He thought he was stopping for a stray dog in the snow-until he saw what she was hiding beneath her body

for the next pup. “We’re still in dangerous territory, Cal.”

He nodded once.

When Claire examined the mother dog, her mouth tightened. She parted the fur at the neck, touched the scrape, then found two older marks beneath the collar line where the skin had rubbed raw and healed badly. Along the dog’s flank, under the dirty coat, there was bruising that continue reading …