Page 50 of No Broken Promises

“But that doesn’t mean we’re not doing everything we can to protect her. Them,” I add, thinking of Nox and the way he’d made me smile all morning. “Speaking of which, I gotta go. I promised him I’d bring Daisy to his class today.”

Stryker snorts. “Perks of being the only K-9 officer in the department, I guess.”

“Don’t hate me cause I’m beautiful,” I tease, then whistle for Daisy.

Before leaving, I glare at him. “I’m not going to forget what you said, Stryker. You want to fix us, you better talk to her.”

He nods solemnly. “I will.”

“Good,” Linc adds. “I’d hate to have to gut you in your sleep for hurting her.”

I would have laughed, but I know Linc is very serious. He’d do anything for Parker, even before she married his brother. To be honest, all three of us would.

I think about her the entire drive to Birch Elementary. After parking, I finally decide to send her a text.

Remy

I know you’re pissed and upset. Don’t shut me out.

Parker

…

I won’t.

I can breathe easy for the first time since she had walked out of BPD, and the hope I feel at those two little words hits me in the gut. She isn’t shutting me out. If I wouldn’t look like an idiot, I probably would have thrown a fist in the air. Instead, I smile like a loon down at my phone and put it back into the holster at my side.

“Come on, Daisy,” I say while I open the back door for her. “Let’s go see your favorite human.”

Her ears perk up, and her tail starts to wag, even though she is technically working. There is something about her connection to Nox that I can’t deny or turn away from.

Together we walk through the halls of Birch Elementary. I take Daisy the long way to Nox’s classroom so that technically we are working. She sniffs along, searching for any sign of drugs or weapons, and I feel a sliver of unease fill my heart at what we are doing. After one of the students’ mothers had gone batshit crazy and tried to kill a teacher, the department doesn’t take any chances.

It helps that Daisy has been specially trained by the military. Not only is she a bomb dog, but she’s been trained to seek out drugs and weapons like guns. After the bombing where Danny died, she wasn’t up to military standards. She’d come home, thankfully with family, and started working with BPD.

“Anything?” I don’t really need to ask, though. If Daisy has even the hint of something, she’ll alert me immediately.

We finish our round and then make a beeline for Nox’s class.

“Knock, knock.” I open the door to see Casper standing there with a broad smile on her face as she sees me. “Do you have time for us?”

Casper rolls her eyes dramatically. “Do I have time for my big brother? Of course I do.”

I laugh, and Daisy pushes by me into the room, pulling on her lead until I end up just dropping it.

“Miss T, can we pet Daisy?” Nox asks his question with his hand stuck in the air respectfully, but I can see the blatant desire to pet the dog now sitting directly next to him written all over his face.

I raise an eyebrow at my sister and marvel at the iron hold she has over her kindergarten class. Casper, still smiling, nods to her class. “Go ahead, kids. We’ll take a ten-minute break so you can all spend a little bit of time with Daisy.”

Before she even finishes speaking, Nox is out of his chair and petting Daisy behind the ear, telling the rest of the kids in his class exactly where Daisy likes to be touched.

“I need your help,” I tell her bluntly once everyone’s attention is off the adults.

Casper rubs her stomach, where she hasn’t yet started to show, and rolls her eyes again.

“I figured. If it was important enough for you to interrupt my class.”

I rub the back of my neck absently with a sharp intake of air. “Actually, I promised Nox after our run that I’d bring Daisy by to see him.”

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