Dying Embers

Brett took off her jacket and tied it around her waist to help haul sugar bags to the truck. They weren't heavy, just awkward because she couldn't toss them over her shoulder like she was used to doing. She tossed them into the back of the truck onto a tarp.
"Damn, girl, where you from?" the other woman joked.
"Charleston", Brett replied proudly.
"Country girl?" the woman asked. Brett nodded with a smile.
"And proud of it", she replied.
"I'm Lindsay Messer, I'm from Montana", the woman said, extending a hand. Brett shook it.
"Brett Fox. South Carolina", Brett replied with a smile.
"Practically family!" Lindsay joked. Brett liked her immediately.
"I thought you looked familiar", she teased. Jo tossed the last bag in.
"I love how we're the only ones hauling these bags", Lindsay said, giving the team a dirty look.

"Hey, you women folk all grew up on some sort of farm", Don said, holding his hands up.
"Afraid to break a nail or muss your suit, Flack?" Brett teased. Don gave her a look.
"Hey, I don't get uniform allowance", he said.
"Neither do I, but here we are", Brett replied with a shrug. She shoved the tailgate upwards and closed it, dusting the sugar onto her jeans before taking off her gloves.

She was glad her job didn't include wearing gloves all the time; they made her hands sweaty. She tightened her ponytail before going back in. The weather was warming up on her now, she was glad to have shed her jacket. Mac was holding up a hair in a pair of tweezers.
"That's too short and coarse to be human", he said, holding a light to it. Brett examined it out of curiosity.
"That's a horse hair", she clarified.
"You can tell?" Mac said. Brett nodded.
"Yeah, I've been around horses for twenty-seven years. That's definitely a horse hair. I couldn't tell you the breed, but by the color, you're looking at either a buckskin or a palomino", she replied. Don walked in.

"We got another body, you wanna roll with me or stay here?" he said, pointing to Brett.
"Sawyer said she'd handle it here if you needed me somewhere else", Brett replied.
"You have any experience in Narco?" Don asked.
"I worked Narco before I went into Homicide", Brett replied.
"We're short a Narco dog, so we're waiting to find one", Don said. Brett shook her head.
"I got a dog that's trained in Narcotics, finding one at the precinct could take hours", she replied.
"Alright, we'll take you to go get the dog", Don said, waving her out. Brett nodded, following him closely. They got into the car and drove off.
"I live there", Brett said, pointing to the building. Don nodded and pulled off. Brett jumped out of the car and ran upstairs to her apartment. She opened the door, throwing her jacket and grabbed Diego's harness.

"Diego, c'mon, we're going to work", she said, ushering her German Shepherd out. He practically ran down the hall, dragging Brett after him. She pulled out her phone and called her boss.
"Sythe, it's Fox. I've got a Narco dog ready, can you transfer me to Narcotics desk?" she said on her way out.
"Sure thing", he replied. The phone rang.
"Narcotics office", a nasally woman said.
"This is Detective Brett Fox in Homicide. We've got a drug-related homicide and I'm calling to temporarily register a dog", Brett replied.
"Dog's name?" the woman said.
"Diego. Purebred German Shepherd, four years old", Brett replied.
"Alright, we'll send a Narcotics officer with the tags", the woman said, hanging up. Brett helped Diego into the backseat.

"Don, this is Diego", Brett said, opening the back door. Diego was excitedly poking his head out the window, thumping his tail. He loved to work.
"Alright, you got temp tags?" Don said.
"I got a Narco officer bringing it to me at the scene. He's authorized for the duration of the case", Brett replied. She loved watching her dog. He missed working in Narcotics; it was tough for him when Brett transferred to Homicide. They pulled up to the house and hopped out. A uni walked over to Brett.
"You Detective Fox?" he asked. Brett nodded. The uniform dropped a tag into her palm and walked into the house. Brett bent down and clipped the tag to Diego's collar and released him. She walked into the house, Diego closely on her heels.

"Alright, boy. Sic!" Brett said, pointing. Diego sniffed around, walking around the house. Brett put on her vest, walking around cautiously. She knew what to look for.
"Don, carefully step over that wire over there", she called. Diego's furious barking echoed throughout the house. Brett ran to the back of the house and saw Diego tearing at a mattress, growling and barking.
"Diego, back off!" Brett ordered. Diego growled, his fur on end. Brett lifted the mattress and flipped open her pocketknife to tear open the box springs. A mass of cocaine was in the box springs.
"Guys, we got something!" she called. She rubbed Diego's side and praised him.
"Good boy, Diego!" she said.
"House belongs to a Nemo Murray. I'll have unis pick him up", Don said, walking in. Brett pointed to the box springs.

"Nice work, Narco", he said.
"I'd say we have a grand total of about seventy-five keys in there", she said. It was an unusual color, a deep purple.
"That's purple cocaine. That stuff gets bought up like candy", Don replied. Brett nodded.
"I've apprehended plenty of dealers in my time", she said. Diego started tearing at the wall.
"We're gonna need a sweep".