You are not the target,” Train replied, and then the fax machine went silent.
Not the target, she thought. Not yet, anyway. She crumpled all the flimsy paper into a trash can and opened up the safe. The big automatic was at the back. There was a full clip in the butt. She racked the slide back with some difficulty and chambered a round, then let the hammer down very carefully. It had been a long time since OCS and her small-arms training, but she still knew how to chamber a round. Firing it would be something else again. Probably take down a wall if she tried it. Gun in hand, she went around the house again with Harry, but he seemed much more interested in sticking to her than in sniffing out bad guys in the closets. When she was satisfied that no one was in the house, she checked locks and lights, then went upstairs to bed.
TUESOAY She gave up trying to get back to sleep a little after five.
Her night had been fitful, disturbed by dreams of whispering objects, and she had started awake with every night sound.
Harry looked at her accusingly when she finally turned on a light and got up, but he dutifully followed her downstairs after she had washed her face and combed her hair. She brought the big automatic with her, putting it down on the counter next to the coffeepot. It looked very much out of place.
It was still dark outside, but there were signs of light visible on the eastern horizon. First light, she thought, then realized she was still in her nightgown. She hurried upstairs and threw on some jeans and a sweater. She got back downstairs just in time to see the headlights of Train’s car rolling up into her driveway.
She went outside as Train got out. He waved to her when she said good morning. Then he went around to the back of the car, where he opened the two rear doors and called softly. An enormous Doberman hopped out onto the driveway, looked around briefly, saw Karen, and trotted right over to the porch steps. She was about to flee back into the house when Train gave a command and the dog stopped in its tracks at the top of the steps and sat down.
“What is that?” she asked.
Train laughed as he came over. “That is Gutter. He’s your new-and-improved security system.”
“Gutter?”
“You have to admit, the name lends a certain style,” he said, patting the dog’s sleek black head. “His real name is Gbtterddmmerung, but”Gutter’ works as a metaphor for everyday mayhem.”
“Will he eat Harry?” she asked as she headed back inside.
“Not if he’s submissive.”
She had to go get a leash before she could drag Harry out to the front porch. Harry adopted a disgustingly submissive posture in front of the statuelike Dobe, who looked down at Harry briefly before resuming his inspection of the morning sky. Karen took off Harry’s leash, and the old dog slunk down the porch steps and out of sight around the comer.
I”Okay, that’s all we need,” Train said. “There won’t be any trouble between those two. Now you.”
“Me what?” she said, eyeing Gutter.
“Sit down on the top step, right next to him. Do what I say. Do precisely what I say. Have you showered yet this morning?”
“I beg your pardon?” she said as she nervously sat down next to the dog, whose head was slightly higher than hers.
“Scent is all-important,” he replied. The dog looked at Train and waited. Train came up on the steps and sat down on the other side of the dog. He reached across the dog’s back and took Karen’s hand. Karen felt as if she was putting her hand in a big warm vise. He held her hand alongside the dog’s muzzle and bent down next to the dog’s face, speaking in German as he did so.
The dog looked first at Train and then back over his shoulder at Karen.
Then he wiggled like an eel and was all over her, nuzzling, sniffing, making happy whimpering sounds like a big puppy. He ended up with his head in her on top of their joined hands, his big -brown eyes watching her face carefully. She was suddenly very aware of Train’s hand on the tops of her thighs.
“Okay, now you,” Train ordered, letting go of her hand.
“Pet him; tell him he’s a good boy. Love it up a little. We’re telling him that he’s to be as loyal to you as he is to me.
We’ll do it a couple more times while I teach you some basic commands and his rules of engagement.”
She swallowed and complied, amazed at the transformation in the dog’s demeanor. Every Doberman she had ever seen looked underfed and keenly interested in rectifying that problem. This one was acting as if he wanted some warm Milk.
“Rules of engagement. That sounds like weapons talk,” she said.
“This is a weapon; it’s just in standby at the moment.
Gutter’s going to live in your house for a while. You ‘ re going to show him around inside; then later, when I get back, I’m going to show him around outside to define the perimeter. It’s actually an exercise in scent, and touching.
Dobes are really into touching. They’re extremely intelligent, and the good news is that they readily accept human females as dominant. When we’re all done, you’re going to be safe from creeps who come around here uninvited.”
“What would he do to an intruder?” she asked, continuing to pet the dog.
His shiny black hide felt like-she always imagined a seal would feel.
“If he was outside, he would bark and run the guy off, staying just behind him but out of the range of hand weapons until the bad guy leaves the defined perimeter. Inside, he wouldn’t make a sound until the creep was well past any escape routes. Dobes like to do that, too. Let people in but not out. After which, he would nail the guy to the floor by his throat until someone told him to let go or to eat him.
Pat him one more time and then get up. I’m going to demonstrate the bark.”
She smoothed her hands over the dog’s head one last time and got up.
Train also got up and gave a command. The dog sprang up into a standing position. Train gave another command and the dog broke out into a burst of the loudest barking Karen had ever heard. She clapped her hands over her ears in fright, and Harry left a visible piddle trail as he decamped across the front walk, heading toward the barn.
After five seconds, Train gave another command and the dog stopped.
“That’s bark. Here’s growl.”
Another command, and the front yard was filled with a menacing rumbling growl as the Dobe leaned forward on his haunches, looking at nothing in particular. The growl was punctuated with an occasional lip-lifting grimace that revealed what looked like at least a yard of glistening canine ivory. Another command and the dog was silent again.
“I’m not sure I can handle all this-” she said, looking at the dog’ who was still watching Train expectantly, waiting for the next command. The phone began to ring in the house.
“You’ll do fine. I’ve written all this down. Mostly, he’s just going to be here. You better get that.”
She slipped into the living room, followed by Gutter, who pushed his nose between the screen door I as she went through. Her neighbor Ken Parsons, of the perpetual lawn mower, was on the phone. She reassured him that everything was fine.
She smiled as she hung up. “I think I might be able to get used to Gutter,” she said, reaching down to pet the dog.
Gutter looked up at her approvingly. Train then told her to take the dog on a tour of the inside of the house, room by room. “Let him in your closet, and let him get a good scent of shoes. The laundry hamper, too.
I want him to know your scent, okay?”
She was almost blushing when they finished taking the dog around on his grand tour. They were back in the kitchen in ten minutes. Karen sat down in a kitchen chair,. and the dog parked himself between her feet.
“Okay,” Train said. “Remember that he wants to be next to you, as you can see, or at least in the same room with you. Or anywhere you go. Make eye contact often, and show affection. He’s worth it.”