Trained to Protect

by Linda O. Johnston

  Doug had managed to take a seat beside Elissa. Now, he looked at her, expecting her to begin. Which she did, but only after glancing at him first. He half wished he could say something to make this discussion—and everything surrounding it—easier for her. But he was here on duty.

  Besides, he wanted to hear her latest take on it, too.

  “There have been things happening around me. To me. I really don’t understand any of them.” She started by describing the break-in at her San Luis Obispo home—how Peace had acted oddly when Elissa had returned home after spending hours away from her during her first visit here to Chance. “I happened to mention it the next day when I was here, and Officer Doug Murran was nice enough to come to my house with Hooper—who found where a window had been jimmied open. But I guess there wasn’t any evidence that identified who it was.” She looked at him again, this time less covertly, and smiled sadly.

  “Was that around the time the first sign was left at the K-9 Ranch?” asked Vince.

  “Yes,” Elissa said. “The next thing that happened to me was that I was...well, given a leave of absence from my nursing job at a hospital in SLO where my dog and I also provided therapy sessions for patients. Someone...someone claimed we had done it in a way to scare or harm children. And now...now this latest sign at the ranch.” Her voice broke slightly. “I don’t understand any of it,” she said more strongly. “Can you help me?” She was looking at Vince as she asked this, which somehow made Doug angry—and even slightly hurt.

  He’d already stepped in to try to help her—as part of his job, of course. But he’d failed her, at least so far.

  Well, Vince could do whatever he could do as the detective now assigned to the case. But that wouldn’t prevent Doug from continuing to do what he could, too.

  “We’ll try,” Vince responded in a kind voice. But that was the last time he sounded kind, to Doug. He immediately started grilling Elissa about her work at the SLO hospital, both as a nurse and a therapy dog handler. He particularly pushed about anything she knew regarding who’d made the claims against her therapy dog work—which still wasn’t much, apparently, although her boss at the hospital had made a big deal about it without notifying her of her accusers’ identities.

  Nothing new to Doug came out of this discussion.

  It certainly didn’t feel new that he had an urge more than once—maybe all the time—to shout out to end this intense interrogation. Or maybe to help Elissa through it by drawing his chair closer to her, putting an arm around her, being as supportive as he could. But he was on duty, and one of the people in the room was the assistant police chief.

  Kara seemed to sense, at least somewhat, what was going on in his head since she kept glancing toward him, a frown on her face.

  A frown that somewhat mimicked the one his sister was levying on him.

  Heck, he was a professional. Sure, he felt something toward Elissa. Pity. Nothing deeper—or at least nothing he’d allow.

  But as much as he’d wanted to get this situation, and all of its aspects, resolved as fast as possible for Elissa, that urge was even stronger now.

  Eventually, Vince ended his inquisition, but that didn’t stop Kara from adding more questions, largely about how Elissa had first heard that the Chance K-9 Ranch was looking for dog trainers, including those skilled in teaching both the dogs and their owners what they needed to know for approval as therapy dogs and handlers.

  That was an interesting question, one that had occurred to Doug, but he hadn’t followed through with Elissa. How she’d heard of it wasn’t likely to be as important as how she’d decided to apply.

  “It was online,” she said. “I’m always checking for posts relating to therapy dogs, since it’s something really important to me.”

  “More important than your nursing of people?” Kara asked wryly.

  This time Elissa’s smile appeared genuine. “Oh, I love people, so I’m happy to help care for them both with the skills I know as a nurse, and for cheering them up a whole lot more by having my dog provide therapy.”

  Kara smiled back. Maisie raised her eyebrows, but she, too, seemed amused and more relaxed now. Even Vince nodded and shot her a small grin.

  And him? Doug couldn’t help but send a much bigger grin her way, and Elissa met his gaze as she took it in.

  Looking first at Vince, then at Kara, he said, “Despite all the stuff going on around her, Elissa is one heck of a good therapy dog trainer. I’ve already heard her explain it and saw a demonstration at the hospital. Hooper and I hope to go back for more.” He grew more serious. “Of course, I’m wondering now if Elissa’s appearance at the hospital, in public here in Chance with the owners of the K-9 Ranch there at first, too, is what notified whoever’s leaving those signs that she was hired by the ranch.”

  “Which could have then triggered the second sign,” Vince acknowledged with a nod of his head. “That’s one of the things I’ll be investigating, including who was there and whether anyone heard someone else say something against therapy dogs in general or Elissa and her dog in particular.”

  “Good idea,” Doug said. He had wanted to do that, too, but if he did, it wouldn’t necessarily be in his capacity as a local police officer—a K-9 officer. For now, he intended to keep probing on his own when he could—and also to stay in close contact with Vince to learn what, if anything, he found out.

