The paperwork took forty minutes. Fees, signatures, a brief lecture about senior-dog care that Marcus barely heard. He carried Shadow's leash in his hand even though Shadow walked pressed against his leg as if afraid the corridor might separate them again. In the parking lot, Marcus opened the back door of the sedan and Shadow climbed in with effort, then immediately put his head between the front seats so he could watch Marcus's face.
Marcus sat in the driver's seat and did not start the car. He called Jasmine once. She answered on the second ring, voice small.
"He's alive," Marcus said. "I have him."
A sob on the other end. "Marcus, I'm so —"
"Don't." He stared through the windshield at the storage facility, at the weeds. "I'm not coming back tonight. Maybe not for a while. I need to think. And I need him somewhere safe that isn't... that place you made for him while I was gone."
"Where will you go?"
"My sister's. Or a hotel. I don't know yet." He paused. Shadow's breath warmed the side of his neck. "You should have called me. You should have called my sister. You should have done anything except walk him into that building and leave him there like he was furniture you couldn't afford anymore."