by Sharon Dunn
* * *
Valerie woke in the night to the sensation of Lexi licking her fingers. The room was dark except for a night-light close to Bethany’s bed.
“What is it?” Valerie whispered.
Lexi whined.
Bethany stirred in her crib, but luckily she didn’t wake up.
Valerie threw back the covers and followed Lexi to the main floor. She checked Lexi’s food and water dish, though the dog was not in the habit of waking her for something so trivial. Maybe she was just restless.
Valerie flicked on the faucet and grabbed a cup. When she had finished her water, the dog hadn’t settled down. Valerie checked that the police car was still parked outside and all the doors were locked. She returned to the kitchen. Lexi stood at attention by the patio door.
Valerie’s hands were clammy as she reached to open the blinds on the glass of the patio door. She hesitated, gripping the string for the blinds. The truth was she didn’t want to see what was outside. She didn’t want to see a stranger with a gun pointed at her. Or the Serpent’s yellow eyes burning through her. Or Derek Murke’s face compressed into an expression of hate.
As a cop, she had faced danger before. She’d had guns pointed at her. But this wasn’t about a criminal wanting to avoid jail time. This was personal. The syndicate wanted her dead. That took her fear to a whole new level.
As blood thrummed in her ears and she struggled for a deep breath, she found the courage to open the blinds all the way. Dark shadows and movement caused her to take a step back. Lexi came up beside her and leaned against her. She stroked the dog’s head, an action that calmed both of them.
“What do you think is out there?” She could not clearly discern anything outside. Maybe someone had been in the yard and maybe it was just her heightened state of awareness. Valerie closed the blinds, and Lexi finally relaxed.
She trudged upstairs. She hovered over Bethany’s crib until she heard the soft sound of Bethany’s breathing. Assured that the baby was okay, she crawled beneath her covers and pulled her legs up to her stomach.
Seeing the police car outside did ease some of her fear, but she couldn’t help but think that she would feel even safer if it was Trevor who was parked outside.
SIX
Captain Slade McNeal strode toward Valerie’s desk looking like a man on a mission. Judging from the tightness of his expression, either her paperwork was messed up or he had something very serious for her to do.
She checked the entrance to the K-9 administrative area. Still no sign of Trevor. She’d called him early in the morning, and they’d agreed to meet at the station. Her night duty protection had followed her into the station. She’d looked at Derek Murke’s criminal file again but didn’t find a mention of a half sister. Hopefully, David would remember the woman’s name.
McNeal stopped a few feet from her desk. “Salgado, I just got a call. A group of school children found a dog matching Rio’s description collapsed underneath a bush in Palo Verde Park.” Though McNeal never gave much away in terms of emotion, there was intensity in his piercing blue eyes that Valerie had not seen before.
Valerie jumped to her feet. “I’ll go with you.” Rio had been missing since January. If this was McNeal’s dog, the whole department would breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Lexi stood up and looked to Valerie, waiting for a command. Her bobbed tail vibrated in anticipation. “Lex, come.”
Trevor was just pulling into the back parking lot as they headed toward the patrol car. He was clean shaven and the light blue windbreaker he wore set off his dark hair and eyes. His smile drew her in.
Trevor glanced from McNeal to Valerie. “Something going on?”
“I’ve got to take this call at Palo Verde Park.” She looked over her shoulder at McNeal. “It’s important.”
McNeal put a hand on her shoulder. “She’ll be all right. She’ll be with me.”
“I got in touch with Leroy Seville’s parole officer. He’s got an appointment this morning. It’s a chance for me to find out what Murke said to him...if anything,” Trevor said. “I can meet you at the park after the interview.”
As Trevor returned to his car and pulled out of the lot, Valerie and McNeal rushed to the patrol car, putting Lexi in the back. Captain McNeal radioed the animal warden to meet them at the park. If this was Rio, there was no telling what condition the dog would be in. The syndicate could have beaten him and left him for dead. Or the dog might have become vicious due to mistreatment.
