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Teddy limped as fast as he could from the overly warm building when September pulled into Sunnydale’s parking lot. He waited impatiently for the car to stop. Despite the clear blue skies, the December weather made the inside of his nose freeze, and he buttoned the front of his wool coat with stiff fingers.
Shadow’s black muzzle poked out a rear window. Teddy hurried to the car when it jerked to a halt, and scratched the dog’s chin. “Who’s a good boy? Gonna help me find Molly, aren’t you, fella?” The dog licked his hands and thumped his tail.
Blinking back grateful tears, Teddy smiled when September clambered out of the car. “You got here quicker than I thought. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” September straightened and flexed her back. “We were at the vet, a few blocks over when I got your call. Macy’s sick.” She pulled a scrunchy out of one pocket, gathered her long hair and bound it up with a practiced motion, all while taking in the cramped parking lot and shiny modern facility. “How long has Molly been missing?”
“They won’t say. Covering their asses.” He didn’t hide his disgust and worry. Her own expression was pinched. “Sorry about Macy.” He knew her animals were the world to September, but right now all his concern was focused on finding Molly.
“They’re running tests this afternoon. So, what do you know? Have the police been called?”
He held his palms up with a helpless gesture. “The administrator called in a Silver Alert, but the police haven’t shown up yet. I called them again right after I talked to you. They said all the units were out on other calls.” He couldn’t help the indignation.
“Maybe a police team will be available shortly.” She wondered how many men had been deployed to her house to search for Sly.
“What’s more important than finding a sixty-two-year-old Alzheimer’s victim? She’s not dressed right, she’ll freeze in this weather.” He shivered elaborately as if to illustrate the danger. “A couple of the staff said they canvassed the immediate neighborhood, and I’d go, too, if it wasn’t for this bum knee.” Between the arthritis and a needed hip replacement he’d put off, Teddy had enough trouble getting on and off of the HARTLine bus. He didn’t like to drive at night anymore, didn’t trust his eyes. “The police don’t have a tracking dog unit, either. Said they used to contract that out, but the person shut down the service.”
She flinched. “That was Pam and her dogs.”
“Oh. Right.” He avoided her eyes. “I guess her husband doesn’t work the dogs now that she’s gone.”
“Doc Eugene doesn’t have time to run the dogs and the vet hospital.” She stroked Shadow’s face. “Remember, Shadow isn’t trained to track people. I drilled him on tracking lost pets. Lately there’s been a lot of those and he’s getting very good at it. But since he’s the only dog available, I’m willing to give it a shot if you are.”
“Molly’s with Trixie.” He couldn’t help the hopeful note. “That’s the resident therapy dog. Molly loves dogs, and the feeling’s mutual. She used to spend hours and hours in the garden with our old dog, Rocky, and Trixie could be his twin. Dark red Golden Retrievers, not the pale yellow that’s so popular now. Trixie spends as much time in Molly’s room as she can. I think it helps remind Molly of the good times, you know?”
Shadow whined and pushed his face further out the car window when he saw September retrieve the long tracking line from the front seat. “Baby-dog, settle. You want to play hide-and-seek? Three times in one day, how fun is that?” September jollied the dog, getting him keyed up for the challenge, but Teddy could sense her worry even if the hunched shoulders hadn’t revealed her stress.
“I appreciate this.” He stuck his hands in the pockets of his long coat. “Wish I could tag along but I’d slow you down.”
She let the black shepherd out of the back seat. “Shadow, sit. Wait.” The dog obediently plopped his tail onto the cold pavement. He had a hard time containing his excitement, but allowed her to clip the long line to the D-ring centered between his shoulders on his halter.
Shadow seemed bigger than the last time he’d seen the dog over Thanksgiving. That had been one of Molly’s good days, and they’d enjoyed the family dinner atmosphere. He hadn’t tried to explain to his wife why the giddy, celebratory dinner meant more than the usual turkey-day holiday. Teddy noticed Shadow’s gunshot ear had finally healed, although the ragged end lacked fur. It gave the dog a more grim appearance. “He’s not a puppy anymore.”
