sat on the edge of the tub, trying not to wince as Leah meticulously cleansed the wound and surrounding area. She applied some iodine around the wound, then Neosporin on the wound.
“It looks pretty clean,” she told him. “From what I can see, it’s not deep enough to harm muscle.” As she pushed a piece of gauze onto the opening, Jon took in a sharp breath. “Sorry,” she said as she pushed another layer of gauze over the first one, securing them with adhesive medical tape. “You could probably use some stitches, but this should hold you for a while.” She looked up at him with a puzzled expression. “I mean, I don’t even know what we’re going to do from here. But this should keep infection at bay.” She stood up straight, reaching for the bottle of disinfecting hand soap again. “And now it’s your turn, Ralph.”
Jon swung his legs around, drying them on a towel, then moving out of the way. He watched with interest as she tended to Ralph, talking gently to him the whole time as she washed the blood off his coat, then finally cleansed and bandaged his wound.
“You’re really good at this.” Jon handed her a clean towel, waiting as she wrapped it around Ralph, gently absorbing the water. “I know my mom will be appreciative that you rescued her dog. Thanks, Leah.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.” She stood up straight as Ralph gave a shake to his coat. “If you and Ralph hadn’t shown up when you did—” She visibly shuddered. “Well, I can’t even imagine where I’d be right now. But I’m sure it wouldn’t be good.” Fear washed over her features again. “What if he comes back, Jon? What will we do?”
“Just what we’re doing now? Act like nobody’s home. There’s no reason he should suspect we’re in this particular house. I’ve been a hermit since I got here. And I haven’t seen a single neighbor around. No one knows that I’m here.”
“So you think he’s just checking all the houses along here?”
“That’s my guess.”
She pointed at Ralph. “But what if he comes back? What if he knocks on the door, and Ralph barks and gives us away?”
“He doesn’t normally do that. In fact, that whole thing with Krantz was totally out of character for old Ralph.”
“But he’s been through a lot,” she said. “Maybe he’s not being his normal self.”
“Good point. Being in pain might be a factor.” Jon went to the linen closet again. “My mom sometimes gives Ralph tranquilizers during long car trips. The vet prescribed them to help with Ralph’s anxiety. I gave him one for our trip down here from Portland. Worked like a charm.” He found the bottle and held it up. “Voilà.”
“And good rest helps patients to heal.”
He slipped the bottle of pills into his pocket. “I’ll need to put it into some canned dog food to get it down.” Jon frowned as he remembered the police cruiser. “There’s something I need to tell you.” Realizing she was shivering, he decided to wait. “But first you need some dry, warm clothes to wear. We both do.”
She looked down at her running clothes, then glumly nodded.
“You’re probably about the same size as my mom.” He studied her slender figure as she wrapped the towel around Ralph again, picking him up. “Well, thinner, but I’ll go grab something for you.”
“Better turn off the light before you open the door,” she warned as she sat on the toilet seat lid, cradling Ralph in her lap like an infant. “Just in case.”
“Yeah.” He clicked off the light, then slipped out into the darkness, feeling his way down the hallway to his parents’ room, where despite the drapes he was still reluctant to turn on a light. He fumbled his way over to the closet, wishing he’d thought to grab a flashlight. But, feeling around, he finally located what felt like a set of warm-ups hanging on a hook on the back of the door. His mom’s favorite beach garb—sweatpants and a hoodie sweatshirt. Even if they were a little too big for Leah, they would be clean and warm.
* * *
Leah talked quietly to Ralph as they sat in the pitch-black darkness together. “It’s okay, boy,” she said gently. “You’re going to be okay now.” She knew her words were as much for her as for him, but it was reassuring to feel him starting to relax a little.
But she jumped as the bathroom door opened. “I found something for you,” Jon said as he closed the door, then turned on the light. He held up a velour jogging suit.
“Purple,” she said with raised brows. “Interesting.”
He frowned. “Sorry. It was dark in there. I couldn’t see the color.”
“I’m not complaining.” She smiled. “I’ve just never been a fan of purple.” She reached to touch the soft fabric. “But it does look warm. Thanks!”
“I’ll get this guy some food.” Jon took Ralph from her. “Go ahead and clean up and change. Just douse the light before you come out because I, uh, I noticed the police car still cruising around out there.”
“You mean Krantz’s unmarked car?” she asked with concern.
Jon’s brow creased. “No, it’s a marked car.”
“A marked car? A real police car?”
“Yeah. From the city. According to my parents, they don’t usually patrol out here much. I mean, we’re out of the city limits. But the county doesn’t patrol these parts at all. So I guess they’ve sort of contracted it to the city. But my dad always says it’s kind of a no-man’s-land out here.”
Half of what he said went over her, but the one fact she could hold on to was that a police cruiser was patrolling around, probably looking for them, and it wasn’t Krantz. “What does this mean?” she whispered.
“I’m not sure.” He pointed to the purple warm-ups. “You’re cold. Get those on and I’ll go feed Ralph some food and a tranquilizer. And then we can talk.” He sighed. “And attempt to figure this mess out.”
“It is a mess, isn’t it?”
He just nodded, turning off the light, then opening the door and leaving, closing the door behind him.
Ten minutes later Leah emerged from the bathroom considerably warmer and dryer in Jon’s mother’s sweatpants and hoodie, having freshened up a bit in the sink, rinsed her soiled running clothes and hung them in the bathtub to dry. A real bath sounded lovely. But not here. Not now. Not with Krantz and his “pals” prowling the neighborhood. What was going on anyway?
As she tiptoed through the unlit and quiet kitchen, she noticed lights outside and suddenly, like before, the bright beam was passing through the house’s interior again. Afraid her silhouette might show up, she hit the floor, waiting behind the kitchen doorway as the startling searchlight swept over the premises. Had they figured it out?
When the light beam was pointing away from her, she crawled past the entry to the kitchen. Her heart pounded in fear as she wondered where Jon and Ralph were hiding. Surely they hadn’t left the house. Jon wouldn’t abandon her here by herself. Then, remembering the few minutes she had crouched in pitch-black darkness behind the locked door on the basement stairs, she decided to try it again.
She
