Page 63 of Colton On Guard

As he pulled into his driveway, Genna gasped. “The front door is wide open.”

Since he’d locked it, that meant someone had broken in.

Parking, he ran for the house, Genna right on his heels.

“June Bug,” she called. “Revis. Where are you?”

Heart sinking, he realized there were no signs of the dogs anywhere. Either whoever had broken in had taken them or they’d escaped out the open door.

“No.” Genna stood frozen for a moment. “They have to be here somewhere. Help me search the house.”

Quickly and methodically, they conducted a thorough search of every inch of the place. They opened closet doors, checked under beds, and even looked in the fenced backyard in case they’d been locked out. The entire time, Parker found himself praying nothing cruel had been done to the dogs.

“Time to search the neighborhood,” he finally announced. “Depending on how long they’ve been gone, we can only hope they didn’t get far.”

“Or that someone took them,” she responded, her tone as bleak as her expression. “I swear no one had better have harmed a single hair on those dogs.”

“I don’t think they did,” he reassured her, even though he wasn’t positive. He kept his worry and anger banked low inside, wanting to offer Genna nothing but hope. “If it’s your stalker, their main objective seems to be to make you aware they have access to your life. Harming an innocent pet wouldn’t serve any purpose.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Outside, after closing the front door, they faced the street. “You go west, I’ll take east,” he said. “Call me if you see them.”

Speed walking, while searching for any sign of either of the two dogs, Genna felt as if her heart had been pulverized inside her chest. Not only was she terrified, worried about her beloved little dog and Parker’s big one, but for the first time since all of this stalking had begun, rage simmered inside her. How dare they—whoever they were—come anywhere near JB and Revis?

She could only hope the two had simply wandered off. Because if someone had picked them up and taken them somewhere, the chance of getting the dogs back would be slim to none.

If they were out here, she’d find them. She had to. Swallowing hard, she kept looking, refusing to cry.

Her phone rang. Parker. “Did you see them?” she asked, breathless with hope.

“Not yet. If I remember right, the shelter microchipped them before we adopted. That’s a good thing.”

Rubbing her aching temple, she agreed. “Only if they’re found.”

“They will be.” He sounded confident. Clearly, he didn’t share her secret fear that whoever had taken them would harm the dogs.

“I’ve checked all the way to the end of your street,” she said. “I’m thinking maybe we should call animal control, but they’re probably not open on Sunday.”

“I’ll call and leave a message. Since they’re part of the police department, they’ll know Eli. Let me do that now.”

After Parker had ended the call, Genna turned north and continued searching. She continually called June Bug’s and Revis’s names, even though she wasn’t confident either dog knew their new names yet. She had no idea what they’d been called before ending up in the shelter.

Each step she took without spotting them felt like another nail driven into her heart.

Finally, she turned around and headed back to the house. If she wanted to cover a greater distance, it would be better to use a vehicle.

She and Parker got there at the same time. “I think we need to drive around and keep looking,” he said. “I also left a voicemail for my friend who works for animal control.”

Trying not to panic, she agreed. They got into his truck and drove slowly, with the windows down, calling their dogs’ names over and over.

“Still no sign of them,” she said. “They’ve got to be around here somewhere. Unless whoever broke in took them.”

“I refuse to consider that possibility,” Parker responded. “Whoever broke in, deliberately left the door open, knowing the dogs would run off.”

A flash of black in the trees caught her eyes. “Stop,” she said. “I think I might have seen Revis.” Either that, or some other kind of wildlife. The kind that would make a meal of JB in two bites.

Immediately, he pulled over. “Let’s be careful. Just in case.”