“Where’s Max?”
He snapped his fingers and let out a short, sharp whistle.
But Max did not come.
Cassidy dropped to her knees amid the wreckage they’d shaken off. “Here he is.”
Jake closed the gap between them in two long strides. Blinking rapidly and waving his hand to disperse some of the smoke, he peered over her shoulder and found his dog tucked under one of the benches. Max blinked blearily but made no move to crawl out from his hiding place.
“Come on, boy.” Jake reached for him, but his partner recoiled. “We have to get off this thing.”
She bit her lip as she stroked his partner’s fur. When she spoke, her tone was calm but urgent. “Jake, I think he’s hurt.”
He crowded into the cluttered space, gently urging her to move aside. When she pushed up onto one of the benches, he slipped into her spot and looked deep into Max’s dazed amber eyes.
“Hey, bud.” He ran a hand along the dog’s back and flank. Max flinched and bared his teeth when Jake’s hand grazed something sharp protruding from his hind leg. “Oh no.” His heart lodged firmly in his throat.
Max was his partner. They lived together. Ate together. Depended on one another. And he’d failed to keep him safe.
The dog blinked lazily, then rested his huge muzzle on his front paws again.
“Oh, buddy, I’m sorry,” he crooned as he slid his hand back up the shepherd’s back, looking for the lead attached to his vest. “I’m gonna get you out of here,” he promised.
The sound of running footfalls and motorized vehicles filled the eerie aftermath. The cavalry was coming, but he needed to make sure Cass was away from the area before their bomber figured out she’d slipped free of his trap. And he had to get Max out into an area where he could check his wound.
Glancing around wildly, he spotted her blazer. “Can I borrow your jacket?” He nodded toward her. “I need to muzzle him so I can l lift him.”
Cass shrugged out of the jacket. “Muzzle him? Are you afraid he’ll bite you?”
“He’s hurt and in pain. I’d bite anyone who tried to move me, too,” he said, speaking in a reassuring lilt meant to soothe both woman and dog. “Toss it to me, then jump down. Try to stay toward the back of the ride until we can scope out who’s out there.”
To his relief, she didn’t argue with him. He heard the slap of her feet hitting asphalt. Slipping the jacket over his dog’s head, he spoke in a firm tone as he slid one of the sleeves up over the shepherd’s powerful jaws. “Only for a minute, buddy.”
The dog’s growl of displeasure dissolved into a keening whimper as Jake slid his arms under Max’s lax body and rolled him up against his chest. Bracing their combined weight against the bench opposite, he levered himself onto his feet, holding his ninety-pound partner in his arms.
“Hope you had fun while it lasted,” he huffed as he shuffled to edge. “We’re never riding one of these things again.”
Max let out a yip when Jake stepped down onto solid ground as gracefully as he could. “I know. I know,” he huffed consolingly. “I’m so sorry.”
He turned toward the rear of the ride and found Cass waiting for him. She’d positioned herself between two of the trailers holding massive generators, her back against one wall, as she swept the vicinity with worried, wary eyes.
“You made it,” she cried as he approached.
“We made it,” he said to the dog as he bent to lower Max to the ground at Cass’s feet. The moment he slid his arms out, he plucked the jacket off the dog’s head. “I’m sorry,” he said again, apologizing for both the injury and the indignity.
Max tipped his head back, staring at Cass. Jake couldn’t blame him. Filthy, bruised and bedraggled as she was, seeing her without the pack strapped to her back was the best thing he’d seen all day.
“Hey.” She dropped to one knee beside Max’s head. “Such a good boy,” she said, reaching out to stroke the black stripe on the top of his head. “So brave.”
“He always gets the girl.” Jake was unable to suppress his smile as he said it. If he was going to lose Cassidy’s heart to anyone, he preferred it be Max.
Jake checked the dog over, running gentle hands through thick fur. He grimaced when he spotted the piece of mirrored glass lodged in his partner’s upper leg. “I’m going to get you fixed up.”
He patted down his vest pockets. When he found a treat and offered it to Max on his palm, the dog sniffed it, then turned his nose up. “Boy, you are hurt,” Jake said as he put the morsel back in his pocket. “Okay, we need an EMT.”
“I’ll get one.”
Cassidy started to rise, but he caught her wrist. “No. I think you should keep a low profile. Let him wonder if you’re trapped in there.” He jerked his head in the direction of the wreckage.
