Lawfully Adored (K-9 Lawkeeper Romance) Read online

Aiden replied back, “Boulder County Air, this is K-9 2, it’s good to see you. I have two for transport. Can you send down the rescue basket?”

  “Got you covered, K-9 2, get ready to receive.”

  A few moments later, a red basket attached to a cable was lowered down to them along with a secondary line for Aiden.

  “I’m going to help you get into this basket and secure you. I will then attach myself so I can ride up with you and keep you stable as they pull us up.”

  Mr. Williams’ eyes grew wide with fright. “How safe is this?”

  “Safer than staying here on this ledge,” Aiden assured. “It’s okay, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ll make sure you arrive back to your wife in one piece.”

  With a nod, Mr. Williams allowed Aiden to help him into the rescue basket. Then Aiden secured himself alongside.

  “Boulder County Air, we’re ready to ascend.”

  “Copy, K-9 2, bringing you up now.”

  Aiden held onto the rescue bucket and made sure to keep it level as they were pulled up and brought on board the helicopter. Once Aiden handed off the hiker to the other officers in the unit, he secured himself in a seat.

  As he looked out the window, Aiden noticed that the other three Clear Mountain Search and Rescue officers and sergeant were standing next to Zach and the dogs.

  “K-9 1, this is K-9 2, I’ll see you back at the station,” Aiden stated over the radio. “Take good care of Cooper for me, will you?”

  “You bet, K-9 2, see you soon.”

  Two

  Lindsay Wright received the call from her supervisor to check on the welfare of a child. A report from a local school stated the child had excessive bug bites covering her body and complained of not having food in the home. As Lindsay approached the rundown house, she hoped the allegations were incorrect. However, when she saw the condition of the house, her heart lurched in pity.

  Though common in the rural parts of Boulder County to find sub-par living conditions, most families did their best. The county worked with them to fix their problems rather than remove a child from their home; however, there were limits. Such as in the case when there were animal feces and bugs covering the floor of a dwelling and no food was in the fridge or cabinets. Couple this with bug bites covering a little girl’s body, and Lindsay knew the child couldn’t stay in the home.

  As Lindsay talked with the mother, she smelled alcohol on the woman’s breath and worried she might become combative. Lindsay decided she needed police presence in order to help with the removal of the child. Not wanting to tip off the mother about what was going to happen, Lindsay stepped out of the dwelling—still remaining within sight of the mother and daughter—and called the local sheriff’s office.

  Once the deputy arrived, Lindsay had the difficult job of informing the mother. “Mrs. Burgess, I’m required to take Mandy now.”

  “What kind of a monster are you?” Mrs. Burgess accused as she held her daughter in her arms. “Only a completely heartless person could rip a child from her mother’s arms.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but Mandy can’t stay in these living conditions,” Lindsay explained. “It’s not safe for her here.”

  “You think you got the right to judge me?” the indignant woman railed at Lindsay. “I work hard and try my best, but I don’t have time to keep up on everything since Mandy’s no-good father ran off on us.”

  “Ma’am, I understand you’re in a difficult situation,” Lindsay sympathized, “but my hands are tied.”

  The deputy had to hold back the mother and keep her inside as Lindsay took the child out of the house.

  As Lindsay buckled the crying child into the carseat, she whispered “Shhh, Mandy, it’s going to be alright,” trying to assure her. “I’m taking you to a safe place to stay while all of this is worked out.”

  Lindsay snapped the seatbelt buckle into place, but as her hand grazed the side of the little girl’s leg, the child flinched, crying out in pain.

  “What’s wrong sweetie?” Lindsay asked.

  “I have a boo-boo,” the tow-headed child said, pointing to her leg.

  Lindsay leaned forward causing her blond hair to fall into her face. She brushed the locks out of her face. Gingerly, she folded up the edge of the right leg of the shorts and inhaled sharply. Tears filled her green eyes as she saw the giant infected bite on the girl’s inner thigh. Why hadn’t her mother done something about this?

