Chapter 1
“COME ON, Evie,” Atlas De Vaus said as he stood by the back door of his small row house on East Pomfret Street.
Evie pranced up with her Kong between her teeth.
Once she saw he was holding her harness, she set the toy in her box and sat down right next to him.
The harness meant that play time was over and that the two of them were going to work.
“That’s my good girl,” he said warmly as he ran his fingers through her thick tan and black Belgian Malinois coat before putting on her harness.
Evie sat next to him, waiting as Atlas put on his coat, and then they were off. He led her through the yard and opened the door of his Bronco. Evie took her place in the back, and he closed the hatch before getting into the driver’s seat, heading to the station.
“Morning,” Larry Melvoin said as Atlas and Evie walked in the station together.
Evie watched him and didn’t react to anyone else.
She was working and focused, the way she always was.
Atlas had known as soon as he saw her at the training facility that she was perfect for the program.
The leaders had already written her off, but Atlas saw something the others didn’t, and in the end they had graduated near the top of the class.
“Too bad about the other day.” Melvoin snickered quietly.
The guy really needed to develop some people skills…
and fast. “I guess not everyone is perfect.”
“Leave them alone,” Carter Schunk said as he strode out of the station.
“The only reason you didn’t find anything was because you didn’t look deep enough,” Atlas said. “Evie scented drugs, and you kicked a little bit of dirt and said there was nothing there before moving on.” He rolled his eyes. Larry could be a real ass sometimes.
Carter cleared his throat. “Stop it,” He snapped and then turned to Atlas. “The captain asked to speak with you as soon as you got in.” He tilted his head toward the office, so Atlas headed down the hall with Evie right next to him. He knocked and entered.
The captain was on the phone, but motioned him to sit down.
He ended his call and sat back. “I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
“I already got razzed by Larry on the way in.” Atlas placed his hand on Evie’s back. No one got to call her skills into question. “He was practically gloating.”
“Melvoin is jealous because he flunked out of K-9 two years ago. But….” He cleared his throat; it was what he did to change the subject.
“Anyway. I sent a squad car back to that scene after I heard what Larry did, and they found a stash of pills and other drugs a foot below the surface in a plastic container wrapped in cellophane. She did good, and I wanted you to know.”
“But Larry…?”
“Melvoin is my next appointment,” the captain said just as his phone rang again. He answered it and motioned toward the door. Atlas left with Evie along with him, going right to his desk.
Atlas opened his bottom drawer and pulled out a bowl.
He added water and set it down for Evie.
They were partners, and she relied on him and only him—that was the deal.
So in his mind, she came first too. He took her pad from the corner, placed it next to his desk, and Evie curled up like the amazing girl she was.
Now that she was all set, he logged in and got to work himself.
It took an hour for him to answer all his emails and submit the last reports from the day before.
With all that done, he led Evie out to their K-9 patrol vehicle and headed out.
There were limited teams like them, so they had to be ready to go when needed, and their first call of the day came almost immediately.
Atlas drove to an address on Louther where he and Evie assisted in a call at the home of a known dealer.
They had been trying to nail this guy for months, and as soon as they entered the house, Evie went to a section of living room wall and sat down, looking up at him.
“Right there,” Atlas said, pointing.
“Are you sure?” the officer in charge asked. It would mean tearing out the wall, so they had to be right. His belly did a single flip, the way it always did at moments like this, but he trusted Evie with his life.
Atlas nodded and stepped back, drawing Evie along with him as another officer took a sledge to the wall, knocking through a combination of drywall and plaster.
A brick of cocaine fell to the floor almost immediately, and the dealer was taken into custody amid a flurry of protests that he didn’t know any of that was there.
He and Evie checked the rest of the house, finding drugs behind outlets and cabinets in almost every room of the building.
Once they were done, Atlas took Evie back to their vehicle, where he fed her and gave her some water.
“You did good, like you always do,” he told her before closing up the back of the vehicle and pulling away.
They had gone maybe a block when a call for backup come over the radio from the state police.