As she drove, Valerie glanced over at her captain. Deep furrows through his forehead indicated his level of anxiety. He touched his dark hair where it was graying at the temple, a gesture that gave away how nervous he was. The burden he had carried since Rio’s disappearance had been a heavy one. Not only had he lost his dog, but Slade’s dad had also been badly beaten during the abduction. Valerie had heard that he was on the mend, though. On top of everything, Rio had been a best friend and protector to Slade’s five-year-old son, Caleb, since the boy’s mom had died.
Her heart went out to Slade. He needed some morsel of hope. “Maybe this will be it. Maybe we found him, huh?”
“If it is him, collapsed on a playground is not a good sign.” His voice faltered, betraying the level of worry he must be going through. McNeal shifted slightly in his seat. “How are things working out with Agent Lewis?”
McNeal didn’t want to talk about Rio, so he’d changed the subject. Though he was a man who kept his emotions in check, Valerie had seen the sorrow over the loss rise to the surface in subtle ways. The loss of a K-9 partner stung as much as if Rio had been human. The dogs were officers and partners in every way. She never doubted that Lexi had her back and would take a bullet for her. She understood about him not wanting to talk about it. “How well did you say you knew Agent Lewis?”
“We’ve done joint training exercises together.” McNeal stared out the window.
Valerie hit the blinker and made the turn into the park. “He’s a competent agent. He’s a little bit closed down when it comes to sharing much about himself, though.”
McNeal nodded but didn’t offer any further information. Knowing something about where a person had come from was probably not important to a man. Connection to people, getting to know them, was everything to her. She’d worked at building the trust of the people in the neighborhoods she patrolled and with all the people in her life.
As they pulled into the parking lot, fatigue mixed with the anticipation she felt about finding Rio. She’d only had half a cup of coffee. Not only had Lexi awakened her in the night, but Bethany had stood up in her crib only a few hours after Valerie had gone back to sleep, clinging tightly to the worn pink bunny. It just seemed like Bethany should have fallen into a less restless pattern of sleep by now. Valerie worried that she wasn’t comforting and holding Bethany enough. And then she worried that she was holding her too much. She really didn’t know what she was doing when it came to being Bethany’s mom. Kathleen had been such a natural. Sometimes she wondered why her sister had had so much confidence in her.
When they arrived at the park, Valerie commanded Lexi to follow her. As they got out of the patrol car and headed across the long stretch of grass to the playground, the ache over Kathleen’s loss returned. Grief rose to the surface at the strangest times.
I just don’t know if I can be a good mom.
A group of children along with a woman who must be their teacher stood by the playground equipment. Valerie could make out the prone body of a German shepherd beneath the bushes.
“Let’s approach with caution. We don’t know what he’s been through.” McNeal was already thinking that the dog was Rio.
The teacher came toward them with the children trailing behind her. “I’m Mrs. Scott—we’re the ones who phoned in.”
One of the children, a girl of about six dressed in a pink polka-dot coat, peeked around Mrs. Scott. “The dog growled at us and then cried out like he wasn’t feeling good.”
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sp; “If you could just stay back,” McNeal advised and then looked around. “Where’s the animal warden?”
“I’m sure Robert’s on his way,” Valerie said, turning her attention toward the dog.
“We can’t wait for him. Let’s just move in slowly and see if we can figure out what is going on with the dog.” McNeal’s voice was thick with emotion.
Valerie dropped to the ground and approached the dog. Captain McNeal took the lead, and Valerie inched behind him. From this angle, she couldn’t see any obvious injuries on the dog. The dog lifted its head with a wary eye toward McNeal.
Valerie made soothing sounds as she eased closer. The dog was laying on what looked like a child’s coat and a picnic blanket.
“There, boy,” said McNeal.
The dog raised its head and growled. McNeal stopped, unable to hide his anguish. His eyebrows pinched together.
