Lucy stood closest to Emma, her longtime police force partner. On this special day, she’d traded her standard police uniform for a soft pale blue satin bridesmaid dress, with Rex’s leash looped tight and secure around her wrist. Rex had walked calmly beside Emma all morning, just like he always did on the job—through dangerous raids, late-night patrol shifts, endless long hours on duty. He was always steady, focused, never shaken by loud crowds or chaotic scenes. As her official police K9, high pressure and tense situations were exactly what he’d been rigorously trained to handle. But today, something was different. Something felt terribly wrong.
Rex stood rigid and tense right by the chamber doorway, his ears pricked straight forward, his dark eyes fixed on some unseen point beyond the four walls of the room. He didn’t pace back and forth, didn’t whine or fidget restlessly. He simply stood there, watching and listening intently. “He’s probably just overstimulated,” Lucy murmured quietly, trying to reassure both Emma and herself. “Huge crowd inside the church, tons of new unfamiliar smells swirling around everywhere.”
