by Jenna Brandt
“I know you’re right, Adam. I won’t let it happen again.”
“Good; like I said, I want you to get that job here. I think you would be a great asset and as an added bonus, it would be nice to work together.” Adam glanced down at his watch. “I have a meeting before dinner. Before I go though, let me pray with you.” Adam reached out and placed his hand on Ted’s shoulder. “Dear God, I ask right now that You help my friend with his situation. You can help him through it and guide him. I pray Your hand be on him and Titan. Help him to show everyone here what I already know about him; he’s meant to be at DCSRA.”
Ted immediately felt better after the prayer. “Thanks, Adam. I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you at dinner in a little bit.”
As Ted took off to go get changed before dinner time, he wondered how his conversation with Deanna was going to go when he told her that things were going to have to change between them if he was going to do what needed to be done to secure his position at the academy.
Deanna had a long day at work. She had been tired from her trip, so when the calls stacked up in her queue, all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and fall asleep. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do that. She forced herself to handle all of the calls, finish her assistant work for the captain, and prep for the next day. By the end, she was dragging as she left the substation.
“You look awful,” Janet said with a frown on her face as she glided into the office. “Maybe you should go get a facial or something.”
“If I had the time, maybe I would consider it,” Deanna snapped, having no patience for the annoying woman.
“You should make time. If you don’t have your looks, you don’t have anything in this world.”
Deanna wanted to argue there were a million other things to have, like a brain, compassion, faith; however, Deanna knew all of that would be lost on her. She’d already tried to invite the other woman to church, to coffee, and even a movie with no success. She was certain it had to do with her viewing her as a threat. Deanna was not only one of the three women in the department, but also known to be the one the men tended to go after. It made Deanna direct competition for the woman who wanted all the attention for herself. It didn’t matter that Deanna never wanted it, and would gladly give it up if she could.
“Besides, with your boyfriend moving several states away, you need to get ready to find yourself a new man.”
“I’m not sure why you think that’s going to happen. Ted and I are still together.”
“Are you though? I mean, you’re not actually together anymore. You can call it that, but I think you’re both just pretending at this point.” Taking her seat at the desk, Janet added dismissively, “You should go. I have a call in the queue.”
Deanna was flabbergasted by the other woman’s snarky comments. Was that what everyone thought about her and Ted? Did all of their friends and his family think they were just pretending they still had a relationship? All this time she thought they were making it work. Were they just fooling themselves into thinking they had a chance?
Deciding she needed Ted to reassure her that they were in this together, she called him on her Bluetooth as she drove home. He answered the phone on the third ring.
“Hello,” he said, but she could tell from his voice, he wasn’t in the best of moods.
“Is everything all right?”
“Not really,” he stated in an irritated tone.
“What’s wrong?”
“I had a really bad day at the academy today.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Deanna said in a soothing voice. What she had to discuss could wait. She wanted to help him. “What can I do to make it better? Can I pray with you?”
“Look, Deanna, I appreciate you trying to help. The truth is, I had a bad day because I was exhausted from our weekend together, not to mention the extra time I had to spend staying up late to study after you left. It turned out to be my worst performance since arriving at the academy. My instructors chewed me out, Adam told me I wasn’t doing a good job, and I feel like crap.”
“I really am sorry, Ted. I had no idea my visit would cause this kind of problem.”
“Well, it did. And now I have to find a way to climb out of this hole it’s put me in.”
Deanna’s grip on her steering wheel tightened until her knuckles were turning white. “The way you’re saying that, it sounds like you’re blaming me for your problems at the academy.”
“I know it’s not fair, and I don’t want to put this on you, but I have to make some changes if I want this job on the DCSR team.”
Deanna inhaled sharply. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel herself sweating with dread. “Are you breaking up with me?”
There was a long pause on the other end. “No, I’m not saying that. I still care about you, Deanna, and that hasn’t changed; however, I need to focus on my time here at the academy. This is my career, my dream job we’re talking about. I have to make it my priority right now. Adam said if you cared about me, you would understand.”
The words felt like a slap across the face. Not only because it made her feel like she didn’t matter, but because it also made her feel like she was the reason he wasn’t succeeding.
Deanna choked back the tears that were forming, trying to keep herself from crying. She swallowed twice before responding. “I do care about you, Ted. You know that. If you feel this is what you need, then of course I will give you the space you need.”
Without waiting for a response, she quickly got off the phone. Rather than heading home, she turned her car towards the one place where she knew she could find a sympathetic ear. She arrived at Hayley’s house, and found herself knocking on the door a few moments later.
“What’s wrong, Deanna? You look like you’ve been crying?”
Deanna sniffed a couple of times, pushing the tears away with the back of her hand. “That’s because I just had a hard conversation with Ted.”
“Did the two of you break up?”
