Wounded at the Lake Read online

  “Noted.”

  “Then let’s go. I’m already late.”

  “I like the space and the trees. They make a nice backdrop to the fields. Have you ever played ball out here?”

  “Lots. When we were kids.”

  It wasn’t long until the open fields gave way to a driveway.

  “Whose place is this?”

  “Dirk’s. His house is straight ahead. Behind it and to the right are the kennels and training grounds. To the left is a small bungalow the dog handlers use when they’re here.”

  “Is there a handler here now?”

  “Sergeant Jeffrey Lonnigan; you’ll meet him in a minute.”

  “He’s not here for Thor, is he?”

  “No, Thor won’t be ready for a while. I’m in the process of training him to sniff for drugs as well as bombs.”

  “He’s smart. It probably won’t take him long.” She couldn’t help it if her voice had a longing lilt to it.

  “And you really like him.”

  A silent sigh. “Yes.” She was falling in love with the dog

  “If you change your mind, I can’t stop,” he told her again. “Go to the truck and wait if you get tired.”

  “Not a problem.”

  Dirk’s house was nice. Contemporary. Brick. Not too large, maybe a three- or four-bedroom with attached garage. Then they were at the kennels. Directly in front of them was a fenced-in open area she thought must be for training. Next to it was another fenced-in area, but she had no idea what it was for. A small bungalow was off to the side.

  They walked to where the dogs were barking and pacing in their pens. Each dog had its own three-sided house that opened to an enclosed dog run. Nice. They raced to their gate as they barked a greeting.

  A man in camos stood waiting.

  “Sorry I’m late again,” Coop said, giving Thor the signal to sit. He promptly obeyed. As Coop released one of the Shepherds, he introduced Lori as a friend of the family. “She likes dogs and wanted to see them in training.”

  “They’re extraordinary,” the sergeant bragged. “Can’t wait to get Kava to the base.” He chuckled. “He’s ready now. I’m the one who needs training.”

  “Try it on your own this morning. We’ll see how it goes.” Jeff took Kava to the training field and put him through his paces.

  Lori watched, fascinated.

  Coop led the way to a fenced-in portion of the field set up for something. It was wider than a running track, but similar. He motioned to Thor who followed and went obediently into the separated area. Another hand motion from Coop and the canine started a fast run.

  Lori watched as Thor bounded around the track, jumped barrels, crawled through pipes, and leaped onto and over an old truck at the turn in the track. He took her breath away. She’d never seen anyone, dog or man, move so fast. Three more turns around the track and Coop let him out. Another command and he ran toward her at a dead run.

  For a moment, she held her breath. If he hit her, she’d fall and possibly hurt herself. She held her hand up in the stop position and moved aside. But Thor came to a halt a foot from her feet. She could have sworn he grinned.

  “Show off,” she chuckled. Dropping to her knees, she hugged his neck. “You’re as smart as you are beautiful.”

  Thor let out a happy bark.

  She turned her attention to Coop as he took another dog out for exercise. Then she turned to watch the handler and Kava. Kava obeyed every subtle command, whether it was a hand or verbal signal. Unconsciously, she mimicked the hand signals. She’d like to hear the verbal ones. The dog reacted so fast at times she simply stood there in awe. No wonder they were so valuable to the military.

  “Enjoying yourself?”

  She spun around in alarm. She’d been so intent on watching the dogs respond to the signals she hadn’t heard anyone approaching. The man walking toward her was a stranger. Her throat clogged with fear. Could this be the man who had shot her?

  He had a nice face and dimples when he smiled. He was a good-looking man, but she had never seen him before.

  “You must be Lori.” He came closer.

  She slumped in relief. Only the people she’d met since she’d been shot would know her made-up name. “Who are you?”

  “Sorry, I’m Coop’s brother, Dirk.” He put out his hand.

  She took it in a firm handshake. “Of course you are. Who else would be out here at this hour?”

  He smiled. And his dimples deepened. She’d bet this man had broken a lot of hearts.

