Striking Range

by Margaret Mizushima

  As Cole glanced up from Kip, he caught the look on Angie’s face. Her eyes were downcast and rosy patches had blossomed on her cheeks.

  Wait … what did Eliza just say? Oh yeah, she mentioned her son. “Does Ben attend high school here in town?”

  “Yes, he’s a senior. We hated to move him this summer right before his senior year, but he seems to like it okay. Better than I do.” Her displeasure with Timber Creek was apparent on her face; in fact, Eliza seemed to wear an irritable frown in general.

  Cole glanced at Angie again, who was busying herself by gathering all the supplies he might need and then some. “Have you met Ben yet, Angie?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

  She gave him a murderous look before turning away to retrieve bottles of vaccine from the refrigerator. “He’s in my history class.”

  In light of his daughter’s flushed cheeks, he’d bet the cool air from the fridge felt good. As far as he knew, this might be Angie’s first crush—he’d worried that her parents’ divorce might have soured her views on romance, but maybe it had just taken a new kid in town to snag her interest. Cole suppressed a smile and changed the subject to take the pressure off her. “If Ben is willing to help, you might take him up on it. Do you have a way for her to get plenty of exercise?”

  Eliza answered for Tonya. “Kip has the run of the backyard. And run is the right word. She runs up and down the fence all day, barking and ruining the lawn.”

  “That’s often what you see with these herding dogs. Is there someone in the family that can take her out for a walk or a run?”

  Tonya looked at her aunt. “Maybe Ben?”

  Eliza’s frown deepened. “Maybe, but she’s not Ben’s dog. She’s your responsibility.”

  Eliza was the one who’d brought up Ben helping to begin with, but he could tell the dog was a bone of contention between aunt and niece. He didn’t want to go there with them.

  “Well, whatever you work out will be temporary until the baby’s born anyway.” Cole picked up his stethoscope. “Looks like that might be soon?”

  “Next week. I can’t wait for it to be over,” Tonya said.

  Cole felt sympathy for the kid—she did look like she’d been through the wringer. “It’ll be worth it. But then the sleepless nights begin.”

  “Oh, I won’t have to deal with that. I’m not keeping the baby. I’m not ready to be a mom.”

  Cole’s heart took a nose dive. He should’ve realized that might be the case and watched his words more carefully. But Tonya didn’t seem to mind, and he covered his own discomfort by putting the stethoscope’s earpieces in place and bending over Kip to listen to her heart and lung sounds. He made certain he did a thorough job as he gathered his wits. “Everything sounds good. Let’s put her on the exam table.”

  He bent to lift Kip while Angie hurried to help, though the dog was light enough he didn’t need it. Angie stepped in to steady Kip by taking hold of her collar and petting her. He examined Kip’s eyes, which were bright and clear, and her ears, which were clean and free of parasites. “She’s in good shape, Tonya. You keep her well groomed.”

  “That’s one thing we can still do together. She likes to be brushed.”

  Cole drew up vaccine in a syringe, took hold of the scruff of Kip’s neck, and injected it. Kip looked surprised by the sting but gave him a panting smile as he told her she was a good girl and stroked her firmly on the back. He could tell all was forgiven. She truly was a lovely little dog, and he hoped Tonya could give her a good life.

  “So what’s next, Tonya? After the baby. Are you going to stay in Timber Creek?” He’d asked purely out of curiosity about Kip’s future.

  Tonya shook her head. Her face became more animated and her tone lowered slightly, sounding more adult. “I’ll move back home with Mom and Dad for a while, but I’m supposed to go to college in Lincoln in January.”

  “University of Nebraska?”

  “Yes.” Tonya pumped a small fist. “Go, Huskers.”

  Cole grinned at her, beginning to like this girl and her openness.

  “I had a scholarship to be on the track team, but then I got myself knocked up and couldn’t participate. They gave me a pass, and I hope to be ready by spring semester.”

  Cole immediately thought of Mattie. She’d been a cross-country state champion in high school. Out of the corner of his eye, Cole could see that Eliza looked annoyed, but he directed his conversation at Tonya. “Good for you. What’s your specialty?”

