Trained to Protect

by Linda O. Johnston

  Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, Perry’s eyes teared up. Elissa tried to come up with a way to soothe him.

  But before she spoke again he continued. “Well, I can’t bring him back and neither can his witch of a mother who’s getting into doing the damn therapy dog stuff herself now, I heard.”

  “I believe she’s trying to help people in Tully’s memory.” Elissa hoped that wasn’t offensive, but she hoped to use the idea of doing something good in Tully’s memory to get this man to back off.

  But Perry rose, fortunately not hurting Peace but aiming the scalpel at her. “Forget that. And don’t think you can con me into leaving you alone in Tully’s memory.” His tone, while speaking those last three words, sounded taunting.

  Elissa swallowed but didn’t speak again. Not then.

  “Okay,” Perry said. “Here’s how it is.” He sat back down, this time releasing Peace but still pointing the sharp edge of the scalpel toward her.

  The good thing was that he provided an explanation of all that had been happening to and around Elissa.

  The bad thing was that his admissions made it clear that he did intend to kill her.

  “I dumped Adellaide,” he said. “She didn’t blame anyone for our son’s death. But I did. I knew exactly who was responsible.” He glared at Elissa. “She was sad, but she didn’t have the sense to get even. Well, I did. I did my research. Even though I hadn’t been the one to attend those damn sessions with Tully, I knew you were the first to ram them down my boy’s throat. I knew you needed to pay for that. The rest was simple. I wanted to threaten you first. Scare you. Make other people know what kind of witch you are.”

  His rationale, such as it was, wasn’t a surprise to Elissa, but once more, despite her beginning to shake—or maybe because of it—she said nothing.

  “When you weren’t home, I broke into your house and stole the kind of stuff you wouldn’t notice, like some business cards I could toss around where it would make the most trouble, though I wasn’t sure where then. I’d later heard that a cop and K-9 checked the place out, but that was okay. I’d also worn a strong cologne to cover my own scent before I locked your damn dog in the kitchen, in case I ever saw it again.”

  There had been some question as to what Hooper had been tracking when he’d been in her house. Doug had concluded it was the smell of fear, but maybe it was that unusual scent, Elissa thought.

  “Plus,” Perry continued, “I made sure I had a good alibi for when I was actually at your place. And so far, no one has questioned me about it—and you won’t get a chance to tell them.”

  His grin was evil. Elissa wished she could do something to erase it.

  She wished she could do something...but she didn’t move.

  Perry wasn’t through. “I was worried when I realized, after asking dear Amber some questions before signing up here, that the same cop and dog might be at your classes. I’d already decided to attend them, both to keep an eye on you and to give myself a reason for being in Chance.” He chuckled then and shook his head. “I acted all lovey-dovey to the damn police dog, so even if he did point to me, people would assume that was because I gave him treats. I told Jill to do the same thing, and I made sure I included that one, too.” He nodded toward Peace.

  Elissa was glad her dog was now lying on the floor near the wall by the drape-covered window, not moving. She yearned to do something to at least get her out of the room while she was okay. But Elissa was afraid to move.

  “But they’re so much bother—you can see why I hate dogs,” Perry nearly shouted, glaring at Peace but not getting any closer to her...now. “And you’ll love this, since you want to help kids so much. I found out who the other parents were whose kids were tortured by your miserable therapy work in SLO. There were a couple I trusted, and I asked the right kinds of questions that led them to see how rotten you and your dog were. That you’d hurt other kids, too. They wound up telling the right people at the hospital—which is why you got kicked out, at least for now, though you should have gotten permanently canned. Anyway, that’s also how I first heard you were going to teach more of that stuff in Chance, damn you.”

  His ongoing rant now made it clear he knew he could, and would, stop her.

  He could turn on the charm when he needed to, so once he knew where Elissa was headed, he’d seduced a woman in Chance who’d wanted to train her dog for therapy work. “It was easy to convince Jill that I wanted Ollie to do it, too—though that joke of a dog will have to go once I take care of you. I don’t need him as a burden wherever I end up.”

  Poor Ollie, Elissa thought. Poor Jill. And she recognized where he was going with this: poor Elissa and Peace.

  And—oh, no, possibly poor Amber and Sonya, too. “And those damn K-9 Ranch people who ignored my warning and hired you anyway? Well, they’re going to be sorry, too—and not just because they’ll feel sorry that you died here.”

  Enough, Elissa thought. But how was she going to stop him?

  Doug, she called in her mind, wishing she could call him with her now-gone phone.

  Just the idea of never seeing Doug again—before she died—created an ache deep inside her, as if Perry had already used the scalpel on her.

  Perry was still talking, though. He seemed to need to explain himself, whether from pride or fury, she did not know—but it was fortunate, since it was buying her some time.

  Yet she still didn’t know how to save herself.

  She did know he was unbalanced. And as he described himself further, she learned that he was a skilled computer tech, so posting the anonymous accusations online about her killing Tully had been simple. Plus, he had eventually, also anonymously, contacted even more of the kids’ families Elissa had had therapy sessions with, as well as some he’d already talked to, and demanded that they accuse her, too, to the hospital...or risk their kids being attacked somewhere unexpected and maybe killed.

