Scout: Rookie

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

This story is a sequel to the very first story I started posting on here, Scout. If you haven't read Scout, or if you need a quick refresher before starting this story, you can find Scout here.
Otherwise, enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Hazing

Scout gave an exhausted sigh and stumbled into the locker room. It had been an exhausting shift; if it had just been patrols or even arrests, he would have been able to handle it, but instead, it had been paperwork. In fact, aside from the time between his shifts, Scout hadn’t actually left the precinct since his induction into the canine police, two months ago. Then, there were the pranks…
He opened his locker, grunting as about a hundred large cotton balls fell out, with hundreds more still stuffed in. He grumbled and knelt to start scooping them up off the floor. “Oh, ha ha, very funny guys. Ya got me. Fer the twentieth day in a row.”
A few of his colleagues snickered nearby as they watched him fetch a trash can and start scooping handfuls of cotton balls out of his locker and into the garbage. He scowled as he finally got the last of them out and started to take off his vest. As he hung it up, something taped to the back caught his attention, and he peeled off the piece of paper to look at it. It had “Sniff me” scrawled on it, with an arrow pointing down. He crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash can too.
He grumbled and swapped out his duty collar for his home collar and bandana, then slinked out of the locker room and started heading to the door, ready to go home.
“Specialist Edwards, hold on a moment.” Scout flinched as his squadron’s commander, Sergeant Alana, called out for him from behind.
He groaned inwardly and turned to salute her. “Yes, Sergeant?”
“Drop the salute, Specialist, you’re off the clock.” She looked him over. “I know you’re probably eager to head home, but I need to have some words with you before you do.” She gestured for him to follow her to her office, and Scout put his ears back and followed her.
She closed the door behind them and turned to look him over, then walked behind her desk and gestured for him to have a seat. She stared at him quietly for a few moments, organizing her thoughts, then spoke. “You’ve been here for two months now. How are you settling in?”
Scout put his ears back. “Ah’m settlin’ in alright, ma’am…”
She nodded quietly, meeting his gaze. “I’ve noticed that the other officers are still hazing you. It’s gone on for quite some time, yet you haven’t done anything about it. You realize that if you don’t draw the line, it’s not going to stop, right?”
Scout nodded. “Ah’m aware of that, ma’am. Ah jus’ don’ want t’ start off on th’ wrong paw with m’ new colleagues.”
She leaned forward and steepled her fingers, eyeing him. He looked down uncomfortably. After a long moment, she sighed. “All right, suit yourself. I just noticed, it’s starting to border on bullying at this point. I can ask them to stop, but it’ll give them the impression that you can’t stand up for yourself. You’re already a lot smaller than most of the other officers, so having me do it instead of doing it yourself could cause you more problems than it would solve.”
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Ah’m aware. Ah don’t mind too terribly. Ah think they’re startin’ t’ get bored.”
She sighed and rubbed her temples. “All right, well… There is another reason I called you in here.” She leaned back in her chair. “You’ve been on desk duty since your arrival. I don’t think that’s the best use of your abilities. According to your file, you demonstrated lethal accuracy with your slingshot during your exam at the academy, and with the apprehension device known as a bolas. Of course, those skills aren’t always very useful in the field, but they’re useful more often THERE than they are HERE.” She eyed him. “I’m assigning you to field work starting right after your break. I’ll have your partner assignment by then.”
Scout nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He was excited. He’d been waiting patiently to be allowed to go out in the field, not that he didn’t like having his own desk.
“Good, it’s settled, then. Dismissed.” She waved him away.
Scout nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him and resuming his tired trek toward the exit. He was almost there when a voice called out. “Hey, Rookie! Hold up!”
Scout flinched again, then turned to look up at the hulking dog approaching him. He was a mix of brown, black, and white, and seemed to be made of pure muscle. As a Belgian Malinois and Pit Bull mix, he was one of the more muscular members of the force. He also didn’t much care for Scout. “Hello, Adam. Ah see ye’ve been workin’ out.” He nodded at the towel draped around the other dog’s shoulders.
He snorted. “You could stand to. You little runt.” He poked Scout firmly in the chest. “I heard you’re getting moved to field work. You stay out of my way, you dig? I don’t share cases, especially not with runts like you. So you just stick to traffic violations, jaywalking tickets, and animal control cases, and you and me will get along JUST fine. You understand me? We kosher?”
Scout glared back up at Adam’s eyes, puffing up his chest so he didn’t feel so hilariously small. “Ah’ll be working whatever Sergeant Alana tells me to, an’ whatever else ah find that needs mah attendin’ to.”
Adam scowled and gave Scout a little push aside. “Outta my way, twerp.” He stormed past and out of the building.
Scout glared at him until he was gone, then grunted and went outside. It took him a few moments to locate Ma’s car, parked off to the side with the windows rolled down to vent the summer heat while she waited. He trotted over to it and let himself into the back. “Hi, ma. Sorry ah’m late, ma sergeant wanted t’ talk t’ me before ah left.”
“Uh oh, you’re not in trouble, are you?” Ma looked at him through the rearview window.
Scout yawned and shook his head. “No, it’s good news. Ah’m goin’ on field work when mah next rotation starts.”
Ma smiled. “My little boy, going on field work. That’s GREAT news!” She started the car. “Just you wait until your Paw hears about this. He’s going to be so thrilled!”
Scout nodded and leaned against the car door, resting his head on the molding around the window and letting the vibration of the engine and the road gently run through his awareness. His eyes drooped until the lids closed. Two weeks of sixteen hour days, followed by a week off was the police scheduling at his precinct. It left him exhausted by the time he came home, mostly because he wasn’t used to it yet. He knew some of his colleagues just set up cots in one of the unused conference rooms instead of going home during their shifts, so they could get more sleep instead of commuting all the way home and only getting a little sleep.
Scout hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep until the driver-side door closed, jerking him awake with a snort. “Wolves in th’ sheep pen-!” He yelped out, then blinked around sleepily before realizing where he was. He unfastened his seatbelt and opened the door, climbing out of the car drowsily. He could already almost feel his basket with its wool blanket.
“Scout?” A female voice spoke from the end of the driveway.
Scout’s ears perked and he looked over to see a chocolate lab, the dog from across the street and his girlfriend, standing at the end of the driveway, smiling at him. He smiled and put his arms out. “Coco! Hi… um…. Puppy?” He tried.
She screwed up her face and shook her head. “No, I don’t like that one. Besides, that’s what Shade calls Sunny, it’s taken.” She stepped forward and gave him a hug. “I know you’re tired and want to get to bed, but I wanted to stop by and welcome you back home again.” She gave him a little lick on the cheek and nuzzled him.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I am sure Scout wouldn't be opposed to having Coco in his basket snuggling with him for a little while before she ended up leaving. That way Scout can get the sleep he wants and Coco can get some cuddling in so everybody wins!

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Snuggles with a significant other after a long day at work is the best.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Also a way to get the pranking to stop but is something I know you will never do because of how far ahead you write this is simple. Have Scout go up to his chief prankster and shove a pie in his face.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 2: Coco

Scout yawned drowsily and rubbed his eyes, looking upward into the ceiling. Something warm and soft wriggled into his side, and he blinked, turning his head. “Coco? How did you get in mah bed?” He put his arm around the chocolate lab and pulled her close.
She licked his nose. “Your ma let me in.” She nuzzled into him. “You looked so cute sleeping, I decided to join you.”
His tail thumped gently, and he nuzzled back. “It was nice wakin’ up to ya.”
She nodded and sat up. “We didn’t get much time to talk last night. You dozed off on me.”
“Sorry, ah jus’ get so tired from work.” He started pulling the blanket down to climb out of bed, but Coco pulled it back up and pressed her nose to him. “No, let’s snuggle for a while first.” She grinned. Her hand slid down to rub his backside.
Scout felt his ears warm up a little. “Oh… you wanna SNUGGLE, snuggle. Ah… um… Ah’ve never… um…”
“Oh, relax. Your ma’s still here, we can’t do THAT.” She grinned and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Until she goes to work.”
He squeaked softly, then looked up when Ma walked into the room, distractedly mumbling to herself as she pulled on her jacket. She paused when she saw Scout and Coco, then grinned. “Look at you two. You look so cute! Am I gonna be a grandma soon, hmm? Gonna see some puppies in the near future?”
Scout squeaked. “M-Ma!” His ears burned hot, and he pulled them back.
Coco snickered. “No, not just yet, Mrs. Edwards. Maybe later.”
She leaned over and ruffled Scout’s ears. “I’m headed to work. You kids, be good. Don’t trash the house.” She opened the front door, then paused. “Oh, and Scout, if you don’t want pups, use protection. We bought some-”
“MAAA!” Scout gave an embarrassed whine, his ears feeling like they were going to catch fire.
“Okay, okay, I’m going. You two, be safe now.” She closed the door, and Scout buried his face in his hands.
Coco giggled. “Aww, cheer up. I think it’s cute that she’s worried about you. She treats you like you’re one of her human kids.”
“Maybe a bit too much. Ah think ah’m gonna die of embarrassment.” He mumbled into his hands, groaning.
Coco licked his head. “Aww, you’ll be all right. Besides…” She leaned forward and whispered into his ear. “Maybe we’ll use some of that protection she was talking about later.”
Scout squeaked and stammered, stunned, while Coco suddenly crawled out of his basket and stretched. “Get dressed, let’s head over to Sunny’s.”
“Why, what’s at Sunny’s?” He grabbed his collar and clipped it on before reaching for his bandana.
“Oh, not really much. We’re all getting together to hang out. Shade’s gonna be there, I know you like him. You’re best buddies!” She snickered.
Scout scowled. “He ain’t gonna grab mah muzzle again, is he?”
“That depends, are you going to get in his face again? He really doesn’t like that.” She paused. “It was FUNNY, though.”
He grumbled a little and made his way to the kitchen to find something he could eat on the way. After a few moment’s searching, he ended up just filling a bag with kibbles. “Okay, ah’m ready t’ go.”
Coco grinned and opened the front door, stepping out. Scout stepped through after her and locked it with the key he kept tucked in his collar. As they started to walk, Coco grinned at him. “You know, Sunny says that Shade puts milk on his kibbles.”
“EW! Why would he do THAT?” Scout grimaced, looking at his bag of kibbles. “They’d get all soggy an’ gross.”
She shrugged. “He does all kinds of weird things, apparently. I’ve never seen most of them, but Sunny loves talking about them when he’s not there.”
“Ah bet Shade don’t like that.” He opened his bag and started munching on his breakfast while they walked.
“If he has an opinion on it, he keeps it to himself.” She shrugged. After a few more moments of silent walking, she suddenly stepped quicker to get in front of him and stopped, turning to face him. “Listen, Scout, about that little bit of joking, back with your Ma…”
He stopped chewing and hesitated, then swallowed. “Ah know it was jus’ a bit of fun. Yeh like t’ see me get flustered.”
She hesitated. For a moment, it looked like she was going to say something, then she shook her head and resumed his side. “Yeah, that was… that was it.”
They started walking again. Scout frowned. After a few moments, he stopped and grabbed her arm. “Wait.”
She looked over at him, then turned with him to face each other.
“Ah know that look. Ah might be clueless, but ah know when ye were gonna say somethin’ else.” He frowned.
She shook her head, pulling her ears back. “No, it’s nothing, really. I was just thinking… maybe we could… I don’t know… mess around later, after Sunny’s house. I mean, your Ma said-” She trailed off and gestured idly. “You know what she said.”
Scout felt his ears heat up. “Oh.” He felt like he should say more to that. “That’s… uh… ye wanna…” He stammered meekly.
She kissed his nose. “We’ll see, okay? If you don’t want to, that’s fine, too.” She stole a piece of his kibbles, then turned and resumed walking. Scout noticed that she flaunted her hips a little bit as she walked.
He enjoyed the show for a few moments, then walked along behind her and thought about stuff. He liked Coco. He’d known her six months at this point, not an insignificant amount of time, and she had been giving him signals for months before he’d realized she liked him, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to go THAT far.
He chewed on a single piece of kibble thoughtfully, pushing it into his cheek with his tongue and biting into it slowly. After a few moments, he jogged a few steps to catch up with her. He didn’t say anything, but he reached down and grabbed her hand.
She looked down at it, then back up at him before leaning in and licking his cheek. “Mm… Sorry if it feels like I’m pushing you.”
“Ah don’t mind. Ah know ah move a bit too slowly fer ya.” He licked her cheek back. “Ah’ll think about it, okay? Um… Cookie?”
She screwed up her face and shook her head, turning to walk up Sunny’s driveway. “No, not that one either. Keep trying.”

