Amy sat at her desk, numbly staring at her math homework. She couldn’t even imagine someone getting that many stitches. Her father had only gotten seven for a gash on his head, and that had been the ugliest thing she’d ever seen, a knotted stripe of black lumps in his skin. She figured Fieldston Kade looked like Frankenstein having an allergic reaction.

He should have listened. He’d thought he knew what he was in for. And instead, he’d gotten … well, they still didn’t know. Dad had been on the phone with the hospital, and Amy had watched him go pale while talking to them. She’d listened to his soft, monotone responses, each one making her feel more alone inside. No, they hadn’t seen what happened. No, Mr. Kade had not seemed upset or traumatized when he arrived at their house. Yes, Rover was the name of their dog. No, Mr. Kade had only met Rover today. No, Dad didn’t know why the dog whisperer kept saying the name over and over.

The house sat around Amy, as silent and terrifying as Rover himself. She tried to concentrate on her fractions, but they felt pointless. What did common denominators matter when there was something out in the world like …

Well, what?

It was the same question that had bothered her during her science fair experiment. (That now felt like ages ago, and it had only been a few weeks.) What was Rover? If he was some sort of scientific phenomenon, he was certainly impressive … and terrible. But something about that answer bugged Amy. On the one hand, even when he was hurting and scaring people, Rover was still very much a dog—he wanted to be fed, he wanted to be the dominant animal in the house, and he wanted to play with Katie. On the other, he’d obviously decided that anyone who dared to tell him what to do was going to pay.

Rover didn’t have super intelligence; he was just full of anger. What scientist would want to create that?

Amy furrowed her brow. It was up to her, she decided. She had to find out what Rover was. Right now her family couldn’t get rid of Rover because they didn’t understand him. They had to know what they were up against.

She was going to find out where that dog came from. She’d hit every animal shelter or breeder in a thirty-mile radius if she had to, but she’d find the source. She’d look into what they could tell her about this stray dog they’d found on the side of the road.

At home, she’d play along, let Rover think she was under his control. And when she’d finally discovered his weakness, she’d return the favor.