From Down Here Chapter 8
Tail going full blast, Kojo is at the door at the sound of Tim's truck coming to the house. He barks his joy when the door opens and Tim comes in. Tim scratches him behind the ears and sits in a chair near where Nolan is sitting on the couch. "Thanks for taking Kojo to the lab, Nolan. And I appreciate you keeping him company."
"I was happy to take him," Nolan says, stroking Kojo's head as he sits between the two male humans. "I needed to do something to help the situation while all this is going on. And it's Kojo that's keeping me company. With Bailey on duty and every cop who's able out there, I was looking at a very empty house and feeling pretty useless."
"I know what you mean," Tim commiserates. "Metro's been working on setting up teams to cover the city and deal with wherever the bombs are planted once the K-nines and BSU units can find them.' Kojo barks at the word "bombs" and Tim scritches him again before going on. "But so far, it's just been putting things in place. The lab's going to be working overtime to provide what the dogs need and calibrate the chemical sniffers to see just how bad the situation is. And Lucy's working out there with Juarez." Kojo barks again at Lucy's name. Nolan strokes him while Tim goes on. "They're calming down people who are making panic calls."
"There must be a lot of those," Nolan says. "Grey wants me in tomorrow to handle them at the front desk."
"Too many," Tim confirms. "The whole city is on edge. But Metro can mobilize everything we've set up at a moment's notice. We're hoping to have a handle on it tomorrow. Grey's right to put you on the desk. The more we can keep a lid on panic, the better."
"How about Genny and the boys?" Nolan asks. "They must be pretty scared."
"I don't know," Tim admits. "Genny sent me a message that the ball games and other activities were called off until the crisis is over. But I haven't had a chance to talk to her."
"I could stop by on my way home," Nolan offers. "Tell them what a great job Kojo did for everyone." Kojo yips at the sound of that.
Tim gives Kojo a rub along his flanks. "You did do a great job. I'm proud of you. So is Lucy." Kojo barks his pleasure.
"I think that's my cue to get out of here," Nolan says. "Anything else you want me to tell Genny and the boys?"
"Just keep it as low-key as you can, Nolan. And don't talk too much," Tim says.
Nolan makes a crooked happy face. "I hear that a lot." He gives Kojo a pat on the head saying "See you soon, Good Boy," and goes out the door as Tim gets up.
Tim looks down at Kojo. "So, Pal, Hot Dinner Number One for the city's number one dog?"
Barking, Kojo runs toward the kitchen, his tail going as fast as it can. Tim follows him. "People get even more scared at night, so Lucy's pulling a double shift, and she may be even longer than that. So it's just the two of us. And don't worry if she comes home late."
Kojo knows "Don't worry." He's always heard it when a human's been hurt. Lucy said it a lot when Tim's back was hurt. And she and Tim said it when Nolan got hurt, too." His tail slows down. "It will be OK," Tim says and starts getting the things with delicious scents out of the fridge. That's enough to make Kojo feel happy again. He's even more happy when Tim starts cooking.
Tim never lets Kojo sleep in the bed he shares with Lucy. Usually, Kojo sleeps in his own bed, just outside the bedroom door. But tonight, he's on the floor next to the bed where Tim is. Kojo's not sure if the human is sleeping. He's moving around a lot the way Kojo has sometimes when he's been scared. Kojo can tell Tim's scared – but not the way he and Lucy were when they talked about "manifesto." Kojo still doesn't understand that word, but he knows it's bad. The scared scent isn't that strong. But it's there.
Kojo finally scents Lucy coming in and then he hears her paws on the floor. Tim must hear her too, because he sits up, even before she comes into the bedroom. Kojo feels her paw touch his side. "Hey, Dog. What are you doing in here? I almost tripped over you."
Kojo gets up, wondering what Tim will say. "I thought he could be in here tonight until you got here. He deserved the company."
"And you wanted the company," Lucy says.
Tim waves his paw toward the door. "Go get in your bed now, Kojo."
Kojo knows the scent Lucy's giving off now. He's smelled it before. She wants to mate. And Tim's beginning to give off a mating smell of his own. He thinks they'll be mad if he stays in the room now, so he goes out to his own bed. But he can still smell them and hear them. It's comforting, a lot better than scary scents and words. Curling up, he goes to sleep.
In the morning, Kojo hears the thing that had "manifesto" in it come. Tim goes out to get it while Lucy starts making the thing they call coffee. Lucy turns toward Tim. "Anything about the bombs?"
He puts the thing down on the table. "Statements from the chief and the FBI that the investigation is ongoing and they can't comment further."
Lucy's face looks a little mad. "That's not going to calm anyone down."
Tim goes to the fridge and starts pulling things out. They smell nice. "No, but what else can they say? They're not about to say anything that will make people think they're giving in to the bombers. And they can't let the bombers know that we're getting a way to track the bombs." He pulls out a pan and starts putting things in it.
"You're right," Lucy says. "But it's not going to make my job any easier."
Tim touches her face. "I know. But we have everything set up to hunt the bombs down. And what's in them will give Harper and Lopez clues to who these assholes are."
"I hope so," Lucy says, handing him what they call a mug, with coffee in it.
Tim takes a drink and then goes back to his pan. "When do you have to be out there?"
"Start of morning shift."
"You only came in a few hours ago."
Lucy does a thing that makes her eyes go up. "And how many times have you grabbed almost no sleep before going out again?"
Tim makes a mad face. "But I'm a …."
Lucy hits his arm with her paw. "A guy?"
Tim stops what he's doing with the pan. "I was going to say, veteran. Military training prepared me for stuff like that."
Lucy's face looks even madder. "And I suppose all my UC missions where I had to be alert 24/7 to keep from blowing my cover, didn't. You can stuff the macho crap, Sergeant Bradford. I'm going to work."
Tim looks down at his pan. "I made breakfast."
Lucy starts putting on the things she wears when she goes to work. "I'll grab a doughnut or something at the division." The door makes a very loud sound as she closes it behind her.
