Guarded (3 page)

Jacob frowned at her, then gave her a very obvious once-over. “You’re . . . you’re a
nerd
? But you’re . . . hot. For a vet who dresses like my grandmother.”

Shelley glanced at her four-inch heels. “Did you just compare me to your
grandmother
? Does she walk around in ankle-breaking high heels too?”

Jacob just grinned.

Shelley’s eyes were going to pop out of her head if she listened to this guy another second. Without responding, she spun on her heel and closed the distance to her office door. Once inside the tiny space, she propped up the wooden and plastic-mesh baby gate across her doorway, designed to keep Hercules from wandering in while she was out. Setting Lucy on the floor, Shelley gave her pet a stern frown, then added aloud for good measure, “Behave. I mean it.”

Lucy shook her head, sneezed indignantly, and pranced beneath Shelley’s desk where her small travel cage rested. After climbing inside, she curled up into a tight ball and did what ferrets do best. She went to sleep.

“What do you want me to do with the guinea pig?” Jacob asked. All questions about her age, her clothing, and her career seemingly forgotten. He leaned over the mesh gate rather than crossing into her sanctuary. Not that she could take refuge in it. The computer work she had to file needed to be done on the main computer out front. Her desktop had been crashing all week, and the repairman hadn’t come yet.

“Leave him in the examination room until Beau’s ready to take him home. I’ve already examined him. He’s fine,” she said, gathering her supplies and carefully stepping over the gate. “Look, I’ve got plenty of paperwork to finish before Dr. Kessler returns. So if you want to get started on Mrs. Hoffstedder’s beagle, that’d be great.”

“No problem,” Jacob said and disappeared into the back.

The smell of cinnamon and pinecones permeated the receptionist area. The scent was an instant soother for her nerves. Now that the dogs in the spa had calmed down, all was quiet. Peaceful.

Settling into the chair, she pulled up the afternoon schedule on the computer. The muscles in her shoulders eased. At barely noon, she had an hour before the next animal . . . er, guest, was set to arrive. Fifty guaranteed, crazy-free minutes.

She exhaled a relieved sigh. A little more tension slipped away.

Breathe, relax. This Wednesday isn’t that bad.

“Uh, excuse me . . . Dr. Morgan?” Jacob’s voice sounded a little too tentative. A little too respectful.

She glanced up to find the young intern standing before her. His gaze bounced around the room. He looked everywhere but at her.

An icy sensation slithered into her stomach, making it shrink. “What did you do?”

“It wasn’t my fault,” he said, quickly. “I didn’t realize you’d left the front door open. I certainly wouldn’t have let Hercules wander through the clinic unattended if you’d told me that the place was open for business. Or that you had some kid carrying bags of food inside from the shed. I would have locked him up.”

“Him, who?” The words were out of her mouth nanoseconds before the answer slammed into her.

Hercules. The dog.
The
dog.

“Are you telling me that Hercules, Dr. Kessler’s prized St. Bernard . . .” Her voice pitched higher with each word. “The one he calls his
only true baby
is
missing
?”

“Not my fault.” Jacob held up his hands.

From behind him came a sound of someone sniffing back tears. “I’m so sorry, Doc. I didn’t see him by the door until after I’d opened it. I tried to stop him. I had him real good for about a minute.”

Beau stepped out from behind Jacob. His blue shirt was torn from the shoulder to the wrist down one sleeve. Worse, he had an ugly patch of road rash on his upper left arm that disappeared up the ripped shirt. His glasses were askew and hanging by an arm.

She raced around Jacob and checked Beau’s injuries. Pointing at the intern, she ordered, “You, chase after him.”

“Yeah, see I can’t run. Remember, I tore my ACL doing that Mud Run with the Barbie Twins back in September?” He gestured to the brace on his knee. He wasn’t on crutches anymore, but that didn’t mean he was cleared to go chasing a dog all over town.

“Shoot, shack, shipwreck!” she cursed, kicking off her ridiculous heels. What she wouldn’t give for a pair of sneakers and some jeans right now. “Jacob, help Beau get cleaned up. There’s a sewing kit in my desk, get it out and we’ll repair his shirt. See if you can fix his glasses. Make sure the rest of the dogs are locked up tight. Do
not
answer the phone for anyone. Let it go to voice mail. And for the love of that St. Bernard, if Dr. Kessler returns before I come back, do not tell him you let his dog escape.”

