“No!” Baldy shouted, scrambling after her. He ran clumsily, yelling the whole time until he disappeared from view.
The remaining two men turned back toward us, frustration on their faces. “Why did you do that?” one of them asked petulantly.
Before we could respond, Dr. Partridge stepped fully into the alley, fiery and fearless. “You have no legal authority here,” she snapped. “And you just endangered that dog. She could be hit by a car or worse.”
“But she belongs to us,” the whiny one responded. “We have to have her back tonight. We must.”
I studied the guy. “Are you…crying?”
“What?” He swiped his face. “No! No, I’m not. We just need that dog.”
“Then you should’ve followed proper intake protocol,” Dr. Partridge said icily. “This is a veterinary hospital. Not a dark-alley adoption center.”
The two men exchanged long glances and then, without a word, vanished into the dark after their bald colleague.
We sat in the waiting room, shaken. Both SUVs had peeled out of the parking lot shortly after we came in from the back.
“Who were those guys?” Dusty asked.
“They claimed to be the owners of the dog we brought in,” I said. “But they didn’t seem eager to get her back by legitimate means and tried to grab her from us at our hotel. The dog clearly didn’t like them and neither did we.”
“That’s just gnarly,” Dusty said, bringing us paper cups of herbal tea. “They couldn’t wait until the morning to get her from the shelter after her chip had been read?”
“Apparently not,” I said.
“You’re right. The dog was clearly terrified of them,” Dr. Partridge said. “A part of me is glad she got away, although I’m worried about her safety now.”
“Me, too,” I said glumly, though I hoped that Ginger understood all my instructions.
Dr. Partridge turned to us. “I don’t know what’s going on. But I didn’t like the look of those men, either. I totally understand why you did what you did. I hope you can find and help that sweet dog.”
“We’re going to try,” Gray said, turning her car keys over in her hand. “I’m going to head out now, get the car, and drive around a bit to see if anyone is following me. The rest of you go out the back and see if you can get Ginger to come in. I’ll call you when I think I’m in the clear and let you know where I am. Kind of like we did at the hotel.”
We nodded as Dr. Partridge set her tea aside and stood. “You know, if those bad characters are watching the practice, you should slip out as unnoticed as possible. Take my lab coat.” She slipped it off and offered it to Gray. “Pull up the collar. If they are watching, they’ll just think it’s me, leaving for the night.”
Gray blinked. “Really? That’s very kind of you. Thank you.”
“The only requirement is that one of you must get back in touch with me and let me know if you ever find the dog and what happened to her.”
“Deal,” I said promptly.
“Thank you so much, Dr. Partridge,” Basia said, tears welling in her eyes as she gave the vet a hug.
Gray donned the coat, flipped up the collar, and slipped silently out the back door. We watched her car pull around from the back and zoom off into the night. We didn’t see anyone following her, at least from our vantage point.
Five minutes passed. My phone buzzed and I pulled up the text from Gray.
Parked one block east, accessible through the alley in the back. No visible tails. Come now.
We thanked Dr. Partridge one more time before hustling out the back. We looked around but didn’t see anyone. I held the leash in my hand and called for Ginger, but she didn’t appear.
Disappointed, we started moving slowly down the alley, eyes and ears attuned, but there was no sign of anyone, and no one intercepted us. I only hoped the bad guys hadn’t found her.
We continued down the alley, calling for her, until I heard a noise. “Quiet,” I said to Basia and Gwen. “I thought I heard something.”
There were still city noises, but once we stilled, I could hear the pitter-patter of claws on pavement. A moment later, Ginger emerged from the darkness, her tail wagging slowly and the foil and tape still clinging to her fur.
Her eyes found mine as she loped toward me as fast as she could. Relief washed over me. “Oh, thank goodness,” I whispered, dropping to my knees and holding out my arms. “Good girl. You’re okay. You listened to me.” She pressed her forehead into my chest. Hard.
