into a residential neighborhood.
Valerie pushed the talk button on her shoulder mic. “I’m on State Street headed south pursuing suspects. I could use some backup.”
“Captain McNeal is within a couple of blocks of your location,” came the reply from dispatch.
It was unusual for her supervisor to be out on patrol at this hour. As captain of the Special Operations K-9 Unit, Slade McNeal had more than the lion’s share of paperwork. Since his beloved K-9 partner, Rio, had been kidnapped by the syndicate, he had limited his time on patrol, utilizing Rio’s father, Chief, when needed. A snitch with a long rap sheet had revealed to police that Rio was taken by the head of the local crime syndicate to find something in the Lost Woods, a huge forest on the outskirts of Sagebrush. The snitch was later found dead. The syndicate’s structure was such that no one knew the identity of the leader, a man simply known as The Boss.
The loss of Rio over two months ago had been a blow to the whole department. These dogs weren’t just useful resources—they were partners and beloved pets. Even though one of McNeal’s well-to-do war buddies, Dante Frears, had offered a substantial reward of $25,000 for Rio’s return, so far none of the leads had panned out.
Lexi pulled hard on the long canvas leash. Valerie couldn’t trouble herself now with what McNeal was up to. After all, she had criminals to catch.
Lexi led Valerie through backyards and over fences, past living rooms with illuminated television sets and houses with dark windows. Though she saw no signs of the suspects, Lexi’s persistence told her they were headed in the right direction. The scent trail that a person in flight left was like a glow-in-the-dark line to a dog’s keen nose.
Lexi stopped suddenly in a yard that had stacks of roofing shingles piled on the walkway and a ladder propped against the roof. Valerie had noticed another ladder on the opposite side of the house, as well. The dog circled and sniffed the ground again. She’d lost the scent.
“What’s going on, girl?”
In the distance, she heard the alto barking of a German shepherd. That had to be McNeal with Chief. The insistence of the barking suggested that Chief was onto something.
Valerie talked to dispatch through her shoulder mic. “Be advised. I am at 620 Kramer. Something is up with Lexi. The trail may have gone cold.”
Agitated, Lexi ran back and forth in the yard, stood by the ladder for a moment and then put her nose to the ground again. What was happening?
She watched Lexi pace the yard, running in all directions. The dog stopped, lifted her head and let out a single “Woof.” She still had some kind of scent, but it was confusing her.
Chief’s insistent barking reached her. He had definitely alerted to something. But what...? As the realization dawned on her, Valerie pushed her talk button. “I think our suspects split up.”
“Copy that. We are sending another patrol unit your way. ETA is about five minutes.”
The bushes in the yard across the fence shook. Valerie lifted her head just in time to see a man emerge. The look of fear and guilt on his face told her everything she needed to know.
“Stop! Sagebrush P.D.”
The man took off running.
Lexi yanked on the leash, barking and pulling wildly as the man ran around the back of the house. Knowing she couldn’t crawl over the fence as fast as Lexi could jump it, Valerie clicked Lexi off the leash. The dog leapt over the fence and bounded after the suspect, her rapid-fire bark a clear sign that she was hot on the trail.
Her heart pumping, Valerie gripped her gun, prepared to run out to the sidewalk and through the gate to meet Lexi. She heard a scraping noise right before something crashed hard against her shoulder, knocking her to the ground.
Dazed by the impact, she stumbled to her feet. Shingles and a busted-open box spread across the walkway. She looked up. Was the second perpetrator on the roof? Had each of the three suspects run in a different direction?
Lexi’s barking pressed hard on her ears, but grew farther away. The dog could handle herself. With her shoulder aching and still a little fuzzy headed, she hurried most of the way up the ladder using the roofline for cover.
She lifted her head up a few inches, catching movement by the chimney. “Sagebrush P.D. Drop your weapon.” She ducked just as the whiz of a pistol shot shattered the night air. She fired off a round.
Silence.
She lifted her head a couple of inches. The suspect had come out from behind the chimney, aiming his gun at her.
He slipped on the sharply angled roof, falling on his side and dropping the gun. The gun skittered across the shingles and fell to the ground below. This was her chance. She didn’t want him escaping down the ladder she’d seen on the other side of the house.
Valerie scrambled up the ladder, attempting to balance close to the top rung and aim her gun at the same time. “Put your hands up.”
The man lifted his hands partway and then dropped them, dashing toward her. All the air left her lungs as fear enveloped her and she whispered a quick prayer. He intended to push the ladder away from the roof. She couldn’t crawl down fast enough. She grabbed the ladder with her free hand as the man bolted toward her. It had been a stupid mistake to go up the ladder. She’d break her back if she fell that far.
The suspect’s feet seemed to be pulled out from under him, and he was slammed facedown on the roof. Some unseen force pulled him backward away from her. As the suspect scrambled to his feet, she saw the silhouette of a second man, tall and broad through the shoulders.
The second man landed a blow to the suspect’s face, knocking him on his back. The perp kicked the man’s feet out from under him, and he slid down the steep angle of the roof toward the edge. He caught himself, pulling his body back up toward the suspect who sought refuge close to the chimney.
Valerie climbed onto the roof. Seeking to balance, she lifted her gun. “Put your hands up.”
This time, the assailant complied. “I don’t want to fall off here.”
Neither did she. Valerie looked down and behind her. How on earth was she going to get this guy off here without killing herself and without giving him opportunity to run away?
The man who had helped her apprehend the perp stepped out of the shadows. “Officer Salgado, why don’t you crawl down and wait at the bottom?” The man’s hand went to a holster on his belt. “I’ll stay up here and make sure this guy doesn’t get any ideas.”
She had no idea who this man was or where he had come from, but everything about him said law enforcement, and he knew her name. Still, this whole thing might have been a setup from the syndicate to get at her. “Who are you?” she shouted across the rooftop.
“FBI Agent Trevor Lewis. I rode in with Captain McNeal and saw that you were in trouble.”
He sounded legit. She didn’t have a lot of choices and would have to check his I.D. later.
“Okay. I’ll go down the ladder first,” she said.
Agent Lewis held up his own gun. “I’ll make sure this guy doesn’t try to get
