Search and Rescue

by Valerie Hansen

  “Forgive me, Lord,” Ryder whispered as he fastened Lily in the backseat. A scripture verse popped into his head. “Lord, I believe. Help Thou my unbelief.”

  No lightning bolts shot down from heaven. No angels sang. But Ryder was calmer, stronger, more self-assured as he circled to the driver’s side of the car. The Desert Valley police were going to catch whoever had been threatening Sophie, whether it turned out to be Carrie or not. As chief, he would see to it.

  Only one thing took priority. The innocent little girl in the backseat. She always would.

  * * *

  Nervous despite her dog and reloaded pistol, Sophie had trouble sleeping. It didn’t help that Phoenix hogged the bed. She shoved him over and threw back the covers as soon as the sun began to peek over the top of the red rock horizon. Morning was usually one of her favorite times in the desert, with fresh, cooler air and pristine silence.

  Today, however, she had enthusiastic company. Phoenix spun in circles at her feet and raced from the room as soon as her bare feet touched the floor. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.”

  Not knowing how well he was trained, she figured it would be smart to slip some clothes on and let him out quickly. Boots didn’t exactly go with cargo shorts but she wasn’t letting her dog set foot in the backyard until she was sure there were no live snakes left.

  She snapped a leash on his collar, tucked her gun into one of the pockets on the shorts and opened the back door. Except for remnants of last night’s carnage, the place looked deserted. Sophie hesitated. There was no guarantee that her front yard was clear, either, but at least it wasn’t messy, so she opted to reverse direction and lead Phoenix out that way instead of turning him loose inside the fenced area.

  While he sniffed and wandered, unconcerned and therefore safe, Sophie checked the ground around the sides of her house. During her nocturnal unrest she’d reasoned that she’d been imagining hidden menaces so it was a shock to come upon wadded-up gum wrappers in the very place where she’d thought she’d sensed danger lurking.

  “Oh, my...”

  Her reaction was strong enough to cause the dog to take up a defensive position with his side pressed to her leg and hackles raised.

  She laid a comforting hand on his head. “Good boy. I think we’re all right now but I’m going to call this in.”

  Backing off, she led Phoenix away in order to keep from contaminating possible clues. As soon as she started to dial 911 she thought better of it. The last thing she needed was to cause a full-blown police response when the clues might mean nothing, and she sure didn’t want to phone James Harrison and ask for his bloodhound when he was romantically involved with Canyon County Gazette reporter Madison Coles who would be likely to want to put her in the news. Sophie then thought about summoning Whitney but she was a single mother with a baby to take care of and it was barely dawn.

  “Face it,” Sophie muttered, disgusted with herself. “You aren’t fooling anybody. You want to call Ryder.”

  He also had a child, but Lily was old enough to bring along if he chose. Besides, it would be advantageous to introduce Phoenix to Lily on neutral ground.

  “Right. I need to be sure the dog likes kids,” Sophie told herself, immediately recognizing the excuse for what it was. Lame. However, that was not enough to keep her from calling him at home.

  Instead of making small talk, Sophie began with, “I found some clues—chewing gum papers and foil—next to my house. I’m pretty sure they weren’t there before.”

  “I take it this is Sophie.”

  “Of course it is. I told you I was being watched. Suppose there’s DNA on the gum wrappers? I didn’t stop to see if there was any old gum lying around. I didn’t touch a thing and I kept the dog back, too.”

  “Good for you.”

  “Look, do you want me to call somebody else? I don’t particularly want a bunch of red lights and sirens charging over here again, not after the uproar last night. Which reminds me. Didn’t you say you’d come check the yard this morning? How is that any different than coming by now?”

  “Well, for one thing Lily wouldn’t be with me later.”

  Sophie suddenly saw his concerns. “You’re afraid to bring her here?”

  He huffed. “I’m afraid to let her out of my sight, period.”

