by Sharon Dunn
As the two women raced toward the first building, Lani asked, “Is there another way out besides that front gate?”
“The report didn’t say.” Brianne was breathless as she ran to keep up with Stella. They searched the area all around the three buildings. Though it was hard to see in the dark, it looked like there might be another entry point on the other side of the property. In the distance, cars and trucks whooshed by on the highway, a million tiny bug-like lights. Beyond that, the tall buildings were dark shadows with only a dot of light here and there. Lani pictured a lawyer hunched over his desk in that lighted room or maybe it was a late-night cleaning crew.
In searching the property, Lani had gotten separated from Brianne and Stella. She could hear Brianne giving words of praise and commands to Stella who yipped from time to time. There were no excited barks indicating Stella had found something.
Lani thought she saw movement on the far end of the fence. Heart racing, she ran toward it. The flashlight illuminated her path. She stopped twenty yards from the fence and aimed the light all along the fence. Was that the glint of metal? A parked car maybe? She stepped closer to the fence.
A noise by the square metal building, something banging against something else, caused her to pivot. Fear invaded her awareness. She had a moment of wondering if her stalker had followed her here. She shone the light just in time to see a dog racing for the cover of a pile of wood pallets. The animal turned and looked in the flashlight beam, its eyes glowing red. Her breath caught. It wasn’t a dog, it was a coyote. The animal disappeared into the darkness.
Footsteps behind her caused her to swing around. Brianne’s light bobbed up and down as she came toward Lani.
“I’m not finding anything. Let’s see if we can gain entry to any of the buildings. We have permission.”
Lani hadn’t gotten a chance to search the remainder of the fence to see if there was a car there.
They hurried back toward the long narrow building. Lani shone her flashlight on the door, which held an open padlock. She checked the bottom of the padlock where the key went. Scratches around the keyhole indicated someone had picked the lock.
Lani pushed open the door and it screeched on its hinges.
Stella let out a nervous whine. With only a little moonlight shining through the small high windows, the building was dark.
Both of them stood on the threshold for a moment before stepping across. The eerie quiet made Lani’s heart pound.
Once inside the building, Brianne let Stella off her leash so she could sniff around. She shone her light wherever the dog ran. “Even if she alerts to something, we’ll probably have to get a more experienced K-9 out here to confirm.”
Lani shone her flashlight into the dark corners of the building. There were huge metal vats that must have been used for dying fabric. A conveyor belt took up most of the center of the room nearly touching each of the far walls.
There was no sign of occupants after the factory closed. This place was too out of the way to be appealing to the homeless or even teenagers looking for a cool hangout.
Though she continued to sniff, Stella hadn’t alerted to anything. Lani strode to the end of the building taking the rickety stairs up to peer inside the giant metal bowl. It looked like there was some sort of object in the vat. She stood on tiptoe and raised her flashlight to get a closer look.
On the other side of the building, Stella barked incessantly. Brianne screamed and dropped her flashlight. Lani’s heart squeezed tight with fear as she ran across the factory.
SEVEN
Lani dashed toward the ruckus Stella was making. She stumbled over a pile of metal, catching herself before she hit the floor.
Stella had gone ballistic with her barking. Racing back and forth and then alerting to something high up.
Brianne crawled across the floor to recover her flashlight, which was still on but had rolled beneath a table.
Lani pulled her weapon.
Stella’s barking was relentless, which only fueled Lani’s excitement mixed with some fear.
Brianne rose to her feet. “No need for the gun.” She spoke above Stella’s barking. “Stella, back, quiet.”
Stella obeyed, sitting but shifting her weight and whining.
Brianne shone the light up toward where Stella had focused. Tiny black eyes stared back at them, a cornered raccoon, probably as scared as they were. The raccoon skittered away across the high shelving and through a hole in the roof.
Brianne shivered and shook. “Critters give me the heebie-jeebies.” She reached out and touched Lani’s forearm. “Don’t tell anyone I screamed and dropped my flashlight. I can just imagine the nicknames that will come from that.”
“I know all about nicknames.”
They both laughed.
“I think Stella freaked just because she’s never encountered a raccoon,” said Brianne.
A screeching noise from the other end of the dark building alerted them. They both darted toward the sound, which had come from the far side of the vat Lani had peered into. Stella ran alongside them.
Lani circled around the metal vat, which had a hinged door on it. She swung the door open. The package she’d seen inside earlier was gone. Noise like footsteps above them caused Brianne to shine her light just in time to see a man moving along the high shelving and out the same hole the raccoon had gone.
They raced toward the door. Brianne and Stella went in one direction toward where the hole in the roof was while Lani went in the other. They’d be able to get the suspect regardless of what direction he ran. Lani radioed for back up.
The far side of the long building was dark. Lani shone her light toward the ground where rubble and debris created a sort of obstacle course. She ran as fast as she dared. When she came to the end of the building, she shone her light all around the property. She caught an occasional bark and yip from Stella some distance away but nothing else.
