Unknown - The Watch Dog

«Oh, but isn't it dangerous having a dog like that around? What if …»

«Please, Mrs. Barrett, just take a look at him first. Then, if you're still not interested, we'll forget the whole thing and I'll install the best available burglar alarm on the market in your house. But it won't come close to doing the job Matthew will.»

«All right, let's have a look at this super-dog; I've got nothing to lose by looking. But I still don't like the idea!»

It was always dark in the special section of the store's basement where the four security dogs, Matthew, Mark, Luke amp; John, lived behind locked doors in their individual chain-link runs and plywood houses. Their working hours were at night, therefore it was necessary to keep this part of the basement in near-darkness all day so that the husky animals would get their sleep: the only daylight they ever saw was the short time between dawn and the store's opening and, in the summer months, the brief twilight after closing time. Their task was simple and to the point – intercept and detain anyone found inside the store after closing-up time. There was always a security man on duty, one they would recognize should one of them come across him in their rounds, but he nearly never left his glassed-in cubicle on the main floor. Occasionally one of the executives might return for some late-night work, but he would enter by the employees' entrance next to the security man's desk and take the elevator directly to the executive offices which were not patrolled by the German shepherds. Should they discover someone hiding inside the store, they were trained to hold him with a clamp of their powerful jaws while the other dog (they worked in pairs) barked to signal the security man who had a monitoring device next to his desk that would pick-up their sounds from anywhere in the huge building. Twice already they had proven themselves worth their initial cost and training – once when they knocked a trespasser to his knees and held him until the armed security guard handcuffed him for the police; he was found to be a three-time convicted burglar and carried tools that indicated he was after the fine jewelry in that department's locked security drawers. Their second success was with a shoplifter who had hidden inside the store until after closing, hoping foolishly to find a way out with the stolen merchandise he had concealed in every pocket of his clothing.

Matthew was just waking up from a long, fitful sleep when he heard Allen's voice outside the locked door that connected their section with the storage portion of the huge basement room; it was the wrong time of day for a feeding, but there was something else even odder – he had others with him. Allen nearly never brought anyone into this portion of the store; not that it was dangerous, the dogs were trained to go into action only during their nightly patrols. But Allen wanted these animals to know as few people as possible, so as not to confuse their sensitive scent-detecting skills.

Matthew was on his feet in less than a second, ears perked up high, twitching from side to side as he strained to pick up any noises he could from outside the door. His companions had heard their master's approach as well, and now they were all pushing against the sturdy chain-link fence at the front of their runs, eagerly awaiting this unaccustomed surprise visit.

«Matthew! Mark! How are you, fellows? Luke! John!» greeted Allen Biggs from the doorway. He was greeted by a cacophony of howls and barks as his well-trained German shepherds heralded his entrance.

«My, what a greeting!» exclaimed Kate Barrett. «Are they always this happy to receive visitors?»

«Only lovely ones like yourself,» answered the security chief gallantly.

«My, you are a flatterer! I might have to see Henderson about getting you a raise!»

«Thanks, I could use it. Seriously, though, I doubt if any of these animals have ever seen a woman before. You're most likely the first.»

«What!? You must be joking! Surely they've seen women before. How about the cleaning women? And all the salesclerks that are female?»

Biggs closed the heavy steel door to the rest of the basement and switched on the red lamps overhead, bathing the whole of the kennel area with a weird red-orange glow. The dogs had quieted down at one word from him and the only noise was the low muffled whine of the ventilation system sucking out the stale air and replenishing the area with fresh. «We had to do some rescheduling when we started using dogs at night,» he explained. «Oh, I hope you don't mind the red lights – we never turn on the bright lights, it keeps them adjusted to the dim night lights in the store. Anyway, as I was saying, we have the cleaning crews start now just as the store is closing; that way, when they're finished and ready to leave, we take the dogs up to their assigned floors and there they stay until one of the guards comes for them in the morning.»

«For dogs that never see anybody except guards and criminals, they seem awful friendly. Are you sure these dogs are vicious enough?» Kate asked jokingly.

«They're that, all right, and more. But only when they have to be. That's the difference between a well-trained watchdog and some half- crazy vicious mongrel that would be better off put to sleep. My dogs are professionals, just like anyone who is well-trained and skilled at his work. They can be as vicious as any animal on earth if they are forced to be, but when they are off duty, they're just as friendly as the dog next door. Maybe more so since they so seldom see people. You might compare it to a police officer – on duty, he can shoot to kill without a moment's hesitation if he's forced to. Yet that same man might be the gentlest guy on the block with the neighborhood kids when he's not working. That's how it is with these fine animals – professionals, they are, and nothing less.»

«Well, you're starting to convince me, I have to admit. Now, which one is the one you recommend for my daughter and me?»

Allen moved to the first fenced run and opened the gate; Kate backed away instinctively as a great, furry beast of a dog bounded forth and hurried to her side. «Don't be afraid … he won't hurt you. He knows you're a friend because you came in with me. This is Matthew, the animal I thought you might consider. He's just not cut out for this kind of work somehow. Oh, mind you, he's a fine watchdog, incredibly smart, almost human in his actions sometimes. But he seems to need people around; some dogs are like that, they thrive on human attention. And Matthew happens to be one of those – he's not happy being alone with just the other dogs all the time. He'd make you a fine watchdog and companion, I can promise!»

Kate Barrett eyed the finely proportioned German shepherd with the keen eye of an experienced buyer – indeed, that had been her trade when John Barrett first noticed her and invited her out for dinner. But she found herself strangely unable to appraise this handsome specimen with the cold-blooded attachment she could usually muster. God, she thought silently, he is a beautiful devil! And that face of his, why it's so much like a human's it's uncanny! You can almost read his thoughts through those beautiful brown eyes!

She had made her mind up already; or, more accurately, it was made up for her. «I'll take him,» she said with certainty.

«Wonderful!» exclaimed the security chief. «You won't be sorry, Mrs. Barrett. Taking Matthew into your home may be the best move you ever made!»

Lucy Barrett was certain that her mother had perpetrated some kind of sick joke – a full-grown German shepherd in their house and neither of them knew the first tiny thing about dogs! That was almost a week ago now, and though she had argued with Kate that this notion was her silliest yet, Lucy was delighted now, sitting alone in the empty house doing her homework, that her mother had sternly insisted that Matthew -