  * * *

  It was over—for now. And this police interrogation wasn’t as bad as it could have been, Elissa thought as she rose and thanked the people in the room. She couldn’t pet the dogs since they were on duty here at the station, but she certainly appreciated their presence. They, at least, hadn’t acted as if she was somehow on trial.

  And the cops? She’d gotten the impression they were looking for a reason to investigate her rather than try to find whoever was creating such havoc in her life.

  Or maybe that’s what they always did—make assumptions against people involved in difficult situations to try to learn enough to eliminate them from their suspect lists.

  Had it helped to have Doug present? He, at least, had acted before as if he was willing to help find out who was behind all this.

  “You okay?” she was asked the moment they were in the hallway outside Assistant Police Chief Province’s office. Kara remained inside with Detective Vanderhoff.

  But it wasn’t Doug who asked. It was Maisie. She stood right outside the door, Griffin at her side.

  “More or less,” Elissa said as Doug joined them with Hooper.

  “Hey,” he said, “if you’ve got a few minutes, let’s grab some coffee before I take you back to the ranch. I’d like to dissect a little of what Vince asked—and also figure out what comes next. Okay? Maisie, you can come, too.”

  “Thanks, but I’ve got another assignment I need to start working on. You can fill me in later.” She looked at Doug and the two of them shared a glance that Elissa could only interpret as amusement on Maisie’s part and maybe irony on Doug’s.

  “I’m fine with getting some coffee,” Elissa said, “as long as I get back to the ranch soon to check on Peace—though I’m sure she’s fine with Amber and Evan looking in on her. Maybe we can figure out how I should handle my classes and hospital visits now that I know I’m being spied on by whoever’s doing this.”

  “We’ll definitely talk about it,” Doug said. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 14

  Elissa wasn’t surprised when Doug suggested they go to the Chance Coffee Shop. It wasn’t far from the police station, so they could walk. And he’d invited her for coffee, so it made sense to head there.

  But she knew full well that he didn’t just want to sip coffee and talk about the nice August weather in Chance. She wasn’t certain what he did want to talk about, though. Since he’d been there for the grilling she had been subjected to about all the issues she’d been facing, he should feel cer
tain that he knew everything she did—right?

  Now, with Hooper beside him, he led her through the hallways at the station, past a few other uniformed cops and a civilian or two, and back to the reception area. He gave a slight wave to the same guy at the reception desk who’d been there before, then led her through the small crowd to the front door.

  He opened it, and when Elissa walked outside she took a deep breath—and not entirely because she was outside in the fresh air again. No, she somehow felt relieved that she had been permitted, finally, to exit the station.

  They turned to the right, in the direction of the coffee shop. There wasn’t much traffic on the street, nor were there a lot of pedestrians on the sidewalk near them.

  “So how are you doing?” Doug asked without looking at her.

  She glanced toward him and managed a brief laugh. “I feel like one of those characters on television interrogated by a star who plays an important cop—verbally ground into the dirt. The audience may know the character is innocent, but the point is to display the cool intelligence of the star in his role. Of course that cop eventually comes up with the right answer and he and his innocent interrogation victim become buddies.”

  “But you don’t think you’ll become buddies with Vince?”

  “No, and not Assistant Chief Province, either. But I’ll like them a whole lot more if your department actually figures out what’s going on.”

  They’d reached the coffee shop and once more Doug opened the door for her before he and Hooper walked in. It was approaching noon and the place was busy, but they still managed to find a table along the wall beneath the windows facing the sidewalk. Doug had Elissa sit to save the table, along with Hooper—or so he said. That way she couldn’t object much if he treated her to the mocha she wanted.

  The line was short so he came back soon with cups for both of them, along with a plastic plate holding a few finger sandwiches on mini-croissants. “In case you’re hungry for an early lunch,” he said. They looked good, possibly with tuna salad and roast beef.

  He sat, gave Hooper a couple of treats from his pocket, and took a few sips of his drink before beginning.

  That gave Elissa an extra minute or two to feel him out. Was he, too, going to interrogate her today? Again?

  Was there anything he was looking for that his colleagues hadn’t approached and he’d neglected to ask her about previously?

  “Okay,” he finally said, “I mostly wanted to apologize. Sort of.”

  That surprised her. “I figured the questions and pressure were all part of what police on a case need to do.”

  “True.” His hazel eyes gazed at her with what appeared to be amusement.

  She took another sip of her sweet and bracing mocha. If that was his opinion, was he just using his apology to try to get her to relax—so she’d divulge something else?

  As if she had anything she hadn’t already told him or, now, the others, too.

  “So what’s next?” she finally asked. He had something on his mind, or why get together to talk again now?

  “I’ve been considering that.” He reached over and picked up one of the small sandwiches. “I’m glad Maisie and I were invited to be there when Vince questioned you. You and I have talked about the incidents, but I also wanted to get the take of others with a lot of experience in crime solving, even more than Maisie or I have. I was hoping they’d come up with a different direction, a course of questions or actions I hadn’t considered yet.”

