Hostile Witness (Sanctuary, Inc. #1)

Chapter 32

32

T ia was so late. Poor Flynn. He’d been alone since early this morning, and although her usual schedule allowed time to run home during lunch to let him out, that hadn’t happened today. She’d ended up watching another teacher’s class during her lunch break, and then the staff meeting had run later than usual.

Guilt swarmed her thoughts. I am a terrible dog mom. Flynn deserved better. Why hadn’t she just left school and run home anyway? She should’ve hired a dog walker so he could get out and do his midday business. Maybe Mike and Casey would let him stay at their office during the long days? She’d ask. He deserved extra time at the dog park or Harlan’s farm this weekend. Definitely. Yeah, she’d do that and give him an extra bone.

Bolting from the car with the keys jangling in her hand, she ran to the front door. He’s such a good boy . I can never let this happen again. She shoved the wrong key into the lock and jimmied it out. C’mon.

Tia flung the door open, tossed her school tote onto the kitchen counter, and wheeled around. “I promise I’ll never let this happen again.” Wait . He always greeted her at the front door. Where was he?

“Flynn? Flynn?” She raced into the living room and came to an abrupt halt.

Her hands flew to her face. “Oh my goodness.” He was stuck in the old doggie door. The back two-thirds of his body were in the room, while his head and upper torso faced the screened porch. She could barely hear his muffled whine.

Tia fell to her knees behind him and stroked his coat. “You poor thing, I’m so sorry. Let me help you out of there.” But her hand didn’t fit in the opening where he was stuck. The dog door accommodated an animal of twenty pounds or less, not a sixty-five pound muscular beast. His hind feet were sliding all over the tile, and he was getting nowhere.

The door hinges creaked, and with a crack, the frame began pulling away from the wall. No, oh no. Flynn was still stuck, and his every movement pulled another nail free.

Racing into the kitchen, Tia grabbed her phone from the tote and tapped Ethan’s number. She set the phone on a nearby bookshelf and braced the doorframe with her hands and body weight.

“Hey, you, what’s up?”

“Ethan, I need help,” she yelled. “Flynn’s got himself stuck in the dog door, and the doorframe is pulling away from the wall. I’m holding it up.”

“What? How’d he get in there? No, never mind. I’m on my way.”

Tia heard him running with the sound of honking horns and engines in the background.

“Hurry. Every time Flynn moves, the door sways.” Her arm muscles already burned from holding the frame. The sound of a siren blasted, and the line went dead. He must’ve disconnected the call. Tia kicked off a sneaker and stroked Flynn’s fur with her sock-clad foot. “You hear that, buddy? Your daddy’s using his lights and siren for you.”

How in the world had he gotten himself caught in the dog door? She’d kept it locked ever since a stray tabby had sauntered into her kitchen like he owned the place six months ago and scared the bejesus out of her. This didn’t make sense. Flynn had never paid any attention to the dog door before today. Maybe that stray cat or a squirrel had somehow gotten onto her screened porch? Even so, Flynn was disciplined... he’d never take off after an animal without a command.

Maybe the tabby had come in the house and Flynn had gotten stuck chasing it out? Or he had desperately needed to whiz and tried to get outside? Lord knew he hadn’t peed in the house since she’d known him. And he’d only woken her from sleep so he could relieve himself once.

Ethan had warned her that the door wasn’t secure, and she’d avoided using it. Damn supply-chain issues. She’d ordered the new custom door almost four months ago. When the contractor who would install it had stopped by two days ago, he’d taken measurements for the decorative wood molding she’d asked for, but the actual installation was still a week away.

None of this mattered right now. As long as Flynn wasn’t hurt again , she’d count her blessings and slide the huge antique hutch against the frame until the new door arrived.

The front door opened, and Ethan barreled in with another guy. “Tia, this is Mac.”

She craned her neck. “Hey, thanks for coming.”

Mac immediately took over holding the door and frame in place. “I got this. You two figure out how you’re going to get the dog out of there.”

Tia stepped back, shaking her arms. Her hands were almost numb. She gave Mac the once-over. He was slightly taller than Ethan but with a slimmer build and the deepest, most serious brown eyes she’d ever seen. The guys were already engrossed in the project at hand, murmuring to one another with grunts and nods. “I’ll head to the screened porch where Flynn can see me.”

Ethan nodded. “Good idea. He needs you. Take your phone so we’re not yelling through the door.”

She dashed around the house to the porch. You poor dog . He had one paw on the floor, and the other was stuck with his torso in the dog door. He had to be exhausted, standing on one paw like that. Why in the heck had he done this to himself? She got on her knees in front of his face and soothed him with soft words and loving strokes. Her phone rang. Ethan.

“T, I’m sending you a link to a YouTube video of some guys helping a large dog back out of one of these contraptions. There’s no way Flynn’s gonna fit the rest of his body through the opening. We have to help him back out. Give the video a look, and let me know what you think?”

Tia continued to pet Flynn’s face and tapped the video. Omigod. The dog in the video was really fat and stuck like a hog in the opening. She turned her phone sideways and watched the video again, noting where the emergency workers had placed their hands. She took a deep breath. “Yeah, we can do this. Watch the clip again, Ethan. First, we need to free up the paw that’s stuck next to his body, and we’ve got to be careful that the harness doesn’t get hung up.”

She set the phone down next to her and held Flynn’s face in her hands. Searching for any kind of gap to free his paw, Tia tried sliding a couple of fingers in several places and found nothing. She couldn’t even get her index finger in there. “See if you have a gap where you can slide a finger in and free his left paw, Ethan. But be gentle.”

