“Look for the horses first. Look for that most basic motivations for the crime. Those are the ones that usually bear fruit. Don’t look for the zebra first. It’s like if you go to the doctor sneezing and coughing with a stuffy head. The first thing the doctor doesn’t do is run a test for malaria. He diagnoses that you have the cold that he’s already seen twelve times. Once you’ve ruled out the horses, then you go looking for the zebra. With these missing child cases, it’s easy to get wrapped up in them emotionally.” He gazed at the board. “Lord knows I have.”
He turned back to Grant, who could only nod. The guys he worked with didn’t know his past, and he wanted to keep it that way. They didn’t need to, and it was something he didn’t talk about with anyone.
“Thanks,” Grant said, standing up. Dexter did as well, and they left Wes’s desk, heading out of the station.
The trip to the hospital didn’t take long. Dexter stayed by his side and was as well behaved as he always was. He and Dexter were a team, and they depended on each other. His dog was also his best friend, and he was almost always with him.
He checked in at the desk, and after finding out which room Bobby was in, took the elevator to Pediatrics and then went down the brightly painted halls to Bobby’s room, where the little boy sat up in bed, his mother in a chair nearby. “Hello, I’m Officer Grant, and I brought a friend.” He waited as Bobby broke into a grin. “This is Dexter.”
“Is he nice?” Bobby asked.
“Oh yes.” He turned to Dexter. “Free.” Dexter went right up to the bed and put his head on it. Bobby began petting him, and of course Dexter was in heaven.
“Can I get a dog like Dexter?” Bobby asked.
“Sweetheart, when you’re all better and ready to go home, you can get a dog.” The mother looked up at him with a combination of relief and residual fear.
“There’s a great dog rescue west of town. The man who runs it is a vet, and he has some great dogs. Not all of them are as big as Dexter.” He smiled slightly and watched Bobby as he petted Dexter and even got a kiss, which made him giggle. That was unusual behavior for him. Dexter was not a licker, but he must have known that Bobby needed some loving. Dexter was an amazing dog and incredibly intuitive in so many ways.
“Are you the officer who found Bobby?” his mother asked softly.
Grant nodded. “It was one of the neighbors who had the real idea. His name was Marty, and he told me that his house had a cistern, so we went inside the other house to look for one.”
“Were you talking about me?” Marty asked as he came into the room holding a stuffed penguin.
“Mr. Marty, you came back,” Bobby said with a grin.
“I stopped in yesterday, and Bobby and I had a good talk about penguins, so I brought this for him.” He handed it to Bobby, who hugged it, then placed the toy right next to himbefore going back to petting Dexter, who stood hind legs on the floor, front feet on one of the bed rails, and head in Bobby’s lap.
“So you both helped find him?” Bobby’s mother asked.
Marty nodded. “Grant was great. I found the door, and he got it open and got Bobby out. I have one of the same sort of cisterns under my kitchen, so….” He smiled at Grant, whose belly did a little flip.
“It was very much a team effort,” Grant said.
“Are you a police officer too?” she asked, settling in her chair. She looked shaken, and Grant had little doubt that she was probably ready to collapse after everything.
“No. I live down the street. I maintain computer systems and stuff like that. I happened to see what was going on, and Grant was willing to listen to what I had to say.” And because of the two of them, they were visiting Bobby in the hospital, and he was looking so much better than when Grant found him. He tried not to think about what might have happened if Marty hadn’t offered his suggestion. Though Grant liked to think that when he and Dexter searched the basement the second time, they would have found Bobby. Still, this was a great moment.
“I wanted to stop up and see how you were doing.” Grant rested his hand on Bobby’s small shoulder. “You be good for your mom.”
“Does Dexter have to go?” Bobby asked, his lower lip pooching out. It was hard for Grant to not smile. “Just five more minutes?”
Grant nodded. “We have to go back to work, trying to keep everyone safe,” he explained, giving Bobby and Dexter a few more minutes. When he had to leave, he called Dexter and headed for the door. Bobby’s mother got to her feet and came right up to give him a firm hug.
“Thank you for bringing him back to us,” she said softly and then stepped back, wiping her eyes.
“You’re very welcome. I’m just glad that Marty and I were able to help.” He smiled as she approached him and hugged Marty as well.
“Do you need to go too?” Bobby asked Marty.
“I do. But you have your mom, and she’ll make sure you’re safe. Okay?” Marty and Bobby did a fist bump, and then he followed Grant out of the room. “It’s so good to see him awake and doing so well.”
“Yeah, it is,” Grant agreed. He shivered uncontrollably, and Dexter whined at his feet. He strode down to the elevator and pushed the call button as the hall began to swim a little.
“Hey. What’s going on? Do you need something to eat?” The elevator doors opened, and Marty ushered him inside and pressed a button. When the doors opened again, he and Dexter guided him down a hall to the cafeteria and got him to sit down. Grant forced his mind to the present and away from the darkness that threatened to engulf him.
“Drink this,” Marty said and shoved a bottle of cold juice into his hand. Grant downed some of the juice and sat back, closing his eyes, willing the past to stay the fuck where it belonged. “Are you feeling better?”
