by Dana Mentink
“Did you ask her to stay?”
He felt a rise of irritation. “I’m not going to beg, Mom. It was enough to do that with Diane.”
She stabbed the hooks into her ball of yarn. “Tyler William Walker, you listen to me and you listen well.”
He sat up straighter.
“Penny is not Diane. What’s more, you are not the same man you were two years ago.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?” Her eyes blazed at him. “Because from where I’m sitting, you are so busy looking back that you’re losing a treasure right in front of you.”
“You’re beginning to sound like Bradley.”
“I always knew that young man was smart.” She picked up her yarn ball and purse. “You know what? I didn’t speak up to your father as much as I should have because I didn’t want to make waves. And I didn’t express my misgivings about Diane for the same reason. Well, I’m speaking up now, Ty. Stop looking behind you. God gave you two eyes in the front of your head, not the back, for a reason.” And with that, she walked to the apartment door and slammed it behind her, leaving him gaping.
What was he supposed to do next? The apartment settled into quiet. He lied down on the couch, his mind alive with snippets of conversation.
What does she mean to you?
Stop looking behind you.
I care for you both.
He closed his eyes and folded his hands. The most important conversation he needed to have at this moment was between him and the Lord.
* * *
Penny fought against tears as she carefully loaded the personal effects from her desk into a cardboard box the next morning. The photo of her adoptive parents and her brother on the day he’d earned his badge made her pause. She’d nearly burst with pride at that moment. The second photo was one of her standing next to him in her uniform shirt. It had seemed on that day that maybe she had finally restarted her life on a path that would lead her into the future, away from the sadness and tragedy that had defined her past.
That had all come to a violent end when Randall had shown up. Everything was crumbling around her. The biggest blow was having to leave her police family.
And Tyler...
His image came uninvited into her thoughts. She’d been trying valiantly to forget his harsh condemnation.
I should have known you were going to leave us. It was all so shocking. She hadn’t known there was an us except in her imagination. Worse than the words, worse than any of it, had been the catch in his voice when he’d said it.
He’d painted her with the same brush as Diane...as an immature woman who’d walked out on him and Rain. She didn’t know what to do, how to fix it, except to leave the whole situation behind. Was she being cowardly or kind? She had no idea.
She was jotting down notes to discuss with the person who would be taking over her job, when Joel Carey, the man who insisted Brooke and her pups belonged to him, came through the door. Since her replacement was grabbing a cup of coffee, she plastered on a polite smile.
“How can I help you, sir?”
He waved a photo triumphantly and slapped it on the counter. “I’m here to claim my dogs. Take a look.”
She peered at the grainy photo of Carey standing next to a German shepherd. He was not smiling in the picture. The dog was a beautiful specimen, as far as she could tell.
“See? The dog’s mine and so are her puppies. I want them now.”
“One moment, please.” With a sinking stomach, Penny quickly summoned Gavin and Dr. Gina, who were settling some paperwork in the back room. They both arrived on the double.
Carey waved the photo around and Gavin and Gina examined it.
“It’s a little blurry,” Gina said. “That could be any dog. It doesn’t have to be Brooke.”
Carey’s eyes narrowed. “Rory is her name and it’s not just the photo. That homeless guy told you he remembered me calling to her, trying to get her back, but the traffic was too bad. And you promised that if I brought proof, the dogs would be turned over. Here’s the proof. Are you reneging on your word?”
Gavin blew out a breath, his eyebrows knitted together. “No, you’ve produced the photo and we will release the dogs to you.”
Gina went stiff and Penny could see the anguish in her face, but she did not contradict Sarge.
Carey gave a satisfied nod. “Let me have ’em.”
“Not right now,” Gavin said. “I’m sure Dr. Gina needs to wrap up a few things before she releases them.”
Carey fisted his hands on his hips and glowered.
Gina nodded. “I’ll need to keep them for a few days. They need their next round of shots.”
