dark faerie 06 - ever dead Read Online Free PDF

actually had very little in his experience to base that opinion on however, having never owned a dog before.
    “We’ve called Animal Control,” one of the officers mentioned then. “They said it might be awhile.”
    Hank kneeled down on the dirty asphalt, hoping to calm the animal.
    “What’s the matter girl?” he said softly. “Was this man your friend?”
    Holding his hand out toward the dog, it didn’t offer to bite him but merely moved to the side before continuing her growling at him.
    Only she wasn’t really growling at him he noticed, nor did she seem to be growling at any of the other cops near him. Turning, Hank tried to follow where the dog was actually looking, his eyes coming to rest on a pair of dumpsters lined against the side of the alley.
    Studying them for a moment, Hank noticed that they were sitting at a funny angle. Standing, he made his way over to the containers. Once there, he discovered that while the front of the dumpsters were touching, they were angled away from each other in the back, leaving a small space between them.
    Also noticing that they both had wheels, Hank pushed one of the trash receptacles away from the other, not overly surprised at what he found behind them.
    “Hey Moss, take a look at this.”
    The old detective looked his way, agitated that he had to move from where he was standing. Finally ambling over, his jaw dropped when he saw what Hank had discovered.
    “Who’s that?” Moss finally asked.
    “I would say that is our murderer, based on the bloody knife in his hand,” Hank replied with a grin.
    Another homeless man by the looks of his clothing, the man was unconscious, the air around him reeking of cheap liquor.
    Moss looked over at his young partner. “How’d you figure out he was here so fast?”
    “I didn’t really,” Hank admitted, “It was the dog. It wasn’t growling at us, it was just avoiding us. It was growling at the dumpster!”
    Looking over at the dog, he suddenly realized that it was no longer growling at all; instead it was sitting quietly by its dead owner, panting as it watched Hank and the others.
    I’ll be damned , he whispered as he made his way back over to the dog. Kneeling again, this time the red dog didn’t growl at him when he reached out his hand.
    “Feel better girl?” he whispered as he gently rubbed her head. The dog’s bright eyes stayed on him, conveying a calm intelligence that seemed to mesmerize Hank. Moving her head a little, she then licked his hand.
    “Looks like you’ve found yourself a friend,” one of the patrolmen said from behind him.
    “I think I have,” Hank mumbled, grinning as he continued to pet the dog.
    “I think we should still name her Devil Dog though,” the other patrolman opinioned as he too joined the group. “That red coloring and those pointed ears? What else could you call a dog like that?”
    Hank grinned as the dog moved over and sat next to him.
    “I think I’ll call her Luci…short for Lucifer.”
     
    ***
     
    That day had been five years ago now. Hank took Luci home that night and was continually amazed at how intelligent she was. Not knowing anything about training an animal, he started pouring through web pages and books on the subject.
    And Luci excelled at every stage of her training, seeming to revel at Hank’s attention. Once he had taught her a few easy tricks however, he got to thinking about a more specialized training.
    Using his own money, he enrolled her in a school that had a class for Police Dogs. Again she excelled, easily accomplishing her tasks quicker than any of the other dogs in the class.
    When Moss put in for retirement a year later, Hank approached his captain about making Luci his partner.
    It hadn’t been an easy sell.
    What had finally sealed the deal however was simply money. The budget conscious PPB knew that ultimately their K9 officers were cheaper than a human. And it wasn’t like there weren’t other K9’s on the department.
    Lucifer was