September paused. “I see him every day, so it’s hard for me to tell the difference. He still has some filling out to do. He won’t be a year old until Valentine’s Day.” She smiled at Shadow. “This is a game to him, though, we want to keep it fun so he always wants to work. What exit did Molly use? Also, I need something to cue in to Trixie’s scent. A dog brush, or a toy that smells like the therapy dog.” She led the way to the front door of the nursing facility. “Otherwise he won’t know what to track, and might generalize to who knows what. We’ve been tracking cats today, including Macy.”
The black shepherd’s ears flicked at the name, and he nudged her thigh with his nose. She dropped her hand to stroke his brow. “That’s right, you played hide-and-seek with Macy, didn’t you? But this is a new game.”
Teddy hurried to catch September’s arm before she opened the lobby door. “Let me find the administrator and give her a head’s up first. She’s a piece of work.” He pulled hard on the door. “I don’t want her screwing our chances to find Molly by citing some weird rule book.” He limped inside, and September and the dog entered right behind him. “Wait here.” He whispered. “They’re strict about animals.” He arched one eyebrow. “I know he’s your service dog, too, but Molly doesn’t have time for arguing the case.”
September spoke softly to Shadow, and he sat and panted happily.
At the front desk, Alison smiled at Teddy, and then half stood when she noticed Shadow. “You can’t bring that in here.”
Shadow’s black nose twitched, he sneezed, and his tail swept the spotless floor.
The smells Teddy now took for granted would be odd to most folks. Institutional smell; a mix of disinfectant, urine and maybe desperation, if emotion could have a smell. He gritted his teeth and crossed to the administrator’s office without acknowledging Alison.
Teddy knocked briskly, cracked opened the door and stuck his head inside without waiting. “Mrs. Bradshaw, a tracking dog is here to find my wife.” She started to say something, and he spoke over her words. “I’m not asking permission, this is an FYI as a courtesy. I’m taking them down to Molly’s room.”
“That’s fine, Mr. Williams. Of course we’ll help any way we can. Tell the police dog team they have the run of the place, whatever is needed.” She didn’t get up, and acted relieved that Molly’s recovery was out of her hands.
Alison stood behind the counter, attention moving back and forth between Shadow and Teddy when he shut the administrator’s door. “It looks ferocious...does it bite?”
“Only bad guys.” September’s humor attempt fell flat. She crossed closer to the counter, Shadow in tow, and the girl shrank back. September made a fist gesture, and Shadow sat, cocking his head up at Alison. “Can you tell us where Mrs. Williams—Molly—left the building? She’s with a dog, right?”
Alison smiled at Shadow despite herself. “Probably through the side entrance, ’cuz I never saw them pass through here. Trixie is our therapy dog, she’s certified through Delta Society.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “She belongs to Mrs. Bradshaw. I think she’s as worried about Trixie as Mrs. Williams.” She pursed her lips and made kissy noises, and Shadow cocked his head and thumped his tail. “Is he going to track Mrs. Williams?”
“Actually he’s going to track Trixie. So we’ll have to keep our paws crossed the dog stays with Molly.”
“Oh, Trixie adores her! She spends a lot of time with your wife, Mr. Williams. That is, when she’s not raiding residents’ rooms. She’s a sneaky thief, but it’s not out of meanness. She only borrows stuff. I think she does it so they’ll tell her how pretty she is when we make her give stuff back.” Alison sipped from a large cup, and then giggled when Shadow licked his lips.
“We need something that smells like Trixie.” Teddy wanted to get Shadow on the trail. Too much time had already passed. “Does she have a toy or maybe a dog bed where she spends time?”
Without answering, Alison ducked down behind the counter, scrounged for a moment, and came up with an oversize blue ball on a rope. “She sleeps with this, carries it with her, and even eats with it. I’m surprised it’s not with Trixie now.” She offered it to September.
She took it gingerly, holding it carefully by one end of the rope in her gloved hands. “Perfect.” She turned to Teddy. “Take me to Molly’s room. We’ll get a sense of the start point, and go from there.”
He felt better once they began moving. “She’s in the room at the end of the hall.” He led the way and stopped at the designated door. Inside, a small bed with a garden themed spread dominated the room. A small table contained a picture frame of one of the last family portraits they’d had made before. . . Well, when Molly was still Molly.
