(Excerpt from K9 Mine, in which Travis and K9 Search/Saoirse have

an accidental encounter with Lori Ann, his ex-girlfriend)

Travis managed to tear Saoirse away from the doting dispatchers and stopped by the precinct front desk before leaving. The low, deep-throated growl startled him as he talked with the officer behind the counter.

“Hey, stranger!” Lori Ann’s bright voice snapped him to attention. “I was so hoping I’d run into you here. How have you been? Seems like I haven’t talked to you in forever—”

“Well, this is where I work, so…”

She didn’t miss a beat. “—and I just wanted to stop by to see how you’re doing. I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. I didn’t like how we left things between us, you know?” She moved in too close, and he fought the urge to step back. “I thought we could maybe get together for dinner or coffee sometime soon, just to, you know… talk?” From her husky tone, talking was the last thing on her mind.

The soft growling increased in volume. Travis glanced down and gave Saoirse a little scratch behind the ears. “Friendly,” he whispered.

“Doesn’t sound like it,” Lori Ann said, her tone skeptical.

“Wasn’t talking to you,” he replied. “I’m telling her that you’re friendly. She’s very protective.”

With a stern glare at the dog, she dropped her Louis Vuitton hobo knockoff to the floor with a soft plop. “Anyway, about dinner. I’d like that if you have time.” She stepped closer to pick an imaginary bit of lint off his vest. “I’ve missed you.”

Saoirse moved lest she be caught in the middle. Travis wondered at her sudden docility, but as social subterfuge was unfamiliar territory for her, he doubted she understood Lori Ann’s true motives. “Thought you were dating Kendricks over in SWAT. Doubt he’d take kindly to that.”

“Oh, him.” She gave a dismissive wave and sighed. “We aren’t seeing each other anymore. I guess I can’t get over you.”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded, looking around for his exit. “Well, it was nice seeing you and—”

She moved even closer and lowered her voice. “He gave me his tickets to that police thing at the convention center, said he wasn’t interested in dressing up. Are you planning to go?”

Some uniformed officers had gathered at the other end of the counter for a water cooler chat with the detectives. Before Travis could reply, a burst of uproarious laughter made every head turn to the source. He could not have asked for a better disruption. “Yeah, but I already have a date,” he said, moving toward the door as a group of boisterous college students pushed their way in. “Better get to work; I’m running late. C’mon, Search,” he called over the noise, patting his leg.

“McLean!” the captain barked from the doorway of his office. “Glad I caught you! Need you back here for a minute.”

“Yes, sir,” Travis said, moving toward the office with Saoirse trotting alongside. The captain’s impeccable timing ensured the determined woman would not follow him into the parking lot. God only knew what would happen without an audience looking on.

“Let me know if anything changes—you still have my number, right?” Lori Ann called after him.

He threw up a hand in a half-hearted wave but did not turn around. The captain had questions about an open assignment, which were answered promptly. As he turned to leave, he scanned the lobby and parking lot. He exhaled with relief, seeing Lori Ann and her car nowhere in sight. He clipped Saoirse’s biothane lead to her vest and headed for the front door.

“Your girl sure is jealous, McLean,” the same group of officers called out to him. “You know, hell hath no fury and all that. You better watch your step.”

“Lori Ann’s not my girl, so—” he explained patiently, but was interrupted by more hilarity.

“We aren’t talking about her.”

He walked closer so they were not yelling at each other across the lobby. “Don’t keep me in suspense. Who are we talking about?”

They all pointed, hooting and wheezing with raucous guffaws. “Your partner—Search.”

Puzzled, Travis glanced down, but she appeared uninterested in the conversation. “You heard her growling all the way over here?”

“You turned and looked. You didn’t see what happened?”

When Travis’s head sliced left once in negation, Mike stepped up, struggling to get the words out as he slung an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “My brother in Christ—I would be expecting another screaming voicemail in your immediate future. Search took a piss in Lori Ann’s purse.”

He closed his eyes and groaned. “Are you sure?”

“Yep—we watched her. Stepped right over it and squatted, looked deliberate as hell to me. I don’t think she much cared for Lori Ann sidling up to you like that.”

He looked down into the expressive brown eyes gazing up at him with adoration. “Did you do that?”

She yawned and looked away.

Travis shook his head with mock regret. “Not one single ounce of remorse.” He struggled not to smile, but he knew they all heard it in his voice. “I appreciate the heads up on that call.”

He pushed the lobby door open for her, and they headed for the cruiser. Saoirse looked back to ensure she would not be overheard. “I do not like that woman.”

“So I gathered. Once she finds the present you left, I don’t think she will like you, either.”

She chattered, her teeth snapping together like castanets. “I care not. I could bite her, and then she would leave you alone.”

If I didn’t know better, I would think that’s jealousy talking. “Damn—almost forgot,” he said, deftly changing the subject as they reached the car. “I have doughnuts for Dispatch.”

“Had.”

He opened the door for her to hop into the back cabin. “What do you mean—had?”

“Had,” she repeated. “Past tense of have, meaning to own or possess.” She tilted her head as if questioning his intelligence.

“Are you kidding me right…” Travis got in and shook the suspiciously light bakery box. He lifted the lid and sighed. “You ate all but one of these?”

“Don’t like the maple kind.” She let out a hearty burp. “I like the round ones with the cream and that cinnamon spice rolled up in a spiral.” When he continued to stare, she added, “You left me alone in the car for hours and hours. I saw the Specter of Death reaching for me—”  

“You’re immortal.”

“—and knew I was caught up in the clutches of starvation. Had I not eaten those, you would have found my skeletal remains and be consumed by soul-crushing guilt for leaving me to die alone. I thought to save you that heartache.”

“That’s a little dramatic. I got those for the ladies in Dispatch,” he repeated. “And I stopped at Circle K to grab some coffee and a cruller for you. Less than five minutes tops. Not hours.”

“Felt like hours,” she muttered.

He smiled and blew her a kiss in the rearview mirror. “I miss you when we’re apart, too.”