Season of Mercy

by Melissa Storm

  “Yes,” she said without meeting his gaze. “They were part of a dog-fighting ring and when I found out, I decided to save them.”

  His voice seemed far away, weakened by hurt. “Why didn’t you call the cops? Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I don’t know… I guess I was so blinded by my desire to help that I couldn’t see any other options,” she admitted, staring hard at her denim knees and trying not to wonder what Hunter must think of her now, to wonder which part of her confession would be the part where she lost his respect completely.

  Hunter cleared his throat, but it still came out strained and cracked. “Did you start the fire?” he asked.

  “No! I never wanted anyone to get hurt, especially not the dogs. That’s why I took them, so they would stop being hurt.”

  “The dogs from the fighting ring?”

  She nodded and pressed her nails into her legs hard so she at least had a different type of pain to focus on for a little while. “And Foxie. And Wolfie.”

  The air around them thickened like a suffocating blanket of smoke.

  “Foxie?” Hunter asked quietly.

  “Fanta, Joe Collins’s dog. I saw her in the pouring rain and thought she needed help, so I took her.”

  “In a red sedan.” This wasn’t a question, because finally Hunter knew. He knew what she’d done and hidden for what felt like an eternity.

  “Yup.” She forced herself to look at him now that she was free. Her part in this was over. Now it would be up to Hunter what happened next.

  He frowned and kept his eyes fixed on the floor as he continued to work something out in his head. “And you took Wolfie, too?”

  “He was the first one I took. He was chained to a stake all day with no food or water. It was hot, and he looked like he was suffering. I couldn’t leave him there.”

  “Why didn’t you turn yourself in after you took Wolfie? Why not end it there?” He glanced up at her but turned away the second his eyes connected with hers. Hunter couldn’t even stand to look at her anymore, and she couldn’t blame him. Not in the least.

  She dug her nails into her legs again. Tears stained the words that followed. “Because I love him and made a promise to him. I couldn’t let him get hurt again, and I couldn’t lose him. But I also couldn’t afford him, so a friend helped me steal supplies and then he sent his girlfriend to steal from my store, and it just became this huge vicious cycle.”

  “The guy with Tourette’s,” Hunter said with a creased brow. “The one I warned you about.”

  “It’s not his fault. I made my own decisions.”

  Hunter seemed angry now that there were others who could take the blame. “Did he help you take the dogs from the fighting ring last night? Is he the one who started a fire?”

  It would be so easy to say yes. She could tell Hunter wanted her to, that he wanted to fight for her, that if only someone else took the blame Sofia would still be who he’d always assumed she was. They could still have a chance.

  But that wouldn’t be fair to D-Man or the others. Even horrible, useless Preeti didn’t deserve to be set up like this. Sofia had made the decision to confess, so she would take the full burden of responsibility. And the full punishment.

  “No, I acted alone,” she said with a sniff. “But I honestly don’t know how the fire got started.”

  Both fell silent as they sat together in the near darkness. This time Sofia wasn’t afraid, because the worst had already happened.

  Now that her confession had been made, the only thing left was for Hunter to arrest her. So what was he waiting for?

  Sofia couldn’t stand the silence a moment longer. “Well, now you know…” she ventured, once again risking a glance at Hunter.

  Hunter’s face gave nothing away. He kept it flat, thoughtful, his hands folded beneath his chin. “Yes, now I know.”

  “So, what happens next?” Please tell me. I can’t take another second of not knowing.

  He sat up straighter and dropped his hands. “We find a place to take all these dogs.”

  “And then?”

  Finally, an emotion showed on Hunter’s handsome face, and it definitely wasn’t the one Sofia expected. Not rage, not sorrow, but rather a look of tenderness overtook his expression. He smiled and said, “We finally finish our date.”

  “What? Aren’t you going to arrest me?” Sofia pressed her fingernails into her legs again. This time it was to check that this was real and not some kind of crazy, demented dream.

