Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Zack, come in please. Viddy, this is Zack, the horde’s vet. Zack, this is Viddy. Viddy’s dog, Hemi, is the one I called you about earlier.” I said, leading him over to the couch.
Viddy’s hand was still in mine, holding on incredibly tight as Zack cooed and cawed at Hemi.
“Oh, Hemi. You’re a strong one, aren’t you? Are you ready to go home, good ol’ boy?” Zack asked as he started to set up his things.
Zack had enquired with Hemi’s vet to be sure, and he’d concurred with Hemi’s prognosis. Hemi only had another couple of days, at most, to live and after today, he didn’t have much of an outlook, and would probably be in severe pain if precautions weren’t taken.
“Now, do you know what euthanasia is, my dear girl?” Zack asked in his grizzled, no nonsense voice.
Viddy was shaking her head before he’d even finished with the question. “No, sir. I don’t have the first clue. It’s not going to hurt, is it?” She choked.
Zack patted Viddy’s hand and led her to sit on the couch next to Hemi’s head. “No dear, it won’t hurt. Now you just sit here and talk to him, okay? He won’t feel a single thing, I promise.”
Zack spoke throughout, explaining exactly what he was doing, and why, all the while Hemi laid still, taking in the scene around him, but not putting up one ounce of fight.
“Now that I have the IV in, I’ll put the solution in. It’ll be exactly like he is going to sleep. One minute he will breathe, and the very next he will not. Do you want to say anything to him before we do it, baby girl?” Zach asked her softly.
“I promise to never use your dishes on another puppy. I will forever keep your name sacred, and I will forever remember you. When I go to work and find some of your hair on my shirt, I’ll remember that you used to roll in my clean laundry, and smile. I love you so much, and I’ll miss you like crazy, Hem.” She said quietly into Hemi’s fur.
As she spoke, I watched as Zack depressed the plunger on the large syringe in his hand, and counted down from twenty.
At seventeen seconds, Hemi’s eyes closed.
At eleven seconds, he inhaled deeply.
At seven, Hemi took his final breath.
Chapter 1
My job is protect your ass, not kiss it.
-Trance to a suspect
Trance
I watched from my position at the kitchen table as Radar played with Kosher. Radar had Kosher pinned to the floor with his gaping maw at Kosher’s throat, and then just as quickly, Kosher was up and pinning Radar to the floor.
Radar didn’t know it yet, but he was about to retire. Just as soon as I could guarantee that Kosher was ready.
Kosher was a two-year-old German Shepherd. I’d been working with Kosher now for two years. I’d raised him from a tiny puppy, all of six weeks old, just as I’d done with Radar.
Radar I’d gotten even earlier at five weeks, but the results were the same.
Raised from tiny pups, I put them through vigorous training, exercised them, and worked with them day and night. So much so that I considered them the perfect dogs. They would both protect me with their life, and I knew the day would come, likely sometime very soon, that Radar would need to retire. Therefore, that’s why I’d started working with Kosher.
Police dogs got tired just like humans. There was only so much a police officer could take before he needed a break. Sadly, Radar’s break was very near. At nine years old, it was nearly Radar’s time.
I already knew Kosher hated being left behind in the mornings as we left, but soon it would be Radar, and I just didn’t know how he’d react to seeing his place in my vehicle usurped by his friend.
Mocha and Tequila, not ones to pass up a fight, ran full tilt until they both slammed into the snarling mass of fur, being brought into their tumble out of sheer momentum.
The high-pitched puppy barks started to get to me, so I started repeating one word very softly. At first it started out almost like a whisper, but then it turned into a quiet word.
“Heel.” I said softly.
No reaction from the rat pack.
“Heel.” I said again.
Surprisingly, it was one of the puppies that reacted first.
“Heel.” I said with a slightly higher pitch.
Which was another reason why I thought it was about time for Radar to retire. I wasn’t saying he wasn’t good at his job. I was saying that he was losing his touch, and that touch was paramount to mine and Radar’s life.
Mocha, of course, got the towel I kept at my hip for praise, and she held on a good ten seconds longer than she usually did. She basked in the approval I gave her before I finally won and looked at the glaring Radar.
That was his towel. Or at least he thought it was. Normally, he was the one who got the towel.
“You snooze, you lose, old buddy!” I called to him.
I had a feeling he’d be mad at me for a while.
Walking away from the horde, I went to the laundry room to grab my uniform I’d picked up from the cleaners last night and then to my room to get dressed.
After I stripped down to my briefs, I slipped on thick gray wool socks over my feet. Then I pulled on my uniform pants, zipping but not buttoning. Followed shortly by a plain white undershirt, my bulletproof vest, and then my uniform shirt.
Once all of that was in place, I tucked, zipped, and straightened.
I clipped on my badge, slipped on my boots, and then belted my gun belt around my waist.
After everything was in place, I went to the bathroom and ran the electric razer over my face, brushed my teeth, grabbed my gun off the bathroom counter, and holstered it before walking out my bedroom door.
I could already feel the low throb of my lower back from my gear, which meant not good things for me. Today wasn’t going to be a fun day. I hated running the dog through the schools. I hated finding weed and coke in a fourteen year old’s locker.