Love Inspired Suspense September 2015 #1

by Margaret Daley

  “I’ll be up early. I’ll take Kate to school, then I’m going to the animal hospital.”

  “I thought the doctor told you to take it easy.”

  She chuckled. “You know me. When have I ever done that? I’m not staying long, but I want to check on the dog I operated on the day of the bombing. I know a lot of the staff want to see me, too. I promised Bree I would wait to go back full-time until next week.”

  “Okay. I’ll be here by seven thirty. I’ll wait to leave until you and Brutus are inside.”

  She strolled toward the door and glanced back. “Thank you.” Maybe they could be friends again. She hoped so.

  Then Jesse said, “I became a police officer to protect others. Stay, Brutus.”

  In other words, he was only doing his job. Jesse had a way of reminding her their time together as a couple was over. She knew that in her mind, but her heart was struggling with it.

  In the living room, she watched him drive away, then switched off the lights and went into the kitchen to make sure there was water in a bowl for Brutus. In the garage she had an old cushion that she would use as a bed for Brutus. After he was settled in the hallway, she finally sank onto her bed. Jesse’s parting words ran over and over through her mind. She couldn’t blame him. She deserved them. She was a victim in one of his cases, and that was all.

  *

  After Jesse picked up Brutus, Lydia dropped off Kate at school, and then she drove to the animal hospital and parked in the lot on the side of the building. As she walked toward the front entrance, she stared at the bomb site where the bistro had been. She noticed Jesse’s SUV near it. When he came to get Brutus, she’d invited him to have breakfast, but he’d declined. She wished he hadn’t because she and Kate had argued about having the Rottweiler back that night.

  Lydia hadn’t slept much the night before, not because she was scared but because of Jesse. She hoped she could forget about him long enough to take a long nap.

  As she entered the reception area, she came to a stop. Streamers and balloons hung from the ceiling with a large banner over the checkin counter. She’d mentioned to Dr. Matt Muller she was coming but wouldn’t be staying. He and her dad had been good friends, but she never imagined Matt would do something like this.

  When she looked behind the counter, the receptionist stood and started clapping. Others came from the back and joined in. Heat flamed Lydia’s cheeks. She waved her arms. “Thanks. I’d planned on sneaking in, but this beats that idea.”

  Matt opened the door to the hallway that led to the exam rooms and entered the reception area. “That’s what I figured. We couldn’t let you do that without letting you know how happy we are that you survived.”

  Her assistant, JoAnn, followed him. “We all pitched in and brought goodies. The Lord was watching out for you. That’s something to celebrate.”

  “Hear! Hear!” someone shouted.

  There was a time when Lydia hadn’t thought God cared what happened to her, especially in those dark days when she’d lost her baby and realized Aaron wasn’t really there for her, either. She went through the motions of worshipping the Lord, but she’d decided years ago He was too busy to listen to her prayers.

  “Thank you. I’m not going to say you shouldn’t have done this because I’m hoping JoAnn baked her cinnamon rolls.”

  Her assistant grinned and nodded. “We have everything set up in the break room. I even made you some to take home.”

  “Thank you! I’m going to check on Mitch, then we’ll party.”

  “He’s a trouper. He’s going home today.” Matt gave Lydia a hug. “And his partner, Officer Nichols, is getting better. We have a lot to celebrate.”

  Like Matt she’d become attached to the SAR dogs and the K-9s that were partnered with a police officer. She’d enjoyed having Brutus last night. He was so well trained that he even got along with Cheri, while Charlie remained hidden under her bed, one of his favorite places.

  “Who’s taking Mitch until Jake Nichols gets out of the hospital?” Lydia headed for the back where Mitch would be.

  “Jesse Hunt is coming to pick him up this morning on his break. Brutus and Mitch have always gotten along.” Matt stepped to the side to allow Lydia into the large room with cages for the animals.

  “This is the time I wish I had a fenced yard. I’d have taken Mitch.”

  “You could walk him. He’ll need the exercise. And you can make sure he continues to progress.”