“Why does everyone keep assuming that?” Deanna asked with frustration. “To answer your question, no, we didn’t. He just asked me to give him some space while he’s in the academy. He said my visit caused him to mess up today.”
“Well, that wasn’t right of him to put that on you,” Hayley said, crossing her arms over her pregnant belly. “He’s the only one responsible for how he does while there.”
Deanna wanted to agree, but part of her knew that her visit didn’t help things. She had done it out of a need to see him, but she hadn’t really thought about how it would affect Ted or his time at the academy. “I wish I could agree with you, but I have to admit, I was selfish by deciding to go there. I ambushed him and basically forced him to spend the weekend with me by doing it.”
“Still, he can’t expect you to stay in a relationship with him like this. You deserve more than being with a man who only wants you around when it’s convenient for him. That’s not how a relationship works. You’re supposed to be there for each other during the good and bad times. When it’s easy and when it’s hard. He doesn’t get to push you away just because it’s suddenly difficult.”
“I know you have a point, Hayley. I’ve never wanted to admit this to anyone, but I love him. I can’t just end things because we’re going through a rough patch.”
“I can’t tell you what to do. You have to make your own decisions. I can offer to pray with you though.”
Hayley and Deanna spent the next half hour praying together. It didn’t fix the situation, but it did give Deanna a peace that confirmed she was doing the right thing by sticking by Ted. She wasn’t going to give up on love when she finally had it for the first time in her life.
8
After a week of struggling to get back on track, Ted finished out his second week climbing back to the top. Over the weekend, he spent every free moment that he wasn’t asleep, going over the new techniques and procedures he was learning. By the time the third we
ek started, Ted felt like he was ready to take back the top spot. He was glad he didn’t end up as one of the quarter of trainees that had already quit the academy and returned to their jobs. Another handful were still struggling, and Ted wanted to make sure he never ended up in that position again.
“Looking good, trainee. I think you’ve turned a corner,” Bilmont said with pride. “You might not fail me after all.”
“Don’t count your chickens yet, Bilmont. We’re barely halfway through the training,” Griffin said, coming up and bursting Ted’s bubble like he always did.
“He can count all the chickens he wants, Instructor Griffin. I’m not going to fail him, or any of you, for that matter,” Ted vowed.
“Keep telling yourself that, Trainee,” Griffin said before turning on his heel and heading towards the other side of the rubble training grounds.
Just as they were finishing up their second session, Deputy Commander Miller showed up and pulled their instructors aside. There was an animated discussion, with them gesturing several times back at them. After a few more minutes, they came over and told the trainees to huddle up.
“It seems there was a mudslide just outside Woody. No reported fatalities yet, but there are missing people, including two children. We’ve been called in to assist the local police department in their search and rescue efforts,” Dixon explained.
“What that means is that you will be working your first live call since starting the academy,” Griffin added. “This will test all of the new skills you’ve learned, not to mention your stamina. We expect you to do us proud and help find all of the victims.”
“You have ten minutes to grab anything you need, then report to the staging area outside the training center,” Bilmont said, gesturing towards the campus.
The trainees took off with their K9 partners and headed straight to the dormitory to gather their equipment. Ted grabbed his bag that was always ready to go, then made his way back to the designated meetup location. Everyone was buzzing around, loading supplies and dogs into kennels. Once they were ready to go, the DCSRA trucks took off and headed towards Woody.
Thirty minutes later, the team arrived in the town. The police department had their own staging area near the mudslide location. Uniformed officers as well as trained volunteers were getting assignments from the chief of police. He looked up with a look of relief on his face. “Good, the DCSR team is here. We could really use your expertise help. The mud that came down from the nearby hill wouldn’t have been a problem normally, but construction of a new school had disrupted the area. When the spring rains came, it took a section of the hill with it. We have six missing people, three adult males, one woman, as well as two female children. The mudslide happened a little over two hours ago, so the quicker we can find them, the better off for them.”
The chief went over the assignments with Dixon, Bilmont, and Griffin. They, in turn, assigned each team to the different areas of the grid.
“We will stay here and communicate with all of you via radio. Let us know if you have a possible location on any victims, and we will send further teams in to help with the rescue,” Dixon said. “Remember, you’re representing DCSR out there. Make us proud by finding all of those victims.”
Ted was assigned to the west side of the affected area. It was the last known location for the missing woman and two children. Though Ted had handled his fair share of search and rescue calls in Clear Mountain, this was the first time he was working with his K9 partner. Plus, there was the added pressure that he wanted to prove to his instructors he was capable of putting into practice their techniques in the field.
He gave Titan the command to search and they worked their way along the edge of the mudslide. There were pieces of trees and large boulders scattered through the area. They also found the edge of what looked like a small building. Most of it was covered by debris now, but from what he could identify, he thought it might be a shed. A little further down from the shed, Ted saw a piece of what looked like wood-siding from a house sticking up out of the debris. He guided Titan over to the area, using the leash to keep them close, but still giving his partner enough slack to allow him to smell the spot for clues.
