A week later
Slade stood in front of the big white board that had “dogged” him for six long months. “We now know that Dante Frears, aka The Boss, had several underlings working for him. He bought a fleet of used black vans and insisted his team all wear black from head to toe. While he mostly wore the black silk jumpsuits and did some prowling himself, he rotated his cohorts so none of us, including our K-9 officers, could catch a scent. We had a few breaks here and there, but he finally got too desperate and he slipped up. He murdered a lot of people in the process. But we’ll leave all that up to the evidence and a jury. We can clear this off the board now, boys and girls. This case is closed.”
A round of applause filled the conference room. Slade glanced around at the five other human members of their team: Austin Black, Lee Calloway, Valerie Salgado, Jackson Worth and Parker Adams.
“I want to thank each of you for contributing to this investigation,” Slade said, his smile real for a change. “I know you all went way beyond what’s expected of a K-9 officer and I will always appreciate that. We have some amazing animals working with us and I’m blessed that we have some of the best trainers in the country.”
“Especially Kaitlin Mathers, right, boss?” Austin said with a grin.
“Right, Detective Black.” Slade laughed and shook his head. “I have to say if there is anything good about this tragic case, well, at least we all found life partners. Can’t figure that one out, but I’m sure we can all agree that God had a hand in this.”
“Amen” came the shouts amid laughter and teasing.
“I can’t keep up with who’s married and who’s engaged,” Slade admitted. “But I promise I’ll be there with those of you planning to get married.”
“And we’ll be there for your wedding, Captain,” Valerie said, clapping her hands.
Slade nodded, then turned serious. “My former best friend, Dante Frears, will be paying for his crimes. He fooled a lot of us but we made it through. We became more than just the K-9 Unit of the Sagebrush Police Department. We were patrols, detectives, investigators and all-purpose officers, just like Warrior and Rio and the rest of our partners. I’m proud of this department.”
After that, he went over the facts regarding the case, how Dante had used one of his businesses as a front for drug trafficking. The stable of black vans had come from an out-of-town business and so had the black silk jumpsuits. He’d bought the ski masks and fake contacts off the internet and Slade had receipts and records to prove all of it. Frears would go down for everything from drug trafficking to kidnapping to bombings and murders. He could get the final sentence—death.
Slade hated it, but justice was done. He planned to visit Dante in prison, maybe to find answers and maybe to give his friend one last shred of forgiveness. Kaitlin had taught him about forgiveness.
After the meeting ended and everyone had gone their separate ways, Slade started cleaning up the board. When he heard a friendly bark behind him, he turned to find Rio and Warrior standing at the door with Kaitlin.
“Hello,” he said, smiling. He still couldn’t believe he’d found this woman.
“Hello yourself. How did your meeting go?”
“Good.” He motioned for the woman and two dogs to come over. Slade petted the animals then grabbed hold of Kaitlin and held her tight in his arms. “But I like this part better.”
She laid her head on his shoulder. “I’ve been thinking.”
“Uh-oh.” He kissed her hair. “About what?”
She looked up and into his eyes. “I...I might be interested in returning to the force, as a K-9 officer, if that’s not against policy.”
Surprised, he drew back. “Are you kidding?”
“No, I’m not. I...thought I’d lost all my fears, but I discovered if you’re not scared, just a little bit, you’re probably still hiding something. I was afraid to put myself out there on the line with you, but now I think I need to be right there on the front line. Fearful but careful, and very sure.”
Slade knew he couldn’t talk her out of this and he had to admit, he was proud of her. “So...we’d be a houseful of K-9 officers.”
“Yes, three dogs, two active officers, one retired officer and...maybe a future officer. Or two.”
“Sounds like fun to me.” Slade pulled her close and kissed her. “Wanna go out for dinner?”
She nodded, laughed. “Sure. We can talk about our engagement party.”
“Engagement party? I have to buy you a ring first.”
“You will. But...about the party. I’d like to have it right here out on the training yard.”
He chuckled as they started out the doors, the K-9s right behind them. “Fancy. I like that.”
She smiled up at him. “Yes, sir. Very fancy. Doggie treats and hot dogs, cupcakes and ice cream. Chew toys and barbecue. The works.”
Slade leaned down to kiss her. “Perfect.”
She giggled then touched a hand to his face. “For now, I suggest you go home and finally get some rest. Get a good night’s sleep.”
Slade tugged her back into his arms. “Don’t you know, Trainer Mathers—I never sleep.”
Then he kissed her to show her he had something else in mind. He wanted to cuddle with the woman he loved. Starting right now.
Behind them, Warrior woofed and Rio did a little tapping spin and gave them a big, happy doggy smile.
* * * * *
Read on for a sneak preview of PROTECTION DETAIL by Shirlee McCoy, the first book in the exciting new Capitol K-9 Unit series from Love Inspired Suspense, available March 2015.