  Lydia opened the cage door as Mitch struggled to stand. Before he hobbled two steps, she was next to him, kneeling down and petting the tan-and-black German shepherd. As she checked him out, he nuzzled her. “You’re looking good, Mitch. Would you like to come home with me?”

  The dog barked.

  “That’s your answer,” her partner said. “You should talk with Jesse about taking Mitch.”

  “I think I will. I saw his SUV at the bistro. If he hasn’t come by here, I’ll go see him when I leave.” Having Mitch at her house would make Kate feel better—and if she was honest with herself, she would, too.

  Matt glanced at his watch. “Let’s go eat. My first appointment will be here in fifteen minutes.”

  “How’s Dr. Stutsman fitting in?”

  “He’s not you. A bit set in his ways, but at least he could help us while you’re recuperating. He should be here soon.”

  “He’s seventy and prefers camping and fishing now.”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s all I hear about.”

  Closing the cage door, Lydia chuckled. “He reminds me of my father.”

  “Your dad was kind of set in his ways, too.”

  Lydia’s chuckle evolved into laughter. “You think? Change was not in Dad’s vocabulary.”

  “True. I guess you’ve spoiled me. I like going with the flow.”

  Lydia clasped Matt’s shoulder. “You’ve made this transition easier.”

  At the break room, he paused. “Still want to leave after Kate graduates?”

  She remembered telling him that when she’d met with him the first day. “I’m reconsidering.”

  “Good. I’m too old to go through breaking in another partner.”

  She studied the medium-sized man with salt-and-pepper hair and sharp eyes. “You’re not old. You can’t be a day over fifty.”

  “Fifty-four, and thank you for saying that.” He indicated she go into the room first.

  Lydia ate a bite from every dish brought and spent some time with the staff she’d come to care about. Maybe she could return earlier than she’d planned.

  “I see the wheels turning in that mind of yours.” JoAnn presented her with the leftover cinnamon rolls wrapped in aluminum foil to take home with her.

  “I’ve only known you a year, and you think you can read my mind.”

  “I see the yearning on your face.”

  Lydia’s gaze fixed on Dr. Stutsman, who had come in a few minutes ago. She leaned close to JoAnn and whispered, “Are you two getting along okay?”

  Her assistant turned her back to the room full of staff. “Sure. I can get along with a grizzly.”

  “It’s that bad?”

  “Today’s Friday. Aren’t you coming back Monday?”

  Lydia nodded.

  “We’re fine, but I’ve learned to appreciate you.” JoAnn winked and pointed toward the door. “You look exhausted. Go home.”

  Lydia saluted. “Aye, aye.” Then to everyone, she said, “Thank you so much for this party. I needed it after the week I’ve had. I’ll be back on Monday.” As the last word slipped from her mouth, she pictured a few days ago when the bomb exploded, and shuddered. So much had changed in that time. She would be glad when she returned to her normal routine.

  She made her way toward the front entrance with her goodies. When she reached for the handle, the door opened, and she quickly stepped back. Jesse with Brutus beside him filled the entry.

  “I saw your car. I thought I’d catch you to make sure Mitch will be okay to go home today.�
� Dust covered Jesse’s black uniform.

  “Did you go Dumpster diving?”

  One corner of his mouth hiked up. “Searching for clues can be a dirty job.”

  “I was coming to see you to give you and whoever else is working the site this.” She thrust the foil-wrapped sweets into his hand. “JoAnn makes the best cinnamon rolls.”

  “Thanks.” He stared at the gift for a few seconds, then looked her in the eye. “Is Mitch cleared to leave?”

  “Yes, but I want to take him home.”

  “You think he might need a vet?”

  “No, but Kate wasn’t happy when I told her Brutus wasn’t coming back tonight. Mitch is familiar with me. I’ve treated him several times this year, and best of all, I think Kate won’t give me a hard time.”

  “But you don’t have a fenced backyard.”

  “I think Kate will jump at the chance of walking him around out back. My little sis has taken after me as far as loving animals.” Not much else, though.

