Page 74 of Summer Ride

“Can she come home with us?” she asked as she laughed.

“Not yet. She’s still under quarantine. Technically, I’m not supposed to let you hold her, but I won’t tell if you don’t.” He winked. “One more week. She can come home in one more week.”

She smiled down at the little thing. “She’s so much bigger now.”

“That will happen when she has a mother who has plenty of milk to feed her.” Carter laughed. “Okay, I have to put her back now.” He took her from her hands.

She watched him gently put the puppy back in the crate with the tan mother who had adopted her. Kara watched the family while Carter rushed around to finish his work.

When he was done and came back to get her, there were fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Hey, what’s all this?” He took her shoulders and turned her towards him.

“They’re as happy as a real family.” She motioned to the dogs.

He glanced at the kennel and nodded. “Because to them, they are a real family. Just like you’re my family. The same way my parents think of you as their real daughter.” He pulled her into his arms when another wave of tears streamed down her face.

“Okay, I think we’ve had enough tears,” he said with a chuckle.

“No, these are happy tears,” she said, laughing. “I have a family. I finally have a family.” She hugged him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The following morning, Carter felt like a zombie as he headed into town to work at the clinic while Kara drove to work at the camp.

About an hour into his shift, she called him with some disturbing news.

“Brett just called and told me that the police found out from Axel’s phone that he had put an air tag on my car. They’re over here at the camp now searching my vehicle for it. Carter, that’s how he found us in St. George. He must have put it on my car sometime when I was at my apartment.”

“Shit, I didn’t even question how he found us,” Carter admitted. “I suppose I was too busy trying to keep us alive.”

“Me too. I mean, we kept telling ourselves that he had no clue where we were. He must have put it on my car the night he broke into my place. He was probably watching us,” she added, and he could hear her voice waver.

“Hey, remember, he can’t hurt you anymore.”

“Right,” she said, and then he heard her speak to someone else. “I have to go. I’ll call you during my lunch break.”

After she hung up, he called Brett and got the information directly from him. It was good to have an in with the police department. Brett was there helping the police search Kara’s car for the tracking device.

“How’d they find out about the tracker?” he asked Brett.

“When they searched the guy’s phone, he had the tracking app open. They followed it to the camp, and directly to Kara’s car,” Brett said. “We’re still trying to find out where he hid it on her car.” He was silent for a moment, and Carter could hear him shuffling or walking. “From what I heard, the guy had some pretty sick pictures on his phone. Proof that he’d been alone with Abigail in the motel room.”

“Shit.” Carter closed his eyes and rested his head back. “They don’t really believe that Kara had anything to do with any of that, do they?”

“They’re not telling me much, but from the sounds of it, they aren’t taking her father at his word,” Brett told him.

“Is he in contact with the police?”

“Yes, he’s been inquiring about getting control of Kara, legally. He’s trying to claim that she is mentally and morally unfit and that he should be awarded power of attorney,” Brett said.

“What?” Carter practically yelled, which caused several people in the clinic to glance his way.

“Yeah, I don’t think he has a chance in hell, but I just thought you should know his angle. My guess is, he’s trying to get the money his dead wife left her. The money that he’s been ranting about all over the news.”

“We stopped watching it,” he admitted. “Kara has a letter from her mother, saying she was giving Kara the money,” he pointed out. He had talked to Brett about it shortly after she’d received the visit from her brother. “She also ran into her father at the gas station yesterday. He demanded she return the money she’d stolen.”

“Shit, really?” Brett asked.