Tested by Fire

The dog appeared first, a German shepherd that practically exploded from the confines of the house. It turned a few circles and then attacked the hose. Seconds later, a person emerged. Blue jeans. White T-shirt. A glint of auburn hair.

“Come on, Colin.”

The husky words were clearly audible from where he stood in the shadows.

He was going to strangle the chief. Finn Kelly was a woman. When John had gotten an urgent message from Seamus the day before about a family emergency, he had pressed into service an acquaintance who had two things—a private plane and an old girlfriend he wanted to look up—which had taken John from a hotel in Denver to Seamus’s house in Miranda Station, Wisconsin. He’d assumed that Finn was one of the chief’s many grandsons, and for some reason—which John didn’t want to examine too closely—Seamus had failed to mention the family emergency was female. Only the tenuous thread of their past friendship had prevented John from leaving Miranda Station the minute he’d spotted Finn Kelly. When Seamus answered the door the next morning, John said the first words that summed up his feelings.

“Are you crazy?”

“Hello, John. It’s good to see you again, too.” Seamus smiled.

“Absolutely not.”

“You saw Finn. I should have known you’d do your homework. When did you get into town?”

“You conveniently forgot to tell me that your family emergency was a woman. You just wasted your time.”

“Fiona is my granddaughter, not just a woman. Would you like a glass of iced tea? Or maybe some coffee?”

“No, thank you,” John growled. “I can’t take time off from work to baby-sit some rookie cop.”

“I talked to your boss yesterday,” Seamus said. “He mentioned you haven’t taken time off in about five years. I’d say you deserve a vacation.”

John glared at him. “No.”

Seamus lost some of his calm. “You are the only one I trust, John. Something is going on at the department. Maybe it has something to do with the fact she’s the first female patrol officer. She won’t talk about what’s happening…she’s distracted. I’m worried about her.”

“Maybe she’s one Kelly who isn’t cut out for a career in law enforcement,” John said. “It could be she’s bringing this on herself—”

“You meet her and decide,” Seamus interrupted. “But I know my granddaughter.”

“Just out of curiosity, how are you going to explain why I’m here?”

Seamus’s eyes brightened. “You’re an old friend, why wouldn’t you come for a visit? And I happened to talk to Chief Larson at the P.D. He jumped at the chance to have you give his men some training on the latest techniques for handling Internet crimes.”

John shoved his hand into the pocket of his jacket. “I’m not saying yes,” he warned.

“Just say yes to dinner tonight,” Seamus said. “Anne is making pot roast.”

Fiona Kelly decided to walk home after work. She had half an hour before her grandparents expected her for dinner and she needed to clear her thoughts. Chief, as her grandfather was affectionately known even to members of his family, and her grandmother, Anne, invited her over for dinner at least twice a week.

After she had been hired by the police department in Miranda Station, she’d moved into a small house tucked in a grove of maples just beyond her grandparents’ two-story brick home. It was tiny, made of fieldstone and wood, and had once been a guest house for the larger estate. As she got closer, she could hear Colin bark a greeting. Her spirits lifted slightly and she walked faster. His face appeared in the window, tongue lolling. The curtains moved vigorously, propelled by his wagging tail. She barely had the key in the lock and he was whining at the door.

“Colin, back!” She jumped to the side as he burst out.

Ignoring her, he ran around the yard and then veered back to attack the garden hose again.

“Colin, no!” She couldn’t help it. She started laughing. “Leave the poor hose alone. It’s dead. If you’d done that to those silly dummies at training camp, you wouldn’t be out of a job,” she scolded.

He blinked at her and trotted over, pushing his wedge-shaped face into her hand.

“Guilty conscience, hmm?” She rubbed his ear. “If you behave yourself you can come with me.”

Shedding the uniform and the bullet-proof vest she wore for her shift was a welcome relief, and she changed into a white sundress sprinkled with blue flowers and pale green ivy. Stepping into a pair of leather sandals, she called Colin to her side and they headed over to the house.

As she walked into her grandparents’ home through the open patio doors, she heard masculine voices. One belonged to Seamus, the other she didn’t recognize. Her heart dropped suddenly and she pursed her lips. The previous month a man from the fire department had “unexpectedly” shown up right before dinner. As a teen, she had started praying for the man that God would someday bring into her life—the man she would eventually marry. It was difficult to explain to Seamus that the Lord didn’t need any help from a matchmaking grandfather!

“Hi, Chief.”

“Finn!”

As Seamus rose from the chair, Finn winced at the stiffness in his movements. At seventy-five, her grandfather was finally beginning to show signs of his age.

“I see you brought that failure from the academy with you,” he teased.

“He may have failed at the academy but he’s succeeding as a pet.” She reached up and kissed her grandfather’s weathered cheek. “You’ll hurt his feelings if you keep talking like that.”

“Well, John, come and meet my granddaughter, Fiona, champion of the underdog.”

The man who had been sitting with his back to her suddenly rose to his feet. Seamus’s words dissolved in Finn’s ears as she looked at the stranger in front of her. She was caught and held captive by two jewel-green eyes.

“Finn, this is John Gabriel.”

The words pieced themselves together again, and Finn instinctively put out her hand, a gesture of politeness that the man ignored. Still trapped in his gaze, she frowned slightly.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Fiona,” he said formally.

Finn’s hand remained empty and she glanced down. John Gabriel’s arm was missing from the elbow down.

John watched the momentary confusion on her face but wasn’t inclined to help her out. Then she astounded him by smiling.

“John Gabriel. You saved Chief’s life, didn’t you? You’re practically family, then, and family members get hugs, not handshakes.”

Before John could react, she stepped forward and embraced him easily. Over the top of her head, he saw Seamus grin. He stiffened, but she had already let go of him, leaving a light, flowery fragrance behind.

“And call me Finn. Everyone does.”

“Finn, I thought I heard your voice. Snuck in through the patio, did you?” Anne Kelly appeared in the doorway. “Hi, Colin. Good dog.” Colin thumped his tail in appreciation and Seamus snorted. “Supper is ready.”

They filed into the dining room, the room that Anne Kelly saved for company, but there was nothing stuffy about the decor. The floors were hardwood that had mellowed over time and the curtains were a breezy muslin that welcomed the sunshine. The table was set for four.

John was still in shock from his introduction to Finn Kelly. The moonlight hadn’t done her justice. Medium height and slender, she had delicate features framed by the pale auburn hair that had been passed down from the original Kellys. This young woman was a police officer? She looked like she wasn’t old enough to hold a driver’s license!

“Will you say grace, Finn?” Anne asked.

Finn nodded and glanced at him. Her eyes were gray, ringed with indigo. The room suddenly felt very small. And he didn’t even hear her prayer.

The following hour was spent in pleasant, but meaningless, conversation. Finn noticed that both Chief and John Gabriel carefully avoided bringing up old memories. She had been only thirteen years old when the accident happened. She vividly recalled visiting her grandfather in the hospital and hearing her family whisper about the young police officer who had used his body to shield Chief from the explosion. Her grandpa was all right, that was all that mattered in her way of thinking, but she knew that John Gabriel was a hero. She had heard his name mentioned occasionally over the years and knew that he and Chief still kept in touch, but she hadn’t realized the extent of his sacrifice until now.