From Down Here Chapter 32
Kojo happily greets Tim at the door. It's earlier than he usually comes home, but he was gone a long time. He looks dark under his eyes, which Kojo has seen when people are tired. Tim reaches down to scratch Kojo behind the ears and gets him a chew bone. While Kojo chews his treat, Tim goes into the bedroom and closes the door.
A long time after Kojo finishes his chew bone, Lucy comes in looking happy like a puppy. Kojo thinks if Lucy had a tail, it would be wagging. Lucy has dog scents on her, but Kojo doesn't see any other dogs. She looks around. "Where's Tim? His truck is here."
Kojo goes to the bedroom door and pushes his nose against it. Lucy opens the door slowly. Tim moves a little bit. Then his eyes open and he looks at Lucy. "Hi!"
"I didn't mean to wake you," Lucy says.
"It's fine," Tim says. "I didn't want to sleep too long. I need to go over the details of the last operation and tell Pine if there's anything we could have done better."
"Did you get all the hostages out alive?" Lucy asks. "I didn't hear about anyone getting killed."
"No one got killed," Tim says. "But it took too long to resolve the situation. Two of the hostages are diabetics, and another one has heart problems. They weren't allowed to eat anything or take their medication. So by the time we got them out, they weren't in great shape. The medics took them straight to the hospital." Kojo doesn't understand anything Tim said except "hospital," but Tim doesn't look happy. "You looked excited when you came in here," Tim says to Lucy. "You make progress on your case?"
"The one I'm working on for Harper is coming along slowly," Lucy says. "I found a couple of possible sources. But Larchmont turned up. A freeway camera caught his license plate, and the CHiPs brought him in."
"Did he say anything about Curan?"
"He just said he wanted a lawyer. He's got a public defender, but Wesley has got the case for the DA. So he'll be working as hard as he can to make a deal to get Larchmont talking about Curan. But I figured out a way that may get Curan more comfortable with telling me what happened. I want to get an emotional support dog into the hospital for him. I went to a training facility today. Usually, they train the dogs with their owners, but one of the dogs was training with a child who died. A trainer thinks the dog might be able to bond with Curan. That could give him a lot of comfort and security." Kojo doesn't get most of that, but he knows it's about dogs and children.
"Wasn't Curan scared of Kojo when you found him?" Tim asks.
"Kojo found him," Lucy says, "and he was scared of everything. But I talked to him about Kojo finding him. He understands, and I don't think another dog will scare him. I'm going to have the trainer bring the dog that lost its child to the hospital tomorrow. We'll see what happens."
"Are you going to be able to be there?" Tim asks.
"Harper said I can be unless something urgent comes up with the other case, that she can't handle herself," Lucy says.
"There's not much Harper can't handle," Tim says. "She did take down an armed invader right after she gave birth."
"And Lopez was in labor when she killed La Fiera. I think motherhood makes women stronger," Lucy says.
Tim has a little mad on his face. "Lucy, we talked about this. It's not the right time to have children."
Lucy looks a little sad. "I know. But I would love to feel that kind of strength."
"You don't need to have kids to be strong. What about Bailey?"
Lucy bobs her head. "She is one of the strongest women I know. Oh, God, Tim! Sunday is Christmas Eve! Bailey and John are getting married."
"What are you worried about?" Tim asks. "You have your dress."
Lucy starts walking in a circle. "I haven't bought them a present yet. I need to work on my case for Harper. I want to see if the support dog can help Curan. I want to get something perfect!"
Looking a little mad, Tim shakes his head. "So order something on Amazon. It will be here tomorrow. They'll even gift wrap it."
Lucy makes funny noises. "They'll put it in a gift bag with a printed gift tag. Anyone could give Bailey and John that. I need something that will say how much I love them."
Tim shakes his head again. "So go shopping. The stores will be open for at least a couple of hours yet."
Lucy doesn't look any happier. "A couple of hours, for something really fantastic? I need more time than that. Wait, what are you getting them?"
"A gift certificate. That way they won't have to return a duplicate. When Isabel and I got married, we got three air fryers."
Lucy looks very mad. "I'm not going to duplicate anything!" Lucy makes a lot of noise going out the door.
Tim looks down at Kojo. "I guess it's the two of us. I'll make us something to eat and then work on what I need to talk to Pine about." Kojo's heard Tim talk about Pine a lot. He doesn't know who it is, but Pine sounds important. Kojo yips his approval as Tim gets the pan he uses to cook Kojo's dinner.
Tim is working at the table, and Kojo is napping when Lucy comes home, but he wakes up when he hears her car. She comes in carrying two big bags that smell really strange. "Did you buy out the store?" Tim asks. "What is all that stuff?"
"Herbs, spices, botanicals," Lucy says looking happy. "Bailey loves to cook, but she and John combined households, so she has all the kitchen equipment she needs – probably more. But she and John have been through so much together, they should start their marriage with all the good karma they can get. So I called Celina, and she told me which herbs and spices would give them the best spiritual start. And then I talked to the consultant at the Culinary Closet. She told me which spices were the hardest to get. I even got a little saffron. I can put it all in a beautiful basket and include a blessing Celina gave me."
"Well," Tim says, "Bailey and Nolan aren't going to get three of those. So I guess we're all set to go to the wedding."
Lucy's face still looks very happy. "Yes, we are. So did you get what you want to tell Pine put together?"
"Most of it," Tim says.
"You should look at it in the morning," Lucy says, "when you're not tired."
It's harder for Kojo to smell the mating scents with all the other smells coming from Lucy's bags, but Lucy is starting to have one, and so is Tim. He gets up, and they do the mouth-pressing thing. Then they hold each other's paws and go into the bedroom. Kojo is glad. They'll probably both get up happy, and Tim will make a good breakfast.