Garrett laughed.
"They all say that."
"No."
The trainer shook his head.
"This one notices people."
Garrett eventually understood.
Sarge didn't simply respond to commands.
He read people.
The first time Sarge met Kate, he had sat beside her for three hours.
Kate had laughed.
"You've been replaced."
Garrett smiled.
"Apparently."
Kate had loved the dog.
She had loved Garrett too.
For thirty-nine years.
Then cancer took her.
After Kate died, Garrett had stopped going to places with crowds.
He avoided family gatherings.
Stopped answering most calls.
He rode his Harley early in the morning because the roads were empty.
He went to the Main Street Diner because Dorothy didn't ask questions.
He sat with his back to the wall because old habits were hard to kill.
Sarge was the only creature who still expected him to get up every morning.
That was enough.
Until Margaret arrived.
Now Garrett was sitting on his motorcycle outside the diner while Margaret waited beside him.
She looked at the Harley.
"You expect me to ride that?"
Garrett looked at her wheelchair.
"No."
He pointed toward the pickup parked beside the diner.
"There's a truck."
Margaret almost smiled.
"You planned ahead."
"Military."
"That explains the dog."
"Nothing explains the dog."
Sarge stood beside them.
Margaret looked at him.
"What's his full name?"
"Sarge."
"Just Sarge?"
"That's what he answers to."
She reached toward him.
Sarge didn't move.
Then, slowly, he lowered his head.
Margaret touched his fur.
Her hand began trembling.
Sarge leaned closer.
Garrett watched.
The woman whispered:
"Boone."
Garrett froze.
"What did you say?"
Margaret looked up.
"Nothing."
"No."
Garrett's voice changed.
"You said Boone."
She looked away.
Garrett felt his pulse increase.
"How do you know that name?"
Margaret's eyes filled with something that looked like guilt.
"Your husband knew about Garrett Holloway."
Garrett stared.
"My husband?"
"Daniel knew your name."
"How?"
"Because Daniel investigated the company connected to your military contractor."
Garrett's expression hardened.
"What company?"
Margaret reached into her bag.
She removed a photograph.
It showed a warehouse.
A group of men stood outside.
One man wore a black jacket.
Garrett recognized him.
He had seen him in the diner.
The man from the SUV.
But there was someone else in the photograph.
A much younger man.
Garrett's face went cold.
"Where did you get this?"
"Daniel."
"What does he have to do with me?"
"He found records showing that a private security company had been using former military personnel for illegal operations."
Garrett stared at the photograph.
One name appeared on the document beneath it.
Holloway.
His name.
But not Garrett.
His younger brother.
Evan.
Garrett had not spoken to Evan in eleven years.
He had believed his brother was dead.
Margaret whispered:
"Your brother is alive."
The Brother in the Photograph
Garrett drove.
Margaret sat beside him.
Sarge occupied the rear seat.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
The Arizona highway stretched ahead.
Flat desert.
Telephone poles.
Distant mountains.
The sun climbed higher.
Garrett's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Evan is dead."
Margaret shook her head.
"Daniel believed he was alive."
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
She handed him a folded report.
Garrett read it while stopped at a red light.
Evan Holloway had disappeared eleven years earlier.
Officially, he had left the country.
Unofficially, Daniel had discovered evidence that Evan had been working for a company called Meridian Risk Solutions.
The company specialized in security contracting.
But according to Daniel's investigation, some of its employees had been involved in illegal weapons transfers.
Garrett stared at the pages.
"Why would Evan do this?"
Margaret didn't answer.
Garrett laughed bitterly.
"That's what everyone wants to know."
He remembered Evan at twenty-two.
Wild.
Angry.
Always convinced Garrett thought he was better.
Their father had favored Garrett.
Their mother had protected Evan.
When Garrett joined the military, Evan said:
"You always needed someone to salute you."
Garrett replied:
"You always needed someone to blame."
That was the last conversation they'd had.
Garrett hadn't known it would be the last.
He had spent years believing Evan chose to disappear.
Now the possibility existed that someone had made him disappear.
Margaret touched the report.
"Daniel found this six months ago."
"Why didn't he go to the police?"
"He did."
Garrett looked at her.
"What happened?"
"The detective assigned to the case disappeared two weeks later."
Silence.
Garrett's jaw tightened.
"What's on the envelope?"
"Names."
"How many?"
"Thirty-two."
Garrett looked at Sarge in the rearview mirror.
The dog was sitting perfectly still.
"Names of who?"
"People who received payments."
"Politicians?"
"Some."
"Police?"
"Three."
"Military?"
"Seven."
Garrett exhaled slowly.
"That's not something you carry around."
"I know."
"Then why did you?"
"Because my husband died protecting it."
Margaret looked out the window.
"And because he left one final message."
"What message?"
She whispered:
"If they come for me, find the man with the dog."
Garrett's eyes narrowed.
"Daniel knew Sarge?"
"No."
Margaret turned toward him.
"He knew you."
The truck fell silent.
Garrett understood.
Daniel had not known Sarge.
He had known Garrett.
And somehow, he had predicted that Garrett would be the person Margaret needed.
But Garrett didn't understand why.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Hello?"
A man's voice said:
"Mr. Holloway."
Garrett said nothing.
"You should stop driving."
Garrett glanced at the rearview mirror.
A black SUV was three vehicles behind them.
The voice continued.
"You're carrying something that belongs to us."
Garrett said:
"I don't know who you are."
"You know exactly who we are."
The call ended.
Margaret looked at him.
"Are they following us?"
Garrett nodded.
"Yes."
"What do we do?"
Garrett smiled without humor.
"Now we find out how badly they want you."
The Safe House
Garrett didn't go home.
He drove forty miles outside town to an abandoned ranch property he had purchased years earlier.