Chapter 9
The afternoon sun hit the windshield at exactly the angle that made Maddox reach for her sunglasses. Thursday, two o’clock, patrol route through the neighborhoods east of downtown. It was the kind of shift where nothing happened until it did.
Zeus shifted in the back compartment, his tags clinking as he settled into a new position. She glanced at him in the rearview mirror. He was alert but relaxed, his ears tracking sounds she couldn't hear.
Her phone sat in the passenger seat cup holder, screen dark except for the notification light that had blinked earlier. She'd read Jade's text at lunch.
Jade: “Good luck with your shift. Thinking about you.”
It was simple and direct, the kind of message she’d gotten from exactly no one in the past six years.
Maddox flexed her fingers on the steering wheel.
A week had passed since she'd woken up in Jade's bed and they'd agreed to see where this went. It’d been seven days of texts that came at odd hours, of Zeus's ears perking up when Riley mentioned Jade's name, of her own thoughts drifting during patrol to what they might do that evening.
Not that she was obsessing. It was just that Jade had slipped into her daily routine without Maddox noticing when it happened.
The radio crackled with dispatch coordinating a traffic stop on the west side, nothing that required her attention. Maddox turned down Oleander Street, past the elementary school where they'd done the K-9 demonstration last month.
"Unit 12, what's your twenty?" Riley's voice came through clear.
Maddox keyed the radio. "Oleander and Sixth. Heading north."
"Copy. I'm two blocks west if you want company."
“Sure.”
She pulled into the parking lot of a boarded-up gas station and turned off the engine while she waited. Zeus sat in the back, knowing the routine. Riley meant Sarge, and Sarge meant the possibility of play time later if they ended up at the station.
Riley's patrol car swung in beside her, and Maddox rolled down her window.
"Quiet afternoon," Riley said, leaning one arm on her doorframe. She looked relaxed, her ponytail catching the light. "Almost too quiet."
“Don’t say that. You’ll jinx it.”
"Please. We're cops, not doctors." Riley grinned. "How's therapy going with Carla? Different than Jade?"
The question was casual, but Maddox caught the slight emphasis on Jade's name. She kept her expression neutral. "Different. Good, though. Carla doesn't take any shit."
"Jade didn't either."
"No," Maddox agreed. "She didn't."
Riley's grin widened. "You two seem comfortable now. At the wellness meeting last week, I noticed you actually sat near her instead of across the room."
Maddox felt heat crawl up the back of her neck. "We're colleagues. It's fine."
"Uh-huh." Riley drummed her fingers on the door. "Just saying, it's nice to see you less…”
“Less what?”
"Isolated." Riley shrugged, not apologizing for the observation. "You've been easier to be around lately. Less like you're waiting for an ambush."
Before Maddox could figure out how to respond to that, the radio crackled again—dispatch, different tone. She straightened.
"All units, domestic disturbance at 193 Cottonwood Drive. Caller reports a barricaded subject with possible weapons in home. Requesting backup and K-9."
Maddox's hand was already on the gearshift. "Unit 12, responding."
Riley stepped back from her car. "I'll follow. Be careful."
Maddox was already moving, lights flashing as she pulled onto the street. Behind her, Zeus shifted his weight, his body tense with the change in energy. He knew the shift from routine patrol to crisis in seconds.
Cottonwood was a ten-minute drive through residential streets where kids played in yards and retirees walked dogs. It was normal and safe…until someone locked themselves in a room with weapons and parents were outside trying to talk them down.
She keyed the radio. "Unit 12. ETA five minutes. Subject details?"
"Teen male, sixteen. Parents report a history of anxiety and depression. There was a confrontation at school today, and he came home on edge. He’s locked in the upstairs bedroom and won't respond to his parents."
Maddox's lips pressed together in a thin line. Not a hardened criminal, just a scared kid who'd hit his limit.
"Copy. Are weapons confirmed?"
"Father states the hunting rifles are secured in the master bedroom closet, but the subject knows the safe code. No shots fired or direct threats, but the father is concerned."
“Copy.”
She took the turn onto Cottonwood, the neat houses with trimmed lawns and basketball hoops giving way to flashing lights ahead.
There were two patrol cars already on scene, officers positioned at the front of a two-story colonial.
The teen’s parents were standing on the lawn, the mother crying into her hands while the father tried to explain something to a uniformed officer.
