“Yeah. We each took one down.”
“Let us get them secured, then we'll take your statements.”
Jorja drops down to her knees and throws her arms around Lucifer, then she begins to cry. Not hard, boohoo sobs, but tears of relief. He looks up at me, and his eyes feel her pain. When she lets him go, he licks her face making her laugh. “You're my hero, Luce. Thank you!”
He wags his tail, then lays down at our feet. She slides back under my arm to wait.
An ambulance pulls in, followed by a couple of cars who must have police scanners. Three EMT’s get out. While two unload a stretcher, one walks over.
“We're good. But they're not.”
He gives me a head nod and changes course. He disappears into the room, then stands in the door and waves for the stretcher.
Jorja spins around in my arms and puts her face on my chest. The feeling of holding her after being terrified that I might lose her nearly overwhelms me. I guess I’m in shock too.
But when two cops walk out with the toothless assailant in handcuffs, the lump in my throat vanishes. His face is covered in blood. His eyes are swollen shut. He has no nose that I can see, and his lips are busted. He got off easy.
Then the stretcher carrying the knife welding motherfucker comes out. His mauled arm lays across his chest. My fist balls up again, wanting to inflict more damage, but I force it to flex.
All three EMT’s glance over at us. I give them a head nod. “Motherfuckers are lucky to be alive.”
Two more cops walkout, then come over to us.
“I’m Officer Roberts. This is Officer Lou. We can take your statements now.”
I nod. “Sure.”
Officer Lou speaks to Jorja. “Ma’am, if you would walk with me over here.”
She squeezes my waist, tilts her face to mine, and our eyes lock. She puckers her lips, and I give her the reassuring kiss she needs. Then she lets me go and follows him across the parking lot. I turn so that I can watch her. Her back's to me. Her arms crossed in front of her body in a defensive posture, hugging the blanket.
Her head is down. Her shoulders slumped. She speaks and nods, recalling what happened.
Officer Roberts takes a pen and a little pad out of his pocket. “What’s your name?”
“Jocko Malone.”
He stops. Looks up at me. Looks down at Lucifer. Then says, “tell me what happened.” While I recount the events as they unfolded as I was trained to do without emotion, he jots down notes for his report.
“Where's the knife?”
I point to the hood of the car.
“Does the dog have a current rabies vaccination?”
“Yes. His papers are all in order.”
“Good. I don’t foresee any problems. You can call tomorrow for the case number.” He shakes my hand. “You may have just apprehended the perps who've been pulling off a string of armed robberies over the last few months. We won’t know for sure until after the DNA tests come back, but the MO is the same.”
I shake his hand and wait for Jorja to finish. When Officer Lou closed his note pad and stuffs it in his pocket, I walk over to them. Jorja lifts my arm and cuddles up again. I shake his hand when he says, “Jocko. Nice to meet you. If you weren’t already somewhat famous around here, you most certainly will be now.”