  “I could,” Hunter admitted with a shrug. “I probably should, but I won’t.”

  Sofia broke down crying yet again. She felt all the things that Hunter was supposed to be feeling now. She was angry, she was hurt, but above all else, she was desperately confused.

  He scooted over until they were sitting hip to hip. “My job is to uphold the law,” he said softly, taking her hand in his.

  She nodded, just as confused as before. “Yes, I know. That’s why I thought you’d turn me in.”

  “My job is to uphold the law,” he repeated pensively. “But you know what? There’s a higher order than the laws of this city, state, or country. There’s the universal law, God’s law, the moral code—and according to all those, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

  Sofia ticked off the various commandments she remembered from her days in Sunday school. “Thou shalt not steal… Thou shalt not kill…Thou shalt—”

  “Thou shalt give yourself a break already. Look at you, you’re shaking.” Hunter put an arm around her, and she eagerly curled into his side. “I know you, Sofia, and after today, I know you even better. You’re not some ruthless criminal. You’re a beautiful woman with a kind heart. You wanted to save the world one dog at a time. Maybe you didn’t choose the best methods, but how does that make what you did wrong?”

  She wept into his shirt, unable to believe this was happening. That Hunter had not only justified her actions, but that he wanted to help her. “I broke the law,” she argued.

  “And saved how many lives?”

  “The fire—”

  “You said you didn’t start it, and I believe you.” He bent down and kissed each of her cheeks. His scratchy beard tickled, but still Sofia couldn’t bring herself to laugh, to truly believe the scene that was unfolding in this desolate warehouse that held living proof of her sins.

  “But how can you just forgive me after all I’ve done? After how much I’ve avoided you? Lied to you and everyone else?”

  Hunter stroked her hair, his heartbeat a steady, calming presence beneath Sofia’s cheek. “The same way you’re eventually going to forgive yourself,” he said. “You did the wrong thing for the right reason. As far as I’m concerned, that makes you one of the good guys. And you know what else?”

  Sofia lifted her head from Hunter’s chest and studied him through a curtain of unshed tears. “What?” she asked.

  “If you’d never taken Wolfie, we wouldn’t have met. Do you realize that?”

  She smiled as Hunter pressed his lips to her forehead. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

  “It’s everything you are, Sofia. It’s your enormous heart. I’m the one who doesn’t know how he got so lucky.”

  When he leaned forward to kiss her, Sofia didn’t resist. Hunter’s lips held healing, forgiveness, and maybe even love. They were exactly what she needed to finally begin to move past the guilt that had been eating her from the inside.

  Hunter pulled back, but his warmth and kindness remained. “Let’s get these dogs to a safe place, and then I’m going to take you on the best second half of a first date you’ve ever had.”

  Somehow, Sofia didn’t doubt that.

  She didn’t feel guilty about it, either.

  Sofia and Hunter returned to her apartment with a plan in place. Knowing she owed Liz a much bigger conversation, Sofia decided to instead call on her new friend, Scarlett, for help.

  “Easy peezy lemon squeezy!” Scarlett cried brightly when Sofia informed her
they needed a way to transport and house nine rescue dogs. Sure enough, a couple hours later, Scarlett arrived with her musher friend, Lauren, and one of the other guests Sofia recognized from the party Friday night.

  “Wait a sec,” Lauren said, pulling Sofia aside almost immediately after she’d entered the apartment. “Isn’t this the guy I had to save you from the other night?” She hooked a thumb at Hunter, who smiled and waved.

  Sofia laughed for what felt like the first time ever. “Umm, yeah.”

  “Well, that turned out differently than I expected.” Lauren laughed, too, then slapped her hands together. “Okay, enough about that. Let’s go rescue some dogs.”

  After everyone had been briefly reintroduced and Wolfie received a few extra reassuring pats on the head, the revamped rescue team began their mission. Sofia had no doubt things would go much better today than they had last night.

