Protect and Serve (Rookie K-9 Unit)

by Terri Reed

  “Thank you, Gina. I appreciate that.” Marian hung up.

  “Why did you say you’d take the puppies there?” Shane asked with a frown. “We need to keep a low profile. Stay here or the condo. After yesterday, I don’t want you out and about.”

  As much as she wanted to agree with him that staying in safe places was the smart thing to do, she didn’t want to be a prisoner to her brother’s madness. “We can borrow the training center’s SUV. I’m sure Sophie won’t mind. Besides, Marian Foxcroft isn’t someone we can say no to. She funds the center as well as your salary.”

  He blew out a breath. “Fine. But I’ll let Ryder know where we’re going in case we run into your brother again.”

  Gina’s tummy twisted at the thought, but she refused to live her life in fear. They would take the necessary precautions. Besides, God was on their side.

  Between the two, she, Shane and the puppies should be all right. Shouldn’t they?

  * * *

  The Foxcroft home sat on a five-acre rise east of Desert Valley in an exclusive and secluded neighborhood. It was rumored some of the houses in the area belonged to celebrities. Gina wasn’t sure she believed the rumor, since she’d never seen anyone she recognized from television or the big screen around town. But whoever owned the sprawling homes out here definitely had money, just like Marian Foxcroft.

  On the way in, with Shane driving, they’d passed some big spreads, but the Foxcroft house was by far the most impressive to Gina. After entering the code Marian had texted them earlier, they passed through an ornate wrought-iron gate and drove up the long drive.

  Though maybe not as big as some of the other mansions they’d passed, Marian’s butter-yellow multilevel Victorian-style house sat back from the road like a regal queen. Dormer windows and a curved veranda with large bay windows added character. Smaller multipaned windows graced every wall, no doubt providing a panoramic view of Desert Valley and the scenic landscape in all directions.

  Gina smoothed the front of her slacks as she climbed out of the training center’s SUV, suddenly wishing she’d changed into something more presentable than her work clothes. It wasn’t every day she was invited to visit Marian Foxcroft.

  She harnessed and leashed the two puppies before they could dash off to explore unfettered. She let the dogs have a quick break before tugging on the leash to corral them in as she and Shane headed up the walkway.

  At the foot of the cedar stairs that led to an ornately carved, knotty pine front door, his cell phone rang. She paused with a foot on the stair as he stopped to check the caller ID.

  “It’s the chief,” he said. “You go on in, I’ll be right there.”

  She nodded and urged the puppies up the steps. On the wide porch, the puppies sniffed the edges of the colorful flowers and greenery growing in the numerous clay pots.

  From inside the house a dog’s deep bark could be heard. The mama dog sensing intruders? Or greeting her puppies?

  Gina rapped her knuckles against the solid wood door. The force of her knock pushed the door open. It hadn’t been closed all the way. The fine hairs on her arm rose and a shiver tripped down her spine.

  Caution tightened her shoulders as she strained to listen. The only noise she heard was the now frantic barks of an adult dog.

  After a heartbeat, she called out, “Mrs. Foxcroft? It’s me, Gina Perry. I have the puppies with me.”

  No answer. Gina glanced back at Shane. He had his back to her as he talked with the chief. For a moment indecision warred within her. Did she go in and investigate or wait for Shane? But how long would he be?

  The puppies leaped up the short doorstep, pushed the door wide and took off, practically dragging Gina behind them. She dug in her heels in an effort to stop them, but that even as their trainer, she’d only been working with them a few short days and was no match for their combined weight and power.

  Hurrying to keep up, Gina followed the puppies across a gleaming cherrywood-floored foyer to a vaulted ceiling great room at the back of the house. In the corner was an extralarge kennel housing a beautiful adult German shepherd. The puppies’ mama.

  But it was the woman lying prone on the plush white area rug that forced the breath from Gina’s lungs.

  Marian Foxcroft.

  Gina’s legs buckled. She went to her knees. Not again. Oh, please, God.

