Megan
It was a busy week.
While Dub recovered from his injuries, Leandro Silva was treated for fractures in both his radius and ulna, as well as several broken fingers, and taken to jail.
The remnant of chain on Silva’s wallet was found to match the section extracted from the neck of Brian Keith Samuelson. Multiple individually bagged hits of meth were found in Silva’s Subaru, which was discovered parked down the street from Meemaw’s Day Care. Fingerprint analysis indicated that Samuelson had touched each of the bags in Silva’s possession. This evidence told us that Silva had killed Samuelson for his meth stash.
After days in ICU, Mr. Prentiss rallied and was released from the hospital, expected to eventually make a full recovery from his gunshot wounds. He and his wife positively identified Leandro Silva in a lineup. When I learned that Silva had worked as a baggage handler at DFW airport, I passed this information on to Mr. and Mrs. Prentiss. Turns out they’d loaned their pricey Moncler suitcase to their daughter, who hadn’t removed their address label from the bag before checking it for her flight. Silva had evidently picked his burglary victims based on both the location of their homes and the quality of their luggage. Of course he hadn’t realized when he’d ripped the address label from the bag that it wasn’t Mr. and Mrs. Prentiss who’d boarded the flight, but their daughter. Moreover, the gun Silva had used in both the Prentiss burglary and the invasion at Meemaw’s Day Care was identified by the Harringtons as one of the firearms stolen from their garage. With so much evidence against him, Leandro Silva was looking at a life sentence and then some.
The fourth looter was located and brought in after his girlfriend, who lived at the same apartment complex as Gallegos and Duong, placed a call to police. That would teach Marquise Polk to step out on his woman.
All in all, it was a good week for law enforcement.
Late Saturday morning, Seth, Blast, Brigit, and I set off for Wes and Trent’s house in Fairmount with a surprise for Dub. That surprise currently stood in the backseat of Seth’s Nova, her tail wagging tentatively as she looked out the window, her furry brow furrowed, trying to figure out where she was being taken.
“It’s okay, girl,” I reassured her, adding a scratch under the chin as well. “We’ve got a surprise for you.”
I’d gone to the animal shelter earlier in the week to see if they had adoption records for Velvet, the dog who’d been seized years ago when Dub had been arrested for buying meth for Andro. The staff had provided me with the name, address, and phone number of the man who’d adopted her. Though I’d merely hoped the new owner would allow Dub a visit with the dog, the man had hinted that he’d be willing to hand over the dog if Dub could take her.
“I have a new job and travel extensively,” the man said. “It’s not fair for Velvet to spend so much time at the kennel.”
I’d checked with Trent and Wes, who were thrilled with the idea of reuniting Dub with his beloved pet.
Trent, Wes, and Dub were shooting baskets in their driveway when we pulled up. I was glad Dub felt up to having some fun. He deserved to enjoy what was left of his childhood.
Jenna sat on the front steps with a book. Looked like her parents had relented and let her date Dub now that he’d proved himself a hero.
Dub glanced over at the car, a quizzical look on his face. Amazing how much younger he looked with a clean-shaven face and the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders.
I climbed out of the passenger seat, opened the back door, and took Velvet’s leash in my hand. She hopped down to the curb.
Dub took a few slow steps toward the car, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Velvet?” When he realized that, no, his eyes were not playing tricks on him, he tossed the basketball aside and ran all-out toward the dog, dropping to his knees in front of her. “Velvet! It’s you!”
Recognizing the boy she’d once called her own, Velvet pounced on him, licking his face from ear to ear, her body wriggling with unfettered glee.
Wes scurried up and fluttered his hands. “Careful, Dub! Careful! You’re not all healed yet!”
The laughter coming from Dub’s mouth said his injuries were no longer an issue.
Once Wes was convinced the dog’s rambunctious affection posed no risk to Dub, he turned his attention to me and Seth. “Would you two like to stay for lunch?”
The bladed hands Trent waved side to side behind Wes told us that the best course of action would be to decline. If the smell of the lasagna Wes had brought to the hospital was any indication, he wasn’t in line to be America’s next Top Chef.
