Page 54 of Tides That Bind

Silas rises, brushing the dog hair from his hands. He peeks over his shoulder and I rise on my toes to get a better look.

A second squad car pulls up behind Silas’s. The engine remains running but no one gets out.

My stomach knots. “What’s going on?”

“Harper.” Silas takes a deep breath and his obvious unease does nothing to quell my anxiety. “I’ve been calling because we need to take Tides.”

Immediately I push Tides back and step in front of him. “What?”

Silas tries to hand me the letter and I slap it down.

“Dogs retire with their owner,” I remind him of the procedure. “They go to the family when a handler—”

“They go to the family of the handler when there’s only ever beenonehandler,” Silas says.

“That was years ago forfiveweeks because Nate had surgery,” I push out. “And it’s been over two months. Why are you doing this now?”

Silas shakes his head. “I’ve been calling for two weeks, Harper. You were sent an official letters about surrendering him. Legally, Tides is property of the town.”

“The hell he is,” I grit out.

“Harper.” Silas sighs. “We’re talking about a dog.”

Tides isn’t just adog. As far as I’m concerned, after risking his life to save Lucas, I don’t care that he has four legs and sheds so much I have to vacuum him and not just the floor daily. Tides is part of this family. He belongs in this house.

I reach to slam the door in Silas’s face when he holds the envelope out. “This is a copy of the notice the sheriff’s officesent. It required you to surrender Tides back to the K9 department as of yesterday.”

I glare at the letter, realizing now what those unopened envelopes I found after Caroline had left contain—the only way to shatter what’s left of my family even more than it already is.

“And if I don’t?” Swallowing, I peek again at the other cruiser.

“You have a son, Harper. He already lost his dad. I won’t be able to process your booking fast enough to get you arraigned and out on bail before Lucas comes home from school.” Silas dips his head, looking me straight in the eye. “He’s a dog.”

“It’s amazing you’ve been coming around for years and don’t know my kid at all. Lucas would be more heartbroken to find Tides gone than me.”

Silas presses a hand to the door frame. “Tides is no longer able to stay in your custody. You don’t have to make this difficult.”

I lose my balance when Tides nudges his head between my legs, pushing them open when the other officer steps out of the car, shutting the door. The tenseness in his body matches my own.

“Silas, please don’t do this,” I whisper, wondering what I have to do, what I have to say, how long I need to play the widow card. But I know from the hard line his lips disappear into that I can play a more powerful, hurtful card.

“Nate would never forgive you.”

Silas’s eyes meet mine. My words don’t spark any emotion in them. Instead, they remain cold and disengaged. “Your husband lived a life dedicated to service. He knows what it means to finish your duty. Please stop making this difficult.”

I look down at Tides, at his rigid stance. My mind begins to spin and before I have the chance to process anything, Silas whistles. There’s minor hesitation of Tides below me, but he does step forward through my legs.

“I can see if his new handler would be willing to bring himby after he’s adjusted to his new home so Lucas can see him every now and then.”

Silas’s words make me cringe and I have to press my hand to the doorway to steady myself as I force myself to blink, to clear this image—this nightmare—from my sight. Because it can’t be possible that, for a second time, Silas has come to my home to be the bearer of bad news. It can’t be possible I’m standing here once again wondering how I’m going to have to explain to my son that he’s lost another one of his real life superheroes in the blink of an eye.

“W-wait!” I shout, but the other officer has returned to his car, and Silas has already put Tides in the back of his cruiser.

By the time I make it to the curb, Silas has shut his door. I slam my hand on the window. “You can’t do this to Lucas!”

I stumble when Silas pulls away from the curb, a screech coming from my fingers sliding against the glass. But I don’t go back into the house or collapse on the front steps. I don’t sit and cry. I refuse to accept that another piece of my family is being taken away in the cruelest twist of fate.

I run barefoot in the middle of the street, the pavement ripping my heels but the pain doesn’t slow my pace. It only makes me yell louder until my voice is just as raw as the skin of my feet. And still, that stinging is nothing compared to what I know is coming once again for us.

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