Sophie looked at her phone. It had been three days that her mother had left and since then she hadn't called, hadn't sent her a message or anything else. The messages Sophie had left seemed to have no impact on her mother. What was she supposed to do now? Go on with her life like she didn't have family? Some people did exactly this, how was that possible? You couldn't just erase your family from your memory.
"I'm glad I've found you." Sophie put Kodah on her lap and petted her carefully. The puppy didn't shriek anymore when she touched it, yet it was far away from feeling comfortable. After Mary had stitched her up and Kodah woke up, Sophie had taken her home. She had no idea what to do next, she needed a dog sitter, but could she find one before she had to go to work? Commander Kane would not be happy when she brought a puppy to work.
"We need to find somebody, who can look after you when I'm away. Somebody, who has a garden or takes you to the park, who has playmates for you. And you need to see a vet, I want to know you are truly fine." She could go to the vet clinic, have Kodah checked out and then go to work. If the clinic had any idea where she could leave her puppy? Did they have addresses and phone numbers of dog sitters? There were various online, yet how was she supposed to know these people were good?
"Come on, we go to the clinic and see if they can help us. There has to be a way for us to stay together."
Kodah looked at her with big eyes. Sad puppy eyes and Sophie felt her heart melting. She was such a softy.
How is Kodah?
Sophie looked at her phone. Kate.
We are at the vet clinic so they can check her out and I hope they have some suggestions for dog sitters.
Otherwise, she had to take Kodah with her to work. She could only imagine how Commander Kane would look at her when she brought a puppy. One, that wasn't housebroken. What was it with her that she bit up more than she can chew all the time? Wasn't her life complicated enough?
"Miss Moore?"
Time to have her baby checked out.
"I'm doctor Bishop, how can I help you?" Doctor Bishop was in her fifties with gray, short hair and gray eyes.
"I found her in a dumpster last night, she has a wound on her belly and throat, a friend of mine is a doctor and stitched her up, yet I'd like to have her checked out."
"Well, let's see what we have got. You are a lucky girl that you were found in time. What is her name?" The vet looked at the stitches and nodded satisfied.
"Kodah."
"The stitches are fine, we don't have to do anything about them. What kind of horrible people have done this to you?" Doctor Bishop let her hands run over Kodah, who trembled. "I'm not going to hurt you, honey, I only check if you have any other injuries. So far, it feels like your bones are fine. Does she walk in a normal way?"
"Yes." At least Sophie hadn't discovered anything else. Kodah did not walk a lot, the most time she had laid on a blanket and not moved, like she was afraid she'd get in trouble if she did.
"Good. I'll get you your vaccination and then you can go home. You might want to get neck collar for her so she stays away from her stitches. When they itch, she will bite or scratch them and might hurt herself."
"Okay." A neck collar it was. "Do you have any addresses or phone numbers of dog sitters? I work full time, if I want to keep her I need somebody, who looks after her when I'm at work."
"My assistant can give you a few numbers and names. I have no idea how flexible they are, if they can take Kodah right away."
They had to otherwise Sophie had to take her with her or leave her in the condo - both resolutions weren't good for Kodah or her.
"Thanks." There had to be a way, a solution for everything. Surely, there was a dog sitter, who had time for a cute little puppy like Kodah and could look after her. Who could resist such a cute puppy?
"Here are the phone numbers and names of the dog sitters and your bill."
The bill was not as bad as she had expected, unfortunately, the list of names was not as long as she had hoped for.
All right, time to call the first person on the list so she could…
"Hey Kodah."
"Kate." This was kind of weird. What was Kate…oh right, she had told her where she was.
"You look much better, Sweety." Kate kneed in front of Kodah and offered her hand to sniff. Slowly Kodah stretched her head to sniff Kate's hand. That was a first step of her puppy to trust people, her first step of healing.
"Is she all right?" Kate asked, her eyes still on Kodah.
"Yes, she is fine. Physically."
"The rest will heal, you will be fine."
"I hope so."
"I'm sure she will, she is with you."
"Well, I'm about to find a sitter for her because work is calling."
"There is nothing urgent going on at the office today, shall I take her? I doubt you'll find somebody, who will take her right away and you do need some special treatment after all you have been through, don't you Kodah?"
