That wasn’t good enough. “That footage is from minutes ago,” I said. “Riker’s probably there by now. There could be other weapons in play.”
“We’re aware, Rogers,” Lang said quietly.
“Guys, I have a signal!” Pasco yelled, although we were all standing within feet of him.
“Have you gotten through to her phone?” I asked,shifting my attention to his monitor. Then I saw what he had seen. It wasn’t a cell phone signal. “The panic button.”
“It was just activated, and now...” The signal started moving. Fast. Too fast to have a human involved.
“It’s Bella and she’s off-leash,” I said.
“Has to be,” Pasco confirmed. “She’s moving at close to thirty miles per hour.”
“Can dogs do that?” Wheeler asked.
“Staffies can.” I was already headed for the door.
This time, no one tried to stop me.
Kat barked out orders for the team. Lang called out that he would collect our gear and follow me into the woods on his chopper. Pasco ran after me, and yelled for my attention. When I turned, he tossed a comms unit from a quarter of the gym away from me. I lurched forward and caught it.
“Thanks Pasco,” I yelled as I burst through the door, out into the blazing sun, toward the thick woods. I shoved the comms unit into my ear and the sound of my team in motion came to life.
They were preparing for rollout. I had Cami’s back, and my team had both of ours. That’s what I had promised her, and I had no intention of ever going back on my word.
35
CAMI
The dog lay unmoving on the metal table while Gina prepped him for surgery. I scrubbed in the deep stainless-steel sink. I wondered why Scott hadn’t killed the nearly dead dog and taken the drugs. I didn’t ask, though, because I didn’t want him to decide to do that now, when there was a chance we could save the pup.
“He’s not my dog, and the guy who sent him to me wants him back,” Scott said. He might have read the unspoken question on my face. “If I killed the mutt, there’d be hell to pay. But if he died through no fault of my own, I’d have my drugs and be off the hook. So, stop making this a whole production because I don’t need you to save him.”
Who was this horrible man? He still looked something like the man I’d dated, but I didn’t recognize anything about his behavior or demeanor.
He did bear some resemblance to the man who’d sat across from me at the coffee shop and shown me my blackmail video, though. He’d been a vicious little man then, and he was still one now. And I wasn’t going to let him kill anyone, human nor beast, on my watch.
“I will make it a whole production becauseIcare, and because I can’t do this any other way. Do you want me to get the drugs for you or not?”
“Fine, do it your way,” he told me. “Just do it fast.”
He started pacing. He was agitated. Hyper. Oh, shit. He might be high.
I’d accused him of an addiction after the break-in and he’d denied it. Now I knew he had other motives, but there was nothing to say he couldn’t also have an addiction.
“Do you need something to take the edge off?” I said quietly. “Because we have medications.”
He calmed for a minute and I thought he might take me up on the offer. Then he scowled at me. “So you can shoot me up with something that will kill me? Nice try, bitch. Too bad for you, I’m not an addict like your fucking sister.”
Gina flinched, but I didn’t let his barbs affect me. Scott couldn’t hurt Lizzie, but he could hurt other people I loved. I had to focus on them now. I prayed Kyle and his team had found Bella and read my message, and would arrive soon. Until then, I had one job to do: protect my team.
I hadn’t thought of poisoning Scott. I wasn’t a criminal by nature and I certainly wasn’t a murderer. But there was something else I could do, if I could figure out the logistics.
I snapped on my gloves and joined Gina beside the table. She provided me with the dog’s vitals and the anesthesia plan.
“I don’t like it,” she whispered. “I wish there were some other way. Poor guy’s weak and he might not survive going under.”
“But he definitely won’t survive without the surgery to clean out the infection.” I dropped my voice to a low whisper. “Emergency sedative.”
