Search and Rescue

by Valerie Hansen

  Hesitating to assess his expression, she decided he wasn’t truly angry. “I thought I did fairly well. You’ll have to go home to change.”

  “I have a clean uniform in my locker.”

  “Oh.”

  “Did you ever replace the clothing in yours?”

  “Not with good clothes. I brought stuff to change into when I was doing something messy, like washing a dog.”

  Ryder eyed her soggy self. “You already changed?”

  “Nope. That would make too much sense. Besides, I was in a hurry to get Phoenix all spiffed up for you.”

  “Well, you may as well finish before you dry off.” One eyebrow arched. “I’m going to turn my back and walk away now. Don’t get any funny ideas.”

  “Who, me?”

  “Yes, you.”

  There was no impishness left in her after their playful tussle. In its place were surprise and joy and an all-over sense of relief from the tension that had been plaguing them all.

  Sophie smiled to herself as she returned to her dog-washing chore. “That’s what we should do during the street fair instead of a dunking booth,” she told Phoenix. “We should organize a good old-fashioned water fight and invite the whole town to take part.”

  The soggy dog didn’t act impressed. He hung his head as she carefully rinsed and toweled him before taking him out into the sunshine. Dry desert air did the rest.

  Sophie’s hair was almost dry, too, by the time she returned to the training center to give Titus his bath.

  The old dog plodded into the shower room obediently and stood still while she shampooed him. “What a good boy. You’re better behaved than I am,” she cooed.

  From somewhere in the hallway came a familiar voice. “You can say that again.”

  Sophie had to smile. “Which part?” she called back, “the ‘good boy’ or the ‘better behaved’?”

  It didn’t surprise her that Ryder chose to not answer. Losing control and becoming playful the way he had when she’d sprayed him had to be terribly embarrassing. If anyone else had tried the same thing they’d probably have been reprimanded for insubordination.

  But not her. Not this time. How long had it been since that man had felt comfortable enough to play with anyone besides his little girl? Probably years.

  Sophie felt immensely blessed. Even if nothing more came of their relaxed friendship after Carrie was apprehended, at least they had shared a little enjoyment today.

  And, she suddenly realized, Ryder wasn’t the only one lacking fun in his life. She was just as bad. The cares of the days, the threats of violence, had usurped the place of simple pleasures. Yes, they needed to be vigilant. But they also needed to remember to live. That amounted to more than merely stopping to smell the roses. It had to be based in thankfulness for what they had been given and backed up by faith in the One who had blessed them.

  Funny how that was a lot easier to think about than to put into practice, particularly when being shot at.

  * * *

  Lily was ecstatic when her daddy told her they were finally going to bring Phoenix home. Climbing out of the car as soon as Ryder parked, she bounced on her toes waiting for Sophie to bring her new playmate.

  Ryder let Titus out, as planned, and watched Sophie leash Phoenix before telling him to jump down. So far, so good. Titus had wandered off to sniff the yard and paid no attention, even when Lily launched herself at the Australian shepherd and gave his ruff a hug.

  “He smells good,” the child said. “Like lemons.”

  “That’s because I gave him a bath,” Sophie said with a sideways glance at Ryder. “Your daddy helped.”

  He knew he was blushing when he scowled back at her. Why he had acted like a kid was beyond him. What had felt okay at the time now seemed outlandish and totally unacceptable. Of course it was. He had a position of authority to maintain. Chief officers did not go around having water fights with staff. It didn’t really matter that as head K-9 trainer, Sophie didn’t work for him. They functioned as part of the same team and had always treated each other as equals. At least he had. By spraying him, she had proved otherwise.

  Ryder knew he should be furious but for some reason he wasn’t. After all, he could have walked away despite the obvious challenge. There was just something about Sophie that had insisted he retaliate.

  “I wanna play hide-’n-seek,” Lily said.

  “In the house. Not out here,” Sophie replied.

