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TEE DISCONNECTED THE call to September after several rings went unanswered. She’d managed to take an earlier train, and spent the trip on her phone reading old news accounts to catch up on September’s personal history.
Just as Redford said, trouble followed the woman. “We’ve got that in common,” Tee muttered. They’d both been betrayed by those who should have protected them. Both turned to the police for healing. But whereas September married her cop savior, Tee became a cop to save herself.
Karma roused and pressed her wide black shoulder against Tee’s leg. Tee smiled and smoothed the Rottweiler’s rusty cheek patch, immediately feeling her tension drain away. Her headache still lingered, but she’d had worse. “I’m okay.” For I wish it to be so.
She’d worried the young dog might not be allowed on the train. Sure, she could declare Karma as a service animal, but that meant labeling herself. She might be damaged goods, but refused to shout that fact to the world. She’d managed long before Karma came along, and could do without the dog if need be—not that she’d want to. Thankfully, trains allowed K9 officers on board without question, so showing her badge smoothed the way.
Redford hadn’t been keen on Tee taking the dog with her everywhere, so she had to tread softly around him. Maybe that’d change, now he had his own dog. The more useful Karma proved herself, the more welcome they’d become as a team. Tee used every opportunity to teach Karma new things. Lia had drilled that lesson into Tee’s head. So she counted the train ride as a teachable lesson for the dog. Besides, Tee had nobody she trusted to care for the dog if she had to spend days in South Bend.
Tee wondered again how Karma would react to Shadow. She’d read somewhere that wolves mated for life. September should know, as a dog expert. “Guess we’ll find out, won’t we, honey-girl?”
Karma woofed and wriggled her stump of a tail.
Tee had never been in love. Only ever loved one person, her Aunty. And now Karma. Probably never would find anyone to put up with her moods. She couldn’t bring herself to open up enough to risk a relationship. But with Karma she felt safe, happier in the dog’s presence. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against the dog’s neck for a brief moment, and smiled when Karma slurped her face.
As the train pulled into the platform at South Bend Airport, Tee grabbed her duffel in one hand and gathered Karma’s leash in the other. She followed the signs, walking the entire length of the small terminal to reach the car rental area.
Tee didn’t like to drive in snow, but she had realized during the ride that she couldn’t be at the mercy of civilians like September. The other woman’s connection to Clear Choice Laboratories, however tenuous, might complicate the investigation. Tee needed to do things right, she needed her own wheels.
She managed to get an SUV. Tee gave Karma time to take care of personal needs at the doggy relief station nearby, stopped to buy them a muffin to share, and a steaming tumbler of chai. They walked the short distance to collect the ride. Tee pulled a towel out of her duffel and spread it on the back seat. “Kennel up.” Karma leaped in and happily settled in the center, so she could stick her head between the front seats and monitor proceedings.
Tee climbed behind the wheel, stashed her bag on the floor, and adjusted the seat to her short legs. The cold made her knees and hips hurt worse. Lately she’d walked like a kupuna three times her age, not that a granny would appreciate the comparison. She sipped her hot chai.
“Sucks getting old, honey-girl.” Karma whined as if in agreement. Tee shook out three extra-strength Advil and dry-swallowed them. The pain had abated behind her eyes, but a muzzy cloud remained, as if everything filtered through fog. “Shake it off, Teves. You’re a cop, for God’s sake. Redford stuck his neck out for you.” He’d put in a word for her with the Captain. She couldn’t mess this up, refused to let a little headache and sore muscles stop her. Helping to clear this case made points on her path to becoming a detective.
Karma poked her blunt muzzle between the seats to nudge her arm, and Tee absently rubbed the dog’s ear. “Okay, let’s go talk to the bookkeeper. Shouldn’t take long.” Unless Sissie Turpin demanded a warrant. Redford could help with that, if need be, but it’d delay things and she’d have to stay in South Bend longer than the couple of days she’d planned. Innocent people bent over backwards to help investigators, or should. Tee didn’t expect much, if any, delay. “We’ll interview her, get the files, and be on our way.”
Tee cranked up the heater, switched on her phone’s driving directions, and wrinkled her nose at the mileage estimate. Turpin worked from her home northwest of the city proper. She’d be driving directly into lake-effect snow. She switched on the wipers, adjusted the heat to defrost, and drove slowly out of the rental lot.
