Disclaimer: Only the OCs are mine, but I'm reasonably sure you knew that all ready.

A/n: I know, I have another WIP to finish, but this story wouldn't go away and the impending snowstorm make it hard to write about surfing. (Not really ;) ) I will try and alternate chapters for them.

It was all the dog's fault. I think he did it on purpose. Maybe the not the getting hit by car part, but that's how it all started.

I know, you have no idea what I'm talking about. Half the time, I don't what I'm talking about either, but that's beside the point. Let's start this at the beginning.

The dog in question was a yellow Labrador who couldn't have been more then six months old. He was in bad shape when I found him on my way to work. Poor little guy looked half-starved with lots of cuts and other injuries. It looked like some asshole had dumped him on the side of the road.

I remember seeing him lying by the side off road, obviously injured. I pulled over to try and help him. I called animal control, which said that someone would be by to pick him up soon, and told me to be careful.

Any dog will attack if it's hurt and afraid. So I approached him slowly, trying to get a better idea of what happened to him. He looked at me with those sad brown eyes and whimpered, making a feeble attempt to wag his tail.

Encouraged, I walked a little closer. The dog made no move to bite, and it was clear that he was in worse condition then I first thought. Being careful not to move him, I took off my jacket and put it on him. I knelt down beside and waited for animal control to show up, gently petting the puppy and trying to keep him calm. I wanted to get a better look at his injuries, but there was no moon that night and not much to see.

I found myself wondering who could do something like this to him, and decided that I was going to find out.

After a few minutes, Sam showed up to help. Samantha Moore, the most amazing woman I've ever met, but we haven't gotten that far yet, so bear with me for while longer.

She had medium length strawberry blond hair, beautiful blue eyes and a great smile. She was gorgeous.

"Hello?" Shit. I had been staring at her like an idiot for the past five minutes. "I got a call about an injured dog." I made a great first impression, let me tell you. Sam was looking at me like I was slightly insane.

"Hi." I mentally shake myself out my momentary stupor and introduce myself. I explained the situation to her. I noticed that she spoke with an accent that took me a moment to place. It sounded like she was from Boston.

Them she looked over at the dog. I helped her get him into the back of her truck. She agreed with my assessment that a car hit him, and added that it looked as if he'd been on his own for a while.

I don't know if it was just being at the end of a shift, or watching one too many people get away with it, but she really thought I was nuts when I told her that I would catch the guy that did this if she would let me process the dog.

But at least she was willing to let me try, so I followed her to the shelter and emergency clinic. I called Nick on my cell while we were in route.

"Stokes."

"Hey Nick, could you do me a favor?" I knew that I'd be a little late.

"Aren't supposed to be on shift right now?"

"Yeah, listen, could you cover for me? I'm going be a little late. I'll explain later."

"Again?" He sighed, "Okay, but you'd better have a good excuse." He knows I wouldn't ask him if it weren't important.

I thanked him several times before hanging up. Sam and I pulled into the parking lot of the shelter a few minutes later.

A/n: Sorry to stop there, but I need to get some sleep. My driveway's not going to shovel itself in the morning. Thank you reading this. The chapter should be longer.

Please leave a review and it will definitely be longer.