Dakota stood to the side with Tank on a loose lead, watching people trickle by.
Tank’s nose was chuffing the air, looking for the scent that would get him play time with his favorite toy.
It was the typical medium-sized plane that brought people up from Colombia. There were a hundred and fifty-two on this flight. A group in red-and-white uniforms from WorldCares was coming through the door. This was the group that Kumar had targeted, and it was up to Dakota not to signal that information to Tank in any way. Dakota eased his body, maintained his breath, and started reciting soccer stats, focusing on forming a mental image of the numbers.
The group moving past looked exhausted.
One. Two passed.
Then, sure enough, Tank sat.
Jasper walked the man to the side.
Dakota reset Tank to continue his task. There would be no tug-of-war until Dakota was sure that there was counterfeit money present. Tank knew this. He was right back to work.
Four people walked by.
Tank sat again.
There was consternation in the group as they gathered against the opposite wall out of the way.
“What’s happening here?” the man asked as he was sent to stand near Jasper.
“We’ll explain in a minute,” Jasper said. “Raisin?”
Dakota redirected Tank to his task, and one more person from WorldCares was a hit.
The rest of the plane was clean.
Without speaking to his team, Dakota signaled to the airport security officer that he was ready. The officer escorted Dakota and Tank straight to the proper baggage belt.
Reaper trailed behind.
The moving bags really jazzed Tank, but he didn’t pick out a single scent. The group pulled their detained friends' gear off, and the security officer went over to ask for those bags, since they could only pass through security with their own belongings.
One of the people, obviously in distress, was on the phone explaining with broad gestures what had happened to them.
Dakota’s phone pinged, and he followed the map to meet up with his colleagues.
Reaper was watching his every move as they stopped in the doorway to assess before entering. The three WorldCares responders sat on metal seats. On the table were two bands of hundred-dollar bills, and some loose hundreds spread out along the edge.
“Scent chemical,” Dakota commanded and walked Tank into the room. Tank indicated on both banded stacks of bills and four of the single hundred-dollar bills.
Jasper put one through the identification machine, and it lit up as a counterfeit.
Dakota took Tank into the hall before they played their reward game of tug, with scritches and high-pitched praise.
“I’m interested to know why you didn’t give Tank an immediate reward once you saw the machine light,” Reaper said, his shoulder pressed to the wall.
From his crouch on the floor, rubbing Tank’s belly, Dakota looked over his shoulder. “Did you see their faces? I wasn’t doing a victory dance in front of those men. Is it wrong to ask Tank to wait thirty seconds when we’re not in training to show some humanity?” Dakota heard how that sounded, so he added,“Serious question here, Reaper. I don’t want to mess up Tank’s training.”
Chapter Seven
Rylee
Monday
Rylee tapped on the office door next to hers, then stuck her head in to see if Neesa, her co-director of operations here at WorldCares and, more importantly, her very dear friend, was up for an interruption.
