Read Online Silent Night: A Raine Stockton Dog Mystery by Donna Ball - Free Book Online Page A

the yard briefly for a toilet break, settled the Aussies down with a chew bone, and grabbed Cisco’s therapy dog vest from the front closet.   Cisco looked from Mischief’s chew bone to me with a hurt expression on his face until I opened the door and invited, “Okay, boy.  Load up!”  Then he dashed out into the dark, tail spinning like a propeller blade, and he was sitting beside the tail gate of the SUV with an excited grin on his face when I got there.
    Cisco fogged up the back window with his breath while I made my way down the dark and almost deserted highway, looking for the sign that heralded the entrance to the trailer park.  I would have missed it had I not seen the patrol car parked just inside the entrance, and I pulled in beside it, next to the wooden sign with the faded lettering that read, “Heavenly Homes.”  Buck put his car in gear and led the way down the gravel road.
    The trailer park was one of those that had probably been a pretty good deal fifteen or twenty years ago.  Most of the homes were double-wides, and the little squares of yard were not too close together.  Behind front windows I could see the twinkle of Christmas tree lights, and some had even gone to the expense of decorating their roof lines and setting fluorescent snowmen in their front yards.  Only a few of the drives were occupied by rusted-out cars on blocks, and one fellow with an obvious sense of humor had even strung a row of multi-colored Christmas lights around the open hood of his.
    Buck pulled into the short dirt drive that led to a darkened double-wide at the end of the block.   He got out and stood in that watchful manner that is second nature to every policeman, his hands resting on his utility belt, looking around. I opened the back of the SUV and gave Cisco a firm command to stay while I snapped on his vest and leash.  I knew he obeyed only because he hadn’t seen Buck yet.
    I released Cisco and walked him up the drive toward the patrol car.  The minute he saw Buck, he forgot everything he had ever known about heeling, and I knew I’d never get him back under control until the two of them had greeted each other.  So when we were three feet away I gave up the struggle to keep him by my side and said, “Okay, release,” as he dashed toward his hero.  At least I got to pretend it was my idea.
    I glanced around in the glow of the neighbor’s Christmas lights while Buck bent down to rub Cisco’s wriggling body, telling him what a fine fellow he was.  The only cars in the drive were ours, and there wasn’t a light on inside.  It was barely eight o’clock, and I didn’t think a teenager would be in bed already.  I could hear the neighbor’s television through the thin glass windows of the trailer but not a sound from the one in front of us.
    “I don’t think anyone’s here,” I said, unnecessarily.
    “Yeah, looks like it.”  Buck straightened up and handed Cisco’s leash to me.
    “Maybe she got scared when her daddy didn’t come home and went to a friend’s house.”
    “Probably.”  He moved toward the front door and I followed, keeping Cisco close.  “Might as well make sure.”
    He pushed the buzzer, which made no sound, then knocked on the sagging storm door.  After a moment, he opened the storm door and knocked again, loudly, on the main door.
    I kept my voice low, just in case someone was home.  “Where did you find him?”
    “Somebody spotted his truck down a gully off the old Switchback Road.  His body was in the camper.  I figure he’d been there less than a day, but in this weather it’s hard to tell by guessing.”
    “Any idea who?”
    “He wasn’t the most popular guy when he was drinking.  We’re doing some interviews.”  Most of the violent crimes around here were either family disputes or drug and alcohol related, and they were fairly simple to resolve. Most of the time the perpetrator would be at home waiting for the deputies when they came to arrest him.