Free Hope (The Virtues #1) by Davida Lynn Page A

into the doorway. Casper looked up at us with his cloudy eyes, his tail barely swinging back and forth.

    Trask smiled and stepped into the vacant trailer. “Well, we know we’re in the right place, at least.”

    Confused, I stepped into the trailer. Cabinets were destroyed, the counters were in shambles, and I even smelled piss in the air. The living area at the far end had been pretty much empty, and now it was covered in trash and the curtains that had hung over the bay window at the front end of the trailer were ruined.

    “You think those visitors earlier today did this? Or does Nick just prefer things sort of artsy? ”

    I sneered. “So funny. You're joking, but I found the place in bad shape yesterday. This is way worse, though.”

    Trask walked down the hallway and peered into the bathroom. “Jesus.” It was all he had to say. I knew it was wrecked, too. He kept going down the hallway. I heard him step on glass and I wondered if it was a window or picture that had been broken.

    Casper whined, and I saw a small blood spot on the floor behind the golden retriever. When he stepped towards me, I noticed he favored one of his front legs. I quickly got down on my knees and lifted up his left paw. The friendly old pup licked at my face and sat down, allowing me to examine his pads.

    I saw a small piece of glass stabbing into him, a hint of red staining his fur. Keeping my hands steady, I did my first unassisted surgery, removing the small shard from Casper’s paw.

    “Trask, if you can find a Band-Aid in the bathroom, at all, I’d appreciate it.” I kept my eyes focused on Casper’s paw, looking for any more glass that he had stepped on.

    “What a good boy.” I cooed at the dog. He whined and licked his chops. His wiry mustache was going white, making him look even more like his namesake.

    I looked down the hallway and heard Trask rooting through the bathroom. Casper waited patiently for me to finish his operation, bending forward to give me another dry lick. When Trask emerged from the bathroom, he had a small metal tin in his hand. He tossed it underhand and I caught it against my chest, still holding Casper’s paw.

    I flipped the top open and grabbed a SpongeBob Band-Aid. With a gentle touch, I stuck it over Casper’s pad. It wrapped around and stuck to itself, and I hoped that would be enough to hold it in place.

    I let go of his paw, and he placed it back on the floor with great care. “Good boy.”

    He wagged his tail slowly, knocking into an empty bag of potato chips. I could only imagine him backed in a corner, terrified as the dealer’s men trashed the place even more.

    I looked around for his collar, but the place was such a mess that I couldn’t see anything but garbage. Trask was back in the bedroom, where I had found my brother strung out the day before.

    “I think they spray painted something on the wall back here,” he called to me. “It’s a face with crossed out eyes. Very original.”

    I wanted out of the place as soon as possible, so I gave up on the collar. Casper wasn’t in any hurry to run off, anyway.

    “Come on, boy. Let’s get you some fresh air.” I opened the door again. At first I was going to hold onto his collar, but it was clear Casper wasn’t moving quickly. Down the stairs he went, taking each one with care and favoring his paw. When I walked around the trailer, he followed right by my side.

    Trask came to the door. “You know. I don’t think behind the trailer is going to work. If they have a few people surrounding the place, it’s no good. Why don’t you and the hound head to Mrs. Halburn’s? You can keep watch through a window.”

    “Are you crazy? What if you need help?”

    “The only help you can give is with a cell phone, and you can do that from one street over.” The military grunt was coming out in his voice again. I was being given a command. I knew better than to argue, especially with time winding down.

    “Fine, but you promise