Chapter Seventeen #2
She started in direction, but Jake caught her again. “No. Wait.”
“I’m not waiting,” she growled.
“Let Max check it first,” he said through gritted teeth. “We’ve seen what he’s capable of doing,” he reminded her with a sweeping gesture toward the mass of mangled steel and wood. He spoke slowly and firmly. “Let Max do his job.”
“Fine,” she agreed. “But I’m sticking with you.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He let his hand slide down to grasp hers, and together they made a beeline for the cart.
Stopping a few yards back, Jake let go of her hand only long enough to free Max from his lead. He reclaimed her hand again, and she squeezed his as they watched the dog circle the vehicle, giving it wide berth at first, then moving in for a closer inspection.
“He’s not finding anything.”
“How do you know?”
“He gives signals. If he was picking up anything, he would have pointed by now.”
“Pointed?”
“That big schnozz isn’t for show. Not only can he separate and identify hundreds of scents, but he also uses it as a traffic baton. He points, gestures with it, uses it to dig, if necessary. It’s a multipurpose tool.”
She watched as Max circled the cart again and then hopped up into the front seat to give it a good sniff. Eventually, he sat and turned to look in their direction, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.
Jake tugged her forward. “Come on. It’s clear.”
“You trust him that much?”
“I trust him implicitly,” Jake answered without a hint of hesitation. “If Max says it’s safe, it’s safe.”
When they reached the cart, Jake had a treat in hand. “Good boy.”
Cassidy turned in a slow circle, taking in the area around them. Then she spotted something dark lying on the metal ramp leading to the Fun House entrance. She took two steps in that direction, her hand sliding from Jake’s grip as she squinted at the object.
“Oh, it’s a hat,” she said, a nervous laugh bubbling out of her.
“What?” Jake turned and peered in the direction she indicated.
“There’s a hat on the ramp,” she explained. Tilting her head to the side, she saw there was white printing on the crown. Her breath caught in her throat, and she whirled back to him, her eyes wide. “It’s a LRFD hat.”
“Hang on.” He snapped his fingers and pointed to the ground. Max hopped down from the cart, head lifted and ears pricked with anticipation. “Go get it,” Jake said, pointing to the hat.
Max fetched and delivered the hat into Jake’s hand without a beat of hesitation. Jake pinched the brim of the hat and turned it over to inspect it. “Baker was wearing a hat?”
Cassidy nodded, recalling how she’d thought the man was using the curled brim to shield his eyes from the glaring sun. “Yes. He kept it pulled down.”
“This hat?” He turned it so she could see the front.
“Or one like it,” she confirmed.
He nodded once, then lowered it so Max could give the inside a good sniff. “It was a warm day. I’m sure Baker worked up a sweat.” Then he knelt down to speak to his partner. “Got it?”
Max slow-blinked, as if Jake had asked a silly question.
Smirking, Jake straightened then gestured to the ramp. “Go find him.”
The dog took off at a gallop. His toenails clicked and skittered on the metal ramp. He sped to the top then ducked through a curtain made of wide strips of black vinyl.
Jake and Cass followed him into attraction, stumbling into one another as they tried to get their footing on a floor tilted at a sharp enough angle to send them careening into walls.
“It would be the Fun House,” Cass grumbled as they made it to the other end.
Before Jake could answer, they fell into the next room. It was completely inflatable. A bounce-house with inflated flooring, walls and furniture. They bounced around a bit before Jake finally dropped to his side and rolled toward the exit. Cass quickly followed suit.
Breathless and sweating, they tumbled into the next room – a square of dark walls covered in neon paint graffiti lit by black lights. It was so dark, Jake hadn’t realized the flooring had been replaced by industrial rollers until he landed on his backside.
Cass helped him to his feet. “That can’t be safety approved,” he muttered as he found his footing.
“A lawsuit waiting to happen,” Cass concurred.
“Of course, they’ll be out of town before anything could happen, and I doubt they run cameras in here.”
At the end of the roller walkway, Jake peeked around the doorframe to get a glimpse of their next obstacle. A room covered in mirrors from floor to ceiling. There was even an enormous mirrored ball dangling from the ceiling.
The room was unlit, but enough of an opening in the rear access panels for daylight to seep in. They stepped into room only to find the walls were angled to reflect back on themselves.
Cassidy groaned. “The last thing I needed right now was a look in the mirror.”
