Page 19 of After the End
“Thank you.” The cones reminded Chris of what the cop had done. “You saved Daisy’s life.” Shifting so the puppy was held against his chest by his left hand, Chris held out his right. “Thank you.”
“Yes.” Daisy, a dog in each arm, joined them. “Thank you. That was incredible. We’d be dead if it wasn’t for you.”
Theo seemed uncomfortable as he shook Chris’s hand. “You okay?” he asked gruffly, looking at Daisy.
“Fine, thanks to you.” She smiled, but it faded as she looked at the single puppy in Chris’s arms. “Where’s the other one?”
“I’m sure she’s close,” Chris said. “She was by the pickup last I saw her.” He circled around to the other side of the truck as Daisy headed in the other direction. Even as Chris searched, he couldn’t stop checking on Daisy. To his surprise, she seemed calm—much calmer than he was. It had happened so fast. In such a short time, she’d almost been killed twice. His heart wouldn’t be able to take a third scare. He kept looking around, hunting for precariously hanging rocks and listening for oncoming cars, tensing at every sound and flash of movement, overly alert to any danger.
“Found it,” Theo called from where he was setting up cones seventy-five feet away. He strode toward Chris, the puppy cuddled against his chest.
“How’d she get all the way down there?” Daisy asked, hurrying toward them. Chris was thinking the very same thing.
“Hitched a ride in a cone.” His voice changed to something so close to a croon that Chris had to duck his head for a moment to hide his smile. “Little troublemaker.” For the first time, the angry-looking cop appeared slightly…softer. In fact, he was almost smiling. The puppy looked even tinier than usual snuggled against his uniformed chest. Despite Theo’s gruff manor, he held the dog like she was fragile and precious. As he stroked her, the puppy’s eyes lowered to half-mast in delight. When Chris glanced over at Daisy, she was staring at the cop, a sappy look on her face.
Chris poked her in the side.
“Hey,” she complained, but the poke had worked, since she looked at him. “What was that for?”
He just raised his eyebrows before reaching to take the puppy from Theo. The other cop seemed reluctant to let her go. Chris glanced over at the squad car, on which “K9 Unit” was printed in smaller letters under “Monroe Police.” There was a ventilation fan installed in the backseat window, but no dog.
Looking back at Theo, he saw a flash of grief touch his expression as he gave the puppy’s head a final stroke before handing her over.
“When did you lose your K9 partner?” Chris asked quietly, accepting the dog.
Theo’s eyes widened for a second before his scowl snapped back like a mask falling into place. “Last month. Cancer.”
Daisy sucked in a breath. “Oh, no.”
“I’m sorry.” Chris felt helpless. He knew there was nothing he could say to even put a dent in Theo’s grief.
“Thank you.” His tone was expressionless again, but Chris knew better. The guy was obviously torn to pieces.
Lights flashed as another squad car joined them, this one stopping next to the cones. “Nice placement, Theo,” the driver—a cop with a shaved head—shouted from his open window, amusement clear in his voice. “You should teach a class. Directing Traffic by Dumping Cones in a Big Pile 101 or something.”
Theo rolled his eyes, but his expression lightened minutely, and Chris felt better. He had support from his cop family. As Chris knew from personal experience, that made all the difference. He glanced down at Daisy and saw she was once again staring at Theo, her eyes glassy with tears. Her mouth was tight, and the scrape on her forehead stood out starkly against her pale skin. It had already been a long, stressful, traumatic day for her, and they hadn’t even gotten to the vet clinic yet.
“Mind if we take off?” he asked.
Theo pulled his notebook out of his pocket. “Cell number.”
After Chris rattled it off, Theo dismissed them with a jerk of his head.
“Thank you again for saving my life,” Daisy said.
“Yes, thank you.” Chris wished he could put an arm around her shoulders, but his hands were filled with puppies.
Theo waved off their thanks, returning the notebook to his pocket as he turned and stalked toward the other officer.
Once Daisy settled into the passenger seat of the pickup, Lemon and all three puppies on her lap, Chris carefully closed her door. Climbing into the pickup bed, he chucked the larger rocks and branches over the cliff. Cleaning out the dirt and small rocks would need to wait, but he wanted to lighten the load for the remainder of their trip.
As he took his seat in the cab, he glanced at Daisy in concern. Her head was down so her hair hid her expression again. “Dais? You okay? I know I’d promised to turn around and go home at any time, but there’s a bunch of boulders in the way now.”
A laugh burst out of her that turned into a sob halfway.
“What’s wrong?” Needing to see her face, he tucked her hair behind her ear. “Are you in pain? Did you get hurt when Officer Bosco tackled you?”
“No.” She impatiently brushed the tears off her cheeks, looking annoyed when more took their place. “Sorry. I’m okay. It’s just sosad. His dog died. Hispartner. Should we give him our puppy?”
