“She’s a ravishing beauty, my Peg. She’s worth every penny I spend on her.”

“Did you really slip?”

“You’ll never know.”

I punched him, and then I took off for home. He came, too, and we made it under the overhang just before the heavens opened and lightning split the sky.

Inside Bismarck greeted us, so happy to see Teo that he immediately forgave us. Teo checked him thoroughly and pronounced him greatly improved. Delighted, I went upstairs to wash my face and comb my hair while Teo washed in the downstairs bathroom with his sidekick in the doorway. I thought it was possible, even probable, that the fall had been staged to take my mind off the drama in my life. For a few minutes, at least, it had worked.

Mostly, the aftermath.

I came downstairs in time to find Bismarck on a great room sofa. I watched as he was told to get down by his handler, who was meaner than I was. Biz wandered off to nap on the floor by the front door. I was sure I heard him sigh.

Teo turned down my offer of lunch, so I poured water for both of us and handed him a glass. “If Peg doesn’t like getting wet, does this mean you never shower? Not that I’ve noticed much of a smell...”

“Peg takes a break. Sometimes I use a crutch, sometimes a chair, I have grab bars. I shower as often as you do, probably more considering what I do every day.”

“You handle everything well. To me it all seems a part of who you are now.”

“I miss the leg, but I don’t miss the life that went with it.”

“How can that be true? You loved your job. You were a hotshot.”

“I lived on adrenaline. If I wasn’t having an adventure, even a bad one, I wasn’t alive. That was part of what I had to get used to. Slowing down, letting my heart beat at a normal rate, thinking about things that didn’t have to do with chasing bad guys. Not risking my life isn’t as exciting, but it has its own rewards. I sleep at night. I eat regular meals. I see more of my family. The only thing more dangerous than being a K9 officer is undercover narcotics. My time was coming.”

“And the life you have now?”

“I’m good at it. I make a difference for dogs and people. And I can go home and look at the stars every night and not worry that my phone will ring and I’ll be called out again.”

“Then you have everything most people want.”

“Not everything.”

I knew better than to pursue that.

We went out to the screened porch to watch the rain, and neither of us spoke until the storm began to move away.

“Do you have more trips to Against the Wind planned?” Teo asked.

Luckily, I could give him the answer he wanted. “I found what I needed and more than I wanted.”