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9
Ivy
My phone buzzed next to the bed. The night of lovemaking rushed back to me. I was still naked next to Sam, but my cell phone buzzed a second time. Sheriff Vanden’s name flashed across the screen. My heart sped up as I thought about the dead bodies behind my clinic.
I swiped my finger across the phone and whispered, “Hello?”
“Doc, I’m sorry to bother you this late, but a car struck my daughter’s cat and I need you to look at her.”
Missy, the sheriff’s daughter, adopted the cat from the shelter three years ago. The young girl had autism, and any type of change would be hard for her. “I’ll meet you at the clinic.”
“I was already by your house.”
Nobody ever showed up at my place with an animal. Everyone knew I helped after hour clients at Happy Paws. I quickly brushed away the worry away because I had to help the kitty.
“I’m not home. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be at the clinic.”
“Okay,” he said before the line went dead.
My shirt and pants were on the floor. I didn’t have time to find clean clothes.
“Where are you going this early in the morning?” Sam asked into his pillow.
The clock flashed ten minutes past four. Late-night and early morning calls didn’t happen very often, but I got them. Pets didn’t understand the concept of nine to five.
I slipped the shirt over my head and shimmied my pants on. “I’ll be back before you wake up again.”
He stalked toward me, and I knew if he wrapped me in his muscular arms, it would be hard for me to leave. I’d want to crawl back into bed with him, but I had to work. I placed my hand on his chest. “Go back to bed. This is my job.”
He placed his hand over mine. “I’ll come with—”
“No,” I cut him off. “I’ve done these calls for years. I’m meeting the sheriff at the clinic. If it was someone I didn’t trust, it would be a different conversation.”
“Call me when you arrive.” He brushed the back of his hand down the side of my face. “I just got you back and woke hard.”
My phone beeped. “I need to leave. I’ve already taken too long. Can I borrow your truck?”
“Yes, the keys are by door.”
I rushed down the hall and grabbed the keys from the bowl on the way out the door. It was quiet as I jogged to the large diesel truck. The black SUV was still at the end of the driveway, and the two men waved as I drove by.
Kat and Antonio were staying until Sunday, and I wanted to do something for them. As I pondered what to get them, I pulled into the parking space by the back door of the clinic.
The sheriff’s car was at the building’s rear. I hoped they’d cleaned the blood from the pavement, or I might end up in jail. He got out of the vehicle and had a pink blanket in his arms. He glanced at the truck but he said nothing.
I’d never talked to him much. Normally, his wife brought the cat in for me to look over. “Let me get the door open and I’ll have a look at Missy’s kitty.”
“Were you at Sam’s?” His voice had an edge to it.
I smiled at the sheriff as I passed by him on my way to the back door. “Never pegged you as one who wanted to know the gossip. And what matters right now is Freckles, the cat you’re holding.”
I nodded to the cat in his arms, then slid my key into the lock.
Something pricked my neck. I dropped the keys and swatted at the sensation, but my hand hit the sheriff’s. He’d dropped the blanket, revealing it was empty. I swayed on my feet and my eyelids were heavy. I tried to scream, but he put a hand over my mouth.
“Someone wants to speak to you.”
I tried to respond, but everything went black.
