Grimm opened the front door and let the leash loose while he shifted the giant bag of dog food for a better grip. Max trotted in without the bursts of energy he’d displayed earlier. “I don’t care if you get on the furniture, but stay out of the trash and no drinking out of the toilet.”

Max stared back at him over his shoulder and huffed quietly.

Grimm couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on his face. How could a dog have so much personality? The day had exhausted him in ways he hadn’t imagined possible. He dropped the bag of food on the floor and the other bags slipped off his arm. Dog bowls, toys, food, and helper snacks. He’d mentally checked off the list the arson dog trainer had told him to get.

The deputy chief was right about their hesitancy to retrain with Max. At his age, the cost of training a new handler wouldn’t be worth the effort. When the guy over the phone had suggested retiring Max, it had stirred something inside Grimm.

Right after his injury, he’d wanted to go back to the fire department, but the head injury had screwed with the vision in his left eye. He was disqualified before he even left the hospital.

It was his Captain who suggested the path to fire investigation. After Ryan’s death, he’d needed something to keep him going. With a new goal, he moved forward. Grimm stared at the graying muzzle of a dog who’d helped close to one hundred cases. Everyone said Max had been listless and irritable since Alex’s death.

The arson dog was currently rubbing his back across the carpet in a way that caused the jowls of his mouth to fall open, exposing those incredible white canines.

So, when the trainer had suggested retirement, Grimm had demanded he be trained. Even if it was over the phone, on how to work with an experienced arson dog.

He tore open the dog food bag and dumped a good amount in the dog bowl. With a grin at Max’s sudden interest in the food, Grimm picked up the other bowl and put some water in it from the sink.

Max went to town on his food and Grimm gave him water. “I’m heading to the shower. Don’t chew up the house while I’m gone.”

The cheeky dog snorted as he continued eating. Grimm patted him on the back. Once he finished the shower, they’d be on the road again, headed toward Alex’s place. He’d promised the DC that he’d get whatever else Max needed tonight. He probably had a bed and some chew toys or something.

Grimm reached the bedroom. The holster and .38 Special came off first. He set them on the bed, and wondered when he’d take the pistol out on the range. The DC had made it more of an order than a suggestion, and he doubted she meant anything but business. His boots and socks were next.

He shucked his uniform and emptied the pockets. The cell phone went down on the counter by the sink. The stuff in his pockets were limited to Alex’s keys and a business card. Stephanie. That veterinarian who had given him her number. Calling her would be smart, since Grimm hadn’t had a dog since he was a kid.

Tell yourself the truth, man. You want to do more than call her up and ask about dog food. Yeah, he did. He turned on the shower and ignored the urge to pick up the phone right then.

The refreshing spray hit his face, and he began to scrub his body immediately. Stephanie was hot, cute, and great with dogs. And she didn’t freak out when she saw his different colored eyes. That thought kept running around inside his head.

He put his palms on the cold tile and leaned forward so that the water could hit the back of his neck. Hell, she’d stared right into his weird eye and told him it was beautiful. For the first time since the accident, he hadn’t felt like a freak.

But why did Ryan’s ghost pop up there of all place? Not that any other ghost wouldn’t have freaked him out. It wasn’t just Ryan, after all. Grimm avoided hospitals, graveyards, and anywhere else the dead seemed to gather since his left eye seemed to attract their attention. Or he was going crazy, a thought he’d battered around for a while now.

Cold air hit him from behind and Grimm spun around expecting to find anything but Max nosing his way in. His relief was sharp an insistent. “Get out of here.” He jerked the shower curtain closed and laughed a little too loud in the close confines of the shower.

As soon as he got out of the shower, he was putting a new bandage over his eye.

The sharp chirp of his cell phone had him instinctively turning off the water and snagging a towel. He jumped over Max’s body where he’d plopped down on the bathroom floor and grabbed his cell from where he’d put it on the sink. It was a local number he didn’t recognize.

“Grimm.”

“Hey, it’s Torres. I need you to get Max, grab your gear or whatever you need, and get to the address I text you after we hang up.”

“Sure, what’s up?” Grimm walked out of the bathroom and into his room, drying his hair and wiping off excess soap from his body as he went. He’d have to wash his hair later.