  “Are you sure you don’t need Brutus?”

  “Yes.” She wanted to see more of Jesse, but she needed to remember it was only a case to him.

  “Then that’s fine with me. I’m so used to Brutus being around that it was lonely without him.”

  “Great. I’m going to load Mitch and some food into my car and take him home now. I need a long nap.”

  Instead of leaving, Jesse moved inside and shut the door. “Did you get any sleep last night? I was hoping Brutus would help you feel safe.”

  “He did. It was probably my four-hour nap yesterday that threw me off schedule.” Although that could be part of the reason, the main one was the man standing in front of her. Even in a dusty police uniform, he commanded a person’s full attention.

  “And you’re taking another one today?”

  “Yep. You can carry the canned food.”

  After she showed him where it was kept, she took a leash and retrieved an excited Mitch from his cage. She adjusted her gait as the German shepherd adapted the way he walked with a missing back leg.

  Out in the parking lot, Jesse set the food on the seat in back while Lydia helped the dog climb into the front seat of her gray Jeep. She shut the passenger door and came around the hood of the car.

  “I thank you, and so does Kate, for letting us have Mitch.”

  Jesse peered at the bomb site and back to Lydia.

  “Does Jake know about Mitch’s leg?”

  “No, I wanted him off the critical list and stabilized first. He was really attached to his dog.”

  She’d known that, but she had no choice if Mitch was to live. “I’d like to go with you when you tell him.”

  “You don’t have to. I can break the news to him.”

  “It’ll devastate him, but I feel I need to be the one. I made the decision and can explain the reason why Mitch lost his leg.”

  Jesse’s barrier he kept between them fell in place. “I’ll let Jake know now that he can receive visitors, then if you want you can talk to him.”

  Lydia slipped in behind the steering wheel, started the car and lowered her window. “Have you found anything helpful this morning?”

  “Not yet, but every area has to be combed through.”

  While Lydia drove away from the animal hospital, she glanced at Jesse in the rearview mirror, his legs planted a foot apart, his gaze tracking her as she pulled out into traffic. She sighed as he disappeared from her sight. Probably a good thing. She didn’t need to have a wreck, staring at him when she should be driving.

  *

  Jesse squatted next to Brutus and rubbed his hand down his back. “Break time is over. We have to get back to work. Sorry about your buddy not coming home with us.”

  As he rose and stretched, he thought about yesterday and spending more time with Lydia than he’d wanted. And yet, in the end, he didn’t mind it because leaving Brutus with her and Kate felt like the right call. Even so, he’d stayed outside her house for an hour before leaving.

  He couldn’t shake what she’d told him about marrying Aaron. If he ever saw his high school friend, he’d throttle him. He’d known Aaron was a player and tried to warn her, but she’d refused to listen. If only she had… Would they have been together today? He’d asked himself that question quite a bit with conflicting answers each time. Now it was too late.

  When he reached the bomb site, he picked up where he and Brutus had left off. Fifteen minutes into searching his section, his cell phone rang, his ring tone the call of a bull moose. He saw it was Thomas and asked, “I thought you were going to be at the bomb site. Has something happened?”

  “Yes, but not another bomb. I got the autopsy information back on the waitress. She died from a large air embolism. After some investigation and looking at video feed, it has been ruled a murder. A medium-sized man was caught going into her room, dressed as an orderly, but no one on the staff fits his description. It turns out an orderly’s badge was stolen in the locker room the day the waitress died.”

  “Then we have a photo of the guy.”

  “Sort of.”

  Jesse surveyed the area. “What do you mean?”

  “It looks like a disguise, although we’ll use the photo. Even if our bomber is using disguises, maybe this will help us. I’m just not sure how accurate it will be and the orderly had an uncanny way of avoiding the cameras. I can’t find anyone he interacted with on the floor. I’m almost at the bomb site.”

  Jesse clicked off. If the waitress was murdered, then she must have seen something in the dining area or the bomber thought she did. What about Lydia? She couldn’t remember, but the man wouldn’t know that, and even if he did, he killed the waitress to get rid of a witness. Jesse tried calling Lydia on her cell phone, but she didn’t answer. Spying Thomas’s car pulling up, he hurried toward the detective.

  Thomas met him partway. “I’m worried about Lydia. Did you just see her? Is she still at the animal hospital? I want to show her this picture.”

  “Yes and no. She’s taking Mitch home with her. I’d feel a lot better about that if the dog wasn’t injured. I tried calling her cell phone, but she isn’t picking up. She wouldn’t be home yet.”

  “Maybe she stopped somewhere. Doesn’t have her cell. It died. We could be overreacting.”

  Jesse frowned. “I’d rather be overreacting than have something happen. I’m going to her house. I’ll take the picture to show her.”

  “I’ll have a patrol car near there go by Lydia’s until you arrive. With this development, she needs police protection. Stay with her until I get everything set up. If this guy thought he needed to kill the waitress, then he must have thought she saw something. Lydia probably saw it, too.”

  “Yeah, let’s hope she did. There’s no guarantee.” Jesse strode to his SUV and settled Brutus in the back. On the way he called her again, praying he was overreacting.

  *

  Lydia pulled into the driveway and punched a remote button to raise the garage door. “We’re at my house, Mitch.”

  The German shepherd perked up on the seat beside her.

  “I’m going to take the food in first. I’ll be right back, then I’ll show you my house. I have a couple of cats I need to put in the bathroom until you all are properly introduced.”

  Mitch cocked his head as though he understood every word she’d said. Dogs were attuned to a person’s body language and tone of voice, so maybe he got the gist of it.

  She rubbed the top of his head. “Then I’ll take you for a walk out back.”

  Lydia slid from the backseat and grabbed the box of cans. When she lifted it, a pang of pain stabbed her chest. Her bruised ribs were healing but not fast enough for her. With the dog food in her arms, she fumbled to open the door into the house. When it swung wide, she almost fell through the entrance. She recovered her balance but not before the box crashed to the tile floor. Her actions only reinforced her earlier pain. She hurried to close the door to the garage before one of her cats got out and decided to i
nvestigate the strange dog in her car.

  As she picked up the dog food that had rolled from the box, she began to have reservations about Mitch. She hadn’t really thought about her two cats. Mitch could appease Kate but cause an animal war in the house.

  One of the cans landed under her kitchen table. She scooted a chair away and eased herself down to crawl after it. She grabbed it and backed out.

  A sound caught her attention. Footsteps? The cats? Where were they? They were always in here greeting her when she returned home.

  She rose slowly, her body already protesting the physical exertion. Her gaze swung from one end of the room to the other. Her cats weren’t in the kitchen. She needed to find them to lock them up. It would take time to acclimate Charlie to Mitch. Cheri wouldn’t have any trouble, so she would start with her.

  Lydia headed for the dining room that flowed into the living room, calling their names. They usually came when she called, but occasionally they would ignore her. When she stopped in the foyer, she heard a cry coming from the hallway to the bedroom. She didn’t want to leave Mitch alone in a new place for long, so she hurried toward the sound Cheri was making, like the cry of a baby.

  The noise continued, emanating from her room at the end. As she approached, she tried to remember if she’d closed the door. Sometimes she did. She’d been rushing this morning and—

  Her home phone rang.

  The ringing of the phone cut through the silence. She gasped at the sudden sound and glanced over her shoulder. She froze. A man in a ski mask emerged from her bathroom. All she saw was the long knife in his hand.

  SIX

  Jesse disconnected his phone and stepped on the accelerator. She didn’t even answer her house phone. Was she outside walking Mitch?

  He was still ten minutes out, and he couldn’t shake that something was wrong. What if the bomber followed her from the animal hospital and ran her off the road or…

  He shook the what-ifs from his mind. It would only distract him from getting to Lydia. He took a sharp curve ten miles over the speed limit. At least Thomas had called for a patrol car to go to Lydia’s. But what if there wasn’t an officer available in the area?