My goodness, how did I ever manage to ruffle so many feathers. Oh well, I was going to work on this a little longer but I think it needs to go out now. Thank you, Alice, for the pats on the back and the winks over the scenes.

Morristown

Chapter Four

"Okay Jim, this time you are going to go downtown, get yourself some souvenirs or a t-shirt or what ever and then head to the Burger King at 66 Morris Street at noon. Your fellow students will meet you there."

"Okay, Milt," Jim ran the route he was to follow in his head. Milt Gibbs had taken six students to various locations in town so they could travel a longer route and meet for lunch. "Do we have to eat at that ptomaine palace? I'm not a Whopper and fries kinda guy."

"Jim, we've got three teenagers in this class, each one is either in or will soon be starting college and they will probably be living on fast food. I am not going to be the one to educate their palates, not on my salary." Milt stepped back and signalled the instructor who would be trailing behind the detective on his walk. "You have your cell phone if you get into trouble, but I think you can manage this on your own. See you for lunch." With that he went back to the van and drove to the next drop off point, leaving Jim to start on his way downtown.

Jim drew in a deep breath and squared his shoulders. He didn't think he was actually on his own but figured this was a test of sorts. "Let's get started boy. Hank, forward."

It was the end of the second week and the walks were more difficult. The biggest obstacle at this point was to get the students to trust both themselves and their dogs. Each student was given a cell phone as life line if they got into trouble and told to go for it. They were not told that each and every one of them had an instructor shadowing for their every move. Never were they left alone on the street.

They had barely started when the wind picked up and blew snow into Jim's face. He hated snow; it was as if everything was muffled under a blanket. The sidewalk was still relatively clean but if this crap kept falling it would soon turn them into a skating rink. Hank stopped; Jim extended his foot, found the curb and listened for traffic. Damn the snow, he couldn't hear anything coming either way and was about to step off but Hank wouldn't budge.

"Hank, come on, forward."

Hank waited, pointedly ignoring repeated commands to move. Jim searched with his foot again and detected nothing unusual. He was getting annoyed when he remembered to reach up. It was then Jim found a broken tree limb in front of his face; his trust in Hank jumped up two notches with that.

"Good dog, Hank, good boy," he kept a smile in his voice as he praised his dog. Jim stepped to the side until he passed the broken branch, "Hank, forward."

------------------------------------

When Jim reached Morris Street he heard the strident voice of Seth O'Brien.

"Give up that dog! That is a farm dog and you will never use my canine brother for his real talents. You are exploiting that dog."

"Halt, Teddy," Ashley Rush's voice was clipped and angry. "I know who you are, Mr. O'Brien, and I will take out my cell phone and have the police arrest you for harassment."

"Yes, do it," crowed the man, "I'll call the media! I'll call PETA! I'll have them see the unnatural conditions these, our canine brothers, are being subjected to."

Jim approached the pair, automatically reaching into his pocket before remembered his badge was not there. "Mr. O'Brien, I'm a police officer and I have to ask you to move along."

"No, you can't be a cop, you're blind. You're just another one of the pathetic abusers of our canine brothers." O'Brien came so close to Jim that the man's fetid breathe filled Jim's nose. Hank pushed himself between the two men in an attempt to separate them.

Then O'Brien heard someone else approaching, looked up and saw the two instructors that were watching Dunbar and Rush bearing down on him.

"You haven't won. There is going to be a day of reckoning and I am going to be there when it happens." With that O'Brien turned on his heel and stalked off before the Morristown staff could bring the actual law down on him.

"Thank you, Jim," Ashley purred as she turned toward Jim. "I'll have to thank you properly later."

He put on his 'cop face' and hoped it communicated through his voice, "don't worry, just doing my job."

"Oh, did I hit a nerve," her laughter had a nasty edge. "Detective Dunbar, I am so sorry if I pricked your ego but I thank you for saving me from the raving loony. Would it be beneath you're dignity to escort me to the Burger King? You can always think of me as a perp of some kind… a sex offender, perhaps?"

"As much as I would be happy to take you on a perp walk, I am trying to finish this exercise as I'm supposed to." Jim tried to re-orient himself to the street and ignore the laughter of Ashley Rush.

"Come on, Jim, forget about our late night adventure and join me. Only two more weeks and you'll never have to even admit you ever met me."

Dunbar chewed on his lip as he thought about his next move. He knew that to go back to his job he was going to have to prove he could do it and do it well. He also knew he was going to have to make allowances what he could not do. This dog, Hank, was a tool to get back on the job but he was only a tool. Dunbar knew he was going to have to be able to accept help from people he detested and this woman now made his skin crawl.

"Yes, I'll join you, thanks," he hoped he sounded sincere as he fell into step beside her. Turning with Rush, Jim explored the sidewalk in front of him with his toe until he found the edge of the curb. "Forward," he commanded and when they started to move Jim added, "Good boy, Hank."

