Veronica sat on the sofa in the main room of the women’s suite, watching Brooke spoon out scrambled eggs onto paper plates. The smell of it almost made her feel faint.

Veronica was utterly drained. She wasn’t hungry. She was despondent. Brooke didn’t understand at all.

“You’re going to eat something,” Brooke announced firmly. “You’re going to have a cup of coffee. And we’re going to take inventory of what you still have going for you.”

“Nothing,” Veronica said. “I have nothing going for me. I have no job. Biscuit is gone…”

“You have a job, you’re just suspended,” Brooke corrected her. “And if Henderson’s still letting you take care of the dogs, I don’t see how the suspension hurts you.”

“He canceled the training,” Veronica said, hating the way her voice broke on the last word. The training session had been so important. “And I’m not being paid.”

She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes.

“I’ll spot you for a while,” Brooke said gruffly.

“Thank you,” Veronica whispered.

God, it was good to have true friends.

Veronica opened her eyes in time to see Brooke hold out the novelty mug they’d bought Veronica for her birthday. K-9 Cops Do It Doggy Style was emblazoned on the side of it.

“That mug is so ridiculous,” she said for about the hundredth time.

“Shut up and drink it,” Brooke said, handing her the mug.

Veronica obediently took a sip.

The coffee was piping hot and strong. As the warmth hit her belly, she felt a bit better in spite of herself.

“Eat this,” Brooke said, putting the plate of eggs in front of her.

“What am I? Alice in Wonderland?”

“Very funny,” Brooke said. “Now eat it.”

Veronica chased a bite around the plate with her fork.

“I know you love that dog,” Brooke said. “But spoiler alert, you were definitely going to outlive him either way. And the department can’t afford to keep on a dog that attacked… sorry, allegedly attacked someone.”

Veronica winced. She appreciated Brooke’s wording, but it sounded almost like even her roommate was siding with Percy.

Oddly, that wasn’t the biggest betrayal on her mind.

“How could he do it?” she wondered out loud.

“Biscuit?” Brooke asked. “I thought you said he didn’t do it.”

“Lobo,” Veronica said, hating the way her mouth caressed his name.

Brooke shifted in her seat, a torn expression on her face.

“Look, I know it’s not what you want to hear right now, but he’s a good guy,” Brooke said. “He did it because he knew you would do something stupid and risk your job over it.”

“That wasn’t his decision,” Veronica said.

“Conan said he was despondent last night,” Brooke said. “He cares about you, Veronica.”

“If he cared about me he would never have let them take Biscuit,” Veronica said.

“Biscuit being taken was inevitable,” Brooke said. “I’m sure Lobo wanted to save you from feeling responsible. Conan is a great judge of character. He said Lobo is as fiercely loyal as they come.”

“You sure value Conan’s opinion,” Veronica said, a little more harshly than she probably should have.

She felt bad immediately when she saw Brooke’s face go fire engine red.

“He’s a good sparring partner,” Veronica muttered.

Oh boy.

Veronica had never seen Brooke blush over a guy before. She decided to leave it alone.

As soon as she stopped thinking about Brooke and Conan, the awful truth hit her all over again.

Biscuit was gone.

“I can’t believe they put down a dog that would have been a hero. And all on the word of a weasel like Reeves,” Veronica sighed, hugging herself.

“Don’t pour a forty out for him just yet,” Trinity said, walking in the door with way too much of a spring in her step.

“Why not?” Veronica asked.

Trinity perched on the edge of the couch.

“The SPCA logs every intake and euthanasia,” she said.

“How did you know that?” Veronica asked.

“I don’t think I should answer that question,” Trinity said brightly.

Trinity was an IT genius. Things like firewalls and security protocols didn’t mean much to her.

“And?” Brooke asked.

“Officer Biscuit hasn’t been logged,” Trinity replied.

“So they haven’t offed him yet?” Brooke asked.

“They haven’t even seen him yet,” Trinity said. “They have no record of him at all.”

Veronica’s heart soared at the news.

But before she let it get too far, she was brought back down to Earth by the obvious question.

If Lobo hadn’t taken Biscuit to be put down, then where the hell were they?