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What?
The clickity-click-click started again, reminding him he wasn’t alone. Nate swiped at his burning eyes—it was the dust getting to him in this stuffy office, nothing more—and looked down at the strange gremlin-dog Ellis had foisted on him. She tap-danced on tiny feet, her whole naked, spotted body wiggling, her crest of hair bouncing with each hop.
“Okay, Gremlin.” Nate sighed and scooped her up to study her. She furiously tried to lick his nose. “You’re weird but cute. Don’t tell Ellis I said so.”
She continued to wiggle in his grasp and gave a short bark. No, not a bark. A squeak. Not only was she a naked mole rat posing as a dog, but evidently, she’d swallowed a squeaky toy. Maybe he should fire up the x-ray machine and take some rads. She might need surgery to remove it.
She made the sound again and finally understanding, he checked the time on his phone. It had been hours since her morning walk.
“Gotta go outside?”
She squeaked again.
Nate shook his head. “Where did Ellis find you?”
He headed toward the door with Peanut tucked under his arm like a football. He figured she wouldn't go far in the snow, but he still grabbed her leash on his way out.
And why was it pink? With little rhinestone hearts on it to match her sweater?
Ellis had obviously lost his fucking mind.
He didn’t bother with his own jacket even though wind whistled off the mountains, kicking up swirls of snow. Compared to Fairbanks, Anchorage was downright balmy.
He set Peanut down in the snow. “Do your business.”
She lifted one paw, then the other, and stared up at him accusingly, like she couldn’t believe he had the balls to put her down in the cold, wet stuff.
“Oh, c’mon. It’s just snow. Go pee.”
She continued alternating one paw to the other, back and forth, back and forth.
He scowled down at her. “Don’t even think about it. I’m not buying you boots.”
She seemed to scowl back, then flicked the cotton ball end of her tail at him and pranced a few feet away to squat.
While she did her business, he considered his next steps. Ellis and Brielle Ives were out looking for Dad, but he didn’t think they’d find anything in the bush. If Dad had wanted to hide, where would he have gone? He had off-the-grid cabins all over the state.
Maybe the answer was at his house?
Yeah, Nate decided, that would be the next step. Check the house.
The crunch of tires on snow caught his attention and he squinted up at the road, shielding his eyes from the glare of the setting sun. A line of SUVs chugged up the unplowed road. All black, shiny, and official-looking. Farther down the hill, several cargo vans struggled in the snow.
Northern Rescue sat on the very edge of the city on a large plot of land nestled against the base of the mountains. The nearest neighbors were a mile and a half in either direction. It didn’t get a lot of casual traffic, so what was with the presidential motorcade? Was this the bank coming to foreclose on the property? But they didn’t usually show up with a caravan, did they?
The first SUV pulled in behind his truck, effectively blocking him in. He crossed his arms over his chest to squash the flutter of nerves. He wasn’t a people person. Hated meeting new people, hated making small talk. It was why he’d gone into research instead of practice after getting his DVM. His bedside manner left a lot to be desired, but he was fascinated by animals and disease and found a happy home in veterinary pathology research.
But if he had to stand up for his dad, if he had to fight with this parade of new people to keep the hospital, he would.
The driver’s side door opened, but the reflection of the sun off the snow was too bright to see more than a shadow at first. “Hey, Nate.”
All the nerves fluttering around inside him solidified into a solid ball of molten anger as his youngest brother walked toward him. Damian Hunter, with his Hollywood white smile and artfully tousled black hair, designer shades, and expensive ski jacket. He wanted to punch that smirk right off the kid’s face.
Yeah, he’d played devil’s advocate with Ellis, but that was just what he did. He was always playing devil’s advocate between the two of them. Didn’t mean he was cool with his younger brother. “You didn’t need to come, Damian.”
The smile faltered. “I came to help settle Dad’s affairs.”
“We don’t know that he’s dead.”
