Chapter 9: Seeking
Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job. ~Franklin P. Jones
"Any luck?" Travis asked to Lemuel, who was standing in the middle of the living room of the deceased veterinarian looking at the mementos of her life while Dekko, his three year old lab, kept sniffing around the house trying to find a trace of the missing dog.
Lemuel sighed on the phone, making Travis' heart hurt in anticipation. "There are signs of a dog living in the house but she's nowhere to be found. I've spoken to the first emergency responders at the scene and none mentioned a dog either in the car or anywhere nearby. I've requested the forensic photos but they are stonewalling me saying that I have no jurisdiction on them despite being family."
"Can you bypass them?"
"Sure, but I'd rather go first through traditional channels. We don't need more people curious about us, Travis."
"No, we don't. What about Janice?"
"She's being buried tomorrow. I've spoken to the Watchers in the Metro area and April offered to bury Jan in her family plot. Did you know that Jan had a child?"
"What?" Travis couldn't hide his surprise as their previous investigation on the woman had never uncovered that. "She never mentioned children. Where is the kid?"
"Had, Travis. Boy's name was Andrew. He died when he was five, a couple of years ago before we met her. Found the papers in the middle of her documents while packing everything."
"Oh. Poor Janice."
"Yeah."
"What's the next step?"
"I still have some contacts here in DC. And we have a strong Watchers group in the county. I'll put word around that we're looking for a mutt with her characteristics but it's a long shot. As she's not a pure breed it's unlikely that people will pay much attention to missing flyers, and her coloring is quite common. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Crap."
"Crap indeed, my friend." Lemuel's gaze found something on the mantle that caught his attention, so he decided to cut the call short. " Her phone was destroyed in the crash so that's another dead end. We'll keep posting flyers, maybe we get lucky. Gotta go. I'll keep you posted."
He walked towards the mantle and took a framed picture from it, sighing at the bright smile in Janice's face as she hugged a puppy who had to be Freckles, the dog lovingly licking her cheeks. The image spoke of joy and unrestricted love, a moment of pure happiness that can only happen when you hold a squirming warm puppy in your arms.
"Dekko, let's go." The Lab left the dog bed he had been sniffing, trying to memorize Freckles' scent. "We're going to the accident site and we will expand the search from there."
NCIS NCIS NCIS
McGee entered his home guiding Freckles in his left hand and a bag from a petshop hanging from his right one. Before he even arrived at the door of his apartment he could hear the excited barking from behind it.
He let go of the leash and dropped the bag on the floor, resting his back against the door and took a minute or two to watch the enthusiastic welcome Jethro gave Freckles. Acting like an excited puppy just given a new toy, he practically danced around the pregnant dam, who jogged into the small living room and studied it with curious eyes. Jethro followed her wagging his tail excitedly.
She stopped in the middle of the living room, first glancing at the computer setup before approaching the full wall bookcase he had. She slowly walked in front of it, her head going up and down, her gaze stopping here and there as if she were checking the tittles.
McGee shrugged at that strange behavior, grabbed the bag and emptied it on the kitchen counter. He grinned at Jethro, who jumped up Freckles' back and lightly nipped her neck asking for her attention. She growled at him, telling him to stop and he immediately obeyed putting his tail between his legs. She circled the living room again, sniffing here and there before finally reaching Jethro's dog bed close to the kitchen counter.
McGee pilled away the Alpo cans he had bought and the special nutrition supplements indicated by Grace during their lovely dinner at a café – which accepted dogs – just a couple of blocks away from the Navy Yard. He momentarily gazed at nothing, his mind lost in Grace's memory as he recalled their conversation. They laughed and talked, comparing books and music tastes, their dog owner's tales and how having a pet changed their lives. He sighed lovestruck as he remembered walking her to her car and receiving a light peck on his cheek, before she slowly moved away with twinkling eyes.
He shook his head, trying to force himself to come back to reality, just to look down and find Jethro inviting Freckles to his doggie bed. He smiled as Jethro slowly entered his round fluffy bed in red and black colors. He circled around the same spot a couple of times, showing the space for the female. He then stopped and sat down in the middle of it, waiting for Freckles – who had watched his actions with raised ears and a tilted head – to enter his domain.
Jethro didn't move a muscle as the dam stepped on the fluffy bed, doing the same circling around her own tail thing that Jethro had done. She finally sighed and lain on her side on the right side of it. With the female dog settled, Jethro circled her and lain beside her, his head turned to her, his gaze never leaving her. Finally she crawled closer to him, giving him permission to come closer as well. They both ended side by side, crossed paws with their heads resting on them. Jethro sighed loudly and closed his eyes, being followed soon by Freckles who started to sleep mere seconds after him.
"Love is a beautiful thing, boy." McGee muttered, before putting away the last of the things he bought and walking on his tiptoes to his bedroom, turning off the lights on his way, not willing to wake up the slumbering couple in the corner of his living room.
After getting ready for bed, he put his usual pjs on and lain on the bed. But before settling down for the night, he called again Freckles' owner's number, leaving another message asking her to call him.
