Run to Ground(99)
“Theo,” Hugh said in a pointed tone, “would you like to explain to the class why you’re laughing?”
Theo shrugged, trying to stop smiling. It wasn’t working. “Otto’s funny.”
Hugh imitated an obnoxious buzzer sound. “Wrong! You’re laughing because you didn’t listen to me.”
“I’m confused,” Otto muttered at the eggs. “And why couldn’t we go to the diner this morning like usual? There’s no food here.”
“There are eggs.”
Otto gave Hugh a flat stare. “I brought the eggs. Last time we came here, there was no food, so I brought eggs this time. Good thing, since”—he paused meaningfully—“there is no food here.”
“Well, your place is too far out, and Theo’s is a closet disguised as a house, so it has to be here.”
“Or the diner,” Theo said. “I agree with Otto. Why couldn’t we go to the diner like usual?”
With a glower directed at Theo, Hugh said, “Of course you want to go to the diner. That’s why we had to meet here for breakfast, instead. This is an intervention.”
As Theo groaned, Otto admitted, “I’m confused again.”
“Is this about Jules?” Of course it was. Now that he thought about it, Theo was surprised Hugh, the stubborn bastard, hadn’t pushed the issue sooner.
Looking back and forth between them, Otto asked, “Jules? The new diner waitress?”
“Yes,” Hugh said. “This is about Jules.”
“What’s the problem with her?” Otto put some eggs onto the only two plates Hugh owned, and then started eating his portion directly from the pan. “She seems nice. Jumpy, but nice. I’m guessing there was an asshole husband or boyfriend back wherever she came from.”
Hugh grabbed one of the plates and stabbed his fork into the eggs more violently than was really required. “That’s the problem. We don’t know where she came from or why she’s running or even who she really is. And head-in-the-sand Theo here isn’t even bothering to look.”
“She’ll tell me when she’s ready,” Theo said, pushing away from the counter so he could grab the last plate of eggs. “But I agree with you, Otto, about your asshole-ex theory. One of her brothers shows signs of abuse, too.”
Now it was Otto stabbing his eggs with unnecessary force. That information had poked him right in his soft spot for kids and animals.
“Nan just hired him to help at the kennels, so you’ll be seeing him around there.” Theo took a bite of his eggs. “Are you still working with that rescue Malinois?”
“Yeah.” The question didn’t seem to cheer him up. “She’s going to take some patience.”
Theo grinned at him. “Good thing you have plenty of that.”
“We’re off track,” Hugh said grumpily. “And, Otto, you know I hate my eggs scrambled. You couldn’t have gone over easy?”
Otto put the pan down on the counter with a thunk. “You could’ve had your eggs any way you wanted if we’d gone to the diner.”
“They’re not even open yet. Besides, we need to talk about—” Otto’s and Theo’s radios chirped at the same time, and Theo hurried to turn his off before there was feedback. At the same time that the dispatcher’s voice sounded, Theo’s cell phone rang.
As he answered, he tried to listen to the call coming in on the radio with half an ear, but Lieutenant Blessard quickly took all of his attention.
“Bosco!” he barked. “You fix that dog of yours yet?”
Irritation warred with concern. “He’s coming along, but I don’t think he’s ready for the field yet. Why?”
“Officer Lopez responded to a shots-fired call and found Norman Rounds with a bullet hole in him. Med picked him up, and he’s holding on, but he’s not in any shape yet to tell us anything. Not sure who shot him, but he’s ass-deep in that militia group, so I want the place checked out before our crime scene people start crawling around. I requested help from the bomb squad in Denver. They’re at another incident right now, so it’ll be an hour—minimum—before they can respond. Mind taking a walk around with your dog, see if he alerts to anything?”
Putting aside the startling news that someone had shot Rounds, Theo considered his lieutenant’s request. After their progress at Schwartz’s truck, Theo was feeling optimistic that Viggy could come back to his former self. This might be the perfect, low-stress opportunity to try a search. If Viggy wasn’t up for it, they’d just withdraw and wait outside in the safe zone for the Denver bomb squad. It wouldn’t have the confidence-destroying consequence like the attempted search of Gordon’s compound.