“No way...” Carey began.
Sarge stared him down. “You want what’s best for these pups, don’t you, Mr. Carey? You wouldn’t want to compromise their care in any way, after you’ve worked so hard to get them back.”
Carey squirmed. “All right. I’ll be here next week on Monday morning to pick them up.” He smiled. “Take good care of my dogs,” he called before he left.
Gina sagged as the door closed. “He’s just going to sell them. I can feel it. He doesn’t love these dogs. That photo might be another dog entirely.”
“I’m sorry, Gina, truly I am,” Sarge said, “but we have no grounds to keep them from him any longer.”
He touched Gina’s shoulder and walked back to his office.
Penny went to Gina and hugged her. Gina sniffled against the tears. “I guess I knew it would come to this, but I hate the thought of turning them over to a guy like that. I was hoping he’d give up and leave them with us.”
“You’ve taken such wonderful care of Brooke and her babies.” Penny squeezed her and let her go to hand her a tissue. “Everybody will be crushed around here,” she said. Especially a little curly-haired tyke named Rain.
She remembered Rain’s squeals of delight as she tumbled and played with the pups, and the tender moment when she’d been able to soothe the child’s hurt fingers.
How would Tyler explain that the puppies were being given away? She swallowed. What would he tell her about why Penny wasn’t around any longer? A lump formed in her throat. Tyler was a good father and even though thinking of him unleashed a ferocious pang of pain inside her, she hoped he and Rain would find their own happiness.
She whispered a prayer that Tyler’s heart would heal, even as her own felt like it was falling into pieces.
* * *
On Penny’s last official Friday, the officers ordered a massive goodbye cake and presented her with a bouquet of pink roses. Tyler wasn’t sure he should attend the party after what he’d said to Penny, but he made up his mind to go, anyway. He would do his best not to make her feel any more uncomfortable than he already had.
Penny was dressed in civilian clothes—a soft pink sweater and slim brown pants—and her hair was tied in her favored loose ponytail. Two high spots of color stood out on her pale cheeks. For one moment, her gaze locked with his, but she quickly looked away. He took a seat at the far end of the conference room and tried to wear a pleasant expression.
She picked at her cake and offered rounds of smiles and hugs, but Tyler saw her blink back tears. He was ashamed of himself for adding to her pain, for his childish need to hurt her to vent his own wild sadness. After his outburst at the hotel, he’d spent time with Rain and in prayer. Nothing soothed the lancing anguish in his own heart. Hour upon hour, he’d paced the nights away, until exhaustion drove him to sleep. But something had clicked in those endless minutes—a tiny flame had ignited that showed him the truth.
Somewhere in those turbulent hours, he’d come to understand without any doubt that he’d let the scars of the past tether him. A failed marriage and Diane’s abandonment hung around his heart like twin anchors, weighing down his soul in a way God had not intended. It shamed him
to think of it, to consider how he’d unburdened that heaviness on a beautiful person like Penny.
Why hadn’t he been stronger, like her? She’d soldiered on bravely in spite of what Randall had done to her and her family. She dared to see herself as a light in the world instead of a victim. Part of him knew deep down that she’d even perhaps considered stepping further away from that past and embracing something new when she’d reached out to him and Rain. Could there be any clearer example of courage than that? And his own fear had kept him from reaching back.
Breathing shallow, he thought about his plan. He did not know if he could undo the damage he’d caused with Penny. It was a good possibility that she would head to a new job and a new life no matter how eloquent his words, and he would never see her again. All he knew was he’d prayed fervently that morning for God to help him make things right between them. He needed time alone with her, but that proved to be a problem with a roomful of cops gathered around.
He’d offered to drive her back to the safe house, still her home for the uncertain future, and she’d declined, of course. Bradley had already volunteered for the job. Unbeknownst to her, he’d taken over the task from Bradley, anyway. He humbled himself and explained to Bradley what he was going to attempt.
