by Katie Ruggle
Hugh gave him a skeptical look. “Well, sure. Less death would be ideal, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. We just got rid of one bomber, and an arsonist pops up. It doesn’t seem like things are getting any less exciting.”
Leaving the two men to their argument, Kit handed Hugh the remaining police tape roll and headed back to where she’d parked. She pulled out the thirty-foot lead from the dog-supply bag she’d stowed on the floor in the back seat, grateful that she hadn’t packed it in the trailer with the rest of her belongings. It was just luck that she’d tucked the long lead in Justice’s travel bag. She never would’ve guessed that they’d be trailing an arson—and possibly murder—suspect on her first day.
Justice was quivering with excitement when she clipped the lead to his harness and gave him the command to leave the car.
“This way, goofy.” She hauled on the leash, leading him toward the possible footprint in the backyard. His tail whipped back and forth as he trotted in front of her, his head swiveling as he sniffed the air, ready to head in whatever direction had the most interesting scents.
Hugh and Theo were still arguing when Kit and Justice reached them, but they broke off when they saw the dog. Both greeted Justice with thorough ear rubs and neck scratches. In thanks, Justice curled around them, his tail drumming a happy rhythm against their legs.
“I thought bloodhounds were usually reserved with strangers,” Hugh said, massaging the loose skin at Justice’s shoulders.
Kit gave a small shrug. “A lot of them are. Except for his excessive friendliness, Justice is a pretty typical bloodhound. He just doesn’t have the shy gene.” At the sound of his name, he looked at her, his tongue lolling out of his jowly mouth. “Ready, Justice?”
At the familiar words, he focused on her, his brand-new friends forgotten. She indicated the footprint, and he snuffled at it.
“Will that be enough?” Theo asked, frowning.
Without taking her gaze off of Justice, Kit lifted her free hand palm up. “We’ll see. Justice, find.”
The dog sniffed the ground, crisscrossing back and forth around the print. As he fanned out, Kit fed him more of the lead, until he was fifteen feet away from her, heading deeper into the woods.
“Aaah-rooo!” His bay rang out, signaling that he’d picked up the scent, and Kit grinned.
“Find, Justice!”
The dog took off, and Kit followed, the lead stretching between them. Justice hauled her forward, wanting to run faster, but she kept him under control. In Wisconsin, she’d run almost every day, training herself along with Justice, but here the altitude was an issue. It was over eight thousand feet above sea level in Monroe, and the air felt too dry and thin as she pulled it into her lungs. After just five minutes of following Justice, Kit was already breathing hard. Annoyed by her weakness, she slowed Justice down and settled into an easy jog.
The sound of boots hitting the ground behind her let her know that Theo and Hugh were backing her up, and she felt her spirits lift with adrenaline and hope. This is what she trained for, what she loved to do—working with her K9 partner as her fellow cops had her back. The past six months in Wisconsin had been a pale imitation of this. She’d been disillusioned, and the other officers had become suspicious and hostile. She didn’t regret blowing the whistle on her corrupt partner and would’ve done the same thing if she had a do-over, but she’d missed the comradery and sense of being in a close-knit team. This new start in Monroe might give her the opportunity to regain the love she had for the job.
If only the air wasn’t quite so thin. The deer trail that Justice was following was narrow and winding, and dodging around trees and jumping over downed branches were a good distraction from Kit’s overworked lungs. The lead kept getting tangled in the brush, and she struggled to free it before Justice had to stop. The dog was easily distracted, and she wanted him to keep his mind focused on the trail.
Kit had half-expected the scent to lead Justice a short way through the trees to another road, where the suspect would’ve parked a car and driven away after setting the fire. However, they’d been jogging through the woods for a good twenty minutes, and the dog didn’t seem to be slowing down.
“Are you familiar with this area?” she asked over her shoulder, trying not to sound like she was gasping for air—even though she was. “Any idea where we are?”
“Yes.” Theo’s voice sounded annoyingly even, as if he were sitting in a chair with his feet up. There was no gasping on his part. “We’re circling around the south side of town. Steve—the fireman—lives about a half mile to the right.”