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 3: The Sunshine Gang

Sunny grinned excitedly and greeted Coco and Scout as they entered the playroom in Sunny’s basement. “Hi guys, you came!” The golden retriever ran up to them and gave each of them a greeting sniff.
Coco grinned, sniffing back. “Sorry we’re a little late. Scout got home from work pretty late last night, so I let him sleep in.” She smirked at Scout, who had just stuffed a fistful of kibbles into his mouth. He scowled, and she grinned, leaning in to give him a little kiss on the cheek.
“Aww, that’s fine. Shade only got here a minute ago.” He gestured to the little black corgi settled in a black beanbag in front of the TV, his hood pulled over his face. He looked at him for a few moments. “Oh… well that’s not great. I’m sure he’ll come out later.”
Scout scowled. “What’s his issue today? Sun’s too bright?”
Coco nudged him firmly. “Hey, be nice. He’s just sensitive.”
Sunny frowned and poked at Shade. “I’m not sure. He said he got an important phone call right before he left home, but he hasn’t told me what it was about yet.” He stood up. “Let’s leave him be for a while. Butterfly brought a movie she wanted to watch with us, if that’s all right with you two?” He gestured to the papillon sitting nearby on a blue beanbag. She excitedly held up the DVD case and waved it around. Scout couldn’t see what movie it was because she wouldn’t hold it still.
“That’s alright with me, ah s’pose.” He shrugged. “As long as ah can snuggle with mah purty lady.”
Coco snickered and jabbed him with her elbow, then took his hand and led him toward her brown beanbag. “We’ll watch Butterfly’s movie, and then maybe head out to the backyard for some ball for a while before we go home.”
“Sounds like a plan!” August, an Australian Shepherd, called from his seat in the other black beanbag.
Sunny grinned and took the movie from Butterfly, putting it in the player before scooting into the beanbag with Shade. As the movie started, Coco snuggled into Scout and nibbled on his chin quietly.
After a good half hour into the movie, Coco nipped Scout’s ear and whispered. “You know, when you’re watching a movie with your girlfriend, you’re not supposed to ACTUALLY watch the movie.”
He looked over at her, confused. “What am ah supposed to- mmph.” He gasped when she interrupted him by kissing him, then he put his arms around her and leaned over to get a better angle, kissing back.
She grinned. “There you go, you’ve got the idea now.” She grinned and kissed him again.
Across the room, Sunny and Shade were whispering to each other. Shade seemed really upset, but Sunny was trying to settle him down. Scout couldn’t hear what they were saying, and he tried not to care about it, actively putting his focus on Coco, but his police training had his ears twitching anyway.
Coco noticed and covered his ears. “Mm. Come on, Scout, work with me here… I know at that fancy academy they taught you to always be alert, but you’re off-duty now. You can RELAX.”
“Sorry… Lamb… ah’m tryin’. It’s hard t’ shut it off.” He put his ears back.
“Ooh, Lamb, I like that one.” She kissed his nose. “Let’s just watch the movie.”
He looked up, and she pulled his face back down. “Not like that.” She kissed him again.
Butterfly sniggered. “Ooh, Coco’s making out with her BOYYYFRIENNDDDD.”
She looked over at Butterfly. “At least I have a boyfriend. Where’s yours?” There was a moment’s stunned silence, and Coco put her ears back. “I’m sorry, that was too far.”
“... He moved away.” Butterfly muttered quietly.
August huffed. “Seriously, Coco? That was mean.”
“I said sorry.” She put her ears back.
“All right, everybody settle down.” Sunny spoke up from his cuddle pile with Shade. “Let’s just watch the movie.”
Coco settled in to watch, nibbling on Scout’s chin. He turned to give her a kiss, and she pulled away. “No no, just watch.”
“But ah though ya said-” He started.
“And now I’m saying, just watch.” She lay back and put her head on his chest.
He sighed and settled in. “Ah don’t understan’ girls. At all.”
When the movie was over, Butterfly jumped up and ran to the row of totes Sunny kept his toys in. She was practically vibrating with energy as she selected a ball. “Okay movie’s over let’s go play ball come on let’s go let’s go let’s GOOOOO!”
Coco snickered and stood up, stretching. “We better go out there, she’s got the zoomies now.”
Nothing interesting happened during their game of ball; they tossed the ball around for a while before Coco got bored and grabbed Scout by the hand, leading him away. She said goodbye to their friends, and they started off home.
As Scout walked next to Coco, he glanced sideways at her. He didn’t know why she had had them leave, but he had his suspicions. “Are we goin’ to yer house, or mine?”
She glanced over at him, then kissed his cheek. “Mom and I are going on a hunting trip this weekend. We leave tomorrow. We’re gonna camp close to the site. If we get game early enough, we’ll come straight home; otherwise, we might be gone for a couple days.”
He hesitated. “So… ye won’t be home until after mah break?”
“Well… it really depends on how hunting goes. I’ll definitely be gone for at least two days, and I probably won’t feel like meeting with you the day after we get back, so you’ll probably be getting ready to go back to work by the time I get to see you again.” She leaned over and nuzzled into him.
He put his ears back. “Ah think this is th’ worst part of bein’ a police dog. Not gettin’ to see mah girlfriend.”
“I know. I tried, but Mom says it’s the only time she can get off work this hunting season. If we don’t go NOW, we won’t be able to go AT ALL.” She nuzzled into him.
He nuzzled back. “Then… ah’ll see ye durin’ mah next break?”
She nodded, then gave a playful little grin. “Well… we still have the rest of the day.”
He tilted his head, and she grinned, starting to lead him up his own driveway. “I think you know what I’m thinking.”
He shook his head, passing her his house key so she could let them in. She grinned and opened the lock. “Oh, come on, you KNOW.”
“Ah really don’t. C’mon, Coco, ye know ah’m kinda dumb when it comes t’ this stuff. Ye gotta use words, or ah don’t get it.” He followed her inside, watching her lock the door again from the inside and pass his key back to him. After a few seconds of grinning at him, she leaned in and whispered in his ear. He felt his ears turn burning hot at what she was suggesting. “Oh… ah suppose we could do THAT then…”

[Amazee Dayzee]

I imagine whatever Coco has in mind for Scout it isn't exactly G-Rated which is why you can't go into more details. I mean it HAS to be something really raunchy to make a farm boy blush like that.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 4: New Partner

Scout waved to Ma as her car drove away, then turned and entered headquarters through the automatic doors. He yawned quietly and made his way to the locker room, putting in his combination on his locker, then pausing as something occurred to him. He stepped aside, pushed a trash can in front of his locker, and opened it, letting the cotton balls spill out and into the trash. He scooped out the last of them, then set the trash can aside and took off his bandana and collar, changing into his duty collar and vest.
He sighed and turned to leave the locker room, grunting as he walked directly into Adam. “Hey! Watch where you’re going, pipsqueak!” Adam shoved him aside and snorted, proceeding to his locker and starting to get changed.
Scout snorted. “Maybe you should watch where YER goin’!” He huffed and headed to the bullpen, getting a cup of water and taking a seat near the back where people couldn’t pick on him. He watched them all mill around until Sergeant Alana approached the podium with her usual stack of files and paperwork. She slapped it down with a gentle whump, and everybody immediately found the nearest seat, falling quiet.
“Good morning everybody, I hope you all enjoyed your break, those of you that are coming back from that.” She looked down at her files. “Let’s see what’s on the books for us today, shall we?” She scanned the files, then picked one out. “Mathers, Brookes, you’re on the school detail this week. Checking lockers for contraband, getting kids off the track to a bad future.”
She passed out the file folder to the officers she’d named, then shuffled through it again. It took her a few moments to pass out the rest, and then she held up the last one. “Edwards, Corder, this one is for the two of you.”
Scout flinched and slowly turned his head toward Adam. The bigger dog was scowling at him from across the room. Sergeant Alana opened the folder and skimmed it. “Specialist Edwards, since this is your first case out in the field, I’ve started you out with a nice easy one. Some weirdo is running around scaring people. He doesn’t seem to be dangerous, but he is disturbing the peace and disrupting businesses, so we want you to figure out who it is and bring him in to scare the silly out of him.” She closed the folder and handed it off to Adam. “Good luck, Rookie.” She raised her voice to be heard over the snickering. “If you have not received a case folder, congratulations, that means you’re riding the desk this week. Enjoy answering phones. Let’s get to work, people! DISMISSED!”
Scout pinned his ears and jumped up from his seat, starting toward the Sergeant as quickly as he could weave through the quickly dispersing crowd. He wasn’t surprised to see Adam doing the same. “Sergeant, Ah gotta talk t’ ya!”
“Outta my way, SHRIMP.” A hand shoved Scout aside into somebody, who scowled and complained loudly before moving on. “Sarge, you can’t put me with the Rookie! He’s a weakling! If we get caught up in a chase, the perp’ll get away!”
Sergeant Alana turned to face them. The look on her face made Scout close his mouth immediately. Adam seemed similarly affected, because he immediately stopped talking. She looked between the two of them, waiting patiently until everybody else had left the room before closing the door. Scout flinched, preparing to be shouted out.
“I put you two together for a reason, Corder. And no, it wasn’t just to ‘cramp your style,’ or however you say it.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Specialist Edwards can hold his own against opponents three or four times his size. I’ve seen the tapes from his training. But that’s not the reason, either. It’s because he’s patient, observant, and cool under pressure. The complete opposite of you, Corder. You are hot-headed, quick to anger, and frankly your written test scores leave a lot to be desired. You’re the perfect complement for each other.”
She took a deep breath, as if trying to stay outwardly calm when she was seething inside. Scout was well familiar with that sound; Ma made it all the time. “You don’t have to like each other, gentlemen, you just have to get along together. This is your JOB. If you can’t do that, then maybe police work isn’t for you.” She opened a folder on her podium and flitted through some paperwork for a few moments before pulling out a form and pressing it into Adam’s chest. “Here. You’ll need to fill this out to requisition a scooter. Make sure you go through your case file BEFORE you leave.” She turned and exited the bullpen, leaving the door open behind her.
Adam snorted and grabbed Scout by the vest, practically dragging him over to his desk and shoving him down into the seat across from him. “Sit there and shut up, shrimp. Don’t TOUCH anything. I’m just gonna fill out this form.”
Scout snorted and reached for the case file. Adam slammed his hand down on it. “HEY! What did I JUST say, shrimp? DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING.”
Scout scowled at him. “Ah gotta read th’ case file if’n ah’m gonna be on th’ case, Adam.”
Adam glared at him, then snorted and pushed the folder over to him. “Knock yourself out, rookie.”
Scout snatched it up and opened it, looking over the paperwork. Apparently, someone was going out in a trenchcoat done up over their head, with a cap placed on top of the neck like it was going to hide the fact that their head was inside the coat. They hadn’t done anything illegal, but they were unnerving people and causing them to avoid the areas they were in.
He frowned. That was all that was there, besides a couple witness statements from shop workers. No photos, no clues, not even security footage. “It says here th’ perp uses those plastic claws, ya know, th’ toy ones fer kids, t’ grab things. Why do ya s’pose that is?”
“Obviously, so she doesn’t leave fingerprints. Duh.” Adam rolled his eyes and glared at him, then resumed filling out the requisition form.
“She? It don’t say the perp’s gender.” He scanned the form again. “Could be male.”
Adam sighed. “Look.” He pointed at the sheet. “It says the trenchcoat is too big and she wears it with the top over her head. Females are smaller than males, ergo, it’s clearly a female using a male’s trenchcoat as a disguise.”
Scout frowned. “Ah’m not so sure. Could be they’re jus’ small.” He took a notebook out of his vest pocket and started writing in it, looking at the sheet occasionally.
“What are you doing NOW?” Adam snorted. “Rookie, you’re getting on my nerves.”
“Ah’m takin’ down the addresses of all the places th’ perp was spotted.” He glanced over the top of his notebook. “So we can start investigatin’.”
He rubbed his temples. “... Okay, fine, that’s a good idea. Just don’t be going in with any preconceived notions of what’s going on. It’s rarely the first thing you think it is.”
Scout grumbled. “Isn’t that what ye’re doin’? Ye’re assumin’ th’ perp is female because of their size, an’ all kinds of things.”
“Yes, but I’ve been on this beat for years. This is YOUR first time out in the field.” He rubbed his temples. “Look, Sarge is gonna give you a little leeway because you’re new, but she’s still gonna want this wrapped up quickly. Say, a week? Two, tops?”
Scout hesitated. “Yeah, ah think we can manage that.”

