“I’m afraid so.” She dried her hands on a dish towel. “I’m sorry, but this is another tip for the task force that needs follow-up. I’m sure it won’t take long. We’ll talk when I get back, okay?”
He frowned. “I was hoping—”
“I know.” She quickly cut him off. “I want to talk things through, too. Very much.” She reached for her coat. “Just remember, I’m a cop. This is my job, tracking bad guys and heading out to follow up on leads at a moment’s notice.”
He nodded slowly. “I understand what you’re saying.”
Did he? She wished she could be sure. Her ex had resented her job, and she couldn’t help but hope Jordan wouldn’t feel the same way. “Come, Bear.” Her K-9 jumped up, dislodging Cutie, who’d sprawled on top of him. “Time to go to work.”
Bear perked up at the words and trotted to the door. She didn’t hug and kiss Jordan on the way out.
The way she wanted to.
Thankfully, the drive to Denver didn’t take long. They were near an open field that wasn’t too far from the K-9 training center. Autumn pulled off to the side of the road next to River. He stood with Frankie, who sniffed the air curiously.
“You head north I’ll go south,” River said. “It’s muddy from the storm the other night.”
“Sounds good.” She opened the back hatch for Bear. Meeting him in the back of the SUV, she poured water in a collapsible bowl and offered it to him. “Are you ready, boy? Huh?”
Bear lapped at the water, then looked up at her expectantly.
“Are you ready to search?” Autum pointed to the western part of the deserted area. “Search napoo! Napoo!”
Beside her, River was going through a similar routine with Frankie. She set out to follow Bear’s zigzag path as he swept his keen nose along the ground. Her K-9 trotted over the rocky terrain and through mud without hesitation, totally focused on his job.
They spent a solid hour going through the area, but Bear didn’t alert. She glanced over at River on their way back to the SUV and the dejected expression on his face confirmed he and Frankie hadn’t found anything, either.
They met up at the cars, eyeing their muddy dogs.
“I think we should head over to the training center to give them a bath,” River suggested.
“Okay.” She tried to hide the fact she’d rather get back to Jordan’s ranch. Yet Bear could use a bath, and she wanted to be a part of the team. “I’d like to check on the new puppy recruits Emmett mentioned the other day.”
“I agree. Let’s go.” River turned back to his SUV.
Autumn knew Dodger Andrews had funded the training center through a generous donation. Emmett had mentioned this was available for all area K-9 units, and she had to admit, the place was impressive. There was a large indoor and outdoor training course along with several kennels. She’d met the head trainer, the kind and gentle Dev Singh, on her initial visit to the FBI offices for the task force meeting. That’s when she’d heard about the two German shepherd puppies, brothers, being trained by Dev to become future K-9 officers.
Ten minutes later, she and River arrived at the training center. They took their dogs into the kennel to bathe them, something Bear tolerated but didn’t love. Frankie the Lab apparently loved the water. When she finished washing Bear, he shook his body to get rid of the excess water, spraying her in the process.
With a sigh, she toweled herself off, then worked the towel over Bear’s fur. As she rejoined River, she found him talking to Dev, a fit, tall man in his sixties with salt-and-pepper hair. The head trainer had the new puppies on leash.
“How are things going with the puppies?” she asked with a smile. “They’re so cute! I can hardly imagine them as grown-up K-9s.”
A pained expression crossed Dev Singh’s features. “Chance is doing very well, but Trooper is a little slow to follow commands.”
“That’s unusual for German shepherds,” River said with a frown.
She nodded in agreement. “Shepherds make excellent police dogs.” She bent to pet them both, giving Trooper a little extra attention. “I’m rooting for you both to sail through the program, okay? You’re going to do great.”
Trooper wagged his tail. The puppies reminded her of Cutie. She was more than ready to head back to Jordan, although she somewhat dreaded the conversation that loomed before them.
Could they really make things work?
“I was just telling River that my retirement date is right around the corner, but no decision has been made yet on my replacement.” Dev shrugged. “There are three candidates, all very well qualified, but opinions are split three ways as to which one is the best.”
“That figures.” Autumn shook her head wryly. “Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll come to a consensus soon.”
“They’ll have to,” River agreed. Then he clapped Dev on the back. “We’ll miss you, though.”