  A dark, crimson stain marred the light-colored fibers beneath Marian’s head. Her eyes were closed, her complexion nearly matching the carpet.

  “Shane!” Reeling in the puppies so that they didn’t contaminate the scene, Gina crawled to Marian’s side. With a tight grip on Ricky and Lucy’s leash in one hand, Gina pressed the shaky fingers of her free hand against the pulse point on the older woman’s neck and braced herself for another tragic death.

  But Marian had a pulse. Weak, but definitely there. Gina’s shoulders collapsed with relief. Marian was unconscious but alive.

  “Shane!” Gina yelled again, putting all her strength into her voice.

  Who would do this? She fumbled to grasp her cell phone from the bottom of her waist pack as the question rattled around her brain. Why would anyone want to hurt Marian? Gina couldn’t see her brother doing this. Why would he?

  As she yanked her cell out, a baggie of treats dropped to the ground. The puppies lurched for it, each taking a corner.

  Gina dialed 911 and then wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder while she wrestled to get the baggie from the pups. The last thing she needed was the bag to tear open and dogs treats to go flying all over to contaminate the scene, making it harder for Shane to do his job. She pulled the dogs farther away from Marian.

  When the dispatcher answered, words gushed from Gina. “We need an ambulance at the Foxcroft house.” She spit out the address from memory. “Hurry, please. Marian’s bleeding from a head wound.”

  The dispatcher assured Gina the paramedics were en route.

  “Hang in there, Marian,” Gina whispered to the center’s benefactor. “Help is on the way.”

  The pounding of feet on the hardwood floor announced Shane had heard her cry. Marian’s German shepherd burst into another volley of barks at the newcomer as Shane burst through the archway into the living room with his weapon drawn. His gaze landed on her then bounced to Marian. Surprise crossed his face before a shuttered look overtook his features.

  Slowly, he holstered his gun and stepped closer.

  “What happened?”

  Not liking the wariness in his tone, Gina grew defensive. “She was like this when I came in.”

  A muscle in his jaw jumped. He moved to check her pulse.

  “Alive,” she was quick to assure him. “Barely. I’ve called 911. An ambulance is on its way.”

  “Good.” His gaze swept the room. “Don’t move or touch anything. I’m going to clear the house.”

  He pivoted with his hand on his weapon and stalked out from the room. He couldn’t really believe she’d done this, could he?

  A sense of déjà vu hit her hard. Shane’s first reaction when he’d come upon her and Veronica had been to suspect Gina of murder. But they were long past that now, weren’t they? What would she have to gain from hurting Marian?

  Nothing. And if Shane didn’t know her well enough by now to know she wouldn’t do this...

  But hadn’t she been telling him she had her brother’s blood in her veins? That she and Tim shared the same genes? That somewhere in her DNA malice lurked, waiting to be released? So why wouldn’t his reaction be suspicion?

  She slumped. That it hurt was her problem. A problem she had to get a handle on fast.

  She may be many things, but a masochist wasn’t one of them. From this point on she would guard her heart with every ounce of energy she possessed.

  Letting herself care about Shane, about his opini
on of her, was detrimental to her well-being. If she hoped to resume her normal life once her brother was captured, she had to remain detached, unemotional.

  She could feel a hardening taking place and she prayed God would understand. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she remembered reading once that the quickest way to distance oneself from God was to have a hard heart.

  But to protect herself from the pain of a broken heart that was exactly what she needed to do.

  * * *

  Shane moved from room to room, checking closets and under beds. No sign of an intruder except for the rear patio door. It stood wide open. Bingo.

  He stepped out onto the back patio. There was no sign of the intruder. The large dog run to the left was empty. And no one lurked on the lush lawn, which extended to the edge of the property and opened to a long stretch of desert before converging with the outer rim of the forest that dominated one side of the valley.

  Marian’s attacker was long gone.

  Was it Gina’s brother?

  No, that didn’t make sense. Why would Tim Perry want to hurt Marian Foxcroft? How would he even know about her?