Teddy furnished the room with things that mattered to Molly, or used to matter, anyway. Pictures from her garden. One of her posed with a tail-wagging Rocky—God, how she’d loved that dog, and he’d loved her back. A crocheted pillow cover that had spent years on their shared four-poster and now kept her company in her lonely twin bed. A tattered robe—her favorite that she wouldn’t give up. The small vanity in the corner contained an assortment of toiletries, scented hand lotions and perfumes, a hair brush. A small blown glass bowl of jellybeans held court. He had a glass paperweight in the same colors on his desk at home. They’d purchased them as a pair on a trip to Scotland years ago, and Teddy wondered if she sometimes held the bowl and thought of him as he thought of her when holding the glass globe. They’d had to remove the mirror when Molly’s reflection, a stranger looking at her, caused her first panic attack.
Sighing, Teddy made room for September and Shadow to enter. “This is it.” He waved a hand at the towel on the floor. “I think the dog spends time lying on that, too. Now what?”
September brought Shadow into the room. She showed him Trixie’s ball-on-a-rope toy. “What’s that, Shadow? Time for hide-and-seek?”
She watched him sniff the ball, but he didn’t attempt to take it as he might have when he was younger. Shadow was all business, inhaling with purpose. She showed him the towel on the floor, and he moved over to it and explored with snuffles and snorts. She showed Teddy her crossed fingers and he answered with his own. This had to work!
She waited until the dog signaled readiness with an expectant expression. “Shadow, seek!”
He dropped his head, returning to the towel, and then moved quickly toward the door. September had gathered the long line, taking up the slack with one hand, and kept him on a short leash as he guided her through the doorway.
Teddy followed, stumbling in his effort to keep up. He saw Shadow cast first one way and then the other on the immediate outside of Molly’s doorway, and held his breath. Suspecting that September might accidentally cue the dog in one direction over the other, he was surprised when Shadow hesitated and then drove forward—the wrong way.
“Wait, September, the door is—”
She glared at him, finger to her lips, as the dog towed her past the rear door that Alison had indicated. Instead, Shadow padded quickly, sure of his nose, toward a rear area with a crash bar on double doors. “Seek, good-dog Shadow, seek!” She repeated and encouraged him, and he wagged without lifting his head when she pushed through the barrier.
The kitchen. Shadow had led them into the kitchen. The staff were nowhere to be seen, since mealtime was still hours away. Teddy’s anger grew. Trixie wasn’t allowed in the kitchen. There was no way Molly and the therapy dog had passed this way. But before he could speak, the dog towed September faster straight through the wide corridor, paying not the slightest attention to anything but the invisible trail on the floor.
A second pair of double doors on the far wall stopped Shadow, but he leaped up, pawing the crash bars and whining with excitement until September banged them open. She rushed behind the dog, playing out the long line but keeping it taut, and jogged to keep from frustrating his eagerness. Teddy struggled to keep up.
The doors opened on a hidden courtyard off the kitchen. A tiny garden, currently barren due to the time of year, shivered behind one concrete wall. Sacks of bone meal fertilizer created a second wall, forming a small alcove that sheltered from the wind.
Shadow abruptly stopped at the entrance to this cave-like opening, made eye contact with September, and planted himself in a down. He woofed, his tail banging happily.
“Good-dog, Shadow! What a good boy!” She knelt beside the black shepherd, rubbing his throat and letting him lick her face.
“Good-dog, Trixie, good girl, what a pretty girl.” Trixie raised her shaggy head and wagged back. She deftly caught the rope-ball toy when September tossed it to her, but didn’t stray from the woman’s side.
Teddy pushed past September, relief palpable. “Molly! Are you okay? I was so worried.” Finally he could breathe.
Behind the Golden Retriever, Molly had a child’s orange plastic bucket and toy shovel, something that might be used at the beach, and had broken open one of the bags of fertilizer. “We must get rid of it. Rid of it all. It’s bad, makes you crazy.” Her ghostly face glowed dusty white with the bone meal, tears tracing wet tracks down her cheeks. “Isn’t that right, Rocky...I mean, Trixie?” The dog licked the powder from her face and sneezed.
