Payback (The Canine Handler Book 1) (21 page)

Dave was working off a hunch. He and Bella had never trained for a scenario like this, but he’d heard of arson canines working scenes similar to this one.
It couldn’t hurt,
he thought as he pulled Bella’s vest over her head and secured her badge to the front, foregoing her Kevlar vest this time. Maybe she could pick something up, like a clue or a track.

Once he had Bella together, he allowed her to jump down from the vehicle. He removed the leash from her collar and snapped the long line to the back of her working vest. He stood there for a moment and surveyed the entire scene. The opposite side of the street directly in front of the smoldering house was full of people. There were small groups of bystanders all the way down to the end of the lane where a police vehicle sat with lights flashing, effectively blocking any vehicle traffic. The house itself still had firefighters entering and exiting with hoses. Firetrucks with their diesel engines still humming spewed spent fuel from their exhaust systems. The fire chief had run crime scene tape on both sides of the house.

To Dave, running a bloodhound in a situation like this would be challenging. So many obstacles and distractions to get through between sights, smells and activity. But he believed it was worth a try while he had down time. He hoped he wouldn’t get in trouble for running her or compromise the situation for the arson canine in anyway, but he was working off a gut feeling. He believed in his dog and thought they could handle any type of situation together.

“Come on, Bella. Let’s see if we can pick up any tracks from this house.” Dave headed toward the crime scene with an open mind and optimistic outlook.

Manipulation. Secrets. Skills Eva had learned early in life. If she didn’t like you, beware. If you were on her good side, there were no worries. Sarah had always managed to stay on the right side of Eva, even though Sarah didn’t realize it or make an effort to try. The two had met in their early teens when they were in foster care. Sarah needed someone to look out for her and Eva filled that void. Sarah, however, filled a void for Eva which could never be articulated. There was something unique there, inside of Sarah that Eva yearned for but could never have. Sarah had an inner illumination people were drawn to… that some people were envious of. You could see it in Sarah’s fluid green eyes.

For a while Eva and Sarah had become inseparable. Sarah had exceptional ways of looking on the positive side of every situation—regardless of her background, life experiences and the abuse she had endured. She always seemed bright from within. There was a light or spark of hope that someday, somehow, their situation would get better. She knew there must be better people out in the world somewhere. Sarah was the only person that Eva couldn’t or wouldn’t manipulate. But Eva still had secrets she kept from Sarah. It’s just that Sarah kept nothing from Eva. Sarah didn’t operate like that.

When Sarah had become pregnant, Eva helped her conceal it for as long as she could. Eva would do anything to protect Sarah and the baby. But once the foster parents found out, they kept Sarah out of school until the baby was born. They kept her hidden even though Sarah barely showed. They were able to utilize the cyber learning system—school by computer—so Sarah could be kept behind closed doors until the baby was born. The night the baby girl came into this world, she was swept away by the midwife who had come to deliver it. The child was never registered, never spoken about. It was as if Sarah’s baby girl had never existed. Eva knew that Sarah still longed to find out where her daughter was, to find out what had happened to her, knew that she never stopped thinking about her. Sarah’s biggest wish was to someday find her daughter.
What a pipe dream! Like you could trace someone who never existed.

Eva stood staring, mesmerized by the way events were unfolding. Captivated. A satisfied smile spread across her pouty lips. She had been the driving force behind all of the news surrounding the Codorus area. It was like she had control over the lives of more than just the people she immediately encountered. Her actions set in motion repercussions she alone had orchestrated. That was more fascinating to her then the actual event which started it all. She liked to manipulate people around her and watch their reactions. Manipulation was the dynamic energy behind why she existed.

Eva had returned to the Codorus Township area to answer a yell for help. It felt like Sarah had finally needed her again. She liked that feeling. Eva knew this had been her life’s mission all along. She hated being neglected for so many years, while Sarah had “more important” people in her life, but was still grateful for the occasion to be with her. To watch over her.

Eva stood among the gathering bystanders as they watched firefighters working as a team to control the blaze. Entranced by the unspoken language, the bond they shared. Like ants working together silently in a world surrounded by disastrous disturbances. They each had a separate job to do as they pulled up in their trucks, jumping off before the engines came to a complete halt and grabbing their gear and equipment. Each individual’s job was counted on by another team member. There was balance, camaraderie and focus working toward a single goal.

