Chapter 5
5
BEN
I moan as I take a bite of my sugar cookie and turn to the next page of the old album. I can’t help but grin at the goofy photo of Sebastian, Tahlia, and me. We did some stupid shit when we were young.
A chuckle bursts over my lips, spraying cookie crumbs down my T-shirt, when I look at the next photo Seb took. I have my arm wrapped around Tahlia’s shoulders, and I’m poking my tongue in her ear. She’s wearing a disgusted face as she tries to push me away, but I remember how I held on tight, so she couldn’t escape my torture.
I can’t believe it’s been nine years since I saw her smile or heard her laugh. My heart stutters, and I pause to draw in a deep breath as I squeeze my eyes shut.
Growing up, the three of us were inseparable. People often called us The Three Musketeers, and we loved it. Tahlia was such a tomboy and fit in with me and Seb effortlessly. We were the best of friends until the unthinkable happened and we lost her.
At eighteen, we were too young to experience such a tragedy. But cancer doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care about age, hopes, or dreams for the future.
I brush away the scattered cookie crumbs, then trace my finger over the curve of her face, swallowing the lump that always forms in my throat. She had a beautiful soul and such a fun spirit. She taught me to let go and have fun, to break out of the mold my parents had created. She helped me understand that things didn’t need to be so serious all the time. I had a lot of love for her—I still do. We were as close as two friends could be. Tahlia and I had something special. A connection that transcended explanation.
People often speculated if we were a couple. They couldn’t understand how we could be so close and remain platonic. She had boyfriends, and I had girlfriends, and through it all, our friendship stayed true and strong—it never deviated. I loved her … dearly, but not in that way. Never like that .
I would do anything for her, as she would for me. Anything to make her happy. And in the end, I did my best to fulfill her dream. My mind skips back to the look on her pretty face when I?—
My phone lights up with my boss’s number, interrupting the memory, and I place the album on the coffee table so I can answer the call immediately. Something must be wrong if he’s calling on our day off. I press the green button. “Taylor.”
“We need you and Rex out at the Bosworth Trails. A four-year-old girl has wandered off. Her mom can’t find her. We’ve told the officers at the scene to block off the area for you guys.”
“On it.” I end the call, head to my bedroom, and shove my feet into my sneakers. Rex follows me, sensing my urgency. “We have work to do, buddy.” I rub the top of his head and down his flank. His tail swishes eagerly, and I quickly grab my tac vest from the hook beside the front door. “C’mon. Let’s go, boy.” He follows me out of the house, jumps into the back of our cruiser, and within a few minutes, I pull onto the street.
I park the cruiser amid several police vehicles and civilian cars and head straight to the officer who looks to be in charge. Holding out my hand, I introduce myself. “Sergeant Taylor, Sir. I have Officer Rex in the cruiser, ready to search.”
He nods once as he shakes my hand. “Thanks for coming out so quickly. We need to find her before it gets dark. She went missing at thirteen hundred hours. Mom searched for her and didn’t call us until fourteen-thirty, when she realized she wouldn’t find her on her own.” He points toward a distraught woman. “She has some of her daughter’s clothes waiting for Rex.”
“Thanks.” I glance at my watch. Fifteen-thirty-five stares up at me. That’s two and a half hours. I glance around. She could be anywhere. Not an impossible task to find her, so long as a stranger hasn’t taken her, but it won’t be quick.
I grab Rex, then attach his vest and lead. As soon as his vest is secured, his demeanor changes and he’s ready to work. With his intensive training and years of experience, he knows exactly why we’re here.
“Ma’am. I’m Sergeant Taylor, and this is Officer Rex.” I point my chin downward. “We’re here to help locate your daughter.”
Her tear-filled eyes drop to Rex. “Oh, thank goodness. We were at the playground. I’ve been working so much and wanted to treat Mia to an afternoon off prekindergarten so we could spend the afternoon together. I should have just left her in school where she belongs,” she tells me on a shaky breath. “I turned my back for only a minute to grab her water bottle from my purse, and when I turned around, she was gone,” she says through violent sobs.
I give her a reassuring smile. “We’ll start looking for her immediately. I believe you have some of her clothing for Rex.”
She nods quickly and races to her car, returning with a dress. “It got sticky with ice cream, so I changed her into shorts and a T-shirt.” She passes it to me, then rubs her hands up and down her arms.
“Can you show me the last place you saw your daughter, please?”
“Sure.” She leads us to a small climbing frame. “She climbs everything at home, so I like to bring her here,” she says shakily, wrapping her arms around her body.