  All had complied.

  Then, more about Jill. “She was a nice lady. Pretty. Good in bed. Sympathetic enough about my loss of Tully to help me any way she could. And she understood what I wanted. She pretended not to know me in class because I asked her to. She’s the one who attached those signs to the ranch gate and your car, because I told her to. That helped keep the damn K-9s off me, since they couldn’t have smelled me there even if they weren’t fooled by the games I played with my scent. Too bad I didn’t also have her overdose on cologne, too, though that might not have helped, either.

  “But she knew too much and also could have caused K-9 reactions when they were around and smelled her, so we both hugged those damn dogs. But that wasn’t enough.” The disturbed look in his expression intensified. “I had to kill her—and make sure it was at a time you’d be around so you would be blamed for it.”

  When he paused to look at her, she simply said, “I see.” Which she did.

  “Okay, I might as well let you know how things are going to go now. I wanted to make sure you knew why you’re about to die, and your damn dog, too, which is why I’m telling you all this. So I’m going to kill you with your nurse’s weapon of choice, a scalpel, like I did with Jill. Your dog, too. And then I’m going to sneak out of here and come back with Ollie soon for our ‘lesson.’ There’ll be a record of my call to you earlier asking for one and you might have told other people about it, right?”

  His glare demanded an answer and since he wanted her to say yes she considered saying no. But she simply nodded. She wondered, though, if he’d been successful getting onto the ranch property without being seen by people or scented by any dogs.

  Even if he had been, that wouldn’t save her life.

  Would he also be able to get away and act out his scenario?

  “No one will know Paul Wilson and Perry Willmer are the same person and I’ll just get to see their confusion when I come here later for my lesson and am shocked to find your body inste
ad. And then, finally, my poor Tully’s death will be avenged.”

  That’s awful, Elissa thought. Smart? Maybe.

  But she had to be smart, too.

  How was she going to save Peace and herself?

  Chapter 23

  Doug hoped he appeared like an overly cautious cop attempting to act professional, though maybe all he really was doing was finding an excuse to go see Elissa during a busy day at work.

  But he had nevertheless told Maisie what he was up to, and why. She didn’t understand, maybe, but neither did she give him a hard time.

  “Your intuition is hard to beat sometimes,” she’d said. “Just keep me informed.”

  In his car, speeding in the direction of the ranch with Hooper in the back seat, Doug tried calling Elissa again. Immediate voice mail again.

  Then he called Amber once more. No, she hadn’t seen Elissa since that morning, though she’d talked to her, and Elissa was giving another lesson that day to one of her students. Amber was working now on some financial stuff for the ranch—but she could head over there with Lola and say hi, if Doug wanted.

  No, he didn’t want. If everything was okay, no use pulling Amber away from her work, when she clearly didn’t want to be disturbed. And if everything wasn’t okay—well, he certainly didn’t want Amber in danger.

  Surely, Elissa’s giving another class that day should be fine, right? Doug had met the remaining students. Yet—

  He thanked Amber and said goodbye. Should he call Evan? The former military K-9 officer and current police K-9 trainer would be in a better position to help. But Doug couldn’t avoid figuring he was overthinking this and would look ridiculous if he got someone else, especially Evan, involved.

  Even so—he called Evan. “I’m in town right now buying some dog food and treats at Pets and Products,” he said. “Want me to get you some for Hooper and Griffin?”

  “No thanks.” Doug said goodbye. He would get to the ranch before Evan, even if he asked him to head there and why.

  His intuition, as Maisie had called it, and not necessarily reality.

  Fortunately the ride wasn’t long. It didn’t hurt that he turned the light on the top of the car to flashing, although he turned it off again when he reached the base of the ranch’s driveway.

  This was all probably an exercise in absurdity. Even so, at the top of the driveway he parked near the ranch house and got Hooper out of the car there. In case something wasn’t right at Elissa’s, no sense making it obvious that a cop had arrived.

  And if all was well, he would look even more absurd in her eyes.

  Even so, just in case, he put Hooper’s official bullet-proof K-9 vest on him, then softly said, “Heel.” Of course his wonderful dog obeyed.

  He headed up to the ranch house and walked in the shadows between it and Elissa’s nearby place. As they approached it, Hooper sat on the dry turf and stared forward, alerting to something.

  To what?

  Doug wasn’t sure, but he suddenly felt as if his impulse to come up here and check on Elissa was justified.

  He would soon confirm it—or not.

  * * *

  No answer had come to Elissa’s mind yet. She felt paralyzed by shock and fear, but that wasn’t like her.

  At least Perry hadn’t moved from the chair facing her. His scalpel remained poised, its point aimed now toward her throat as he continued to talk—rant, in a way, about how false it was for people to think they were helping others in stupid ways like claiming they would heal all the hurt inside them if they touched and talked to stupid dogs.

