Page 65 of Refuge for Ailsa

The dog spun, took one look at him, and bolted straight for him. Tavish squatted and she ran into his arms. “Oh, god, girl, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. How’d you get here, huh? Where have you been?”

“I don’t know where she was before, but she’s been doing this ever since we found her down here. All day and all night. We’ve tried to feed her, but she wasn’t interested. Just ran back and forth down by the water, staring out into the bay.”

Tavish was about to snap a leash onto her when she took off at a dead run for the water again and resumed running and barking, back and forth, back and forth. He heard Harley whisper, “What the hell?”

“Anybody been down here?” Tavish asked.

“Just family and employees,” the man answered.

Tavish stared at the dog as she ran. As he did, he noticed some kind of things in the water, square and with a pyramid-shaped roof, but rounded edges, and they were partially submerged. They looked to be completely made of steel, and they were big?probably eight to ten feet square. He could hear Harley in the background as he talked to the man who owned the operation. “You said the dog’s been down here since Monday afternoon?”

“Yeah. At least that’s when we first noticed her.”

“And you’ve never seen her before?”

“Nope. I didn’t even know what kind of dog she is. They said she’s some kind of spaniel.”

“English Springer Spaniel,” Tavish threw in.

“Yeah. Expensive dog, but I don’t need a dog. Got a few cats who prowl around here, eat the mice, and that’s enough.”

“And you haven’t seen anybody out here interacting with her?” Harley asked.

“No. Nobody.”

There was a lull in the conversation, but Tavish didn’t turn around to see what was going on. Then he heard Harley ask, “Have you seen this woman?”

“No. Never seen her before in my life.”

“Okay, sir, I guess that’s all I need. I’d like for you to make a statement because this is an ongoing investigation,” Harley said.

“Investigation?”

“Yes, sir. The woman in the photo is missing.”

“Well, I sure don’t know anything about a missing woman, but I’ll be glad to write out a statement.”

“Thank you. Let me just get a few things from you. What’s your name, sir?”

“LarryGilchrist.”

All the breath left Tavish’s lungs and he wheeled to look at the man. “What did you say?”

The guy’s eyes went wide. “He asked me my name, and I said LarryGilchrist.”

Tavish strode toward the man. “Sir, do you have a daughter?”

Mr.Gilchrist rolled his eyes. “Oh, yes. She’s quite the handful. A little on the cuckoo side.”

“Is her name Bridget?”

“Do you know her?” Mr.Gilchrist asked.

“Sir, where is she now?”

“She’s supposed to be in a mental facility, but the one her doctor wanted to send her to doesn’t have any beds right now, so she’s just waiting for one to open up so she can?”

“Sir, what are those things?” Tavish’s heart was pounding out of his chest. “The big square things.”

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