“Thanks,” I said, “but we’ve already made other plans.”
When Dub and the dog concluded their raucous reunion, Dub stood and looked me in the eye. “Thanks,” he said. “For … everything.”
“Anytime,” I reached out and ruffled his curls, “kid.”
* * *
Seth and I took the dogs for playtime at the dog park. They tussled with their usual buddies, introduced themselves to a few dogs they hadn’t met before, and played a dozen games of fetch with a tennis ball. Once they’d burned off their excess energy, we loaded them back into the car and returned to my new home.
Inside, I stuck my head into the hallway. The door to Frankie’s room stood open. Dressed in her Fort Worth Whoop-Ass uniform, she scurried around inside, rounding up her skates, helmet, and pads, and packing them into a bag. Zoe attempted to climb into the bag, too, and Frankie had to shoo her out of it. “Scram, cat.”
As much as I’d wanted a place to myself, I had to admit that having a roommate had its benefits. Frankie left the porch light on for me. She vacuumed the fur off the futon. She’d even done our grocery shopping after her shift ended early Friday morning. Making lunch was the least I could do in return.
“Hey,” I called to my roommate. “Want something to eat before you h-head off to your bout?”
“Depends.” Her nose scrunched. “Is it going to have tofu or quinoa or flaxseed in it?”
Those were items I’d put on our list. Her contributions had included Zingers, potato chips, and Dr. Pepper.
“Eating a vegetable won’t kill you.”
She unscrunched her nose and chuckled. “Count me in. The only thing I hate more than health food is cooking. Ugh.”
Seth and I went to the kitchen. While he unleashed the dogs, refilled Brigit’s water bowl, and poured drinks, I grabbed a loaf of French bread from the pantry, cut it in half lengthwise, and loaded it with fresh veggies and deli mustard. I cut the oversized veggie sub into thirds and put each piece on a plate, adding a handful of potato chips on the side. Uh-oh. Looked like Frankie’s bad habits were rubbing off on me.
While the three of us ate together at the dinette, Frankie filled us in on the rules of roller derby. “You ever want to give it a try,” she told me, “just say the word.”
“I might take you up on that.” After all, I’d taken down a cold-blooded killer. Roller derby would be a cinch compared to that, right?
We finished lunch and Frankie grabbed her things to go. I wasn’t sure what the appropriate terminology was for wishing her and her team success. Break a leg? Break a wheel? Bust a kneecap? I settled for “Good luck,” hoping it didn’t jinx her.
Once she’d gone, Seth and I went out back. The dogs lay down side by side to nap on the sun-warmed patio, while Seth and I climbed into the hammock together. He wrapped his arm around my back and I settled my head on his strong, firm shoulder. We lay there for a long time in silence, the hammock swaying softly, the shadows of the clouds playing over us.
As relieved as I was that Leandro Silva was behind bars and Dub was in a safe, nurturing home, I would’ve been much happier had the tragedies of the past few days never occurred at all. But the battle of good versus evil had been going on since the dawn of time, and it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. I could only hope that I’d continue to play some small part in making the world a better place.
Seth toyed with my hair. “You okay?” he asked softly.
After everything he’d been through himself, both as an explosives specialist in Afghanistan and a fireman here, he must have sensed my emotional turmoil. I might not understand why people felt compelled to do the bad things they did, but if I’d taken anything away from this investigation it was that we should appreciate those who care for us and treat them with love and respect and kindness. We should seize the moments of happiness we are offered, hang on to them with all our might, squeeze every last bit of joy we can from life. Given these epiphanies, there was no sense in postponing the chance to share some pleasure with the man I was falling for, right?
“I will be okay,” I told Seth. “As soon as you kiss me.”
“Is that an order, officer?”
“Yes,” I said. “If you don’t obey I’ll have to cuff you.”
His green eyes flashed and a grin tugged at his lips. “That could be fun.”
He gave me a deep, warm kiss, leaving me wanting more when he pulled away.
“Let’s go inside.” I slid off the hammock and took his hand. “It’s time for that sleepover.”