She watched the onlookers’ expressions, observed their reaction to the destruction of the fire. Eva was caught up more by her fascination with the people standing around her than the actual event itself. The way everyone gathered to witness the destruction of the home, a power so immense, it could destroy the house completely.
Annihilate the house and everything with it. Including the memories. Burn them!
She wondered if the people standing around her knew what had gone on inside that house?
If they had, they never did anything about it!
They’re just as much to blame for allowing what went on in there.
The abuse, the pain and despair that it contained?

The police pushed the crowd back as it grew larger and more active.
Where had everyone come from? There can’t be this many people in this neighborhood?
As the spectators were pushed back, they were forced to stand closer and band together tighter. They jockeyed to the front of the throng for a clearer viewing. No one seemed to notice Eva as she stood among them, near the front of the pack. She had blood smeared on her clothes and arms. Her black hair looked askew, haphazardly falling to one side. Her arms hung limp and her left hand was cupped, holding something hidden within.

Tiring, Eva tried to hold her ground at the front. The crowd pushed and swayed as the police officers continued to keep order while the firefighters worked. The blaze had been contained after several units arrived at the scene. It was under control finally, firefighters working to completely extinguish her handiwork.

Eva started to feel trapped. Too close for comfort. Her nerves were raw. Fatigued. She had begun to unravel. It hadn’t been easy timing her work to mesh with Sarah’s schedule. But she wanted to stay transparent and not bring alarm to Sarah. She didn’t want to cause any more emotional damage than what Sarah had already experienced in her life. Eva was just paying back the people who had caused so much hurt both physically and emotionally to her friend. These sick, twisted pathetic excuses for human beings needed to pay for what they had done. But Eva was beginning to collapse under the strain of preserving the charade.

Dave led Bella up the street past the police cars and a few of the firetrucks. He took care to make sure she didn’t inhale diesel fumes by keeping a wide berth as the pair passed the engines. The commotion directly around the house was beginning to slow down. He spoke to the fire chief first to let him know what he was going to attempt to do. The chief had nodded, thinking it was worth a try and led him around back to where the empty gas container was lying. The plastic red container was on its side at the bottom of the steps that led from the kitchen stoop down to a patio and the yard.

“Has anyone touched or handled the container?” Dave inquired.

“No, I told each crew to steer clear of it. Several firefighters have been around here working on the house—so their
tracks
are all over—but no one should have touched the container.”

“Okay, perfect. I’m going to run Bella around the house first and then come back to the container.”

“Sounds great. Let me know if you need anything else.” The fire chief tipped his hard hat and headed back to the front of the house.

Dave took Bella around the yard first, encircling the entire house, taking care to stay as far from the still smoldering building as possible. Dave didn’t want to harm Bella in any way or allow her to breathe in smoke which might block her receptors and cause her to lose her scenting ability temporarily. Bella took her time, taking in all the tracks and scents left from the firefighters. She filed each odor in her memory bank and continued to work.

“This way, Bella,” Dave guided her around the front of the lot. Turning the corner to the side yard they wound their way to the back once again. Nothing so far had seemed to interest Bella. Even though the scene was starting to calm down, there were still distractions and disturbances. News media had rolled up and were filming the still smoldering house to show on their news program. None of it seemed to bother Bella. Nor was she interested in any of it. She only cared about the scents on the ground and tracking them.

“Okay, girl, let’s go check this out.” Dave pointed toward the empty gas container and sent Bella in that direction. Bella immediately became interested, spending time at the container and directly around it. Her posture changed. She took her time singling out each scent the area held. Dave stood by, holding onto her long line with a loose grip. He had seen the muscling on her body tighten and her tail become straighter, a sign he understood to mean she had closed in on a scent that she could track.

Bella circled the container and area a few more times, checking, sniffing the patchy grass. The dog locked in on a scent she found interesting on the container’s handle, then she checked the tracks again. Her body language changed. She stopped for a moment. Her body stiffened, tail standing in the air.
Bingo!
Dave could tell she had a track she wanted to follow. Bella looked back at him with a quick glance that asked if he was ready. He understood. “Go, girl!” he praised her and Bella took off following a track through the yard.

