He shook his head. "There's a guard outside the tent."

"That's to keep thieves from coming in, not people from going out."

He smiled faintly. "Good point."

"And there were soldiers all over the mountain, and you managed to find your way to those ruins. You're lucky you weren't shot for looting."

He lifted his brows. "You think Ned and I were searching for loot, not survivors?"

"It's a possibility. What could appear more innocent than a rescue dog and his handler?" She added, "Even though they were scouring through ruins that the main team had already abandoned."

"Ned thought you were wrong. He thought there was still life in those ruins."

"It seems impossible. We were so careful."

"Could be. He turned up blank on the first try."

"Blank?"

"He made a mistake. He found a dead man. He was overanxious and wanted desperately to find someone alive. I don't think it was a case of his senses being off. His success ratio is in the 90 percent range."

"He's that good?"

"Exceptional. Some dogs are good, a few have the passion. From the moment I took him on his first rescue mission, he instinctively knew what to do and how to do it. I've never known any dog to have such a heady sense of joy as when he found someone alive in the rubble." His lips twisted. "Or such abject despair if we found them dead. He never got used to it. Every time it was new joy or fresh pain for him." His glance shifted back to Ned. "But sometimes the dead were too much for him. And then I tried to keep him at home. It's been a long time since I brought Ned to a disaster site."

"Why this one?"

"He was grieving," Marrok said simply. "He needed it."

"So you brought him to this island in the back of beyond because he needed to save a life?"