Chapter 2 - THE DOG AT THE DOOR
At six the next morning, Grant opened his bedroom door and found the hallway empty.
Atlas was gone.
Grant called once. Then he called his head of security.
Victor Hale arrived in under a minute, jacket half-buttoned, phone already in his hand. “We’ll search the grounds.”
“No need,” Grant said when a guard’s voice came through Victor’s radio.
They found Atlas lying outside Claire’s apartment on the lower floor. His chin rested on his paws, his eyes fixed on the closed door.
Claire opened it with Lily on her hip. She looked from the dog to the three men in dark coats.
“Did he hurt someone?”
“He’s been here all night,” Grant said.
Lily wriggled down. “Morning, Atlas.”
The dog’s tail struck the floor once.
Victor gave a short laugh. “You’ve got a new guard dog, Claire.”
Claire didn’t laugh. She had worked at the estate for eight months, long enough to know that anything Grant cared about attracted trouble. She wanted no part of it for Lily.
That afternoon, Atlas followed Lily through the winter garden. When she stopped to inspect a dead leaf, he stopped. When she went inside for lunch, he waited at the door. Grant watched from his office window.
Then Atlas stumbled.
It was slight, a hitch in his back leg as he turned. Lily noticed. She knelt and put her palm against his head.
“His leg hurts,” she told Grant when he came outside.
“He’s getting old.”
“No. Right here.”
She pointed to his hip.
Grant called the estate veterinarian. Dr. Salazar arrived an hour later and set her bag on the floor. Atlas bared his teeth when she approached his back leg.
“I’ve tried to examine him twice this year,” she said. “He won’t let me near it.”
Lily stepped beside him. “You’re okay.”
Atlas lowered his head. Dr. Salazar touched his hip. This time he held still.
The exam showed a badly healed fracture and severe arthritis. The pain had likely been building for years.
Grant stood at the end of the table, staring at the X-rays. “Why didn’t anyone find this?”
“Because he wouldn’t let us examine him,” Dr. Salazar said. “And because everyone assumed his temper was the problem.”
Atlas received medication and a plan for treatment. By evening, he was walking more comfortably.
Victor came to the treatment room to give Grant a security report. Atlas rose and growled the moment Victor crossed the threshold.
Victor stopped. “Still in a mood?”
Atlas moved between him and Lily.
Lily slipped her hand into Claire’s. “He doesn’t like that man.”
Grant looked at Victor. Victor had worked beside him for five years. He knew the estate, the guards, and the names of every person Grant loved.
“Atlas likes almost nobody,” Victor said.
Grant said nothing. But that night, he asked his other security officer for the access records to the west service gate.
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The record showed Victor’s code had been used three times in the past week.
Each time, Victor had reported being somewhere else.
