“Very good for us.” David paused. “Change of plans for the evening. Best thing for us to do is be unpredictable.”
“Which means we’re sleeping here tonight?” Outside. Exposed. She shivered even though the car was still warm. With Atlas and David, she could do it if it was necessary. She might not actually sleep, though.
“No.” David was silent until she turned to look at him. Her eyes had adjusted so she could make out his face and his gaze caught her, reassured her. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. “Let’s get you someplace safe tonight. Then we’ll head out again in the morning.”
Chapter Thirteen
This…was not what I expected.”
Cruz turned to grin at Lyn, happy to see some color returning to her previously pale face. Her tone was more of hesitant surprise than dismay, which was good. “Exactly.”
“And you just happened to know about this place tucked away in a little town off the highway?” She sounded dubious.
Okay, he’d be asking questions too if he were in her place.
He chuckled. Her mind was always working as she studied every conceivable angle of a situation. Kept him on his toes and made messing with her fun. “In fact, yes.”
She planted her feet at the end of the walkway and crossed her arms. Next to her, Atlas came to heel, then sat. “Seriously.”
Cruz kept walking, unhurried, until he reached the top of the walk and tapped a discreet, stylized sign. It had the silhouette of a German shepherd and a concise warning—not enough to scare away potential guests but enough to assure likely thieves that the property was guarded. “Not every puppy is suited for military or police service. We try to be sure to find good homes for the youngsters who don’t make it all the way through training. We’ve got clients all up and down the East Coast.”
The shadows cleared from her expression and curiosity sparked in her eyes. Easy as that. For all of her wariness, she believed too quickly. Somebody, someday was going to take advantage of her. The thought tightened his chest. It wasn’t fair of him to want a person to be both wary and trusting.
But then his expectations of people hadn’t ever been fair. It was why he worked better with dogs.
“I guess they’ll have no problem with Atlas coming inside with us, then.” The big dog, sitting next to her, looked up at her then at Cruz and voiced a short bark.
Dog was getting more talkative than Cruz ever remembered him being, even with Calhoun. As a rule, the military working dogs were trained to be silent most of the time. Her habit of conversing with him was changing Atlas more than Cruz had initially considered. The question would be whether Atlas reverted to a more stoic behavior pattern once he was working with another military handler.
He should if he was going back overseas.
Time spent with Lyn was nothing to regret but Cruz was more than a little worried about the impact her moving on would have…on both of them. Lyn’s caring heart had softened them. If times were peaceful, it might not be as much of a worry but they’d just been given a taste of combat conditions in a place where there shouldn’t be any. Now, more so than ever, they needed to be vigilant. “Shouldn’t be a problem.” He waited until they’d joined him before climbing the few steps to the landing of the historic bed and breakfast. “And I should be able to handle any introductions to their dogs to avoid any potential issues.”
Her gaze settled on him, one eyebrow raised in an eloquent expression.
He nodded to her. “Not saying you couldn’t, but since these bruisers know me it’ll go faster if I do it.”
Subtle tension went out of her shoulders and the corners of her lips turned up in a rueful smile. “You have a point there.”
Any animal was more responsive with a familiar person. No matter how skilled the trainer, familiarity helped things go along more quickly. He’d met a lot of people with too much pride to acknowledge this simple practicality. As if admitting it made their skill less somehow. Or because they had to prove their abilities could overcome the advantage.
Lyn could be competitive. He had no doubts there. But she’d worked alongside him, burying her pride for the common goal. It’d made it easier for him to set his own emotional baggage aside and focus on Atlas.
Tonight, though—he was going to start taking more of a lead in the situation.
Almost getting run down did that to a man.
“Hopefully, they’ve got a room open for us.” He reached out and knocked on the door.
“Will they hear that? There’s a doorbell.” She pointed.
He shrugged. “Don’t want to wake up any other guests. There’s rooms on the ground floor. The dogs will hear the knock and alert them to someone on the property.”
Sure enough, Atlas stood. His big ears swiveled forward and nose twitched as he watched the door. The big dog stood ready and alert, every line the perfect balance of tension and listening. He was waiting for the barest whisper of a command.