  “Short distance, mostly—one, two, and four hundred meter. And I also do relay.”

  “Maybe you can run with Kip when it’s time to get back in shape. I have a friend who won the Colorado state championship in cross-country when she was in high school. She still runs all over these hills around town with her dog.”

  “Oh yeah?” Tonya’s brows lifted as if she was impressed.

  “She and her dog make up the K-9 unit at the sheriff’s office.”

  Eliza straightened, moving her hand to her back again. “And who is that?”

  “Deputy Mattie Cobb.” Cole heard the door open and close in the other room. He hadn’t realized he had another client scheduled, but he’d better end the chitchat and get ready to move on. As he grasped Kip around her chest to ease her down to the floor, Angie headed toward the doorway to see who had arrived.

  After Kip’s paws reached solid ground, she began to celebrate, gyrating at the end of the leash in a dance that made Cole smile and shake his head at the same time. “You’ve got your hands full with this one, Tonya. She’s a real live wire.”

  “She’s usually more chill than this.”

  “Let’s get you checked out.” Cole led Kip toward the lobby. When he reached the door, he could hear Mattie talking to Angie on the other side, and his heart lifted. He always felt lighter when Mattie was around.

  He might be wearing his heart on his sleeve, but he could feel a goofy grin taking over his face as he opened the door. Seeing Mattie and Angie together, both with smiles on their faces, did his soul good. Angie had come around to the idea of him having a relationship with someone new, and she was able to let her affection for Mattie show. Both his daughters seemed to care for this woman, a big relief that made his love for her less complicated. It was tough enough falling in love with a cop without needing to factor in his daughters’ unhappiness.

  “Hey, Deputy Cobb,” he said, and Mattie turned her beautiful smile his way, giving his heart a tug. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

  Mattie’s eyes had gone to Kip, who apparently had never met a stranger. Kip wagged her way to the end of the leash to greet Mattie, who squatted and received the border collie with open arms.

  “Well, you’re a friendly one,” she said as she gave the dog a quick hug before rising to stand when Kip turned up the voltage on her greeting. Mattie threw a grin Cole’s way. “Easily excited too.”

  I love this woman, he thought as he turned to introduce his clients. “You’ve already met Kip, but here are her people—Tonya Greenfield and her aunt Eliza. Tonya is going to school on a track scholarship this spring at the University of Nebraska. Short-distance specialist.”

  Mattie’s face lit as she shook hands with the two. “Congratulations, Tonya. That’s quite an achievement.”

  They chatted about running while Angie and Eliza settled the bill. By this time, Cole was certain that Eliza suffered from back pain and that he shouldn’t turn Kip’s leash over to either her or Tonya.

  “Wait here a minute,” he told Mattie before opening the door to exit. “I’m going to take Kip outside, but I want to go with you to the back.”

  He hurried to load Kip into the car, waved good-bye to the Greenfields, and went back into the clinic, where he found Mattie and Angie waiting for him.

  He wrapped his arms around both of them to give them a tight hug, his way of welcoming Mattie home while including his daughter. “Wait till you see these pups.” He guided them toward the exam room door. “They�
��re beauties, aren’t they, Angel?”

  “Yep. Seven of them are doing real well, but Hannah just texted me that the little one still didn’t eat.” Even though the girls were inside the same building, they had been in different rooms and texting each other updates all afternoon.

  Cole was worried about the wee pup. Any anesthesia exposure should have worn off by now. He feared there might be other problems that were making it so weak.

  He held the door open for Mattie and Angie to enter the kennel room, then hurried forward to watch Mattie’s face as she approached Sassy and her pups with awe. It thrilled him to share in her sense of wonder.

  Sassy lowered her head and gazed at Mattie through upturned eyes, showing she would submit to her presence but wasn’t happy about it. Angie stood back a few feet, giving Mattie a chance to move close to see the new puppies. Cole had warned the kids to keep their distance so that Sassy could mother her pups without being stressed, and the girls had placed dog cushions about six feet away where they could lean against the wall. Sassy had taken to motherhood well, licking her puppies to keep them clean and nursing them frequently.

