“I know. I thought, barking dog, another security measure, and I’d been thinking about getting a dog once I had time to train one. A puppy maybe that I could train from the ground up not to dig or run off. Then Micah brought up dog, and how he had this friend who fosters. I was just going to check it out.”

“Zod.” Watching the dog, Zane patted his knee. The dog trotted right over, licked his hand with a wide, wet tongue. “Security measure?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, as you’ve already seen, he barks like a maniac—but stops when you tell him to stop. That was a key. And he doesn’t bite, he’s good around kids—Vicky has two sets of twins. “

As Zane scratched Zod’s pointy little ears, the dog moaned as if in deep, desperate pleasure. Those weird eyes gleamed as he rested his chin on Zane’s knee.

“See! He does that! Looks at you like you’re the center of the world. And Vicky said he’s never dug in any of her flowers. He’s house-trained, good with other dogs and people. He sort of tries to herd them, but he’s gentle. He likes riding in the truck. That was another requirement because he’d go to work with me. He did really well when I took him on the job today—and I should have talked to you first.”

“We weren’t allowed to have pets when I was a kid.”

“Micah told me.”

“I couldn’t get a dog in Raleigh, living in a condo, at work more than I was home. I figured when I got one, maybe a Lab or retriever. You know…” He opened his arms to indicate size. “A dog.”

After rubbing his way down the strange muscular body, earning more grateful moans, Zane rose. “General Zod,” he muttered, and had Zod wagging all over.

“Vicky’s had him about three months. The people who owned him decided they didn’t want a dog after all. He was about a year old, so they took him to the pound. He was on, you know, death row when Vicky rescued him. It’s what she does. I’ll take him out and feed him and all the stuff when I’m here.”

Zod plopped down, rolled on his back in the grass.

“Why should you get all the fun?”

“You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be? Jesus, he’s what my grandmother would call ugly as homemade sin. I kind of like that about him.” He bent, rubbed the wide head. “Kneel before Zod!”

With a laugh, Darby threw her arms around Zane, had the dog worming his way between them, then Zod lifted his head high, let out a long howl.

“What the hell kind of dog is he?”

“She wasn’t sure. Maybe some bulldog, maybe some beagle, maybe a bunch of a lot more. I was just showing him around, trying out the woods for his personal business.”

“Good idea. Let’s get a drink and walk the dog.”

“He has a quirk,” she warned as they walked around the house with Zod between them.

Amused, Zane watched the dog manage a kind of prance on those weird legs. “Darlin’, he is a quirk.”

“He steals any article of human clothing that ends up on the floor. He doesn’t chew them, just hordes them in his dog bed. He likes to sleep with a sock or a T-shirt that smells like people. He’ll even get something out of the hamper if he can manage it. If you try to take it back before morning, he howls until you give it back.”

“I can handle that one.” He looked down at her and the dog between them, and felt pretty good about it. “Anything else?”

“Well, you don’t want to say t-r-e-a-t unless you’ve got one handy because he goes a little nuts.”

“Have we got any?”

“Vicky gave me a bag. I put a couple in my pocket in case I needed to lure him off the lawn into the woods.”

“Okay then. Treat.”

For an instant, Zod froze—the world’s homeliest dog statue—then to Zane’s complete delight bounced a good foot in the air like a dog on springs, his eyes wild and wide with mad glee. When the treat didn’t magically appear, he continued to bounce, managed an ungainly flip in midair.

“Circus dog. Let him have it.”

Obliging, Darby tossed one. Zod snatched it, ran in circles, then gobbled it.

“He’s ugly,” Zane decided, draping an arm around Darby’s shoulders, “but he’s sure entertaining.”

And the boy inside the man reached into Darby’s pocket and, grinning, said, “Treat!”

* * *

Just after dawn, with a day of party preparations ahead of her, Darby headed to the job site. A couple of hours, she calculated, would finish up most of the work ahead of schedule, give her canine companion more experience on the job, and get her back to Zane with more than enough time to set up for the evening festivities.