“I bet she loves it.” I smile softly. “Okay, I’m going to let Rex familiarize himself with Mia’s scent, and then we’ll start our search. Stay strong.”
She nods and I crouch down to Rex, holding out Mia’s dress. He takes a good sniff. “Find Mia, Rex.”
I stand, and Rex drops his nose to the ground. He leads me around the playground, circles back to the climbing frame, then seems to catch a scent and he’s off. With his nose to the ground and his tail swinging side to side, he leads me away from the playground and to the area where several park trails begin. He doesn’t pause, obviously locating Mia’s scent. Additional officers follow us at a distance, keeping out of Rex’s path, but ready to step in when needed.
Rex quickly weaves through the long grass as he follows Mia’s trail. He pauses for a moment and looks around with his tongue hanging out, then drops his nose again. My heart and feet pick up speed to keep up with him as he works.
He lives for this stuff, and he’s incredible at what he does. Together, we’ve found dozens of missing people of all ages.
We leg it over the terrain for forty minutes, Rex still going strong and my adrenaline running high. The temperature has been mild, but as the sun drops closer to the horizon, the warmth of the day is waning. Children are small, and they have less tolerance for temperature fluctuations. We need to find her—soon. Rex pauses every now and then, but moves on quickly.
As we clear the crest of a low hill, my heart sinks when I spot a craggy outcrop. Shit, I hope she didn’t climb those . The jagged rocks would have been an enormous temptation to Mia with her penchant for climbing.
Rex doesn’t slow, and my heart pounds a heavy staccato against my ribs as he heads straight for the boulders. He sniffs around the base of the outcrop, then walks around the area for a bit, his ears twitching. This isn’t promising.
Picking up her scent again, he climbs over the rocks, then sits and barks, indicating he’s found her. I peek inside the crevice between two large boulders and, sure enough, little Mia is curled into a tight ball, asleep—oblivious to the worry she’s caused.
Relief fills me, and a gush of air escapes my tight lungs as I drop to my haunches to praise Rex. “Good boy. You found Mia. Great job, Rex.”
I rub each side of his neck vigorously, and he soaks up my attention. His tail thumps against the rocks, and his tongue swipes up the side of my face. I stand and he leaps up, resting his paws on my pecs as I scratch down his sides. He loses his footing on the uneven terrain and slips, dropping to all four paws heavily and scratching my pecs on the way down. Ouch! I rub my chest with the heel of my hand, certain he’s left scratch marks.
I keep Rex close as the officers who were following move forward to collect the sleeping child. They bring her to Rex so he can sniff her, concluding his search. His rump tips side to side, and he licks her arm. He looks up at me expectantly, because he knows his job is now complete and he’s ready for his reward.
“Great job, Officer Rex!” the other officers praise him, and he rejoices, spinning around, his butt moving so fast with his wagging tail that I’m surprised he doesn’t knock himself over. Finding what he was searching for is the best game to him.
I drag his toy out of my pocket and hold it alongside his nose, and like the good boy he is, he sits on his rump and waits for my command. As the officers head back toward the playground, I give him the command to play, and he immediately snaps his jaws, grabbing the rope roughly so we can play a game of tug-of-war as an additional reward. He shakes his head back and forth with a playful growl, pulling on the rope with all his might.
Laughing, I tug on the toy, digging my heels into the dirt and leaning backward for leverage. Rex’s hind foot slips out from beneath him again, and he lands heavily on his back flank, whimpering as he falls. Shit! That’s twice in the last few minutes, and he seems to have hurt himself this time.
I quickly tuck his toy in my pocket and squat down, but Rex leaps back onto his feet, nudging the side of my jeans. He wobbles a little and whimpers again, so I carefully rub his back flank.
“What happened, boy?” When he tries to free his leg from my grip, I know he must be hurt. Shit. “You’ll be okay. Let’s get back to the cruiser, buddy.”
I collect his lead and walk a few steps, then realize he’s unable to bear any weight on his hind leg, so I bend down and carefully scoop him into my arms, ensuring I don’t aggravate his injury. I’ll have to take him to the police-sanctioned vet to get checked out. I kiss the top of his head as I carry him back to the playground. Sweat coats my back, and my muscles scream the longer I carry Rex—all eighty-seven pounds of him—back to the parking lot to find the mother and her daughter happily reunited.
With her daughter tucked safely in her arms, the mother makes a beeline for Rex and me. “Thank you so much for finding Mia. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you. Words just don’t seem enough.”