  Lindsay couldn’t leave the bite in its current condition. After taking a quick picture for documentation, she went around to the back of her Chevy Traverse, opened the back hatch, and pulled out a medical supply kit.

  She came back around and opened the kit, pulling out a wipe and bandage. She wanted to put ointment on the wound, but not knowing if the child was allergic to anything, she refrained.

  After giving Mandy a bear to play with on the car ride back to Clear Mountain, Lindsay concentrated on the next step of getting the child somewhere safe.

  Even after being a social worker for over two years, Lindsay still found it hard to deal with the difficult situations she saw on a daily basis. Silently, Lindsay sent up a prayer asking God to give her strength and to help her find a good placement for the little girl. Lindsay knew God had given her a purpose to help children like Mandy and she wasn’t going to give up following the path God called her to walk.

  Three

  The furious look on Lieutenant Davis’ face as Aiden walked through the door of the station almost made him turn around and head back out. Aiden, however, knew he was going to have to face the consequences for his actions at some point; it might as well be now.

  “What were you thinking, rappelling down that ravine like you did? You know that’s not what protocol dictates.”

  “I know L.T., but if I had followed protocol, that hiker would have died on that ledge waiting for the air unit to arrive.”

  Crossing his arms, Lieutenant Davis stared at Aiden for several seconds before stating, “You have a point, but officially, I have to give you a verbal warning not to disobey protocol again. Take this seriously, Aiden, or I will have to give you your first written reprimand.”

  As Zach entered the room and snorted, he stated sarcastically, “Oh, no, we wouldn’t want the face of the Clear Mountain police to go and tarnish his otherwise exemplary reputation, now would we.”

  Lieutenant Davis’ eyes narrowed and snapped to Zach. “As opposed to your less than stellar one?”

  With a shrug, Zach replied, “Can I help that I was born with a rebel spirit and the simplicity of this place makes me want to revolt?”

  Clear Mountain police substation was a small department, so when there was no need for an officer’s specialty, officers were assigned to routine calls for service. The K-9 unit was no exception. Both of the Clear Mountain Police dogs were multi-purpose trained, meaning they were able to work assignments from search and rescue, to bomb detection, to narcotics.

  Yet, even though they were trained to handle any number of problems, most of the 9-1-1 calls were docile due to the area. The often-monotonous calls made Zach act out in an effort to inject some excitement into their shifts.

  “You’re lucky I’m not in the mood to train another officer, Zach, or I would have a good mind to toss your rebel spirit out on its rear.” In an admonishing tone, Lieutenant Davis added, “You’re already on thin ice due to the Wimble bomb threat incident.”

  The incident their supervisor was referring to was when Mrs. Wimble—one of Clear Mountain’s elderly residents who didn’t always have the sanest frame of reference—called for the third time in a row claiming someone had placed a bomb in the engine of her car.

  Zach and Harley were assigned the call, and when they arrived, he had Harley inspect the vehicle. When she found no trace of a bomb, Zach informed Mrs. Wimble she was mistaken about her fears.

  The woman wouldn’t accept his explanation and insisted he was wrong. To prove his point, he hopped into the car and drove it around the bl
ock to show her it wouldn’t blow up. The woman was irate and called Lieutenant Davis to tell him about the incident. The rash choice earned Zach a written reprimand and a warning that if he did anything like that again, he would face a suspension.

  “Both of your shifts are over. I’ll see you back here at 0800 hours,” Lieutenant Davis stated in a dismissive tone.

  Aiden and Zach knew not to argue with their boss. Turning around, the men left the station without a word.

  Near Aiden’s car stood a curvy brunette wearing a skin tight red suit with a skirt just long enough and a shirt just high enough to be considered professional. The outfit left very little to the imagination and Aiden felt awkward, not wanting to let his eyes linger too long on the familiar woman.

  “What are you doing here, Miss Watts?” Aiden said, purposely not making eye contact with the newspaper reporter.

