by Laura Scott
She wrinkled her forehead in concentration. “Maybe Bryon’s former girlfriend’s place? Her name is Rochelle Cannon.”
Avery’s jaw tightened and he looked away, which made Max think Eden had guessed correctly once again. He repeated the information to the dispatcher.
“What about your other Geek Quad members?” He glanced at Eden. “Could they be in danger?”
“We should have their places checked out, but it appears Bryon held me responsible for being fired. And for being recruited to take his spot.”
“Recruited to take his spot?” He repeated in surprise. “I didn’t know you were being recruited by the NSA.”
“I didn’t know the position was with the NSA. The government recruiter who contacted me didn’t say much over email. He was pressing for a face-to-face interview.”
An interview with a recruiter. Max didn’t have any idea what to say. It never occurred to him that Eden might leave the Brooklyn K-9 Unit. Not that she wasn’t talented enough to work for the NSA, because she was.
But man, he didn’t want her to leave.
“Let’s get this guy out of here,” Tyler said, interrupting his thoughts. “Maybe once he gets his lawyer, he’ll understand that cooperating with us is the wisest option.”
“Yeah.” It took Max a moment to focus on their next steps. “Let’s get him out of the tunnel.”
No easy task as they didn’t want to completely uncuff his wrists. After sending Eden up first, he and Tyler managed to carry Avery up to the main level. Sam and Dusty, a golden retriever, bounded after them.
Tyler offered to take Avery to the jail. Max called Gavin, letting him know they were heading over to check on the other possible bomb locations.
“No need. I just heard from the bomb squad. They found one device inside the gaming joint and another inside Rochelle’s place. Thankfully, she wasn’t home. We haven’t found any other devices.”
“Let’s hope three devices is all he had time to set up before grabbing Eden.”
“I hear you,” Gavin agreed.
“I’m going to take Eden home, so Sam can make sure her place is secure.”
“Good idea. I think we’re finished for now, but if I need you and Sam to find another device, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay, thanks.” He disconnected from the line. “Let’s get out of here.”
He called for a car service, stressing the fact that he had a police dog with him. After several declines, one driver agreed to pick them up.
“Behave,” he said to Sam when the vehicle arrived.
Sam looked up at him as if to say, Why wouldn’t I?
Once they were settled, with Sam on the floor at his feet, the driver headed to Sunset Park. Eden reached over to take his hand. “I knew you and Sam would find me.”
He stared down at their entwined fingers for a long moment. “It was all I could think about once I realized you were missing. Smart of you to drop clues along the way.”
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “It was the least I could do. All of this—” she waved a hand “—because he was fired and blamed me? How crazy is that?”
“I should have dug deeper into your friend’s backgrounds.”
She arched a brow. “I’m not sure that knowing about his being let go would have been enough for me to suspect he was capable of all this.”
He lifted their joined hands so he could kiss her fingers. “I prayed God would keep you safe, and He did.”
A smile bloomed on her features. “Me, too. I had faith in God and in you, and of course Sam.” She reached down to pet Sam’s fur.
He was humbled by her response, but still couldn’t get the news of the government recruiter out of his head. Should he ask about it? Or wait for her to bring it up? Was it possible she didn’t feel as deeply about him as he felt about her? Or did she think taking the NSA job wouldn’t be a barrier between them since most of their work was done remotely? He didn’t know much about their scheduling practices. What if they couldn’t get the same days off?
He fell silent as the driver navigated the crowded streets toward Sunset Park. Christmas lights twinkled from various apartments, and for the first time, he realized how much he wanted to spend some time around the holidays with Eden.
“I spoke to Ricky earlier today,” Eden said. “He’s upset with Tayron getting him in trouble. I’m hoping that when he’s released he’ll come visit me.”
“That would be good for you to have your brother back.”
“Yes.” She smiled wryly. “I can only hope he’ll stay on the straight and narrow from now on.”
“All you can do is offer your support, Eden. Ricky has to make the choice to change his life.” He didn’t want her to feel responsible for her brother’s decisions.
“I know.” She hesitated, then asked, “Um, are you planning to go to Bradley and Sasha’s wedding on Christmas Eve?”
Eden’s question caught him off guard. “Yeah, I was going to stop by the reception after work. I signed up to staff the holiday to give those with families time off. Bradley said that dropping in at the reception would be fine.”
“I was going to attend the reception, too. But—I wouldn’t mind sharing a ride. If that works out for you.” Eden was avoiding his direct gaze in a way that gave him a flicker of hope.
She actually wanted to go to the wedding reception with him!
“I’d love to escort you to the wedding.” Was that his voice all gravelly and rough? He cleared his throat. “I wasn’t looking forward to attending, but now I can’t wait.”
“Great.” Her smile lit up her entire face, her sheer beauty hitting him squarely between the eyes.
“Hey, the address you’re looking for is right over there, but I’m in a bit of a traffic jam here.” The guy waved at the windshield where there was nothing but streams of red taillights stretching before them.
“Let us out here. We’ll walk the rest of the way.” He quickly paid the guy on his app, including an additional tip for allowing Sam to ride along.
