Two days of peace—that was all she got. Two days of breathing normally, of Finn sleeping without worry on his face, of Zeus and Ares moving through the house with their usual unbothered calm. Two days of feeling like the worst of it was behind them.
Then the morning ended that.
Jade heard it on the radio first. She was in the kitchen making breakfast when the local news anchor's voice cut through the morning noise with the particular tone that meant something official had happened: "Clover Ridge Police Chief Lena Whitaker announced this morning that following the completion of the department's internal review, she is recommending the full reinstatement of Sergeant Victor Harlan. Chief Whitaker stated that the review found insufficient grounds for continued administrative action and that Sergeant Harlan is expected to return to active duty within the week."
Jade turned the radio off. She stood at the counter for a long moment, both hands flat on the surface, looking at the wall. Then she cracked two eggs into the pan and finished making breakfast.
Marcus called soon after. She had already eaten, already cleaned up, already walked the dogs. She had given herself those things before letting the day get worse, because her instincts told her the day was going to get worse. Her instincts were right.
"There's a rider attached to the Anderson Municipal Safety Bill," Marcus said, his voice careful and tight. "It was added quietly: no public announcement, no debate. If it passes, retired military dogs in Clover Ridge get reclassified as Class 2 dangerous animals retroactively."
Jade understood immediately: "That voids the injunction."
"The federal protection becomes irrelevant under the new local classification. Everything Layla argued, everything the appellate granted—gone. They could come back for Zeus and Ares the same day it passes."
"When's the vote?"
"Days."
She wrote it on her legal pad, circled it. Beneath the circle, she wrote one word: Caldwell.
"There's something else," Marcus said.
She waited.