“What do I say?”

“I don’t know. Tell him I took Herc for a walk or something.”

“Right, like he’ll believe that one,” Jacob scoffed. “Dogs hate you, remember? So maybe you aren’t like Dr. Dolittle after all, huh?”

“Jacob! Focus.” Shelley headed for the door, calling over her shoulder, “Let’s hope Dr. Kessler doesn’t beat me back here.”

Shelley shoved open the door. Sunlight poured in, along with a blast of unseasonably warm November air, belying the sodden state of the area after last night’s downpour of sleet and rain. At least she wasn’t running in her stockings in the rain or snow. This time. Yeah, like that single bit of good news made up for the fact that it was a Wednesday, and she was about to run outside shoeless on the still wet and most likely muddy ground.

Hercules, come back before anyone in town sees you doing your
Born Free
impression.

That would just put the stale dog treat on top of her already rancid dog-food bowl of a day.

*   *   *

T
IDEWATER
P
OL
ICE
D
ETECTIVE
Devon Jones pulled his black Lexus into the parking lot of Elkridge Veterinary Clinic. He cut the engine, imagining what he’d say when he saw Shelley again.

Her e-mail to him last week had been like a gift from God. He’d been searching for her for weeks. Even going so far as to track down her fiancé—his former roommate—and that was all kinds of a suckfest because Camden Figurelle, that rat bastard, was in Africa. In the
Peace Corps
. There was no way to get in touch with him, if it wasn’t an absolute emergency.

What the hell was Cam doing in the Peace Corps anyway? They were supposed to be married by now.

Shells. Shelley Amanda Morgan.

He’d spent the past few weeks searching for Figurelle because the wedding should have happened last summer. Cam’s family had listed the engagement in the society section of the
Baltimore Sun.
Dev read it, marked the date, and noted with some disappointment, he hadn’t received an invitation. Not that he’d have gone. As much as he wanted Shells to be happy, he hadn’t wanted to watch her marry the wrong man.

But she hadn’t married Cam. Maybe Shelley had come to her senses and seen the prick for what he was and given him the old heave-ho. The thought brought a smile to Dev’s face.

Still, wrong man or not, at least Cam had been a link to Shells. Without the connection, Dev had been stumped in the search for her. But then two days ago, she contacted him through an old e-mail address he’d kept from his college days. And damn if that wasn’t some good luck.

Dev pulled his phone from his inside jacket pocket and clicked to her saved e-mail. He read it again, although he had it memorized.

Hey Dev,

It’s me, Shelley Morgan. I know it’s been a long time but I could use your help. I heard you’re a police officer now but what I need is to use your puzzle-solving skills. Speaking of the police, I remember you wanted to be a detective. Did that ever happen?

Anyway, I was wondering if I could convince you to leave Tidewater for a few days and come to Elkridge. It’s a little town on the border of Suffolk and Tidewater. Great place. Friendly people. Quiet community. Low crime. Sounds like heaven, right?

Well, something strange is going on. I think. See, there’s this private zoo. Since I moved here last June there have been a number of unexplained disappearances of animals. I’ve tried contacting the USDA, but they’re no help. It’s hard to explain in an email but I just know something is wrong. I’ve tried investigating this on my own, but I can’t piece it together. Plus, I have to be careful how much noise I make. People in small towns talk, you know.

If you could come and take a look around, I’ve got some papers, animal records, and old newspaper clippings. Maybe I’m paranoid and there’s nothing really wrong here. But if I’m not, then your time could save the life of an animal. Or ten.

Email me back and I’ll give you directions to the veterinary clinic where I work.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Shells

He darkened the screen and returned the phone to his pocket. Maybe he should have replied to her e-mail or called first instead of just driving over. But what could he say?

“Hi, Shells, long time no see. Can you believe it’s been three years since graduation? Time sure flies and all that. While I want to know about this mystery you’ve unearthed, I’m more interested in the fact that you and Cam aren’t together anymore. I’ve been crazy about you since the first time you smiled at me. Had you not been Camden’s girl in school, I would have moved heaven and earth to get you into my bed. I also have a big surprise for you. I’ve found something of yours. If you’ll just come back to Tidewater with me, I’ll show you.”

Yeah, that would go over really well. He sounded like a stalker or like he was just hoping for a quick-and-dirty one-night stand. And a one-night stand was absolutely not what he wanted. Although, he’d settle for it if that’s all he could have.

Dev gave himself a mental shake. He’d come to give her news she’d once told him she never thought she’d hear. Her older sister, Jules, was alive, well, happy, living in Tidewater, still seeing ghosts, and searching for Shelley.

The news of her long-lost sibling should be enough for Shelley to forgive his disappearance after graduation. But really, he hadn’t known what to say. And Camden had made it pretty damned clear that Dev was not welcome in their lives. Plus, it wasn’t like Shelley had called him, even once, in all that time.

Okay, so she’d been busy getting her veterinary license and building a happy life with Cam-the-sack. At least Dev had thought she’d been happy, until a few days ago. Although he couldn’t quite ignore the pinch to his ego that she hadn’t called him sooner. After all, they had been friends.

Christ, he was starting to sound like a freaking girl. First brooding over
feelings
and worrying about why she hadn’t contacted him sooner. Next he’d want to start a knitting circle.

Okay, so his motives for coming here weren’t completely altruistic. He was man enough to admit to himself that if a hint of the spark he’d felt for her back in college still ignited when he saw her again, he’d do it. He’d ask her out . . . This time, no one would stop him.

He’d use the next few days to let her really get to know him. Help her with her little zoo problem and take her to see her sister Jules. Maybe then, he’d have finally earned the right to spend time with the sexiest, most caring woman he’d ever met.

Dev shoved open the car door and stepped onto the damp cobblestone. His Ferragamos crunched over the wet, gritty street. He glanced around the nearly deserted road of the picturesque little town. Despite Elkridge’s location on the scenic James River—with no elks or ridges in sight—the place lacked one key element Tidewater was known for.

Salt air.

This afternoon, the scent on the warm November wind was rife with apples and cinnamon from the local shops. Refreshing and sweet.

Just like Shelley. Assuming she was as perfect as he remembered. Right. Like she could be anything other than the sweet, shy girl he’d crushed on so long ago. She’d probably be so grateful he had come to help her solve her mystery and had found Jules on top of it that she’d ask him out.

Dream on, man!

While he and his partner had wrapped up the biggest case Tidewater had seen all year, there were others that still needed his attention. A few days were all he could afford to spend away from the office. He’d really only taken the five days because he’d foolishly hoped he’d what . . . see Shelley and she’d finally fall in love with him? They’d run off to Vegas and get married?

Right and we’ll have a unicorn and Elvis stand up for us at the ceremony.

Exhaling hard, he started to make his way toward a whitewashed brick building with the Elkridge Animal Clinic sign hanging over the front door.

A huge, blurry mass appeared so quickly in front of him, it seemed to pop into existence from nowhere.

Blam!

It flew at his chest, knocking him to the ground. Dev’s head smacked the pavement. Tiny stars burst to vibrant multicolored life in front of his eyes.

The something was large and furry and pinning him. Still he managed to get a hand free. He reached for his sidearm, which . . . shit! . . . he’d left locked in the trunk of his car.

The damned beast burrowed its muzzle against his cheek and rumbled a deep, throaty growl.

A bear?

Cold fear slid down his neck. Or that might have been the animal’s bloodthirsty drool. He might be a city boy, but he’d heard all about bear attacks in small towns like this one. He held perfectly still, eyes closed, playing dead as he tried to get a sense of the animal’s size. If it were a bear, it wasn’t fully grown. A cub, maybe? But a big one.

Relief at the thought evaporated at the next.

Where there’s a cub, there’s a mama bear somewhere. Dev couldn’t just lie there; he needed to protect his vital organs before the animal figured out he was still warm enough to chew on. He rolled onto his side and into a ball, protecting his head, face, arms, and torso.

The bear seemed to tighten its hold on him. Its breath coming hot and nose hair curling against Dev’s ear.

He was going to be eaten by a bear in the middle of this damned street while everyone in Elkridge was out to lunch. Trying to curl more tightly, he elbowed the beast in a front leg. It yelped.