Read Online Emergency Reunion by Sandra Orchard - Free Book Online

She breathed through clenched teeth.
    â€œTry holding out your hand like you’re friendly.”
    â€œAre you crazy? He’ll bite it off.”
    â€œOkay.” Abandoning his radio, Dan edged forward and cautiously reached for the overturned gurney.
    Like lightning, the dog dug its teeth into the cushioned top and with a whip of its head sent the gurney clattering.
    Sherri edged sideways along the wall as Dan sprang back and nearly went down.
    But the dog didn’t pounce on him. It immediately retrained its narrowed black eyes on her and stalked closer inch by menacing inch.
    Reaching behind her, she felt for the doorknob.
    It didn’t give.
    Sweat trickled down her cheeks. Dan was yelling something, but she couldn’t make out what over the roar of blood pulsing past her ears.
    Finding the doorbell, she drilled it with her thumb. “Nice doggie,” she repeated.
    With a blood-chilling growl, the dog bared its fangs.
    â€œDan!”
    â€œYah, yah!” he yelled and jumped around like a crazy man. “Help is coming, Sherri. Just don’t make any sudden moves.” Except Dan’s sudden moves weren’t doing a thing to distract the beast.
    She struggled to pull in a breath. They’d warned her about dogs in training. But she couldn’t remember a thing they’d said. “Am I supposed to maintain eye contact?” She hadn’t dared take her eyes off of him.
    â€œYeah, I think so,” Dan said between “yahs.”
    She tried showing it an open palm like he’d suggested earlier.
    â€œNo, don’t look him in the eye!” A guy rushed toward them, scooping up a dead branch as he ran. “Look at its ears or feet, or it’ll think you’re challenging him. And fist your hands. Pull them close to your body. Don’t give him anything to bite.”
    She instantly shifted her gaze to its ears, gulped at their pointy tips aimed straight at her face.
    â€œGo home!” the guy ordered. “Bad dog. Go home!”
    â€œIt’s not listening,” Sherri eked out. She chanced a glance back at its eyes and the dog lunged.
    Massive paws slammed into her, driving the air from her chest. Razor-sharp teeth sliced through her shoulder.
    â€œCover your face!” The guy swung the branch toward them.
    The dog snapped its head around and caught the limb in its teeth. She pushed at its chest, trying to get out from under him. Pain screamed through her shoulder. “Get him off me!”
    * * *
    â€œStay in the truck,” Cole ordered Eddie as they careened to a stop behind an orange car parked behind Sherri’s ambulance. The sound of her scream ripped through his chest. Drawing his gun, he raced toward Dan and another guy waving their arms and bouncing around like rodeo clowns.
    At the sight of Sherri pinned to the ground by a monstrous dog, its paws on her chest as it viciously tore into her, Cole’s heart lurched. He skidded to a stop and got a bead on the dog. Sweat stung his eyes as his finger trembled over the trigger. Blocking out her screams, he inhaled, the scent of blood so strong he could taste it.
Aim center mass and shoot to stop the threat.
His field training officer’s instructions blasted through his brain. But Sherri was under that mass!
    He jerked up his arms and squeezed off a shot.
    The bullet pinged the stucco wall, distracting the dog enough to break his bite, and Cole’s heart kicked back to life.
    The guy with the branch stormed in again, swinging.
    The dog lunged for the tree limb as, gripped by the image of it mauling Sherri, Cole tried to get another bead on it.
    Two animal control officers raced up. “It’s okay. We got it.”
    The guy wrestling with the dog flung the branch at it and scaled the wall as effortlessly as Spider-Man would have.
    The animal jumped and tried to clamber after him.
    The guy clung to an awning with one hand, his feet and other hand braced against adjoining