CHAPTER 5 - Amon

O n Monday morning I'm glaring at inspector Sawyer Martin from my porch as he pokes around my kennel.

"If looks could kill…" Collin sips a cup of coffee as he approaches my porch steps. "Why are you so bothered about that guy, Amon? He's no one. He'll be gone soon enough and you'll never have to think about him again."

I shrug. "I just don't think my kennel is any of his business, that's all."

"It might not be, but if Charlie told him to inspect things, then the man needs to inspect things. He seems competent, so don't let it bother you."

My gaze slides away from Collin and lands back on the kennel, but this Sawyer guy has disappeared. "Charlie has no say in my kennel. I paid for it all by myself. He didn't give a dime for it. So even if he's got some kind of problem with what I'm doing and how I'm doin' it, it's none of his damn business. Which means this guy's poking is getting' on my last nerve."

"Just ignore him." Then Collin turns his back to me and starts walking up the driveway towards Nash's house. "See ya around, Amon."

"Yep," I call back. "See ya around."

I wait until Collin is out of sight, then I hop down my porch stairs and head around the side of the kennel where I find this Sawyer character peeking into kennel windows.

"Can I help you with something?"

He turns, startles, then smiles. "Why, yes—yes, you can. This building here seems to be locked. If you could let me in, I'd sure appreciate it."

Though I didn't notice it before, his accent comes off as local. "It's locked because ain't no one got any business in there right now. All the dogs are either training with their partners or resting comfortably because they're about to give birth to puppies."

His smile never wavers. "OK. But you didn't say if you'd let me in or not."

My immediate instinct is to fight with this guy and deny his request for access. But Collin is probably right. The sooner he does his job, the sooner he leaves.

"I'll let ya in," I tell him, "if you tell me what you're looking for."

He's still smiling. Like this is his default expression. "I'm not really looking for anything in this kennel. I was just told to take a look at everything, so that's what I'm gonna do."

"You already saw this kennel. So why the second look?"

"I'm here to take lots of looks, Mr. Parrish. It's not a one-and-done kind of thing. It's a thorough inspection for Charlie Beaufort because, possibly, he's got some concerns about you boys."

Something happens here with this guy. I don't know if it's his tone, or the way his eyes narrow down in the slightest of ways, or the fact that he's way more confident in his interaction with me than most men are. It's possibly all three. Because I take a second look at Sawyer Martin and decide he's not a paper-pusher and I should've seen it immediately.

He's also lyin'. That's something I can see even in the dark. "Charlie doesn't have any concerns, not with Collin in charge. So your script needs work."

Still, his smile does not crack. "Can I see inside, Amon? Or should I just check off the box here that says ‘refused access?'"

He holds up his clipboard and sure enough, there is a damn tick-box that says ‘refused access.' I wave my hand at the door and bow a little. "It would be my pleasure."

I punch in the code to open the main door of the kennel and the inspector follows me inside. Immediately the mama dogs start whining for attention, but King is in here as well, and he gives me a friendly bark.

"I thought you said there were no workers in here?" When I look at Sawyer Martin, he's got one eyebrow raised.

Which makes me scoff, then nod at King. "This dog's with me today. He and I have an appointment down in Fayetteville."

Sawyer scribbles something on his clipboard. "Is that right?"

"That's right." I punch in the security code to open King's kennel, then point at my left side. The dog trots over and sits at my knee. "He's gettin' fitted for a new vest today."

Sawyer wants to say something here, but he's been schooled in the art of composure, so whatever it was, he holds it back and gives me a fake salute. "Well, you and your dogs have a nice day now."

Which is, essentially, a dismissal. And I feel my temper getting ready to rear up. But I too have been schooled in the art of composure and even though my vest-fitting appointment with King isn't for hours, I decide to turn away and leave things here.

Outside I direct King to get in my truck, then I get in as well. But on my way out of the compound I stop at Nash's house, tell King to stay in the truck, and go inside to find Collin. He's sitting in Nash's office going over some paperwork, so I stand in the doorway, waiting until they're finished talking.

Collin turns to look at me. "Why are you loomin' in the fuckin' doorway, Amon?"

"He's up to something. I can tell. It's a mistake letting that man have free rein over our compound."

"Dammit, Amon." Collin is frustrated with me now. "I told you to ignore him. Just let the man do his job. If Charlie wants him to look around, I'm gonna let him look around."

Collin is typically the suspicious one, not me. I'm the easy-going dog trainer. Happy and content is my default setting. So I'm irritated that he's so indifferent about this whole thing. "You're not the least bit bothered that Charlie Beaufort is sending people up here like he's our boss? Because I am."

"Amon, I gave up trying to fight Charlie years back now. He and his government contracts are the only way Edge gets off the ground. We talked about this and we all agreed he is a necessary evil. So even if I am unhappy about this Sawyer guy, it doesn't do any good to complain about it. For all intents and purposes, Charlie is our boss. If he wants Sawyer up here looking around, then we should just let the man do his job and hope he really is gone in two weeks."

I want to say a lot of things about this little speech Collin just gave. I want to call him a sell-out. I want to call him beholden. I want to accuse him of things.

But I don't, because he's right. We've hashed this out and we all agreed to work with Charlie for a couple of years until Edge could support itself. We're a brand-new company that just hired sixty employees who aren't actually ready to work yet. Not to mention all the dogs.

