The flight to Vegas went very smoothly. Renee and Horatio met the breeder Jack at the NCIS headquarters to pick up the two puppies and take them to the airport.

She handed off the puppies to the airline personnel to send the puppies to Miami. When the pups were handed off, Renee and Horatio boarded their plane with Echo to Las Vegas.

By this time in her life, Echo was a professional at flying on an airplane. The other passengers seemed to enjoy having the friendly police canine on board. Renee and Horatio had requested sitting in the emergency exit row since it had more legroom. They wanted Echo to have more room to stretch. Being in the air for three and a half hours was a long time for Echo to be still.

Disembarking the plane and arriving at the baggage claim, the three officers were greeted by a limo driver to take them to the New York New York Hotel and Casino.

Renee wanted to have a room as high up as she could. The hotel register put Renee and Echo up on the nineteenth floor in room 1966. Horatio was in 1968. Renee thought that it was rather funny since her classic
Mustang was a 1966 Cherry Red convertible.

The rooms were connecting rooms, so Renee and Horatio kept the adjoining door open at all times. With a king-size bed in both rooms and the door open, Echo had two beds to choose from to sleep in. The following morning the three of them went down to Il Fornaio Italian Cuisine.

Renee always orders the same item at every breakfast restaurant that has it. She always gets Granola. Renee also orders Echo scrambled eggs. Horatio got eggs and sausage. During breakfast, Renee's phone went off. It was Sean Gleason calling. He wanted to know if Renee and Horatio were up.

"Hello, Renee? Are you and your brother ready to meet us? Can you meet us at the Italian restaurant for breakfast?"

"Horatio and I are already there. We woke up at 8 am and went down for breakfast at 9 am. It is only 9:30 am so just come join us. Oh, Echo is with us," Renee tells a curious Sean.

"Ty and I will be right down," Sean says to a visibly excited Renee.

Five minutes after hanging up the phone, Renee was introduced to Ty Murray. Renee has wanted to meet Ty since she was eight years old. She has been a fan of his since he was still in the rodeo as a bull rider. Echo must have sensed that Renee was anxious since the canine approached Ty first, begging for a chin scratch.

Echo was a very good ice-breaker. The police canine was very social when she didn't have her vest and badge on. Ty was immediately smitten with the dog. Echo herself was more than happy to get pets and scratches from her new friends.

Renee was eager to meet Ty. The four humans sat at a table to talk about what to expect at the event. Renee wanted to ask the CEO and Founder a question.

"If the riders are at South Point Casino for the week, can Echo and I go down and give the riders a demo of what her and I do?"

A question that both Ty and Sean answer with a resounding, "yes."

Renee, Horatio, and Echo leave Ty and Sean to go check out the Arena before it opens up to the public.

Walking into the Arena, Renee noticed a Border Patrol booth. Without giving away that she used to work for them, she asks them an innocent
enough question.

"As far as you know, who is the most successful canine unit that ever worked for Border Patrol."

"Grisham, what's that famous canine officer's name again? You know we were just talking about her." The only female agent asked her colleague.

"Sergeant Kerrigan, why?" Grisham asked his much younger co-worker.

"Kerrigan," the agent says, responding to Renee's question.

"Sergeant Renee Kerrigan, former Marine, and CBP agent. This is my current canine Echo." Renee extends her hand in greeting.

"Can I borrow some of your canine training equipment to do a demo for the bull riders at South Point?" Renee asks the border agents.

"Of course, you can borrow our bite suit." The agents quickly respond.

"I'll pick it up tomorrow morning." Renee walks away from the table and her brother. Leaving Echo with her brother, Renee runs ahead to the Marines table.

The Marines were there with a table. They were challenging anyone to a pull-up contest. The Marines wanted to see if anyone was as strong as a Marine.

As Renee approached the first Marine she saw, she asked a curious question about their contest.

"What is the highest pull-ups number that you heard of?"

"The most I've seen is a hundred. The most I've heard of someone doing was five hundred, but I think that number is greatly exaggerated."

"How many do you think that I can do?" Renee further questions the Marine.

"You, I say twenty." The young Marine tells a relaxed Renee.

"Bet you, I can do two hundred." Renee challenges the Marine.

"I'm probably going to regret it, but you are on." The Marine answered Renee's challenge.

Without another word, Renee starts to do pull-ups. Another Marine at the table was counting out loud. When the Marine was up to sixty, Horatio and Echo finally approach the table.

When the Marine counting got to two hundred, Renee drops to the ground. She is not even out of breath.

"Are you done showing off. You are the one who set the record." Horatio tells his sister.

Upon hearing that, the Marine all turn to face Renee.

"Marine Staff Sergeant Renee Hope Kerrigan. The five-hundred number is not the most I have done. It was really closer to six-hundred," Renee introduces herself to the Marines.

