Read Online Hero of Mine by Codi Gary - Free Book Online Page A

his weight to the side and come out on top of Mendez. His back throbbed with the pain of where Mendez’s head had hit his spine, and his knee protested as he dug it into Mendez’s back, but he ignored it all.
    â€œSomebody grab Lucky!” Tyler shouted. It wasn’t as if the dog could go anywhere besides the fenced yard, but Tyler didn’t want him thinking he could just take off.
    Dwayne Harlow handed off his leash to Olsen Meyers and ran after the loose dog.
    Mendez lay on the ground, still talking shit, and Tyler finally addressed him.
    â€œYou asked if I still thought you were a coward? The answer is yes. I think only a coward would attack someone when his back was turned.”
    â€œYo, everything okay out here?” Kline called from the fence.
    Tyler stood up gingerly. “Yeah, just get him the fuck out of my sight.”
    Kline grabbed Mendez and lifted him nearly off his feet. “No problem.”
    Mendez kept shouting curses at him as Kline hauled him off, and Tyler grimaced. Turning back to face the rest of his guys, his tone was harsh. “Anyone else want to piss me off today?”
    No one said a word. Dwayne, who always seemed to be smiling and was one of Tyler’s favorites, came back to the group with Lucky, as stone-faced as the rest of them. Tyler went to retrieve Lucky from him.
    â€œThanks for grabbing him, Harlow.”
    Dwayne gave him that gamin grin. “You’re welcome, boss.”
    Walking the length of the group to grab Apollo, Tyler said, “Why don’t you guys take the dogs for a run around the fence perimeter, and the fastest team without cutting corners”—Tyler gave Hank a warning look, as the kid liked to cheat if he got the chance—“gets an extra privilege.”
    The group of teenagers and dogs took off like a flash, and Tyler finally gave into the groan of pain he’d been holding in. As soon as they went into class, he was going to take some Tylenol and ice his back.
    Not exactly a stellar start to the day.
    â€œYo!” Sparks called from behind him, drawing him out of his pity party.
    â€œWhat’s up?”
    â€œHow come I saw Kline hauling Mendez out of here?”
    â€œBecause I kicked him out. The little prick attacked Lucky and me.” The kids were coming back at full speed with Dwayne in the front, a wide grin on his face. His dog Charlie’s lips flapped up like a set of wings as he ran. The hound mix was all wrinkles and ears, but he was going to make a fantastic search-and-rescue dog.
    Dwayne whipped past them, followed closely by Olsen and his Border collie mix, Rambo. The rest of the group stampeded past, and Tyler hollered, “Harlow wins. Now get your dogs some water and head inside. Go straight to study hall; I’ll be there in a few minutes. If I arrive and any of you are not there, it’s gonna be a bad day for you, too.”
    Once the kids were out of earshot, Sparks gave him a raised eyebrow. “You okay?”
    â€œI’m fine except I had a buck-fifty kid ram me right in the middle of my spine.”
    â€œDidn’t you cuff him after he attacked the dog?” Sparks asked.
    â€œYeah . . . He got back up and used his head.”
    He could tell Sparks wanted to laugh; his mouth was doing that twitchy thing. “Well, the good news is he’s gone, and the better news is we got a new transfer who can take over Lucky’s training. I think he’s going to work out.”
    â€œIt’s my job to place the dogs with the kids.” Although, maybe if he’d done a better job reading Mendez, Lucky wouldn’t have been kicked.
    â€œWhoa, easy, I am not trying to take your job, but I think you’re going to mesh well with this kid. Judge Haskins just faxed me his file, and I thought you might like to read it.”
    Tyler took the file, holding the dogs’ leashes in one hand so he could open it. Jeremiah Walton. Age: Fourteen. Charges: