Well, she’d already decided what she wanted to do that afternoon. She’d check, though, to make sure it was okay for her to go visit Sonya’s friend who worked at the local hospital. She would hopefully conduct a therapy dog demonstration and get the hospital’s okay for further visits.
For now, though, Elissa allowed herself to feel relieved and even happy.
And to bolster that, she aimed a smile at Doug as the other students started to leave the ranch house.
Chapter 11
The class was over. This first one, at least. And, to his surprise, Doug had enjoyed it, even though the dogs were only discussed and didn’t undergo any training...yet.
Maybe it was because he was fascinated by the instructor.
Too fascinated.
Now, both Maisie and he waited till the other students left with their dogs, each saying enthusiastic thank-yous and goodbyes to their teacher. Elissa, in turn, appeared happy as she told them each how much she looked forward to seeing them, as well as their potential therapy dogs, at the next lesson.
“Anything you need me to stay around for?” Maisie asked when the rest were gone. She aimed her question toward Elissa, but Doug knew she was talking to him, too. They’d walked to the door with the others but had returned to the living room. Before he left, Doug wanted to ask Elissa what she planned to do next.
“We’re fine, thanks,” Elissa said. “I’m so glad you came. I suspect that, if you continue to come to these classes, you’ll be really pleased to see what a wonderful therapy dog Griffin can become when you’re ready.” She smiled both at Maisie and her dog, then bent to hug Griffin.
“Sounds great.” Maisie looked at Doug. “You coming now, too?”
“I’ve a couple more questions.” That wasn’t a lie. He had a lot of questions. He wasn’t sure, though, whether Elissa or anyone there could answer them. “I’ll hang around a little longer.”
“Okay, then. Walk us to the door.” That wasn’t a request but an order from his sister. He didn’t have to obey her—but it was usually a good thing if he did. It saved her from gentle retaliation later.
He sent a “come” gesture toward Hooper and the four of them left the living room. But Doug intended to return momentarily.
“So what’s next?” Maisie asked in a low voice when they’d walked down the hall and reached the door. “You going to continue to follow her? You’re on duty tomorrow—aren’t you?—so hanging around here isn’t going to work.”
“You’re right. And you’re also right that I shouldn’t spend so much time on this case, but so far there seem to be no answers even as more issues keep popping up, so I hate to just walk away.”
“Knowing you, you won’t walk away. But let’s just hope that Elissa has seen all the bad stuff she’s going to.”
“Definitely,” Doug said. “Anyway, I’ll see you at home later.”
“If not before, someplace else.”
Doug hoped that wasn’t some kind of harbinger of strange things to come that day. He returned, with Hooper, to the living room. There, the three women were engaged in a conversation about what Elissa planned to do that afternoon, while Lola remained lying on the area rug and Peace came over to Hooper before settling down again.
“I guess you’re right that the Chance Hospital also needs to know what happened in San Luis Obispo,” Elissa was saying, sitting again on the blue chair. “I was hoping otherwise, but on reflection, it’s better that they’re aware of it up front—and how false it is.”
“You can visit them this afternoon,” Sonya said from the sofa beside Amber. “I’ll give a quick call to my friend there, Petra Frayer—one of the head nurses—to let her know you’re coming, and just mention casually that you had some bad vibes at the hospital where you used to work so now you’re here full-time. Something like that. I won’t go into detail except to say there were false rumors being circulated about a couple of your therapy sessions, but that you’re more than happy to have your sessions here observed by anyone.” Sonya seemed to hesitate as she stared at Elissa. “Right?”
“Right,” Elissa responded immediately. “That might actually be a really helpful thing till I’ve gained the trust of the staff there...and also yours.” She was glad for many reasons about the connection—including that she hopefully would now have a venue for demonstrating and teaching therapy for a while.
“We trust you or we wouldn’t have you here,” Amber said.
“Thanks. I appreciate that.” Elissa nodded at Amber, but then looked back toward Sonya. “I want to make sure everyone agrees.”
Sonya didn’t respond, and Doug assumed she had her doubts—but fortunately not enough to have talked her daughter into not hiring Elissa.
Elissa stood. “Peace and I are going to our house now. If you don’t mind, please give me Petra’s phone number. I’ll call her in a half hour or so and work out a time to meet with her and, hopefully, give an initial therapy dog demonstration.”
“Sure,” Sonya said.
“Let us know that time, too,” Amber said. “We’ll try to go there to observe.”
“I’ll also be there.” Doug remained curious both about how therapy dogs worked—and how Elissa would be treated by a hospital staff member who’d heard about her travails at her last hospital therapy situation.
Elissa turned to look at him from the doorway. “Really? Then you’re actually interested in therapy dog sessions and how they work? I thought you were just...well, being a dedicated cop trying to help investigate what was going on around this ranch—and me.”
“Both,” he admitted. “But I definitely want to watch your session. With Hooper along. He can watch and learn something there.”
And so can I, Doug thought.
* * *
She was used to being watched during therapy sessions with Peace. Sharing with others, including friends and relatives of the patients, was part of the enjoyment.
But with all that was happening around her, she felt particularly nervous about this one.
After parking in the lot behind the Chance Hospital, she walked around the front with Peace on her leash. The hospital was smaller than the one she had worked at before, yet it seemed pleasant, with lots of windows visible on each of its three elongated floors. The facade looked like gray stone, and Elissa got the sense of the place being both inviting and clean, a good place for people to heal.
She tied a scarf around Peace’s neck that designated she was a therapy dog and blotted her paws with a cleaning wipe. Then they walked through the front door and stood in the lobby in front of the greeting desk. Lots of eyes were on them—or at least on Peace. People of all ages and ethnic groups, some in white or blue medical jackets, hurried through the reception area. This hospital appeared to be a bustling place.
“Hi,” Elissa said to the young woman behind the desk. “I’m Elissa Yorian, and my therapy dog Peace and I have a meeting scheduled with Nurse Petra Frayer at two o’clock.”
It was five till two now. Elissa had, as she’d promised Sonya, called Petra as soon as she had returned to her house at the ranch with Peace, told Petra who she was, and set up this time to meet with her and demonstrate some therapy dog skills.
“Very good,” Petra had said. “I just spoke to Sonya about you. She said you were hoping to give more demonstrations and therapy lessons here in conjunction with some classes you’re going to teach at the Chance K-9 Ranch.”
Elissa was certain that wasn’t all Sonya had told her. And she had little doubt that Petra, or someone assigned by her, would be with them today at the demonstration and maybe at all future sessions, too, and would perhaps even call her prior employer for references.
They would see Peace and her perform well. And they wouldn’t see anything harmful resulting from the therapies she would provide. Elissa’s new contacts here with Sonya and Amber would hopefully outweigh any critic
isms anyone heard.
The receptionist had gotten onto her phone immediately and now she hung up. “She’s expecting you. Go on up to the second floor. The pediatric wing is to your right as you get off the elevator.” The young woman, clad in a dark blue dress with a pin on the pocket identifying her as Rona, stood and looked down toward Peace. “Is that a therapy dog? I heard we were going to have a demonstration and that I should allow the dog in.”
“Yes, that’s Peace.” Elissa smiled. “She’s a certified therapy dog and I hope we’ll work things out here for her to help soothe a lot of people.”
“I hope I’ll get to watch her sometime,” Rona said.
“I do, too.” On impulse, Elissa led Peace around the reception desk and told her to sit. Rona’s grin was huge—and it got even bigger when Elissa said, “Peace, shake,” and her dog offered her right paw to the receptionist.
“How cute!” Rona left her chair enough to bend down and shake the offered paw. Then she looked up again at Elissa. “I don’t know how therapy dogs are supposed to work, but this one certainly has made my day.”