  “I’ll be taking the dogs back to Puffin Ridge,” Lauren informed Sofia as the group descended the stairs. “It’s off season, and we have the space. They’ll each get their own little dog house, and we’ll make sure they get plenty of exercise. First, though, Oscar here is going to check them all out and see if they need any veterinary care.”

  “And I’m driving,” Scarlett explained as she hopped behind the wheel of the giant sled dog truck. “For old time’s sake.”

  “Sofia,” Oscar called, motioning for her to join him, “would you drive with me?”

  She looked back to Hunter, who nodded and then climbed into the back of Oscar’s car, leaving Sofia to ride in the front. She wasn’t sure what the vet wanted, and she didn’t really look forward to finding out. At least she had Hunter on her side now that she’d been brave enough to tell him the truth. She could take Oscar’s wrath, disappointment, or whatever else he planned to throw her way.

  Oscar turned toward her with a placating grin Sofia saw through immediately. “I don’t know all the details, but you did a very good thing by saving these dogs. I’m not sure if Scarlett told you, but I run the Sled Dog Rescue Organization, and we are always looking for fosters to help take in and rehabilitate dogs.”

  “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” She held tight to the chest strap on her seatbelt, waiting for the rest of what he had to say, the reason for his fake smile.

  When Oscar had pulled onto the main road, he frowned and said, “Actually, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

  Sofia waited. Prayed.

  “Your dog, Wolfie. Did you get him from the same place as the others? From the fighting ring?”

  Sofia felt embarrassed by her actions all over again, but she was no longer afraid, especially not with Hunter sitting behind her, offering his silent support. “No, I… liberated… him from a house that wasn’t taking care of him.”

  “Ahh, that explains some things. He’s an illegal wolf hybrid, you know.”

  “Relax, Dr. Dog,” Hunter grumbled from the backseat. “I know about Wolfie, and I’m not turning her in. Anchorage PD, by the way.”

  Their driver sighed. “That’s not what I’m worried about. I’m worried about Wolfie.”

  Sofia’s breath hitched as she waited for Oscar to continue. After all this, could Wolfie still be at risk?

  “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but wolf hybrids… well, they’re illegal for a reason. They really shouldn’t be kept as pets because they’re still wild animals. They need to be free, not cooped up in some tiny apartment playing Fido.”

  Hunter’s hand tensed on her shoulder as she struggled to make sense of what Oscar was telling her. “But Sofia loves Wolfie. She’s gone out of her way to make sure he’s taken care of.”

  “I know she has,” the vet said with a sad smile. “That’s why I know she’ll consider what I said.”

  It took hardly any time at all for Sofia and the others to load the rescues into Lauren’s sled dog truck. Oscar did a quick evaluation of each dog and chose to bring about half of them back to his clinic for further treatment.

  Hunter held Sofia’s hand the entire time. It meant they couldn’t help as much as originally planned, but the others clearly had far more expertise than Sofia when it came to working with dogs.

  “Make no mistake,” Oscar reassured her when the last of the dogs were settled into the truck. “You saved their lives.”

  “Thank you,” she mumbled, the warning he’d given her earlier that afternoon ringing in her head. She thought she’d saved Wolfie, too—but according to Oscar, he was unhappy, or at least would be someday.

  “My offer stands,” Oscar continued. “I’d love to have you in the SDRO’s foster network. We could teach you more about rehabilitation. You could help so many dogs. Look us up online if you decide you want to go forward with it.”

  The three of them watched as Scarlett and Lauren backed their truck away from the warehouse and merged into the main traffic.

  “Well, I have to get to the clinic, but I’ll drop you off back home first,” Oscar said, clutching at his keys as he strode toward his car.

  “Actually, it’s not too far,” Sofia countered. “I think I’d like to walk.”

  Oscar opened the car door, but didn’t get in. “You sure?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Sofia nodded. “Yeah, it will be good to get some fresh air into my system.”

