Home of the Brave (Raine Stockton Dog Mysteries Book 9) (17 page)

I said good-night and walked next door to my cabin, and the last starburst fizzled overhead as I climbed the steps.

Happy Fourth of July.  I guess.

Chapter
Nineteen

S
aturday started off beautifully, with another sunrise run around the camp—this one blissfully uninterrupted—followed by a six-thirty staff meeting over banana pancakes. 

“This is my favorite day of camp,” Margie declared, pressing her hands together and grinning like a kid herself.  “Dog demo day!  The kids get a chance to see how they can take what their dogs have learned so far to the next level, and of course we always like to use as many of our campers as we can in the actual demonstrations.  For everyone’s peace of mind, of course, the camper dogs will be crated in the dorm during the demos.  I believe Counselor Haley has the duty today.”

Haley, with blond braids and a mouthful of pancakes, lifted her hand good-naturedly.

“We have a full morning of classes, and right after lunch we’ll start arts and crafts in the rec hall to give the rest of you time to set up for your demos.  Our police dog team will be here at two, and the deputy will need some help setting up materials for her bomb-detection demo.  I thought the north field would be a good place since the agility course is already set up and it would be great for the kids to see how a game like agility can be used to teach police dogs.”

Counselor Bill looked mildly alarmed.  “Excuse me, did you say bombs?  They’re bringing bombs here?”

Margie smiled and shook her head.  “I’ve never actually seen a demo but I don’t think they use real bombs.”

As it happened, Melanie had sent me a link to an article not long ago on how bomb dogs are trained, because at that time she wasn’t sure whether her future lay in training drug dogs for the DEA or bomb dogs for the private sector.  The information was still fresh in my mind so I supplied, “It’s the components of explosives the dogs are trained to smell.  They don’t actually have to be mixed together into a bomb in order to be detected.  They can smell gunpowder on a policeman’s hands, for example, even if he hasn’t fired his weapon for hours, which is how you can get a lot of false positives when the dogs do demos at police academies.”

There were some nervous chuckles, and I turned to Margie.  “And that’s why I don’t think the agility field would be the best place for the demo.  I found an old target and shell casings there when I was setting up yesterday.  I think somebody’s been target shooting while the camp was empty.  It might distract the dog.”

She looked disappointed.  “I don’t like to keep moving the kids from one arena to the other.  It’s so hard to keep them organized.”

I thought about it for a minute. “Well, the grass is all mowed around the lake.  If everything else is taking place up here, maybe we could do the search and rescue and police dog demos last and just have the kids walk down the hill.  It would be a lot better for both demos if we had a clean field anyway, and you can get Willie to bring down the equipment we need on the ATV.”

“That might work,” Margie agreed thoughtfully.  “We could still close with the parade of breeds—the kids are making some cute glitzy bandannas for their dogs to wear— here in front of the lodge.”

“Be sure to announce play rehearsal at five thirty,” Lee added.  “It’ll only take about twenty minutes, but if they want to be in the play tonight they need to be on time.”

And on that note, Margie dismissed us all to begin our busy days.

Canine Nosework was my last class before lunch, and as the kids fanned out with their dogs toward the dining hall and the exercise areas, I let Cisco earn his keep by retrieving each of the stuffed toys I’d used for the lesson and placing them in my duffel bag.  Actually, I was waiting for Willie, who was supposed to load up the tunnel and the miniature A-frame and take them down to the lake after I finished my morning agility class, which had been two hours ago.  I had tried him on the radio earlier, but had gotten no response and figured he was out of range.  I was about to try him again when the radio crackled in my hand.

“Raine, are you on your way in?”  It was Margie.

“Five minutes.  Have you seen Willie?”

“He’s here somewhere.  Our police dog has arrived.”

I spared time for an incredulous face that no one could see before pressing the talk button.  “She’s early.”

“We may have to rearrange the schedule a tad.”  Margie hated rearranging schedules.  She was trying hard to sound cheerful.  “Can you show her where you’re going to set up?”

