Lizzie had been working on a client’s website for several hours before she remembered—Spencer! She rushed to her cell and called up the Cooks. Mrs. Cook answered on the first ring.

“Hi, Lizzie! How are you sweetie?”

Lizzie would be surprised if Spencer was missing. Otherwise, Mrs. Cook wouldn’t be so chipper. Spencer was her and her husband’s darling. Their kids were grown and out of the house, and Spencer reaped the benefits of all their spare time and attention. If Spencer were missing, Lizzie was sure she’d hear it in Mrs. Cook’s voice.

“Hi, Mrs. Cook. I’m good. Um, how’s Spencer?” Lizzie didn’t want to upset her for no reason. But it really had looked like Spencer. Mostly. Maybe a little bigger, a little darker than Spencer. Well, the more she thought on it…

“He’s just fine. Getting a little fat, the vet says, so he’s grumpy about his new diet. But otherwise, great. Why do you ask?”

“I saw a loose dog out behind my house. I just wanted to be sure it wasn’t Spencer. It didn’t occur to me that it might be him until really late last night, or I would have called earlier. Sorry, Mrs. Cook.” Lizzie said guiltily.

“No problem. Thanks for thinking of us. Oh! You don’t mean that big dog, the one running out back around ten o’clock? Robert swore it was a wolf-hybrid. I told him he was silly. This close into town, none of the neighbors would have a hybrid. Maybe out in the country, but not here. Spencer growled and barked like crazy, or we wouldn’t have even seen him.”

Lizzie knew Mr. Cook to be a reliable, practical sort of man. He was also an avid outdoorsman. If Mr. Cook said wolf-hybrid, he was probably right. A shiver went up Lizzie’s back. The thought of a wolf right outside her door was deeply disturbing, though she didn’t know why. Coyotes abounded, and she never worried about them. And wolves were supposed to be much shyer of humans. Still—she didn’t like it.

“Thanks, Mrs. Cook. I’m sorry to bother you.” Lizzie was ready to put the whole thing behind her, both the unsettled feeling, and the image of the unknown animal. One she was coming to realize was definitely not a coyote. And clearly not Spencer, the friendly malamute.

Mrs. Cook’s reply was cheerful. “No bother at all. I’m always glad to hear from you. We’ll see you at the neighborhood BBQ next month, right?”

Mr. Cook was fabulous with a grill. He even had his own custom BBQ trailer that he took to cook-offs. Lizzie wouldn’t miss it, and she told Mrs. Cook so.

Lizzie said her goodbyes, ended the call, and put the whole odd experience from her mind.

***

Lizzie was finishing up some logo designs for a client that night, when a knock at the door started her dogs barking. Ugh. What was with all the barking lately? Was her life getting more exciting or her dogs naughtier?