I couldn’tnotlet her see the dog.
“There’s one more thing. We found Bandit.”
She froze in disbelief. “What?”
“He’s alive. And we tracked him down.”
“Oh my god.” She burst into tears, but through her emotions she still managed to ask, “Is he okay? Where is he? Does he love his new family?”
“He wasn’t taken to a nice home. He’s had it rough, and now he’s in a bad way.”
She started to sob harder. “Oh, my poor baby. Where is he? I have to see him!”
“You need to listen to me, Mila.” I grabbed her hand. “Something has happened to him.”
“Tell me.”
“Sometimes dogs have such a bad time, they turn. It’s like they’ve given up on people, and we don’t get them back.”
“No! That’s not Bandit.”
I chose my words carefully. “He’s not the same dog you fell in love with, okay? He’s very angry. And I think he’s lost part of himself. I’m not sure he’s ever going to come back from where he is now. So I don’t want you to blame yourself.”
She looked at me with so much hope it almost crushed me. “He won’t be angry at me.”
“I mean it, Mila. If he can’t behave around you, if he tries to harm you, I will protect you.”
“Is he hurt?”
“They made him fight. He’s pretty beat up, but he won’t let anyone near him to help.”
Tears streamed down her face. “I’m so happy and sad at the same time right now.”
“Come on.”
Her eyes went wide. “He’s here?”
“You have to stay back. We have to give him a chance to remember you, okay? Don’t rush him.”
“I won’t,” she promised.
We stoodon the tarmac inside the bay and watched as two handlers brought out Bandit. Maksim stood off to the side, his hand on his sidepiece. There was a scattering of observers watching from the second floor.
Bandit was going absolutely bonkers, fighting and snarling. He had a muzzle on, but he was frothing at the mouth like he was rabid, twisting and fighting his restraints.
“Bandit!” Mila cried, and, before I could react, she was running toward him.
“Mila, no!” I yelled, taking off after her.
Bandit froze at the sound of her voice, and then twisted to see Mila running toward him.
I was about to give the handlers a signal to remove him from the room when Bandit dropped, lay on all fours, put his chin on the ground, and emitted a high yelp.
A moment later, Mila slid toward him on her knees.
I stopped running, not wanting to freak out the dog.
But neither of them paid any attention to me.
