“He found what we’re looking for.” Jake was unable to contain his grin.
He pulled his radio free as they ran toward the carousel. When they arrived, they found Max sitting on top of someone sprawled between the seahorse benches, his gleaming teeth bared.
“Hold, Max.” Then he spoke into the radio. “Trooper Jake Donovan. Suspect apprehended by K-9 Trooper Max on the carousel, currently held between the green benches on the southeast side. Requesting assistance and transport.”
“Get him off me!” Baker bellowed.
“Not a chance,” Jake replied.
Then, before he could stop her, Cassidy pushed past him to squat down at look Baker in the face. “Once again, I’m going to miss out on the fun of being the one who gets to arrest you, Troy.” The other man blinked, then snarled, hurling an unsavory epitaph at her as she straightened. But Cass simply smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you again soon, Mr. Baker. In court.”
In the blink of an eye, they were swarmed by the security and SWAT officers who’d been guarding the perimeter. But Max held his ground with the suspect, growling and baring his impressive teeth.
“How’d he make it past us?” Bud Thompson huffed as he drew to a halt beside Cassidy.
She held up the hat with the fire department logo. “He’s been posing as a firefighter. Been running all over the place all day.”
Officers from the SWAT team moved in, and Jake gave the command for Max to back down. The moment Baker was cuffed, Jake whistled and Max bounded down from the platform, clearly pleased with his day’s work.
“Hey, do we need to…” She hooked a thumb in the direction of the Fun House. “Was there something in there?”
Cassidy hung back, Jake sticking close to her side. “I guess we were wrong in thinking we were dealing in dozens, baker’s or otherwise.”
“It was as good a guess as any,” Jake said. He didn’t look at her as the police escorted Baker off the ride.
A part of her wanted to confront him. To crow about his failures and revel in her escape. But the officers who took him into custody led him away in the direction of the north gate where a number of cruisers sat parked along Roosevelt Road.
“Sarge?” One of the firefighters checking the area around the bench raised an arm. Evan Furst stepped up to the edge of the platform and the man handed something down to him.
Cassidy watched as he bagged the object as evidence, conferred with Colonel Aronson, then handed the bag over. A few minutes later, Sergeant Furst made his way over to them.
“We have his phone,” the firefighter said as he approached. “Your team will take a closer look, but it looks like he was using the device for remote detonation.” He shrugged. “Not uncommon when dealing with IEDs.”
Cassidy frowned. “I don’t ever want to use a mobile phone again.”
Both men laughed. “Try to order pizza without one,” Jake said, rolling his eyes.
Furst slapped Jake on the back, then offered his knuckles to Max for a sniff. “Your boy here put quite the scare into our guy.” As if on cue, Max smiled up at him, his giant pink tongue unfurling like a banner trailing out the side of his mouth.
“Yes, he can look scary when he wants to,” Jake said, giving the dog an affectionate pat.
Sergeant Furst offered his hand to her. “You were something, Ms. Walker. I don’t know many people who could have hung in there like you did.”
She accepted the handshake with a tired smile. “I have the constitution of a twelve-year-old.”
Furst chuckled then stepped aside as Colonel Aronson approached. “Ms. Walker, I have to ask you for your phone,” the older man said, cushioning the request with a note of apology.
“Of course,” Cassidy said. She reached into her back pockets and extracted a phone from each. “I was telling Agent Donovan I didn’t think I’d be using my phone much anymore.”
The older man gave an appreciative huff, then frowned at the two devices she offered. “Did the suspect contact you on both devices?”
“No, sir.” She raised her right hand slightly higher. “His messages came through on this one. My personal line.”
Aronson took the proffered phone. “Hate to make a long day even longer, but would you mind coming to headquarters to make your statement?”
Cassidy nodded. “No problem.”
He ran a hand over his buzz-cut hair. “He had no ID on him, but his prints will be in the system, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”
