by L. P. Maxa
“Yeah, I’ve heard firemen can be ruthless like that.”
“Do you mind if I work while we talk? I’ve got regulars who will start showing up at around seven when I open and they’ll be cranky if they can’t get their cheddar biscuits.”
“Go ahead. I’d probably be cranky too.”
She went to work, efficiently, gathering flour and utensils and all the other mysterious things that a baker needed.
“So tell me what happened.”
She went through the events, which really weren’t much as far as figuring out who would do such a thing. Luke made notes as she talked.
“Are there security cameras around?”
“Yes, Shane down at the Stereo Shop has them.” Emily was buried up to her elbows in some mixture. “And I just remembered, he’s out of town until next weekend. He’s snowboarding out in Utah.”
“The car stereo business must pay really well,” Luke commented.
“Actually it’s home systems that are paying so well. Monitoring doorbells and whole house speakers, all of it run from your phone.”
“Obviously, I picked the wrong career.”
“Yeah, me too,” she said. “So how did you end up here, working the night shift?”
“I was looking for someplace quiet,” he admitted.
She eyed him as if she were looking in his soul. “Afghanistan?”
That surprised him. “Yeah. Two tours.”
“I had a cousin who was there. He didn’t come back.”
Times like this it came crashing back. The sounds. The horror. The waste. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “Not your fault. Not any of it.” She finished with her mixing and put the bowl aside before going to wash her hands at the sink. She returned with a hand towel to cover the bowl and set it aside, then started on another project.
“Cheddar biscuits?” Luke’s stomach growled.
She smiled. “Indeed.” She threw some flour in, then some salt, added some milk, and buried her hands once again. “Where are you from originally?”
“Indiana. I wanted someplace with a bit more interesting topography. All the roads there are straight and flat. Except for the silos, there’s nothing to see.”
“We do have pretty country here,” Emily agreed.
“Are you a native?”
“I grew up in Charlotte. My grandmother lived here. I inherited her house and some money and she always said I should do something I love, so here I am.”
“Looks like you’ve got it figured out.”
“I’m breaking even. It’s a start. Although on mornings like this, I’d rather stay in bed.” She wiped her hands, went to the fridge, and brought out a block of cheddar. “I remembered something else,” she said. “There was another car here.”
“You saw it?”
“No, I heard it. A few minutes before you arrived, another car came through. It stopped and I waited, thinking it was a cop since it was a car, not a fire truck, but no one got out that I could hear. Then it pulled away suddenly. It went around that way.” She tilted her head to the other end of the building.
“We really need to get a look at Shane’s cameras.”
Emily shrugged. “I can give you his cell number. But I’m betting he’s off the grid. He said he was getting dropped off by a chopper.”
“So what do you want to do about the dog?”
“What do you mean?”
“Take it to the shelter?”
Emily shook her head. “Not that hellhole. No way. I’ll call the Humane Society. If it comes to it, I’ll keep her here.”
“I think the Health Board might frown on that.” He hated to say it, but he didn’t want her to get into trouble.
“I think as long as she stays in my office, no one will complain. Since I pretty much feed most of the law enforcement in the county. Except for you.”
“My mistake. One that I definitely won’t make again.”
She grinned. “I can always take her home if someone complains.” She looked up as headlights filled the front window. Luke turned and saw two vehicles in the parking lot. One a fire truck, and the other a van from the local television station.
“That’s Tanner and Jon,” Emily explained. “Probably on the way back from the wreck. I guess they’re hungry.” She wiped her hands on a towel and went to unlock the front door.
“Hey, Tanner. Heard you had a rough night.” Another fireman came in, along with two guys from the TV van. Luke recognized Thad Cruise, one of the feature reporters from channel 14.
“Yeah, it was bad,” Tanner replied. “We heard you had a call here. So we thought we’d stop by and make sure you’re okay.”
“Something about being stuck in a dumpster?” the other fireman said.
“Jon, if the two of you are here to make fun of me, you can leave now.”
Tanner grinned. “Not me. I’m strictly here for the coffee and biscuits.”
“Us too,” Thad added.
Chapter Three
The guys had had a rough night. They wore their weariness and sadness like a cloak. Food couldn’t change what they’d seen, but it could give them a few moments of comfort.
“Give me twenty minutes and I’ll have biscuits ready. Meanwhile help yourself to the pastries and coffee.” Emily returned to the counter while the men made their way to the coffee maker. “Have y’all met our newest sheriff?” she asked.
“Luke Hall.” Luke stood and shook hands with the men as they introduced themselves. ”I heard there were fatalities?”
“Yeah,” Tanner said. “A semi rear-ended an SUV that had struck a deer. The SUV exploded on impact.”
“Wasn’t a pretty sight,” Jon added.
The men were quiet for a moment, recalling the recent horrors they’d seen as they each took a seat at the counter. Emily continued working, throwing the dough out onto the counter and rolling it out with a marble rolling pin. She cut the biscuits out and placed them in a cast-iron skillet before sliding them in the oven.
