Yet another thing that Nadine had stolen from me.
So many memories.
“What do all these parents do?” I went back to the task at hand.
“Two work for the steel mill. Mom from this case.” He tapped the file. “Dad from this one. In different departments, though. This mom is a financial advisor. That one is a stay-at-home mom. This dad is a car salesman.”
He went through everyone’s profession. Even the grandparents.
By the time we hit lunchtime, I was starving and we’d gotten nowhere.
“Interested in heading to lunch?” he asked.
I got up and stretched. “Sure. Just have to feed Neo.”
Neo was laid out on the back deck, his ball between his paws.
I got a can of dog food out, poured it into a bowl, then heated it up for good measure.
No one liked cold food.
Placing the bowl on the back patio, I filled up his water bowl then headed back inside.
Neo waited until I was behind the door before he got up.
He eyed me suspiciously through the glass sliding door, as if he fully expected me to come outside and trick him.
I locked the door, then slid the security bar in the door.
Only then did he head my way.
He ate it suspiciously, glancing up at me to make sure I wasn’t making any sudden moves.
Turning my back to the door, I headed toward the sink where I washed my hands and stopped next to Black who was staring out the kitchen window.
“He’s gorgeous.”
“He is,” I agreed. “I found him in a parking lot being sold out of the back of a Corolla. This man said that it was his dog’s first and only litter. That his neighbor’s Belgian Malinois got out and got his dog pregnant before he’d had a chance to fix her. Neo is half German Shepherd, half Malinois.”
“High energy,” he mused.
“I wouldn’t know,” I admitted. “I gave him to Sage the day before I was sentenced. Only had him for a couple of hours. Bought him all the things. Food. Toys. Spent a couple of hours playing with him. Then I named him, got him a collar, and dropped him off in a crate at her front door. Watched the place for about thirty minutes to make sure no one took him. Sage looked ecstatic. Almost as if she loved dogs, but never thought she’d get one.”
Black rubbed at his chest. “I bought Sheba for Shelby and thought that she’d be the one taking care of her. And she did for a little while. But then Marcia disappeared with Shelby and Sheba goes to the door every day like she’s still expecting her to come home.”
Black’s ex-wife, Marcia, had been ordered to give Black full custody.
Until that point, Marcia had been a decent mom. But she’d been kind of flighty, and they thought it would be best if Black got full custody of Shelby and Shelby only visited with her mother on the weekends.
Black had been the full-time parent, and Marcia had been the fun parent who only did the things that she wanted to do. No actual parenting. No law and order. She hadn’t held down a job in years, flying by the seat of her pants, according to Black.
That was what had Black so worried all this time. Shelby was only seven when she disappeared with Marcia. Marcia had never been the type of parent to actually do the hard work it took to take care of a child. Black was terrified that Shelby, wherever she was, would be traumatized from having to take care of herself.
“Dogs are loyal,” I said softly. “That’s why I’m not nearly as worried as Sage is. I think that Neo will come around. It won’t be easy, but he’ll get there.”
Black slapped me on the back and said, “Meet you at The Mercantile.”
I headed for my cruiser while Black did the same.