A minute later or so later most of the Berkeley police force showed up. An ambulance crew pulled

Amanda’s hand from the officer’s neck about five minutes later. They got real busy and roared out of

there with more sirens shortly after that. There was yellow crime scene tape everywhere and we had to

answer a lot of questions. I mean, they did. Nobody seemed inclined to ask me anything. I was grateful

for that and intended to keep it that way. The Arab in the suit that was still alive was quickly taken from

Jimmy and shoved unceremoniously in the back of one of the patrol cars. I noticed the officer that put

him in handcuffs wasn’t particularly careful with his broken wrist. He even smiled quite nastily as the

Arab moaned in pain as he cinched the metal clasp extra tight. Other than the moan, however, the guy

wasn’t saying anything.

Jimmy of course told the cops how these two and three more had hit the lab yesterday, taking him

hostage. They had taken all the dogs and killed Josh when he tried to stop them. They had blindfolded

him on his way here, so he didn’t know where they had held him last night.

The cops weren’t too happy at first with Pete and his .357 being there. They took the gun but said he

might get it back after the investigation and ballistics tests. Then they took all of us downtown. They

were going to call animal control for me, but the others became adamant and insisted that I ride with

them. I had considered making a run for it but really didn’t know where I’d go, except for back to

Amanda’s mom. I rode in the car with Pete to the station. For some reason Jimmy and Amanda wanted

to ride together. In the back seat of the police car, Pete bent low and whispered to me

“I was very proud of you back there, Joan. You probably saved that cop’s life”

“You saved mine” I said softly, looking into his moist eyes.

“I had a old debt to pay” he said with a far off look in his eyes. The cop up front cleared his throat and

looked over his shoulder

“Did you say something buddy? He asked.

“It can wait. “ Pete replied. He placed his hand on my head and patted me softly and slow.

We arrived at the police station and they put all of us in different rooms for questioning. I found Amanda

and stayed as close to her as possible. The cops seemed satisfied to allow me to stay with her but they did

tie my collar to the table leg with a rope they found somewhere. Amanda had been here before and the

cop that talked to her was the same that already had the rest of her story from the other day. He looked at

her with a great deal of skepticism after she finished telling her most recent rendition of the morning’s

events.

“Look lady, We’ve got a dead officer, today” He said, his voice rising in volume. “I get it that these guys

contacted you by phone and told you to bring the last dog over”

Amanda nodded, holding up her hand still partially covered with brownish dried blood. “That’s right, and

remember, I’ve got a dead boss, as of yesterday.” She continued more softly “ I tried to help the officer

that was shot in the neck”

“So I’ve been told.” He continued, “I understand as well, that my other officer would probably also be

dead if you and your father hadn’t disobeyed our instructions and shown up”

“Probably,” She shrugged, “I don’t know about that. I missed most of the fighting,”

“You’re probably going to be heroes down at PETA, but I want to know something” his voice went

dangerous and low “Why didn’t you tell us about the dog that didn’t get taken?” he asked. His eyebrows

rose to an improbable height on his face as he waited for his answer.

She avoided his question. “I think the dog is a hero.” she said looking down at me with a sad look on her

face. “My father is too!”

“Your father killed a man!” he replied hotly. “And he brought a gun along to do it with.”

“He was just trying to protect Joan!” Amanda spat back, tears beginning to flow. “Those men had already

shot down one of your cops and were trying to get to the other. Joan was defending all of us!”

I growled low and looked up at the interrogator with steady challenging gaze. I didn’t like the way this

was going. He glanced down at me but continued

“Why didn’t you tell us about the dog?” He asked again.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“She’s special” Amanda responded. “Have you ever had a dog sir?”

“I did seven years in K9 before I made detective” he replied looking down at me again. He almost smiled,

but didn’t. I put my head down on my outstretched paws and waited for him to elaborate, but he did not.

“You know how special a bond between you and a dog like this can be” Amanda said awkwardly into the

silence. “Josh, Jimmy and I have raised all of the dogs from birth. When those guys came to steal them,

I’m not surprised Josh put his life on the line to try and stop them.

”

“A dog’s not worth the life of a man” the cop replied

“You might be surprised” Amanda said with yet another sad smile. “what can you tell me about the guy

that was holding Jimmy? There are evidently three more of them out there and I want to know what you

are going to do to protect us.”

