Courage Under Fire

by Sharon Dunn

  Noah could see Reed and Jessie through the tangle of brush. Judging from the high-pitched baying, Jessie was excited. No sign of Lani. He shortened the lead on Scotty and hurried through the trees.

  “What is it?”

  Reed held up a police radio. Lani’s. Reed’s voice filled with concern. “She wouldn’t tear it off herself. Something’s gone wrong.”

  There was only a small chance the radio had gotten hung up on something as she ran. Noah’s thoughts raced as he took in the scene around him. Both dogs indicated a high level of excitement. The grass was smashed down. Some sort of struggle had taken place.

  “The dogs will find her. If someone else is out here too, we’ll find him as well.”

  Noah radioed the other handler, Finn, to see if his Lab picked up on any new scent.

  As they followed the dogs through the brush, Noah pushed away any negative thoughts. If he’d learned anything from his K-9 partner, it was to stay focused.

  Reed and Jessie headed in a different direction, maybe toward whomever else was out here.

  Scotty worked methodically. Jessie sniffed a different area, more toward the shore, trying to find the trail. A new level of panic invaded Noah’s awareness as Scotty worked his way through the brush and then sat down, head held high.

  Noah saw Lani’s blond hair visible in the moonlight. Her motionless body twisted at an odd angle set off alarm bells as he hurried toward her.

  He drew close and kneeled beside her. Scotty emitted a whine and then leaned to lick Lani’s face. Still, she did not move.

  “I’m worried too,” said Noah. As he gazed at her motionless body, the grief over the loss of his brother hit him like a semitruck. Another officer wasn’t going to die, not on his watch. His fingers touched Lani’s neck. Her pulse pushed back on his fingertips. He breathed a sigh of relief. She was still alive. There was a bruise on the side of her head. Her hair had worked loose of the tight bun she kept it in when on duty. Signs that she’d been in a fight.

  While Noah radioed for medical help, Reed rushed toward them through the tangle of brush.

  He let out a groan as he knelt beside his sister.

  Lani’s eyes fluttered open, and she lifted her head and shoulders. On impulse, he gathered her into his arms.

  “She’s alive,” said Noah. His voice filled with elation. “We need to call for backup. Get some more searchers to the refuge. Someone attacked Lani and we need to find him before he escapes.”

  TWO

  Lani stared into Noah’s calm face. He’d wrapped his arm around her back holding her up as he kneeled and faced her.

  In the waning light, she could just make out the tiniest of smiles. “Hey. Good to see you coming around.” His voice held a note of joy. Normally very stoic, it was the first time she had seen any emotion at all from Noah.

  “Hey, sis.” Reed’s voice drew her attention as he kneeled off to the side. Jessie lay down beside him. The bloodhound’s big floppy ears touched the ground.

  Scotty leaned in and licked her face.

  The Rottweiler’s affectionate response stirred her into full consciousness. “Whoa, what a greeting.” She sat up rubbing Scotty’s barrel chest and nuzzling her face against his.

  Both Reed and Noah laughed at Scotty.

  Petting the dog behind the ears, Lani pulled away from Noah. Silence fell between the three of them. Her breath caught as the memory of the attack invaded her thoughts, breaking the moment of levity.

  Reed spoke up. “You all right?”

  “My head hurts,” she said. It was easier to think about her physical pain. She touched the sore spot where the rock had hit her.

  Noah cleared his throat. “What happened?” He pulled back and squared his shoulders, returning to his old professional self. So much for the small sign that Noah Jameson was human.

  Heat rose up in her cheeks. Now she would have to explain why the training exercise had gone sideways. She still didn’t know who the man was or why he had come after her. She hadn’t even gotten a good look at him. She leaned forward to get to her feet but sat back down. Pain shot through the side of her head. “Ouch.” Scotty edged in close to her, emitting a whine that suggested deep concern.

  Reed leaned a little closer as well. “Take it easy.”

  Noah repeated his question. “What happened? There was someone else out here. Who was he?”

  The memory of that man talking into her ear, of not being able to subdue him, hit her full force. “Yes, I was attacked.” Her voice faltered, but she took in a breath and regained her composure. The last thing she wanted was for Noah to think she couldn’t handle herself.

  Scotty licked her cheek. Reed put a hand on her shoulder.

  Noah rose to his feet. “I thought that might be the case. We’ve got reinforcements coming in to search the area.”

  “Did you see the guy?” Reed rose to his feet.

  “No, it was dark. We struggled.” She glanced nervously at Noah. His expression gave nothing away. “I can give a full statement as to what happened. The guy was in good shape. I found a bike that might be his.” She gave them a summary of the attack but then kept talking. Lani bit her lip. She was rambling because Noah’s silence made her nervous. “We should try to locate that. It might be his means of escape. Certainly, it might have fingerprints or other evidence.” Why was she talking like it was going out of style?

  “We’ll start searching before the others get here. Time is precious.” Noah had already signaled Scotty to stand beside him.

  “I’ll help with the search. I can at least lead you to where I saw the bicycle.” She moved to get to her feet.

  “You’ve had physical trauma. Maybe you should stay put,” said Reed.