Was it smart to leave Kodah with Kate? It meant, they'd spent more time together and that was…could be complicated. It could make Sophie's life more complicated and raise questions, she was not ready to answer. On the other hand, it was the best solution for Kodah as Kate would make sure the puppy was fine. Plus, Kate was right that Kodah needed some special treatment and might not feel comfortable when there were other dogs around her.
"You can't look after her every day."
"No, not every day but the next days I can. Gives her a chance to settle down and see not all people are bad."
She was right, it was the best for Kodah. "She is not housebroken."
"Well, sounds like something we have to teach you the next days otherwise Luke will complain. Surely, you get a hold on that pretty fast."
"Okay, thanks. I call the dog sitters and see which one is best because sooner or later she will need a sitter."
"A good one and not the first one available."
"Yes." All right, a sitter for Kodah and then work for her. With Tyler on a secret case. Serial killers on the run and whatever else Gotham would throw at her.
A dog sitter was found. Interestingly, it wasn't somebody from the list Sophie had gotten from vet, no when she came home, her arms packed with things for Kodah, she ran into her neighbors, Mrs. and Mr. Smith. When she had moved in, she and Tyler had joked that when the couple were Mrs and Mr Smith they must have a secret life they have retired from or lived in witness protection. This was so much more fun than imagine that the couple's name was just that: a name.
Anyway, they had asked what Sophie wanted to do with all the dog stuff, so she told them about Kodah, showed them a few photos and Mr. Smith had offered that they could look after Kodah when she was gone. They had dogs when they were younger, now that they were in their seventies, they didn't want a new dog as they were afraid the dog might live longer than them and they were not sure they were fit enough to take care of a dog on their own. However, they would be happy to look after Kodah when she was at work and enjoy walks with her in the park. Her neighbors were happy and her problem was solved.
She dropped her things on the floor and pulled her phone out of her pocket, scrolled down to Kate's name. "Hey I'm home, shall I pick Kodah up?"
"No need to, we are in the park close to your home, I can drop her off in a few minutes."
"Thanks, then I prepare dinner for her."
"See you in a bit."
Do dogs have favorite food? Or something they didn't like at all? Hopefully, she had chosen the right food for Kodah. How did she know if her new dog had allergies? There were so many questions.
Sophie put the basket for Kodah next to the couch, placed the toys she had bought around and put the food on the table. Now, she needed a scale to measure the exact amount of food for her puppy.
The doorbell rang and Sophie felt how her heart jumped. It had to be because of Kodah coming back home. After all, she hadn't seen her puppy all day.
"Hey." There she was, on Kate's arm and both looked happy. "Come in."
"Thanks. How are you?"
"I'm glad my fur baby is back. How is she? How was she?"
"We practiced peeing outside, showing when she has to pee and not eating furniture. Hard lectures and we haven't succeeded but we are on a good way." Kate handed Kodah over to Sophie.
"Hi Sweety, how are you?" Kodah had so lovely brown eyes. "You look good."
"I gave her a bath to clean her up a little bit."
"Thanks. She looks good and tired."
"She should."
"I found sitters for her."
"Sitters?"
"Yes. On my way home I ran into my neighbors and they offered to look after her when I'm at work."
"That is nice."
"It is. And it does not mean you can't have her when you want to spend time with her." Wow, where did this offer come from? When Kate took Kodah for some playing and walks the distance they wanted to keep would not be possible.
"I'd like to have her over when I have the time, she is a sweety. A little bit tired from the vet time today but the next time we'll have a lot of fun. I wonder if she likes water."
"Maybe." There were so many things she had to learn about Kodah. "Do you want coffee?" She was a bad host, she forgot to offer something to Kate.
"No thanks, I'm off to get the bar ready for the night."
"Okay, have fun and thanks again."
"My pleasure."
Sophie watched Kate leave. Something was not right, something bothered Kate. She could feel it, she could see it in Kate's eyes. The thing was, she had no right to ask for details. Kate had to come to her, had to tell her what was on her mind. Sophie was sure it had something to do with Alice and the fact that Alice and Mouse were on the run. Not to mention that somebody shot the good version of Kate's sister, something Sophie still couldn't get her head around.
And she was afraid there was more to come. From Alice and from what she was trying to uncover at the Crows.