Don't Leave

Chapter 31

Amanda's POV

Sleeping with Nick's arm around me felt different than any time I was with Jeff. I didn't feel restricted nor did I feel scared. I felt warm, safe almost. I only woke up once that night and getting an actual full night sleep felt great.
I never felt him leave the bed, but I could hear him in the kitchen. Getting ready for work I assume. I didn't want him to leave. The house gets lonely and eerily quiet. In the quiet my imagination would run wild. Every sound was somebody breaking in. I'd never been scared of being alone until now. I had always considered myself to be strong and not really a force to be reckoned with. That is until after I found out I was just as vulnerable as everyone else.
I heard the door shut and knew Nick had left. I was alone. I attempted to go back to sleep, but every time I did fall asleep I was woken by a nightmare. Whether it was Jeff, Tucker, or even Nick in some dreams I never got to sleep. So I gave up and went to make breakfast.

Nick's POV

I felt awful leaving knowing she didn't want to be alone, but I had no choice. We were already short staffed.
"Fin!" I called him over.
"Is Liv here yet?" I asked him.
"Not yet, why?"
We watched as some unis crowded around each other watching a video.
"Whatcha watching?" I grabbed one by the shoulder.
"Nothing" he replied.
I grabbed the phone from his hand. It was a video of Amanda that had been found on the dark web.
"Nothing?" I said then slammed the phone on the ground.
"I find out you as much as laid a hand on detective Rollins you'll be a dead man." I pushed him back and he walked away followed by the rest of the group.
"What was that all about?" Fin asked.
"You know I wasn't the first one who knew about what Jeff was doing to Amanda." I said
Fin looked at me confused.
"Oh no those pieces of shit knew. But did they try to help her? Did the tell us? Hell no! They just tormented her into not saying anything."
"How do you.." He started.
"She told me Fin! Every day she left hell she walked into another one. And you know what we didn't do anything about it."
"Nobody could've known" he said not believing it himself.
"Yeah well you tell that to the girl at my house who keeps asking why nobody listened told her when Jeff was beating and raping her every single day."
Fin didn't speak.
"You're gonna try to tell me to not beat myself up for knowing something was wrong with her and Jeff and still letting her go home to him. Right here in this building there were cops that did the same thing suspects in our cases do. And yet we knew nothing."
We remained quiet until Liv walked in.
"What's going on?" She sensed my anger.
"I don't know how to make her feel safe again. I can't stay home all day we're already short staffed." I said.
"Amanda?" Liv asked.
"Yeah. She isn't doing great, and I don't know how to help her." I didn't mention mine and Fin's conversation.
"Get a dog." Luv said.
"What" I asked kinda amgery at what seemed like a stupid answer.
"I'm serious. There's a K-9 whose handler didn't want anymore. She loves dogs and I mean this dog is already trained to protect."
Liv actually had a point. I mean there are PTSD service dogs so how different would this be.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look" I agreed to see the dog.
"Head down to the K-9 department. I already talked to them."

"So what is this like a German shepherd?" I asked the guy showing me the dog.
"Close, it's called a Dutch shepherd. Not a well known breed mostly because you don't really see them outside police or military operations."
We turned down the hall where there were several dogs German shepherds and the occasional Lab in kennels on both sides of us. Barking, whining, and jumping on the kennel doors.
"Dog was only on the force for 8 months. He's a great dog, but the handler not so much."
"What happened with the handler?" I asked.
"He met a girl found out she was allergic to dogs and I think you know the rest of the story."
He stopped in front of a cage with a dark colored dog. It's markings resembled tiger stripes. The dog was whining and pacing around the kennel letting out the occasional bark.
"Sitz!" He said.
The dog sat.
"This is Apollo. He's a 2 and a half year old European working line Dutch shepherd."
The dog looked at us. Alert with his tongue hanging out.
"Like most of our dogs he was imported from Europe. He was trained in German so I hope you are prepared to learn some."
"I guess I'll have to." I chuckled.
He opened the kennel and leashed the dog. The dog sniffed me then went and sat beside the trainer.
"I'll show you what he can do. Come on." He told me. "Fuss" the dog walked beside him. "Means heel." He looked at me and said.

I watched as the dog went under, over, and through obstacles. Apollo remained completely focused throughout.
"Now is the fun part. Apollo is taught to apprehend suspects as well as to protect his handler. Anyone that comes near us that wants to do harm will be in for quite a surprise." He said. "The decoy wears a bite suit because trust me you don't want to on the receiving end of this dog's jaw."
I watched as Apollo calmly heeled beside the trainer until the decoy came out yelling waving a bat. Apollo sprung into action and began barking. The moment the decoy was close enough Apollo bit. And he did not let go. Nothing the decoy did would get him off nothing except a pull on the leash and a "Auf" the dog released, but continued barking and staring down the decoy.
"So?" The trainer asked.
"I don't know" I said. "Give me the rest of the day to think."
"A dog with this training is a huge responsibility. Think about and get back to me."