  Reed had shown considerable restraint. She could tell from his expression he was worried. He knew when they were out in the field, she wanted to be treated like a fellow officer not the little sister.

  “I’ll be fine.” She stood up. Already she could feel the bruising and strained muscles from the fight she’d been in, but she wasn’t about to let Noah know that. “I can show where I found the bike, maybe the dogs can pick up a scent.”

  Noah nodded. He pulled his flashlight off his belt and handed it to her. “If you are fine with that. Lead the way.”

  Lani took the flashlight. Was that approval she heard in his voice? In all other settings, she was a confident person. She had a black belt and good instincts. Why did she always second-guess herself around Noah?

  With Reed, Noah and the dogs following, Lani made her way back to where she remembered seeing the bicycle. She saw the tree where the bike had been propped. Of course, it was gone. The man must have taken off on it.

  “Right here. It was right here.” She shone the light all around.

  The dogs circled giving a soft alert to some sort of smell.

  She saw the most likely path the bike could have gone on. The dogs picked up the scent and headed in that direction. The sky had become black with the city skyline glittering in the distance. Always a beautiful sight. She loved the city at night.

  The brush grew denser as they got closer to the shore. She saw a flash of light up ahead. The dogs barked and bayed excitedly. That had to be her attacker.

  Lani ran, following the light as it winked in and out of view and then disappeared close to the shore. The light must be on the attacker’s bicycle.

  She ran faster despite the terrain becoming more treacherous and the pain from her injuries. With Reed and Noah right behind her, she made her way down the steep incline. The faint silhouette of a boat was visible in the moonlight. She heard a motor roar to life. The man had loaded his bike into the boat and was preparing to take off.

  She wasn’t about to let him get away.

  The boat had just eased away from the shore when she jumped into the water. In the distance, she could see th
e flashing lights of other boats.

  This boat wouldn’t be able to get up speed until it was in open water out of the bay and the tangle of peninsulas and islands that made up the refuge.

  Her arms cut through the surging waves. Her head bobbed above the surface. She was within feet of the boat. She willed herself to move faster. Her hand reached for the edge of the boat. She held on.

  She could see the back of the man as he steered. The bike occupied two of the backseats. She pulled herself up. Water cascaded off her body. The noise was enough to alert her assailant. He shifted the boat into Neutral and whirled around.

  Before she could get her bearings, he had punched her and pushed her back off the side of the boat. She splashed into the water, plunging beneath the surface like a weighted rag doll. She bobbed back up just in time to see the boat speeding out into open water.

  She could hear the dogs on the shore going ballistic.

  Feeling defeated, she turned and swam back toward the beach. Noah rushed out into the water up to his knees. She gasped for air.

  “You all right?” He wrapped his arm around her and helped her to the beach.

  The suspect had gotten away. Noah eased her down to the beach where Scotty waited to give her moral support and doggie kisses. The cold water had masked the pain of her attack. Now she could feel where there was probably going to be some soreness and bruising.

  She stared out where the flashing light of the assailant’s boat merged with other flashing lights. Not many boats out at this hour. “Maybe the coast guard can catch up with him.” She didn’t hold out much hope for that happening.

  Noah spoke on his radio, giving a description of the boat and the direction it was headed.

  Noah sat down beside her. “That was something else, jumping in the water like that.”

  That Noah was impressed with her was only a small victory. The suspect had gotten away. She was exhausted, beat and wondering if she had made the right choice following in her brother’s footsteps.

  Her only consolation was that Scotty seemed to pick up on her despair. The Rottweiler rested his chin on her leg and made a sympathetic noise. Now she remembered why she wanted to be a K-9 cop. She rested a hand on Scotty’s head. Someday she would be assigned her own K-9 partner.

  Tonight though, she felt defeated. If a training exercise could go so far off the rails, what would happen when she worked the field?

  * * *

  Noah sat beside Lani, catching his breath. “Maybe they’ll nab him when he comes to shore.”

  The other dogs and officers were farther inland.

  “Maybe.” Lani’s voice sounded weak. She stroked behind Scotty’s ears.

  Noah’s Rottweiler usually didn’t warm up to people so fast, but the dog seemed to like Lani from the moment she’d become a part of the K-9 unit. His brother Jordan had always said that dogs were a good judge of character. If he closed his eyes, he could almost hear his brother’s voice. He rubbed his chest though the pain he felt was emotional, that deep chasm inside that would never be filled. His younger brothers Zach and Carter were probably the only two people who understood about the hole Jordan’s death had left for all of them. His parents were going through a whole different kind of grief.

  “I appreciate your tenacity in going after the suspect,” he said. Noah remembered that only a month before, Lani had stopped an intruder in her and Reed’s house by shooting him. Though she had handled herself well, she had been put on administrative leave to help with her emotional recovery, which had stalled her training. Remembering that and seeing firsthand how she had done tonight made Noah think that maybe he had underestimated Lani.

  Lani wrapped her arms around her body. “He got away though.”

  Noah took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. His pants were wet up to the knees, but he wasn’t cold. “If medical hasn’t shown up yet at the visitors’ center, let’s get you checked out in the ER.”