We came into this project with millions in the bank, but it literally costs us a hundred thousand dollars a week just to keep up with expenses. Without the government contracts, we can't afford this place. And we've got sixty men and dozens of dogs countin' on us to make it all happen.

So I just sigh.

"I get it, Amon," Collin says. "It sucks. I don't want to be under the thumb of Charlie Beaufort any longer than we have to. But right now, we have to. So whatever's up your ass about this Sawyer guy, just… let it go."

I look at Nash for his opinion on the matter, but he shakes his head. "It's gotta be somebody, Amon. We're not self-sustaining yet. So it's either Charlie or your friend Jim Bob Baptist down there in Disciple. Both are bad, but at least one is necessary. And we already burned a bridge with Jim Bob, so…" Nash shrugs with his hands. "Get over it, dude."

"Fine," I say, giving up. "I'll let it go. But I don't want him fuckin' with my dogs. Whatever he's doing, he can leave them out of it." I look Collin in the eyes. "Fair?"

Collin nods. "Fair. I'll let him know."

"Thanks."

Then I turn and leave, but Collin says, "Hey. Before you go. Got any complaints about how you're feelin'?"

I turn back to him, squinin' my eyes. "What?"

"The drinks," Nash says. "It's Monday. They're coming this afternoon so we gotta decide if we're gonna drink them or not."

"Oh, right." I pause here to think about how I'm feelin'. Then shrug. "I don't feel any different. How about you guys?"

They both shake their heads. "Nope," Collin says. "I feel OK."

"Then it's settled, I guess." I leave the house rollin' my eyes about the drinks and still kinda agitated about the interloper, but once I get in the truck King is there. Sittin' in the passenger seat like he's my best friend and despite a natural urge to remain sour, I smile instead.

Dogs. They are the salve for the wounds of men.

Thirty minutes later I'm just entering Revenant when I decide to stop at the diner to kill some time and have some breakfast, since King and I are way early for our vest-fitting appointment. Even if it wasn't Revenant, I could take King inside any establishment I wanted to because he's a service dog. So I snap a lead on him and we go inside for some pancakes. He likes pancakes.

I'm standing at the cash register waiting to be seated when all of a sudden, I spy Rosie Harlow across the diner. Her long, brown hair is pulled up into some kind of messy beehive thing and she's wearing a pink waitressing outfit reminiscent of the ones they used to wear in the old days. The whole thing really works because she is truly looking very cute.

Rosie's pouring coffee and chitchatting with the customers at her table, so she doesn't see me right away. But once she turns and our eyes lock, her mouth goes up into a grin. And as she walks over to me, it grows wider.

"Rosie Harlow. What the hell are you doing?"

"What do ya mean? I'm working."

"You work here?" I point at the floor.

"Sure do. For the past two years. Only Monday mornings though."

"Monday mornings? That's it? How does that make sense?"

Rosie cocks her hip and her shoulder at the same time. "Well, I didn't have anything else to do on Monday mornings. So why not?"

"Is that what you do then? Fill up every bit of empty space?" It wasn't meant to come out serious, but it kinda does.

Doesn't faze Rosie, though. "Maybe. Table for"—she looks down at King, then back up at me—"two?" We both laugh. "Let me ask you something then, Mr. Nosypants. How come you're bringing a dog to breakfast with you instead of a woman?"

Oh, she walked right into this one. "Because the woman I'm interested in is standing right here in front of me."

Rosie smiles. Maybe even blushes a little as she grabs two menus and turns on her heel. "Follow me."

She seats us at a booth, putting one menu down in front of me and the other across the table, like she knew King was gonna jump into the opposite side of the booth—which he does—and I think it's kinda fun that she gave him a menu even though he doesn't read much.

Rosie stands there for a moment, like she's got something to say, but can't quite find the words. In another moment she's gonna give up and just walk away, so I preempt that with an answer to the question she hasn't yet asked. "Because I like you." Then I hold up a finger so I can tick off a list. "You're fun. You're pretty. You're industrious." This makes her huff, but it's more of an incredulous laugh than some kind of exception to my characterization. "And we're friends, right?"

"I suppose."

"You're not seeing anyone, right?"

"I'm not. That's correct."

"And I'm not seeing anyone. So…"

She's not convinced. "I dunno, Amon. Are you telling me we should date because we're leftovers?"

"No. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying the timing is right, when maybe in the past, it hasn't been."

"Oh, please. You never took any notice of me at all before you got back."

"That's because I was gone twelve years, Rosie. And you were very fuckin' pregnant, not to mention fifteen years old, the last time I saw you." Again, I have a flash of memory of her standing in the cafeteria when her water broke, that look on her face like her world was ending. "You know what though?" I say, because she and I were looking right at each other that day twelve years ago and I think she's remembering that right now. And I don't want her to think about that day, even if she did get a baby boy out of it. Something bad was happening to her and it had nothing to do with the baby. Something else that I don't know about.

"What?" Rosie says.

"Your boy? He's amazing."

She narrows her eyes a little. "What do you know about my boy?"

"He hung out with me those couple days we were part of the Revival when we first got back. He made sure the dogs always had water in the security tent."

Rosie smiles. Big. "He is a good boy, Amon. I don't know how I got so lucky."

"You didn't get lucky, Rosie. You got exactly what you deserved."