  Mattie murmured soothing words to Sassy while stroking her head. Since the two were familiar with each other, Sassy relaxed, heaving a sigh as she stretched out on her side. The pups awakened and began to wriggle blindly toward their mama’s food supply—all of them except the smallest.

  The expression on Mattie’s face turned to concern. “She’s really tiny, isn’t she?” she murmured.

  Cole nodded. “So the little one hasn’t nursed yet,” he said to Hannah.

  The girl looked distressed. “I’ve been trying to get her to latch on like you showed me, and she opens her mouth, but she gives up after a few sucks. Maybe I’m doing it wrong?”

  Cole rubbed the puppy gently to stimulate her to wake up. Sassy raised her head to see what he was doing and then rose into a sternal position to lick and nudge the puppy herself. Once the baby began to move, Cole found a free faucet on Sassy’s belly and tried to get her to suckle, but as with Hannah, the pup gave up after only a few tries.

  “You’re not doing anything wrong, Hannah. I think she’s too weak to eat this way.” Cole looked at Sophie. “Don’t you have a doll bottle at home? I think I remember one with a soft nipple.”

  Sophie’s face lit. “Yeah, Mom gave me that bottle for my sixth birthday.”

  It amused him that she remembered the exact date. “Do you think you could find it?”

  Looking excited, she rose to her feet. “I think so.”

  “Run to the house and get it. I have some powdered dog milk replacer we can use. This pup needs some nourishment.”

  Sophie ran through the back door. He could imagine her short legs churning as she sped to the house. She’d been sitting in the kennel room all day, and it was good to send her on an errand that would give her some exercise.

  “Do you think she’ll take a bottle, Dad?” Angie’s concern was as apparent as Hannah’s.

  “It’s either that or tube feed her. But if we can strengthen her suckle, she’ll have a better chance of converting to nature’s way of eating.”

  “She has a sable coat,” Mattie murmured, her eyes on the pup.

  “Dr. Walker said it must be a throwback in the bloodline,” Hannah said.

  Mattie nodded. “It’s said that the German shepherd breed started with a sable-colored dog back in 1899, Hannah. Did you know that?”

  She shook her head.

  “A man from Germany discovered the type of dog he was looking for among German sheepdogs and registered the first official German shepherd sire. That dog fathered a lot of puppies, so the sable color pattern is in our dogs’ DNA. German shepherds are descended from wolves originally, and this mixture of tan, gray, and black-tipped hair comes from them.”

  “Wow,” Hannah said softly. “So she’s special.”

  “Yes, she is.” Mattie reached out to give Hannah a quick hug. “But they all are, aren’t they?”

  Cole loved this exchange. It was apparent how much Mattie loved kids, and she was a natural with them. But he’d known that already—it was part of the reason he’d fallen in love with her.

  “Are you going to let Robo meet his pups, Mattie?” Angie asked.

  “Eventually. We’ll see what your dad thinks about the timing.” Mattie glanced up at Cole with a soft smile.

  “I don’t think Sassy will want Robo around for a while,” he said. “She’d probably growl at him.”

  They chatted about the pups until Sophie returned. She banged her way in through the back door, making Sassy startle.

  “Oops, sorry about that.” Looking sheepish, Sophie held up the doll bottle to show Cole.

  “Great. C’mon, little bit, let’s go mix up some dog milk for this tiny girl.” As he headed back to the exam room with Sophie, his thoughts went to Tonya, whose petite stature had been accentuated by her pregnancy. A girl of that size seemed at risk for a tough labor and delivery, and he hoped all would go well for her next week.

  SEVEN

  Mattie spent more time at the clinic than she’d planned to, but she’d stayed to see if the pup would eat. Cole had worked patiently to elicit a few sucks and swallows, and he seemed pleased with his progress. He said he would try again in a half hour.

  As she drove to the end of the lane, Mattie told Robo about his new offspring. When he yawned, she smiled at him in the rearview mirror. “You don’t care about any of this, do you?”

