen
Mason waited, but she didn’t say anything else, and he could sense by her tone that she wasn’t exactly comfortable hearing his voice. He wondered if this was how he was going to feel for the rest of his life, like he was asking a huge favor just hoping people would look at him straight, have a conversation.
“Well, I was calling because I’m out now,” he said. “And I got that postcard picture you sent of Lucy, and I wanted to check in and see if you knew how she’s doing.” He paused. “You know, how she’s adjusting to her new home, and such.”
Another pause. Then Mason heard Linda Petrie suck in her breath. “I really can’t discuss what happens to the dogs after they leave the program, Mr. Burke—”
“Mason please, ma’am.”
“Mason,” she said, but there was still that something else in her voice. “I’m afraid I just can’t give you any information,” she said. “It wouldn’t be appropriate; I’m sorry.”
“Did she find a good home?” Mason asked. “I don’t need to know where she is or anything, just that I set her up okay for when she went out into the world.”
That long silence again. “I can’t be talking about this,” she said. “Not with you. They’d pull the program if they found out I’d given this information to a—to a…”
She wanted to talk. Mason could tell. Something had happened, something was wrong, and the trainer was itching to talk to him about it.
“Is she alive, at least, Ms. Petrie? Tell me she’s still alive.”
But she couldn’t even do that.
“There was an incident,” she said. “Your dog attacked someone. From what I understand, she had to be destroyed.”
“Destroyed.” The word hit Mason like a roundhouse punch.
Petrie breathed out. “Listen, whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault. Sometimes a dog just goes bad.”
“Not Lucy,” Mason said. “I know that dog. Something must have provoked her.”
Petrie didn’t say anything, and Mason realized he was pacing, his body tense, muscles clenched tight. He wasn’t willing to believe it, not his dog, not Lucy. Not the dog he’d trained.
“Mason?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“You just have to forget about this,” Petrie said. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but these things, you just have to move on.”
She sounded scared. Like she thought she’d made a mistake telling him, like he was going to run off and do something crazy now.
“It’s okay,” he told her. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
He ended the call. Replaced the handset and went back down his sister’s stairs to his basement bedroom. Found the picture of Lucy he’d propped up on the nightstand, and sat on the edge of the bed and stared at it for a while.
Two
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