“She doesn’t like men. Some dogs are like that.” Mrs. Scott had come up behind them.
“Ma’am, please, I’m going to have to ask you to stand back.” Valerie knew McNeal well enough to know that the harshness of his tone was not meant for Mrs. Scott. That the dog had growled at the sound of McNeal’s voice was not a good sign. Either Rio had been so traumatized that the bond between handler and dog had been broken, or this dog was not Rio.
McNeal patted Valerie’s shoulder. “Go ahead and move in.”
Valerie scooted closer. The dog lifted her head and whimpered. It took Valerie only a minute to see blood on the tail and the canine’s bulb-like stomach. Valerie closed her eyes in disappointment. “Captain, this isn’t Rio. This dog is about to have pups.”
Repeated gleeful cries of, “Puppies! Puppies! She’s going to have puppies,” came from the children.
Mrs. Scott shushed the children and scooted them farther back.
“She’s nesting. That’s why she dragged that coat and that blanket over here.” Valerie turned to look at her boss.
His features were distorted from despair for only a moment before he recovered. “The right thing to do here is to help that dog have her pups and make sure we get her transported to a safe place.”
“Yes, sir.” Valerie turned her attention back toward the dog. She reached a tentative hand toward the dog’s head. The dog whined and stiffened in pain from a contraction. Empathy surged through Valerie’s body. “It’s all right.” She soothed the dog’s head.
There were no tags or collar. The dog looked thin but not malnourished. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Robert Cane.
Though she addressed the animal warden, she kept her tone soothing so as not to agitate the dog. “She’s not crazy about men.”
“I’ll just hang back here, Valerie. It looks like you’re doing fine,” said Robert.
The dog closed her eyes and panted. “But I’m not trained for this,” Valerie said.
“She’ll do most of the work.” She could hear Robert repositioning himself behind her. “I can watch from here and let you know if you need to intervene.”
Valerie took in a deep breath, hoping to ease the tension in her neck and back. “So I guess it’s up to me.”
“You got a new job title, Valerie—canine midwife.” Slade’s voice came from a few feet behind her.
His joking didn’t quite hide the undertone of sorrow she picked up in his voice. The man missed his dog, not just for him but for his kid, also.
The first four pups came quickly. The mother licked off the protective air sack of each. With their eyes still closed, they grunted and pushed until they found a nipple to nurse on. A fifth puppy emerged, but did not move. The mother was still occupied cleaning the fourth puppy.
Valerie’s hands became clammy. “He’s not moving, Robert. This little guy isn’t moving.”
“He needs to get air into his lungs. Hold him upside down and swing him like a golf club,” the animal warden said.
“What?”
“I know it sounds crazy, Valerie, but it works.”
Valerie picked up the motionless slimy black body and did as Robert instructed. The puppy still showed no signs of life.
Please, God, don’t let this little guy die.
Robert’s soft voice didn’t conceal his concern. Tension strung through his words. “Try again.”
She swung the pup one more time...and waited. The pup let out a noise that sounded like a sneeze and wiggled to life.
Valerie let out the breath she’d been holding. Behind her, she heard the collective sigh of the school children. The puppy moved more vigorously in her hands.
“You’re a natural.” Robert edged toward her. “Now put her close to the mother so they can bond.”
Valerie placed the squirming pup close to the mother’s nose. The dog lifted her head and licked the black fur. The instinct to nurture seemed to come easily to the female shepherd. A deeper understanding stirred inside Valerie. Maybe she needed to trust her own maternal instincts where Bethany was concerned. As hard as it was, Valerie couldn’t imagine her life without that little girl. She wasn’t going to be a perfect mom, but she’d be the best mom she could be for Bethany.
Once the mother dog was done cleaning the pup, Valerie placed him close to the mother’s belly so he could nurse. The little pup was smaller than the others, but fought his way to the top of the pile.