“So how’d you end up in the dumpster?” Tanner asked.
Emily washed her hands before turning to answer. “Somebody threw away a perfectly good dog. And her puppies.”
The four men straightened in their seats.
“Where are they now?” Thad asked.
“Back in my office.”
“Can we see?” Thad jumped up from his stool. “Do you mind if we film?”
“What?” Momentarily stunned, Emily looked at Luke, then back to Thad. “Why?”
“Human interest for one thing,” Thad explained. “And whenever something like this happens, the local Humane Society always gets a lot of donations.”
Luke gave her an encouraging smile. “Um…okay.” It was a nice smile. Wide and genuine.
The entire group followed Emily back to her office, where the little dog lay curled around her puppies. She jumped to her feet with her little tail wagging when Emily knelt by the box.
“Looks like you got a fan,” Thad remarked.
“She’s looking for food.” Emily rubbed the tiny head. She loved animals and had grown up with dogs, cats, hamsters, and an assortment of fish. She had an elderly cat at home, something else she inherited from her grandmother. One that was much too cranky to have a companion. She always figured she’d get a dog, someday, when Knead was thriving, and she could afford to hire some help.
She hadn’t realized that she was being filmed as she reassured the little mom that everything was going to be all right.
“How about where you found her?” Thad asked.
Luke opened the back door. “Out here. Whoever dumped her put a mattress in too, or maybe the mattress was here first. Luckily for her, whichever it was, that happened. They probably would have frozen to death without it.”
Luke, Thad, and the cameraman went out. Tanner knelt down beside Emily and put a finger out for the dog to sniff. “Have you got a name for her?”
Emily shook her head. “She’s such a good littl
e mom. I think I’m still in shock from finding her.”
“There’s all kinds out there. It amazes me how cruel some people can be. But then kind people like you make up for it.”
“I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
“Better than the wrong place at the wrong time,” Jon said from the door to her office.
The poor people who had died this night definitely were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Meanwhile I need to figure out what to do with her. I guess I’ll call the Humane Society.”
“You should keep her,” Tanner shrugged. “Seems like fate.”
“Of all the dumpsters in all the world, she ended up in mine.”
“Yep.”
With a final pat, Emily stood. “I better check on those biscuits.”
Chapter Four
Luke watched as the channel 14 crew interviewed Emily after filming the dumpster and the mattress inside. She showed them the video from her phone and forwarded it to Thad. Luke declined being on camera so they did a quick shot of his vehicle before returning to the bakery. Emily was personable when she talked to them, but stuck to the facts. She wanted whoever had done this to be found, and punished.
Her cheddar biscuits were pretty fantastic. The entire bakery felt homey and cozy with its exposed brick walls and ductwork overhead. A flat-screen TV sat over the serving bar on the opposite end from where he sat next to the old-time cash register. There were a couple of small couches against the walls and a scattering of tables and chairs in the middle. One wall held a huge combination cork/blackboard that was full of notices and flyers, along with a finely lettered menu on the blackboard. The other wall held a collection of small canvas paintings, mostly of local scenery. Emily seemed to be invested in the community.
The radio on his hip had remained blissfully quiet in the hour or more since he’d pulled Emily from the dumpster. It was coming up on 6:30 and his shift was over at 7:00. Luke found himself listening to the easy banter of the firemen, the TV crew, and Emily. He found himself enjoying it, the sense of familiarity between them, the ease of belonging to a place. For someone like him, who hadn’t had much of a family, and no reason to return to his hometown in northern Indiana, it was like a siren’s call. Something that he didn’t even know he was missing, until he experienced it.
Even though he didn’t say much, he knew he was included. Emily stole looks at him from behind the counter as she poured coffee and placed slices of ham between the opened biscuits, adding a spoonful of raspberry preserves on the side, smiling at him when she caught his eye. She kept an eye on their plates, making sure they were well fed.
Luke had not realized how lonely he was until he’d sat down at the counter.
Until he met Emily. Take it easy. Just because you rescued her from a dumpster doesn’t mean she’s available. Still, there was no ring, and nothing from the two firemen present to indicate there was a relationship there.
“Hey, how about I pick up some dog food?” Luke suggested as Emily topped his coffee.
“Don’t you need to get home and get to sleep after working all night?”
Luke thought about his lonely apartment located behind the Walmart out by the highway. “Nope.” He grinned. “Somebody’s got me all hopped up on caffeine.”
“Oops.” She grinned back at him.
“Sounds like you’re planning on keeping little Serta,” Thad said.
“Serta?” Emily asked.
“That’s the brand of the mattress.”
Emily cocked her head as she thought about it.
“And you can call the puppies Tuft and Cotton,” Jon suggested.
“I’ve got to call them something.”
“I do need something to make it more personal,” Thad added.
Emily nodded. “Okay. But I’m still going to call the Humane Society. I really want the person who did this to pay.”
“I’ll make sure it’s in the report,” Luke said. “And I’ll follow up with Shane as soon as I can get in touch with him.”
