Courage Under Fire

“Fine, I’ll ride back with you, but I will report for duty for my regular shift tomorrow. Don’t treat me with kid gloves.” Lani turned and headed up the sandy shore toward the tall grass. “I can handle myself just fine. I’ve had first aid training as part of being a martial arts instructor...”

Lani continued to talk as they moved through the grass.

He wasn’t sure if her talking was a sign of confidence or insecurity. His estimation of her had gone up a notch. It took guts to jump in the water after a suspect, especially one that had just attacked her.

Noah’s radio glitched and Reed’s voice came across the line. “I got Lani’s bike loaded up in my patrol car.”

“Ten-four. She’s riding home with me, but you need to keep an eye on her through the night.”

“She’s not going into the ER?” Reed’s voice filled with concern.

Lani grabbed the radio. Standing on her tiptoes, she spoke into it. “Reed, quit being a big brother. When we’re working, treat me like you would any other officer.”

“Copy that, sis.”

“Do you call all the other officers, sis?”

Noah chuckled at the banter between the siblings. His brothers razzed each other and him on and off the job.

“Yes, Officer Branson.” Reed’s voice held a note of amusement.

Lani addressed Noah. “We’ll swing by the ER, but I’m sure I’m fine,” Lani said.

They hiked back up to the trail and out to the visitors’ center. Several patrol cars were parked there. More had arrived once the alert about the suspect had gone out.

“Any news on the boat?” Lani stepped toward one of the other officers, who shook his head.

Noah loaded Scotty in the back of his Tahoe SUV. Lani got into the passenger seat. They pulled out of the visitors’ center. Noah veered toward Cross Bay Boulevard, Lani doing most of the talking sharing about the kids’ class she taught at the martial arts center.

They stopped in the ER where a doctor examined Lani and gave her the okay to go back to work after a day off, but cautioned her to watch for any pain or loss of focus for the next couple of days. They got back into the Tahoe and headed home. Lani continued to talk about working with dogs at the training center.

As they drove through Queens at night, her voice trailed off. She touched her hand to her shoulder.

He’d gotten so used to the sound of her voice, the silence felt awkward. He glanced over at her. “Everything okay, Lani?”

“My radio. He yanked it off of me. I don’t have a radio anymore.” Her voice, normally very animated, had become monotone.

Noah had been braced for the emotional shock to set in. “We’ll issue you a new one when you come on shift after your day of rest. Lani?”

He was only a few blocks from her house in Rego Park. Lani and Reed lived on a quiet street. At this hour, there was no one outside. He spoke again to get her attention. “Lani?”

“I’m all right.” She stared straight ahead.

He knew she wasn’t. “It’s pretty normal to feel off-kilter after what you’ve been through.” She hadn’t been an officer very long and already she’d seen a degree of violence. “It wouldn’t hurt to make an appointment with the police psychologist. I know it was required you meet with one after you shot that guy who came into your house. It wouldn’t hurt to make another appointment.”

She lifted her chin slightly. “I just need a good night’s sleep and run in the park in the morning. That’s my therapy.”

He had a feeling the bravado she showed was because she didn’t want to appear incapable in front of the chief. Sometimes he didn’t like his title. It put a barrier between him and his fellow officers.

After circling the block, he found a parking space not too far from her house. He appreciated how tough she was acting. He’d been a cop long enough to know that denial didn’t make the trauma go away. “At least let me stay with you until Reed gets off shift.”

She lowered her head and pushed open the car door. “Okay, but only if Scotty can come in too.”

Scotty let out a low-level woof of approval.

Both of them laughed.

“Scotty seems to like the idea,” said Lani.

He had to hand it to his square-jawed partner. He could be very entertaining. Noah walked Lani to the house which had a stone facade and pillars. The flower beds were covered in straw. Though he could picture them in full bloom. Lani struck him as a plant kind of person. Who was he kidding? Lani was a people person and a dog person—warm and connecting, vivacious about all aspects of life. That’s why it bothered him to see her so quiet.

With Scotty heeling beside him, they went up the steps and onto the porch. Lani unlocked the door.

Noah stared up at the second story. “This whole place is yours?”

“No, we have an upstairs tenant.” She pushed the door open.

Once inside, Lani invited Noah to sit on the couch while Scotty sniffed his new surroundings. She excused herself to change out of her wet clothes.

Family photos, many of Reed and Lani doing sports together, adorned the wall in the living room. There was a picture of them attending a Yankees game with an older couple. Judging from the resemblance, the older couple must be Reed and Lani’s parents. His eyes rested on a picture of a teenage Lani in a leotard with her arms around two other dancers. A more recent one showed Lani on stage in a Western costume with other actors.

Noah understood why Lani was referred to as Cover Girl by the rest of the team. Her vitality and positive attitude came across in the photos and she was beautiful enough to be a model.

Several photos featured Reed working with his K-9 partner, Jessie.

Lani entered the room dressed in an oversize orange sweatshirt and jeans. “Do you want some cocoa or something?” Her blue eyes did not have their usual sparkle. He detected the weariness in her voice. It was important that she not be alone after having gone through such an ordeal.

“Sure, that sounds good,” he said. “Let me help you.”

While Lani filled the kettle and put it on the stove, Noah rooted through cupboards for mugs.

Lani pulled a basket filled with tea bags and hot chocolate packets from a cupboard. “Pick whatever you like.”

The toll of the attack was evident in her movement and on her face. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you go sit down and I’ll bring you the drink?”

She nodded and stepped back into the living room. Again, he knew something was up because she didn’t argue with him.

He opened the packets of cocoa and sprinkled them into the mugs. The kettle whistled. He poured the water into the cups. He carried the steaming mugs into the living room where he found Lani standing, not sitting, staring at the wall of photographs. Scotty had finished sniffing his surroundings and now sat at attention. His ears perked up when Noah entered the room.

She pointed to a bare space on the wall. “Do you know what goes there?”

Noah shook his head.

“A picture of me with my dog when I’m assigned one.” Her face shone with a sort of inner glow.

The bare space was next to a photo of Reed with his Jessie. The bloodhound’s saggy-skinned expression seemed to contradict the dog’s tenacious personality.

He knew from Lani’s file that she was twenty-nine, old for a rookie. His estimation of her abilities had changed, but he still had his doubts. Her background was not the normal career route for a cop. “That will happen soon enough.” It had been months since Lani had been accepted to the K-9 unit and a suitable dog had still not become available. She’d tried out several. The dogs were either not compatible with her or they washed out of the program. Jordan’s death and Noah getting used to being chief had slowed everything down as well.