Robert came up behind her. The female dog lifted her head but didn’t growl. “That little guy has some strong survival instincts.”
Valerie nodded. “I suppose we should leave mother and babies alone.” She rose to her feet and stood beside Robert. “We’ll have to transport her and the pups when she’s ready.”
“We’ll find homes for them when they are old enough,” Robert said.
McNeal came and stood beside them. “Maybe the mother would be a good candidate for the K-9 training program.”
A blond girl broke away from the group of children watching at a distance. She looped her fingers through the straps of her purple backpack and looked up at Valerie. “Can we see them now?”
“I suppose that would be okay.” Valerie looked toward Robert for guidance.
“Just a couple of kids at a time, and you can’t touch them,” he advised.
The little girl nodded.
Valerie stepped back toward the bushes. The school girl kneeled beside her. Her eyes grew wide when Valerie lifted the branches for a view of the nursing pups. “Wow.”
Mama dog licked one of the wayward pups and scooted it back toward the warmth of her tummy and the litter with her nose.
“She takes good care of them,” the little girl said. “How does she know what to do?”
“It’s just the way God made her. She’s wired to be a mom,” Valerie said.
They kneeled for a moment watching the pups, some sleeping and others still probing for an opportunity to nurse more. The little girl’s hand slipped into Valerie’s. She held the warm little hand in her own as though it were as fragile as a snowflake. Bethany would do this in time, and she relished the opportunity to share the wonder of birth with her daughter. Yes, that was it. Bethany was her daughter now.
They backed away from the bushes. “Now,” said Valerie, “go get three more of your friends and tell them to come over here.”
Valerie ushered over groups of two and three children until McNeal tapped her on the shoulder.
“Your partner is here,” he said.
Trevor stood by the edge of the swing set some distance from the children.
“I’ll finish up here and take Agent Lewis’s car back to the station. I know you need to do your regular patrol—Robert can make sure the dog is safe,” McNeal assured her.
The school children chimed as she walked by them, “Goodbye, Officer Salgado.”
Valerie waved at them before turning to face Trevor. She couldn’t read his expression but something about him seemed...softer. She wasn’t quite sure what had caused the change. Had he been watching the drama of the puppies being born for some time?
“So McNeal tells me the dog wasn’t Rio and now the department has five puppies to deal with,” Trevor said as he walked beside Valerie.
Valerie commanded Lexi to come and the dog fell in beside her. “We’ll try to find the owner. If not, we’ll see that they are placed in homes.” They strolled across the stretch of lawn to the parking lot. “So did Leroy make his meeting?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Murke won’t be welcomed back. Leroy is working hard at going straight, and Murke wore out his welcome when he took Leroy’s Buick.” He gazed down at her. “The aunt is out of town for a month or more. When Leroy got out of prison, she said he could house sit. If Murke does show up, I’m sure Leroy will give us a call.”
Valerie let Lexi into the backseat of the patrol car. “That’s good news. So do you think Murke has left town?”
“I don’t know.” Trevor got into the passenger seat. “Your brother called me with the name of Murke’s half sister. I thought we’d go over there and try to talk to her.”
Valerie settled in, started the car and turned around. While she waited for a car to pass by before pulling out into the street, she studied the hard lines and angles of Trevor’s face.
He offered her a glance with a smile that was more of a spasm. Something was going on with him.
“So everything was pretty routine this morning?”
He tapped his fingers on the dashboard. “Yeah, sure, why?”
“I don’t know. You just seemed different when you were standing in the park...like you were thinking about something,” Valerie said.
He picked up a small notebook from the cup holder. “That’s the address where Murke’s half sister lives. Her name is Crystal.”
He was good at changing the subject. She took the piece of paper and read the address while stopped at an intersection. “I know where this is.” She sped through the intersection. “So what were you thinking about in the park?” If they were going to work together, she wanted to know more about him. He certainly hadn’t revealed anything personal to McNeal.
