Hostile Witness (Sanctuary, Inc. #1)

Chapter 35

35

E than yanked the shirt over his head and made a beeline for the kitchen. He almost tripped over Flynn stretched out horizontally in the hallway right outside Tia’s bedroom. The dog lifted his head and sniffed, then snorted in utter disgust. At least that was what it sounded like to Ethan.

He bent down to pet the dog. Flynn gave him the side-eye and turned away.

“Look dude,” Ethan implored, “I’m sorry we made you sleep in the hallway last night. We excluded you, but there wasn’t enough room in the bed, and sometimes dog parents need time alone.”

Flynn closed his eyes and sneered, exposing his gums and eyeteeth.

“It’ll probably happen again.” Oh, please, let it happen again . Ethan rubbed behind Flynn’s ears. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t love you anymore. You brought us together. You’ll always be our special big boy.”

Tia opened the hall-bath door in a cloud of steam. “Are you talking to Flynn?”

Ethan sighed. “Yup. He’s very displeased with me right now.”

“I know. He gave me the silent treatment, too.”

“What do you think we should do?”

“Wait him out. See how long it takes for him to change his attitude.”

Change his attitude? He stared at her, baffled. “And if that doesn’t work?”

“Treat him special, spoil him. Maybe we’ll tempt him with a big b - o - n - e . A real one.”

“Do you have any, or do I need to run to the grocery store?”

“I’m fresh out of bones. You’ll need to visit Tony’s, bayside on Sixty-Seventh Street. They’ve got the best ones. Take Flynn with you. He needs to get out.”

“T, he won’t even look at me. How am I supposed to get him in the truck?”

She poked her head out of the bathroom again and gave him a big smile. “You’ll think of something. I guess if you have to, you’ll just pick him up and cart him outside. Our boy’s smart. He knows exactly what’s going to happen when you talk to the Italian guy in the stained white coat at Tony’s. I guarantee you his tail will wag full blast.”

“How many bones should I get?”

“Well”—she snickered—“if Flynn is going to be offended every time we’re intimate, I’d say get a bunch.”

Hmm. “A bunch. Is that like five?” Hopefully, Tony also sold a variety box of condoms.

“How do you feel this morning, Detective?”

He leaned back and smiled. “Freaking amazing. How about you?”

She cackled. “Like a brand-new person.”

“That’s good. So five bones or seven or eight?”

“I would buy as many bones as he’ll sell you. We’ll freeze them.”

“Does that mean you’re ready to make us permanent like we discussed last night?”

“Not yet. But it does indicate that you have first dibs on your side of the bed for the foreseeable future.”

Maybe he was moving too fast. “You’re going to make me work for it, huh?”

“Absolutely. I can’t have you thinking I’m easy.”

“Okay. Let me make coffee first. You want some?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Ethan opened the passenger window of his truck, hoping Flynn would enjoy the ride with his head in the wind and his tongue hanging out. Not this time. He tossed Ethan a disinterested glance and focused forward, ignoring the open window. It was baffling. Was Flynn really mad or simply having an off day?

“Did you do this to Margie and Guy Evans? Is that why they didn’t get married?”

Flynn’s head swiveled in his direction when he heard Margie’s name. Of course the K9 remembered her name. Guilt welled up in Ethan’s chest, and he kept his mouth shut the rest of the drive. Where was the happy canine he’d played fetch with yesterday?

He pulled into Tony’s Market and urged Flynn through the front door. The place smelled delicious, like fresh baked goods and rotisserie chicken.

The meat department was in the back. If a bone would soothe the dog’s hurt feelings, then so be it. He guessed it was kind of like buying flowers for a woman after a disagreement, although that sort of thing didn’t make any sense to him. Wouldn’t it be better to solve the disagreement first instead of trying to smooth it over with flowers and never discussing it? Yeah, whatever.

A salesperson offered to help him.

“I need to speak with your butcher about meat bones.” He pointed at Flynn. “Is he in?”

The woman gave a firm nod and plunged through the swinging doors, yelling, “Tony, got a bone buyer... wants to talk to you.”