Shaking Renee's hand, the Marines stood dumb-founded.

Before she walks away, she asks them a parting question. "Are you guys at South Point at the Western Gift Expo?"

"Yes, are you coming to do your record pull-ups?" The Marines ask Renee.

"Yes, I'll be there tomorrow morning," Renee yells her answer to the question without turning around.

Renee and her two followers leave T-Mobile Arena before the civilians arrive. The three of them quickly walk back to the hotel room to get some things before they go to the event.

The Real-Time Pain Relief Touring Pro Division World Finals in the week before the PBR World Finals are. It is the week before, but some riders in the PBR World Finals also ride in the Touring Pro Division.

Renee, Horatio, and Echo were escorted into the Arena before anyone else got there. Renee wanted to get behind the chutes and meet the stock contractors and the bullfighters.

Growing up in South Texas, she knew Shorty Gorham from high school. She did doubt that he would recognize her. It had been twenty years since they had seen each other.

The Bullfighters got there before the riders but after the contractors. The contractors got to the Arena hours before since they needed to get the bulls ready for the night's event.

Much to Renee's surprise, Shorty recognized her. He did call her by her grade school nickname, "Smidge." Renee was given that nickname in elementary school since she was so much smaller than the other kids her age.

Renee hated the nickname, but Shorty was the only person that she allowed to call her that. In school, if anyone else called her that she would actually beat them up.

She never got in trouble since no one would complain. It would be too embarrassing to admit to getting beat up by a girl who was as small as her.

"Smidge, or should I call you Nae, I haven't seen you since high school," Shorty tells Renee.

"I was surprised when Ty told me that you are one of the bullfighters. H, this is Shorty, a schoolmate of mine."

"Shorty, this is my half brother Horatio. Oh, this is my canine partner Echo." Renee introduced her brother to her old friend. She could not believe that she almost forgot Echo.

"Hello, Horatio. I've known Renee since PreK." Shorty shakes Horatio's hand. He then leans down to give the police dog a little scratch on her chin.

"What have you been up too since high school?" Shorty asks Renee.

"I was a Staff Sergeant with the Marines. I worked for three years with the Border Patrol. Then I transferred to Miami-Dade Police. I was and am a police canine officer."

"I already know that you have been a bullfighter since high school. You were doing that since the high school rodeo days."

When Shorty heard that, he asks his friend another question. "Why are you here?"

"Well, Sean Gleason called me and invited me as a guest of honor."

"That makes sense," Shorty tells himself.

"Come with me. I want to introduce you and Echo to the rest of the group." Shorty pulls Renee along. Horatio and Echo bring up the rear.

"Stay here. I just need to check to see if everyone is dressed before you come into the locker room."

Shorty leaves Renee and her brother alone in the hall for a few minutes. Quickly returning and bringing the three of them into the locker room.

"Hey, guys. Come here. I want to introduce a high school friend of mine. She is the guest of honor."

Frank Newsom was the first to stand to greet the newcomers. He was quickly followed by Jesse Byrne, Cody Webster, and Flint Rasmussen. It didn't take long for the group of scarred up people to begin comparing scars.

Renee did have everyone beat when she showed them her back. She was very open about how she got the scars.

"Holy cow, how'd you get that scar?" Frank asks her as his jaw hung loose.

"I was a POW for five months. During that time, the Taliban tortured me by burning me with acid. I eventually broke free. I ended up killing sixty terrorists getting to freedom. The Taliban put a price on my head after. That is why I had to leave the Marines."

The bullfighters just stood there, speechless.

"I was always tough. Just ask Shorty. All the kids were scared of me. I was the only female competing in the varsity wrestling team. I could throw the boys twice my size. I only weighed ninety-pounds, but I could throw guys weighing one-hundred-eighty-pounds."

Pointing at Shorty, Renee goes on. "You were only on the high school rodeo team as the fighter. Even back then, you fought the bulls. I was the star athlete for the surf, swim, softball, volleyball, and wrestling teams. As well as a safety rider, bareback rider, and bull rider for our high school rodeo team."

While in the locker room with the bullfighters, Renee asked them some questions.

"Will, you guys, be at South Point Casino tomorrow? Echo and I are doing a demo. I am going to need someone to wear the bite suit. Echo might knock you off your feet, but otherwise, you will not get hurt."

"It's just a little nerve-wracking having a police dog chasing you even if it is just pretending."

Echo was busy making social rounds. She was walking up to everyone in the locker room to get belly rubs and chin scratches. Looking over at Echo, Renee continues talking.

"Echo is social and relaxed until she has her vest and badge on. That or until I tell her the protect command."

"I'll do it since I know you and I trust you," Shorty tells Renee.