Chapter 23 - Rick's Real Assignment
I slammed the ledger shut.
The fountain pen rolled across the desk and fell to the floor.
The writing stopped instantly.
Rick, however, wasn't looking at the ledger.
He stood in front of another locked cabinet hidden behind the fireplace.
Its steel door carried a faded stencil.
CANINE PROGRAM.
A chill ran through me.
Using a rusted lever nearby, I forced the cabinet open.
Inside were neatly organized files.
Training manuals.
Behavior reports.
Medical records.
Every document focused on dogs.
German Shepherds.
Belgian Malinois.
Labradors.
Each assigned an identification code beginning with the letter R.
R-03.
R-11.
R-17.
My hands shook as I opened Rick's file.
The first page contained a photograph of him as a puppy.
The second contained neurological test results.
The third explained his assignment.
Purpose: Detect unauthorized occupancy within concealed structures.
"He wasn't trained to guard people," I whispered.
"He was trained to find people hiding."
The elderly woman nodded slowly.
"They bred dogs that could sense tiny vibrations inside walls."
The final page held something far stranger.
Rick's retirement order.
Date issued:
Three years before I adopted him.
Reason:
Subject formed independent attachment to civilian during placement test.
Civilian.
Me.
I had never participated in any placement test.
Or so I believed.
Tucked into the back of the folder was a photograph I had never seen before.
It showed me standing beside Rick on the day we first met at the rescue shelter.
But I wasn't alone.
Standing several feet behind me...
Watching quietly...
Was the gray-coated man.
May you like
On the back of the photograph, someone had handwritten a single sentence.
The dog chose correctly. Continue observation.