The computerized woman’s voice on the phone—why not a guy’s voice?—and a dearth of traffic got her out of South Bend proper and onto the county road in record time. Street signs, hard to read even in the best of conditions, made Tee grateful for the smarmy phone voice prompting each turn. Each time it spoke, Karma tilted her head one way and then the other, intrigued by the electronic sound. But after twenty minutes even the dog lost interest and propped her rusty chin on the back of Tee’s headrest.
The blowing white sizzled against the windshield. Intermittent gusts pushed and pulled at the car. Tee’s shoulders hunched as she squinted to see through the reduced visibility. She held her breath and took her foot off the gas until the only car she’d seen in fifteen minutes, which materialized out of the storm like a ghost heading toward town, passed. Tee coasted to a near stop, catching her breath, second-guessing the wisdom of interviewing Turpin in this weather. It could wait a day, so she didn’t end up in a drift.
She looked both ways, checked the mirror, and slouched in her seat. “We can’t turn around.” Empty pastures unrolled on each side of the road, with no houses, barns, or outbuildings visible. You couldn’t see where the road and shoulder ended. She didn’t want to end up in a ditch. “Guess we keep on, Karma.”
At her name, the big dog stood up, woofed softly, and stared out the window. She balanced on the back seat like a surfer riding the waves, eyes attentive on the unrolling landscape beyond the windows. Tee knew she’d have to polish nose prints off the glass before returning the car, but didn’t mind. Living with Karma made Tee more aware of her surroundings than ever before. The dog’s hearing and scent sense pointed out wonders of the world she’d previously missed or ignored.
So ten minutes later when the big dog cold-nosed Tee’s neck, she flinched, but paid attention. “What’s up, honey-girl?”
Karma whined and clawed the rear passenger-side window, leaving paw-streaks on the steamed-up interior.
Tee hesitated. According to the phone, the Turpin house sat less than a mile ahead, just up the hill. She wanted to get this done. Also, stopping the car on the slick road might make it hard to get rolling again.
She compromised. Tee took her foot off the gas and coasted, rolling down the passenger window to better see past the swirling white.
The big dog jittered with increased excitement, whiffering scent carried by the breeze. Karma barked and stuck her blunt face into the wind.
Better not be a squirrel. Karma loved chasing the tree rats in the park near her Chicago apartment. This was different. They’d not been together very long, but Tee couldn’t imagine the dog would alert in the car over something like that. Tee strained to see. The expanse of white remained unblemished except for a small mound off to one side. The closer they got to the mound, the more agitated Karma grew, until her whines mixed with gargled barks. Something there for sure. Worth the risk to get stuck?
Tee shook her head and rolled the window back up. “We’ll stop on the way back. Police business first, downtime after.” Decision made, she pressed gently on the gas to maintain momentum up the steep hill.
An explosion of snow erupted from the small mound in the field. A black and white dog dashed in front of the Tee’s SUV, stopped, and barked.
Karma redoubled her own barks. Tee choked back a surprised scream. She reflexively stomped the brake, the car skidded sideways then turned in a slow circle. They ended up facing back the way they’d come, thankfully still on the county road. Tee breathed again, not realizing she’d held her breath.
“What the holy hell!” Tee shoved the car into park and ran hands through her short dark hair. Karma continued to harangue the dog that stood in the middle of the road to block their way. “That’s enough already, Karma shush!” Her head wanted to explode and the barks didn’t help. “Okay, I see the dog, yes I see.” She half-turned in her seat, to get Karma’s attention. The dog finally quieted, but still quivered with concern. “The dog’s just fine, Karma, probably belongs to a local farm.” The snow-covered mound might be a dog shelter for all she knew. But she wondered why the mostly white dog with his black, bear-like face—looked like an Akita—hung out in the middle of a deserted field?
Karma leaned in to slurp Tee across one cheek, then returned her gaze to the big dog guarding the road. It stood on the highway, preventing the car from moving. Karma pawed the window again.
The Rottie loved other dogs and probably missed having canine company. And Tee hated the thought of any animal being out unprotected in this weather. But the Akita had shelter. Once they left, surely it would go back into the dugout. They’d check on the way back to town, after interviewing the bookkeeper. Tee shuddered at the thought of Redford’s scathing criticism, should she put police business on hold to rescue some mutt. Besides, with less than a mile to the destination, better to press on than postpone the interview.
The stray dog sat in the middle of the road. He watched Tee manipulate the car around, toward Turpin’s house. She congratulated herself for keeping it on the road. With no traffic to speak of, she had the full two lanes to use. Tee decided to back up for a running start to get up the daunting hill.
