Page 59 of Race to Save Her

Katie put her hand on her partner’s shoulder. “It’s teamwork.”

“Tell Cisco I said hi.”

Katie stopped in the parking lot and glanced up at the lights that had not been working the night she found the finger. It appeared one was working now and the other still hung from the wiring. It seemed strange that they hadn’t been able to fix them.

Katie called Deputy Anderson on her way home to get Cisco and change her clothes. She asked the deputy to meet her at the scene.

THIRTY-FOUR

Thursday 1330 hours

Katie changed her clothes to more appropriate attire for the rural search. She knew the rains had made everything muddy and she wasn’t sure what they were going to run into. She had let Anderson know so he could prepare as well. He had been on patrol, but the sheriff gave him permission to leave when the detectives needed him for an assignment.

Cisco was in his usual lively mode and now he had Midnight to play with too. Katie had everything she needed and packed the Jeep with necessities for the terrain. She put the dog’s search vest on, which was when Cisco began whining and spinning. He knew it was time to do something fun.

She was ready and opened the front door to see Anderson waiting next to her car.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi, Detective.”

“I think you can call me Katie now.”

“Chris,” he said.

“Well, Chris, are you ready?”

“Ten-four.”

Cisco zoomed out and jumped in the back seat, while Katie put an extra duffle bag and backpack in the trunk. She knew from experience she needed to be ready for anything.

“What are you expecting to find?” said Chris.

“I don’t know about expecting, but there’s always something to learn at these crime scenes. And Cisco will find it if it’s there.”

“When I first decided to join the police department I wanted to be a K9 handler.”

“What about now?”

He laughed. “I still want to be a K9 handler, but being a detective is the dream.”

Katie walked to the driver’s side. “I think you’re well on your way to fulfilling that dream.”

Chris smiled and tossed in a duffle bag as he got in the passenger’s side.

It took more than thirty minutes to arrive at the drainage spot on Baker Road. When Katie parked there was an almost eerie vibe that she’d missed earlier.

Everything had been cleaned up and vacated. The yellow tape was gone and there were only the impressions from the two-by-fours that were used to cross the drainage ditch. They were all quiet, even Cisco wasn’t whining to get searching.

As if he could read what Katie was thinking, Chris said, “Is there a way across?”

“We had a couple of two-by-fours earlier, but I guess we’re going to have to chance it. Maybe there’s a way that’s not as deep,” she said.

Chris jumped out and began walking along the drainage ditch, looking for somewhere they could cross with ease. He seemed to be taking everything in.

Katie got out and looked about studying what was different this time. She couldn’t shake that weird feeling. There was something she was missing. It wasn’t a sense of being watched, exactly, more as if danger was close—too close.

“Is it true?” said Chris.