“She does that with a lot of people,” said a familiar voice from the other side of the reception desk. Doug. Behind Hooper and him were Amber and Sonya. They’d all apparently just arrived, too, and Elissa introduced them to Rona and told her they were here to observe the therapy dog session she was about to give. Peace, greeting Hooper, wagged her tail.
It was time to head for the elevators. “So, are you and Peace all ready for this?” Amber strode at Elissa’s side. Of everyone, Elissa wanted to impress her most this afternoon.
“We’re definitely ready. And excited about this. You’ll see me demonstrate what I’ll eventually teach to our students at the ranch.”
Elissa knew her excitement was obvious, and that was fine.
They had to wait for the elevator and during that time Elissa moved slightly to be closer to Doug. Since Doug was in uniform, no one stopped Hooper, either.
“So you’re really interested in watching this demonstration?” she asked him.
“The more I hang out with you, the more I want Hooper to learn some additional skills—like becoming a therapy dog someday.” The look on Doug’s handsome face appeared a touch amused, yet his eyes captured hers for just a moment as if he said something entirely different with them—like, maybe, he wanted to hang out with her even more.
But that was only Elissa’s imagination. She knew that.
“I’ll be delighted to help you train him this new way.” Elissa spoke fast since the elevator had arrived and the four of them, plus the two dogs, hurried to get on, along with several other people who’d been waiting.
The elevator reached the second floor in no time. As the door opened, a nurse in royal blue scrubs stood there. She appeared to be in her late fifties, with short, curly brown hair and a penetrating look in her eyes that suggested she had seen everything but was still looking for more.
“Petra!” Sonya called and maneuvered her way out of the elevator first.
“Sonya, it’s so good to see you.” Petra held out her arms and the two women hugged briefly.
Then Sonya introduced Petra to Elissa. Petra asked to see Elissa’s therapy dog paperwork, then said, “Are you all set for the demonstration?”
“I sure am,” Elissa replied.
“We’ll go down here.” Petra gestured over her shoulder as she walked down the hall with Sonya beside her. The area looked much like most other hospitals Elissa had visited or worked at—clean, light-colored walls, with people in scrubs hurrying by as well as a few patients walking slowly in their gowns with family members at their sides—and lots of doors to patient and exam rooms.
Petra opened the last door on the right at the end of the hall, and Elissa immediately heard kids crying and yelling at each other. A familiar sound.
Here were some nervous, sad, frightened patients whom Peace could help.
The room was somewhat large, with about five nurses and a couple of doctors standing around, plus half a dozen kids inside. Two lay on mobile beds and seemed to be the ones who were crying. The others sat on chairs facing each other with plush toys in their arms. Half were girls and half were boys.
Then Elissa glanced at Doug. “I know Hooper isn’t trained for this, but maybe he can help, too.” She gave a hand signal to Peace, who followed her to the kids in small hospital gowns, sitting up with toys, who were shouting at each other. Elissa wondered what their illnesses were, but wouldn’t bring that up now.
“Hi, guys,” she said. “Would you like to meet Peace? I think she can show you a new game to play, but first she just wants to get to know you.”
Peace immediately went over to the closest child, a girl of about seven, who crossed her arms belligerently—until Peace put her head on the girl’s lap and nuzzled her to be petted. The girl’s expression turned to confusion, then pleasure as she gave in and hugged Peace.
“She loves that,” Elissa said. “Now, would you like a turn?” she asked the nearest child, a boy about the same age who was sitting there. That kid appeared a bit jealous at first, and as Peace approached he threw the teddy bear he’d been hugging. Peace immediately went after it and brought it back, making the boy smile as he threw it once more.
She did the same with the other kids sitting there, and they all seemed enthralled—and none yelled at the others, or at Peace. All seemed to be going well.
