From Down Here Chapter 20

"I'm going to plug in the crockpot with the beans in the kitchen," Bailey says.

"And I can take a walk," James adds. "You all can talk about this."

"I got a trace on the origin of the ransom call," Lucy tells Tim. "It came from an apartment in Pico-Union."

"About 90% of Pico-Union is apartments," Lopez says. "The area's mostly immigrants – not exactly swimming in cash. The reward for the dog would come to more than a lot of the people in that neighborhood could make in a couple of years. It would make more sense to jump at that than risk trying to collect a ransom."

Kojo understands "dog" but not the rest of what they're saying. But everyone seems really interested in what Lucy is telling them.

"Who's living in the apartment?" Harper asks.

"I don't know," Lucy says. "I just have a location."

"You may be able to track the tenant through the post office," Harper says. "The landlord is supposed to give the mail carrier a list of residents, although I wouldn't count on it. Or the landlord can tell you who's on the lease."

"If you can find the landlord and there's a lease," Lopez says. "A lot of those buildings are bought up absentee. They hire managers to collect the rent, a lot of it in cash. And as long as they get paid, they don't care where it's coming from."

"I'll find out," Lucy says. "I'm really sorry, everyone. I have to get on this."

Harper makes a sound Kojo knows is called a laugh. It usually means someone is happy. "Like we don't know that. Get goin', girl!"

Lucy runs back toward the door into the house. "Enjoy the steaks, everyone."

"We'll check in with you later," Lopez says.

When Tim goes after Lucy, Kojo can just hear him say, "Watch your back."

Lucy puts her arms around Tim. They do the mouth-pressing thing, and then she goes away.

Bailey returns to the backyard. "I saw Lucy run out. Is everything OK?"

"Fine," Tim says, sitting down hard in front of a steak Kojo can see he hasn't finished. Kojo hopes that Tim will give him some of it or at least the bone. But Tim just keeps it in front of him."

"Hey, man," Wesley says. "After a while, you get used to it – or at least you expect it. "

"And Lucy probably goes through the same thing when you go off to do a Metro operation," Bailey says. "I still get nervous when John's out there."

"Right back at you," Nolan tells Bailey. "It sounds like something Tim says when he throws a ball, but Kojo doesn't see any ball. As James comes back into the yard, Kojo hears the noise that Tim calls thunder.

"It's really clouding up," James says. "Maybe we should move the party inside. Where's Lucy? On the job?"

"You know it," Harper says, grabbing the potato salad.

Kojo feels a little bit of water hit his head and yips at Tim. "Come on," Tim says, getting up. "Let's go in." As Tim picks up his plate with what's left of his steak, Kojo noses his hand. "Bet you want this, Buddy. All right, as soon as we get inside, you can have it."

Kojo runs for the door, but Tim doesn't go any faster. Nolan puts a hand on Tim's shoulder. "Look, every time Bailey goes to the firehouse, I wonder if this is going to be the day she gets caught by a flashover or crushed by a beam while she's trying to drag someone out of a burning house. But if she wasn't the one determined to run toward the flames, she wouldn't be the woman I love. Lucy loves being a cop, and she wants to be a detective. Anyone can see how much it means to her. That's the woman you love."

"Yeah," Tim agrees. "She is."

When Kojo hears Lucy's car in the driveway, he's instantly awake. Tim turned off all the lights in the house, and there's only a little light coming through the window from outside, so he can't see very much. He picks up Lucy's scent before she comes through the door, but he doesn't bark. He knows he's not supposed to while Tim's sleeping.

Lucy doesn't turn on any lights, she just holds a little one in her paw. When she aims it at the bedroom, it lights up Kojo in his bed a little bit. She bends down and pats him, keeping her voice very soft when she says, "Good boy." Kojo can't hear Lucy say anything when she goes into the bedroom, so he figures she isn't supposed to wake Tim up either. He goes back to sleep to wait until it's time for breakfast. It doesn't seem to him like he sleeps that much longer.

Tim is the first one out of the bedroom. He turns on the lights in the kitchen and does the things he and Lucy do to make coffee. He gives her what they call a mug with some coffee when she comes out looking sleepy. She gives him a happy face. "Thanks. I can really use that."

"So what happened last night?" Tim asks. "Did you find out who took the dog?"

Kojo barks at "dog," and Lucy starts talking. "I found her."

"It was a woman?" Tim asks.

"Not just any woman," Lucy says. "It was Missy Cha-Cha's dogwalker. She staged the whole disappearing Löwchen thing. The dog knew her and was happy to go with her. She even knew what treats she could use to lure it and keep it happy."

"So the apartment in Pico-Union was her place?" Tim asks. "I would think her address would already be in the case file."

"It was. She doesn't live in Pico-Union. Her boyfriend does. But Missy Cha-Cha doesn't know him. So they had a plan that he'd turn the dog in for the reward, and they'd split it. But he got greedy and called in the ransom call. Turns out I didn't need to find out who the tenant was. I googled Löwchens. They bark a lot. So I grabbed a couple of units, and we canvassed the neighbors for anyone who heard barking. They wanted to talk to us. A couple of them asked to file a complaint. It's supposed to be a no-pets building, and they didn't like the barking. So I got a warrant, and we went in and got the dog."

"A $50,000 reward," Tim muses. "Too bad cops aren't allowed to accept them."

"Yeah," Lucy says. "But Missy Cha-Cha said she's going to donate part of the proceeds from her next album to LA Police Foundation for its youth outreach programs. So that's something."

"It is. You did a hell of a job on your first case as a detective, Detective Chen. Your training officer must have taught you well."

Lucy hits Tim's hindquarters with her paw. "Funny, I don't remember a single Tim test about tracking down lost dogs."

"Are you kidding? Who came to me after Kojo practically destroyed your apartment?" Kojo doesn't think that sounds good, but Tim doesn't have a mad face.

Lucy gets down to pat Kojo some more. "You just know a good deal when you see it."

Tim scratches Kojo behind the ears. "You both just needed an outstanding TO."

Lucy gets up and puts her arms around Tim. "And we got one."