“We have a case, and the rain is coming. We need Max before we lose the evidence in the downpour.”

“You got it.”

There was a moment’s hesitation. “Do you know how to use Max?”

Grimm dragged on new underwear and a fresh uniform. “A little. I got some instructions from the training course, but any help you can provide, I’d be grateful.”

“He works with treats, so make sure you have some. Beef jerky worked once or twice in a pinch.”

“Got that covered.” He balanced the phone as he worked, moving it from side to side as he put on his shirt. “Fill me on anything else when I get there.”

“Bring your Arson jacket, Grimm. It’s a crime scene and we already have rubber-neckers.”

“Got it.” Torres ended the call and Grimm dragged on his socks and boots. Max trotted out of the bathroom. “We’ve got a case, Max. Think you’re up for it.”

The lab just stared at him with a tilt of his head.

Nerves and excitement ate at Grimm. His first case. And he was right in the middle of it without training. Let’s hope he didn’t screw this up. Max nuzzled his hand with a cold, wet nose. “Yeah, me too.”

“That’s the fourth time you’ve checked your phone since we started eating.” Keith’s amused voice filtered through her thoughts, and Stephanie quickly put the phone face-down.

“Sorry. I won’t look at it again.” She tried to find a smile, but she’d really hoped Grimm would have called by now.

“It must have been a shock seeing Gideon today.” Keith put his chin in his hand.

“Sort of.” She shrugged. “You at least got to meet him when Ryan brought him by a few times.”

“You were in school, Steph. It wasn’t like it bothered Ryan or anything. He figured he had plenty of time to…you know.” Keith shrugged his shoulders gently. It was still so hard for them to talk about Ryan.

“Yeah. It might be a blessing that he didn’t recognize me from the hospital.” She hated the way his lack of recognition had bothered her. Maybe his screams about seeing Ryan were really just hallucinations caused by grief and stress like they’d said. She wanted to ask him about it, but that would be too rude.

A hand waved in front of her face. “Hey, kiddo. You seem to be in another world.” Keith’s gentle chide brought a new wave of guilt.

Stephanie sighed and scrubbed a hand over her face. “I’m the worst tonight. We had an intense surgery today with a hit and run. That and the Grimm thing, just—“

“Grimm? Oh yeah, that’s what Ryan called him, huh?” Keith went back to picking at his meal.

“Are you not feeling hungry?” Her initial urge to remind him to eat was stifled, thank goodness. She was trying to move out of the nagging sister and give him the space he needed.

“I’m just tired. New season of allergies and my lungs are acting up.” His voice caught, and she knew there was more to it.

“Something else bothering you?”

He set down his fork and raised his gaze to hers. His usually smiling face was frowning and serious. “I keep thinking that it was my fault for pushing Ryan into being a firefighter. He did it because I was such an obsessive idiot about it.”

Stephanie put her hand over the one still gripping the fork. Her heart ached for Keith. “He made his decision, and knew the dangers. Had you not introduced him to that idea, Ryan would have found some other adrenaline-junkie job to chase. He loved helping people as much as he loved facing danger with his team every day.”

Keith blinked his eyes and nodded. He sucked in a slow breath and found a smile deep inside. “You’re right. He loved the job. And his team was his family. They always looked out for each other.”

Her thoughts immediately went back to Grimm. “They did, and still do.”

“You should invite Gideon over to the house. I’m sure it’s hard for him now that he’s not part of that family anymore. Everyone seemed to forget about him after Ryan died.”

Stephanie stared at her brother as he gently pulled his hand out from beneath hers and started eating again.

Appetite forgotten, she stared at her near-empty plate. Almost two years since Ryan’s death, and she’d never checked up on Grimm, not even when the captain had told her Grimm had moved on to another field.

And now she was going to wait around for him to call her? If he wouldn’t call her, she’d go to him.

“Will you do it?” Keith had put his fork and knife down again.

“I’ll invite him, but I don’t know if he’ll say yes.”

“The worst he could say is no, and we’d be right where we are now.” Keith was the one touching her hand this time.

Stephanie nodded. But that no might devastate her more than she ever wanted to admit. Even to herself.