Tony strolled behind the meat case, wiping his hands on a white towel. “You need goodies for a special dog? I got ’em.”

Ethan smiled in relief. “Great. How many do you have?”

“Who’s the dog?”

“This guy here. Flynn.”

“For Flynn? I love that dog.” Tony came out from behind the counter, got down on one knee, and held out his arms. “Who loves you, baby?”

Flynn’s tail swished into overdrive, wagging and slapping the wood floor. Not only that, but he also licked Tony’s face and barked, dancing in a circle. Ethan shook his head. Obviously, Tony the butcher wasn’t on Flynn’s shit list today.

Tony glanced at Ethan. “This is Tia’s dog. Why do you have him? Oh, wait, are you the cop she shares him with?”

Ethan nodded. “That’s me. Nice to meet you.”

Tony rose from the floor. “I’m glad you stopped in. The strangest dude came in here about an hour ago. He had dead eyes; you know what I mean?”

Ethan switched into work mode. “Anything else strange about him?”

“Everything, man. His face... all busted up. The gauze fell off one side, and there were black stitches all over his nose and chin, across one cheek. Almost looked like he stitched himself up. Docs these days don’t use black thread on the face. I told him about the medical clinic on Seventy-Fifth and how they’d fix him right up if he needed help, ’cause I don’t know, he looked like he needed medical attention.”

“What did he say?”

“He just looked at me with those deadpan eyes and told me to hurry up with his steaks.” Tony shivered. “Those eyes, they really got me, man. The guy wasn’t right. He didn’t threaten anybody, just took the steaks, paid for them, and walked out.”

Ethan squinted. “Which way did he go?”

“Turned left, hit the candy store, then drove off in his car. It looked brand-new. Temporary tags, but I didn’t get the plate number.”

Ethan pulled up the artist’s rendering of Tia’s traffic guy on his phone. He held it up. “Is this him?”

Tony leaned closer. “Maybe, there are similarities in the mouth and eyes. But my guy had dark-brown hair with a flattop.”

“What color was his car?”

“White sedan.”

Just like the local police cars. “Do you have security cameras?”

Tony nodded. “Wanna take a look at them? It was only an hour ago.”

“That’d be great.”

“Sure. How many bones you want?”

“As many as you’ve got. A dozen, maybe? Can I freeze them?”

“Twelve? No problem. I’ll wrap them individually, and you can thaw as you need them. Come on back. You can review the security feed while I wrap bones. Okay to give the dog a treat to enjoy now? It’ll keep him busy while you work.”

“He’d love that. Thanks.”

Ethan followed Tony back to the office and got busy scrolling footage.

A minute later, Tony reappeared with a bone, which he set down on a big towel. After he gave Flynn a second round of serious affection, the dog got right to work. “He can gnaw to his heart’s content in here but not in the kitchen. Health department rules.” Tony stripped off his butcher’s coat and replaced it with a fresh one, then washed his hands in the corner sink. “Just stick your head in the kitchen if you need me.”

Ethan wheeled around and caught the butcher before he closed the door. “Is this the guy you spoke of?”

Tony stepped around Flynn and peered at the monitor. “Yup, that’s him. Strangest eyes I’ve ever seen. I don’t know. Maybe I’m looking for trouble where there isn’t any. What do you think?”

That this guy had a run-in with Flynn and the doggie door. “He does need medical attention; that’s for sure.” Ethan enlarged the face-forward picture from the checkout line. It was grainy, but a pro could analyze the bone structure and maybe get a positive ID on the man. “Do you mind if I forward this footage to the precinct?”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever it takes to get him the help he needs. That’s one of the reasons we’ve got cameras, to protect ourselves and the public. Just make sure to black out our name on the feed so he doesn’t get mad at us.”

Ethan nodded. “Yes, of course. We’ve got the software to remove the background so the girl who checked him out won’t be in the photos, either. We’ll make sure of it.” He forwarded the footage to his phone and Earl Thompson’s. “Thanks, Tony.”

“Sure thing. Let me get those bones ready for Flynn.”