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 5: The First Day

Scout climbed off the back of the scooter, looking up at the grocery store. He took a look inside his notebook. “This is th’ place. Weird place t’ be goin’ out in costume.”
Adam took the keys out of the ignition. “Well, weirdos do weird things. Let’s go, shrimp.” He started toward the building. After a second, Scout jogged to follow him. Adam walked up to the customer service counter inside. “Hi, we’re with the police department, canine division, about the complaints made about a certain individual that’s been frequenting the area.”
The person working the customer service counter stared at Adam for a moment, then leaned forward to look down at Scout before nodding. “Oh, yeah, the headless trenchcoat guy. You’ll want to talk to Aaron.” She turned and picked up the phone, punching a code and speaking into it. “Aaron to Customer Service, there are some police dogs here to see you.” Her voice echoed over the loudspeaker into the store.
Adam nodded. “Thank you. We’ll wait over there, so you can get to work.” He gestured to a corner and started walking. After a moment, he paused. “Let’s go, Rookie.”
Scout followed after Adam and moved to a corner. While they waited, Scout spoke up. “Ye’re not gonna say anything?”
“About what?” Adam grunted, checking the time on a clock mounted to the wall nearby.
“She said headless trenchcoat GUY. You were wrong about it bein’ a girl.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “After ya yelled at me about assumin’ it was a guy, it turned out t’ be one after all.”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Just because she SAID it was a guy doesn’t mean it was. She might have just made the same assumption you did. That’s just how humans are.”
A man approached them, wearing a nicer variation of the store’s uniform, with a tie and a button up shirt instead of a tee with the store’s logo on the chest, but still in the store’s colors. “Hello, I’m Aaron Westlake, the general manager here. I assume you’re here to ask about the guy with the trenchcoat that’s been coming here lately.”
Adam nodded. “I’m officer Adam Corder, this is Rookie Specialist Scout Edwards. We just need to ask some questions about the individual in question.”
Aaron nodded. “Of course, right this way. We’ll talk in my office.” He gestured for them to follow, then led them through a door that said “Employees only” on the outside. They went down a short hallway, then he let them into an office. “Have a seat and wait here a moment, I’m just gonna get my security guy to pull the footage for you.” He disappeared down the hall. His voice sounded distantly after a moment, and then he reappeared. “He’s getting that for you. Now…” He sat behind his desk. “What did you want to know?”
Scout opened his mouth to speak, and Adam immediately reached over and covered his mouth. “This… individual… what were they doing while they were in your store?”
Aaron shrugged. “Nothing unusual aside from the way he was dressed. He was shopping. He got some canned soup, milk, eggs… you know, normal grocery shopping stuff. Used those little plastic claw toys to pick everything up. Brought his own basket, paid in cash.”
Adam nudged Scout and gestured to his notepad, and Scout rolled his eyes, starting to take notes. After a moment, Adam asked another question. “You mentioned a trenchcoat and hat, was there anything else unusual about this character?”
“Oh, yeah, he was wearing snow boots, and really baggy pants. I think I saw sunglasses under the hat, too, but it was hard to tell because they were inside the collar of the trenchcoat. He had a really deep voice, too.”
Scout opened his mouth again to speak, but Adam cut him off again. “Do you have anything he touched? We might be able to get his scent off of, say, the bills he paid with?”
Aaron shook his head. “It was the middle of the work day. We had no time to pull stuff like that aside. Sorry.”
Scout spoke up before Adam could cut him off again. “Mister Westlake, our report said this… trenchcoat person was disruptin’ yer business?” He gestured toward the door and the grocery store beyond. “Ye seem pretty busy.”
Aaron cleared his throat. “Yes, well… um… It’s really only a disruption when he’s physically HERE. We’re the smallest one-stop grocer in town, and as such, any disruption is a pretty big deal. When he’s here, people tend to leave rather quickly. The, uh, full-body coverage gives the impression that he’s here to rob the place or something, and people don’t want any part of that. We lose several thousand dollars’ business every time he comes through.”
“Does he come through often?” Scout offered, making a note, both of the answer and of Adam’s irritated expression.
“Well… yes, actually. Every other Thursday, around four o’clock in the afternoon. It’s gotten to the point where the store will empty out BEFORE he gets here. It started… oh… about six months ago, I think, was the first time he came in. Always wearing the same thing.” He looked up as a man came in with a flash drive. “Ah, thank you, Dave.” He took it and offered it to Scout, who nodded thankfully and tucked it into his vest pocket. “I should be getting back out there, so unless you have more questions…” He stood up.
Adam stood up with him and tugged upward on Scout’s vest, a little harder than was strictly necessary. “That should be all.” He passed him a business card. “Call us if you think of anything else.” He nodded to the door and gave Scout a little push. Scout scowled and started walking, exiting the store. As soon as they were outside, Adam grabbed Scout’s vest and shoved him against the wall. “Listen, TWERP. You might have a higher rank, but I am the senior officer. You let ME ask the questions, you SHUT UP and take NOTES. Got it?”
Scout snorted. “Sergeant Alana put us on this case TOGETHER.”
He huffed and shoved Scout toward their scooter. “Just get on the scooter. Where’s the next location?”
Scout flipped back to the previous page in his notebook. “An office goods store, on fifth.” He started to mount the scooter behind Adam, trying to ignore his tail smacking him in the hip.
And so the day continued. They asked at each of a dozen places that had complained about the mysterious headless trenchcoat person, and learned nothing new. He went to the office supply store on Fridays and always bought printer paper, paperclips, and pens; on Saturdays he went to a drugstore and always bought apple scented shampoo; on Mondays, he would either lurk around a local park or wander downtown, always on alternating weeks and always using cash.
At the end of the day, Adam turned in their scooter, and they returned to Adam’s desk to start filing their paperwork. Scout paused in copying his notes into the computer to frown. “Why would he go to all those other stores, when he could go to a supermarket an’ get them all at the same time?”
“Don’t care.” Adam grunted, signing off on a report form and grabbing another to start filling it out.
“An’ why’s he get shampoo every week? Why would he need so much?” Scout nibbled the pen from his notepad thoughtfully.
“Still don’t care.” Adam grunted again, glaring at him.
“Every two weeks…” Scout mumbled, returning to his computer. “Why every two weeks?”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Alright I am just going to say it right now. Adam needs to be taken down a peg or 7 in order to get him to back off and stop being a male donkey. Maybe he should end up taking a fall from grace and landing in the mud? Good chapter by the way.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 6: The Second Day

Scout wandered into the bullpen and took a seat with a sigh. Adam came in right behind him and glared at him from across the room before he took his usual seat. Scout snorted.
A few minutes later, Sergeant Alana came in and dropped her stack of files on the lectern with the usual gusto. “Good morning everybody. First up, we have an announcement. The Milton family is hosting a concert at the high school football stadium this weekend, and they’ve hired the canine division to provide security. Everybody who is on-duty at that time will be expected to provide security.”
She shuffled her files. “That said, if you have an active case, I’d like it to be finished up before that. Now…” She started passing out case files for the day. Once she was finished, she looked at Adam and Scout. “Corder, Edwards, meet me in my office after I dismiss everybody. I’d like an update on your case. Just because it’s Edwards’s first case in the field.”
Adam nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. The rest of you, you know what to do. Dismissed.” As dogs started to file out of the room, Scout looked over at Adam. If looks could kill, Scout suspected he would have been murdered several times by now. He put his ears back and stood up, then started shuffling toward the door.
Once he was free of the crowd, he turned and started toward the sergeants’ offices, walking past the other offices - Ralph, Richard, Sally - and waited outside the door to Sergeant Alana’s office. Adam joined him a moment later, looking very much like he wanted to use every ounce of his muscle on Scout’s face.
A few moments later, Sergeant Alana approached with some paperwork tucked under her arm. She glanced at them, then unlocked her office. “Come on in, boys.” She went inside, holding the door open until Adam put his hand on it, then proceeding inside and going behind her desk. She set her stack of paperwork aside and sat down, gesturing to the two chairs across from her.
Scout took one, and Adam remained standing. “Ma’am, I really must protest-”
“Can it, Corder. I called you in here just to check on your progress for the case I gave you, not to hear you whine because you don’t like your partner.” She steepled her fingers and leaned forward. “Now… Tell me about your case. You were out all day yesterday.”
Adam put his ears back at the reprimand, then snorted. “Yes, Rookie and I were out all day interviewing witnesses as to the perpetrator. We collected security footage from each location, but we haven’t reviewed it yet. We were going to do that today.”
She nodded slowly, then turned to Scout. “I want to hear your theories on who this perpetrator might be.” She raised a hand to Adam when he started to speak, silencing him and staring at Scout. “Your report had some interesting observations.”
Adam glared at Scout, and Scout nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Ah noticed that all th’ places th’ perp was spotted were the smallest, most isolated of their type in town, ma’am. Ah think the perp is tryin’ not t’ be spotted by too many people, or maybe tryin’ not t’ be too CLOSE t’ people. Th’ fact he’s coverin’ his whole body indicates he might be worried about his appearance.” He paused to open his notes and take a look. “Oh, an’ th’ two week cycle between his visits appears t’ be consistent with a pay cycle payin’ out a paycheck every other Wednesday, ma’am. Ah suspect th’ perp is tryin’ t’ keep a low profile, but needs supplies. Might be a shut-in.”
She nodded. “Excellent work, Specialist. You might make a valuable officer yet. Dismissed.”
Scout nodded and slid out of his chair, turning to leave. Adam scowled down at him, then turned and opened the door for him. He closed it behind them and immediately turned and pinned Scout to the wall. “You made me look like an IDIOT in there, you little RUNT!”
“Th’ Sergeant asked me a question. Ah answered. If’n that makes ya look like an idiot, then maybe there’s a reason.” He squirmed out from Adam’s grip. “Lookin’ at the security footage will go faster ifn’ we split it up. Ah’ll take half t’ mah desk, ye take half t’ yers, an’ we’ll make notes of anythin’ interestin’ we’ll find an’ meet up again when we’re done.”
Adam glared at him, then followed him, putting a hand on his chest and shoving him back to get in front of him. Scout patiently allowed the shove, following him to his desk, where he claimed about half of the various flash drives and CDs they had collected the previous day. Adam glared at him. “You got the footage, now get out of my face, you little creep.”
Scout shrugged and took his stack back to his desk, logging into his computer and putting in the first disk. What followed was hours upon hours of collected footage from various cameras following a trenchcoated figure around a grocery store. He wasn’t doing anything interesting; he would wander the aisles, adding things to his cart, reading labels, and just generally doing normal shopping things. After a long while, Scout paused playback to groan and rub his face, giving his eyes a rest for a few moments.
When he resumed playback again, something odd caught his eye. He frowned and rewound the playback a few seconds before leaning in to squint at the screen. He watched the same few seconds of the screen over and over again, frowning.
“How goes the security footage review, Specialist?” Sergeant Alana’s voice sounded from one side, startling Scout. He looked up at her.
“Ah think ah found somethin’.” He nodded at the screen, then rewound the footage. “Look at his left pant leg, here.” He pointed at the screen and played the footage. At first glance, there was nothing unusual about the footage.
“What am I looking at, Specialist?” Alana leaned forward to watch as the clip looped.
“Watch th’ way his pants move.” He pointed again. On the screen, the perpetrator stepped forward. The baggy pants shifted with him. After a few repetitions, he sighed. “The leg of his pants twitches, here. See?” He slowed down the footage so it went one frame every few seconds. During the step forward, a section of the trenchcoat’s pant leg shifted sideways, as if something was pressing on it from the inside. Something moving, separate from the leg.
“Oh, that’s a good catch, Specialist.” She leaned in to look at it. “What can you conclude from that?”
“Ah suspect that th’ perp isn’t human, ma’am, but some kind of large animal. Th’ disguise is likely so animal control doesn’t come.” Scout nodded thoughtfully, making a note in his notebook.
“Explain your reasoning.” She stood up straight and looked down at him.
“Th’ thing movin’ inside th’ perp’s pant leg is likely a tail, hidden inside his pants t’ keep it from bein’ spotted. Large animals tend to be frightening t’ humans, so he hides his appearance t’ make his purchases without bein’ bothered.” He nodded thoughtfully.
“Good job, Specialist. Recommended course of action?” She looked at him seriously.
Scout paused, thinking. “Ah reckon we should continue our investigation t’ try an’ find this animal, whoever he is. Most animals large enough t’ pass as human are predators an’ may be dangerous, so we should know about this one. There may also be th’ possibility that ah’m wrong, an’ this is a human. Either way, we should know about ‘im, in case he’s dangerous, an’ ask ‘im t’ stop scarin’ people.”
She gave a satisfied nod. “Excellent, you remembered your classes pretty well. Keep reviewing this footage and look for anything else you might find. I want you to have an idea of where to look for this individual by the end of the day tomorrow.” She patted his back and moved on.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Something tells me Adam is not going to be happy that Alana praised Scout for his observations and doing his job while Adam just wanted to throw his weight around. He will most likely accuse Scout of making him look bad.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Aww, Adam's not so bad, he's just got a bad attitude because Scout outranks him right out of the academy and he's a little bit of a meathead.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I still say he should get knocked down a peg or two in a humiliating fashion. Since we know the perpetrator they are going after frequents a grocery store maybe Adam can chase him into the bakery and he grabs something to use on him?

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 7: Confrontation

A few seconds after Sergeant Alana left, a hand gripped Scout’s vest and lifted him up in the air, flipping him around to face its owner. Adam scowled up at Scout, holding him aloft. “What’s your problem, midget?! If you find something, you come to ME, not the Sergeant!”
Scout snorted and grabbed his arm to try and free himself. “Ah didn’t go t’ HER. She came t’ ME. She was jus’ checkin’ in on me!”
He snorted and started carrying him away, hefting him over his shoulder like a sack of kibbles. “Wh- Hey, put me down!”
“Shut up.” He snorted, walking down the hall and slamming the door to the gym open. He walked across the room and set him down surprisingly gently before shoving a pair of boxing gloves at him. “Put these on.” He shoved a padded helmet at him. “This too.”
Scout snorted and put on the helmet, poking his ears through the holes before adjusting the strap to fit under his chin. “Why?”
“Because I want to beat the stuffing out of you, and regulation says anybody sparring has to have helmets and gloves on.” He scowled, pulling on a helmet of his own and starting with the gloves.
Scout hesitated, then pulled on the gloves, tightening the straps around his wrists. “Will this help ya stop bein’ so aggressive?”
“Yes. No. Maybe.” He snorted. “I just need to beat something up. I’ve been sitting at that STUPID desk all day.”
He stared at him for a moment, then walked to the center of the mat. “Do we need someone t’ supervise?”
Adam grunted and followed him. “No. I’ll stop once I have you on the ground. Maybe one or two punches after. Then I can knock you down again.” He walked forward and tapped gloves with Scout, then backed up to the edge of the circle inscribed on the mat. Scout backed up to stand right across from him. “And… go!”
Scout stepped forward again to the center of the mat and stepped aside to dodge Adam’s punch. Adam, having expected to hit Scout, overextended, then grunted when Scout reached over and bopped him in the back, knocking him down. He scowled and rolled to his back, then kick-jumped back to his paws. “A lucky shot, pipsqueak.” He swung again, coming from the side this time, and Scout simply ducked under his punch, then swung up at Adam’s chin as he stood up, using his legs to double the speed and strength of his punch. Adam’s head was knocked back to point his face at the ceiling, and he staggered backward a few steps.
He snarled and looked down at Scout. He looked angrier now. Scout shrugged at him, then stepped aside to dodge Adam’s charge, simply walking around the larger dog. After a moment, he turned and punched Adam right below the ribcage, then followed up with a series of quick jabs to his gut before stepping around him to punch him just under the arm.
Adam gave a pained yelp and covered the spots that Scout had attacked, scowling. “It’s because you’re so small. I can’t get a good angle on you.”
Scout shrugged. “Ye’re the one that wanted t’ fight.” He ducked another punch, then sidestepped the follow-up, bringing his fist straight down on the small of Adam’s back before he could stand back up from his downward punch. Adam hit the mat, and Scout stepped back to let him back up.
Adam scrambled to his paws less gracefully than before, looking winded. “That’s two. Two lucky shots.” He raised his fists.
Scout sighed. “Ah got work t’ do, will ya jus’ get yer energy out?”
“Don’t you backsass me, Rookie!” He snarled and dove for Scout. Scout rolled his eyes, sidestepping him and beating directly on his back with the side of his fist. Adam went down like a sack of potatoes, and Scout grunted.
“And that’s three. Ah’m done.” He stepped off the mat and started taking his gloves off.
Adam grunted, dragging himself back to his paws. “Where are you going?! I’m not done beating you up yet!”
“Yes, you are, Corder.” Sergeant Alana spoke from the doorway. She was leaning against the door, watching. “I heard you dragged Edwards down here and I came to rescue him. Turns out I should have been more worried about you. This is just sad to watch.” She stepped forward and started helping Adam out of his gear. “Did you even get a single hit in on him?”
“I was taking it easy on the squirt.” Adam grunted.
“No, you were getting your tail handed to you. You DO know his specialist certification is in weapons and combat, right?” She hung up his gloves, watching him take his helmet off. “He was taking it easy on you.”
He scowled over at Scout, who was hanging up his gear. “... No, I didn’t hit him even once. He’s too quick.”
“You need to work on your anger issues, Corder. You’re just lucky you chose to fight him HERE. In a street fight, you could have been seriously injured. I’ll show you the videos from Scout’s training some time. He put the other guy in the infirmary.” She patted his back. “Now get back to work, the both of you. Your break’s over.” She turned and marched out of the gym.
As soon as she was gone, Adam turned and put a finger in Scout’s face. “Not one WORD about what happened in here. GOT IT?”
Scout shrugged again. “Ah don’t think anybody needs t’ know. Jus’ a little sparrin’.”
“Good.” He stomped out of the gym. Scout watched him go, then looked around for a moment before exiting after him and going back to his desk. He sighed and took a seat, grunting.
After a few moments, a Rottweiler leaned over his desk from the other side and grinned. “Heard that Corder dragged you off for some sparring. How’d it go?”
Scout rolled his eyes. “Ah’m workin’. You wanna gossip, go hang out by the water cooler.”
“Oh, come on, you can tell me! Did the Sergeant have to drag ‘im off you?” He patted the desk excitedly. “He fights dirty, you know. Well… you probably found that out.”
“Duncan, ah’m not gonna gossip with ya. Ah’m busy.” Scout grumbled and took a note before playing the footage again, watching for anything interesting.
Duncan snickered and leaned around to look at his computer. “Oh, you’re actually WATCHING security footage? Just fast-forward through it. If you see anything interesting, you can go back and watch it again.”
Scout snorted and paused the footage. “If ah did that, ah’d have missed some stuff already.”
“Oh, lighten up. It’s not like this guy’s actually done anything. I read your case file. They gave you the most inconsequential case they could find because it’s your first one out.” He chortled and poked at Scout in the face. “Tell me the truth, does it hurt when I do this?”
Scout swatted his hand away. “Leave me alone, Duncan. Don’t ya have some reports t’ write or somethin’?”
“Heh. Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He stood up and walked away.
Scout sighed and shook his head, lightly irritated.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 8: At home