  She drew the coat around her. “I’m fine. I just need to change into some dry clothes and get some rest.”

  “You took quite a blow to the head.” Though Lani seemed like a strong woman, he was concerned about the psychological fallout from having been attacked tonight in addition to her physical well-being. Sometimes there was an accumulative effect from dealing with violence and then an officer just cracked up.

  “I know about the possibility of a concussion. Reed gets off duty in a bit, he can keep an eye on me through the night. As soon as that suspect is picked up, I want to be called. I don’t care what the hour is.”

  “Sure, Lani.” Always at the back of his mind, the fear of something bad happening to another of the K-9 officers plagued him. He felt a strong responsibility to the team. “At least ride home with me in my patrol car.”

  He rose to his feet and held out his hand to help her up. Her fingers felt silky soft in his calloused bear paws. They stood for a moment facing each other. The rhythm of water rushing the shore and the gulls feeding in the distance seemed to be the only sounds.

  “Fine, I’ll ride back with you, but I will report for duty for my regular shift tomorrow. Don’t treat me with kid gloves.” Lani turned and headed up the sandy shore toward the tall grass. “I can handle myself just fine. I’ve had first aid training as part of being a martial arts instructor...”

  Lani continued to talk as they moved through the grass.

  He wasn’t sure if her talking was a sign of confidence or insecurity. His estimation of her had gone up a notch. It took guts to jump in the water after a suspect, especially one that had just attacked her.

  Noah’s radio glitched and Reed’s voice came across the line. “I got Lani’s bike loaded up in my patrol car.”

  “Ten-four. She’s riding home with me, but you need to keep an eye on her through the night.”

  “She’s not going into the ER?” Reed’s voice filled with concern.

  Lani grabbed the radio. Standing on her tiptoes, she spoke into it. “Reed, quit being a big brother. When we’re working, treat me like you would any other officer.”

  “Copy that, sis.”

  “Do you call all the other officers, sis?”

  Noah chuckled at the banter between the siblings. His brothers razzed each other and him on and off the job.

  “Yes, Officer Branson.” Reed’s voice held a note of amusement.

  Lani addressed Noah. “We’ll swing by the ER, but I’m sure I’m fine,” Lani said.

  They hiked back up to the trail and out to the visitors’ center. Several patrol cars were parked there. More had arrived once the alert about the suspect had gone out.

  “Any news on the boat?” Lani stepped toward one of the other officers, who shook his head.

  Noah loaded Scotty in the back of his Tahoe SUV. Lani got into the passenger seat. They pulled out of the visitors’ center. Noah veered toward Cross Bay Boulevard, Lani doing most of the talking sharing about the kids’ class she taught at the martial arts center.

  They stopped in the ER where a doctor examined Lani and gave her the okay to go back to work after a day off, but cautioned her to watch for any pain or loss of focus for the next couple of days. They got back into the Tahoe and headed home. Lani continued to talk about working with dogs at the training center.

  As they drove through Queens at night, her voice trailed off. She touched her hand to her shoulder.

  He’d gotten so used to the sound of her voice, the silence felt awkward. He glanced over at her. “Everything okay, Lani?”

  “My radio. He yanked it off of me. I don’t have a radio anymore.” Her voice, normally very animated, had become monotone.

  Noah had been braced for the emotional shock to set in. “We’ll issue you a new one when you come on shift after your day of rest. Lani?”

  He was only a few blocks from her house in Rego Park. Lani and Reed lived o
n a quiet street. At this hour, there was no one outside. He spoke again to get her attention. “Lani?”

  “I’m all right.” She stared straight ahead.

  He knew she wasn’t. “It’s pretty normal to feel off-kilter after what you’ve been through.” She hadn’t been an officer very long and already she’d seen a degree of violence. “It wouldn’t hurt to make an appointment with the police psychologist. I know it was required you meet with one after you shot that guy who came into your house. It wouldn’t hurt to make another appointment.”

  She lifted her chin slightly. “I just need a good night’s sleep and run in the park in the morning. That’s my therapy.”

  He had a feeling the bravado she showed was because she didn’t want to appear incapable in front of the chief. Sometimes he didn’t like his title. It put a barrier between him and his fellow officers.

  After circling the block, he found a parking space not too far from her house. He appreciated how tough she was acting. He’d been a cop long enough to know that denial didn’t make the trauma go away. “At least let me stay with you until Reed gets off shift.”

  She lowered her head and pushed open the car door. “Okay, but only if Scotty can come in too.”

  Scotty let out a low-level woof of approval.

  Both of them laughed.

  “Scotty seems to like the idea,” said Lani.

  He had to hand it to his square-jawed partner. He could be very entertaining. Noah walked Lani to the house which had a stone facade and pillars. The flower beds were covered in straw. Though he could picture them in full bloom. Lani struck him as a plant kind of person. Who was he kidding? Lani was a people person and a dog person—warm and connecting, vivacious about all aspects of life. That’s why it bothered him to see her so quiet.

  With Scotty heeling beside him, they went up the steps and onto the porch. Lani unlocked the door.

  Noah stared up at the second story. “This whole place is yours?”

  “No, we have an upstairs tenant.” She pushed the door open.