  Everyone shook hands and said goodbye, then Sofia and Hunter waited for Oscar to drive away before beginning their own journey home.

  “You’re very brave, you know.” Hunter fit his hand into hers and kissed each of her fingers.

  Sofia chuckled. “You risk your life every day for work. I just sell khaki pants.”

  “You know your work is much bigger than that store, and it seems like you’re just getting started. Are you going to take Oscar up on his offer to foster?”

  She kicked at a pebble. “I don’t know yet. Probably.”

  “What about…?” He let his words trail away and frowned.

  “Wolfie,” Sofia finished for him. “I don’t know about that yet, either.”

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he reminded her. “There are exceptions to every rule, and I can tell how much Wolfie loves you. He knows you saved him.”

  Sofia smiled thinking of how close she and her dog had become over the weeks. “I’m starting to think maybe he saved me, too.”

  “I don’t doubt that.” Hunter smiled a faraway smile as they continued down the sidewalk holding hands. “It’s the same with me and Scout. Did I tell you how I got him?”

  Sofia shook her head. She hadn’t run into the well-mannered German Shepherd since she’d first met Hunter weeks ago. She’d have to ask Hunter over for a doggie playdate once the two humans finished their first date redo.

  “I got shot…” Hunter patted his thigh as they walked. “Right here. It wasn’t even all that bad. A flesh wound, as they say. It stung for a bit, and then it didn’t. But the fear stayed. Every time I got within a few miles of the place where it happened, I would tense up and have a hard time breathing. PTSD is common in the field, but I felt so stupid. I’d hardly been scratched by that bullet, and yet I couldn’t stop thinking about what could have been if it had hit me just a foot or two higher. I had a near-near-death experience, which is nothing to write home about, except it kind of changed everything.

  “I almost quit the force, but then a buddy of mine suggested I get a therapy animal. I laughed at him, of course—but when he brought Scout to my place, I was a goner. Scout’s like me, you know. He trained to be a police dog, but his first real confrontation had him running and hiding. Just like the mess I’d become. It made us click. Little by little, I worked on making Scout better, and it made me better, too. Back to normal, except I had learned about the fragility of life. That there’s no point in wasting time feeling scared or guilty or angry. That what ifs are for suckers. That every day was a gift.”

  “Wow, I had no idea,” Sofia said once she was sure he’d finished his story. What she found
most remarkable of all was the entire time he narrated these hard scenes from his past, Hunter wore a genuine smile. It didn’t falter even once. Ever since she’d met Hunter, she’d hid from him when this whole time he was perhaps the one who could best understand her own pain, fear, and guilt.

  His smile gave way to determination as he set his jaw. “That’s why I wouldn’t give up on you, Sofia. Even when you kept pushing me away. There was something special between us from that very first day in the vet’s office, and I couldn’t let that go. I had to know you, to see if we could fit just like Scout and I did.”

  “And?” If her cold heart hadn’t already melted for Hunter, this would have turned it into a waxy puddle of goo.

  Hunter held their joined hands up between them. “Looks like a perfect fit to me.”

  Sofia laughed and let Hunter swing her into his side and reach down to take a kiss. It was so casual, so comfortable, so perfectly them—as if they’d shared millions of kisses before and would share millions more to come. She never would have guessed the cop and robber could find true love, but it seemed they were already well on their way.

  “Can I treat you to a late lunch?” Hunter asked as they strolled up to her apartment complex.

  She wanted to say yes. Wanted to say that the answer to all future questions he planned to ask her would be yes, too. But…

  “I can’t,” she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss him goodbye. “There’s something important I need to do first.”

  As she drove to Memory Ranch, Sofia thought about what she could say to convince Elizabeth Jane to forgive her. Still, she knew no amount of sorries could fix what Sofia had knowingly done to her friend. All she could really do was speak from her heart and pray that one day her friend might forgive her.

  Sofia also knew that Liz could very well refuse to accept her apology altogether. And she deserved no less.