I picked up the duffel bag and Cisco’s leash.  “Do you mean after lunch?”

A hesitation.  “I think she’s in a hurry.”

Well, bully for her.  What did she think this was, on-demand theater and she was the star attraction?  Is this what you do when you’re a fancy-pants canine handler with a superhero dog, you just waltz into a camp full of kids and demand everything be rearranged to suit your schedule?  Maybe when she was invited to dinner she arrived two hours early and demanded to be served so that she could get on with her day.  Seriously, of all the nerve.

I pushed the Talk button.  “On my way.”

Cisco and I took our time, stopping by my cabin to drop off the duffle bag and to let Magic out of her crate.  Mischief was working as demo dog with Lee in the flying disc class, and I’d agreed to pick her up at the rec hall after lunch.  Since there wasn’t a lot of damage Magic could do in such a small space before I got back, I left her loose in the cabin with a few chew toys and a bowl of water—first making sure all edibles were behind lock and key.  Cisco and I sauntered back up the hill toward the main lodge, where I could see Jolene waiting impatiently beside the black K-9 unit SUV.  Margie was with her, trying to look pleasant while keeping the children who wanted a sneak peek at a real police dog moving toward the dining hall.  I felt a little sorry for her, and picked up the pace.  Margie definitely looked relieved as she saw me approach.

“Well now, there she is,” she said, a little too brightly.  “Deputy Smith, I’ll let Raine take over.  You know each other, right?  Raine, the deputy has to get back to work, so we’re going to switch things around a little.  We’ll start the demos at the lake right after lunch, then move back up to the lodge for arts and crafts.  That should work out, don’t you think?”  Without giving me a chance to reply, she added, “I’ll make the announcement at lunch.  It was a pleasure to meet you, Deputy, and thank you again for coming out.”

She hurried away, but not before giving me a meaningful look that included a “Good Luck” eye roll toward the straight-shouldered deputy.

I said, “We weren’t expecting you until two.”

She looked annoyed at having to explain herself.  “We had to make some changes.”

“Good thing we’re flexible.”

Cisco, who had never met a stranger, wiggled and wagged his way over to her in greeting.  She glanced down at him but made no overture, just let him stand there wagging his tail and grinning up at her.  That annoyed me even more than her refusal to respond to my comment.

I said, “Cisco, with me.”  Disappointed, he came back over to me, sniffed my fanny pack for a possible treat, then wandered around to the end of the leash, exploring the gravel drive, occasionally looking up with his winning smile at the sound of a child’s voice, just in case someone wanted to pet him. 

I said, with all the false pleasantness I could muster, “Usually when Buck gives these assignments they come with the rest of the day off.  You probably have plans you’re in a hurry to get to.”

She said coolly, “It’s a holiday weekend, Miss Stockton.  No one gets a day off.  Now if you’ll show me where I should set up …”

I turned at the sound of the ATV engine and lifted my arm to Willie, waving him over.  He didn’t respond, so when he pulled in front of the lodge and cut the engine, I cupped my hands around my mouth and called, “Willie, over here!  We need your help!”

I turned back to Jolene.  “We’re going to do the police dog demo and the tracking demo down at the lake.  Willie will take the equipment down in the ATV.  Of course,” I added with only the smallest smirk, “we’ll have to do the tracking demo first, or the trail will be wrecked.”

She frowned.  “Can’t you do that somewhere else?”

Before I could answer, Melanie jogged up, her face flushed from running and her eyes bright with excitement.  “Hey, Raine,” she said, “are you getting ready to show the police dog around?  I can help you set up.  Pepper’s all exercised and in her crate.”

As she spoke she gave Jolene the once-over and announced, “I’m going to train drug dogs for the FBI when I grow up.”

Jolene glanced at her briefly.  “Good for you.”

“Are there a lot of dogs working for the FBI?” Melanie persisted.  “Are their handlers men or women?”