Scout sat in the backseat of Paw’s truck and looked out the window. He was tired, though not so tired that he was dozing off. His head rested on the windowsill, letting the vibration of the truck soothe his headache.
Paw glanced in the rearview window at him. “How was work, bud?”
Scout shrugged. “Ah’m workin’ a case. It’s tedious.”
“Well, that’s nice. It’s better than being on the desk, filing complaints and petty reports.” He pulled the truck into the driveway and parked it. “Well, home. Ma will have dinner ready in a few minutes.” He got out of the truck and started in toward the house.
Scout climbed out of the truck and closed the door, yawning as he started toward the front door. A hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he turned around.
“Hey, Scout.” Coco smiled at him, then leaned in for a hug.
Scout hugged back, putting his ears back. “Mmmm… hello, Lamb…”
She wagged her tail a little and licked his cheek. “Mmm. I miss you.”
He smiled, then hesitated. “About th’ other day…”
“It’s okay. You weren’t ready, I understand. I told you, we didn’t have to if you didn’t want to.” She nuzzled into him. “We’ll try again some other time.”
“Ah don’t deserve ya.” He licked her cheek, then hesitated a moment before nosing into her neck and closing his eyes.
She returned the affectionate gesture and stepped back to look over him. “Mm. You don’t look as tired as usual. You must be getting used to the hours.”
Scout nodded quietly and gave a weak smile. “Ah’m gettin’ there.” He hugged her again. “Ah have t’ work late Saturday. Somethin’ goin’ on at th’ school, we’re workin’ security.”
She smiled and kissed his cheek. “You go protect people, babe. You’re good at it.”
He smiled. “Ah love ya, Lamb.”
“I love you, too. I’m going to go home, so you can get some dinner and some sleep.” She took his hand and held it for a moment, before giving a squeeze and letting go, turning to cross the street. Scout watched her go until she entered her own house, then turned and went inside.
Ma was waiting for him at the door. “So, how’s the girlfriend? I saw you kissing her.” She grinned teasingly.
“Ma!” Scout put his ears back and scowled. “Ya said ya’d stop watchin’ us!”
She knelt to give him a hug. “I know, I didn’t mean to. I looked outside to see why you were taking so long to get in here.” She ruffled his headfluff. “Come on, dinner’s on the table, and then you should get some sleep.”
He nodded, hugging her back before she stood up to walk away. He followed her to the kitchen and slid up to his seat, looking down at the meal. Steak, sliced into pieces, and served with mashed potatoes and broccoli. It was one of his favorites. He started eating eagerly.
“So, Scout, tell me about this case you’re on.” Ma smiled down at him as he ate.
“Ah can’t talk about active cases, Ma. Ya know that.” He looked down at his plate.
“Oh, don’t worry, we won’t tell anybody.” She nudged him. “Tell us about it.”
He sighed. “There’s a guy dressed in a trenchcoat scarin’ people away from a few businesses. That’s all we know right now.”
Ma grinned. “Ooh, sounds spooky. Any leads? Any CLUES?” She grinned.
Scout put his ears back. “Nothin’ REAL. We think sightings are related to a paycheck cycle. Only been investigatin’ fer two days. Ah can’t talk about it.”
Ma smiled and ruffled Scout’s head. “That’s fine. Go ahead and finish eating. Remember, you have to get up early in the morning if you want to get a ride in with me.”
Paw grunted. “You’re not really getting enough sleep these days. I hope it doesn’t make you sick.”
Scout nodded and put his head down. He put all his focus on his food, though he was aware of Ma and Paw giving each other looks across the table. Something was up. He mopped up the last of the mashed potatoes with a piece of steak, popping it in his mouth before chewing thoughtfully. He kept staring at his empty plate for a few moments before taking it to the sink to rinse it and place it in the dishwasher.
Ma called after him. “Oh, Scout, can you do me a favor and take the trash out for me before you go to bed?”
Scout nodded. “Yes, Ma.” He turned to the trash can. It wasn’t particularly full, but it wasn’t exactly empty either; he sighed and took the lid off, tying off the bag before taking it out the kitchen door. He had to heft it through the garage to get it to the dumpster, then paused on his way back. Something was different in there. He turned slowly and looked at the new item sitting squarely in the middle of the garage.
It was a scooter, not entirely unlike the ones used by the canine officers that needed to go places, but not as nice. Instead of the sleek motorcycle-like chassis, it had a squarish one that looked like there was another part that could clip onto it. The windshield was squarish, and the seat was wide and flat, like the back seat of Paw’s truck. There was a small engine underneath the seat, and the floor connecting them was a lot thinner than Scout would have expected. The whole thing was rectangular. A small plastic basket was hooked to the side of the steering column.
Ma and Paw entered the garage and watched Scout look at the scooter. Ma was the first one to speak up. “We thought if you had a way to get to work on your own, you could get more sleep, instead of spending all your spare time going in early or waiting for one of us to pick you up.”
“We don’t want you taking it for joyrides, though. It’s just for getting to and from work.” Paw sounded off, then tossed a set of keys to Scout. “Gas powered. Not street legal, but you can ride it in the bike lane or on the shoulder.”
Scout looked down at the key, then ran up the stairs to the door and hugged Ma and Paw. “Thank ya! Ah love it!” He paused, then frowned. “Hold up… how did ya afford this? These’re expensive.”
“Don’t you worry about that one little bit, Scout.” Ma scolded him gently, bopping him on the nose with a finger.
Scout nodded, rubbing his nose. “Okay, Ma. Ah’ll take good care of it, promise.”
“You’d better. And if you wanna take it out to take that pretty girlfriend of yours out on a date, you be sure to ASK first, okay?” She grinned.
Scout felt his ears warm up a little, and nodded.
“Good. Now get off to bed. You have work in the morning. I’d still leave a little early tomorrow, just to see how long it takes you to get there, so you know when to leave normally.” She paused. “Oh, and there’s a cover in the basket, it unfolds and snaps into place in case it’s raining or cold. No heater, unfortunately, but it’ll keep the wind off of you.”
Scout nodded and scurried back inside to put a new bag in the trash can before reporting to his basket in the living room. He took off his bandanna, then his collar, then curled up under his blanket.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 9: The Third Day

Scout pulled his scooter into the back lot of headquarters, parking in an empty spot next to a handful of other scooters. He noticed that his was the least nice of all of them, but tried not to let it get to him. After all, Ma and Paw had probably spent all their savings to get it for him, and he was very grateful.
He was early because he’d left early, even in spite of getting a little turned around, so he took a moment to wander the precinct before heading to the locker room, getting a feel for the areas he hadn’t had a chance to explore yet. He sighed as he opened the locker room, absently opening his locker without grabbing the trash can he usually used. He had it fully open before he paused, blinking.
He looked around himself. There were no cotton balls spilling out of his locker, for the first time in weeks. He looked inside his locker. No cutouts of sheep, farm buildings, or anything else had been taped to the inside. He checked the outside, with much the same result. He frowned and checked his vest for anything taped to the back or any suspicious residue, finding nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the fact that nothing was out of the ordinary.
Someone slapped his back. “Hey, Edwards! I heard about your sparring match with Corder! Nicely done!”
Scout turned around and blinked. “Mathers.” He looked at the English Springer spaniel who was standing there. “Where’d ya hear about that?”
She grinned and patted his shoulder. “Call me Netta. I heard it from Brookes, who heard it from Johnson, who heard Sergeant Alana telling Sergeant Ralph about it.”
He gave a little groan and put his ears back. “Adam’s gonna be angry. He’s gonna take it out on me.”
She chortled. “Why worry about that? You’ve proved you can kick his tail.” She smirked at him. “They even stopped stuffing your locker, I see.” She gestured to Scout’s locker.
He huffed. “This may be a surprise t’ ya, but ah don’t like t’ brag about stuff like that. Ah told ‘im ah wouldn’t go spreadin’ th’ story. We were th’ only ones in there. He’s gonna think ah was th’ one spreadin’ it.” He sighed and turned to start putting on his vest. “Ah’d like t’ get along with mah colleagues, y’know.”
“Oh, lighten up. Adam’s just a grouch, he wasn’t gonna get along with you either way.” She chuckled, turning to leave. “See you at morning meetup.”
Scout grumbled and focused on changing into his uniform. He checked the pockets on his vest- his slingshot, ammunition, bolas, notebook and pen, and handcuffs were right where they were supposed to be, so he closed his locker and checked the clock. He still had a half hour before meetup, so he headed to the firing range.
The long, soundproof room was empty this time of day, so it was perfect for Scout to get some practice in and keep his arm sharp. He grabbed a paper target off the pad by the door and moved to the dog-sized lane on the far end. It took a moment for the mechanical hook to get against the far wall, which was made of double-stacked cinderblocks full of poured cement so that fired bullets would stop before they got through, and Scout eyed his target.
He checked that nobody was within reach, just out of safety habit rather than thinking anybody was sneaking up on him, then took out his slingshot and loaded up a glass marble. He wound it up, spinning the long leather strap vertically until it hummed in the air, then let it fire, letting go of one end of the strap to watch as a hole appeared in his target, right through the X on the target’s center. He loaded up another marble and another shot, repeating the process six times before pressing the button to bring the target closer.
“All that and only one hole. Must be a lousy shot.” Adam’s voice sounded from behind him, from behind the safety line.
Scout took down the paper target and examined it. The hole at the center was larger than his marbles; he could see a few spots where the marbles had hit off-center and torn it larger in one direction or another. “Ah could use more practice. Last time ah was here, they all went through the same hole.” He showed him. “They strayed a bit here, an’ here.”
Adam stared at the target, tilting his head. “Oh. Only one hole because they all hit the same spot, not because you missed. That’s… REALLY sharp shooting. Must have taken a lot of practice.”
Scout nodded and signed off his target, turning it in for evaluation. “Ah’ve been practicin’ since ah was big enough t’ hold a slingshot.” He carefully folded the strip of leather in his hands, replacing it in its pocket. “Back on mah farm, ah had a rock out in th’ field ah would shoot at. Durn near drilled a hole through it before Ma an’ Paw got too old t’ run th’ farm.”
He nodded. “So… there’s a rumor going around that you beat me at sparring yesterday.”
Scout put his hands in the air. “Ah didn’t tell nobody, ah swear it.”
“Oh, relax, Rookie. I know you didn’t go telling people. I might not know you very well, but I know you better than THAT.” He opened the door out of the firing range for him. “Plus, I asked him where he heard it from, and it sounds like it came from Sarge. Indirectly, of course.” He glanced sideways at Scout. “I saw the footage of the guy you fought during training. Nearly as big as me, and you had him on the ground in seconds. You learn that on the farm?”
Scout nodded quietly. “We had wolves an’ coyotes around about th’ farm. Occasionally, one would get in his head that he wanted some mutton. It was mah job t’ fight ‘im off. Ah had t’ be able t’ take on opponents twice mah size an’ more.” He touched a scar on his side that went from his hip to just under the front of his vest, nearly centered, pulling back the fur to show it off better. “Ah got a few reminders over th’ years, when ah got a bit too cocky an’ tried t’ fight someone bigger’n ah was able.”
Adam paused to get a look at the scar, then flinched. “Eesh. No wonder you were never intimidated by me getting in your face.”
Scout walked alongside Adam for a moment, glancing up at him a few times before asking. “How come ye’re bein’ nice t’ me t’day? Normally, ye’re rude an’ kinda mean.”
Adam shrugged at him. “I was raised to be a police dog. My dad- that’s Chief Corder, of the human precinct- said that if you think someone could beat you up, you should always be extra nice to them, so they don’t have a reason to prove it.”
Scout was quiet for a few moments, processing this information. He didn’t have anything to add to it, so he decided to talk about their case. “Ah think today we should take a look at a map, see where our perp has been in relation to other spots he’s been at. Might give us a lead as t’ where t’ find ‘im.”
“That’s a good idea.” Adam said thoughtfully. “It’s an off week, so he won’t be showing up at his usual places, so our only chance to find him before the concert security job on Saturday is to find where he lives.”
Scout opened the door to the bullpen. “If ah’m right, an’ he’s an animal, he’ll be near th’ river. Too many houses an’ buildings further away.”
Adam nodded. “Right, or he’s bussing in from the other side of town. But I think we would have heard about someone like that on the buses. And why bus that far?”
Scout paused. “Maybe not. When was th’ last time ya rode a bus? There’re some weird characters on th’ buses.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

I am really satisfied to see that Adam is finally starting to thaw towards Scout and treat him as more of an equal instead of a subordinate now that he knows he can know the anger out of him. I just want to make sure we stay with the nicer and kinder-ish Adam going forward.