Jake chuckled, but he was too busy scanning the floor for obstacles to take a peek at himself. He was about to assure her she looked fine to him when the lights came on and the Fun House sprang to life.
They instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes from the glare, but it was the noise made his heart start racing. Rock music blared over the squeal of metal gears meshing and the amped up hum of a generator.
The mirror ball sent hundreds of spots bouncing endlessly off the walls, the floor and the ceiling.
Cassidy had just lowered her arm when they heard someone call from the next room, “Having fun, Lieutenant?”
“It’s him,” she whispered, her gaze transfixed on a point in the center of the room.
“I left you a present, Lieutenant,” the man shouted over the cacophony of sound. “Why don’t you try it on again?”
Jake’s head whipped around. “Baker? We’re onto you, Baker,” he called, then started in the direction of the voice. He’d gone two steps before he caught sight of what held her attention.
The backpack.
Baker had left the backpack directly under the faceted ball. Without a moment of hesitation, Jake grabbed Cass’s wrist and pulled her toward the exit to the next room.
“Bomb,” she panted, stumbling to keep up.
“He’s in here. He won’t detonate it until he’s clear,” Jake shouted back.
The next room featured a floor made of alternating metal platforms seesawing at varied rates and a giant black-and-white painted spiral undulating at the far end. He was about to jump onto the first plank when he spotted an open-grate catwalk running along the back of the room.
He changed directions so suddenly Cass let out a yelp. “Sorry. Looks like mechanical access,” he explained as he led her to the blessedly stationary walkway.
The catwalk was only about a foot wide, so they had to scuttle along it side-by-side. Still, it was faster than trying to navigate the obstacles.
“Baker?” Jake shouted the man’s name. It was both a test and a warning. But no reply came. “We have to get out of here fast,” he said, speaking low enough for only Cass to hear.
“There should be exit panels back here,” she answered, panting. “They have to be able to take patrons who get overwhelmed out fast.”
Sure enough, just up ahead, Jake spotted a wooden door painted black with a green light shining above it. He stiff-armed it the moment they were within reach, but it was the force of a blast that sent them sprawling out onto the asphalt.
Jake rolled toward Cass. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” she said grimacing as she brushed her hands over the front of her pants.
There was a moment of eerie silence as music and machinery cut out. They scooted away from the structure, taking refuge behind one of the trailers used to haul the disassembled rides. They watched in stunned silence as the Fun House crumbled in on itself, smoke rising from the center.
Jake looked around. There didn’t seem to be anyone at the rear of the midway. Everyone was out front, getting ready to race into chaos. Everyone except Baker. But Jake had no doubt he was still nearby. Still watching to see if he’d gotten the job done.
He was startled from his thought when Max let out three sharp barks.
“That’s Max,” she said.
Jake hadn’t needed her confirmation, but the fact that she knew Max’s bark well enough to identify him made something warm blossom in his chest.
“It’s a warning.”
“Think he’s spotted Baker?” Cass asked as they scrambled to their feet.
“Baker or another bomb.” He checked in both directions, then pointed toward the wreckage of the carousel and Ferris wheel. “Let’s go this way. I don’t want him to see us if we can help it.”
They almost made it to the other end of the Fun House when they saw a figure dressed in dark clothes jump onto the tilted platform and duck down between the horses.
“Baker.” Cass exhaled.
A second later, Max jumped onto the carousel as well, his target in his sights.
“He’s got him pinned down,” she shouted over her shoulder.
They drew up at the undamaged side of the carousel and looked around. Max was nowhere to be seen. But then they heard him.
He gave only two barks this time, but the relieved smile spreading across Jake’s face screamed, “Jackpot!’”
“What? What is it?”
“He found what we’re looking for.” Jake was unable to contain his grin.
He pulled his radio free as they ran toward the carousel. When they arrived, they found Max sitting on top of someone sprawled between the seahorse benches, his gleaming teeth bared.
“Hold, Max.” Then he spoke into the radio. “Trooper Jake Donovan. Suspect apprehended by K-9 Trooper Max on the carousel, currently held between the green benches on the southeast side. Requesting assistance and transport.”
“Get him off me!” Baker bellowed.
“Not a chance,” Jake replied.
Then, before he could stop her, Cassidy pushed past him to squat down at look Baker in the face.
“Once again, I’m going to miss out on the fun of being the one who gets to arrest you, Troy.
” The other man blinked, then snarled, hurling an unsavory epitaph at her as she straightened.
But Cass simply smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you again soon, Mr. Baker. In court.”