“No.”
“Did he come with anyone?”
“I didn’t see anyone.” Ethan looked out across the park’s open edges, the parking lot, the maintenance road. Nothing. “He just ran in.”
Holly rose with the baby bundled securely to move toward the ambulance. The shepherd stepped forward instantly, ears up, and one of the officers tensed.
“Easy,” Ethan heard himself say again, but this time he was saying it to both species. Holly paused. The dog sniffed toward the baby, gave one low broken whine, and stopped. The officer with animal-control training, a broad woman named Karen Bell, crouched slowly and let the shepherd smell her hand. “Good dog,” she murmured. “Good, good dog.” The animal trembled but did not resist when she slipped a control lead over the collar.
Ellie tugged on Ethan’s sleeve.
“Is the baby going to die?” she whispered.
The question hit him with such force he almost couldn’t breathe. “I don’t think so,” he said carefully. “The ambulance is taking her to the hospital. They’re helping her.” Ellie watched the tiny bundled shape disappear into the bright vehicle with enormous solemnity. Then she looked at the dog.
“What about him?”