“Maybe I should take Moose’s advice and head down to Florida for a while, do PT in the sunshine.”
“Oh, but then you’d have to be all bright and sunny, and that would seriously jeopardize the dark funk going on.” She picked up the Hot Pockets wrapper, raised an eyebrow, and then dropped it into the garbage.
“I think that belonged to Axel.”
“I’m a detective, Dawson. I can spot a lie.”
He managed a slight smile. “How are things down in the Special Victim Unit?”
“Lonely. Busy.” She wiped the island with a sponge. “There’s a BOLO out for Conan Sorros. He escaped custody on his way to Juneau a month ago.”
“That’s right. I can’t believe he got away after waiting all this time for trial.”
“The case against the family took a while to put together. It involves the murder of a DEA agent, not to mention a slew of other trafficking and drug crimes. One of the brothers had a plea deal in exchange for testifying, but he was murdered a couple months back. Rumor is that the DA is bringing in a secret key witness to get their testimony secured.” She held out a piece of leftover cheese to Caspian.
The dog just looked at Dawson, as if asking permission. “Go get the cheese, pal.”
Caspian stood up and moved over to Flynn, his entire body wagging. She fed it to him, petted his head. “Did Shep ever figure out who he belonged to?”
“Some guy in Minnesota, but his cell phone has been disconnected. So, he’s ours, at least until we can track down his original owner.”
“Did you get a breed on him?”
“Part black Lab, part Doberman. You can see the Doberman in the brown markings on his face. And his body is leaner than a Lab.”
Flynn crouched in front of the dog and rubbed both her hands behind his ears. Caspian leaned to one side and let out a groan. “Sounds like Axel when I give him a shoulder rub.”
“That’s too much information. I don’t need any details about your romantic life. I get enough TMI being his cousin, thanks.”
She rolled her eyes and got up. “Listen. The DA’s office will be calling you. If you want Ravak for first-degree murder, you’re going to have to testify. Otherwise, they’ll be downgrading to voluntary manslaughter. Five to twenty. But they’re saying the appearance of the SWAT team could mitigate the sentence with aggravating circumstances.”
He sighed. “I just ... I can’t...”
Her hand landed on his shoulder. “Okay. I get it. I just wanted to warn you, boss.”
He looked up at her. “I haven’t been your boss for a long time. Since you left the Investigative Support Unit and joined me at the SVU.”
“You’ll always be my boss,” she said and winked.
“Don’t.”
She laughed. Pointed at him, then headed toward the door. Turned. “Oh, by the way, Axel said that Deke Starr from the Copper Mountain sheriff’s office called him looking for you. Said he’d left a couple messages on your phone.”
He sank his head into his hands, bracing his elbows on the island.
Caspian came up, tail wagging. Put his head on his knee.
Everybody just needed to... Calm down. He wasfine.
“Wait—is he trying to recruit you?” She pulled out a stool. “Seriously?”
He sighed. “No. Maybe. I don’t know.” He turned to her. “I don’t know if I’ll be back in action down here—”
“People get knee replacements all the time—”
“My knee was completely blown out. It’s a little more than a knee replacement for a fifty-year-old.”
She held up her hand. “I know. I remember. It scared all of us to death. We were praying you didn’t lose your leg, but ... you’re seriously going to go from tracking down kidnappers and stalkers and rape victims to giving out parking tickets in Copper Mountain?”