The walk to Eden’s apartment building didn’t take long. As they approached her doorway, he bent down and let Sam off leash.
“Seek, Sam. Seek!”
His partner went to work, sniffing along the hallway without alerting. Even at her apartment door, he didn’t pick up anything significant. Feeling reassured, Max took her key and unlocked the door. “Stay here until we clear it.”
As before—had it been only a few days ago?—he and Sam went through the apartment. Charlie meowed with annoyance, but Sam ignored the tabby.
“All clear.” He gestured for Eden to come inside. “Avery apparently couldn’t find a good hiding spot here.”
“Thankfully, he didn’t have a key.” She shrugged off her coat and sighed. “I never want to be in those tunnels again.”
“I know.” He drew her close in a warm hug, the way he’d wanted to do from the moment he found her.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled against him. “Oh, Max. I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
The flicker of hope in his chest burned hotter. “What about that recruiter?”
She lifted her head to look into his eyes. “I put him off until after the holidays, but I can just tell him no right now. I’m not leaving the Brooklyn K-9 Unit.”
Really? He stared into her dark eyes. “Because of Avery?”
She smiled and shook her head. “No, silly. Because of you. I know it’s probably too soon for you to hear this, but I’ve fallen in love with you, Max Santelli.”
He blinked, wondering if he’d misunderstood. But then she went up on her tiptoes and kissed him.
Hauling her close, he kissed her back. It was several minutes before either of them could speak.
“Eden, I love you. And it’s not that fast, as I’ve been thinking of
you for months now.”
“Months? Why didn’t you ask me out?”
He shook his head. “I was too afraid of getting hurt, but that was a dumb reason. My heart was already involved with you, regardless of the obstacles my brain tried to create.”
She smiled and kissed him again. “I’m glad you followed your heart.”
“Me, too.” He drew her over to the sofa. As they sat down, the cat meowed again, dashing out of the bedroom straight toward Sam. The dog braced himself as the animal launched into the air, landing directly on Sam’s broad back.
“Meow!” Charlie said again.
Sam froze, then turned his head toward Max as if silently asking for help. When none came, the K-9 lowered himself to the floor, taking care not to disturb Charlie.
“Good boy.” Max chuckled. “See? I told you they’d find a way to get along.”
Sam offered a baleful gaze as if agreeing to put up with this nonsense, for now.
“This is going to be a great Christmas,” Max murmured, pressing a kiss to Eden’s temple.
“Yes.” She sighed and snuggled close. “The best Christmas ever.”
* * *
Dear Reader,
I hope you’ve enjoyed your journey through the True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn series, including Max and Eden’s story. I’m blessed to work with an exceptional group of authors. Coordinating our stories through a series this size is never easy, but we always find a way—especially with our wonderful editor, Emily Rodmell, at the helm.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to send lovely notes or leave positive reviews. I appreciate my readers very much!
Christmas is a special time not just being with family and friends but understanding how important the birth of Jesus has been for the entire world. I hope you find peace, love and joy this holiday season.
Merry Christmas,
Laura Scott
PS: You can find me through my website at www.laurascottbooks.com, or Facebook at LauraScottBooks or Twitter @laurascottbooks.
I also offer a free novella to my newsletter subscribers.
Gift-Wrapped Danger
Maggie K. Black
With thanks to Heather Woodhaven for her wonderful story about Raymond and Abby, which inspired this book and Cate Nolan for being my writing buddy
Both are Love Inspired Suspense authors. Go read their books. They’re awesome.
Show me thy ways, O Lord. Teach me thy paths.
—Psalms 25:4
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Dear Reader
ONE
The sights and sounds of Christmastime seemed to surround Officer Noelle Orton on all sides as she stepped inside the busy Brooklyn shopping mall with her K-9 partner, Liberty, by her side. Glittering decorations draped from the ceiling above her. Happy couples wandered hand in hand from one dazzling storefront to the next. The voices of excited families mingled with the carols being piped through the sound system. Christmas was only two days away and last-minute shoppers were out in full force. Noelle took a deep breath to quell the worry in her heart and tightened her grip on the yellow Labrador’s leash, as she spotted Officer Raymond Morrow striding toward her with his springer spaniel K-9 partner, Abby. The slight frown on her fellow officer’s face told her everything she needed to know in a glance.
The smuggled drugs still hadn’t been found.
K-9 teams specializing in narcotic detection had fanned out at malls, stores and warehouses across New York after an investigation into a murdered dockworker at Red Hook Container Terminal led to the detection of trace amounts of the psychoactive drug MDMA—commonly known as Ecstasy or Molly—on an empty ship that had contained several containers of toys.
The mere thought that dangerous drugs might’ve gotten mixed up in some child’s Christmas presents filled her core with urgency. Liberty whimpered softly, as if sensing Noelle’s tension. Noelle ran her hand over the dog’s head and scratched gently behind Liberty’s left ear with its distinctive black smudge. Then she exchanged hellos with Raymond as the K-9s greeted each other, their tails wagging.