  Ryder led the way, opened the front door of his ranch house and ushered them all inside. He had a woman who came to clean once a week and Lily was good about picking up her toys, so he wasn’t embarrassed about any clutter except the dog toys scattered in the living room. “Hold on a second. I’ll pick up after Titus.”

  “It may be all right,” Sophie said, eyeing the old dog. “He’s not acting possessive at all. The time together in your office has helped a lot.”

  “All they did was sleep,” Ryder countered. “Speaking of which, look.”

  Titus had already curled up in his favorite spot on the sofa and laid his chin on his front paws, relaxed but watching Lily.

  “Don’t forget what I told you on the way home.” Ryder made sure he had his daughter’s attention. “You can’t just play with Phoenix or Titus will be sad. You have to give them both lots of love.”

  “I know.” She darted to the couch, planted a smooch on the yellow Lab’s broad nose, then dashed back to Phoenix and Sophie. “You hold him while I hide, okay?”

  “Okay. I’ll help him count to ten.”

  The sweet, agreeable way Sophie handled Lily warmed Ryder’s heart. Adults often tended to belittle or ignore children but not Sophie. She was as in tune with Lily as she was with the dogs she trained. Maybe that was what he found so attractive. She had a natural way of behaving and accepting things that made her easy to like.

  And lowered his defenses, he added, chagrined. The vivid memories of holding her under the spray with water going everywhere and her screaming like a kid kept popping into his mind. If word that he’d tried to drown the head trainer ever got out he’d never live it down.

  “Ten!” Sophie called out. The instant she released Phoenix he was on Lily’s trail. So was Titus. They rounded the corner into the hallway, nails scrambling on the hardwood floor.

  Lily was giggling by the time Ryder and Sophie reached the spot where the dogs were. Phoenix had his head and shoulders under the bed. Titus was down on his front paws, rear in the air, tail wagging in circles.

  “Looks like they found her,” Ryder said.

  Sophie was laughing. “I guess so. Where’s his reward toy?”

  “Around here somewhere.” Ryder shrugged. “Sorry. I know I’m supposed to stick to training protocol but sometimes when they’re playing I forget.”

  “It’s okay. Lily can be their reward. Neither of them is wearing his vest so technically they’re not working.”

  Sobering, Ryder eyed her. “Neither are you.”

  “Give me a break. It’s hot outside and we haven’t had any trouble for a week or so. I don’t need to run around in body armor all the time.”

  “You should. We both know it.”

  The roll of her eyes was not the least bit comforting. He knew she wasn’t a fool, yet she continued to defy logic.

  All he could hope for, pray for, was that if and when the unknown menace struck again, his or her aim would be as bad as it had been in the past.

  Unfortunately, that wasn’t a given. Fire enough shots and sooner or later, one of them was likely to hit its mark.

  NINE

  Leaving Phoenix behind with Ryder wasn’t nearly as hard on Sophie as going home alone turned out to be. Her house was dark, the front yard illuminated only by a distant streetlight. She parked the SUV so its headlights would shin
e on the back porch, then hurried inside before the automatic system shut them off.

  So quiet. So lonely. So empty. She ate a solitary supper of leftover tuna fish on wheat bread, then tidied up the kitchen before heading for bed with a good book. It was times like these when she almost wished she had a permanent pet like a cat. Almost. If she could find one with the temperament of a dog she might consider it. In the meantime, she’d have to be content to foster her trainees, even if that did mean eventually letting them go.

  The pages on the paperback soon blurred and she began to nod. Just before falling asleep she switched off the bedside light. Her dreams were filled with myriad dogs. And one man. He stood afar, his face in shadow, yet she knew it was Ryder Hayes as surely as she knew... That noise in the background was out of place.

  Staying very still, Sophie opened her eyes. Nothing was moving. There was no unusual sound coming from anywhere, inside or outside. A dog would have been able to tell instantly if she should be afraid, of course, and she’d always believed anything a canine tried to tell her. Too bad she was on her own tonight.

