She crouched, rubbed Caspian. “Usually, the dogs are specifically trained for their handler, but their skills are embedded, so...”
Caspian pushed his muzzle into her shoulder.
“Vic, are you ... stressed out?”
She said nothing. And shoot—but he knew. Just like that, heknew. “Did you...” Aw. “Do you know someone named Keely?”
She glanced up at him.
Caspian licked her face.
“Wait. Do you know whathappenedto Keely?” He couldn’t move.
Vic looked at the dog. “Still got it, huh?” She sighed and stood up. “Yes, and yes.”
He stared at her. Silence rose between them. He cocked his head. “And?”
“And if I tell the police, they’ll kill her.” She met his gaze, something steely in it.
“Okay, so, let’s say I’m not the police. I’m just a guy who cares very, very much for her.”
One eyebrow went up.
“We met a few days ago,” Dawson said. “And she is ... smart and beautiful and amazing and—”
“Dawson Mulligan, are you falling for my daughter?”
The breath swept out of him. He glanced at Caspian. Now might be a good time for the dog to show up with a little stress relief. But, oh well. “Maybe, yes.”
Vic sighed again. “I should have told her that I knew who she was when she came into the Sun the day before the blizzard. She just sat in the booth and didn’t touch her food, and I was ... I was such acoward. I just stood there, behind the bar, watching her suffer. Wondering if she’d talk to me. Thinking I should talkto her. I finally screwed up the courage just as she was leaving. But it was too late, I think.”
“It’s not too late,” he said softly. “She’d really like to meet you.”
Vic’s eyes misted.
“But she’s in trouble—The Sorros brothers have her, and—”
“I know.” She held up her phone. “Sloan Sorros just called me. If I don’t ... If I don’t bring them Luna Frost, then they’re going to kill Keely.”
A beat. “Who is Luna Frost?”
“Wilder Frost’s seven-year-old daughter. Whom I’m keeping under my protection while he goes to Juneau and testifies against Conan Sorros.”
His mouth opened.
“So, I get to choose between keeping a promise and losing the daughter I love all over again.”
He nodded. “Do you know where they are?”
“No. But my guess is somewhere around here, because they told me that if I delivered Luna, then they’d exchange her for Keely.”
“Somewhere around here.”
“Whenpeople want redemption,they go home.”
And there it was. “I know where they are.” He knelt and put his hands into Caspian’s fur. “Did you know I’m an Eagle Scout, Vic?”
She frowned. “No.”