  “I understand. Now that I think about it, I know I’ve noticed that brand of gum at either the police station or training center. I just can’t place exactly where. I could pick up the evidence and keep it clean but it wouldn’t be admissible in court since I’m no longer an officer of the law.”

  Ryder yawned. “What are you asking me to do?”

  “Come and get it.”

  “I have minions for that.”

  Sophie could tell he was chuckling and was not amused. “I was trying to keep from making a big fuss about it and getting everybody all riled up. You want to keep the good citizens of Desert Valley calm, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” Another yawn. “Okay. Leave your evidence alone and keep the dog from getting into it. I’ll get dressed and be there as soon as I can.”

  “Why don’t you come for coffee? If you change your mind and bring Lily I can fix pancakes for us all.”

  “Not a good idea,” Ryder countered. “I don’t think it’s wise for me to be seen spending any private time with you.”

  Sophie wanted to ask him if he was afraid of Carrie or of himself. She didn’t. Instead, she said, “Consider it a part of Phoenix’s training. I’d like to make sure he’s good with children.”

  “Then meet us at the office some afternoon.”

  “You’re right. Sorry. I’ll stay here and wait. Will you come by as soon as you drop her off?”

  When Ryder said, “Yes,” Sophie felt such relief she almost sighed aloud.

  She wasn’t afraid of facing enemies she could see. It was the hidden ones that set her nerves on edge. The ones like the gunman who had killed her partner while she was tracking another criminal.

  Or the ones who patiently lurked in the shadows and chewed gum while they watched her try to keep from being poisoned by snake venom. No matter what anybody said, she still suspected that those snakes had been dumped over her back fence to do what vipers did best. To kill.

  * * *

  Ryder had donned his full uniform so he could go on to work once he was finished gathering evidence at Sophie’s. Her front door swung open before he reached the porch.

  “Thanks for coming.”

  He touched the brim of his cap. “Where’s the evidence?”

  “Over there.” She gestured. “I’ll come with you.”

  Waiting at the corner of the house until she joined him, he scowled. “Where?”

  “Right...” Her jaw dropped. “It was right there.”

  It went against his high opinion of her to doubt but he certainly had questions. “Could you be mistaken?”

  “No, I saw foil and paper gum wrappers. Most of them were crumpled up so they wouldn’t be likely to blow away. Besides, there’s no breeze stirring this morning.”

  Ryder arched an eyebrow. “That was my conclusion. So, what do you think happened to them?”

  “How should I know?” Her voice was raised, her eyes wide. “They have to be here somewhere.”

  “All right. We’ll circle the house first, then bring in a dog.”

  Clearly, Sophie believed she’d seen clues, which was a point in her favor. Being unable to lead him to the scene was not.

  “It was near this back corner,” she insisted. “The same area that had me spooked last night. Remember what I told you about saving ammo just in case? Well, this was where Phoenix was looking when I started to feel as if we were being watched.”

  “So you assumed you’d see clues this morning?”

  “No. I wasn’t even thinki
ng of that when I stumbled on the gum wrappers.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  Whirling, she fisted her hands on her hips. If Ryder hadn’t been so disgusted to have been talked into participating in a wild-goose chase, he might have smiled at her uncompromising demeanor.

  “I did not imagine a thing, Chief,” she said with conviction. “There were clues on the ground. Look. See the footprints?”

  “Most every cop in Desert Valley was walking out here last night,” Ryder reminded her. “Any of them could have been chewing gum.”

  “Okay, okay. Suppose you radio the station and ask if they were before you assume I’m lying.”

  “I never said you were lying. I do wonder if your imagination isn’t working overtime, though. You were pretty freaked out last night.”

  “Do you blame me?”

  “Nope. It did surprise me that you assumed the snakes were part of a planned attack. The Arizona desert is their natural habitat. You must know they den up for winter.”

  “It’s August and hotter than ever,” Sophie countered. “I know how snakes behave. If there was a den in my backyard I think I’d have discovered it by now. I’ve lived here for two summers.”