“Any guess where we’re headed?” Kit gave up trying to keep her words sounding effortless and just sucked in air.
There was a pause that made Kit want to turn around and see the guys’ expressions, but she was afraid that she’d fall on her face if she did.
“Possibly,” Theo finally said. He’d loosened up slightly since their first meeting, but it sounded as if all of his guards had slammed back into place.
“Possibly?” Maybe it was the lack of oxygen to her brain, but Kit was extraordinarily annoyed by his vague answer. “Want to share what you think we’re running into?”
From his grunt, she assumed that Theo’s answer was “no.”
She didn’t bother asking any more questions. Obviously, he wasn’t going to tell her, and she had better uses for the air she was dragging into her lungs. Her earlier hope slipped away. Maybe Monroe would end up being a better place than her last job, but it wasn’t going to be all sunshine and happy times. She had a feeling she’d have to work for every step forward.
With a grimace, she pushed herself faster, and Justice happily surged ahead. She was so busy watching to make sure she didn’t trip or run into any trees that it surprised her when the evergreens thinned and then disappeared as they ran into an open yard.
She slowed, blinking to get her bearings as Justice towed her straight for a dilapidated back porch. The entire house looked as if it would fall over in a stiff breeze, and Kit swiveled her head, trying to take in all of the possible spots someone could ambush them from. There were too many. The evergreens that crowded around the property provided all sorts of hiding spots and darkened the yard to an eerie green. The windows facing them reflected the light, masking whatever—or whoever—was inside looking out.
“Whose home is this, do you know?” she asked, keeping her voice low. For all she knew, this place had been abandoned for years. It certainly looked like it should be vacant. When neither man answered, she risked a glance over her shoulder to see Theo and Hugh sharing a meaningful glance.
Trying to keep her face expressionless and probably failing, Kit turned her head away from them, stewing. She didn’t expect to be in on every inside joke in the department on her first day, of course, but she didn’t expect them to be withholding important information either. Her gaze locked on Justice. It appeared that the only ally she had at the moment was her K9 partner. Although he’d taken a while to catch on to things, he’d never intentionally let her down. Dogs didn’t care about station politics. That was one reason they were so great.
As soon as it was obvious that Justice was headed toward the back porch, Theo skirted around them, pulling a key out of his pocket and quickly opening the door. He disappeared inside, leaving Kit to stare after him, confused.
“This is his house?” she asked Hugh.
“Not really.” He quickly followed Theo into the house, the storm door automatically swinging shut behind him.
Running up the rickety-looking back steps, Justice reached the door and sat, his signal that he’d found the scent. As she joined him, still not sure what was going on, she absently pulled his favorite toy out of her pocket—a raggedy sock monkey. She found sock monkeys to be creepy as hell, with their empty eyes and evil red mouths, but the stuffed animal was Justice’s favorite, no matter how hard Kit
had tried to wean the hound off of it. This particular sock monkey had been a joke gift from the other officers right after she’d adopted Justice, and she regretted ever offering the toy to her dog. It was the only stuffed thing he hadn’t ripped to shreds…unfortunately.
“Good find,” she crooned, offering the horrid thing to Justice, who accepted it eagerly. No matter what Theo and Hugh were hiding from her, her dog came first. “Good dog! Who’s the best dog?” It was only after rewarding Justice for the successful—she assumed—trail that she followed the other two cops inside. Looking around the large kitchen, she noted that it was in a similar condition as the exterior, with missing and drooping cupboard doors and mismatched chairs. It was clean, though, and there were little personal touches, like an elementary school award letter proudly displayed on the ancient fridge and a row of boots of all different sizes lined up on a rag rug next to the door.
“Theo.” Jules, the waitress from the diner, walked into the kitchen, looking surprised but pleased. “What are you doing here so early? And why do you smell like you’ve been rolling around in a tire fire?”
“A tire fire?” His face softened as he looked at her.