  “I’m fascinated by the dogs and how you train them. Do you always use male dogs? How long did it take before you learned enough to train them? How long is the dogs’ training program before you sell them to the military? I see you have both German Shepherds and a couple of Belgian Malinois. Is that usual?”

  Dirk chuckled. “You’re full of questions, aren’t you?”

  “I’m interested.”

  “Then the answer to your questions are: yes, a few weeks, it varies, and yes.”

  He went to a pen and took out a beautiful black German Shepherd with tan legs and ears. “This is Thunder. He’s in the early stages of training. The one on the field with Lonnigan is in the final stages. If you watch, you’ll see the difference.”

  “I’ll pay attention.”

  And she did. It didn’t take long to tell one was fully trained and the other a raw recruit. Dirk put Thunder through the same routine time after time. When the dog finally got it, Dirk gave him a treat and rubbed his head. Lori was sure he was praising him, too. But couldn’t hear from where she stood.

  Her attention went back to Coop. He exercised the dogs one at a time before putting them back in their pens. Then she watched the handler again. From here, he looked as if he was darned good at giving signals. But she didn’t know the criteria these two men put on either the dogs or their handlers. If she had to guess, it would be strenuous on both.

  Immersed in watching the lessons in progress, time flew by and it wasn’t long before Coop was looking at his watch and the two men were moving off the field.

  “Good work,” Coop told the sergeant. “I’ll get your certificate ready tonight. You can leave anytime after that.”

  “I’ll make arrangements.” He tipped a hand in a half salute. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He put Kava in his pen before he headed to the small bungalow.

  Dirk came toward them with Thunder and put him up. “Did you meet my brother?” Coop gestured toward the pair.

  “I did.”

  Coop and Dirk took two more dogs out for training. When they were finished, they went to a small shed, pulled out what looked like an overlarge child’s wagon, loaded it with a fifty-pound sack of feed, and went from pen to pen to fill the food trays.

  “Can I help?”

  “Nope.” Though limping, Coop continued his rounds, stopping long enough to give each dog a pat on the head.

  “I can give them water. I love animals. They won’t bother me.”

  Coop turned toward her. “They have automatic water bottles. When they get empty we re-fill them. Right now, they’re fine.”

  “Oh.”

  “Thanks anyway.”

  She wasn’t needed here. It was disheartening to say the least.

  When the guys finished, Coop called out, “Ready? I’m going to be late.”

  “Are you leaving Thor here?”

  “It’s where he belongs.”

  “I’ll miss him,” she said under her breath.

  “Hell!” He looked down at Thor who had been following Coop’s every step. “Just for today.”

  Lori gave the ‘come’ signal she had studied on the field and he raced to her side. He sat and looked up at her as if wanting another cue.

  “Were you taking notes?”

  She chuckled. “Not notes. Just noted the commands and Kava’s response. It wasn’t hard to figure out. Can you give me the verbal ones? Can I learn them as well?”

  “How’s your German?”


  “What?”

  “The dogs learn their commands in German instead of English for security purposes.”

  “I see. Then, yes, I would like to learn.”

  “I don’t know why you would, but I’ll get you a copy, and you can study whenever.”

  “Wonderful.”

  “Let’s go. I’ll see you at the office,” he called out to Dirk.

  In no time they were back at the house. Shorty was still in the kitchen.

  It hit Lori so fast she almost fell. She had a mother. Somewhere. She couldn’t bring up a name or a face, but she was out there. Her eyes turned damp. She blinked and couldn’t help but smile as Shorty made a beeline over to her. “How did you do? You shouldn’t have gone out today. It’s too cold and you’re still healing.”

  “I’m fine. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the dogs and their teachers in action. It was an eye-opener.”

  More so was the realization that she had a mom.

  She looked over at Shorty who couldn’t seem to stop herself from being overly helpful. Was her mom like Shorty?

  Lori wished she knew.

  Chapter Six

  “What are you doing?” Shorty was always busy. Now she was sitting at the table with pen and paper.

