“Gyilkas,” he said. “It means ‘killer.’”

“And this one?”

“Hasfel. It’s short for hasfelmetszo. It means ‘ripper.’”

She went to the gate and reached for the latch. “Miss, you don’t want to be in there.”

“Of course I do. Why should they trust me if I don’t trust them?” She stepped inside and closed the gate. She walked confidently up to each dog and let it sniff her hand, petted the thick fur at its neck, then moved on. She spotted the biggest dog in the compound, a tan male with a black head and tail. He had been sitting a distance away, watching. Now he approached her, and, as he did, the others all seemed to melt away.

“And who are you?” she asked the dog. He came up to her, looking directly into her eyes as he did. He sat in front of her, then licked her offered hand. She knelt and petted him, and he lay down so she could rub his belly.

The cousin said, “His name is Zoltán. It means ‘Sultan.’”

“He’s the big guy, eh?” she said. “The boss.”

“Yes, miss. He doesn’t usually do that with strangers.” He corrected himself. “With anybody.”

“He can read me. He knows I always fall for his type.” She leaned down and spoke to the dog quietly. “What do you think, Mr. Zoltán? Do you want to do some work with me tonight?”

She seemed to get the answer she wanted. She stood, and the dog stood with her. He walked with her to the gate, and she brought him out with her. To Tibor’s wife’s cousin she said, “He’s the one. Now, would you please teach me some proper commands in Hungarian so I don’t embarrass him?”

* * *

THE BAKO Gyogyszereszeti Tersazag had ended its daylight shift hours before the new security van arrived at the front gate of the complex. It was dark, and the lights above the checkpoint were the brightest in sight. Two armed guards stepped to the van outside the tall fence. The young guard stood beside János, the driver, and looked past him into the van, and the other, the senior man, stood on the passenger side where Tibor sat. Sam had decided that Tibor should wear the high rank so he could be the spokesman. Tibor had gold hash marks on his right sleeve and a gold star on his baseball cap while the others had no insignia of rank.

When the guard asked a question, Tibor appeared to say what had been arranged earlier, that they had brought a search dog because one of the labs had reported an intruder. When the man asked him a second question, Tibor seemed to find the high-ranking officer that lived in the back of his brain. He turned a disdainful look on the man and answered wearily. The man began to say something else, but Tibor interrupted him, coldly furious. He gestured at the gate and shouted something in Hungarian that could only be, “Open up! You’re wasting time!”