Bella tracked in a direct line from the backyard of the burned house to the rotted out fence line. She turned right and headed out the side gate leading to the street in front of the house. She worked her way down the street moving from one side of the road to the other. Bella stopped a few times, ran a circle around Dave as she lost the track, wrapping him in her long line. She would circle back, work the area as she cast about sniffing, locate the specific track again and continue to move forward.

“Good job, Bella,” Dave continued to feed her praise. He had no idea what she might find or who she was tracking. He was curious to see where she would lead him. He hoped it wouldn’t be a waste of time. He would think of any reason he could to bring Bella out of the truck and search with her. Dave was addicted to working with his canine partner.

As she moved down the street toward the crowd, Dave subconsciously unsnapped the cover of his holster exposing the butt end of his SIG handgun. Something he always did when he encountered the public in an event like this, especially in a high crime area. First rule of thumb was to “protect number one,” protect yourself. He’d be no good to anyone if something happened to him.

Bella headed toward a sea of legs. She approached the crowd and lifted her head. Then she went back to sniffing the asphalt and sidewalk where the bystanders stood watching. Closing in on the crowd, most of them backed away, giving Bella a wide berth. The dog continued to work tracks and sniff at whatever shoes were closest, trying to discern the scent she tracked.

Several people had crossed over the path, destroying the integrity and contaminating it with other tracks.
Patience. I need to be patient and let her work this out.
Dave remembered their training sessions. Patience was one of the hardest lessons when learning to work with a dog. They go at their own pace, not yours.

Bella was excited and pulled on her line. So many scents to discern. But she found the original track again, the one she had started to follow from the beginning, from where the gas container lay. It was overrun by other footprints and she had to focus. She put all her energies into staying with the one scent. Bella slowed her forward movement to only a few inches at a time.

The people in the crowd continued to move away as the dog worked closer to them. Most were weary of big dogs, and the people in this neighborhood were equally weary of the police. They had no problem moving away from an officer and his canine. Some even worried the dog might bite, that all police canines were aggressive. Ignorant public assumed all dogs bite. Just because all dogs have the capacity to bite, doesn’t mean they do.

As she continued to work within the crowd, the people moved back even further. Slowly, more bystanders peeled away. They wanted nothing to do with the dog or the trooper tethered to the other end. Bella was a large animal and most people were somewhat fearful. Others were genuinely respectful of a police canine and the possibility of what damage they could inflict. Even though Bella was a bloodhound and not a German Shepherd or Belgian Malinois, some folks still thought dogs could do terrible physical damage to a person.

Bella locked in tighter to the scent she had been following. She headed toward a young woman who never parted with the rest of the crowd. The woman didn’t notice the trooper and Bella as they worked closer to her. The woman looked like she was entranced, still gazing at the house which had been on fire.

Bella almost knocked the lady over as she approached and sat down in front of her. Bella looked back at Dave who was still holding the end of her line, then looked up at the woman’s face. The line was about thirty feet long. Dave looked from Bella to the woman. Dave had relaxed his grip on Bella’s long line now that she was sitting—her indication she had found the object of her scent search.

The lady looked familiar, but Dave couldn’t place her at first. Disheveled. Dark red stains covered her clothing and skin, resembling dried blood. Her hair sat weirdly askew on her head.
It almost looks crooked?
he thought. She looked dirty and unsettled as well.

As Bella continued to sit beside the woman, she bumped into her, sniffing at her with her large nose. The woman finally looked down. Fear replaced her blank, glazed-over look immediately. She backed up, still staring at Bella. Bella jerked the long line from Dave’s relaxed grasp and pulled hard in a swift move to stay with the subject of her track.

The woman’s mouth fell open. She started to scream. She raised her hands and arms above her head. One hand held a bloody knife. A second later she made a motion toward the dog with that hand. Dave yelled, “Drop the knife,” but it was like she couldn’t hear. Next he yelled for Bella, but Bella stayed with the subject.

Fearing for his partner, Dave went into protection mode. The crowd had completely dispersed around the woman and bloodhound. His police training took over. Another officer was in danger. In one practiced move he drew his gun from the holster, took aim and fired before the knife could penetrate Bella’s hide. His gun went off, a thunderous explosion even with all the firetrucks and chaos surrounding him.

It was in that moment, lunging toward Bella to make sure she was okay, still staring intently at the disheveled woman that he realized who he and Bella had been tracking. He watched her fall in slow motion, slumping to the ground, in tandem with his heart.