  A glance at the bedside clock showed three in the morning. Darkness would have been complete if not for a waxing moon. Sophie knew she should forget the rude awakening and go back to sleep but her heart was still beating too fast and her eyes refused to shut.

  They were adjusting to seeing in the dimness when she heard glass shatter. A window? A drinking glass hitting the floor in her kitchen? It didn’t matter. All she knew was that her home was being violated. She was not going to simply lie there and act the victim.

  There was no time for a robe over her long gown, at least not until she was armed and ready. Scooping up her cell phone she slipped the revolver out of its holster and headed for the walk-in closet, easing the door closed behind her. Walls and doors weren’t bulletproof, despite what TV and movies showed. They were, however, good hiding places. If no one could see her they wouldn’t know to shoot.

  Her hands were shaking. And the cell phone beeped when she pushed the call button. Sophie was hesitant to speak after that. Listening for footsteps she cradled the phone, only then remembering to send up a frantic prayer.

  “Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”

  Rats, it was Missy Cooper instead of Louise. “This is Sophie Williams on Second Street. I have a prowler. In my house!”

  “Can you get out and go to a neighbor’s?”

  “No.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. You’ll have to speak up. I can barely hear you.”

  “Tell you what, Missy,” Sophie almost hissed. “You can send help or leave the guy to me. I’m armed and will shoot if I have to.”

  “Units are on the way,” the dispatcher said.

  That’s more like it. Sophie broke the connection. She knew the phone would continue to beep while she navigated to silent mode so she buried it under a pile of blankets in the hopes it wouldn’t make any more noise.

  Then she eased open the closet door and peeked out the thin slit. At first there was nothing. Then she heard a slow, steady series of footsteps. Someone was trying to sneak in by tiptoeing.

  She was about to ease the door closed again when she heard the metallic swish and click of the slide on an automatic pistol. The shooter chambered a bullet.

  Never before had it been this hard to hold perfectly still. Shaking to the core, she leaned on the doorknob for stability. The hinges squeaked.

  Sophie stifled a gasp, returned both hands to her own gun and raised it, ready to fire.

  A shadow fell over her bed. Watching it, she realized she’d thrown aside her light comforter rather than turn the air-conditioning down too low and had left behind a raised ridge of bedclothes that resembled a body.

  The prowler took aim. All she could see were his hands and the barrel of the gun but she knew it was a man. She gritted her teeth, anticipating earsplitting noise. When he fired, the blast shook the windows.

  The muzzle flash was temporarily blinding. The temptation to shoot back was great, but unless she could actually tell who and what she was shooting at she wasn’t going to fire. Besides, he still didn’t know he hadn’t shot her in the bed and it would be foolish to give away her position.

  Distant sirens made beautiful night music. Sophie heard her attacker running down the hall. A door slammed. That was not enough to draw her out of hiding. She wasn’t going to move until she saw a police badge, preferably worn by one of the rookies she had trained, or, even better, by a certain chief she happened to be unduly fond of.

  The sirens wound down, then stopped. Boots clomped down the hallway. She heard officers hollering, “Clear,” as they checked the front of the house.

  Releasing the cocked hammer on her own gun, Sophie was finally able to breathe.

  She shouted, “In here,” then slid to the floor to sit and wait because her bones felt as if they’d been left on the dash of a hot car in the Arizona summer sun and had melted into useless puddles like a box of wax crayons.

  Scared? Sure. But it was more than that. She’d been less afraid of losing her own life than she was of being forced to take someone else’s.

  That was not a good sign.

  * * *

  Ryder had ordered Officer Tristan McKeller to stay with Lily when the rookie had brought the message about the attack on Sophie. They’d been unable to reach him because Lily had been tinkering with Ryder’s pager and had shut off his cell phone, as well. Tristan had been chosen to check on the chief since his K-9, Jesse, was trained to pinpoint arson, not track humans.