  Something else was going on here. What it was, Shane didn’t have a clue.

  He retraced his steps back to Gina’s side. She glanced at him, her hazel eyes clouded with anxiety. He could only imagine how horrible this was for her.

  After everything she’d been through these past five days and then to add more trauma to the mix by finding Mrs. Foxcroft rendered unconscious by obvious foul play, it amazed Shane that Gina wasn’t hysterical. He certainly wouldn’t blame her for having a meltdown. She was due.

  Anger churned in his gut. He’d come so close to capturing her brother and ending this ordeal for Gina. And it chafed his ego and pride that he’d allowed Tim the opportunity to escape. Shane had been distracted when he’d realized his handcuffs were gone. If only the handcuffs hadn’t dislodged from his utility belt during the crash, Tim would be in custody and Gina would be safe and... Shane frowned as he realized Gina would still have found Marian unconscious and bleeding.

  If Shane truly believed Tim wasn’t the culprit here, then who was?

  He touched Gina’s shoulder. “The ambulance should be here any moment.”

  She moved away and picked up her phone from where it lay on the ground. “I should call Ellen.”

  “I can do it,” he offered, wanting to make this easier for her.

  “That’s okay.” She scrolled through her contact list. Her hands shook so badly that Shane thought she might drop the phone.

  He covered her hands with his own. “Let me do this.”

  She relinquished her hold on the phone and scrambled away. “Okay.” The sound of sirens had her rising to her feet. “I’ll meet the ambulance. And put these two in the SUV.”

  As he watched her hurry out of the room, taking the puppies with her, he had the strangest feeling she was trying to get away from him as much as she was anxious to bring help to Marian.

  He pressed the number under Ellen Foxcroft’s name. She answered on the second ring.

  “Gina?”

  “Actually this is Shane. Gina’s with me. We’re at your house.” He sought the right words to say. “We found your mother unconscious when we arrived.”

  “I heard. I’m almost there,” the other K-9 rookie stated, the tension in her voice tugging at Shane. Despite the rocky relationship between mother and daughter, Shane had no doubt Ellen loved her mother.

  He hung up as the paramedics hurried in with Gina close behind. Shane moved out of the EMTs’ way and stepped to Gina’s side. They watched in silence as the medics tended to Marian’s wound and put her on a stretcher.

  A few moments later Ellen Foxcroft rushed in as the paramedics wheeled Marian toward the front door. Ellen clasped a hand over her mouth. Gina hastened to put an arm around Ellen.

  “Who would do this?” Ellen asked. She reached out to touch her mother’s hand.

  Gina shook her head. “I don’t know. There was no one else here when we arrived. She’d called me and asked if I’d bring the puppies out for a visit.”

  Ellen visibly got ahold of herself. “We have to find the person who did this.”

  “Can you tell if anything is missing? Maybe this was a robbery gone bad,” Shane suggested gently.

  “What else could it be?” Ellen’s voice rang with anger. She walked to the fireplace in the corner and pointed to an empty spot on the mantel. “There’s a statue missing. A silver poodle that was a gift to my mother from the mayor.”

  The German shepherd in the crate whined at Ellen. She put a hand on the kennel door. “Gina, would you mind taking Amber to the training center? I’ll come get her later.”

  “Of course I will,” Gina quickly answered.

  “Ma’am, we need to get your mother to the hospital,” one paramedic said. “Do you want to ride with us?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Ellen left with the paramedics, passing Chief Jones and Officers Bucks and Harmon as they entered.

  Shane explained the situation to the newcomers.

  The chief tilted his head and addressed Gina. “When you approached the door, there was no sign of a break-in?”

  “None, sir,” she said. “The door was unlatched. I called out for Mrs. Foxcroft but there was no answer. I stepped in and found her there.”

  “I cleared the house and found the back patio door open, as well, but there was no sign of tampering with the locks on either the front or the back door,” Shane supplied.

