"I would never hurt your dog. It's a puppy. I'm not going to open the door. Let her get eaten by bears? Hope you find her mangled corpse? That's sick. You and I have been friends for fifteen years, Case. As angry as you are you know I would never do that to any animal."
I rub my temples, trying to push back the drug fog.
"If you honestly think--" she begins.
"Diana? Stop. Please. I haven't accused you of anything. I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm trying to think. You found the back door ajar. By how much? Enough for Storm to squeeze out?"
"No. She might be a baby, but she's a big baby. It was only open a couple of inches. I figure maybe Petra didn't quite close it, and Storm nudged it open. Then it must have shut partly behind her. There's a wind today."
Maybe so, but "wind" in Rockton is never the kind that'll slam a heavy door shut. The town's too small, hemmed in by trees.
I walk to the balcony railing and shine my flashlight down.
"If you're looking for a trail, there isn't one," Diana says. "That's the first thing I checked. But the porch is covered in prints. Paw and boot prints from people taking Storm out all night."
"Her leash gives her ten feet of room," I say. "The trick is just to find where her paws lead and no boot prints follow." I head back into the bedroom and grab a sweater and Dalton's backup gun.
"You're not--" Diana begins.
"Yep, I am. Sorry."
I head down the steps. While I'm still woozy enough that I use the railing, I'm too drugged and preoccupied to feel the pain. As I pull on my parka, my shoulder does protest, but I cover my wince.
"She must have joined up with a human trail and followed that," Diana continues. "To find her that way, you'd need a tracking dog. Which is what you will have this time next year, Casey. You'll find Storm, and you'll train her, and this will all be nothing more than a lesson learned. Devon says we need to get her a tracking implant. Which wouldn't be a bad idea for everyone here. I don't know why they haven't thought of it."
"Eric tested one. It works about as well as our damned radios." I glance over at her. "Speaking of radios, does Eric know Storm's out there?"
"I wasn't sure if I should tell--"
"No, you're right. Better to not distract him."
I'm standing in the kitchen, one hand on the back door. I stop.
Benjamin. Snow. Puppy.
I turn to Diana. "There's no actual proof Storm took off, right?"
Diana gives a slow look around the tiny kitchen. "Even a dog can't hide in this place. I think you need to go back to bed and rest--"
"I mean there's no proof she left on her own."
I walk to the window and look out. When I catch the flicker of Paul's flashlight, I back up out of his line of sight. He passes without seeing me at the window. I check my watch and then continue, "The evidence we're seeing could be equally explained by someone taking her. Lots of prints on the porch to cover footprints. Door left open enough
that she might have snuck out, but not so wide open that Paul would notice in his patrols. Someone could time Paul's patrols, lure Storm to the door, grab and dash."
"Given everything that's going on, Casey, I don't think even Jen is a big enough bitch to steal your puppy right now."
"He never left."
She peers at me. "Who?"
"Shawn Sutherland. That's why they haven't found him. He never left Rockton."
"How?"
"It was nighttime. Add in the chaos of me being shot. Everyone expects him to run for the forest. They fan out to the edges. He follows footprints back and ducks in someplace."
"Ducks in where?"