Partners in Crime

”Heel,” Rhi ordered as Ptolemy leapt from the front seat of the truck. He did as he was ordered, as he always did, tucking in close to her legs as she closed the driver’s side door behind her. The Sheriff had been the one to ask her to participate in the case her detectives were dealing with, but it didn’t meant that Forbes would be comfortable with a dog running loose in the station.

Each time she had helped the department had started in the same way – a call from Sheriff Forbes asking for her assistance, a trip out to the woods, and a hunt through the dense stands of trees to try and find a lost hiker or missing persons. Not that different from the work she’d done with the Army for years, training Ptolemy to follow a scent back to its owner, hopefully managing to find that trail while they were still breathing. In the military they’d worked cross-country, in pockets of the world where there was as much danger from the people you might stumble across while you were lost as you were from the terrain itself. She’d thought that Mystic Falls would be different, but the things that had made their home in the town (or that passed through) could be dangerous too. It was a relief having a dog when she lived on the outskirts of town, the wilderness that seemed to swallow so many up running right up to the edges of her yard.

The phone call she’d received from Forbes last night began the same way as usual, but then she’d mentioned that it would be something they were looking for, not someone. That had piqued her interest. Ptolemy had mainly worked missing persons, but the army had trained him across a range of tracking skills, including certain substances that would often start their journey in the poppy fields of Afghanistan. Could she and Ptolemy work a raid in Mystic Falls? Absolutely.

Reaching out to Scott and her team of volunteers she’d arranged for cover at both the clinic and the shelter. Maybe she’d be back this afternoon to handle closing at one or the other, maybe she’d be working late into the night. It all depended on how lucky they were, and how well organised the detectives were. If she’d spoken to one of them to set things up, she would’ve had a better idea of the latter. Instead, Rhi only had the scant details Forbes had passed along. She would meet the detectives at the station at 7am. Bright and early, all the better to kick the door in before the criminals were out of bed.

Rhi held the door open, letting Ptolemy, in his working harness, slip in the door ahead of her. She saw the deputy behind the desk startle slightly, but then he was nodding to her. ”Morning.”

”Hi,” Rhi drawled lightly. She settled a hand on the back of Ptolemy’s neck as he sat beside her. ”I’m Rhiannon Grey. Sheriff Forbes requested my presence this morning to work with the Narcotics team.”

”You’re on the list,” the deputy confirmed, glancing at his computer screen. ”A consultant, she didn’t list the dog though.” He cast a second glance at Ptolemy, giving him a wry look. Belgian Malinois were lighter than most German Sherpherds, but were relatively large dogs.

”I wouldn’t be working with the department without him.” Her own tracking skills were good, but no human would ever have the ability to trace a scent the same way a dog did.

The deputy gave a dubious grunt, then reached for the phone at his elbow. ”I’ll let the detectives know you’re here.”

Rhi nodded her thanks and retreated a few steps, only half listening in as the deputy phoned through to what she presumed was the detective in charge of the case. From here on out she’d be at their beck and call, only working the scene with Ptolemy when they were ready for her to go in. Ptolemy sat at her side at full attention, standing only when he obviously heard someone approaching before she did. Turning towards the door into the station as it swung open, Rhi froze, a small smile creeping onto her face. If Forbes had told her who she’d be working with, she wouldn’t have worried about how well the raid was about to go. Detective De la Peña was an organised man, one who wouldn’t leave any part of his work to chance. ”Good morning,” Rhi said lightly. ”Sheriff Forbes said you’d be expecting us.” Considering how this could’ve played out, she was going to consider this a decent start, a good portent for how the day would play out.

Tagged: ENRIQUE DE LA PEÑA * Word Count: 788