Megan glanced out the window as the sun began peering over the horizon. “I’ll call the VA again while you’re out with the boys, and this time I’ll find someone to answer the damned phone. Come back in for lunch and I’ll let you know when they managed to squeeze you in.”

Frank harrumphed as he filled his mouth with a steaming mound of omelet.

He really didn’t want to hear what the doctors had to say.

###

Megan lay on the sofa trying to watch the ancient TV, which flickered uncontrollably.

“Jasper, I think that after nearly a quarter century, this stupid Zenith has finally given up the ghost.”

The dog, draped across her legs, lifted his head and gave out a quiet woof. His ears perked, and he began sniffing.

She rubbed his head. “That’s just the cornbread in the oven, silly boy.”

But Jasper didn’t settle down. A low growl emanated from his throat. He slid off the sofa and walked to the front door. As usual, he opened it himself—grasping the handle in his mouth and turning it. Even after all this time, it still amazed Megan how smart he was. He regularly let himself out when he needed to go to the bathroom.

Megan had walked over to the thirty-two-inch tube TV and smacked at the side of its cabinet, trying to get some semblance of a signal to come through, when she heard Jasper barking.

She would have ignored it—the dog was always chasing after something—if not for the shouts that followed.

She ran to the front door—and arrived on the porch to see a black van kicking up gravel and rocks as it sped away.

“What the heck!” Megan walked toward the side of the house and called out, “Jasper!”

The dog barked in response, and she spotted the chocolate lab sniffing around the back corner of the house, near the shed.

Megan approached. Her pulse quickened as she noticed a large black duffel bag lying near the metal shed. “Jasper, what happened?”

The large dog sniffed at the ground, picked up a scrap of cloth, and dropped it at her feet.

The ripped fabric was a sleeve torn from a flannel work shirt, and she felt a tickle of fear at the base of her neck. “Oh, puppy, did you chase someone away?” She patted his head, and noticed a scratch running along the side of his muzzle.

What had gotten into him? Jasper had never acted aggressively toward anyone before.

She pressed the button on the radio she always wore on her belt when Frank was out and about. “Honey, you there?”

“I’m just on my way back. What’s up?”

“Did you have anyone scheduled to come out and take a look at anything at the house?”

“No. Why, is someone there?”