Her chest felt like it was in a vise making it hard to get a deep breath. She stood paralyzed for a moment. The silence was oppressive. Again, she wondered if her stalker had followed her out here. She shook off the fear and continued to search.
It didn’t matter if the stalker was here or not. He was inside her head now. She would always be wondering if he was close, watching and waiting.
The inflection of Stella’s bark changed, becoming more frantic. Lani moved toward the sound, shining her light in an arc across her path. She saw shadows, a man running with Stella at his heels. But Brianne was nowhere in sight.
The man yelled in pain as Stella jumped and wrapped her mouth around his upper arm. Lani raced toward where Stella had taken down the suspect. She pulled her weapon. What had happened to Brianne?
“Get this dog off of me,” the suspect yelled.
Lani gave the command for Stella to let go. Stella backed off but stood alert, emitting a small growl.
The suspect held his hands close to his upper body probably to protect himself. “Look, I’ll do whatever you want just don’t let that dog attack me again.”
Lani dared not take her gun off the suspect to look around for Brianne. She heard the sirens in the distance. Backup was on the way.
Footsteps pounded behind her and she caught a glimpse in her peripheral vision of Brianne running and holding her arm.
“Took a tumble back there. Glad you and Stella were here to back me up.”
“He must have dropped that package somewhere,” said Lani.
“I know about where. We’ll find it. My guess is it’s not a box of chocolates. It’s probably drugs, and he was the pickup man.”
As the sirens drew near, Lani gripped her gun, letting a realization sink in. Tonight had turned out good. They’d gotten their suspect. But she knew now she wouldn’t be able to give a hundred percent to her police work as long as the stalker was out there. If she was distracted and fe
arful wondering when the man would make an appearance again, she was a risk to herself and others. Like Noah had said, the other officers needed to know she had their backs.
She’d have to tell Noah what had happened and agree to go on desk duty. As the sirens for the other police cars drew closer, she vowed to put all her energy into finding the stalker and seeing that he was put behind bars, so she could have her life and future as a K-9 officer back.
* * *
As he scrolled through the pages on his computer screen, Noah found himself distracted by Lani’s presence as she sat in the desk normally occupied by his newlywed assistant, Sophie, who had gone on her honeymoon with K-9 officer Luke Hathaway.
Noah hit the print button.
He was glad that Lani had come clean with him about the home entry. And that it was probably her stalker. He didn’t like there being secrets between them. That the stalker had entered her home was disturbing.
The temp they’d hired to take Sophie’s place had not worked out, so it seemed a logical solution to put Lani in the desk where he could keep an eye on her.
After grabbing the pages he’d printed, he stepped toward his open doors with some paper in hand watching Lani as she tossed some crumpled paper toward the wastebasket. She pushed herself back from the desk in her roller chair several times.
Noah smiled.
She had a harder time sitting still than he did.
Patricia Knowles, the receptionist for the K-9 unit, came toward Lani, holding a bouquet of flowers. Lani stood up. Her hand went to her heart and he saw her mouth the words For me?
An unfamiliar surge of emotion invaded Noah’s awareness. So Lani was getting flowers. Why did that bother him?
He stepped closer to her desk putting the papers on it. “Flowers, huh?”
Smiling, Lani pulled the envelope from its holder. “I have no idea who they’re from.” She opened the envelope and read the note. She dropped it as though it was on fire.
“Lani?”
She shook her head and stepped away from the desk. Putting trembling fingers up to her face.
He rushed toward her, touching her elbow lightly before turning and picking up the note. He clenched his teeth when he read the note.
I love you and I am watching you always.
Lani slumped down in her chair and put her face in her hands. She looked defeated and afraid.
Uncertain of how to handle Lani falling apart, Noah went into fix-it mode. “Let’s find out who dropped these off.”
He examined the flowers and the container they came in to make sure there was no camera or bomb or anything that might do harm. After dismantling the arrangement, it appeared they were just dealing with flowers and a note designed to keep Lani afraid.
Lani crossed her arms over her chest and looked off to the side. Her voice was weak, a million miles away. “He wouldn’t be so dumb as to drop them off himself. I’m sure he had a delivery service give them to Patricia.”
He hated seeing her so distressed. It made him feel helpless. “We can do a little detective work.” The envelope had the name of the florist stamped on it. “After work, we can go to the shop and find out if the clerk remembers who placed the order.” She continued to stare into space.
He studied the note. It was typed, probably by the florist. The purchase might even have been called in or ordered online. He was grasping at straws, trying to find a way to get Lani to not shut down.
She shook her head, gazing as though she wasn’t really seeing.
Promising solid police work wasn’t helping. He kneeled and pulled the chair toward him, forcing her to make eye contact. “Lani?”
She looked down at him. The veil seemed to fall away from her eyes. “Noah, no matter what? He can get to me. I’m sitting at a desk in a building with armed police officers.”
Noah glanced at the note again. “Well, he’s obviously a liar. He’s not watching you right now. There’s no way he could get past security. You have to be issued a visitor’s badge to get access to this part of the station.” He tried to keep his tone light. “Right?”