  “Making a grocery list. It’s Coop’s turn to have the Saturday night get-together.”

  Thor nudged Lori. She was sitting on the floor, ruffling his fur and tickling his belly. She laughed aloud when she looked into his eyes and saw how much he enjoyed the pampering.

  She looked up to see Shorty taking a picture of them with her cell phone. “Why did you do that?”

  “You looked so happy I couldn’t resist.”

  Lori stood and took her cup of tea to sit across from Shorty. She wasn’t really happy. How could she be? “What kind of get-together?”

  “No one told you?”

  Lori shook her head.

  Shorty put down her phone. “My boys take turns having a get-together for the members of their PI firm every Saturday night. It’s a good break for the boys as they work so hard all week. It’s Coop’s turn.” She chuckled. “Of course, I do the cooking for him.”

  “I’ll stay out of the way in my room.” She didn’t want to face more people she didn’t know.

  “Nonsense.” Shorty scoffed. “You’ll join the party and have a good time.”

  When was the last time she’d enjoyed herself? She’d give anything to remember.

  “I feel so helpless.”

  “Then help with this list. I’m going to fix spaghetti and meatballs, salad and French bread. What can I do to make the meal special? The guys try to outdo each other every week and I’ve run out of ideas.”

  “Humm. I could fix a couple of appetizers. Pick up some eggplant and tomatoes, make sure you have frozen or fresh spinach, some mozzarella, and lots of Parmesan. I’ll whip them up for you.”

  “Do you remember how to cook?”

  The question startled her. Did she remember? She did. “I know I like to cook. But I have no idea how I know.” Strange. In her mind’s eye, she could see how happy she was in a kitchen. Searching her brain, she couldn’t figure out where.

  “It doesn’t matter. I can use your help.” Shorty scribbled some more. “Now for the desserts. Any ideas?”

  “What are the guys’ favorites?”

  “Coop likes chocolate, Dirk likes anything sweet, and Matt loves banana pudding.”

  “They’ll be easy to please, then. Leave the desserts to me.”

  “Are you up to this? Coop will be upset if you do too much.”

  “Ignore him. What else can I do?”

  Shorty scribbled some more and went to grab her purse. “I’m going to the grocer’s.”

  “Which is where?”

  “You have no idea where you are, do you?”

  “Not a clue.”

  Shorty sat back down. “We’re about a mile from a really small town north of here called Dobbin. It has a small grocery story, gas station, fire station, and not much else. There’s a Walmart about ten miles down the road and Conroe is only ten further. I do most of my shopping at Wally World. If I want something special I’ll drive to the large mall outside Conroe. As the years go by, I find myself going less and less often.”

  “Can I go to the store with you?”

  “Sorry. Coop’s orders.” Shorty grabbed her purse and headed for the door. “It’s a good thing Thor is here. That’s an order, too. Make yourself at home. I won’t be long.”

  Lori wandered around the kitchen, ran her hand down the slick granite. The urge to cook something overcame her. She went to the pantry. Would Shorty mind? Would she break a cardinal rule of some kind? She hesitated. She should ask first or suffer the consequences. Where had that come from? Shorty was an easygoing person. Putting negative thoughts aside, she pulled out everything she’d need, straightened a couple of shelves, and went to work.

  ****

  The meeting at the office was short this morning. It didn’t take Coop long to cross-reference the phone number he’d found in the Wong sisters’ apartment to an address where he wanted to be by ten.

  Dirk gave his report. “I found that Harper was somewhat of a computer guru. Kind of like Marshall and Buster.” He grinned. “So, I’m going to concentrate my search at Internet coffee shops and see what I come up with. Marshall enhanced his photo and put him in several different disguises—with mustache, goatee, longer hair, etc. It’s worth a try.”

  “We can divide up the area between us,” Carrie said. “It’s a good idea.”

  “Did you find out anything from my list?” Dirk asked Marshall.

