Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 80391 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80391 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Radar wasn’t your normal German Shepherd. He was pure black with longer, shaggy fur, but had the normal brown eyes, pointed ears, and sharp wit.
As I watched, Radar froze, and then sat before giving a loud woof.
Trance, who was slightly in front of Radar, halted immediately, moving his eyes from the front of him towards the car that he’d just passed.
Then he pulled a white towel off his belt loop that I hadn’t noticed before, and shook it in front of Radar, who immediately latched on to it and started tugging.
“Good boy,” Trance encouraged, tugging on the white torn cloth until he said a word in another language, causing Radar to stop tugging and drop back down on his hindquarters.
“What the hell?” I whispered to Kettle as I watched Trance circle the vehicle.
He reached for the radio at his shoulder and said something, but with all the commotion from the crowd, the police sirens that were coming into the parking lot, and the crackling of the fire now destroying my home, I couldn’t make it out.
“The dog found something,” Kettle explained, moving closer to Trance.
I reached out to touch Radar, as I’d done quite a few times before, but Kettle stopped me with a hand around my wrist.
“He’s working, don’t touch him.” Kettle said, receiving a thankful nod from Trance who’d heard the command.
At my wounded look, Kettle softened. “When he’s working, he needs to be focused on the task at hand, not on you. He won’t do anything to you, it’s just that Trance likes to keep Radar’s attention on work, and he’s in work mode right now.”
Chapter 6
Save a fire truck. Ride a fireman.
-Text from Adeline to Baylee
Kettle
“What’d he find?” I asked Trance, as we got closer.
Trance shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I called in the car’s plates to headquarters, and now we’re going to wait until we get permission, although, technically, we don’t need it since Radar found something.”
Two younger boys standing off to the side by the office were eyeing their group warily, drawing my gaze.
“Those boys over there are looking quite alarmed that you’re standing by this car.” I observed.
The car was a Volkswagen hatchback with spinning rims that probably cost a mint to buy.
Trance turned fully and faced the boys who, of course, took off running as soon as Trance saw them.
“Retrieve!” Trance barked as he ran after the boys.
Radar, who’d been sitting alertly on the ground at the back of the car, reacted instantly, taking off after the two young teens.
I stayed where I was. If I was needed, I’d be called, but for now, I only watched.
“Holy shit,” Adeline breathed as she watched Radar take down the first teen, followed closely by the second.
Radar was a fast dog.
He could run twice the speed of a person, without being winded.
“Yeah,” I agreed as Trance caught up to the two teens and Radar, calling the dog off instantly.
Trance cuffed them, leaving them on their stomachs.
Radar sat and watched as Trance was once again got on the radio.
Two hours later found Trance, Sebastian, Silas and me standing outside my place discussing today’s events.
“What the fuck happened?” Silas asked as I watched Adeline go into my apartment and shut the door.
My eyes went from the door, to the charred remains of Adeline’s apartment.
“Meth lab. The two I arrested were cooking it when I showed up. From what I can figure out, I interrupted them in the process. From what they told me, they bailed out the back deciding it would be best to torch the place instead of leaving evidence behind. I’d just walked back to the cruiser to call it in when it exploded.” Trance explained.
I nodded. “Matches up to what Adeline had to say earlier. She said she went down there and knocked on the door because she kept smelling chemicals coming up from her bathroom. When the smells got worse, after she confronted them, she called the police.”
Trance looked down at his boots as if contemplating whether to say anything, but he finally worked through whatever it was and spoke, making me feel a rage I’d never experienced before course through me
“Those two boys weren’t the only ones there. The other boy was the grandkid to the old guy that died in the apartment. That kid’s nowhere to be seen. Either he was in there when they blew it up, or was somewhere else while the other two kids waited for a chance to get to their car. Anyway, the two kids were spouting their mouths off about ‘some bitch paying,’ while I was questioning them. How she’d ‘get her due.’ I’d guess that was Adeline.”
“Fuck,” Sebastian growled.
“Do we know whether they were selling it all this time from the apartment, or whether this is a new thing?” Silas asked Trance.
Trance shook his head. “I don’t know. They clammed up about the time the other cops got there and I had to call Radar off. They weren’t very helpful after that.”
“It was new. I’ve never seen that car before today. It’s right behind where Adeline normally parks, and I’ve kept an eye open after the old guy died. Plus, Adeline’s never noticed the smell before today. She would’ve said something, or done something like she did today.”
My mind was whirling. Was Adeline in danger?
“Alright, well I need to get Radar back home and fed. My head is fucking pounding and I have to be at the school tomorrow with Radar for a drug search.” Trance said as he walked to his police issued SUV and let Radar inside.
He started the vehicle before coming back and offering a bag. “I called Viddy earlier and had a patrolman stop by her house for these. You might want to have Adeline call her so she doesn’t do anything stupid like come over here at midnight.”
I took the bag and gripped Trance’s forearm before giving him a half hug and a smack on the back. “Thanks man. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”
After Trance left, Sebastian and Silas waited until the tail lights of Trance’s vehicle disappeared before offering their own goodbyes.