Zod sat beside her in the truck, his pointy little ears vibrating in the air blowing through the open windows. As she turned away from town, took the quiet road beyond the lake that led into the hills, she decided she and Zod made a pretty lucky pair.

They’d both found their place.

Behind them, the sun rose up, shedding light on what promised to be a pretty damn perfect summer day.

“Lots of kids later, Zod, and dogs, too. We’re going to have one terrific Fourth of—”

She slammed on the brakes. As Zod yipped in surprise, she swung to the side of the road. She’d seen the woman, bruises covering her face, rush into the trees in a limping run as the truck approached.

“Wait,” Darby said as much to Zod as the woman, and jumped out of the truck. “I won’t hurt you! You need help. I could see you’re hurt.” Pushing back her instinct to rush forward, Darby stood beside the truck.

She’d only gotten a glimpse, but she’d seen fear in the blackened, swollen eyes.

“Let me help you. I’ll take you wherever you want to go. I’m Darby. Someone hurt me once, and I needed help. Let me help you.”

She heard the rustle, made herself stand still. “Or I’ll call someone for you. I’ll call whoever you want, and stay here until they come.”

She caught another glimpse—thin, bruised face, long dishwater blond hair. “I can’t go the way you’re going. They might see me.”

“We’ll turn around and go the other way. Anywhere you want. Look, how about if I turn the truck around now? I’ll turn it around so we’re going in the right direction. You’re hurt. I can’t leave you here alone. I’ll just turn the truck around, okay?”

With her heart hammering, she got back in the truck.

Don’t run, she thought, please don’t run, as she made a slow, careful U-turn.

“I don’t know you.”

“I’m Darby. Darby McCray. I moved to Lakeview last February. I can call someone and wait right here if you don’t want me to drive you somewhere.”

She came out cautiously, with those battered eyes tracking from Darby to the dog.

“His name’s Zod. He’s awfully sweet. He won’t hurt you.”

To make sure he didn’t bark, Darby stroked him while the woman’s eyes darted back up the road. With that limping run, she dashed to the truck, pulled herself inside.

“Can you drive away from here?” The words poured out in a shaking rush. “Just drive away?”

“Sure.” Nice and easy, Darby thought. Keep it nice, easy, calm. “I can take you to the clinic,” Darby began as she drove. “Or the police, or—”

“No, no, no.”

“Okay, don’t worry. We won’t go anywhere you don’t want. Do you have family?”

“I can’t go there. They’d find me there.”

“All right.” As Darby spoke, her voice soft, Zod licked at one of the woman’s shaking hands, then laid his head in her lap.

She began to weep.

“You can go home with me, or…”

With that shaking hand, the woman reached in her pocket, drew out a creased business card. “Can you take me there? To him?”

When she scanned the card, Darby let out a breath. “Are you Traci, Traci Draper? Don’t be afraid,” she said quickly when the woman grabbed the truck handle as if she’d fling open the door and jump. “I know Zane. He’s a friend. He told me he was worried about you, and why. I can take you to him. He’s—we’re…” How to say it? “We’re together. He won’t let anything happen to you.”

Traci gathered up Zod, rocked, and clung to the dog. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You’re doing it. You’re getting help.”

“If they find me … Why are you turning here!” Panic pitched her voice high. “This isn’t right.”

“It’s where Zane lives. He’s not at the office in town now. It’s too early, and it’s a holiday so he’s still home. I just came from here. He’s at home. It’s all right. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Reassure, connect, and take it slow, Darby told herself.

“I met your mom, and your sister. They’re awfully nice.”

“He said he’d kill them, kill them and me if I tried to go to them. He’ll kill them.”

“We won’t let that happen, Traci. We’ll stop him. We’re going to stop him. See, that’s Zane’s car. We’re going to go inside, and you can tell him what happened.”

Clutching the dog tighter, Traci twisted to look behind the truck. “Clint will try to kill him if he finds out I came here.”

“Don’t worry. Nobody knows you’re here. We’re going inside,” she said after she parked. “And we’re going to figure out the best thing to do.”

She got out, hurried around to help Traci out of the truck. “Zane may not be up yet, but I have a key. I stay here sometimes.”