Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep by Colleen Coble

when Zane approached. Jonelle shook her head. Funny how most dogs could sense danger.
    “Hey, Samson,” Zane said softly. From his pocket he pulled a steak in a plastic bag. “Look what I have for you.” He opened the bag and held out the meat.
    Jonelle grinned when the dog sniffed it then took it delicately in his mouth but didn’t eat it. Zane may have been outsmarted. Samson continued to eye Zane warily.
    “Eat it, pooch.”
    Jonelle knew the meat was laced with a sedative. Samson laid it on the porch and gave it a lick.
    Zane pulled a choker leash from his pocket. She wasn’t sure he could get it around Samson’s neck. The dog seemed pretty wily. Jonelle glanced at the curtained windows. Someone could come any minute. They needed to get the dog and get out of here.
    He held out his gloved hand. “Take a whiff, Samson. I’m okay.”
    The dog showed his teeth but took a delicate sniff of Zane’s proffered hand. Samson’s hackles didn’t go down though. Jonelle felt her admiration for the dog rising. This was one smart animal. He knew when to be wary.
    Zane harrumphed and stood. “I’ll have to use the stun gun. You can’t blame anyone but yourself, pooch.”
    He jogged back to the truck and got it out of the back. “He’s not taking the bait.”
    “So I see,” Jonelle said through the open window. “Just leave him be, Zane. He seems a really nice dog. I saw his picture in the paper, and he saves lost people. Besides, he’s that little boy’s pet.”
    “Shut up!” He strode back to the dog.
    Jonelle held her breath. Samson lay with his nose to the untouched steak. Zane didn’t waste any more time trying to coax the dog. He loaded the dart in the gun and aimed it at the dog. “Sweet dreams.”
    The dog flinched and yelped when the dart struck his flank. He turned to bite at the dart, then got to his feet and started toward Zane. Samson staggered as he neared, then crumpled into a heap.
    Jonelle shuddered at the smile of satisfaction on her husband’s face. Zane slipped his hands under the dog and started to lift him. He grunted with exertion. “I might need your help, Jonelle. This is one heavy dog.”
    She started to get out of the car, but he managed to heft the dog to his chest and stagger toward the truck.
    “Hey, you there! What are you doing with that dog?” A pregnant woman stood on the porch. A little boy ran past her down the steps.
    “Let go of my dog!” The child reached Zane before the woman and pummeled his legs. “Give me back my dog!”
    Zane shook the boy off. “Get away from me, kid.”
    The boy clung to his leg like a limpet, and the dog started to slide from his arms. Holding her stomach, the woman came running across the yard. Dropping the dog, Zane shoved the kid away and ran for the safety of the truck.
    He waved the gun. “Stay back or I’ll shoot!”
    “Samson!” The kid wailed and flung himself onto the prone body of the dog.
    The woman stopped suddenly and bent over double. “Davy, go get the phone,” she said, clutching her stomach.
    “Samson’s dead!” The kid was crying in earnest now.
    “No, he’s not, but I have to get help.” The woman groaned.
    Jonelle spared one last look as Zane flung himself into the truck. Even from here, she could see how pale the woman in the yard was.
    “Get us out of here!” he shouted.
    As the truck roared away, she had one last glimpse of the woman in agony.

7
    T he bubble light on top of the sheriff’s car in front of Hilary’s house was rotating, but the deputy had turned off the siren. Bree jammed her foot on the brake and threw the Jeep into park. She was out the door practically before the vehicle stopped moving.
    Davy was crouching over Samson. Wailing, he kept trying to rouse the inert dog. When he saw Bree, his face screwed up even more, and he broke into noisy sobs. “Make him wake up, Mommy.”
    Bree knelt by her son and pulled him onto her lap. She was almost afraid to touch Samson. Her heart was beating