They had made a stop of a semi on the freeway and needed an additional unit.
Atlas waited for a response, but didn’t hear one, so he signaled that he was on his way, ETA two minutes.
He flipped on his lights and took off, thankfully not needing his siren.
He used it as little as possible out of concern for Evie’s sensitive ears.
He pulled up behind the trooper’s vehicle and got out, recognizing Nelson, a fellow officer. “Hey, Wyatt, what’s up?” It was unusual for troopers to ask for general backup like this.
“The truck was all over the road.”
Atlas nodded. “Better safe than sorry,” he said. “You take care of business, and I’ll follow your lead.”
“Thanks. Is Evie with you?” Wyatt asked. “You could have her sniff around. I just have a feeling about this one.”
“No problem.” She probably needed to pee anyway, and this would be a good opportunity.
Wyatt went to speak to the driver while Atlas got Evie out of the back.
He walked her to the side of the road where she squatted and did her business.
Then he brought her up toward the back of the truck, and Evie almost immediately sat down.
“Good girl,” he told her, waiting for Wyatt to take the driver’s license and other information before coming back to join him.
“You need to check the back of the truck.”
“Evie found something?” Wyatt asked as Evie panted and managed to look pleased with herself. “All right.” He returned to the driver, who came to the back. “Open it,” Wyatt said, all business. The driver looked around and grew more and more nervous by the second.
“There’s just a load of detergent,” he said, his hands fumbling as he opened the lock.
Atlas swung the door open to two pallets of boxes side by side, creating a wall.
Wyatt called for additional backup, taking charge of the driver.
Atlas returned Evie to the back of his patrol vehicle before climbing into the truck.
Using his flashlight, he peered over the boxes to a second set of pallets.
He climbed over them to what appeared to be empty space.
Once he reached the far edge, he angled his light down.
Eyes stared back at him as big as saucers: a group of women huddled together with a slight young man standing in front of them. “You no hurt them,” he said firmly, as though he were ready to fight.
“It’s okay. I’m here to help. I won’t hurt any of you.” Holy fucking hell. “I’m going to help you.” He slid back, still surprised.
“Was Evie right?” Wyatt asked.
“Oh yeah. Take him into custody,” Atlas said flatly. Few things shook him, but seeing those people huddled together, barricaded in there, was enough to make his knees weak. Shit, how in the hell could someone do that to someone else?
“I didn’t do anything. I’m just the driver,” the man said as Wyatt read him his rights. Then, as other cars arrived, they got the suspect into one of the vehicles to transport him to the station.
“What do we have?” Wyatt asked when he returned. “Drugs?”
Atlas shook his head. “People. The front half the trailer is open, and there are half a dozen people barricaded in there. One man, five women. They seem to be of Eastern European descent, but I’m not sure.
We need to get the truck unloaded enough to get them out.
I don’t know how long they’ve been in there, but it’s been a while, judging by the scent of unwashed bodies. ”
“Jesus,” Wyatt whispered.
“Let me call Social Services. There are local folks who can help them.” Atlas pulled out his phone. He knew just the person to call. Chris Joy was amazing and would know exactly how to help these people. “Hey, lady,” he said when she answered. “It’s Atlas. And I need some of your expertise.”
“How so?”
“We have five women and a man barricaded in a truck on the highway. I believe they were being trafficked north, most likely to New York or Philadelphia as domestics, but….” He left the rest unsaid.
Chris had seen it all and knew more about the implications than he did.
“We are working to get them out, but it would be best if there were women here to help them.”
“I got you. Where do you want us?”
“The truck is northbound on 81 just before the York Road exit. But be careful when you get out.” He scratched his head slightly as cars whizzed by.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes. At least I can try to reassure them that going with you is safe.” She hung up, and Atlas knew she would be here in record time. That was how she was.
He joined the others in moving some of the load off to the side, and soon they had a path to the people in back. Atlas climbed into the truck and used his flashlight to make his way back.
“It’s okay,” he said gently as he reached where the group was. “We aren’t going to hurt you.”