  What Ryder wanted to do first was set eyes on Sophie and see for himself that she was okay. He took the stairs to her front porch at a run, then halted a few feet short of sweeping her into his arms when they came face-to-face. Neither of them moved for several seconds. Finally he asked, “You all right?”

  She nodded. “Yes, but I need a new bedcover. Mine has a bullet hole in it.” Glancing past him she asked, “Did you bring the dogs?”

  “Yes. Both of them. I wasn’t sure if Titus could last long enough, and we don’t want to lose this trail.”

  “Shane was first on scene,” Sophie told him. “I think he’s got the area around the house covered.”

  Ryder’s feet were still planted and so were hers. “I should go.”

  Sophie nodded. He reluctantly left her and joined the operation in progress.

  “We have dogs deployed in three directions,” Shane reported. “Do you want to take command, Chief?”

  “You’re doing fine. I’d rather be tracking.”

  “Okay. The only area that hasn’t been checked yet is the open field on the other side of the fence behind her house.”

  “We can take that,” Ryder told him. “I brought both dogs. I’ll leave Titus for backup and start with Phoenix. It’s pretty rough walking out there. I don’t want to tax Titus if I don’t have to.”

  “Agreed,” Shane spoke into his radio, then nodded at Ryder. “All set. They know you’re coming. I’d hate to have one of the other rookies make a mistake and take a potshot at you.”

  “So would I. Do we have a description?”

  “Big guy. Probably dressed in dark clothing. That’s about it.”

  “No chance it’s Carrie?”

  “Not this time,” the officer said.

  In a way, Ryder was glad. If Carrie wasn’t after Sophie, that meant the extra time he’d spent with the trainer had not been at fault.

  He smiled faintly as he prepared Phoenix and donned his own bulletproof vest. It also meant it would be safer to spend time with Sophie once this was over.

  Nothing sounded better—except capturing whoever had tried to kill her tonight. He set his jaw and drove around the block, more than ready to track down the assailant.

  * * *

  Left behind, Sophi
e was far more nervous than she would have been if she’d been taking part in the search. Granted, it was no longer her job to go into the field with the dogs she trained but she really wanted to break the rules now and then.

  There was plenty of activity in her yard to keep her interested, yet all she could think about was Ryder—and Phoenix. She approached Shane Weston. “All clear around here?”

  He smiled and gave her a casual salute. “Yes, ma’am. Your place has been cleared and we have dogs searching the neighbors’ yards.”

  Satisfied by the report she stepped out onto her back porch and paused to scan the darkness. Headlights swept the distant street where no houses blocked her view. A vehicle came to a stop, red lights spinning. A floodlight played over the desert terrain before someone—Ryder—brought Phoenix out of the back of the patrol car.

  Sophie didn’t have to see clearly to know who was out there and what he was doing. Instead of using a flashlight and making himself an easy target, Ryder let the dog bring him to the bare ground and sniff around.

  One of her main concerns was snakes, like before. This time of year they were only active at night and this was the perfect time to stumble across one. If the chief hadn’t been working a dog she would have had a lot more concern. That was the great thing about K-9s. Their keen senses more than made up for a human’s lack.

  Peering into the hazard-filled night, Sophie was reminded to pray. She certainly had while hiding in her closet, she recalled, although not one word had stuck in her memory. That was the trouble with frantic prayer. It came in a rush of fear rather than organized thought. And, she concluded, it was the kind that sped straight to heaven because it wasn’t all cluttered up with a person’s ego or foolishness.

  “Thank You, Jesus,” she whispered, truly grateful for her escape and for the men and women who had come to search for the would-be assassin. Especially one man.

  A shout echoed. Her hands tightened on the railing at the edge of the small porch.

  Suddenly, the rear yard was filled with running figures and barking dogs. Another dog barked in the distance. If that was Phoenix, he’d certainly recovered his courage. His bark sounded a lot more menacing than ever before.