“Seeing you together and safe is all we need.” My arms tremble. I need to put Rex down before I drop him.
Her eyebrows dip, causing creases to form between them. “Is he okay?” She points her chin down at Rex.
I glance down at my partner. “He slipped and hurt his back leg, so I need to take him to the vet.” The sooner I get him into the back of the cruiser, the sooner he’ll get the help he needs.
“Oh, no.” She holds her daughter with one arm and reaches out with her other to stroke Rex’s fur. “Thank you for finding my baby girl, Rex. I hope you feel better soon.”
Mia lifts her head from her mother’s shoulder and reaches over to stroke Rex, too. “Mommy, can we get a doggy?”
Rex’s tail wags as his tongue lolls out of his mouth. Even though he’s injured, he still laps up the attention they’re giving him.
Typical.
I settle Rex on his bed with a treat and set the timer for his next ice session. My phone rings, and I grab it with a wince as Seb’s name lights up the screen. Accepting the call, I hold it to my ear. “Sorry, Seb. I have to bail.”
“What, why?” he whines.
I sigh and run my hand over the top of my head, then grasp the back of my neck. “Rex and I had a search and rescue this afternoon, and he’s injured his hind leg.”
“Oh, shit. Is it bad?” Seb’s shock and concern translates clearly through the phone.
“It’s not too bad, but he’ll be out of action for a few days. I need to make sure he rests, and I need to ice it on and off through the night, so I can’t leave him.”
I hear him moving around and the rattle of keys. “I’m on my way. I’ll pick up beer and pizza. I haven’t had pizza since that night at Brady’s, so I’m overdue.”
A laugh bursts across my lips; the guy is a fiend for pizza. “Thanks, man.” I end the call and grab a bag of peas from the freezer, then drop my ass to the floor to hold them on Rex’s hind leg. “You really did a number on yourself, buddy.”
He raises his head and looks at me, then drops it on top of his front paws with a sigh. I lean my head against the wall while I hold the makeshift ice pack in place.
Closing my eyes, my cheeks rise at the memory of the little girl curled up in a ball in between the rocks. After her solo adventure, she must have been exhausted. Thankfully, Rex is amazing at what he does, and we were able to reunite mother and daughter. Warmth fills my body with pride for a job well done today. A successful rescue is what Rex and I live for. It’s one of the reasons we do this job.
Rex barks a second before the front door bangs open. “Stay,” I command, standing to greet my friend.
“Honey, I’m home,” Seb calls.
I chuckle as his footsteps sound down the hallway, and he arrives at the kitchen door. Grabbing the pizza from him, I drop it to the counter and put the peas back in the freezer. Seb places the beer next to the box and heads straight to Rex. He squats next to him and rubs from the top of his head down his side to his rear. Rex’s tail wags like crazy, and I’m proud of him for remaining on his bed and off his leg. Seb nuzzles his head. “You okay, boy?”
Rex licks the side of his face and Seb chuckles. He turns to me, then climbs to his feet. “How did the search go?”
I pop the top off two beers, open the pizza box, and hand Seb his drink. “A four-year-old wandered away from her mom at Bosworth Trails. Found her curled up asleep between two boulders. If she’d walked another twenty feet, she would have fallen over the ridge.”
He scrapes his fingers through his short beard. “Shit.”
I nod as I take another drink and swallow. “She wandered about a mile and a half on her own. I was relieved when we found her safe.”
Seb grabs a slice of pizza and takes a bite, shaking his head in disbelief. “I bet her mom was beside herself. People don’t realize how fast and far their kids can get in a short amount of time.”
I grab the pizza and lead Seb through to the living room, then grab Rex’s bed with Rex on it and carry it over so he can hang out with us.
When I return, Seb’s studying the photo album I was looking through earlier. Happiness shines from his eyes as he studies the photographs.
“She was such a great chick,” he comments as he turns the page, then chuckles. She really was. The world definitely lost a little of its sparkle when she left this earth. “Remember that time her mom’s car broke down, and we had to get out and push it? She drove it into the ditch, and the damn thing tipped onto its side.” He chuckles as he shakes his head.
A laugh bursts from deep within. “I forgot about that. She was so pissed.”
“So was her mom, if I remember correctly.” He nods as he flips to the next page, and I take another bite of my pizza. “So many good times.” He grows quiet, and his expression turns somber. “I still miss her.”
My heart squeezes while my stomach tightens. “Yeah, me too. Me too.”