For whatever reason, Frank had thought that here in a strange place he might be able to get some proper sleep for once. But one restless, sleepless night bled into the next, a long neverending nightmare plaguing him until he was back to his old coffee-chugging and time-killing habits.

One of the first places his exhausted legs ended up carrying to when his ears wouldn't stop ringing after his wife's blood splattered all over his cheeks and her body fell lifelessly in his arms was the animal shelter. There was a black dog with a bandaged leg sporting a few scars that was moping around in one of the end cages, ignoring most of the prospective adopters, watching Frank suspiciously.

He took to the mutt straightaway, watching it curiously like a hawk. He was down on one knee in dirty old jeans and a clean black shirt and didn't appear to notice the approaching green woman he had an unfortunate first encounter with.