“Hopefully his camera caught something.” Tanner drained his coffee. “We’ve got to get back and fill out reports too. Thanks for breakfast.”
“I’m here five days a week.”
“Which makes the other two not worth working,” Jon stated.
“Hey, I need a life too.”
Tanner raised an eyebrow at Luke as he left—permission granted by her protectors. The news crew left too and Emily went about the task of clearing the counter.
Luke’s radio beeped and he jerked it off his hip. “Guess I’ve got one more case before I’m off,” he said when dispatch had given him the address. “Luckily it’s close by.”
“Don’t feel like you need to get the food,” Emily started.
“I want to,” he assured her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Want some coffee to go?”
“Sure.”
Emily fixed him a cup and he left through the back, stopping for a second to check on little Serta. Luke shook his head at the name. He took a moment to walk the parking lot in the morning light, taking note of the camera located behind the stereo shop. He still needed to get Shane’s phone number from Emily.
Another reason to go back. Luke was smiling as he climbed into his SUV. His smile quickly disappeared as he arrived at his call, which was at a well-known by the local law enforcement biker bar called Drifters that was outside the town limits.
The owner was waiting for him at the back door. “You the new guy?” he said by way of greeting.
“Deputy Luke Hall.”
“Mitch.” He didn’t give a last name. Luke guessed that Mitch thought he should already know it. Mitch got to the point. “My door alarm went off this morning about six. When I got here I found this.” He pointed to a box inside the doorway. It held three puppies. They were so young that they still had their eyes closed. Definitely not related to Serta as they had long black fur and were almost the same size as the little mom. The ratty towel in the box wasn’t much defense against the frigid air.
“We’ve got an epidemic,” Luke said as he knelt by the box.
“What?”
“This is the second abandoned puppy call of my shift.”
“Seriously?” Mitch scratched at his neck. “I didn’t call the shelter because they don’t open until nine and I didn’t want to wait around on them in case they decided to show up if at all.”
He wasn’t about to debate the questionable practices of the local high-kill shelter. Luke stood and looked around the doorway. “Do you have a security camera?”
“Sure do.”
“Give me a minute to get these guys warm and then we’ll take a look.”
Luke put the box with the puppies in his car and then Mitch led him into an office that had Luke doubting for his safety as it was piled high with boxes of paper goods. Mitch booted up an old PC and pulled up the exterior camera. He went back a half an hour before the alarm went off. “I’ve been after the city to fix that street light,” he said as the film showed nothing but darkness.
“Don’t think that’s going to happen,” Luke informed him. “You’re outside the city limits.”
Mitch shrugged. There was some movement on the film. A car pulled in. It was a dark color, black or blue, and the shape looked to be of a crossover or small SUV. Beyond that, there was no detail at all.
Except…the car stopped right next to the back door. The door opened and the interior light came on. “Stop it there,” Luke instructed and Mitch paused the video. Luke studied the screen. It looked to be a woman, fifty or sixty, hair blonde or silver, wearing glasses. He took a picture of the screen with his phone. “Go ahead.”
Mitch resumed the video. The woman got out of the car, got the box of puppies from the back and put it next to the door. As she turned to leave, she stumbled and fell into the door, which set off the alarm. She quickly darted to her car, limping as she went, and spun out of the lot. Unfortunately it
was too dark and grainy to make out a make or model, and the license plate was nothing more than a blur. The only thing he had was the brief shot of her from the interior light of her vehicle and an impression of her size, which he’d put at around five-six and a hundred sixty-five pounds.
“Look familiar?” Luke asked Mitch.
“I’ve never seen her in here,” Mitch replied. “So, do I have to fill anything out? I heard it was against the law to abandon animals and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t held responsible.”
“You’re good,” Luke said. “You did the right thing. I’ll make sure they are taken care of. I need you to hang on to that film. Make a copy of it for me.” He handed him a card with his official email address on it. “Send it here.”
“Will do,” Mitch assured him.
It was 7:00 a.m. and Luke’s shift was over.
He was pretty sure it was going to be hours before he slept.
Chapter Five
The last thing Emily expected to see was more puppies. Yet Luke was here, with a box of puppies under one arm and a Walmart bag dangling from the other. The puppies’ cries were pitiful. The look on Luke’s face wasn’t much better.
“I thought maybe Serta could feed them?” He seemed hopeful.
“What? Where?” Emily started.
“They were my call,” Luke said. “Abandoned at Drifters.”
“The biker bar?”
“That’s the one.” They went into the office, the puppies’ cries getting more piteous by the second. Serta put her paws on the edge of her box and wagged her tail in greeting. Luke knelt and picked up a puppy. He held it before Serta, who gave it a quick sniff and a lick before lying back down on her side.
Luke looked at Emily, who shrugged. “It won’t hurt to try.”
He put the puppy next to Serta and it quickly latched on to her and began nursing. She gave it a thorough going-over with her nose as Luke placed the other two next to it. Meanwhile her own puppies moved in, making their way between them so they were lined up, black, white, black, white, black.