“I wouldn’t know,” replied Jolene, and her attitude immediately aroused my protective instinct.

I said, “Melanie, you should go to lunch.  We can’t start the demos until everyone finishes.”

“I can skip lunch,” Melanie assured me.  “They always have snacks for later.  And I’d rather help you set up.” 

I said, “When I was at camp, I always used to hate the girl who got all the special attention.  That’s why I promised your dad you wouldn’t get any.  Go to lunch.”

She turned back to Jolene.  “Is Nike in the car?  Raine said that was her name.  Why don’t you let her out?  The other dogs won’t bother her.  They have to be in their crates at lunch.”

Jolene looked meaningfully at Cisco, and that just made me side with Melanie.  “It’ll take half an hour to set up,” I pointed out.  “You shouldn’t leave her in the car while we’re gone.”

She slid another one of those mildly contemptuous looks my way.  “K-9s always stay with the unit,” she responded.  “It’s their job.”

“With all these curious children around?” I lifted a skeptical eyebrow.  “We might have liability issues.”

This was clearly a subject upon which she had not been fully briefed, and for the first time a shadow of uncertainty crossed her eyes.  She said shortly, “Control your dog.”  She went around the vehicle to open the door.

I replied, “Cisco is always under control.”  But just to make sure, I added in a slightly lower tone to Cisco, “Cisco, down.”  He looked up to make sure I was serious, then stretched out at my feet.  To Melanie I added, sotto voce, “Whatever you do, don’t pet her dog.”

She gave me a small eye roll.  “I know that.”

I glanced around and saw all but a few stragglers had already gone into lunch.  “You get to look at her, that’s all.  No more questions.  Or,” I added over the objection I could see forming, “I’ll find someone else to be the lost person in Cisco’s demo.”

I could see her debating, and for a moment I actually thought I might lose.  Then, reluctantly, she nodded assent.  “Okay.” 

Willie came up beside me.  “What do you need?”

He looked tired and sweaty and a little out of sorts, which made me reluctant to ask him for a favor until I remembered that was what he was here for.  “Hi, Willie.  Looks like you had a busy morning.”

He took off his straw hat and wiped his shiny forehead with the back of his arm.  “That’s right.”

“Well, I hate to ask, but we’ve had to move the police dog demo up to first thing after lunch.  The deputy has some equipment she needs you to take down to the lake, and we’ll also need the tunnel and the A-frame from the agility field.”

He frowned.  “I’ll have to make two trips.  Get the pickup for the big stuff.”

“I’m sorry.”

Cisco made a soft greeting sound in his throat—not quite a whine and certainly not a bark, but he was definitely anxious to be released from his down.  I tightened my hand on the leash and returned a warning, “Ank!” to him.  He licked his lips and stopped whining, but his ears perked and his eyes shone alertly as he gazed in the direction of the K-9 unit.  I looked up just as Jolene came around the vehicle with Nike on a heavy leather leash which I knew from experience she did not need. 

I said to Jolene, “If you’ll show Willie what you need for the demo, he can start loading it into the ATV.” 

Nike started sniffing the ground and Cisco grew agitated as she drew closer.  I wound another loop of his leash around my hand and said soothingly, “Easy …”

It was at that moment that Nike positioned herself in front of me, sat and barked.

I knew an alert when I saw it; that was precisely what Cisco had been trained to do when he made a find.  But why was she alerting on
me
? 

Jolene frowned sharply at me.  “Is this some kind of joke?”

Given the animosity between us, I could see why she might think that.  Now that Nike was practically stepping on my toes, Cisco was panting so hard with excitement that he was almost wheezing, and I resisted the urge to move away from both the angry woman in uniform and the determined dog who, if I recalled, was not only trained to detect munitions but drugs.  As far as I knew I was carrying neither, but …

“Holy cow!” Melanie exclaimed with sudden, delighted enlightenment.  “She
is
good!”  She looked at me excitedly.  “Your fanny pack, Raine!  Remember you put the bullets there?”