  “Something around you may have changed. They could have lost their regular underground access to tunnels and been forced to seek another way in.”

  “I’d think you’d be the first to suspect an attack, especially after I was shot at in the depot.”

  As she spoke, Ryder was slowly making his way around her house. Roadrunners and flocks of smaller birds were busy cleaning up the mess near the back fence, making his job easier in one way.

  He straightened when they returned to their starting point. “I suppose jays or some other species might have been attracted to the shiny wrappers and carried them off.”

  “Birds? You’re blaming birds?”

  Ryder let her barely controlled anger roll off him. Even if Phoenix didn’t strike a trail, Titus would let them know if there had been a prowler. “Go get the new dog and let’s see what he does.”

  “Not on your life.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “You should,” Sophie told him. “If you gave my opinion a shred of credit you wouldn’t tell me to get a dog we know so little about. You’d bring in Titus and do the search properly.”

  When she was right, she was right. Ryder nodded. “My apologies. I’ll go get Titus out of the car.”

  “I should hope so.”

  He could tell that Sophie was still miffed. Unfortunately, she’d been right when she’d guessed that he wasn’t treating her so-called report of clues seriously. Either she’d imagined seeing signs of a lurker or she’d invented one. There was no way things like that just disappeared on a totally windless morning. At least not so completely. When he’d mentioned the birds in the area he’d been giving her a chance to alibi away her error in judgment. Now she was going to be stuck with it.

  Opening the rear door of his SUV he fitted the working dog with a special K-9 vest, snapped a long lead on his collar and signaled him to get out.

  Titus’s tail wagged as eagerly as ever but his steps were slightly halting until he got warmed up. Knowing that the head trainer was observing them made Ryder extra cautious. Since they had nothing with which to offer a scent to the dog, he began to lead him in a circuitous path before rejoining Sophie.

  She didn’t greet the happy dog as she would have under casual circumstances. Instead, she motioned to the ground where she’d noticed the bits of trash and said, “Seek.”

  Ryder didn’t expect any reaction, let alone a strong one. The old dog snuffled the ground, disturbing dried grass and leaves, then kept his nose to the ground, wheeled and headed directly for the street.

  Playing out the light lead, Ryder followed. Titus had not only struck a trail, he was acting as if the scent was fresh!

  If he hadn’t been so biased in the first place, Ryder would have easily concluded that someone had returned recently and picked up the gum wrappers that Sophie had spotted. Now he was forced to reconsider.

  Titus led him to the curb, then up the street several houses before he lost the trail.

  Disgusted with himself and slightly contrite, Ryder turned to Sophie. “I owe you an apology. Somebody was in your yard, probably this morning, and they got into a car right here. We’ll need to check with the nearest residents to see if they noticed.”

  “We can hope,” she said.

  Frowning, he took her by the elbow and ushered her back to her house as quickly as possible.

  “What’s the hurry? The gum chewer is gone.”

  “Now, maybe,” Ryder said gruffly. “But stop and think. The only way anyone would have known you’d stumbled on those wrappers was by watching you do it.”

  To his relief, Sophie took him seriously. “And coming to clean them up before you arrived.”

  “That would be my conclusion, yes.”

  She paled and rested a hand on his forearm before she said, “I’m so glad you didn’t bring Lily.”

  Heart racing, he scanned the surrounding properties for any sign of danger. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary didn’t mean there wasn’t a lingering threat.

  One he might have walked his little girl right into if he hadn’t been so worried about letting Carrie see him visiting another woman.

  Now he was left wondering if she actually had.

  FIVE

  After their fruitless time outside, Sophie had hoped Ryder would stay for coffee. He begged off.

  She vented by talking to the dog. “It’s just you and me, boy. We can have scrambled eggs if you want. What do you say? A little people food won’t hurt you.”