  Officer Bucks elbowed Harmon and said in a low voice, “Isn’t this the second body she’s discovered? A little too coincidental, don’t you think?”

  Gina gave a little gasp at the accusation.

  Shane whipped his attention to Bucks. “Hey, don’t go disparaging Gina. She didn’t hurt Mrs. Foxcroft or kill Veronica.”

  Bucks held up his hand. “Whoa, there, boy. Didn’t mean to rile you up over your girlfriend.”

  Anger and dislike spread hot through Shane, and he ground his teeth together as he stepped toward Bucks. The craving to plow his fist in the older man’s face was strong.

  “Enough.” The chief’s voice brought Shane to a halt. “Bucks, Harmon, I want this place dusted for prints now.”

  “Yes, sir.” Harmon held up a black box by the handle. “I anticipated the need.”

  “Brownie points for you.” Bucks sneered. “Come on, let’s get the front door first.”

  Shane blew out a calming breath and met Gina’s wide-eyed gaze. Red stained her cheeks. He hated that she had to hear Bucks’s inflammatory remarks and that she’d witnessed Shane nearly losing it. He wasn’t usually so easily provoked, but the snide way Bucks talked about Gina had set something primeval off inside of Shane.

  Chief Jones shook his head. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with those two.” He shrugged. “Sorry about that, Gina.”

  “I didn’t do this,” she said. “I didn’t hurt Marian.”

  “Of course you didn’t,” Shane said, upset that she’d even have to defend herself. “And anyone who could think such a thing doesn’t know you.”

  Her lower lip trembled. Confusion swirled in her hazel eyes. “Thank you, Shane.”

  Afraid she’d break down and cry in front of their boss, Shane gestured to the mantel, hoping to direct the conversation back to the assault. “Ellen said a silver statue is missing. Most likely the weapon used on Marian.”

  The chief rubbed his chin. “If it wasn’t a break-in, then Marian knew her attacker. And if the statue was used, then perhaps Marian had invited the person into the living room. They argued and the perpetrator reached for the nearest heavy object and bashed Marian over the head.”

  “And left her for dead,” Shane pointed out. “If we hadn’t happened to have
an appointment with Mrs. Foxcroft it could have been many hours before Ellen came home and found her.”

  “Do we think this could be the work of Tim Perry?”

  The chief’s question echoed Shane’s earlier thoughts. “Sir, I don’t think so. First, I can’t imagine Mrs. Foxcroft inviting him in, and second, there’s no reason for him to go after her. It’s his sister he wants to harm.”

  “Right.” The chief heaved a beleaguered sigh. “The assault on Marian is a separate deal. We need to dig into what Marian has been doing lately that would motivate an attack like this.”

  Officers Bucks and Harmon reappeared in the archway of the living room.

  “Both doors have been wiped clean,” Officer Harmon announced.

  “All right, people,” the chief said. “Let’s clear out. I’m calling the Flagstaff crime lab to come in and do a full forensic search of the house and grounds. Hopefully there’s a clue waiting to be discovered. I hate the thought of two maniacs running loose in Desert Valley.”

  Shane couldn’t have agreed more. Suddenly the previous deaths that Marian Foxcroft had asked the rookies to look into took on a more ominous meaning. Had Marian’s attacker been lurking in town for the past five years? Had the request to solve the cold cases been the motivation for the assault on Marian? And what lengths would the person go to in order to keep the past mysteries unresolved?

  FOURTEEN

  At the police station, Gina and Shane were separated as part of standard procedure in an investigation where there was more than one witness. Each was sent to a room to write out their account of finding Marian unconscious in her home.

  Alone in an interrogation room, Gina tried to recount every detail she could remember about the visit to the Foxcroft home. Her hand shook so hard, her writing looked like that of a kindergartener.

  The horror of finding Marian lying unconscious and bleeding twisted Gina up inside. She couldn’t grasp why someone would hurt the older woman. She was so generous to the town, to the police department and the training center. Though not the most personable woman in town, Marian’s roots were deep in the community.