was shaking his head. “No. I don’t ever want to forget.”
A sense of melancholy enfolded her. She had never come close to finding the kind of love and devotion this man held for his late wife, nor did she ever hope to. A lifelong commitment was the kind of thing dreams were made of and she knew better than to entertain such fancies.
She had her job, her dogs and a career many people coveted. Heartfelt prayer had led her to Desert Valley and circumstances were keeping her here. That was enough. It would have to be.
A sidelong glance at Ryder convinced her further. He needed her help and that of the dog she was preparing for him. Call it a job or a ministry or whatever, it was why she was where she was at this moment in time. She would not waste the opportunity.
While it was wrong to think of hugging away his pain, it was right to support his rise in rank. Merely the fact that he had been promoted to police chief while still technically a K-9 cop was a wonder. Keeping him active and qualified with a dog for as long as he wished to be was up to her.
She closed her eyes for a moment and thought. Father, thank You. Please stay with me.
“You okay?” Ryder asked.
“Fine.” Her voice had a catch in it the first time so she repeated, “Fine.”
“Do you want me to drop you back at the training center or take you home?”
“Home, please,” Sophie said. “I want Phoenix to get used to living with his handler again. We may as well start right away.”
“You won’t take any unnecessary chances? Promise?”
“Cross my heart.” She made the motion.
“Okay. I’ll go in ahead of you and check your house.”
Her “No,” came easily.
“No?”
Sophie was nodding. “Thanks, but no thanks. That won’t be necessary. If there’s anything wrong at my place the dog will alert.”
“How? By ducking and shaking the way he did at the depot?” The chief sounded cynical.
Reminded of the shooting incident and the way her own hands had trembled in its aftermath, Sophie covered her emotions by shrugging and saying, “Whatever.”
To herself, she added, That will make two of us feeling fearful. All her previous efforts to escape the rigors and threats of active law enforcement had been rendered ineffectual the moment those shots had been fired. If she had not been going home with a dog, traumatized or not, she might have welcomed human intervention.
Ryder was adamant. “Look. Until we know whether or not the attack on you was random, I’m going to pull rank. I’m inspecting your house when we get there. Is that understood?”
Sophie was so relieved she nearly sighed aloud. Instead, she purposely pouted, scooted lower in the seat and folded her arms, making sure her courageous image remained unspoiled. “Yeah, I get it.”
In truth, she was thankful. The house she’d been renting for several years sat on a double lot on East Second Street and backed up to undeveloped land, a quiet location that had seemed ideal until she’d started feeling vulnerable.
Right now, she’d have gladly settled for high stone walls instead of wire fencing, and maybe a turret with an armed guard or two, preferably one like Ryder Hayes.
If he turned up anybody hiding in her house, waiting to hurt her, she didn’t know what she’d do. But she was pretty sure she knew what Ryder would do—whatever it took to see that she was taken care of.
Ryder had figured Sophie’s objections to his entering her home had been based on its messy condition. One look had immediately changed his mind. She was a good housekeeper. The dishes were washed, the bed made, and a vacuum cleaner stood sentinel in a corner of the living room. There were slipcovers on her padded furniture and an extra throw on the sofa. He could understand that when a person kept bringing new dogs home.
Satisfied that she’d be fine, he divided the remainder of his day between his office and the depot crime scene. He was a methodical investigator. Usually. This time he felt as if he was missing something, some clue that would better explain why Sophie had been targeted. But what?
After being fooled so thoroughly by Carrie, he found himself mistrusting everyone, a trait which had gotten him into hot water with Sophie after her predecessor, head trainer Veronica Earnshaw, had been murdered at work. Unwarranted suspicion and hurt feelings at that time meant he’d have to be doubly sensitive about how he chose to dig deeper into Sophie’s past. Looking for someone who may have held a grudge since her days as a police officer was going to be his first objective.
The most logical choice was to simply question her, although he hadn’t gotten very far when he’d tried that before. There were cut-and-dried facts in her file, sure, but that wasn’t the same as getting her input on old cases.
Planning to speak with her the following day, Ryder put Titus in his car and started for Lily’s babysitter’s house. Passing the veterinary office adjacent to the training center, he did a double take. There was only one old car he knew of that lacked a backseat and was decorated with decals of various dog breeds. Sophie Williams was out and about.
He parked at the curb. Bypassing the deserted front counter he headed down the hall to the exam rooms. Phoenix was perched on a stainless steel table while Sophie comforted him.
Her eyes widened. “Oops. Caught me.”
“You promised me you’d stay home today.”
“I believe I promised I wouldn’t make any unnecessary trips.” She’d looped an arm over the trembling dog’s shoulders while Tanya Fowler, the veterinarian, held a stethoscope to his ribs.
“This is necessary?”
“Yes,” Sophie replied.
“And why is that?”
“Well, you wouldn’t want a sick dog to contaminate our working teams or facility, would you?”
He eyed the shaking canine. “He’s sick?” Judging by the way Sophie’s cheeks bloomed even before she answered, he doubted it.
“Um, no, Tanya says he’s healthy.” Sophie brightened. “But you have to agree. We did need a professional opinion.”
“And now we have one. Let’s go. I’ll follow you home and check the place again.”
“Don’t be silly. There’s no reason for you to go to all that trouble. I told you, I’m armed.”
“A handgun is no defense against a rifle unless your attacker runs out of ammo and tries to club you with it.”
The face she made at him was hilarious. Rather than smile and lose authority he turned away and pointed to the door.
Although