  “Or from the file I gave you?” Coop wanted to know.

  Marshall held up his hand. “One at a time. The file is in code. For what, I don’t know.” He turned to Dirk. “I’m still working on your list. Buster is helping me.”

  “I found a phone number when I searched the Wong sisters’ apartment. It’s a place called Bill’s. I’ll be there when they open and see if anyone there knows the Wong sisters.”

  “What about a wanted poster or anything on the mystery woman?” Carrie looked from face to face for an answer.

  “Nothing. But it’s only been a couple of days.”

  “Surely someone knows she’s missing.”

  “You would think so,” Coop agreed. How could they not? A woman like Lori, or whatever her name was, had to be missed by someone.

  Coop gathered his things and stood. “I’m out of here. I don’t want to be late.”

  “Good luck,” Carrie called to his back.

  Barely a half-hour after leaving the office, Coop stood in front of a small Vietnamese restaurant with the name Bill’s in big letters stenciled on the window. A small sign on the door listed their hours. He went inside.

  The interior had clean concrete floors painted a deep blue. The walls held a few pictures of villages he presumed were in Vietnam. Several tables were set to the right, a counter to the left. Enticing smells came from the kitchen. Another look around showed only a couple of tables with customers. It was early for lunch. He’d bet a little later they’d be filled to capacity.

  He went to a table and sat down. A tiny young girl with light brown hair and matching eyes came to take his order. The lilt in her voice made him smile when she asked what he wanted.

  He wasn’t hungry, but the spicy aromas coming from the kitchen made him order. When the youngster brought him a plate of honey ginger glazed chicken, his mouth watered. After his big breakfast he didn’t know how he could be hungry, but he was ready to dig in. First things first. He pulled out a photo of the Wong sisters. He pointed to it, and watched the young girl’s expression. Her eyes widened. “Have you seen either of these women in the last two weeks?”

  When her face paled and her hands trembled, he was pretty sure she knew them. When she turned and ran back to the kitchen, he was positive. Coop snatched up the photo before he took off after her. “Do you know them?” he insisted, his voice s
oft so he didn’t frighten her. She came to a stop inside the small kitchen.

  She shook her head and began to cry.

  “What’s going on?”

  Coop turned to see a tall, thin, Caucasian male in his mid to late forties, an apron around his waist, and a spatula in his hand glaring at him. He had to be Bill. Coop would bet anything, Bill had a connection to Vietnam. “Sorry. I just wanted to talk to the young lady for a minute.” He held up his hands. “I won’t hurt her, I promise.”

  “Leave her alone. She’s young and she’s frightened. If you don’t leave, I’ll call the cops.”

  Coop pulled out his credentials. “I’m a PI. The women I’m interested in are in great danger. I want to know if this young lady has seen them.” From the way she held onto the counter as if she might pass out, she knew a lot. Bill was trying to comfort her by pulling her into his shoulder.

  The girl stopped crying, pulled away from her protector, and watched Coop closely.

  “Can we talk?” He spoke gently. “I won’t hurt you. And Bill is right here if you need him.” Hell, the man treated her more like a daughter than an employee.

  “Why talk?” the girl wanted to know. Her voice was low and soft. She was a child of sixteen, maybe.

  Though her accent was thick, she was easily understood.

  “Let’s go to my table. I’ll explain.”

  Her gaze flew to Bill. He nodded.

  She followed Coop back to the table. He introduced himself. She told him her name was Anie. “Now,” he murmured when she seemed more settled. “Let’s start over. Do you know these women?”

  “You hurt them?”

  He leaned close, tried to make her understand—make her tell him the truth. “I’m trying to help them.” As well as himself, but he didn’t tell her that.

  She looked deep into his eyes before she nodded. “We came here together.”

  “Are they here legally?” As Matt suggested, they could have been among those brought in by smugglers and forced into the sex trade.

  Anie’s eyes grew bigger and tears formed in them.

  “I’m not interested in your immigration status or theirs. Just tell me what you know.”