Stopping so that they were almost, but not quite, touching, Jules smiled up at him. “I was going to say a campfire, but that smells too nice. I hate to tell you, sweet pea, but you stink.”
Jules echoed her earlier thoughts so closely that Kit snorted a laugh. The sound made Jules look over at her, Justice, and Hugh, who’d followed her into the kitchen and was standing behind her. Jules’s welcoming smile faded as apprehension took over her expression.
“What’s going on?” Jules asked, taking a step away from Theo.
He caught her hand. “How long have you been home?”
Her gaze flickered to the clock and then returned to meet Theo’s as the worried grooves in her forehead deepened. “Just about an hour. Why? What’s happening?” She gave Kit and Justice another anxious look.
“Are you the only one here?” Theo turned, putting his body between Jules and hallway entrance.
“You need to tell me what’s going on.” Her Southern accent was thick. Kit had a feeling that Jules was about to lose it if Theo kept her in suspense any longer.
Theo, however, appeared to have missed the warning signs of his girlfriend’s impending freak-out, because he kept his attention on the doorway. “I’ll tell you as soon as we make sure the house is safe.”
As Jules sucked in a breath, Kit winced. That had been the wrong thing to say.
“What?” Jules’s voice rose several octaves, finally bringing Theo’s attention back to her. “The house isn’t safe?” When she started to make her way around Kit and Hugh toward the back door, Theo grabbed her hand, halting her progress.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To get the kids.”
“The kids are fine,” Theo assured her, but she gave him a flat look.
“Then what’s going on? You’re being all cryptic and weird and it’s freaking me out. Does this have something to do with…?” After a glance at Kit, she pressed her lips together in a frustrated line. “Just tell me.”
“We’re just going to check the house,” Theo non-explained in a tone that Kit assumed was supposed to be soothing, but wasn’t. She had to literally bite her tongue to keep herself from taking over the situation. All Theo was doing was panicking Jules, and he seemed oblivious to the fact that he was making things worse. There was nothing Kit could do, though. It was her first day. She didn’t know the people involved or their backgrounds, and it wouldn’t be good for her to act like a pushy know-it-all this early on, especially when Theo’s girlfriend was involved. She snuck a glance at Hugh, and he bugged his eyes out in an I-know-right? gesture before clearing his throat.
“Kit’s dog tracked someone from a possible arson scene to your back porch,” Hugh said, and Kit sighed inwardly as Jules sucked in a horrified breath.
“Here?” she almost shrieked before lowering her voice to a whisper. “Here? An arsonist was here?”
“Probably not.” Theo scowled at Hugh before turning back to Jules, his expression gentling. “We’re just going to take a look around, make sure the house is clear and you’re safe. The dog is new.”
Kit stiffened, shooting a glare at Theo. He didn’t seem to notice as he continued.
“Besides, we don’t know whose scent he was tracking. We don’t even know if it was an arson. This was a longshot, and your house is just the dead end to a possible lead.”
Kit held herself rigidly, swallowing back her words for another reason now. Although she’d taken offense on Justice’s behalf for the “new” comment, she couldn’t argue with the last part of his statement. The partial boot print had been a longshot, and it could easily have been from someone completely unrelated to the arson—if it actually had been an arson. Theo wasn’t wrong, but it grated on her to hear him blame their failure on the dog.
Theo’s reassuring words worked on Jules, though, and she visibly relaxed, no longer pulling against Theo’s hold to get out the door.
“We’re going to do a search of the house, just to make sure it’s clear,” he said, and Jules tensed again.
Her face tightened with something other than fear, and Kit watched her expression with interest. Was that guilt? She wondered if Jules had someone in the house that she didn’t want Theo to know about—another boyfriend, maybe? “Um…I’m not here alone.”
Kit’s eyebrows shot up. Even though she’d immediately suspected Jules of having an affair, she hadn’t expected her to just flat-out admit it in front of all of them.
