She blocked all other thoughts from her mind as she checked the equipment on her belt. Be methodical. Be thorough. Responding to a crisis required using muscle-memory skills and daily mental focus to get into the right frame of mind.
Her weapon was loaded and holstered, with an extra magazine attached. She checked her Taser, flashlight, pepper spray, handcuffs, and remote-control button that would allow her to release Hugo from the rear of her patrol vehicle even if she was out of sight. She looked at it a moment and then took the button off her belt and shoved it into her bra.
She was a police K-9 officer. She was ready to answer a call for help. Search and rescue. Hugo was part of her definition of herself as a K-9 police officer. They were a unit: one.
She refused to second-guess herself as she strapped her belt on. When she was certain she had everything she needed, she grabbed her Kevlar vest and windbreaker with MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE stenciled in block letters on the back.
She strapped Hugo’s K-9 police collar on.
They’d been inactive for two long boring weeks, while she was a desk jockey for her unit. It wasn’t punishment, her sergeant assured her. But it felt like punishment. The department was trying to wait out the notoriety that had put her face all over the media.
The latest episode of Shajuanna’s reality show, the one showing Cole’s cover being blown, had garnered the highest ratings of any cable show that week. She had a hit show on her hands. Moreover, Shajuanna was now an A-list celebrity, making all the major network talk shows, morning and evening, giving her a forum for her once maligned fighting-dogs rehabilitation efforts. And a new platform, one that promised that a portion of the proceeds from Eye-C’s new album would go to start a legal fund for people who had been falsely profiled for crimes they didn’t commit. According to entertainment media, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Cole certainly didn’t expect a note from Shajuanna, thanking Cole for her part in making her show a hit, but Cole felt a little better knowing that the worst day of her life was balanced by Shajuanna’s new success. After all, Shajuanna was a wronged party in all this. So far, the threats about lawsuits hadn’t been followed through. Maybe they were even.
Cole blew out her breath. Even so, she could do with a little peace and quiet.
There’d been a lot of teasing to face on the job. Hard, merciless teasing. But behind it she eventually noticed a grudging admiration that she had been tapped for a federal task force when none of them had been. The more she smiled or ignored the taunts of the jealous, the more a kind of respect grew around her. It would wear off. Such things did. But for now, she wrapped it around her like a life jacket. The experience had isolated her and she wasn’t sure when and if she would ever feel completely part of her department again.
She couldn’t talk about the ongoing investigation, couldn’t even indicate where and what she’d been doing, even though she and Scott had broken the case after they were officially relieved of their duties. The main culprits behind the puppy-mule trade had not yet been identified but things were in motion for that to happen.
As she faced her fourth and final night of her first weekly patrol after more than a month off the streets, she tried to look on the bright side. At least while doing night patrol she wouldn’t have to deal with the jokers or tolerate the curious stares of the envious. She was still too raw to put any of what had happened into perspective. She just needed to get through the night.
So, maybe she wasn’t cut out to be a badass after all. Not everyone was. That didn’t mean she couldn’t do her job, and do it well.
Finally she reached for her cell phone. Scott had left her a text. It said GOOD LUCK. He, too, was officially back on duty after two weeks of riding a desk. Tonight, they were both going back to work.
*
“So then I said, ‘Not if you want to keep both of your hands.’ Taser must have read my mind because he lunged, barking and showing every scary tooth in his head. That’s when the suspect decided that being arrested was going to be the better choice.” Sandra Martin’s laughter was as strong as the paper cup of coffee she held.
“At least you’ve seen some action.” Cole anchored a hip on the edge of Sandra’s cruiser. “My patrol so far this week has been quiet as a grave.”
Sandra was the other female K-9 officer in the Montgomery County Police Department. Her partner was a golden-pelted Malinois named Taser. She’d met Sandra coming out of an all-night convenience store located where their patrols intersected. Cole was there to take a bathroom break and catch her own cup of coffee.
The radio crackled on Sheila’s shoulder. After a brief exchange she shoved her braids back up under her hat and picked up her to-go cup from the hood of her cruiser. “I’m out. Some of us got a job to do.”
Cole nodded. “See you this weekend for softball practice?”