Titan’s sniffing and snorting quickened, and his tail started to wag as they came closer to the piece of wood. As they came closer, he could see it was a roof’s edge. He followed it around and found a section of the house that wasn’t covered in the debris.
Titan barked a couple of times and pawed the edge of the building. Ted moved closer and started to move more of the debris away. It was a hard process, as it was sticky and clung to everything, including his gloved hands. The structure was definitely a house and he wondered if anyone could be inside. Titan continued to bark and paw at the area. “What is it, boy, what’s in there? Is it the family? Do you smell them?”
Titan barked two more times, convincing Ted he needed to let Command know they’d found something. He pushed the button on his radio. “Command, this is DCSR K-9 11, I’ve found what looks like a house that is covered in debris from the mudslide. My partner seems to think it’s worth investigating further.”
“DCSR K-9 11, last known location for the family was in that house before it was covered by the slide. It’s possible they could be trapped inside.” There was a pause from Command, giving him a chance to move away more debris until he found a window. He leaned forward and tried to look through the glass. It was too dirty to see anything inside.
“Command, I’ve found an access point. Advise if I can enter the premise to continue my search.”
Anxiously, he waited for command to respond. A few seconds later, Command said, “DCSR K-9 11, please advise us of your exact location before entering. We’ll send four additional teams to your location to assist, along with a dig crew.”
“Copy that, Command,” Ted said, opening the window. He quickly gave them his location before helping Titan through the window, before entering behind his partner. They slowly worked their way through the room, which from what Ted could tell was the attic. There were boxes everywhere, as well as furniture draped with sheets. They had to weave through all the items as they searched. As they moved further into the room, Titan barked again. There was a small, high voice that squeaked out, “Is someone there?”
A few more steps revealed something that made Ted’s heart race with exhilaration. Curled up in the corner of the room was a small figure. “My name is Officer Ted Hendricks. I’m here to help you. Can you tell me your name?”
“My mommy told me not to talk to strangers.”
Ted moved a little closer and was better-able to make out the details of the girl. She looked to be about eight years old, with long blonde hair that was matted and covering her face. Her blue eyes were peeking out between the strands, and she was shivering.
“Well, then I should introduce myself so I’m not a stranger. I’m a police officer, and so is my partner here, Titan,” he said, gesturing to his German shepherd beside him. He bent down and pulled his backpack around so he could open it. From inside, he pulled out a foil blanket and wrapped it around the girl’s shoulders. “Do you think you can tell me your name now?”
“I guess. My name’s Madison.”
“Can you tell me how you got up here? Are you all alone?”
The little girl nodded. “My mom screamed from downstairs for us to run to the attic because there was a bunch of mud coming down the hill. Abigail was supposed to be behind me, but when I got to the top of the stairs I realized she never made it.”
That worried Ted. If the rest of the family didn’t make it into the attic, where were they? Did they make it to safety before the mudslide hit this area? If they didn’t, would they be switching from searching to recovery efforts?
Ted pushed the button on his radio a second time. “Command, this is DCSR K-9 11, I’ve found one of the missing children inside the residence in the top floor. I haven’t located the adult female or the other missing child. How long before the other teams arr
ive?”
“Copy that, DCSR K-9 11, the other teams should be arriving in the next five minutes. Please mark your location with a flare so they know your point of entry. We’re also sending medics to assist with the treatment of the victim.”
Ted gave Titan a signal to stay. “I’m going to leave Titan here with you, Madison.”
“No, don’t go,” she whimpered out, reaching out and placing her hand on his knee. “I’m so scared. I don’t want to be alone.”
“You won’t be. Titan is a great friend. He’ll stay right by your side.” Ted pulled out Titan’s chew toy and gave it to him. It allowed Titan to relax and know he was off-duty for the moment.
Titan moved over and placed his head in the little girl’s lap, letting her nuzzle into the top of his head. Madison rubbed along his back with her hand.
“I’ll be right back,” Ted promised. He took off and headed back to the window. He pulled out a flare from his backpack, cracked it and placed it outside the window. Before he could turn around though and head back, two of the other DCSR teams arrived, including Mark Turano and his K9 partner, Jagger.
“Hey, Hendricks, we hear you located one of the victims,” he said with appreciation.
Ted nodded. “She’s inside at the other end of the room. I left her with Titan.”
“Medical should be here in a minute,” Grayson Stone, one of the other trainees, said as he came up next to Turano. His K9 partner, Ghost, was beside him. “Do you have a beat on where the other two victims are?”
“The girl said they were behind her but never made it up the stairs. I think that means they’re trapped somewhere in the house.”
“We should get in and look then,” Grayson said, helping his dog through the window and then climbing in after him. Mark did the same and soon the three of them, plus their two dogs, were inside the attic.
“Is that you, Officer?” Madison asked with hesitation.