  Phoenix responded to her lilting tone with enthusiasm that left no doubt he’d be thrilled no matter what she fed him. Gazing up at her adoringly, he wagged his stub of a tail so rapidly his whole rear half did a frenetic hula.

  “You’re going to make it, aren’t you, boy? Yes, you are. And as soon as we’ve eaten you can have the first lesson in your refresher course.”

  Taking Phoenix to the training center was a given. Keeping him with her at home was optional. It was hard for Sophie to admit she wished she could keep him indefinitely. He was not only company, he was a kindred spirit.

  “Just like Ryder,” she murmured. “Only I understand dogs a lot better than I do people. Guess I always have.”

  And that’s where my God-given gifts lie, she added silently. It was a lot easier to picture herself in the midst of a litter of wiggly puppies than working at a preschool surrounded by sticky-fingered toddlers. The silly impression made her chuckle.

  Being around Phoenix had lifted her spirits more than she’d expected. His joie de vivre was infectious. It was going to be a real pleasure to rescue him from his doldrums and give him a new purpose in life.

  That goal was still on her mind an hour later when she pulled into the training center lot and parked. There were fenced areas for off-lead work, obstacle courses, search areas where officers could hide drugs for the dogs to find, and even a yard for pups that she was evaluating and training.

  Then there was the Desert Valley Canine Assistance Dog Center. When Ellen Foxcroft had suggested starting that program she’d met with a lot of resistance, including Sophie’s, but everybody was now convinced the project was worthwhile. It took a special mentality for a dog to provide stable, reliable assistance to the disabled without getting excited and endangering them. Police dogs were very different from companion animals.

  Sophie smiled down at Phoenix as she led him toward her K-9 facility. He had all the intelligence and instinct needed to partner with a police officer. He’d succeeded once. He’d do it again—if she had anything to say about it.

  Entering the building she led the Australian sh
epherd on a meet and greet, beginning with Louise Donaldson’s desk. The dark-haired, sixtyish widow smiled slightly. “So, this is the infamous Phoenix. Do you expect him to rise from the ashes like his mythical namesake?”

  “I certainly hope so,” Sophie replied.

  “He seems to be pretty calm this morning.”

  “We’re making progress.”

  As she turned to proceed, Gina Perry, her junior trainer, was entering with Shane Weston and his German shepherd, Bella. He kept his suspect apprehension dog on a short leash. Her fawn-and-black coat bristled and her body language predicted aggression.

  Sophie acknowledged his sensible actions. “Thanks, Shane. I don’t want Phoenix in a dogfight. Bella could have him for breakfast and never even breathe hard.”

  “He is kinda cute,” Shane said. “What’s his specialty?”

  Gina answered for her boss. “Search and rescue. He used to be really good at it. We’re hoping we can rehab him.”

  “If anybody can, you two can,” Shane said. Considering the fact he had eyes only for Gina, Sophie was surprised he’d included them both in his praise.

  Whitney Godwin breezed in, her light blond hair pulled into a tight knot, blue eyes wide. “Sorry I’m late. Shelby was fussy this morning. I think she’s teething.”

  “I won’t tell,” Sophie said, picturing Whitney’s adorable baby daughter. “Meet Phoenix.”

  “Oooh, can I pet him?”

  “In this case, yes. I’m trying to accustom him to crowds and help him relax. He really is a sweetheart.”

  From behind her, Sophie heard a familiar voice ask, “Who’s a sweetheart?” Her first thought was of Ryder but the speaker was rookie James Harrison.

  “This Aussie,” Sophie countered. “And your bloodhound. Hawk is more laid-back, though. Phoenix was pretty hyper this morning.”

  “Maybe he knows he has a new lease on life. Which reminds me,” James drawled, “Madison would like to interview you about the depot shooting.”

  “It’s all in the official reports. Nothing more to tell.” Turning away, Sophie hoped neither he nor his reporter girlfriend would tie the snake incident and the shooting together. At least not yet.