Dog Tags Read Online Free PDF Page B

I see worry in his face. “Hey, come on, I’m not trying to be difficult. It’s just that the things you’re
     asking… I really can’t go there.”
    “I understand,” I say. “So I’m going to go there.” I point to the door so he’ll know what I’m talking about, and then start
     walking toward it. My hope is that he won’t say anything until I’m safely out the other side.
    “Wait. Please,” he says, in a tone that no longer contains arrogance or confidence. It has just enough vulnerability to stop
     a sucker like me in my tracks. I stare at him and don’t say anything; if this is going to get anywhere, he’s going to have
     to do the talking.
    “I need you to be my lawyer,” he says.
    That is something I have a singular lack of interest in. “We’re talking about Milo,” I say. “Besides, I thought you didn’t
     want or need a lawyer?”
    “I don’t. But if I’m going to tell you anything, I have to be sure you’re bound by confidentiality. The only way I can be
     sure of that is if I hire you as my attorney.”
    He’s right about that, of course, so I nod. I tell him that I’ll draw up an agreement in which he can hire me for a finite
     time for a fee of one dollar. For now the agreement can be verbal, and I will honor it.
    He thinks for a few moments, and then seems to decide that this will be acceptable. Lucky me.
    Once that’s accomplished, he says, “Okay, here’s what I can tell you. When I returned from Iraq, I tried to get my old job
     back on the force. There was no way.”
    “Why?”
    “They told me that with the economy and all, there was a freeze on hiring, that they might be able to give me a part-time
     desk job. It was bullshit; they had no interest in a one-legged cop. They always viewed me as a pain in the ass anyway.”
    “Were you?”
    “A pain in the ass?” He laughs. “Sure. A major one. Anyway, Milo used to be my partner on the job; he rode in the squad car
     with me. And I found out he was about to get dumped as well.”
    “For being a pain in the ass?” I ask.
    “No, for being too old. He was about to turn seven. That’s the limit for the department. So when I made the request, they
     were happy to give him to me.”
    “Why did you want him?”
    He looks surprised by the question. “I love that dog; it sounds stupid, but he is my best friend in the entire world. Pete
     told me you’re a dog nut, so you should get it.”
    “I get it,” I say, because I do.
    “Milo was trained to disarm perpetrators. He was amazing at it; the best in the department. Somebody would be holding a gun
     one second, and the next thing you know Milo is flying through the air and taking it right out of his hand.”
    “So?”
    “So once I got him back, I enhanced that training a little bit. Now he can take anything he wants from anyone; he could take
     the fillings out of your teeth.”
    “He’s a thief?” I ask.
    Billy grins. “We both are. And we’re as good as it gets. Milo and Clyde.”
    “Who do you steal from?”
    “Well, the good news is that people worth stealing from are the ones who can afford it. You know, they’re insured and all.
     So we’re pretty selective, and we aren’t out to get rich. Just get by.”
    “So that’s what you were doing the night of the shooting?”
    He nods. “Yes. Milo grabbed something from the victim just before he got shot.”
    I don’t want to ask him who did the shooting, because I don’t want to hear the answer. But implicit in his story is a denial
     of guilt; if they were out to steal something utilizing Milo’s talents, the fact that he had just stolen it would have made
     the shooting unnecessary. There could have been additional circumstances, but for now, that’s how I read what he is saying.
    “I didn’t shoot him,” Billy says, reading my mind.
    “Who did?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Where is the item that Milo stole?”
    He grins again. “That is the billion-dollar question.”

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