  “I heard there was a hiker who went missing and you made a daring rescue to save him. Care to comment?” Natalie asked, pushing out her voice recorder towards him.

  “Like I’ve told you before, Miss Watts, I was just doing my job,” Aiden stated, trying to hide the irritation in his voice.

  “You don’t want to give me a quote?” she said with a pouty voice. “If you need more time, we could go get a drink and I could interview you over at The Lucky Penny.”

  Of course, she would want to take him to The Lucky Penny. It was where all the cops hung out after work and where all the badge bunnies frequented to land a date. He had spent his fair share of nights at the bar, but tonight he was exhausted and not in the mood to fend off unwanted attention. How could he get out of this?

  She must have noticed his hesitation because she immediately switched tactics, saying, “I guess if you can’t give me a quote, I could always go speak with Lieutenant Davis about the rescue and let him know you didn’t feel up to letting me interview you.”

  He had already ticked off Lieutenant Davis once tonight; he didn’t want to repeat the same mistake by being the reason this woman went inside and badgered him. Giving in, he stated, “Fine, I guess I can go over to The Lucky Penny for a few minutes.”

  A sultry smile curved the woman’s mouth before she said, “I’ll follow you over in my car.”

  Four

  After the day she’d had, the last thing Lindsay wanted to do was go on the blind date from the website her best friend and roommate, Erica, signed her up on. Granted, it was a Christian dating website, but still, Lindsay always thought she would meet her future husband in the old-fashioned way by running into him somewhere and having an instant connection.

  When the serendipitous moment never happened, Lindsay decided to give up on dating and focus on her career; that was until Erica informed her last week she had signed her up for a Christian dating site. Lindsay wasn’t sure if she would ever get used to the new way of dating; it seemed so cold and impersonal.

  Looking at herself one final time in the mirror, Lindsay tucked the few rogue strands of blond hair behind her ears before turning around to face Erica.

  “You look so pretty in that emerald dress,” Erica stated with a smile. “It enhances the greenness of your eyes. Bill is going to be knocked over when he sees you.”

  “Thanks, Erica, I just wish I wasn’t so tired. Today was exhausting.”

  “Yes, but that’s why it’s so great you are going out. It will take your mind off of all that.”

  Although Erica was a good friend, she often didn’t understand why Lindsay couldn’t leave her work at the office. Erica worked as a dental assistant, so her job didn’t take an emotional toll like Lindsay’s did. It wasn’t that Lindsay didn’t want to have a life outside her job, it was that her heart couldn’t keep from worrying about the kids on her case load.

  “I guess you’re right. It’ll be nice to focus on something else for a while,” Lindsay conceded. Then, remembering what she would be doing, she added with apprehension, “even if it means spending a couple of awkward hours with a total stranger over dinner.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Erica said in jest. Her laughter caused her brown bob to shake before she added, “Go get him, Cowgirl.”

  Lindsay smirked at the nickname from high school. Being raised on a ranch outside Clear Mountain, the kids from town gave her the nickname when she arrived the first day of freshmen year in Wranglers and boots.

  Though her wardrobe had changed over the years, often being caught in a pair of slacks with a matching blouse because of work, she was still a rancher’s daughter at heart. She enjoyed the outdoors when she had the time.

  “Don’t forget to call me at exactly nine,” Lindsay reminded Erica. “If things get weird, I don’t want to stay there any longer than I have to.”

  Grabbing her purse and coat, Lindsay headed out the door.

  * * *

  As she sat on one of the benches in the waiting area for the restaurant, Lindsay glanced at her phone: ten past eight. Bill was already late; she wondered how long she needed to wait before she could leave. Erica would be upset if she found out Lindsay left and didn’t give Bill a chance. Even though Lindsay could leave and go to the movies, it would require her to lie when Erica asked her how it went. Lindsay prided herself on being an honest person, knowing even when no one else knew she lied, God did.

  A short, balding man was making a beeline directly for her. Lindsay was confused as the man looked nothing like the photo on the profile for Bill.