She lifted her chin slightly. And released a single-syllable laugh. “Is that the bright side of all this?”
“Look, I’ll stay close to you. When I can’t, we’ll make sure another officer is around to check on you. It doesn’t have to be official. I’m sure any of these guys would give up some off-duty time to provide protection for you.”
“I hate that I need the protection. I should be the one doing the protecting. I want to do my job.”
He was grateful that Lani had perked back up. That was the Lani he knew and respected. “Thank you for not giving up.”
“The only way I can do my job is if we put this guy away.”
Figuring out the guy’s psychological profile would help with catching him. “This note sounds almost...romantic...in a twisted way.”
“I know. Maybe this isn’t because I’m a cop,” she said. “I started to wonder if maybe someone had a beef against the department and I was the easiest one to target ’cause I’m the newest recruit.”
“Yes, the note implies something different.”
She rose to her feet and took in a breath. “Guess I better do my job.” She pushed some forms toward him. “You need to sign off on these. It’s just order forms for supplies for the dogs and then I’ll take it over to the training center to make sure it’s all good.”
Noah picked up a pen and signed the forms. “Couldn’t you just email it to the supply officer?”
“I like seeing the dogs. It calms me down.”
“I’ll go with you. Maybe we can brainstorm who might be sending you this kind of note.”
“What do you mean?” She gathered up the papers and headed toward the door.
Noah walked beside her as they headed down the hallway toward the stairs that led to the training center. “So if it’s not someone you arrested or someone who has a beef against cops, maybe it’s someone who liked or likes you in a romantic way, maybe an ex-boyfriend.”
She walked a little faster holding the forms close to her chest. “Maybe.”
“I’m not meaning to pry, but did you date anyone in the past who struck you as unstable?”
She walked even faster, he had to double his pace to keep up.
“Selfish, yes. Unstable, no,” she said. “Give me some credit.”
Her tone was almost defensive.
They entered the training center where Tony Knight was working with his chocolate Lab, Rusty, running him through an obstacle course on the AstroTurf flooring. A look of concern crossed Tony’s face when he saw Lani.
“Okay, so maybe someone who might want revenge,” Noah said.
“It’s really hard for me to talk about my dating life. I haven’t been out in over a year by choice.” She met his gaze, her eyes rimmed with tears. “Honestly, if anyone had cause for revenge, it would be me for the way I was treated, not the other way around.” She walked away toward a door where the supply person probably was.
Noah shook his head. He could kick himself. He’d only wanted to get to the bottom of who was after her so she would feel better, safer. Instead he’d struck a nerve and made her sad. He remembered something his mother had said to him that men, especially Jameson men, always wanted to fix everything and sometimes women didn’t want things fixed. They just wanted someone to listen.
Maybe he should just try to be her friend. She’d talk if and when she wanted to. As much as he wanted the stalker behind bars, pressuring Lani would only backfire. She had enough to deal with.
Lani returned, running toward Noah, her face etched with worry. Tony Knight was right behind her with an equally concerned look on his face.
“What’s up?” A sense of dread settled into his bones.
“It’s Oscar. Someone has snatched him.”
Tony came up behind Lani. “It was my turn to walk him and work with him out on the street. I made him sit and stay while I went into a store. When I came out, he was gone.”
EIGHT
Lani clicked through the screens on her computer, then hit the print button for the forms she needed to leave on Noah’s desk before she quit for the day. It had been two days since Oscar had gone missing, presumably stolen, and her heart was heavy from the loss. It was so easy to get attached to the dogs. Another of Stella’s puppies, Midnight, had been at the Branson home quite a bit since Abigail was fostering her during her training.
She’d checked the website of local shelters as well as ones where missing pets were posted. The other officers had put up lost posters around the city. Still, no one had phoned in about the puppy.
Oscar’s disappearance brought back the emotional impact of the loss of another dog. Snapper, Jordan Jameson’s K-9, had been missing since the former’s chief’s murder. The German shepherd had been spotted around the city, and then Dominic had admitted that someone had given him a dog that matched Snapper’s description, but the shepherd had run off. Snapper was alive somewhere. And one of Stella’s other puppies, Cocoa, had been taken briefly as well but was now home safe. She didn’t see any that resembled Oscar or Snapper.
Lani closed the website containing postings of found pets. She had to believe that Oscar was alive as well. Someone probably took him for a pet because he was so cute. Or thought he was valuable because he wore a vest that said he was a K-9 in training.
She left the forms on Noah’s desk. His meeting with other precinct chiefs must be running late. The preparatory meetings for security at the Columbus Day Parade required coordination between all the boroughs. Plans were being made for some of the K-9s and their handlers to march in the parade as well. She had no idea what her role would be for the big event. Maybe she wouldn’t be permitted to help at all. The confinement of sitting behind a desk was taking a toll on her.
What she liked about police work was how active it was. But now, she couldn’t jog or ride her bike in the park alone anymore. Though Noah and Reed both offered to go with her, she missed the alone time when she could clear her head and pray.