“Okay.”

He must have found an entry point, because Flynn whined. Tia stroked his face and praised him. “You’re so brave, Flynn, just so brave.”

“I found his paw. His back end is squirming, so I know he’s uncomfortable. I’m lifting his paw with my finger now and tugging toward me. I really can’t tell where his harness is. You’ll have to watch him.”

Flynn started whining in earnest but stopped seconds later.

“The paw is free, and I’ve lifted his back end onto my knees so he doesn’t keep sliding on the tile floor. He might be able to help us now because he’s got traction.”

Tia sighed with relief. Only one shoulder and a front leg to go. She squeezed a finger in through the side and found his harness. The metal buckle had caught on an inside gap of the little door. Try as hard as she might, the buckle wouldn’t budge. “Ethan, unbuckle the harness under his belly so it has room to move.”

“Gotcha, doing it now.” He started laughing.

“What’s going on?”

“I’ve got a face full of dog butt and wiggling haunches, but the harness is unbuckled.”

Tia kissed Flynn’s forehead and praised him again. Leaning back on her legs, she tried to figure out how to get the rest of him freed. If she pushed—no, she didn’t want to hurt him. “Got any ideas on how to proceed?”

Ethan was quiet for a few seconds. “If I lift his torso a couple of inches and we turn him toward your right, it’ll take the pressure off his shoulder and you can try feeding him through. Maybe we try one time. If it doesn’t work, we should probably call Mike at the vet to help us.”

“All right.” She could picture what Ethan wanted to do but worried about Flynn’s bulky shoulder and especially his front leg getting through unscathed. Maybe she could bend his leg naturally and guide it once the shoulder got free? Yeah, she could try that. One thing was for sure—she never wanted another pet door to contend with.

“I’ve got a plan for this side, Ethan. Give me a three count so I know when you’re lifting and turning him.”

“Roger that. Remember I’m turning him toward your right.”

“Okay.”

“Three, two, one.”

Flynn’s eyes widened. Tia squeezed her hand into a tiny fur gap and freed the harness buckle. Using her other hand, she folded his paw and leg. “I’ve got his leg protected. Give him a tug.”

Things got loud for the next thirty seconds. Flynn whined like a puppy as his shoulder squeezed through to the other side. Using both hands, she fed his leg and paw toward Ethan.

“He’s out, T. I think he’s okay. He’s shaking himself and licking my face. We did it.”

Oh, thank God. Hearing her dog cry wasn’t easy. Tia fell backward onto the porch rug and brushed the tears off her face.

Ethan shoved his hand through the flap opening. “Shake my hand, girl. We did it.” Upbeat enthusiasm filled his voice.

Tia placed her hand in his. A few weeks ago, she’d hesitated to touch him because he was large and intimidating. But now? His hand represented strength, warmth, and safety. She kissed his callused palm in gratitude for helping her with Flynn. What was happening to her? How had he worked his way into her trust with coffee and Thai food and doughnuts and those deep-green eyes she’d never get enough of? She let go of his hand.

His concerned face poked through the dog flap. “Hey... you’re bleeding.”

What? She glanced at her hand. Oh. “I slid my fingers under Flynn’s shoulder so he didn’t get scraped up. No worries, I’m fine. Is he okay?”

“He’s good and doing the I gotta go outside dance.”

She dashed out of the screened porch and paused at the side of the house. Why was the pachysandra trampled? How had that happened? Maybe the cat was back? Nah, the cat couldn’t flatten a hardy plant like that. Huh.

Ethan handed Flynn’s leash over at the front door. “Mac and I will secure that back door. You wouldn’t happen to have any plywood, would you?”

“Yes, in the shed by the back fence. A contractor forgot it and never came to pick it up. I’ve got nails, too, and an electric screwdriver.”

He gave her a raised-eyebrow look. “I’m impressed.”

“Why? Because I’ve got power tools?”

Flynn finished relieving himself on a tree and pulled his leash toward the backyard.

Ethan cocked his head. “I kind of expected you to have power tools because you’re prepared. But the plywood? Not so much. Where’s the key to your shed?”

“My key ring, kitchen counter.” She let the dog lead her wherever he wanted. He didn’t seem any worse off from the experience of getting stuck and then unstuck from the doggie door. For that, she was grateful. Seriously, how long had he endured that position? It would’ve been awful to parade into the vet again with an injured dog.

Flynn sniffed at the pachysandra, growled, and pulled her toward the screened porch with his nose to the ground. He sat down next to a piece of fabric. It was probably a loose piece of garbage. She bent down to grab it.

“Don’t touch it,” Ethan yelled. He jogged over, pulled a plastic bag from his pocket, and lifted the fabric with his pen to slide it into the bag. “When a trained K9 alerts next to an item, they’re telling you something.” Ethan got down on one knee and praised Flynn. Turning the bag over, he inspected the material. “This is blood, and these might be teeth marks on this denim.”

Tia gave her small backyard a slow perusal as anxiety tiptoed through her chest. “What do you think happened out here?”

Ethan got up. “I don’t know, but this little piece of fabric may give us some insight. And you’ve got cameras. We’ll check the footage.”

She straightened. “I’m creeped out, Ethan. I’ve always loved this yard.” Giving the place one last look, she tugged on Flynn’s leash. Maybe it was the evening chill in the air or that Flynn had found a piece of bloody fabric that didn’t belong back here, but the hairs on the back of her neck prickled, adding to her growing sense of unease.