“It seems likely that there is more going on here than a robbery”, the detective said with a grimace.

“Again, if you have anything to add as to why these dogs are so important, now would be the time”

“They are smarter than normal, I told you that already.” Amanda said.

“How smart, I wonder?” asked the cop, bending down to take a closer look at me. I looked away. “What

is that plastic device on her collar?”

Amanda swallowed. “Tracking device,” Amanda said quickly. “After the other dogs were taken, I slapped

it on her, just in case.” She lied. I was impressed.

“Where is the receiver?” he asked

“I left it in the car, when things got crazy” she lied again.

“We’re towing the car in” He responded. “When it gets here, I want you to show it to me. Do any of the

other dogs have one on?”

“Of course not! We didn’t know they were going to be stolen!” she finished hastily. I could tell she didn’t

like the trap he was letting her dig herself into. I didn’t either.

“Just how smart, how valuable are these dogs?” he asked again “Why are they worth killing for? And how

did these Arabs get involved?”

“I thought that language sounded like something from the mid-east!” Amanda said with some satisfaction.

“Jordan” actually” he replied. “These two work as some sort of support staff. Their consulate over in

San Francisco has already filed a protest. They have asked for the injured one to be released to them. So

far we’ve been able to hold them off, but the pressure will probably start coming in from the State

Department.”

“You won’t let him go?” Amanda almost whimpered

“The fact that they killed one of my officers has definitely created some resistance to that, so far” he said

with a frown, “But I probably won’t be able to get him tried for murder in a U.S. court. Right now we’re

just trying to get some answers out of him, but he’s clammed up tight and not talking. As long as it’s up

to this department, he’s not leaving here soon!”

“Do you think you can find the other dogs?” Amanda finally asked.

“Your pal Jimmy’s working on that right now. We got the van that these goons used to bring Jimmy to

your place. We’re searching it for evidence that might lead us to where they have the dogs.” I jumped to

my feet and looked back and forth between Amanda and the detective and tried to be telepathic. They both

looked at me curiously but for different reasons.

This may seem strange, but do you think my dog could have a sniff at that van?” Amanda said with a

funny smile.

“I think that I’d like to see that” said the detective, “Very much”

I walked just behind Amanda and the detective on the way to the impound yard at the back of the police

station. My nerves were on edge and it was hard to hold their pace. I forced myself. It wouldn’t due for

me to be running ahead and besides, I wasn’t really sure of the way. As it was, there were several

uniformed cops and technicians along the way that gave me funny looks. We entered the compound.

Jimmy was already there talking to a CSI who looked like he was just about to dust for fingerprints. They

turned and looked at the us when we walked up behind them. Jimmy gave Amanda and me a big smile

but kept on talking.

“I’m pretty sure that I was there, in the back, under a tarp” Jimmy said gesturing. “Remember, I was

blindfolded, but I definitely went in through the back and wasn’t sitting on a seat”

I looked around for Pete, but didn’t see him. Concerned, I tugged at Amanda’s sleeve. This pretending to

not be able to talk was so frustrating. I just wasn’t use to having to play doggie charades. Looking down

at me she seemed to get it.

“Where’s my father?” she asked anxiously.

“I’m sure he’s fine” said the cop, “But we’re having a doctor take a look at him. He was having some

chest pains”

“He’s what?!” yelled Amanda stopping Jimmy mid sentence as both he and the crime scene technician

whirled to look at her. I growled low and looked at the man as he took a couple of steps backwards. I

don’t know if it was me, or Amanda that scared him more.

“Where is he?” Amanda demanded as Jimmy stepped to her side.

“In the Infirmary” the cop shrugged. “I’ll take you, but I thought you wanted your dog to check out the

van”

Amanda bent low and put her face directly in front of mine. The tears in her eyes made me ache inside.

“You stay here with Jimmy, Joan, and give the van a good going over – I’m going to check on my dad”

she rushed out in a low whisper. Looking up at Jimmy, she said

“Watch Joan for a few minutes would you Jimmy?” then without waiting for an answer, she quickly rose

and walked quickly to the detective. I didn't like the idea of letting her out of my sight. Even worse, I

found myself very worried about Pete. I realized that I had grown very close to him in a very short time.

“Take me to my father” she said. He spoke quickly to one of the uniformed cops and together they

hurried away. Distracted as we were, together, Jimmy and I turned our attention to the van.