  But at the end of the lane, she stopped and poked her hand through the mesh to pet him, and he did seem to care very much about the scents left on her from Sassy and pups. His wet nose tickled her inner arm all the way up to her elbow, and she tousled the fur at his neck.

  While she was waiting for a string of oncoming cars to go by before she turned onto the highway, a black SUV from the end of the line swerved into the other lane to pass the slower cars, picking up speed as it went.

  She grabbed her radar gun and trained it on the receding vehicle, clocking it at thirty miles above the speed limit. She flipped on her overheads and pulled onto the highway to chase it, while cars in the string moved to the shoulder one by one to let her pass. She caught up to the SUV as it rounded the last curve into Timber Creek and settled in behind it until its driver slowed and stopped.

  Leaving on the overheads, Mattie parked her unit so that it would partially protect her from oncoming traffic. While she radioed the department’s dispatcher to notify her of her location and activity, the slower cars passed, giving them a wide berth. Traffic had picked up recently because it was the second week of elk season, and hunters were invading the high country around town.

  Traffic stops were routine for law enforcement—until they weren’t. Approaching a vehicle that had been stopped for speeding could be one of the most dangerous parts of the job. There were many unknowns about what might be waiting inside.

  She ran the Nebraska plate on her mobile data terminal, and the results filled the screen—car registered to Cutter Smith, address in Lincoln, a black Lexus SUV with no stolen-vehicle report. A quick peek at the driver’s license she pulled up for Smith revealed physical details of black hair, brown eyes, six foot three, two hundred pounds. No arrest warrants.

  She powered down the window on the passenger side so that if she needed her partner for backup, she could release him with one touch of the popper button on her utility belt. It would open his cage door, and the open window would give Robo a way to exit.

  Frigid wind blasted through the window, making her shrug on her Carhartt jacket with the Timber Creek Sheriff’s Department insignia on the sleeve.

  Knowing that Robo would be watching, she left her vehicle and approached the driver’s side of the car. She noted three people inside, and they’d opened all four windows, an odd thing to do, considering the strong winds.

  As she reached the car, she realized why. Her educated nose picked up the skunky odor of burning marijuana. No wonder they were trying t
o air out their car. The back compartment of the Lexus contained a variety of colored bags filled with what looked like camping gear, and the side window had a rack loaded with canvas-covered long guns, probably hunting rifles.

  “Hello, Officer,” the driver said, leaning out to greet her. He wore the full beard that many hunters grew to protect their faces from freezing temperatures in the high country, his matching his black hair. “Was I going a little too fast?”

  “Yes, sir.” Mattie told him his clocked speed as she bent slightly to check the eyes of the driver and then the passengers. The familiar redness that she was looking for colored the whites around the green irises of the back seat passenger in particular, although any smoking joints had magically disappeared. All the men were bearded, their hair color ranging from ginger on the red-eyed guy in the back to brown on the front seat passenger to the driver’s black.

  “I’m sorry.” The driver gave her a smile meant to be charming. “I must’ve missed the speed limit sign. I’ll slow it down and be more careful.”

  “I need to see your license and registration, sir.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Mattie watched his hands as she rested her right one lightly on her service weapon. But he fished out only his wallet from his back pocket, worked for a few seconds to coax the card out of its plastic sleeve, and handed it to her. He also handed her a paper registration from inside his console. One glance told her it was indeed Cutter Smith driving his own vehicle, although the photo on the driver’s license showed him minus the beard. But the dark-brown eyes and smile in the photo obviously matched the driver’s—he was a good-looking guy.

  “I need for you to step out of your vehicle, Mr. Smith.”

  His brows knit. “Is there something wrong, Deputy Cobb?” He’d evidently read her name tag.

  “The strong odor of marijuana in your vehicle suggests that you could be driving impaired.” Mattie moved away from the door so that he could open it. “Step out of your vehicle, please.”

  “But I haven’t been smoking,” he said as the click from the door handle told her that he intended to comply. The door opened and he heaved himself out of the SUV. He was big, standing almost a foot taller than Mattie’s five foot four.