Elissa picked up one of the teddy bears and nodded toward Doug, who clearly knew what she wanted. He gave hand signals to Hooper to get the toy while Elissa had Peace approach the kids on beds. There was a boy on one and a girl on the other. Apparently, Petra had chosen the patients carefully to see how some with mobility and others with less would get along with a therapy dog—a good test, Elissa acknowledged.
Both of those on the beds didn’t seem to move much even to look at the two dogs now in the room, and Elissa figured they weren’t able to get up.
At Elissa’s command, Peace stood on her hind legs and placed her muzzle beside the little girl on one bed, who turned slightly toward the dog and smiled, reaching out and petting Peace’s head. Elissa let Peace stay there for a while, then do the same with the boy in the other bed.
Meanwhile, while watching, she approached Petra, who stood with Amber and Sonya near the door. “There’s a lot more to an actual session than this,” she said, “but you can get an idea from this how comforting a therapy dog can be to a child with emotional and other issues.” She looked directly into Petra’s blue eyes. “I still need to actually start the training at the ranch, but will you be okay with my giving demonstrations, and lessons, at the hospital, as well?”
Petra nodded—and smiled, Elissa saw in relief. “That will be fine. I’ve got some other long-time patients in mind who might get a lot out of this. Let’s give it a try.”
“Great.” Elissa grinned as Hooper brought the teddy bear to the seated boy for about the seventh time while that child and all the others watched. Hooper might not be trained as a therapy dog yet, but he certainly had a lot of potential.
So did this entire situation. And Doug, for whatever reason he’d come today, certainly seemed happy and proud of his K-9.
Soon Elissa ended the session, promising to keep Petra informed about how the classes went and when another session would be appropriate. She said goodbye to the other hospital personnel in the room, then invited Petra to come to the ranch to observe a class or two.
Soon they were all in the parking lot. Doug congratulated Elissa on a demonstration well done, and she felt happiness filling her everywhere—especially thanks to his sexy, warm smile. “Glad you came,” she told him.
He told her he and Hooper were heading to the police station now. Amber let Elissa know that Sonya and she were stopping at a grocery store before going home.
“I’ll just go back to the ranch now,” she
told them. She’d bought enough stuff the other night to have dinner later in her new home. And right now, she felt thrilled that she might remain there for a nice, long time to come.
She strapped Peace into the back seat of her SUV, and they headed to the ranch.
Elissa felt nearly ecstatic then, and her good mood lasted for the rest of the afternoon and evening. It escalated even more when Doug called early that night just to touch base, say nice things about her session—and, apparently, make sure she hadn’t had anything else nasty happen to her.
Which she hadn’t.
But her good mood evaporated early the next morning when she received a call from Amber. “Can you come over?” her boss asked. “I just took a couple of our young K-9 trainees out for a walk and—well, you’d better see this.”
See what? Elissa wondered. But not for long.
Though she was concerned about what Amber wanted her to see, Elissa’s great mood from the day before still lingered—at first—as she leashed Peace and walked her toward the main ranch house.
Until she saw Amber standing at the bottom of the driveway, still holding the leashes of two of the young German shepherds Evan was training for sale as police K-9s.
And if Elissa was any judge at this distance, Amber’s expression looked grim.
Amber motioned for Elissa to join her, and Elissa, fearing what she’d see there, nevertheless obeyed.
She quickly saw what had disturbed her new employer.
There was a new sign on the gate.
It read You Hired Her. You’ll Pay.
Chapter 12
It was early in the morning, just after seven—the time Doug always started getting ready on days he was on duty unless there was an earlier meeting he needed to attend or a crime scene to visit. He’d thrown on jeans and a T-shirt and was outside walking Hooper. In a few minutes, he’d return inside, shower and put on his uniform. Then they’d head to the station.
Maisie was also up but she followed a slightly different routine. She’d already walked Griffin and Doug believed they were both eating breakfast. Which he and Hooper would do, too, just before they were ready to leave.
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