Even if he were to get a pie in his face.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

One of these days I'm going to write an entire fic full of nothing but the things you request.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Does that mean if I ask you to write for canon characters you will go and do it too then? Because technically that IS a request and you said you would do it some day in the above post so just trying to see if you mean it.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 10: The Buses

After morning meeting, Adam led Scout to a small meeting room that had a map of the city on a corkboard. There were already holes in the map, as if it had been used many times before, but it was intact enough to still be useful for what they needed it for.
Scout took out his notebook and read off the addresses where the headless trenchcoat had been spotted, and Adam carefully put a pin with a big red head in each spot. They stepped back to examine it, and Scout nodded. “Ah can tell they ain’t in a circle around a housing development or somethin’, which supports mah theory that he’s takin’ th’ bus or other transport. They’re just kinda… scattered.”
Adam nodded. “In a relatively small area, though. I bet he always gets off at the same stop, then on again there when he’s ready to head back.”
Scout nodded. “Hold on a second, ah have an idea.” He darted out of the room. Adam blinked after him, then looked at the board. After a few moments, Scout came back with a thick book. “Ah got bus routes!” He opened the book and flipped through it for a few moments, checking street names and stops for the one nearest the center of their pins.
“Here we go, route one fifty-six.” He tapped the page and turned it so Adam could see it. “Goes from north t’ south along th’ river, route takes about two hours round trip.”
Adam looked at the book and back up to the board, placing a blue peg in each spot that the bus stopped. That done, he took a string from the supply basket attached to the side of the board and connected all the blue dots. “Okay, you’re the one with all the brilliant deductions, Toby Holmes. What next?”
Scout leaned in and examined the map. “It looks like he don’t walk much further’n three blocks or so from his stop.” He tapped the peg in the middle of their red pegs. “If’n we can figure which stop he gets on from, we can get a search radius. We’ll need t’ talk t’ the driver.” He took out his notebook and jotted down the route number and the address of the bus station. “That means we’ll need to-” He trailed off when the door opened.
Sergeant Alana let herself in, quietly closing the door behind herself and looking up at their board. “How’s it going, boys? Looks like you might have a lead.”
Adam nodded. “Scout thinks that the perp might be getting around using the public bus system. It seems to check out. There’s a bus stop within a couple blocks of all the places he’s been frequenting. We were just going to head out to talk to the driver.”
She nodded, motioning to the board. “Give me a quick rundown. I assume this string is the bus route, the red pegs are your locations?”
Scout nodded. “We think he’s gettin’ on and off th’ bus here.” He tapped the corresponding peg. Sergeant Alana stepped forward and replaced that peg with a different color one.
“There, that way you know at a glance which spot to look at. How is talking to the bus driver going to help?” She put up a hand to silence Adam and looked at Scout.
Scout nodded and pointed at the board. “Th’ stops are about five blocks apart, so if’n we can determine which stop th’ perp is gettin’ on at, it’ll give us an area to check fer ‘im. We may even get lucky and find ‘im directly.”
She gave an approving smile. “You paid good attention in Investigations class. Go talk to the bus driver, but don’t go start asking around just yet. Come back here after and give me an update first.” She put up a hand to stop Adam from protesting. “I know, it’ll be out of your way and slow down your investigation, but we still don’t know if this guy’s dangerous, and I want to know exactly where you are in case you don’t come back or report in.”
Scout thought about it for a moment. “Ah s’pose that makes sense. We can do that.”
She turned to let herself out. “I’ll let the counter know to expect your request form for a scooter. Oh, and boys?” She paused to grin at them. “It’s nice to see you getting along for a change.” With that, she was gone.
Adam sighed. “Okay, you pack up everything you need to go, I’ll go fill out all the paperwork. Meet me at my desk in five minutes.”
Scout gave a playful salute and scurried out of the room. He rushed to his desk and looked around. “Let’s see, what do ah need? Ah need… a photo of th’ perp.” He opened his computer and got a still from the security footage with a good photo of the headless trenchcoat. Satisfied, he sent that off to the printer and went to get it, snatching it up and waving it a little to dry the ink faster before popping it in a folder, to look more official, and walking over to Adam’s desk.
Adam glanced at him. “Got everything? A picture of the guy?”
Scout nodded and patted his folder. “Right here.”
“Good. Let’s go.” He picked up his worksheet and started off, making Scout jog to keep up with him. Twenty minutes later, they parked in front of the bus depot and Adam climbed off his driver’s spot. “All right, let’s go.”
Scout paused to lift the seat of the scooter and take the folder out of the storage underneath, then jogged after Adam, who was already halfway to the door.
A receptionist smiled at them as they came in, looking down at them over the front desk. “Hello, officers. How can I help you today?”
After a moment, Adam nudged Scout. “Oh, right.” He pulled out his notebook. “We need to speak t’ the driver of bus route one fifty-six.” He glanced out in the yard. Bus service hadn’t started for the day yet, but he could see the drivers getting ready behind the chain link fence, fueling up and checking tires.
She nodded and typed into her computer. “Okay, so you’ll want Buck. He’s in the blue bus, third from the far end on the left. You’ll have to hurry though, because they’re due to take off in about twenty minutes, and people rely on their buses being on time.” She motioned to a side door behind the desk. “Just go through here and to the right, it’ll lead you right out. Oh! I almost forgot, you gotta sign in first. Just for records, you know how it is.” She passed them a clipboard.
Scout signed and passed it to Adam, who signed and passed it back to the receptionist before proceeding through the door. Scout followed him and to the designated bus, where a slightly chubby guy in a bus depot tee and shorts greeted them. “Hi there, officers? What can I do for you? Don’t mind if I keep doing my morning checks while we talk, got a schedule to keep.”
Scout opened his folder. “We’ll make it short. Have you seen this feller here?” He pulled out the photo and showed it to Buck.
The man turned and squinted at it, lifting his glasses out of his eyes. “Oh, trenchcoat guy! Yeah, he rides my bus every day for a week, then goes a week without showing up. Always pays his fare in cash, no bus card. Kinda unusual for a guy that rides so often, but what can I say? He sits in the back, always polite, gets off at the same stop every time.”
Adam seemed a little excited. “Can you tell us what stop he gets on at?”

[Amazee Dayzee]

I worry about how excited Adam is getting about going after the perpetrator when it seems like they have the chance to corner him. I hope he doesn't plan on running full-steam ahead at them and knock them down causing an injury since I imagine he is bigger than Kevin if he were to do that the flasher might end up breaking something.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 11: Check In

Scout hurried inside, ignoring it when Adam stopped to turn in the keys to their scooter. He hurried back to the room they’d been using, with the map, and pushed over a chair to reach the pins. He swapped out the relevant blue pin with a green one, his tail wagging eagerly as he picked out a length of string and wrapped it around the new pin, carefully measuring out three blocks on the map in a circle from the new green pin and using green pins again to mark the distance before wrapping the string around.
Adam walked in and watched him. Scout grinned proudly at him, tapping the inside of the circle with his finger. “There’s our guy. Somewhere in th’ circle.”
Adam took a look. “Well, not necessarily. Here, part of the circle enters a neighborhood, so he could live inside that neighborhood. Not to mention your theory that he might live in the wooded area, here.” He gestured. “But it certainly narrows down our search.”
The door opened, and Sergeant Alana walked in, smiling at the board. “I see you’ve found your search area. I want you to not go to it just yet.”
Scout’s smile faltered. “May ah ask why?”
Alana nodded grimly. “Because I’m about to pass out assignments for the concert on Saturday, and then we have to do a preliminary security sweep of the stadium. I’ve recalled every squad that was out on a case, and we’re meeting in the bullpen.” She glanced between them. “Fifteen minutes. Get your reports in for the day.” She turned and left.
Scout grunted and looked up at the board. “D’we jus’ leave this?”
Adam nodded. “Nobody uses this room anymore. It’s rarely needed. We’ll just make sure we clean up after we book our suspect.” He turned to leave the room. “Let’s go, rookie. I’ve seen how long it takes you to file paperwork.”
Scout snorted and took off after him. “Ah don’t do paperwork THAT slowly!”
He snickered and flicked his ear. “Yes, you do. I’m betting you didn’t have to do much writing back on that farm, did you?”
He scowled, twisting his head to get his ears out of flicking range. “No, ah didn’t. Why do ya ask?”
“Because your handwriting is atrocious and you’re so SLOW. Why do you think I’ve been filling out all the paperwork this week? It’s not because I simply love paperwork, I’ll tell you that.” He smirked down at him. “Go, file your report. We’ll pick this case up again tomorrow.” He turned to break step with Scout and headed back to his desk. Scout scowled after him. Had that been actual professional courtesy? Well, kind of?
He shrugged and went back to his desk, grabbing a report form and starting to fill it out. He was just finishing up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Adam smirked down at him. “Come on, Rookie, finish it up, we gotta go.”
“Ah’m finished, ah’m finished.” He signed off on the bottom of the form and picked it up.
“Leave it, you can turn it in after. We’re late.” Adam took the form from him and dropped it back on the desk, then grabbed his wrist and tugged him toward the bullpen.
Scout staggered after him, grunting as they entered. Sergeant Alana was standing at the front of the room, waiting patiently while the rest of the squad waited much less patiently. As soon as Scout and Adam took their seats, she nodded. “Thank you all for coming back. I know you were all busy with your assignments.” She leafed through her packet of papers. “I’m going to give out your assignments for Saturday, and then we’re going to go run a quick security sweep while the Miltons’ setup squad locks down the field. This Knight guy is pretty twitchy from the sounds of things, so the Miltons want us to do security sweeps now, as well as right before they begin seating for the concert.”
There were a few scattered snickers. She cleared her throat to shut them up, then turned to the whiteboard behind her, where a few graphics had been pinned up. “The stadium is just your standard high school football stadium, most of you have seen it before. The Miltons are adding a secondary temporary security fence around the field, as well as a tented area and tunnel leading directly to the locker room where visiting teams prepare.” She gestured to a rough map of the area.
“We don’t know who this Knight person is, only that he’s jumpy, and might make a run for it if he gets startled by unexpected visitors into his preparation area. We have also been informed that he is a Changed, one of the victims of the mass metamorphosis incident eighteen months ago. That said, the Miltons think he’ll be more comfortable with security closer to his own size, which is why they hired us, specifically.” She flipped through her paperwork.
“Now… jobs for you. External security is going to be Corder, Litwick, and Timothy. Internal security will be Mathers, Brooks, and Padelecki.” She set sheets aside as she read them off. “Security booth will be Sanders, Smith, and Ackles. Security at the entrance will be Pride, Stamos, and Laramie.”
There was a pause. “Backstage security, myself, and Corporal Mungo borrowed from Sergeant Ralph’s squad.” She looked up. “Edwards, since you’re the cutest and least threatening-looking of us, you’ll be guiding parking and overseeing traffic security after the concert.”
There were a bunch more snickers, and Scout tried to make himself look smaller. He felt singled out, and he could see everybody looking at him.
“Right, I’ve requisitioned enough scooters for every pair of you. I’ll distribute your job assignment sheets to your desks for review by tomorrow. Reconvene at the stadium. Dismissed!”
As the crowd shuffled out the door, Scout slid forward to speak to Sergeant Alana. “Sergeant, ah-”
“I know, you didn’t like being singled out like that, Edwards.” She barely even looked up from her paperwork as she sorted it back into its folder. “But the fact of the matter is, nobody’s going to take you seriously until you put on some muscle. I know you could take down anybody in your squad single-handedly, but nobody outside of the force is going to believe that. I put you in a job where people don’t have to take you seriously, they just have to do what you say. This time. Pack on a little muscle, maybe I can get you a better position the next time we do security.”
Scout nodded weakly. “Yes, Sergeant.”
“Good. Now go find a riding partner and get to the stadium. There’s a lot of places we need to check before we can call it a day.” She scooped up her folder and left the room.
Scout sighed and made his way to the backlot where the police scooters were kept. Adam was waiting for him, grinning. “So, how’s our cutest officer doing?”
He huffed and climbed on the back of the scooter. “Ah don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Ah, lighten up. She didn’t mean it like THAT. She just meant that humans love cute things, and you’re what they think is cute. She didn’t mean anything by it.” He took off driving. “Besides, it’s a good thing. You could probably get any lady dog you wanted. Assuming you’re into that.”
Scout snorted. “Ah already HAVE a girlfriend.”
“Oh? You never talk about her.” He glanced over his shoulder at him. “In fact, you never talk about anything other than work.”
“Ah don’t bring mah work home, why should ah bring mah home to work?” He scowled.
“True enough, true enough.” He drove quietly for a few moments. Then, out of nowhere, he grinned. “Is she cute?”
Scout put his ears back and considered not answering. He sensed, however, that he wasn’t going to get out of it by simply ignoring the question. “She’s th’ most beautiful girl ah’ve ever seen, an’ she smells like apple slices an’ prairie grass.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

It is always nice to see Adam and Scout bonding as they work together on this case and it shows us underneath everything Adam is a nice guy. I am just hoping that he stays this way and doesn't revert back to form if something happens because I need more cute and muscular animals in these stories!