“You sure you know what you’re doing, Walker?” Bradley had said.
“No, but I’m going to give it my best shot to make up for how I’ve hurt her.”
“All right,” Bradley said with a wink.
Tyler felt suddenly nervous. “Got any advice?”
“Don’t say anything stupid.” He whacked Tyler on the shoulder and walked away smiling.
Tyler swallowed against the tightness in his throat. The ride would be his last chance to undo some of the damage he’d done to himself and to her. He prayed God would help him find the right words.
After the office goodbyes were done, Gavin was the last one to hug Penny. “You know that if you ever change your mind, you have a job here waiting.”
Penny kissed his cheek. “I appreciate that so much, Sarge.”
He touched her shoulder. “We’ll get Randall soon. Don’t send out that resume yet, okay? I’m still hoping we can change your mind.”
“I know you’ll catch Randall, but I think it’s time for me to start over somewhere new, without so many memories. It’s better this way.”
Tyler’s heart cracked open a little wider.
Penny shouldered her tote bag and took Scrappy’s leash. Bradley followed behind with King after they got the all-clear from the patrol officer outside.
Her eyes rounded. “I thought Bradley was taking me.”
“I took over the assignment.”
He could tell she wanted to ask why, but he wasn’t prepared to tell her, not with Bradley right behind them.
“Move it, Walker. Quit slacking,” Bradley said.
In spite of Bradley’s forced cheer, Tyler saw Penny’s pain mirrored in her brother’s face. And you probably were the final push in getting her to quit, he thought miserably.
“Okay.” Bradley held King’s leash. “Meet you at the safe house. We can discuss your plan to go stay with your friend in Florida.”
Tyler cleared his throat and opened the passenger-side door for Penny.
She kissed her brother on the cheek. “It’s okay if you have work to do. We don’t need to talk about it now.” She opened the rear door to let Scrappy and Dusty into Tyler’s back seat.
Bradley waved her off. “Nah. I’ve got a hankering for chow mein. I figured we could do takeout. That’s...”
Tyler heard the screech of tires. In a blur of motion, a grey truck roared up the street. A squad car followed the speeding car—code three. The noise from the chase bounced off the walls of the police station and echoed along the narrow street.
He knew it was Randall behind the wheel, even before the truck jumped the curb and careened onto the sidewalk.
Penny screamed.
Bradley reached for his weapon, but he had no time to react. The truck’s front bumper struck him with a sickening thud that sent him sailing backward onto the pavement. He landed in a limp heap. King avoided the collision, barking at a fever pitch. The truck slammed to a halt when it plowed into the back of Tyler’s vehicle. Dusty and Scrappy launched themselves out of the car through the open door.
Penny’s mouth was open in shock, her eyes riveted on her fallen brother. He was lying completely still, one arm flung above his head.
“Bradley,” she shrieked, her voice almost unrecognizable. Tyler tried to pull her behind him as he reached for his revolver. She wrenched herself from Tyler’s grasp and ran toward her brother. King was loose, barking and jumping in a frenzy. Frantically, he snatched at King’s leash, hauling him back, while trying futilely to aim his revolver at the crumpled truck.
Just as he was ready to squeeze off a shot at the opening truck door, Penny crossed into the line of fire. He eased up and Randall seized the moment to dive from the truck. A gun flashed in his hand as he headed toward Penny and grabbed her by the wrist.
“Drop the weapon, Randall,” Tyler hollered.
Tyler still could not risk taking a shot since Penny was between him and Randall. She was pulling and flailing at her captor.
King’s barking reached ferocious levels as he lunged and jerked at the leash. He had a target now. Randall Gage, the man who had taken down his partner. If Tyler released King, would Randall shoot? A bullet at this range might kill Penny, Bradley or King.
Scrappy circled Penny, teeth snapping, as Randall wrapped his arm around her neck, gun pressed to her temple. Dusty barked at full volume, too, adding to the melee.
