Of course, they’d seen a lot of cars on the drive down from Pennsylvania to Virginia. It’d been a solid road trip. Atlas had settled into the back like a champ with very few issues. Come to think of it, Atlas probably had more experience than she did with road travel. The military working dog had also been trained in para-jumping and rappelling, so he was a lot more experienced in traversing distances in every direction. Officially, the purpose of this trip was to socialize Atlas in a variety of environments and record his reactions. She wondered what sort of other environments they were going to take him into today.
“I did get a look at his car.” David scanned the street as he drove, parking around the corner from the house they wanted to visit. “But the man used to be a Navy SEAL. He’ll have switched cars by now. Either gotten a rental or maybe a cheap used car from a local dealership. Something easy to acquire and even easier to get rid of.”
Lyn shifted in her seat. The man could be anywhere, still following her. “Why didn’t we call the police?”
David hesitated. “No solid proof he was following you. It would’ve been my word against his. At most, they’d be able to bring him in for questioning but would’ve released him again. And he’d have gotten more careful.”
“Oh.” The word sounded quiet, timid, to her ears.
“This way, he’s still confident and hopefully underestimates me.” He reached out to brush her cheek with his knuckles briefly. “Which gives me an advantage in keeping the bastard away from you.”
His touch gave her more reassurance than she thought possible and she tucked his words away to think about later. There’d been a lot of information to process in a short period of time.
He gave Atlas the order to stay and left the car windows cracked for airflow. It was cool outside so Atlas would be safe in the car waiting for them. As they walked toward the house, they kept a casual pace.
“Do you think he’s home?” It was late afternoon on a weekday. The entire neighborhood was quiet, though.
“I think he will be home. He works day shift right now, based on my intel. Should’ve gotten home about twenty minutes ago so long as he didn’t get caught up on base.” David didn’t seem concerned and he didn’t elaborate on his sources of intelligence either. “If his family is home, he’s less likely to get overexcited.”
She didn’t like causing trouble for the man’s family. It was one thing to search out a bunch of soldiers in her mind but now that they were here—about to talk to one—the ramifications were widening in scope. By a lot. “We’re just here to ask questions though, right?”
David was silent for a second as they turned and walked up the driveway. “For right now, yes. But we all make choices and the reasons behind them get complicated.”
She didn’t have a chance to pursue the topic because they’d reached the front door and David knocked.
The sound of small feet stampeded toward the door before a feminine voice called out, “Let your father answer the door.”
The man who answered the door was lean and dark, and intimidating. Lyn wondered what it was like living with a father like him, but then the man gave them a ready smile and laugh lines creased the corners of his eyes. “Can I help you?”
“Sean Harris?” David asked, extending his hand. “I’m David Cruz. I’m reaching out to some of the teams who worked in co-op with the Air Force military working dog teams. Wanted to get some feedback if you can spare a couple of minutes.”
The man’s smile quickly disappeared. Perhaps David’s approach was too transparent. Which unsettled Lyn because she’d considered his introduction pretty circumspect.
“Seems unusual.” Harris’s voice maintained a neutral and significantly colder tone.
David spread his hands out at his sides. “I’m retired from active duty, working on consult with the three-forty-first training squadron. Doing some informal research on how we can improve interactions with cooperative teams. Particularly the SEAL teams since you do have dogs of your own.”
“Not every unit, as I’m sure you’re aware.” The ice melted a fraction but Harris didn’t step back to invite them inside. Beyond him, Lyn caught sight of three curious children. None of them could’ve been older than maybe ten years old. “My team has worked with several Air Force pairs.”
David nodded. “Did any of them stick out to you as particularly difficult to work with? Any of the dogs have behaviors incompatible with the primary objectives of your team?”
“Not that I remember.” Harris wasn’t buying it. Lyn noticed he hadn’t done more than glance at her the entire conversation but she got the sense he was keeping an eye on both of them.
“Any of the teams memorable at all?” David asked.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing digging into things no one should know about.” Harris was done with pretending. “But you both need to walk away. Now.”
David dropped the pretense, too. “There’s a man dead and no one knows the real reason why either.”
Harris’s gaze swept the street to the right and left before filling the door even more, blocking Lyn’s view of his children. “I can’t talk to you. You should know this.”
Which meant there was something to talk about. Lyn couldn’t believe they were in the middle of something so dire that a man as tough as this one obviously was could be frightened into silence.
“I’m trying to do right by my friend,” David said quietly.