Page 15 of Pretty Broken Dolls

Cisco continued to bark.

He swayed as he re-holstered the weapon. It was obvious that he too was fighting unsteadiness and confusion.

Katie used the opposite end of her flashlight and began pounding on the glass, spider cracks spreading rapidly.

McGaven swung the tire iron and with the third whack the glass shattered, pieces flying everywhere.

Kicking and smashing at the plywood almost seemed useless, but they kept trying.

Katie couldn’t exert any more energy; her body was weakening and she fell to her knees, trying to catch any fresh air coming from outside. There was a tiny crack on the left side of the plywood where she could feel a slight breeze on her face. She desperately tried to bring oxygen into her lungs.

She turned to McGaven who had also dropped to his knees, but was still hammering at the wood—splintering it a little bit at a time. Pulling out her cell phone, she dialed 911 and was just able to say:“Officers need help…167 Fox Hunt Road…”Katie looked down and saw her untucked blouse. Tearing a large section from the bottom into two pieces, she tied one around her nose and mouth, and then crawled to McGaven, helping him with his.

“Stay low,” she said, remembering an army training exercise on poisonous gas.

He nodded. His eyes looked glassy as he struggled to stay conscious.

Katie rolled onto her back. She began kicking the plywood and was soon joined by McGaven. The large sheet of plywood began to break.

Cisco’s barking became louder in between the kicking.

Katie saw Cisco’s body through a small opening and his paws digging at the wood.

“Stay back, Cisco!”

Finally, the wood covering broke away. The fresh air rushing inside was the best thing Katie had experienced in a while.

Cisco leaped inside and began pulling Katie out. She turned and saw McGaven crawling on his hands and knees behind her.

They inched and crawled their way into the backyard to a safe distance with Cisco in the lead.

“Easy, Cisco. We’re okay,” she said, flopping onto her back, trying to take in as much air as possible.

The dog circled the two, licking one, then the other, until he seemed satisfied that they were okay.

Katie rolled onto her side next to McGaven. “You okay?” she said, coughing.

“I’ll live.”

Sirens sounded in the distance, approaching fast.

“Good,” she said, relieved, as she stayed close to her partner and watched the natural color return to his face.

“You hear it too?”

“Yeah.”

“Good to know,” he said and flopped back on the ground.

Chapter Six

Monday 1455 hours

Katie sat in one of the ambulances with an oxygen mask on, breathing easier and steadying her nerves. She was not only struggling with her anxious energy due to the stressful circumstances, she was also fighting back the anger. In her mind, she still saw Agent Campbell’s aloof demeanor mixed with some well-placed compliments in the sheriff’s office. And now she and McGaven had been sent into a precarious situation. Did he know it would potentially be dangerous?

Cisco had been returned to the police sedan—he sat stoically, watching the events unfold. Somehow, Katie surmised, in his urgent need to get to her aid, the dog had pressed the door remote control she had left behind, which had released the back door. She generally had it hooked to her waist when she was going somewhere alone, but since she had McGaven she felt it wasn’t needed.

She watched as firefighters checked the entire house and found that the gas had been turned back on—it had originally been shut off when the house was boarded up.