As he approached the turnoff to Blank Hill Road, the squirrelly waitress popped into his head…again. For some reason, he was thinking of Jules with unsettling frequency. Theo pictured her smile after he’d told the shady stranger at the diner to back off. It had transformed her face, turning her from pretty to flat-out beautiful.
He realized that he’d been slowing down, as if he was going to turn toward Jules’s house, and he made an annoyed sound as he pressed harder on the accelerator. This preoccupation with Jules had to stop. Despite his resolution, though, he couldn’t help but glance in the side-view mirror to catch the last glimpse of the Blank Hill Road sign.
Maybe he should swing by her place after the call was over. After all, he’d be driving right past again. The house she was renting was isolated, and it was obvious that she was running from something—or someone. He’d do a quick check on her place and then leave. Jules wouldn’t even know he’d been there.
His breath came out in a huff as he got close to the scene. He needed to stop obsessing. Her suspicious behavior just screamed that she’d be trouble, and his life was enough of a mess right now. If only she hadn’t smiled at him like that…
Theo cut his siren as he turned onto the road leading to Green Willow Lane but left his overhead lights flashing until he pulled up behind Hugh’s squad car. The September sun was starkly bright and warm. Theo automatically checked to make sure the window fan ventilating the backseat was on and then froze. How many times had he done the same for Goose? Shaking off the nostalgia and grief, Theo strode toward Lieutenant Blessard, the incident commander. As he passed Hugh’s squad car, Lexie, Hugh’s K-9 partner, barked twice.
“Bosco!” The lieutenant strode over to meet Theo. “You got Don Baker’s dog with you? The search warrant just came through.”
With a tight nod, Theo turned and returned to his squad car. Lexie stayed silent that time when he passed Hugh’s car. As Theo opened the back door and reached to attach the lead to the dog’s harness, Viggy flattened his belly against the floor. Taking a step back, Theo eyed the dog. Vig was the picture of misery.
“I know, buddy,” Theo said softly. Every time he looked at Viggy, Theo was hit with a stab of grief. The dog acted exactly how Theo felt. There wasn’t time to wallow in their mutual sadness, though. They had a job to do. Their fellow cops’ lives depended on him and Viggy doing what they were trained to do, even if their hearts weren’t in it.
“Let’s go to work.” Although he tried to infuse his voice with excitement, his tone remained flat, as did the dog. “C’mon, Vig. Out.”
Theo pulled on the lead, but Viggy resisted for so long that Theo began to worry he’d have to lift the seventy-pound dog and carry him to the scene.
“Viggy…” He hauled on the leash again, and the dog reluctantly climbed out of the car.
“What’s wrong with him?” Blessard asked from just a few feet away. Theo stiffened. He’d been so occupied with getting Viggy out of the car that he didn’t even notice the lieutenant approaching.
Rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, Theo kept a tight grip on the leash to prevent Viggy from slinking underneath the car to hide. “He’s been this way ever since Don…” Theo had to stop when Don’s name caught in his throat.
“Yeah.” Blessard eyed the dog with sympathy. “Think we were all knocked sideways by that.”
Clearing his throat didn’t seem to help move the impediment. “Ready?” he asked gruffly, wanting—no, needing—to change the subject.
“Let’s do this.”
Theo squared his shoulders and walked up the weed-choked two-track that led to the compound gates. The sun lit the ever-present mountain peaks towering over the trees, turning the whole scene into a postcard. Holding back a cynical snort, Theo glanced behind at a plodding Viggy. The two of them were as far from a picture-perfect pair as they could get.
With a sharp shake of his head, Theo tried to refocus. They just needed to pull themselves together long enough to go in, find the explosives—if there were any—and get out. But he couldn’t stop himself from glancing back at the lackluster dog again, feeling an echoing pang of emptiness.
Yeah, this is going to be bad.
*
“Schwartz is on the phone with one of our negotiators. Said he’s trying to convince Romanowski—our robbery suspect—to voluntarily come out and talk to us.” Blessard spoke quietly, his usual carry-through-the-crowd voice muted. “Glad Schwartz didn’t manage to talk him into that yet, though. We’ve been waiting awhile for a way to get a look inside of that place, see what kind of toys our buddy Gordon and his minions have been collecting.”