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 12: Canvassing

Scout shook his head as he walked back toward the scooter, making a note in his notebook. Adam was leaning against the scooter waiting for him. “Nothing from the odd-numbered side of the street. A lot of folks out at work right now. Probably why he goes out weekdays rather than on the weekend. Less likely to be spotted.”
Scout nodded. “Ah ain’t get nothing on th’ evens side. Nobody home, nobody lookin’.” He groaned and rubbed his face. “We been at this all day. Let’s take a break before we check th’ next road.”
Adam nodded and started to climb the scooter, but Scout grabbed his arm to stop him and gestured at the house they were parked across the street from. “Anybody answer at that house?”
Adam looked over. The house looked abandoned; the yard was unkempt; there were fallen branches and other debris all over; the windows were covered with ragged curtains. There was a car parked in front of it, but it looked like it hadn’t moved in a long time. “No. Power’s still on. Doorbell rang. But I don’t think anybody’s living there. Probably some rich guy’s summer house that got forgotten about.”
Scout glanced at the mailbox, full to bursting of mail, then up at the house. He took down the number. “Ah’m gonna flag it fer a check. Might be, th’ owner’s passed inside th’ house an’ nobody noticed.”
Adam shrugged and looked over the house. “Do what you want. Where to for lunch?”
Scout shrugged back. “Not particularly hungry, ah jus’ need a break from knockin’ on doors. You pick.”
He grinned. “How about cheese sandwiches, then? I saw a food truck on the way down here.”
Twenty minutes later, Scout and Adam sat atop a decorative wall alongside the road, their scooter parked next to them, as they munched on some grilled cheeses. Adam glanced over at Scout. “So… any theories? Nobody seems to have seen our guy. Maybe he gets dressed AT the bus station?”
Scout shook his head. “That don’t make sense. Why would he do that? Why th’ trenchcoat in th’ first place?”
“Well, like you said, maybe he’s a large carnivore who’s worried someone will call animal control on him.” Adam took a bite of his sandwich thoughtfully, reaching down to grab his bottle of water, starting to open it while he chewed, then swallowed before speaking. “We should check that wooded area alongside the neighborhood, as well. It’s not very BIG as far as habitats for large animals go, but maybe that’s why he’s been going shopping.”
Scout thought about it for a few moments. “D’ya think we can get security footage from ATMs?”
Adam blinked. He seemed surprised at the sudden question. “Well… no, I suspect for that we’d have to get a warrant, and for a warrant there’d have to have been an actual crime. The only thing this guy’s done is scare people, which isn’t technically illegal.” He was quiet for a moment. “Out of curiosity, why do you ask?”
Scout gestured with his hand, rubbing two fingers against his thumb. “Money. Th’ perp’s been payin’ fer everythin’ with cash. He’s ridin’ th’ bus, so he can’t go through th’ bank drive-thru, an’ he’s coverin’ his face, so if he went int’ a bank he’d get th’ alarm pulled on ‘im. So he’s gotta be gettin’ his cash from an ATM.”
Adam thought about it for a moment, then reached up and touched the radio on his collar. “Dispatch, this is officer Corder on the Headless Trenchcoat case, can we see if we can pull ATM security footage or logs? Specialist Edwards has a hunch we’d like to look into if our current lead doesn’t go anywhere.”
Scout watched Adam have a brief conversation with whoever was manning the canine dispatch desk that day, munching on his sandwich. After a few moments, Adam let go of the talk button on his radio. “They said they’ll see what they can do, but even if we do get something, it’ll probably just be a list of the names of the people who used each ATM. Like I said, we don’t have a warrant.”
“Ah figured as much, but it’s worth a try.” He popped the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth and stood up. “Ready?”
Adam stood up and followed him, getting in the driver’s seat of the scooter. “Back to canvassing?”
Scout nodded. “We can finish up in th’ next few hours, an’ then we’ll head back t’ base.”
He nodded and drove off.
Two hours later, Scout leaned against the scooter as he watched Adam walk closer. He shook his head as he approached. “Nothing at all. It’s like he doesn’t exist until he gets on that bus.”
Scout gestured toward the little wooded area. “Ah went fer a walk while ah was waitin’. Ain’t nothin in there but birds. No animal scents at all except some local dogs.” He paused. “Ah did speak t’ some dogs. They ain’t seen nothing either.”
Adam sighed. “So, this is a dead end. We were excited for nothing.”
“Seems that way. Ah was so sure this was th’ place. If’n it wasn’t an off week, we could stake out th’ bus stop an’ watch fer ‘im.” Scout gestured toward the bus stop across the street.
Adam nodded. “We could do that next week, if we haven’t solved this.” He opened the storage under the scooter seat and tossed his copy of the picture inside. “You ready to head back?”
Scout shook his head. “Let’s check out th’ stop first. Maybe someone waitin’ fer the bus saw somethin’.”
He took a look. “Scout, nobody’s waiting for the bus. Nobody’s BEEN waiting for the bus. It was empty when we got here, and it’s empty now.”
Scout frowned and turned to look. “Huh. Ah could swear someone was there a minute ago.”
He grunted. “Come on, let’s get back to headquarters and file our report. If we’re getting anything from those ATMs, it’s probably ready for us now.”
“Yeah, ah guess ye’re right. It’s gettin’ late, anyway.” He scratched the back of his head and sighed. “This case seemed so easy on Monday when Sergeant Alana gave it t’ us.”
“Well, like I told you then, nothing’s ever as easy as it seems.” He held up his keys to the scooter. “Hey, rookie… wanna drive?”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Seems like each chapter Adam is beginning to get more and more friendly and respectful to Scout. I really enjoy their friendship and do hope we get to see more of them after the story is over.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 13: The List

Scout left the bullpen with the rest of the squad, immediately going for his desk. There, he noticed some paper in the incoming divider of his desk organizer, and sighed. He snatched the paper out and started sifting through it. The first page was his assignment for the next evening’s concert security; he set that aside and blinked at the small packet of other papers, held together with a paperclip.
A note on top was handwritten. “This is the information you requested from the ATMs in town. We were only able to get names. Sorry. Hope it helps.” It wasn’t signed, but he knew it was from the clerk at the dispatch desk, whose job it was to make phone calls and retrieve data sent in at the request of officers. He didn’t know her name.
He flipped the note and skimmed the pages. They were sorted alphabetically by name and organized into the locations of each ATM. He sighed. This information wasn’t particularly helpful on its own, but maybe it would come in handy later down the line.
Adam knocked on his desk. “What’cha got there?”
“List of people who used ATMs th’ last time th’ perp did his shoppin’. Not gonna be useful like this. Ah was hopin’ fer video footage. Ah guess that would be too easy.”
“Yeah, it’s never that easy. Well, sometimes. But still not great.” He flipped through the pages. “Well… hang onto it. We can use it later.” He pressed it to Scout’s chest.
Scout nodded and put it aside. “You got any ideas fer today’s investigation? Ah’m fresh out.”
He shook his head. “Let’s go to that conference room we had reserved and go through all the evidence and your notes. Maybe we’ll figure something out after having everything all together.”
He hesitated. “Are ya sayin’ we might have all th’ info we need t’ solve it, an’ just haven’t figured it out?”
Adam shrugged. “Sometimes, you just need to see it all laid out together to get your head around it, maybe think up some new ideas.”
Scout nodded and grabbed the list of ATM names. “Then ah suppose ah’ll need this.”
Adam nodded and turned to walk away. Scout jumped up and followed him to their conference room, where their map was still standing with their pins in it. Adam nodded to the table. “Set everything down here, let’s have a look at it.” He took a seat and opened the case file.
Scout sat aside from him and set aside the papers in his hand, watching Adam unpack the now fairly-full file. There were reports from both of them for the last four days, a photo of the headless trenchcoat pulled from security footage, digitized copies of most of Scout’s notes from the first two days of the investigation, transcribed copies of their interviews with witnesses, and the original case report with the list of addresses the headless trenchcoat had been spotted in.
Adam shuffled through all this stuff for a moment. “We’re missing two days of your notes. You can transfer them to the computer later, for now we’ll just use them directly out of your notebook.”
Scout blinked. “Oh… ah forgot t’ do that. Wednesday, we had that meetin’ an’ th’ security sweep of th’ stadium, an’ then yesterday, ah was so tired from canvassin’ for witnesses all day that ah plumb forgot.” He fumbled in his pocket for his notebook and placed it on the table.
Adam nodded, satisfied, and picked up the first case report. “Right, now we just review everything we have here, and hope something clicks.”
Scout sighed and picked up one of the reports. He didn’t particularly like reading, but he knew Adam was right; there was probably information here that he had forgotten about that might help them crack the case.
Five hours later, Scout let his head thud down face-first onto the table. “Ah got NOTHIN’. No unusual sightin’s of critters, no connection ah missed th’ first time… Ah’ve been on th’ force two months an’ ah’m already all washed up.”
Adam glanced up. “See, that’s why I have a problem with people who get specialist rank right out of the academy. They advanced so quickly they didn’t really get the chance to get the hang of the job, and then as soon as they hit a snag, they think their life is over.” He set aside the report he’d been reading for the thirtieth time and rolled his eyes. “Get over yourself, Scout. Anybody would have trouble figuring this out. We have almost nothing to go off of. What is this, four eyewitness reports and a bus stop?”
Scout grumbled and picked up his notebook, flipping through it for a few moments before he stopped. “Oh… that abandoned house. Ah completely forgot to flag it in th’ system.”
There was a pause, and then Adam sighed, starting to gather up the paperwork. “Go ahead and go do that, then copy your notes into the computer. I don’t think we’re going to find anything today.”
Scout nodded and took his notebook with him back to his desk. He filed away the address of the abandoned house to put it on a list for a wellness check, then opened up a text editor and started copying in the notes from his previous two days.
It wasn’t long after that before Sergeant Alana came up behind him. She stood there, watching him peck away at the keyboard with two fingers, then cleared her throat to get his attention.
Scout jumped and turned around to look at her, then jumped to his paws and saluted. “Ma’am!”
“At ease, specialist. Do you have any report for me today?” She leaned forward to read his notes.
“No, ma’am. We only did review today, lookin’ fer connections that we missed before.” Scout relaxed, but stayed standing.
She nodded. “Find anything?”
He shook his head, disappointed. “No, ma’am. Fer now, it seems th’ trail’s gone cold. We can’t think of anythin’ else t’ do lookin’ fer th’ perp until he starts visitin’ again next week.”
She nodded. “Okay, well… finish up what you’re doing, and then head home. Get lots of sleep, meet up here at noon tomorrow. Make sure you’re versed on your assignment for tomorrow night. We’ll head over as a squad to do one last security sweep of the stadium before they start final setup for the concert.”
Scout nodded and saluted again. “Yes, ma’am.”
She sighed. “Specialist, relax. Save all that saluting and stuff for special occasions, we don’t really do that around here. In the field, not at home base. Okay?”
Scout nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Ah’ll see ya tomorrow, noon sharp.”
“Good.” She turned and walked away. Scout watched her go, then sighed and sat back down to finish copying down his notes.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 14: Concert Duty

