It must have been a tradition too, because the dog was jumping and whining as soon as he saw it.
"Alright, how about we try that sit thing again?" he suggested, putting down his coffee, reaching into the bag to produce one of the beige, somewhat lumpy-looking dog cookies the shop offered for this very reason. Hollydell was a shopping town, all the stores close together, and most people walked their dogs around when the weather permitted. It was smart business. "Coop, sit," he ordered, trying for a demanding tone that the dog took to mean: jump around like a lunatic. "Coop, sit down."
I was smiling at the show when it happened.
It came out of nowhere, making my stomach plummet, and my heart fly upward, a fluttering, foreign thing somehow lodged up in my throat.
One second, the man was trying to train his unruly dog.
The next, sirens were screaming, and tires were screeching as two police cruisers came to an abrupt stop right beside the man and his dog.
The doors flew open, producing a cop from each car in their typical blues.
"Eli Mallick!" the first cop, someone on the young side and a bit too - ah - out of shape to be able to chase down any perp, called, his voice full of the cocky authority a badge gave some weaker men. "Stop right there!" he added, hand touching his holster on his belt, despite the fact that the man hadn't moved an inch.
No, in fact, he almost seemed to let out a held breath, like he had been hoarding it for a week, and gave a small nod.
I reached for my hand instinctively, bringing up the camera on my phone and switching to video, having seen far too many instances of abuse of power from cops not only on the news, but with my own two eyes in Navesink Bank. And these were NBPD cops, not Hollydell. I knew better than to try to interfere, but it was smart to record it. You know, just in case.
"We have a warrant for your arrest," the second cop added, tone much more reasonable, body relaxed, hand holding out a sheet of paper.
My stomach twisted at the scene, realizing that this hot guy, this dude with the crazy ex-girlfriend who his family didn't like, with the ugly and untrainable dog, was about to be locked up.
I had seen more than a few guys in Navesink Bank get picked up. When you lived within a hotbed of criminal activity as I did, it wasn't even an unusual sight.
But somehow, this one was making me uncomfortable. Maybe it was as simple as the fact that the man didn't seem like a criminal. I mean, not that anyone actually did look like a criminal, but still. He just seemed like an average dude.
Possibly he just had a lot of unpaid parking tickets, right?
"For aggravated assault."
Oh.
Okay.
Well then.
Not parking tickets.
"Put your hands behind your back, asshole," the jackass cop demanded, reaching for cuffs. Eli moved to comply, but for some reason, the jackass cop grabbed his wrists and the back of his neck, turning him, and slamming him down onto the hood of the cruiser.
The impact made my stomach twist as an objection worked its way up my throat.
But then Eli's eyes were on mine from his position bent over the hood. Seeing my lips part to say something, he shook his head at me. My shoulders slumped as the metal click of cuffs - a sound I was maybe familiar with for other reasons - filled the air, and the man was yanked back upward.
"Finally got one of you motherfuckers," the cop added, shoving him down into the back of the cruiser.
I ended the video as the cars moved off, my heart a frantic beating, my hands oddly shaky even though I hadn't been involved at all.
Then I heard it.
Whining.
I looked over to find Coop jumping hard, lunging toward the street. Each attempt had his body flying back as the leash pulled against the post. But there was no stopping him. He whined, whimpered, barked as he tried desperately to get free, to get to his owner.
"Okay," I said, standing, trying to keep a soothing voice. "Okay, buddy. It's okay," I crooned as I got closer, making a reach for his collar. "Calm down. You're going to strangle yourself," I went on, untying the leash as I reached for the body of the dog, trying to hold him still from the midsection, so he didn't keep pulling on his neck.
Feeling my touch, he looked over at me. And I swear, his little mismatched puppy eyes were frantic. Don't try to tell me dogs didn't have emotions like that, because they totally did. Coop did. He was worried about his owner.
An owner who he likely wouldn't see for a good, long time.