From Down Here Chapter 19
The sound of Lucy rushing through the door wakes Kojo from a nap. "I got the results of my detective's exam. I passed!"
Tim uses his paws to push himself up from his chair at the table where he's been using his phone a lot. "That's great, Lucy. After all the studying you've been doing, you deserve it. When are you off patrol?"
"Grey says it may take a day or two for the paperwork to go through, but I'll be going out with Harper and Lopez tomorrow to learn the ropes and when Lopez goes on maternity leave again, I can fill in for her. And once my promotion is official, I'll be directly under Carradine."
Kojo doesn't understand much of that, but he can tell Tim loses some of his happy face. "Which means that you won't be street backup for Metro operations anymore."
"Unless you specifically pull in detectives, no. And I'll probably be doing more undercover – except where the drug operations will recognize me."
"Which means when I'm back at Metro, we won't see each other as much," Tim says.
"Uh-huh, but we knew that was going to happen, right? Isn't that why I moved in, so we could have more time together? And I have good news about that, too. Genny's idea about that commercial conversion in the Fashion District worked out. Tamara's getting one of the apartments. She should be able to move out next week. Then I can give up my place entirely. You may see me even more than you want to."
Tim starts looking happy again. "I don't think that's possible. But you know what? We should celebrate. The doctor won't sign off on my going back to work yet, but that doesn't have to stop us from going out."
Lucy starts waving her paws around. "We could make it a party! And if we have it at a restaurant, we won't be stuck with cleaning up. After the way Nolan helped me study, we should invite him and Bailey. And we should invite Harper and Lopez for backing me and they can bring James and Wesley. It will be a parents' night out for them. I know they can use it – especially Lopez since she's going to be dealing with two little ones soon. And we can go to that place you like, the one with the big steaks. I told Lopez about it when she said she was craving red meat."
Kojo watches the fur above one of Tim's eyes go up. "I thought you liked vegan places."
"But you don't and neither do our friends. And I want everyone to celebrate with me and have a good time. So are you in?"
"Or we could have the party here and I can barbecue in the backyard. I can grill steaks and you can have whatever you want. There won't be that much to clean up, either. Kojo will grab anything that drops." Tim's face looks like it does sometimes before he and Lucy mate. "How does that sound?"
Lucy starts to give off the mating scent. Kojo barks and runs to his bowl. If they start mating, they won't fill it until they're done. He doesn't think they mate as much with Tim still hurt. But they both get the mating scent, so he knows they'll do something. He barks again as a feeding reminder. Lucy looks at him. "I think Kojo wants to celebrate too."
"I was busy making my calls about the homeless vets and didn't cook for him," Tim says. He looks at Kojo. "Sorry, boy. Dinner's coming up."
Lucy's mating scent gets stronger. "Make it fast. Some celebrations should be private."
Tim's face looks happier and he starts to get the mating scent too. "You go get ready and I'll be right in."
"We brought a salad, deviled eggs, and beans," Bailey announces, coming through the door of Tim's house. She's carrying a lot of stuff and so is Nolan. It smells OK to Kojo but not as good as what Tim took out to the backyard. Lopez and the man she calls Wesley come in a little bit later, but they aren't carrying anything. Lopez looks like she did last time she had a baby human. She smells that way too. Harper and the man she calls James also come. Harper isn't carrying anything but James has something he calls potato salad. It doesn't smell as interesting as what Tim took outside, either.
Tim and Lucy let Kojo stay in the backyard while Tim cooks and Lucy talks to everyone. They all seem happy about something Lucy did. They call it 'making detective." Kojo doesn't know what that means, but it makes Lucy happy.
Kojo sniffs the wonderful smells as Tim cooks on what he calls a grill, but after a while, he thinks Tim looks a little tired. He rubs against Tim's legs to make him feel better. Then Nolan comes over to the grill and says," I can take over if you want to spend some time sitting with Lucy."
Bailey comes over too and says she can help. Tim's face doesn't look that happy, but he gives something he's using to cook with to Nolan and goes and sits with Lucy. She gives him a happy face and holds his paw.
"So, Lucy, have you got your own case yet?" Bailey asks.
"Carradine gave me one this morning," Lucy says. "I think he's starting me at the bottom."
"He starts everyone at the bottom," Lopez says. "He did it to me too. I thought it was because I was a woman and I was pregnant. But the guys told me he treats every new detective that way."
"What kind of a case did he give you, Lucy?" Bailey asks. "I know you can't give me details, but what was the crime?"
"Dog-napping," Lucy says. Kojo's ears go up at the word dog and he goes over to Lucy. She scratches his head but keeps on talking. "Actually, it's grand theft. Someone snatched a Löwchen. It's supposed to be worth about $12,000. And it belongs to an, um, well-known performer."
"You mean Missy Cha-Cha?" Bailey asks. "I heard she had her dog stolen. It was all over the radio station that the guys had playing at the firehouse. She must really love that dog. She's offering a $50,000 reward."
Lucy's face looks hot. "I really can't talk about whose dog it is. But the department won't look good if she doesn't get it back."
"Kojo doesn't get a lot of what Lucy is saying, but it sounds like someone is missing a dog. And Kojo thinks the dog is probably missing whoever a Missy Cha-Cha is too. Kojo feels sad for the dog and sad for Missy Cha-Cha. He hopes Lucy can get them back together again. He barks and licks Lucy's hand.
"Looks like Kojo wants you to solve your case," Nolan says, still standing at the grill.
Kojo barks and wags his tail.
"And I want to solve it too," Lucy says. "But I don't have much to go on."
"According to the radio," Bailey says, "some guy all in black with a black mask over his head came and grabbed the leash away from Missy Cha-Cha's dogwalker."
"Hey," Lopez reminds Bailey, "Lucy's not supposed to talk about the case. She doesn't need to get in trouble with Carradine on her first one out."
A sound comes from Lucy's phone and she shakes her head while she looks at it. "From Carradine?" Tim asks.
"Alert from ZNN. Missy Cha-Cha announced she got a ransom note."
"Whoever took that dog is in line for a lot more charges," Wesley says. "If that's your case, Lucy, it's a bigger one now."