Maddox parked and killed the engine. Zeus was already on his feet, waiting. "Just like always," she told him, opening his compartment. "Assess, de-escalate, keep everyone safe."
He jumped down beside her, focused and ready. They moved toward the scene together, and Maddox felt the familiar calm settle over her, the one that came when the job was clear and Zeus was at her side.
Captain Julia Scott waved her over. "Shaw, good timing. The kid's been up there twenty minutes. Won't talk to parents, won't come out. The father's worried he'll do something stupid."
Maddox scanned the house: second floor window, curtains drawn, no movement visible. "Anyone tried talking to him?"
"Officer Monroe went to the door and identified herself, and the kid told her to leave. Hasn't said anything since."
“He says he’s armed?”
"No confirmation. But the father insists the guns are accessible if he wanted them."
Maddox looked at Zeus, then back at the house. "Let me try. Zeus is good with scared people. Sometimes a dog is less threatening than a uniform."
Julia nodded. "Your call. We've got the exits covered. If he comes out the window, we'll see him."
Maddox approached the father, keeping her voice low and even. "Sir, I'm Officer Maddox Shaw, K-9 unit. Can you tell me about your son? What's his name?"
"Connor." The man's voice cracked. "He's sixteen. He's a good kid, he just— School's been hard, and today something happened. He won't tell us what. He came home, went straight upstairs, and locked the door." He looked at Zeus then back at her. "You're not going to hurt him, are you? The dog—"
"Zeus is trained for de-escalation, not aggression" Maddox said. "I want to talk to Connor and make sure he's safe. Can you tell me the layout? Where's his room?"
"Top of the stairs, second door on the right. The rifles are in our room, down the hall. I don't know if he went in there."
"Okay. I'm going to go up and try to talk to him. You stay here with the other officers."
The mother grabbed her arm. "Please don't hurt him. He's just scared."
Maddox met her eyes. "I know. I'll do everything I can."
A sedan pulled up behind the patrol cars. Jade stepped out, already moving toward the scene with her bag over one shoulder. Their eyes met briefly before Captain Scott directed Jade toward the parents and Maddox turned toward the house.
She could hear Jade's voice behind her, calm and steady, asking the parents to tell her about Connor. Good. They needed that support while Maddox handled what was happening upstairs.
She moved toward the house, Zeus at her heel. The front door stood open, another officer inside maintaining a visual on the staircase. Maddox nodded to him and started up, each step measured and quiet.
The hallway at the top was narrow with family photos lining the walls: Connor as a kid, gap-toothed and smiling; Connor in a basketball uniform; Connor with his parents at what looked like a celebration ceremony.
A happy kid with a normal life…until he wasn’t.
She stopped outside the second door on the right, still closed. She pressed her ear close but heard nothing beyond the blood rushing in her own head. She forced her breathing to slow.
Professional. Stay professional.
Maddox knocked, not hard, just firm enough to be heard. "Connor? My name's Maddox Shaw. I'm a cop, but I'm not here to force you out. I just want to make sure you're okay." She paused. "I have my dog with me. His name's Zeus. Can I bring him in? He's good company when things feel like too much."
She was met with silence for a few beats while she waited. Then she heard a faint "go away."
"I hear you. But your parents are scared.
They called because they love you, not because they want you in trouble.
" She kept her voice steady even as something tightened in her throat.
"How about this, I'll send Zeus in first. Just him.
He's not going to hurt you. You can pet him or just let him sit there, whatever you need. "
Connor didn't answer. Maddox counted her heartbeats. Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty.
Then the lock clicked, and the door opened a crack.
Maddox put her hand on Zeus's head, grounding herself in the solid warmth of him. "Okay, buddy, easy."
She gave him the release command, and Zeus pushed through the door, moving with tender gentleness. Maddox heard the creak of floorboards, the rustle of fabric, then Connor's voice, thick and shaky. "Hey. Hey, it's okay."
He was talking to Zeus, not her. That was fine. Maddox stayed in the hallway, regulating her breathing while she gave time for Zeus to work and Connor space to decide if she was allowed in his space.
"You can come in," Connor said finally. " But just you."
She pushed the door open slowly, keeping her hands visible and unthreatening.
Connor sat on the floor by his bed, Zeus beside him, the dog's head resting on the kid's knee. Her eyes swept the room but didn’t find any weapons visible, just a scared sixteen year old with red-rimmed eyes and shaking hands buried in Zeus's fur.