--------------------------------------------

It was late and Jim's head hurt. First he had called Christie and ended up arguing with her about what they were going to do for Christmas this year. If he had his way they were not going to go anywhere or do anything that would slow down his rehabilitation and recapture of detective status. Then he had been reading Braille exercises and no matter how he tried to trust his fingertips he still developed a tension headache from clenching his jaw as he worked to read the pages there. He had to learn to understand and interpret this alphabet effortlessly so when he was back on the job he didn't need to wait for someone to read to him. Hank was nudging him gently, reminding Jim that the dog needed to go outside and sooner was better than later.

"Hey, Hank, ready to go do your stuff?" Jim reached down and ruffled the top of the dog's head when he heard his window rattle. "Damn," he swore under his breath. The wind that had blown snow into his face earlier had grown in intensity. If this kept up they were definitely not going to go the mall tomorrow to go Christmas shopping. Dunbar smirked and thanked whatever weather gods were sending the storm to him… he hated going to malls. "First, I get on my coat and boots and then we go do our thing. How's that sound, Hankie boy, how does that sound?"

The dog's quick jump up told Jim that Hank understood everything he said. Quickly he got pulled on his parka, boots and gloves and soon the pair were heading down the hallway and then outside. The door was stiff and hard to push open because snow was beginning to drift against it. When Jim finally got it open the wind wrenched it out of his hand. Heavy snow and sleet pelted down, encapsulating Dunbar in a cocoon of icy cold. Even Hank hesitated sticking his nose out into the storm but need and training won over everything else and together the pair slowly trudged to the gravel patch where the dogs relieved themselves.

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up," Jim chanted as he waited for Hank to do his business. He felt when Hank stood and had a bag ready to collect the 'dog bomb' when he found it. Jim was lucky and found it quickly, but the blowing snow had him completely disoriented. Turning where he thought he should go Jim gave the command, "Hank, forward." Hank took three steps forward and stopped. "Hank, what ya' got there, kid?" Jim extended his foot and bumped into something… something that yipped. There was a dog here, alone, in this freezing weather. Slipping the end of Hank's lead onto his wrist Dunbar crouched and reached out for the other dog.

"Hey boy, what are you doing here alone," Jim crooned to the shaking animal in front of him. He pulled off his gloves and combed the dog's matted, frozen fur until he found its collar and attached to that, its leash. There, at the end of the leash, was an arm. Jim frantically scrambled over to locate the rest of the person there. The coat was crusted with ice and snow and the face held no warmth. Jim's hand trailed down, searching for a pulse but stopped suddenly when it encountered a gaping wound, sticky with spilled blood. This was not an accident, not natural causes… this was a murder and he had already contaminated the scene.

Raising quickly Jim spat out the command, "Hank, find the door."

Hank pulled him slightly to the left and forward, stopping once to let Jim find the concrete step and again at the door. Counting out loud, Dunbar and Hank went swiftly down the hall and over to the apartment of the caretaker and his wife and pounded on the door.

"Hey, you in there, can you hear me?"

"Yeah," a disgruntled voice of the caretaker, Jack Hughes, was heard over the sounds of movement behind the door. "Whadda ya want? Hey, ya got blood on your hands."

"Yeah, I got blood on my hands," Jim shouted at the man, "There's a body out on the gravel patch. Call the police." Jim headed back to the door. He knew that whoever was outside on the gravel was dead, but he also knew he had to keep everyone else from disturbing the crime scene before the police got there. That was his job; secure the scene and gather evidence to solve the crime.

The caretaker came running toward him. "Mr. Dunbar, let me through."

"No, we have to wait for the police. I can tell you what you should do, check everyone here and see if anyone is missing." Jim stopped and remembered what he found. "There is a dog out there with the body… oh my god; there is a dog out there with the body. It won't leave its partner, it'll freeze to death and it is the best witness we have."

"What do we gotta do," Jack said as he wondered if he should trust the student in front of him.

"I've already been out there. I think I can bring the dog in without damaging the scene any more than I already have. Hank, let's go." The pair went back out into the raging snowstorm and carefully approached the gravel patch. Slowly and carefully Jim inched forward, calling "Here, boy," as he went. Hank let himself be lead on the leash, since it was not his harness he was not the guide, but his human needed him there and Hank was ready to do what it took to keep Jim safe.

Then Jim heard a whine above the sound of the wind. "Hey, boy, where are you. Speak, boy."

A weak yip answered his command and Jim soon found the dog. Carefully he let his hand travel down the leash and slipped its looped end off the lifeless hand. The dog didn't want to leave its human behind, but seemed to realize that there was nothing it could do so allowed itself to be lead inside the building. By the time Jim and the dogs reached the door most of the students were crowded near the entrance. Releasing the strange dog Jim bent down and wrapped his arms around Hank. His Hank had done just what he had needed to do, he had lead Jim to the crime scene and waited while Jim did what he had to do to save the other dog. Then Hank had taken Jim to the door despite the fact he was not wearing his harness. Hank was everything he should be and Jim finally realized his new partner was more than what he needed to be.

"Hey," Jack broke into Dunbar's train of thought, "there's a name on the collar. Teddy. Which one of the students has a dog named Teddy?"

Jim shook his head as he answered, "Ashley Rush."