  “Wow, you actually look exactly like your picture, down to the freckle under your right eye,” the stout man stated with an eager grin.

  “I’m sorry, do you have me confused with someone else?” Lindsay asked, still bewildered. “I’m supposed to be meeting someone here tonight, but I don’t think—”

  Cutting her off, the man interjected, “I’m Bill. You’re supposed to be meeting me.”

  Lindsay’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. What was going on? The man in front of her looked nothing like the man from the online profile.

  Bill must have noticed her reaction because he quickly stated, “That picture was of me from ten years ago when I was in high school.”

  Doing the math in her head, Lindsay quickly realized he had lied about his age as well. They were both supposed to be in their mid-twenties, but that made him a few years older than her.

  Even though his lies were a red flag, Lindsay had been raised to give people the benefit of the doubt, so she simply asked, “Is there a reason you used such an old photo and put a different age?”

  Bill’s eyes fell to the ground as he asked, “Would you have come if I had used a more recent photo or put my age?”

  Lindsay wanted to say yes, but the truth was, he was probably right, she would have skipped right over him. Feeling embarrassed for her judgmental nature, Lindsay offered, “I think our table is ready. Should we go sit down?”

  “You’re staying?” he asked in disbelief.

  As soon as she nodded, Bill turned and asked the hostess, “Can you seat us now?”

  A few minutes later, they were seated at a two-person table with menus in hand. As they perused the offerings, the awkward silence mushroomed out.

  The server appeared to take their order, but before Lindsay could speak, Bill said, “We’ll take a bottle of your house red wine. We’ll also both have the steak, medium rare with baked potatoes.”

  Lindsay had to force her mouth to keep from dropping open in shock. Never in all her life had someone ordered for her without asking her what she wanted. What was this man doing? Did he live in the dark ages when women had no thoughts of their own?

  Before the server could leave, Lindsay stopped the woman with her voice, “Can you please change my order to the house salad with the salmon fillet? And I would also like a glass of iced tea.”

  The server gave Lindsay a sympathetic look before scribbling down the change in the order.

  “You said you were a huge fan of red wine on your profile,” he accused.

  “I think you have me confused
with someone else,” Lindsay stated clearly. “I rarely drink, and never when I have to drive home later.”

  His eyes narrowed for a moment before he asked in annoyance, “Let me guess, you don’t eat red meat either?”

  Lindsay shook her head. “I have nothing against meat; I just wanted to have a salad.”

  He glanced at her figure. “You’ve got an amazing body; not sure why you think you need to diet.”

  Did she just hear him correctly? What was wrong with this man?

  Lindsay resisted the urge to pick up her phone and look at the time. It didn’t matter anyway as she knew forty-five minutes had not passed yet, and Erica wouldn’t be calling any time soon.

  After sending up a silent prayer for strength, Lindsay was grateful when her iced tea and some rolls arrived at the table, giving her a welcomed distraction from Bill’s gawking at her.

  “You said on your profile you’re a social worker. You plan on quitting once you start a family?”

  Lindsay’s eyes darted up to meet Bill’s. From his profile, she hadn’t pegged him for the traditional patriarchal type. It wasn’t that she was opposed to staying home with the kids—being a stay-at-home-mom was one of the most wonderful jobs in the world—it was simply that she wasn’t sure she could have children. None of that, however, was this man’s business, and she refused to discuss such a personal part of her life with him.

  “I will do whatever God tells me to do,” she said instead.

  With a shrug, Bill stated, “I don’t think it works that way. God doesn’t just come out and tell you what to do. You have to think for yourself. I thought since you were an ‘educated’ woman, you would be smart enough to know that.”

  Fed up with this man’s obnoxiously condescending behavior, Lindsay stood up and threw her napkin on the table. Picking up her purse, she dug out two twenties from her wallet and threw them on the table.

  “I think it’s quite clear this isn’t going to work. I’ve had a rough day, and I can’t sit through anymore of this.”