Scout sighed, leaning against a traffic sign and watching the night sky. He could hear the music from within the stadium clearly, but he couldn’t see anything that was happening from here. He wished he could leave his assigned position and get a little peek, but he knew that was likely to get him in trouble.
Nonetheless, he was enjoying the music; there wasn’t much for him to do right now, now that the concert was underway; no cars needed directed to their parking spots, and almost none of them were leaving right now, so he didn’t have anything to direct and could just listen to the music. It was good; he found himself tapping his toes occasionally as he listened.
His radio blipped. “Specialist Edwards, what is your location?”
He reached up and activated the talk button. “Ah’m at th’ entrance to th’ parkin’ lot, watchin’ fer incomin’ traffic.”
There was a moment’s pause, then the radio blipped again. “Roger that, maintain position.”
“Roger.” He sighed and looked up and down the street, releasing the speak button.
After a few moments, someone nudged him from behind. He turned around and looked up at Adam, who passed him a drink from the concession stand and nodded at him. “Thought you might be thirsty, so I took a break.”
“Thanks.” He sipped the drink, watching Adam for a moment. “Ye’re not gonna get in trouble fer steppin’ away?”
“Nah. The others got it. Not much going on outside anyway.” He sipped his own drink. “Nice view.” He motioned to the sky. It was pretty much completely washed out by the stadium lights, but there were a few stars visible.
“Yeah, ah guess so.” He looked up.
“What’s on your mind? Our case?” Adam glanced down at him.
Scout nodded. “Ah feel like ah’m missin’ somethin’. Somethin’ important. Somethin’... right in front of mah muzzle.”
“Stop thinking about it.” He nodded as if that settled the issue.
Scout blinked, confused. “What?”
“Stop thinking about it. Just let your mind wander. If there’s something in your mind that you can’t quite grasp, the best thing to do is to stop trying.” He shrugged. “It’s always helped me.”
He frowned up at him. “That don’t make no sense. If I ain’t thinkin’ about it, how’s it gonna help me solve it?”
He gave his head a little nudge. “Because, it’ll help your mind RELAX. Sometimes, you just need to let things connect THEMSELVES.”
Scout huffed and looked up as the music stopped. “Sounds like th’ next song.”
“Yeah.” Adam nodded.
A voice echoed out of the stadium. “Hey, where are my Changed at? Any of you out there?”
There was a muffled cheer from the crowd. The voice came back. “Wow, that’s a lot of you! The government helping you try to continue your lives?” More scattered applause. “Oh, yeah, that’s the good stuff, right? This next song’s for you guys. Keep on trucking.” The music started again.
Scout screwed up his face. “Ah swear, ah’ve heard that voice before.”
“Well, Kevin likes this guy, you’re probably just remembering hearing him play it at his desk.” Adam glanced back toward the stadium. “Listen, I gotta be getting back, I just came to bring you a drink. The concert’s going to be over soon, and that’s when we’ll REALLY need security.”
Scout nodded. “Thanks fer th’ drink. Ah appreciate it.”
Adam nodded and walked away, reporting back to his station.
Three songs later, Sergeant Alana’s voice came over the radio. “That’s it. All units, be on alert. The stadium’s going to be starting to empty out now. Be watching for people trying to get backstage. Let’s be sure we’re maintaining order, people. We want everybody to get home safely.”
Scout jumped to his paws and turned toward the stadium entrance as people started filing out, chatting and singing and bringing their souvenirs. He didn’t have to actively guide anybody, just stay alert to make sure there wasn’t a traffic jam, and untangle everything if there was. He stood by and watched people file out.
A few minutes later, a bus left from the back of the studio, with a few people chasing it. Meanwhile, the parking lot slowly emptied. It was slow going; everybody trying to leave all at once made traffic slow on their way out.
As the last few straggling cars pulled out, Scout gave a tired sigh and activated his radio. “This is Edwards. Th’ last car’s pullin’ out now.”
“Good job, Edwards. Come on into the stadium for debriefing.” Sergeant Alana’s voice came over the radio.
Scout nodded and walked inside. There was litter everywhere, lots of signs of lots of people. He could see his squad gathering on the field, and he went through the gate to join them. Sergeant Alana waved him over, standing next to Mungo and Adam in the huddle. She smiled around. “Good work everyone. We made it through the whole concert without incident. The stunt performer drew attention from the real performer, and it went off without a hitch. We did have a few fanatics try to rush the stage, but we were able to keep them back.”
Scout glanced over when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He thought he saw a flash of golden fur and a flash of black fur coming out of the backstage tent and heading toward the stadium exit, but when he leaned over to try and see, he couldn’t get a better look around his colleagues. After a moment, he shrugged it off, assuming he’d been wrong.
Sergeant Alana continued speaking in the meantime. “Everybody go home, get lots of sleep. We’ll be starting late tomorrow, since you’re all out way past the normal end of your shifts. Those of you that brought a police scooter here, you’ll have to return them to headquarters, unless you can find someone who drove their own scooter in this morning to do it for you.”
She paused and grinned, going around the circle and shaking everyone’s hands. “You all did a wonderful job. It’s been a pleasure doing this with you. I’ll see you all tomorrow, around nine-thirty in the morning. That’s about twelve hours from now, it should give you all plenty of time to get home and get rested. Dismissed!”
The group dispersed, and Scout started off, joined by Adam. Adam grinned down at Scout. “So, did you enjoy your first security gig?”
Scout shrugged. “Th’ music was nice. Ah thought ah saw… naw, it couldn’t have been. Musta been mah imagination.”
“Thought you saw what?” He grinned at him teasingly.
Scout shook his head. “It looked like a couple’a friends from mah neighborhood, but it couldn’t’a been. Ah mus’ jus’ be gettin’ tired.”
Adam patted his back. “Come on, I’ll give you a lift back to headquarters to pick up your scooter. Then you can get home and sleep it off.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Looks like Scout managed to catch the first glimpse of the perpetrator that they have been looking for if only briefly. That probably means that at some point more of the K9s will start to see them and Scout will be able to get a chance to try to jump on them to bring them down and take them into custody for questioning.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Nah, that's not what he saw. He saw Sunny and Shade leaving. This chapter takes place concurrently with the opening chapter of Shade Knight, and Scout's just unwittingly worked security for Shade's concert.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Alright but you do have to admit you DID have it set up perfectly to have it be a sighting of the flasher even if they didn't appear at the concert. I hope this means there is more of a crossover where Scout actually meets them.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 15: Epiphany

Scout brought his scooter to a stop in the driveway, blinking at the chocolate lab waiting for him with a grin. “Coco, it’s almost midnight. What’re ya doin’ out?”
She leaned over into the scooter and gave him a kiss. “Mm. I stayed up to meet you. Mom says I can stay over.”
Scout dismounted his scooter and opened the garage door, pushing it inside. “Ah’m glad. Ah could use some cuddles.”
She grinned and followed him into the garage, watching the door close behind them. “I’d love to snuggle with you.”
He smiled and hugged her, leading her into the house. “Ah’d love t’ get right t’ bed. Ah’m pretty tired.”
She took his hand and lead him to the living room. “Mm… Can you stay awake for just a little bit? I miss you.”
He gave her a smile and licked her cheek. “Ah can try.”
She wagged her tail and nuzzled into him, trotting over to his bed and climbing in.
He stood back and tilted his head. “Now that’s a purty sight. Mah purty lady in mah bed, waitin’ fer me.” His tail wagged once, and he stepped forward to climb into his basket with her.
As he settled into the cushion, she grinned and nibbled at his neck. “Mmm… so… how was parking lot duty?”
“Borin’. Once everybody was in, ah had nothin’ t’ do but walk around and wait fer them t’ come out again.” He paused. “Could hear th’ music, though.”
“Yeah? How was it?” She nudged him. “Good?”
Scout shrugged. “It’s th’ same music Sunny’s been listenin’ to. Pretty good. Guy’s voice sounds familiar, but ah can’t place it.”
“Well, maybe it’s just because you’ve heard Sunny listening to it.” She grabbed his blanket and pulled it up, lying down next to him and pulling the blanket over them.
Scout smiled and turned to face her, gently rubbing his nose against hers. “This is great. Ah’ve always wanted t’ go t’ sleep next t’ mah girlfriend.”
She smiled and nibbled his neck. “Mm… yeah…” Her hand slid down and rested on his backside. “Too bad you’re so tired.”
He felt his ears warm up. “Ah… y-yeah… It’s… a shame…”
She smirked playfully and nipped his ear. “Heh… I won’t tease you anymore.” She lay back and closed her eyes. “Good night, Scout.”
“Night, Coco.” He smiled and snuggled into her. He didn’t close his eyes just yet; he watched her settling in, his tail thumping gently at the sight of her. After a few moments, he reached up and started taking off his collar and bandana, setting them on the ground right outside his basket. He hesitated a moment, considering his next action, then slid his hand under the blanket and rested it on Coco’s rump.
Her eyes didn’t open, but a grin spread across her face. “Ooh, getting braver, are we?” She lowered her head and pressed her forehead into Scout’s chest. “Mmm. Maybe on your break, we can see how brave you can be.”
Scout raised his other hand to rub the back of her head. “Maybe ah can be brave fer ya. We’ll see.”
“Mmm.. For now… sleep. You have to get up in the morning and go back to work.” She nuzzled into him.
He smiled and closed his eyes, snuggling close. He didn’t go to sleep yet; instead, he focused on how it felt to have her there with him. He could smell her scent, feel her heartbeat. Her body warmed his own. It felt better than almost anything he’d ever experienced. He didn’t even notice when he dozed off.

Scout wandered through his dreamscape; it looked a lot like the field where he used to tend sheep back in Wyoming, except at the far end it gradually shifted to look like the neighborhood he lived in now.
A white lamb wandered past, a big sign stuck to its wool that said “Changed.” He nodded and tapped it with his shepherd’s staff. That must be her name, Changed. To his sleeping mind, that made sense.
He looked up and saw lots of sheep with signs on their sides. “Hiding” wandered aside to reveal “Trenchcoat,” which in turn wandered the other direction to reveal “Abandoned.” Scout nodded and walked toward them, stroking each sheep he passed on the head. “Two weeks” bleated at him passively at the touch and wandered off to another patch of grass, resuming grazing.
There was a splash, and Scout spun. The ram had fallen into the river; he rushed over, hopping from “Predator” to “House” to the ground and sticking out his staff, crooking the flailing ram around the leg and jerking him out of the water before he could be swept away or absorb too much water into his coat and sink.
As Scout crouched next to the sodden sheep to be sure he was all right, he mumbled soothingly to him to calm him. “All right, all right, ye’re fine. What’d ya do that fer, Help Programs? You know better than to get too close t’ th’ rapids.” He rubbed him down, gently squeezing excess water out of his wool.
The ram looked up at him. “He doesn’t know.”
Scout nodded sagely and tossed a blanket over the ram. He didn’t know where the blanket had come from, but that hardly mattered. “Ah bet so.” He turned around to check the rest of the sheep. He saw “Trenchcoat,” “Changed,” and “Hiding” standing next to each other, and looked around. After a moment, “Abandoned” and “House” became visible not too far away.
Scout frowned. Something was tickling at the back of his mind. He looked down at the ram again, who had resumed munching on grass as if nothing had happened. He wasn’t even wet anymore. After a moment, he looked back up at Scout. “He doesn’t know.” He repeated again. Scout frowned and walked through the field, climbing up on his favorite rock to look over the flock. He looked from “Predator” to “Scared,” then back to “Hiding.”

Scout gasped and sat up in bed, looking around, disoriented for a few moments. Coco reached over to grab him and pull him back down, mumbling quietly in the dim morning sunlight through the windows. “Mmm… what’s the matter, Scout? Bad dream?”
Scout shook his head, laying back down and pulling Coco in for a snuggle. “No, nothin’ like that. Ah think ah just made a break in mah case.” He thought for a moment, his mind racing as fast as it could go.
“In your sleep?” She mumbled drowsily.
He nodded. “Like mah partner said, ah just had t’ stop thinkin’ about it. An’ now, ah think ah know where mah perp lives.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Glad that Scout now has the pieces of the puzzle put together and know where this culprit lives now because following along with the dream I couldn't figure it out. Guess he is a lot more smart than he thinks.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Oh no, the dream was complete and utter nonsense, as dreams often are. It's just that the nonsense helped his brain put the pieces together.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Oh. OK. Just making sure. I was worried because I thought it did mean something and I just wasn't getting it at the moment and probably would never get it. I am not good at deciphering dreams because either I don't dream when I sleep or just don't remember them.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 16: Checking the Hunch

Scout marched out of the bullpen and made a beeline for the conference room he and Adam had been using. He rifled through the papers on the table and came up with the address he was looking for, tapping the paper as he turned for the door.
He nearly collided with Adam just outside the door, quickly sidestepping to get around him with his head down and his eyes focused on the paper in his hand.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down! Where are you going, Scout?” He grabbed Scout by the shoulder to stop him.
Scout blinked up at him. He hadn’t even noticed that it was Adam he’d nearly run into. “Ah got a hunch. Ah gotta get down to Records.”
“Slow down. Tell me what your hunch is.” He sighed. “I swear, you’ve got fleas under your vest today. You were barely sitting still in the bullpen.”
Scout tapped the paper he was holding excitedly. “Ah think ah know where th’ headless trenchcoat lives. Ah need t’ check somethin’ in records t’ be sure.”
He sighed and let go of Scout. “Okay, thank you for slowing down. I’ll be here when you’re back.”
He nodded and took off again, heading through the doors to the human side of the precinct. He suddenly felt very small, weaving through legs and around human officers, chatting at each other. This side of the building smelled like coffee and had everything built to full-scale for humans to use, as opposed to the canine side, where everything was built to just over half scale to be more convenient for the dogs to use.
Scout had only explored this half of the building once, months ago, so he wasn’t entirely sure where he was going, but after watching the signs far overhead as he walked, he found what he was looking for: a sign that indicated the records office was down the stairs. As soon as he’d passed through the door to the stairwell and closed the door behind him, the sound level went from bustling and lively to almost silent.
He trotted down the stairs quickly, listening to the rustle of his paper and the tapping of his claws on the tiled stairs as he climbed down. At the bottom of the stairs, he paused, looking at the three doors in front of him before choosing one. Inside, there was a dimly lit room with a bored-looking man sitting at a counter, stacks upon stacks of boxes behind him. He was going through a stack of paper, pulling one off, filling in the information on it into his computer, and then setting it aside and grabbing the next sheet. He looked up when Scout approached.
“Is this th’ records office?” Scout asked uncertainly, staring up at the man.
He leaned over the desk with a laborious groan to look Scout over, then gave a heavy sigh. “It is. What can I help you with today?” His voice was low and slow, sounding just as bored as he looked.
Scout stared up at him for a second, then shook his head to get the monotone sound out of his ears and raised his paper to the man. “Ah need th’ name of th’ owner of this address. As much as you have about ‘im, please.”
He took the paper and looked at it, then sighed, setting it aside and turning to his computer. He typed for what seemed like hours, then stared at the screen. The computer he was using looked ancient- a big, thick, and heavy-looking beige tower on the floor whirred and clicked and hummed, beeping every now and then. After a while, the man spoke. “The name is Norman Beltweather. Looks like his record is fairly clean- two unpaid parking tickets from three years ago.”
“Can ah get that printed, please?” Scout stood up as tall as he could to try and look over the counter at the computer.
“Fine… give me a minute…” He typed some more, and then a loud clanking sound came from the desk beside him. An ancient printer whirred to life, the print bar riding side to side as it printed dots of ink on a sheet of paper, over and over, side to side. The printer seemed to take forever, printing infuriatingly slow. After a long while, it whirred and spat out the sheet, then immediately started printing another.
Scout’s patience started to wear thin. This was taking AGES. He thought this guy’s equipment might be older than he was- as a matter of fact, he was certain of it. He could almost FEEL himself getting older as the printer whirred and clanked and slowly printed a second, then a third sheet of paper. Finally, the man reached over and gathered the freshly printed papers, trying to staple them together. “Ah… out of stables. One second.”
He opened a drawer and started digging through it, mumbling to himself. “Got some more in here… somewhere…”
Scout was starting to suspect he was moving as slowly as he could on purpose so that he would have company longer. At long last, the man found his staples and loaded them up into his stapler, clipping the papers together. He gathered up the printout Scout had requested, as well as the paper Scout had come in with, and passed them back down to Scout.
Scout forced a smile onto his muzzle, trying to be polite. “Thank ye very much. Ah appreciate it. Have a nice day.”
“You have a nice day, too.” He mumbled, returning to his computer screen and typing into it distractedly. Scout backed away from the counter and exited back to the stairwell backwards, then turned and started rushing up the stairs, his claws clicking on the tiles all the way. Weaving back through the human side of the precinct was less tedious this time; a lot of the officers had either gone to their desks or left on assignment by now. He went through the door back to the canine side and rushed to the conference room, where he found Adam waiting, staring through their paperwork again.
He looked up when Scout entered. “I’m not sure how you managed to pull an address from this mess. There’s nothing useful here.”
Scout shook his head. “It was in front of our noses all th’ time. Ah just gotta confirm.” He snatched up the list of people using the ATMs, then went through and put aside all of the ones outside of a few blocks from the bus stop the Headless Trenchcoat had been using.
“Confirm what? You said you thought you might have his house number.” He leaned over to look over his shoulder. “That ATM data? I thought we said it was useless.”
Scout shook his head. “It was useless, but now ah have a name.” He dragged his finger down the line of names, then stopped at one. Norman Beltweather. He circled it with his pen, then grabbed the printout he’d gotten from the records office and set it down, pushing the two stacks of paper over to Adam.
Adam looked at the name Scout had circled, then at the printout. “What am I looking at here?”
Scout nodded, satisfied. “That’s th’ address of th’ house we thought was abandoned when we were out canvassin’ fer witnesses. Ah had th’ records office look up th’ owner’s name.”
Adam looked between the two sheets of paper a few times, checking the name and the spelling. “... Son of a charming young lady.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Now Adam gets why Scout was in a rush to get this information checked out and to make sure that everything clicked in for his hunch because he might have solved the case. Now it looks like everything is starting to dawn on Adam also.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 17: Wellness Check