  Elissa forced herself not to react to that. Dogs weren’t stupid. They were smart and loving and—

  Hey. Her thoughts had led her to glance at Peace, who had remained lying near the window without moving, as if she’d somehow sensed that getting close to her human mom could result in harm to both of them. A few minutes ago, while Perry was talking, Elissa had also made the gesture that meant “stay” so Peace would remain still for her own safety—at least for now. She was a good dog and knew to obey.

  But she’d just sat up and started wagging her tail.

  Fortunately, Perry was still engaged in his rant against dogs and dog therapy and hadn’t noticed. But...the way Peace’s ears moved while her tail wagged—similar to how she acted when there was another dog around she liked, especially Hooper.

  Surely that didn’t mean...but Elissa was hopeful. If not Hooper, something was causing her dog to react. A scent or sound of some kind of help?

  “So that’s how it is,” Perry said, apparently finishing his nasty tirade. He stood and Elissa’s heart raced even more as he brandished the scalpel toward her. “Now let’s finish this so I can get out of here for now. It’ll be oh, so sad to find your body later.” His nasty grin told her just the opposite was true.

  But he wasn’t going to “find” her body. Not if she could help it.

  She had to do something—especially in case she was just imagining that help could have arrived...

  “You’re not going to get away with killing me,” she all but shouted. “You’re already being sought for questioning in the murder of Jill Jacobs, so if something happens to me, the police will work even harder to find you—and they’ll succeed. They’re smart. They’ll recognize that you’re Perry Willmer pretending to be a guy named Paul Wilson—and this time you won’t be able to play games to make officers believe the Chance K-9s are reacting to Paul as a dog-loving person rather than a suspect they’re looking for.”

  “Shut up!” Perry took a step toward Elissa, who prepared to run, hopefully fast enough to avoid him—but recognizing how unlikely that was in this small area.

  Peace barked, startling Perry. Elissa prepared to do whatever was necessary to save her dog—just as another dog leaped into the room through the door to the hallway: Hooper.

  “Attack!” called a familiar and very welcome voice.

  The K-9 immediately leaped onto Perry, knocking him over and grabbing the arm that wielded the scalpel in his teeth as he snarled.

  “Get off me, you damn mutt,” Perry screamed, writhing on the floor.

  But, fortunately, it was too late. Doug stomped into the room, gun drawn.

  “Drop the weapon, Willmer,” he shouted. “When you do, I’ll call the dog off.”

  Perry fought a few more seconds, to no avail. The scalpel suddenly fell to the floor.

  Doug immediately kicked the scalpel away. “Hooper, let go,” he said. Hooper obeyed, and then Doug grabbed Perry, turning him over to cuff him.

  The man started cursing and attempting to get up anyway, till Doug said to Hooper, “Take hold,” which the dog did, standing on the man’s back and grabbing one of Perry’s arms in his mouth, though not chomping down.

  Perry suddenly lay still. Hooper didn’t move, but Peace hurried over to Elissa and sat beside her as she dropped to her knees to hug her beloved and now safe dog who had tried to help her.

  She wished she could do the same with Doug, but he remained busy, clearly on duty. Still holding his weapon pointed at Perry’s head now that he wore handcuffs—and clearly avoiding the possibility of harming Hooper—he pulled a phone from his pocket with his other hand, pressed a button and told whoever answered where he was and what was going on—presumably the department’s dispatcher, since he asked for backup and a crime scene team.

  Then he looked at her. “You all right?”

  “I am now,” she said, not thrilled at how her voice shook. “Thank you.”

  His smile didn’t appear to be simply the look of a cop after successfully bringing down a bad guy. There was caring in his expression, and relief, if Elissa read it correctly. “Any time,” he said. “But promise you won’t get into this kind of situation again.”

  * * *

  It was Wednesday evening, three days after Perry Willmer had come forward usin
g his real identity and attempted to exact further revenge for the death of his son—on the wrong person.

  If anyone, Elissa had concluded, Perry should have blamed himself. A child who had a horrible father like Perry had probably suffered throughout his short life before ending it himself.

  She sat at a table at the Last Chance Bar with Doug and Maisie, sipping Shiraz from a tall glass while patting Peace, who lay on the floor beside her, with her foot.

  Of course the K-9 cops had brought their dogs in, too. Maisie had given those K-9s some biscuits she’d had in her purse, and their server had brought over a water bowl, so the dogs were now as well treated as their people.

  Elissa, Doug and Maisie continued to discuss what had occurred a few days earlier as well as the time since then.

  “I still don’t really understand how you happened to be at my house right then,” Elissa said, and not for the first time. His explanation, that something hadn’t felt right, didn’t give enough detail. At least he had told her how he had entered the house. As a cop, he’d been prepared to kick down a door if necessary—but fortunately it was obvious which door Perry had jimmied open despite it being closed then. He’d easily entered there.

  “He just missed you,” Maisie said with a grin, taking a drink of her gin and tonic.

  Though that was supposed to be a joke, Elissa felt warmth spreading through her at the idea. She looked once more at Doug.

  “Well, maybe that, too,” Doug conceded, also smiling. “But call it intuition or concern or whatever, but when you didn’t answer your phone when I tried calling a few times and it kept going straight into voice mail, I wanted to check on you.”