“Looks like someone is happy,” Raymond said, glancing at Liberty. “How does it feel to be back on active cases?”
“Wonderful,” Noelle admitted. Noelle and Liberty had been forced to stop taking high-visibility cases for more than six months, after a vengeful gunrunner had placed a ten-thousand-dollar bounty on the exceptional dog’s head. Now thankfully the gunrunner was behind bars. But as a rookie officer and former K-9 trainer, she also felt the pressure to prove to Sergeant “Sarge” Gavin Sutherland and the rest of the Brooklyn K-9 Unit team that she and Liberty hadn’t gotten rusty. “You should’ve seen how excited Liberty was when I clipped her leash on this morning and told her it was time to go to work. She’d have dragged me to the vehicle if I’d let her. I’m guessing no fresh leads on the case?”
“Not yet.” Raymond shook his head and worry darkened her fellow officer’s eyes. “Last I heard, Sarge is looking for people willing to pull in extra shifts over the holidays to work this one.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Noelle said. She wanted as much overtime as she could get. The yellow Lab glanced up at her under furry blond eyebrows, as if to say she agreed. “Liberty and I had nothing planned but a quiet Christmas alone, just the two of us, and we’re both eager to work since we were cooped up until a couple months ago. What are you going to do?”
“I talked it over with Karenna and she’s game as long as we make it to Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas day with her dad,” Raymond said. He and his fiancée, Karenna, had reunited during a dangerous drug case. “Especially since Sarge has already signed off on some time off for wedding planning. Karenna’s dad wants to invite business contacts from around the world and make it swanky, while my mom wants an intimate Italian feast.” He chuckled. “Karenna’s siding with Mom, but I think it’s just because my sister told her it’s tradition the groom serenades the bride at the window the night before the wedding.”
She chuckled along with him. As an only child of two very driven, workaholic parents who now lived on the other side of the country, Noelle couldn’t remember the last time she’d had anything close to a family-focused Christmas.
“We should split up to cover more ground,” Raymond said. “Abby and I will take the big toy store at this end. Can you head to the center courtyard? There’s some kind of large charity toy giveaway. Huge tree, big crowd. You can’t miss it.”
“We’re on it,” Noelle said. She said goodbye to Raymond and Abby, and silently prayed that next time they touched base it would be with good news. Noelle followed her partner as she sniffed her way through the busy mall. When they turned a corner, Liberty gave a slight tug on the leash followed by a soft woof. Hope leaped afresh in Noelle’s chest. Liberty had detected something. “Show me.”
The dog took off trotting, moving as quickly as Noelle would allow, following posters leading to The Jolly Family Charity Christmas Toy Giveaway. Judging by the flow of foot traffic, it seemed half the mall was heading that way too. She glanced at the poster. Well, the name was definitely a mouthful. And judging by the picture of the strong man in fatigues on the poster, Mr. Jolly was a corporal, tall, dark-haired and most definitely handsome. But did he have anything to do with the smuggled drugs?
Either way, it seemed Liberty was pulling her that way. She checked her watch. It was quarter after four now. The toy giveaway was scheduled to start at five o’clock, and already she could see families beginning to line up in the long roped-off rows that zigzagged back and forth in front of a small decorated stage. Liberty led her past the crowd and up toward the sta
ge, where a gray-haired couple in blue jeans and festive sweaters were setting up a Christmas tree. No toys in sight though.
For a moment it looked like Liberty was leading her somewhere behind the stage. Then the dog doubled back to sniff a small pair of bright blue superhero boots attached to a pair of skinny little legs, which poked out from under a curtain near the back of the stage. Liberty continued to sniff the boots. They kicked and wriggled in response. Then a small boy, of around five years old, crawled out from under the curtain and looked down at Liberty.
“Hello, Mr. Officer Dog!” he said. “Why are you sniffing me?”
Noelle blinked. Good question. The kid had an unruly mop of black curls tucked into an oversize red jester’s hat that had bells on it. His bright blue eyes looked up at Noelle keenly.
“May I pet your dog, Officer?” he asked. “Or is he on duty?”
“She’s a girl,” Noelle said. “Her name is Liberty, and she’s on duty.”
The little boy nodded. The bells jangled and a couple more curls escaped from his hat. “So no petting.”
“No petting,” Noelle confirmed. “But thank you for asking. That was a very smart question.”
But who are you? And what do you have to do with this? A slight tug on the leash told her that whatever had made Liberty decide to give the boy a second look had passed and her partner was now ready to move on. After all, she’d been trained to dismiss trace scents. But Liberty had also definitely sensed something around the stage. Was it a false positive? Or had this little boy actually come in contact with something containing MDMA in the past?
The edge of the curtain pulled back and the gray-haired man in an equally festive Christmas hat crouched down to the child’s level. “Who’s your friend, Matty?”
“A police dog named Liberty,” Matty replied cheerfully. “She’s on duty so you can’t pet her.”
The man’s eyebrows rose and faint worry flickered in his eyes. He ran both hands down his jeans and stuck out his right one. She took his hand and shook it.
