The gate rolled back, revealing a pristine Cape Dutch house and two Rhodesian ridgebacks coming at his vehicle like heat-seeking missiles. He pulled in next to the armored SUV that Claudia so despised while the dogs barked uncontrollably and attacked his windows. He’d spent his entire life trying to not be remembered and it appeared to be working with them. Probably best to wait for a rescue.

The front door opened, and Claudia appeared wearing an apron and with one hand hidden behind her back. For a moment he held out hope that it was because she was holding the pistol he’d given her. When she waved, though, it turned out to be a wooden soup spoon.

His rescue came in the form of a seven-year-old girl with a missing upper incisor. Anna slipped around her mother and ran toward him waving her hands over her head.

“Friend! Friend!”

The dogs, seeing the object of their devotion coming across the grass, immediately ran to her. With the coast relatively clear, Rapp stepped out of the vehicle and grabbed his duffle from the back.

“We didn’t think you were ever going to get here! It’s been, like, hours!” Anna said as he crouched to give her a hug. The dogs eyed him suspiciously. They seemed to be waiting for her attention to waver long enough to turn him into a chew toy.

“My flight got delayed for a couple hours in London,” he explained, lifting her in one arm and his bag in the other.

The dogs escorted them across the grass to Claudia, who threw her arms around both of them and pressed her lips to his.

“It’s so good to have you home,” she said when she pulled back. “Now come in and get something to eat. And don’t worry. It’s all on your training diet.”

“How’s school?” Rapp asked Anna as Claudia led them toward the kitchen.

“I already have a lot of friends. Including my best friend Ahmale. She’s awesome. And she doesn’t live very far from here. But it’s not like in Virginia because people have big farms and yards and stuff. But still she’s, like, a neighbor.”

“Are you learning anything?”

“What? In school? Sure. Lots of stuff.”

“Speaking of which,” Claudia said in the French she tended to use with her daughter. “Is your homework done?”

“No,” Anna responded in English, continuing the battle of wills between the two. “But I couldn’t do it. I had to save Mitch from the dogs.”

“Thanks for that,” Rapp said sincerely.

“Well, he’s safe now and you know the rule. Homework first, play later.”

He put her down and she scurried off, glancing back as she did. “I’m going to hurry. Then I have a surprise!”

Rapp gave her the thumbs-up.