Scout knocked on Sergeant Alana’s door. Her voice sounded. “Come in, it’s open.” When Scout entered, she was typing something onto her computer. After a moment, she pushed her keyboard back and closed her hands across her desk, looking up at him. “What can I do for you, Edwards?”
Scout hesitantly looked at the paperwork in his hands. “Ah think ah’ve found th’ home of th’ Headless Trenchcoat. But ah can’t do anythin’ about it, ‘cause he ain’t committed a crime, so ah can’t get a warrant. Ah need advice on how t’ proceed.”
She nodded quietly. “Well… tell me about the situation. How did you come about this address?”
Scout paused. “Well… When Adam… ah mean, Corder an’ ah were canvassin’, lookin’ fer any witnesses, we noticed a house looked abandoned, an’ ah put it down t’ report it an’ ask fer a wellness check. Last night, ah had a… ah guess y’ could say a hunch, an’ ah had Records look up th’ name on th’ deed t’ that house. Then, ah cross-referenced it with th’ names of people who used bank machines in th’ area he’s been spotted. There was a match.”
She paused, then reached for the papers Scout had. He passed it over, and she looked at it. “And you did file for the wellness check?”
Scout nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
She nodded and picked up her phone, dialing an extension. “Corder, this is Alana. Get in here.” She listened for a moment, then hung up the phone and turned to her computer, starting to type. When Adam entered, she nodded at the chairs across from her. “Have a seat, gentlemen.”
Scout hesitantly sat down, watching as Adam took his own seat. Sergeant Alana nodded. Her printer started to print something out. “Boys, I’m going to assign you a smaller case, since you’re temporarily stalled out on your current one.” She put up her hand to stop Scout from protesting. He closed his mouth.
“See, there’s this abandoned house. We need a wellness check on it, make sure there’s nobody injured, or worse, on the premises.” She took the page off her printer and slipped it into a folder. “Remember, if nobody answers, as a wellness check, you have the authority to let yourselves in to ensure nobody’s in need of help somewhere in the house.” She stacked Scout’s papers on top of the folder and passed the whole thing to Scout.
“After you’re done, you can do whatever you want. Perhaps a stakeout to see if you can locate your suspect.” She winked at Scout. “Dismissed.”
As they left, Scout frowned at Adam. “What was that all about?”
Adam rolled his eyes and nudged him. “You idiot. I bet if you look at that file, it’s the address you wanted to check out. She can’t TELL us to go investigate a house looking for someone that hasn’t broken the law. But she CAN send us out on a wellness check. It’s a loophole.” He led Scout to his desk and started filling out a requisition form for a scooter. After a moment, he paused. “Let’s use your scooter.”
Scout blinked. “What? Why?”
“So we can do a stakeout after. I think what Sarge meant was that after we do the wellness check, if we don’t end up getting to go in, it’ll probably scare him out, and we can bring him in then.” Adam nodded proudly.
Scout frowned. “That don’t sound exactly… legal.”
“Well, it’s not ILLEGAL. It’s certainly sneaky. It would never fly if we were trying to arrest him, but we’re not. We just want to talk to him.” He drummed his fingers on the desk, then stood up. “Come on, grab your keys. Let’s go.”
Scout jumped up. “They’re in mah locker. Ah’ll meet ya out there?”
Adam nodded. A few moments later, Scout met Adam at his scooter and climbed into the driver seat. “Let’s go. Ah remember th’ way.”
Adam climbed on behind him, holding onto him as Scout started the engine and began to drive. It was a short drive over to the house they were supposed to be “checking,” and Scout parked half a block away, so the scooter wasn’t visible from the house.
Adam paused on the sidewalk to wait for Scout, looking over his shoulder. “Come on, Rookie! Let’s go flush this guy out!”
“Ah’m comin’, ah’m comin’. Ah’m jus’ worried about leavin’ mah scooter here.” He hustled after him, and they started up the driveway to the house. Scout frowned at the long, weed-filled lawn. “It’s worse than it was las’ week.”
Adam nodded, and they approached the door. “That makes sense. If it hasn’t been taken care of, it would get worse.” He raised a hand and rang the doorbell. After a minute with no answer, he knocked and called out. “Mister Beltweather! It’s the canine police! Someone called for a wellness check on you because you haven’t been seen in a while!”
Nobody answered the door. Adam knocked again, louder. “Mister Beltweather! If you don’t answer, we will assume you are in need of assistance and break in!”
After a few moments, a voice sounded. “I’m fine.” It was muffled, coming from behind the door. “Thank you for your concern, but I’m okay.”
Adam grunted. “Sir, will you open the door?”
“No, I will not. I am not required to. You’ve checked up on me and confirmed that I am alive. Now please get off my property.” He sounded terse, tense, and snippy.
Adam nodded. “Thank you, sir. Have a good day.”
“Good day.”
Adam turned and started back down the driveway, and Scout followed him. “That’s it? We’re jus’ leavin’?”
“We have to. That’s all we’re allowed to do under a wellness check.” When they got back to Scout’s scooter, he grabbed their case file and read the reference number, activating his radio. “Dispatch, this is Canine-Eight-Seven-Six following up verbally on case file one-nine-delta-seven-echo. Contact has been made with resident, he is alive and well. We’re going to do our paperwork on location and then take our lunch.” He turned off his radio and climbed aboard the scooter, leaving space in front of him for Scout.
Scout put his ears back and climbed aboard, grunting. “Now what?”
“Well, first, we do our paperwork.” He passed Scout a clipboard and a pen with their report form on it. “And then we hang out here for a while. If that’s our guy, he’ll want to leave in case we come back or stick around and go nosing around. If he’s gone to all this trouble to stay hidden, he’s not going to want to be around with police poking around his place.”
Scout frowned and nodded, looking down at the clipboard. “So… we’re doin’ it the not-quite-correct way.”
Adam nodded. “Welcome to the force, rookie. Sometimes, you gotta go off-book to finish, and as long as it’s not illegal or too far off book, you usually won’t get in trouble.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Poor Scout is still so naive about how police officers have to be sneaky and sometimes use loopholes to get information they need even if it doesn't seem straightforward and honest. Adam really will have to shed a light on how sometimes they need to use the ambiguity in the law in order to get their means met to him at one point.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 18: Stakeout Fakeout

Scout finished putting the canopy up over the top of the scooter and climbed inside, shaking a little water out of his fur and peeking up at the sky. “Ah didn’t expect it t’ start rainin’.”
Adam grinned. “Well, weather happens. Whether you-”
“No.” Scout interrupted. “Ah hate that joke.”
“Ah.” Adam squeezed water out of his fur and then shook it off his hand out into the rain. “See anything yet?”
Scout shook his head, leaning forward on the scooter’s handlebars and peering at the house. “Nah. ‘Course, he coulda snuck out th’ back an’ we wouldn’t know.”
“If he did, he won’t be gone too long. He’s trying to keep a low profile. Wandering around in a trenchcoat for extended periods is bound to draw attention.”
Scout nodded and sat in silence for a few moments, watching the rain bounce off the plastic windshield. After a few moments, Adam spoke up again. “So… you’ve got yourself a girlfriend. Guess I lost the bet on that one.”
Scout’s ears perked. “Bet? Y’all were bettin’ on whether ah had a girlfriend?”
Adam shrugged. “Well, can you blame us? You don’t talk about your home life at work, and there was no sign of a significant other coming to visit you, so we took bets. I said you were probably single.” He was quiet for a moment, then smirked. “Brookes was betting that you had a BOYFRIEND. I almost got in on that myself.”
Scout put his ears back and snorted. “What would make ya say THAT?”
He shrugged, leaning back against the canopy. “Well, you’re small, not very muscular, and entirely too serious. Seemed the type.” He looked him over, considering. “In fact, if you were my TYPE, you’d probably be my type.”
“What’s that even MEAN?” He snorted.
“I think you know. I’m saying I don’t bat left-handed, but if I did…” He shrugged.
Scout felt his ears warm up a bit, then suddenly turned around to look behind them.
“What is it?” Adam turned to look.
“Ah thought ah saw somethin’.” He opened the plastic window and stuck his head out to take a look, squinting in the rain.
Adam turned to look. “I don’t see anything. Are you sure?”
After a few moments, Scout shook his head. “... No, ah’m not. It’s rainin’, so ah can’t see too well. Mighta just been water runnin’ down th’ side of th’ canopy.” He closed the window again, doing up the velcro and sighing, leaning toward the other side and staring at the house. Part of him wanted the door to just open so he could get out of the rain.
They were both quiet for a few more minutes. For some reason, Scout had expected a stakeout would be more fun. After a while, Adam tried to strike up a conversation again. “So… Wyoming? Sheep farm?”
Scout nodded, feeling a pang of sadness run through himself at the sudden reminder. “Ah did that job mah whole life. Mah job was t’ watch th’ sheep, keep ‘em from bein’ eaten by ferals, fallin’ in th’ river, or wanderin’ off. Used t’ talk to ‘em sometimes. They were borin’, but it was better’n bein’ all alone. Used t’ practice mah slingshot by shootin’ rocks. Broke mah heart when Ma ‘n Paw went broke an’ had t’ sell. Had a few problems adjustin’ to suburb life.”
“I heard. You had a record before showing up at the precinct. Apparently you were at the dog park shooting your slingshot at other dogs?” Adam snickered.
Scout flinched. “Not mah proudest moment. Ah was bored, upset, an’ frustrated, an’ ah took it out on random strangers.” He paused. “How’d ya know that?!”
He smirked. “I got bored the other day and looked you up in the system. You hospitalized one of your classmates at the academy?”
Scout tried to make himself smaller, sinking down in his seat. “He started it.” He mumbled quietly.
“Top in your class at the tracking, sniff-test, and hand-to-hand combat courses, but dismal written scores and takedown scores.” Adam smirked at him. “Because you’re so tiny. You scored pretty high in the chase class, too, though you weren’t the fastest.”
“Ye’re not supposed t’ look at a fellow officer’s record.” Scout mumbled by way of complaint.
Adam grinned. “Oh, relax. Nobody’s going to write me up for looking at your file. It’s not like it’s classified.” He leaned forward and checked the scooter’s onboard clock. “Is this thing accurate?”
Scout nodded. “Ah set it mahself earlier this week.”
“Then let’s call it quits. If we were going to get this guy to leave his house, he would have done it by now. We’ll just have to wait until Wednesday when he does his shopping. We’ve been sitting out here over an hour.”
Scout nodded and pulled out his keys, starting the engine. After a moment, he pulled off their parking spot and started driving down the road, keeping to the side of the road since his scooter wasn’t licensed for street driving. He started navigating out of the neighborhood.
Adam sighed. “I had hoped this would be the end of the case file. Sarge hates it when a case runs longer than a week after she assigns it.”
Scout shrugged. “Nothin’ we can do about it. We’re this close t’ solvin’ it, but we’re restricted t’ what we can do ‘cause he’s not technically a criminal.”
“I guess.” Adam sighed as they pulled up to the exit to the neighborhood, pausing to let a bus pass before pulling out.
Scout started driving, then snorted when the bus started stopping. He couldn’t go out into the road, so he had no choice but to stop and wait for the bus to pick up its passengers. He watched a few people get off and open up umbrellas, and a few more get out from under the covered bus stop to line up. One man closed his umbrella, another lowered the hood of his jacket, and a third adjusted his wide-brimmed hat to let the water run off behind his trenchcoat.
Scout did a double-take, then a triple-take. “Adam.”
Adam grunted, and Scout spun around to grab his arm and shake it. “ADAM!”
He looked up from his clipboard, where he was filling out a report. “What?”
“Ah saw ‘im.” Scout took off, driving after the bus.
Adam gasped and grabbed Scout tightly, startled from the sudden quick movement. “WHOA! What’s gotten into you, why are you driving so fast?!”
“AH SAW ‘IM! He’s on th’ bus!” Scout grunted over the sound of the motor, following the bus as it started pulling away.
“You… you SAW him?” Adam’s muttering turned to excitement as comprehension slowly sank through his brain. “On the bus?!”
Scout nodded, feeling the scooter struggle at maximum speed. “That’s what ah saw behind us! He snuck around t’ get t’ th’ bus stop!” He felt excited. The case was about to get its payoff after a long week of investigating.