Tee put the car back into gear, ignoring Karma’s continuous whines, and gingerly built up speed. But before she’d traveled a third of the way up the slope, the Akita once again dashed directly in front of her car.
“Son-of-a—”
This time, she refrained from standing on the brake and the dog danced away before she connected. But the break in momentum proved enough to stop her climbing the rise, the car’s tires spun without gaining purchase. Tee stopped before the car slid sideways into the ditch.
Karma woofed with excitement, and paw-danced on the back seat.
“Okay, dog, you win this round.” Tee fumbled with her seat belt, adjusted her coat, pulled on gloves, and stepped out of the car. She left the car running, with the heater. No way she’d put a strange dog in the rental with Karma. But both dogs had been so insistent she stop. She remembered Lia telling her, “Always listen to your dog.” So she’d listen and go check things out.
Before she got near the stray, he raced away, running back to the snowy hump in the field. Tee sighed and slogged after him. She winced when ice spilled over the tops of her boots when her feet sank into a foot and a half of white.
Behind her, Karma’s barks and gargled invectives spilled out the partially open window, upset she’d been left locked up in the car. “Don’t need you dashing off chasing your new buddy,” Tee muttered, and then raised her voice, yelling over the susurration of the wind. “Hey ilio, what do you want? Don’t tell me Timmie’s down the well.”
He—or maybe a she, hard to tell—turned back only briefly, then hurried on to the shelter.
Tee didn’t laugh at the joke. Her head hurt too much, and if this dog just wanted to play, she’d be royally pissed.
A cry—a human sound—answered.
“Oh my God!” Tee redoubled her efforts to reach the snow-covered mound. A car, on its side. The shattered windshield painted with frozen blood. Someone inside.
The dog again looked back at Tee, padded close to the car, and leaped lightly up onto the vehicle’s exposed side. Carefully balanced like a tightrope walker, he paced to reach the open passenger window, peered inside, woofed, and waited for Tee to approach. Once she was abreast the window, the dog leaped off the car and dashed away, disappearing into the snow as if the storm conjured the hero Akita back to his cloudy guard post.
“Hey, you in the car, can you hear me?” Tee cleared away powdery snow from the windshield. A crumpled form, a young girl with purple hair and bruised eyes. The girl blinked, mouthed something, and Tee saw dried blood from her nose. “I’m afraid to move you. I’m a police officer and will get rescue out here to take care of you. Hang on.”
No warmth came from the crashed car. It would become the girl’s icy casket without quick intervention. Tee knew all about hypothermia. The cold killed quickly and efficiently.
Tee clambered back through the snow to reach her car. The warmth begged her to stay, and feeling guilty, she gave in to the invitation while she called for backup. She opened the rear door, and when Karma leaped out she collected the dog’s blanket from the back seat, grabbed the still-warm tumbler of chai from her dash, and stumbled back to the accident.
Karma beat her to the car, intent on reaching the accident victim. The big dog had already mimicked the Akita’s acrobatics and hopped up to peer inside. Tee pushed Karma aside. She had to stand on her toes to see into the angled window. “Hey, you. What’s your name? Hey! Are you awake? Talk to me.”
“Charlie.” The girl answered softly, lips blue. “So c-c-cold. Why’d Bishop leave? Kept me warm. Licked my face, Bishop s-s-saved my life.”
“Bishop? Is he your dog?” She didn’t want the girl to know her dog disappeared. “Here’s a blanket, get this wrapped over you. The emergency crew is on the way.” She watched as the girl used one hand to pull the fabric close, then Tee carefully lowered the tumbler of warm chai. “Drink it slow. Should help warm you up.”
“Not mine. Bishop just showed up. Tag on his collar had his name. Thought I dreamed him at first. He kept waking me up, wouldn’t let me sleep, snuggled close. I don’t even like dogs, he scared me at first. Cats are better but I lost my cat...” Her voice shook. Charlie looked around, suddenly frantic. “Did you catch him? Don’t let him get me!”
“Bishop? The dog ran off.” Tee’s brow furrowed. Charlie’s confusion could be from a concussion. Karma pushed her big square head next to Tee, breathing heavily and offering her best Rottie smile. “Oh, this is my police dog, Karma. She won’t hurt you.”
“Not the dog. A man. He ran me off the road.” Charlie sniffled, throat catching in a sob. “I think he killed Sissie.”
