Page 23 of Tough Justice

Instead of going to the driver’s side door of the SUV, Deck came to her door and opened it. Thor maneuvered his head onto her lap, urging her to pet him.

“Have you come to apologize for yelling at me?” Tori pursed her lips. She doubted the man had an apologetic bone in his body. That was the DEA way. She knew that firsthand.

“No. I came to thank you.”

Huh? Shock must have shown on her face.

“Yep. That’s Alonzo Jones.” He jerked his finger to Amy’s father. “The main guy we were looking for. Seems Jones didn’t plan on talking to me. Until you saved his daughter’s life. Turns out he’s grateful and wants to repay the favor. Because of you.”

“Really?” She couldn’t contain the excitement bursting inside her and grabbed Deck’s arm. “What did he say? Did he tell you who his supplier is?” If her actions had not only saved a life but gotten Deck something useful for his investigation that would get another dealer off the street, that was heady stuff, indeed.

He glanced to where her hand encircled his forearm. Well, half his forearm. It was too thickly muscled for her fingers to get completely around it. She released him, tucking her hand against her chest.

“He doesn’t know the supplier’s name, but he gave me a description. Said they meet in public places to make the money exchange. Even gave me some locations.”

“So that’s good, right?”

“Wait, there’s more.” When he grinned, Tori had to blink. That grin brightened up his usually serious, scowling face, making him even more attractive. “During one of the money exchanges, another guy was with the supplier, a guy Jones thinks is the source.”

“Does he know where this source is making it?” Tori asked hopefully.

“No, but he overheard something about the guy coming from up north.”

“Up north? What does that mean? Northern Colorado, or north of Colorado? Canada?”

“My questions exactly. It’s more than we had before, so I’d say this warrant was a success.”

“A success?” His definition of a success was different from hers. “You still don’t know who the distributor is.”

“True, but Jones gave me a description of that guy, too.”

“What does he look like?”

“Late thirties, about five-eleven, with brown hair and wears a ball cap. And he drives a fancy black sports car.”

“That’s it?” She couldn’t contain the disappointment in her voice.

“It’s more than we had before. Sooner or later, someone will spill his guts and give us a name. Until then, we’ll keep busting these dealers.” He gave Thor a gentle pat. “We’ll be a little longer inside.”

As she watched Deck stride toward the house, she settled back in the seat to wait, giving a mental fist-pump. For the first time since she’d agreed to this pact with the devil, she began to feel good about it. Maybe, despite all her reservations, this partnership could actually work. It had been a wild and crazy ride, and this was only the first day. God only knew what would happen next.

Chapter Eight

In Deck’s opinion, the only thing Thor did better than sniffing out drugs was climbing ladders. He clicked the timer button on his watch. “Thor, up.”

Methodically and confidently, his dog pawed his way up rung after rung until he was at the top of the twenty-foot ladder. With athletic grace, he vaulted onto the observation tower set in the middle of the Rocky Mountain K-9 Training Center. He circled the tower, looking over the edge at all of them and sporting an undeniable canine smirk that said: That’s right. I’m bad.

Deck stopped the timer. “Eight seconds. That’s an unofficial course record.” He looked up at his dog. “Nice going, buddy.”

Thor threw back his head and woofed.

“Your boy’s amazing,” Brett said. “He climbs ladders faster than any house painter or roofer I’ve ever seen. Blaze is way too big and clumsy. He’d faceplant in the dirt after two rungs. You have other talents, don’t you, boy?” He leaned down to scrub the ears of an enormous golden-brown Chesapeake Bay Retriever. The big dog leaned against Brett’s leg, groaning his pleasure.

“Even Blue never mastered the ladder thing.” Evan knelt at his shepherd’s side and wrapped an arm around the dog’s back. “But you can find a body—dead or alive—faster than any K-9 this side of the Rockies.” Blue snorted and licked Evan’s face. “Yeah, I know. Flattery will get me everywhere.”

Blaze stuck his snout in the air and sniffed.

“What’s he got?” Deck looked in the same direction the retriever was looking. South.