“I knew it!” Hugh exclaimed, sounding more satisfied about being right than put-out on his partner’s behalf. “Gracie refused to tell me, but I knew what was going on the second I saw her chasing you down at the viner.”
Kit blinked. Theo’s girlfriend and Hugh’s girlfriend were having an affair? This small-town policing had a lot more drama than she’d expected.
Theo’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Jules. “Did another one of your…childhood friends show up unexpectedly again?” There was a third person? Kit was very confused at this point.
Straightening her shoulders, Jules met Theo’s penetrating glare straight on. “Yes. Elena. She’s very sweet and extremely shy, so you’re not going to bully her.”
Giving up on trying to figure out what was happening, Kit looked back and forth between them.
“Jules…”
“I know!” She threw up her hands. “You’re just worried, since all of my friends seem to bring an army of enemies with them. I can’t turn them away, though.” She sent Kit another one of her wary glances, the kind that said that she was verbally editing herself because of Kit’s presence. “Elena just needs a safe place to stay for a while. Mr.—ah, I was promised that no one will be looking for her.”
Hugh gave a forced cough. “No offense, Jules, but Mr. Ah’s track record isn’t the best, and I just got my cast off. I’d really like to stay off medical leave for a while.”
Releasing Theo, Jules propped her hands on her hips, looking ready to face off with Hugh, but then her gaze slipped to Kit again. “Could we discuss this later? Maybe after you check to make sure there isn’t an arsonist hiding in my house?”
After a moment of silent yet expressive shared glances between Jules, Theo, and Hugh, Jules’s hands slipped off her hips. “Fine. She’s in Sarah’s old room. Be nice.”
Hugh chuckled. “We’re always nice.”
Staring at Hugh skeptically, Jules said, “Theo?”
“We’ll be nice.” Theo moved toward the hallway, looking at Jules over his shoulder. “Stay in here. We’ll check the house and then talk to Elena. This won’t take long.”
“Want Justice to lead?” Kit asked, and his tail started whipping back and forth at the sound of his name.
Eyei
ng them thoughtfully, Theo shook his head. “We’ll do a standard search. Bring him along, though, and we’ll double-check anything he lights up on.”
Theo and Hugh worked together with the ease of two cops who’d done many, many searches together, and Kit stayed back, keeping an eye out behind them as she kept Justice from getting in their way. They searched a cluttered, ancient basement before working their way up. The house was charming, Kit had to admit, despite the fact that it looked like it was a lost nail away from collapsing on their heads. There were lots of small rooms and multiple entries that made the search tricky, but Theo and Hugh seemed to take it in stride. Kit could tell they were familiar with the place, and she wondered why Hugh knew the layout of Theo’s girlfriend’s house so well.
It wasn’t until they climbed to the second floor that Justice’s interest picked up, and he started pulling her forward down the hall. She made him wait until all the other rooms were searched and Theo waved her ahead of them before she allowed him to tow her to the last door on the left. Hugh and Theo took up positions to the side, their backs against the wall so they wouldn’t be visible right away. Despite Jules’s earlier assurances that Elena was sweet and shy, tension made Kit’s fingers tighten around Justice’s lead. As Justice snuffled at the bottom of the doorframe, Kit knocked. Her heartbeat accelerated. Her dog’s nose didn’t lie. Whoever had been at that arson scene was behind that door, and she could be about to come face to face with a killer.
Chapter 5
“Police,” she announced before taking a step back, pulling Justice with her away from the door. In the tense seconds that followed, she listened, wanting a warning if the woman behind the closed door was trying to slip out of the window or—much, much worse—racking a shotgun. The only sound was the creak of the floor and hurried, light footsteps.
The door swung open slightly, and a woman peeked out. She was tiny. There weren’t many adults that Kit had to look down at, but Elena was one of them. Kit guessed that the woman was no taller than five feet and probably weighed ninety pounds. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, with straight, brown hair and big doe eyes framed by about a mile of dark lashes. Kit understood why Jules felt so protective. The woman sent a worried look toward Justice, who’d plopped down next to Kit in an unusual display of self-control.