Haydn was specifically an explosives-detection dog.
“We’ve got one or two other dogs in training with an aptitude for explosives detection,” Forte said finally. “We can make use of their training if we need to. In the meantime, we’re asking you to limit how much you all go out, and when you do leave, check in with us often. Maybe every half hour?”
Lyn’s eyebrows raised, but she didn’t voice an objection.
Elisa nodded. “I can text. I don’t think we need to make it a phone call every time, do we?”
Forte shook his head. “Couldn’t hurt to call if you’re gone a while, though.”
“For now,” Lyn agreed.
“So now that’s settled.” Alex pulled out his smartphone. “We’ve got at least one potential client coming on site tomorrow to stay in the guest cabin.”
Forte groaned. He’d forgotten.
“Beckhorn sent him, saying he was good people,” Cruz added.
Cruz’s friend at Lackland Air Force Base didn’t give his recommendation lightly. Beckhorn knew dogs and men. He was sending them a good potential owner for one of the dogs they’d trained up.
“He’s staying about a week, right?” Forte struggled to remember the details. “Looking to bond with one of the GSDs for search and rescue, some specialized attack work.”
It was a hard truth when it came to training dogs for military and law enforcement: These dogs would need to protect themselves and their handlers.
Cruz nodded. “I can meet with him and get him settled until we know more about Sophie’s situation.”
Forte sighed. “That’ll do for the next twenty-four hours or so.”
Rojas pitched in, too. “Once we know more, we’ll plan accordingly.”
*
Sophie looked around at her hospital room with its single chair, utilitarian tray table, and off-white micro-blinds. It could be so much more comforting with some sheer curtains and maybe a simple quilt.
Judicious attention to details could make a big difference. And right now, she could use those to cheer herself up.
Her car was blown to pieces. Literally. And she didn’t have it in her modest budget to buy a new one unless she delved into the one special nest egg she’d promised herself she’d never touch. If she’d lived directly in Philly, the loss of her car might not have been as big an issue. Walking was absolutely feasible in the city. Or if she’d lived directly in New Hope, it would also have worked out somehow, because one could walk from end to end of the small town. But no, her apartment was in the middle of suburbia, where it took ten to twenty minutes to drive anywhere, much less walk there, and the commute to her job was a minimum of thirty minutes by car.
Now that she’d had her visit with the radiologist, she’d had a good look at her ankle. Even if it wasn’t broken, it’d be a while before she could do anything but hobble from point A to point B. Driving, even if she had a car, would’ve been insanely awkward.
Fantastic.
“Anyone hungry in here?” Brandon was back at her door.
Her heart skipped a beat the way it always did when she saw him. It didn’t matter whether it’d been days since she’d seen him or minutes. The man had an impact on her, and she’d be damned if she let him know what he still did to her.
Brandon was a kind man, even if he had the hardened-soldier thing going on. He wouldn’t let their friendship continue if he knew he broke her heart every time she saw him.
Ugh. Pull it together, Sophie. You’re usually better than this.
Then again, she’d been blown up and rolled across asphalt, then poked and prodded at the hospital. Maybe she was entitled to a judicious amount of internal whining, so long as Brandon didn’t know about it.
“You’re still here?” She kept her words light, but hearing them, she clamped her mouth shut. They had come out sounding like she didn’t want him there. And that was absolutely not the case.
Brandon entered the room anyway. Since she was still sitting up, she managed to glimpse Haydn trot into the room on three legs.
“Before you freak out and ask what happened to Haydn, he’d been wearing his prosthetic long enough. I decided to take it off before it rubbed him raw.” Brandon skirted around the end of the bed and set a tray down on the table. Then he started to wrestle it into position closer to the bed so the tray was comfortably over her lap. “Standard chicken and veggies for dinner, but I managed to get you an extra helping of the red Jell-O.”
Sophie leaned to one side to get a better look at Haydn. “He’s okay on three legs, right? I’ve seen videos online of animals who can move around great on three legs, even two.”
Brandon chuckled. “Figures you’d like those videos. Yes, Haydn can get around just fine on three legs in a lot of cases.”
Haydn appeared at the side of the bed. Maybe she was projecting on the dog, but she sort of thought he looked happy to see her. She was definitely glad he was there.