The Military K-9 Unit Collection. Valerie Hansen

out or believe Zoe when she shook her head.

      “No. Not him either.”

      “You sure?”

      “Yes. I just checked. I don’t know where this awful stuff came from. There’s a big puddle of it in my bedroom.”

      Linc saw her start to waver as if she might faint. He reached out, ready to steady her if need be, yet failing to fully grasp her explanation. She was panting as though she’d just finished a marathon and her eyes weren’t focusing well. They were wide and glassy.

      He reached for her. She started to pull away and staggered. Linc caught her by the arm. “You need to sit down.” Truth to tell, so did he.

      “I—I—I woke up and...”

      “This happened while you were asleep?”

      Another nod.

      “Did you see anything, anybody?”

      “No. I’m a sound sleeper except for sometimes when Freddy makes a noise at night. I never heard a thing.”

      “Okay.” He guided her all the way inside, preparing to close the door behind them.

      She started to fight him. “Let go. I need to wash. I have to get this off me!”

      There was panic in her tone. Little wonder. Though Linc commiserated, he stopped her. “No. You can’t wash until the crime scene techs get here. We’ll need pictures of everything in situ. I mean, where it is now.”

      In the background, he heard Star barking ferociously. She had someone cornered. “I need to go help my dog. Will you be okay?”

      Zoe nodded and leaned against the doorjamb. “Yes. Go. Catch whoever did this and bring him back so I can take a good swing at him.”

      “Atta girl. I mean, affirmative, Sergeant.”

      Star’s barking reached a crescendo. Linc knew that as soon as it stopped she’d capture her prey with a painful bite and be holding fast until given the command to release.

      His boots hit the floor hard, the sound echoing along the empty hallway, reminding him of a beating heart. His own was pounding, more from seeing what had been done to Zoe than from actual exertion.

      Star gave one last intense growl before a human screamed. She had him! Good girl, Linc thought. Hold.

      The screams turned to curses. Almost to the corner where he’d last seen his K-9 partner, Linc heard a scrambling sound followed by Star’s yip. Then all was silent.

      He whipped around the corner so fast he almost lost his footing.

      For the second time in minutes his heart stopped. There lay his dog, alone and prostrate. It took several more seconds before Linc was close enough to tell she was still breathing. Falling to his knees beside her, he gently touched her quivering side.

      “I should have stayed with you,” he whispered haltingly. “I’m so sorry, Star.”

       TEN

      Mayhem reigned in and around Zoe’s apartment. When Linc didn’t return quickly, she’d put in a call to Security Forces and reported all she knew, including the sounds of human and dog doing battle. That would certainly explain why Linc and Star had not come back yet.

      Further proof was the arrival of other K-9 teams. Among them was Master Sergeant Westley James, handling an all-black German shepherd, another man with Watson on his name tag and what looked like a Belgian Malinois, and a stern-looking guy in a dark windbreaker displaying FBI in large white letters across the back.

      Zoe stayed out of their way while being examined by ambulance personnel. She’d kept her head enough to insist on photos before allowing the first responders to check her from head to toe. While a young female airman kept Freddy occupied and isolated, crime scene investigators had taken samples from Zoe’s bedroom and had bagged everything before allowing her to shower in private.

      Getting clean had never felt so wonderful. If she hadn’t been so worried about Linc and his dog, she would have felt total relief. No one was telling her a thing. After having got used to the way Linc had begun treating her, she was taken aback by the cold shoulder she got from both his team and other investigators.

      Emerging in clean, dry PT clothing and with a towel around her wet hair, Zoe recognized Captain Blackwood from the warehouse investigation. When her eyes met his, she was not soothed in the least.

      Nevertheless, she approached him and saluted. “Captain.”

      His blue steel glance was almost enough to give her the shivers. “Sergeant Sullivan. I’m told you can’t explain what took place here this morning.”

      “Only that I woke up and stepped in—” Zoe swallowed hard “—blood. I have no idea when it was put there or who did it. I didn’t see a soul.” She watched a shepherd dog leaving with its handler. “Did the dogs turn up any clues?”

      “Some. Whoever supposedly attacked you is most likely the same person Star apprehended. A scent trail led from here to the spot where the dog was injured.”

      Zoe’s heart skipped a beat. “She’s going to be all right, isn’t she? Nobody will tell me a thing except that she’s alive.”

      “I don’t have the veterinary report yet, but she was conscious when she was transported.”

      Clasping her hands, Zoe felt tears welling. “Oh, thank God. Literally. I’ve been praying for her to be okay.”

      Blackwood didn’t seem impressed by her spirituality. “I would think, Sergeant, that you would put your son’s welfare first and stop resorting to cheap tricks. Believe me, we will not be distracted that easily.”

      “What do you mean, tricks?”

      “You know as well as I do that the red substance was not real blood.”

      “What? It wasn’t?”

      “No. It was not.”

      “Then why did you take so long examining my apartment?”

      “Obviously something occurred here. If you didn’t set up this fiasco to throw us off your brother’s trail, perhaps you would like to stop withholding information about the person or persons who have been harassing you.”

      “Is that what you call it? I call it attacking me, especially this last time. That stuff sure felt real. How was I to know it was fake?”

      He studied her as if she were a slide under a microscope before saying, “We’re running tests on it to see if it can be traced, not that that will help much.”

      Zoe didn’t try to suppress a shiver. “There’s nothing more I can tell you, Captain. If I’m free to leave, I plan to drop my son at day care early, then begin conducting my regular classes. Any objections?”

      “Not from me. When you’re not teaching, Master Sergeant James will make sure you’re covered until Sergeant Colson is able to resume his regular duties.”

      “Will that depend on Star? I mean, does she have to be well before he can come back to watch me?”

      “That will be up to Sergeant James. As long as Sergeant Colson isn’t involved in aggressive tracking or apprehension, I see no reason why he’d be sidelined until his K-9 is fit for duty.”

      “Thank you.” Zoe truly meant it. The captain might not be smiling but at least he was speaking to her. She thought of teenage Portia and felt a twinge of empathy. It was hard for her, being of a lower rank, to speak openly with Blackwood. What must it be like to be his daughter and be forced to get used to his stern demeanor as part of daily life at home? Nightmares were made of notions like that. Although, given her own dad’s overly permissive attitude toward