“Call off those dogs or I’m going to shoot her right here,” Randall screamed.
Scrappy continued to yelp and bark. Randall shot wildly, the bullet plowing into Tyler’s rear tire.
“Stay,” Tyler thundered at the dogs. The command had no effect on King, but Dusty sat and, mercifully, Scrappy froze. He did not sit, but he stood in place, whining, the scruff on his neck raised like King’s, every nerve in his body taut.
Randall jutted his chin at King. “Him, too. Call off the big one.” Randall’s green eyes were wide with fear and rage as he shouted over King’s ferocious barking. Tyler felt as though King’s yanking was about to dislocate his shoulder. Penny clutched at Randall’s arm.
“He won’t back down,” Tyler yelled. “I’m not his handler.”
“You get that dog away from me or she’s dead.” Randall dug the gun in hard, causing Penny to cry out.
“Okay,” Tyler said. “Give me a minute. I’ll secure him in the car.”
Backing slowly, he dragged the frantic King back toward his vehicle. The dog fought him at every step. “See? We’re doing what you want, Randall,” Tyler called over his shoulder. “There’s no reason to shoot again.”
It took all his strength to march the dog back where he could clip his leash to a hook in the car. King thrashed and barked so loudly Tyler’s eardrums vibrated. At least Dusty and Scrappy stayed put for the moment.
Sweat beaded on Tyler’s forehead. Cops were streaming from the office now, moving as close as they could to provide support. Randall would soon be surrounded, his capture inevitable. Tyler knew he had only seconds before Randall would kill Penny as his final act of vengeance.
Back toward Randall, he noticed a piece of broken asphalt on the ground near his open car door. An idea sizzled through his brain. What he was going to do might instigate a bloodbath. Randall might be arrested, but he could take many lives before that happened, including Penny’s. There was no more time to think it through.
Now or never, Walker.
In one fluid motion, he grabbed the chunk, turned and fired the rock as close to Randall’s head as he could manage without hitting Penny. It caused Randall to flinch. At the same time, Scrappy launched hi
mself at Randall, who staggered backward, the gun sailing from his hand. Quickly Tyler released King, who flew like a missile toward his partner’s attacker and clamped onto his leg.
Randall screamed and batted at King and Scrappy.
“Stop resisting,” Tyler shouted to Randall, but he continued to thrash and swear.
Penny fell and immediately scrambled up again. Sobbing, she staggered toward her brother. Scrappy turned and raced to her. She was yelling Bradley’s name, lurching the last few feet to reach her brother. Bradley was still lying on his side, blood pooling around his head.
It took all of Tyler’s will and repeated orders from Jackson to get King to release. Finally, the dog did so and Jackson took charge of him. King whined pitifully, trying to get to his fallen partner.
Henry secured the weapon and cuffed Randall.
“I should have killed Penny twenty years ago and then come back for her brother,” Randall screamed.
Bathed in sweat, Tyler waved in the ambulance. A medic raced over and began work on Bradley as another saw to Randall’s wounds. A ring of officers watched, horror on their faces, as Penny clutched her brother’s hand, sobbing silently until Tyler gently pulled her away.
“I want to stay with him. Please...” she cried.
“We have to let the medics take care of him now,” Tyler said, holding her tightly so she could not run to her brother.
Bradley was loaded onto a stretcher and whisked into an ambulance. Tyler watched over Penny’s shoulder. Bradley had still not moved at all, his face a stark white except where it was smeared with blood.
When the ambulance had departed, Tyler released Penny, but kept his arm around her. She remained on the sidewalk, gripping Tyler’s arm, her body quaking with emotion. When Scrappy licked her face and she collapsed to her knees, Tyler kneeled next to her.
Her breath came in shuddery gasps. “My brother,” she moaned over and over again. Tears poured down her pale face and her eyes were mirrors of grief and shock.
“Listen to me.”
She trembled and would not look at him.