  “I wouldn’t say they did that,” Elissa said dryly. “Same stuff, but just more detail than you provided.”

  “Right. That’s kind of my point.” He grasped her hand, which had been reaching for her cup once again. “They asked about preludes to each situation, who you knew, who you suspected—pretty much what we’ve already talked about. So maybe we need to figure out another approach.”

  His hand held hers firmly and she reciprocated. His was warm and solid, and she had a sudden urge to hang on to it forever. Yeah, right. His touch might help her feel safe for the moment, but there was no way he would stay this close to her for more than a few minutes.

  “Sure,” she said as casually as she could. “Do you have any suggestions? I’ve been thinking about it, too, but with a civilian’s mind, not a cop’s.”

  “I’m still mulling that over,” he said, draining the sudden hope she’d felt at least a little. But he wasn’t through. “There’s only so much time I’ll be able to hang out with you, since Hooper and I still have to go about our regular job. If I have no specific assignment but I’m on duty, I usually need to stay around the station. But I’d like for you to schedule what classes you can to coincide with my off-duty hours. And when you hold classes or go anywhere, let’s try to ensure you’re accompanied by someone trustworthy. Me or Maisie or even Amber—or better yet, Evan, with his K-9 training and military background. We’ll need to make it seem coincidental and informal, in case the person menacing you is hanging out nearby.”

  “No privacy then,” she grumbled but she didn’t let go of his hand.

  “Not as much as you’re used to, probably. But there’s a good reason for it.”

  “Yes,” she said sadly. “There is.”

  “There’s more to it than that,” he continued. “I want to know about everyone you come in contact with, no matter how you run into them. I’m familiar enough with all the folks at the K-9 Ranch, even their ranch hand Orrin, to feel you’re okay with them. But anyone else—students, people who work at the hospital where you’ll be conducting therapy sessions, other therapy dog handlers, even the people who are your therapy patients and their family members—we need to figure out who they are and why they’re in contact with you.”

  “That could take a lot of time and effort,” Elissa said.

  “Yeah, it could. Some info is available online, and I have access to websites especially for people in law enforcement that could give me even more information than civilians like you can find. I’ll be delving into them myself when I can, count on that. And you, too, can check out some sites available to the general public.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Let’s do it. But, Doug, I hate to take up so much of your off-duty time like that.” She meant that—and she didn’t. She craved answers.

  She also craved being with him, as foolish as that might be.

  “That’s my decision,” he responded. “And I can get some technical help at the station. We’ll figure this out, Elissa. I promise. And if there’s any way I can get my partner here to help, you can be sure Hooper will do all he can to bring down the person who’s harassing you.”

  “Sweet dog,” she said, bending to ruffle Hooper’s fur on top of his head.

  Sweet man, too, she thought, but kept that to herself.

  * * *

  Were they approaching this from a better direction now? Doug certainly hoped so.

  But what if there was something—someone—else? Someone in Elissa’s past, maybe, and not a current friend, student, coworker or whatever.

  She might consider him a nosy SOB, but if so, she’d just have to live with it.

  He picked up the last of the small sandwiches and said, “Under other circumstances, I wouldn’t consider it any of my business, but tell me a bit now about where you grew up, whether you’re close to your family, what friends you have from your past—just in case we’re going in the wrong direction to figure this out.” He took a bite, watching her.

  Her eyes widened—those beautiful brown eyes—even as she scowled. “I’d rather not answer. No one from my past could be involved with this.” But then her expression grew a bit puzzled.

  “So who are you thinking about?” he prompted immediately.

  “No one, really, but—”

  “Tell me. In fact, give me a rundown of how you came to be a nurse and a therapy dog trainer in San Luis Obispo. Did you gro
w up there?”

  Her glare returned, but only briefly. Then she said, “No, I didn’t. Okay. Here’s the short version, and that’s all you need. It’s not relevant.”

  She briefly described how she had grown up in Seattle. That her parents and older sister still lived there. Her dad sold real estate and her mother and sister were in retail, managing different clothing stores.

  “I wasn’t interested in following in any of their footsteps.”

  “I figured. But you were interested in nursing, right?”

  “Right. And we had dogs as my sister and I were growing up, so the therapy dog idea was a natural result.” She described going to college and nursing school locally and landing a job in a hospital near her home.

  And then her somewhat lighthearted attitude seemed to change.

  “No details necessary,” she continued, seeming to focus more on her nearly empty cup of mocha than anything else. “But suffice it to say that I had...well, a relationship with a doctor on staff. A pediatrician.”

  That doctor, she told him, also had an outside practice. They’d been together for more than a year before she’d realized that he’d become a doctor more because of the potential for a high income than to truly help kids. “Not my way of looking at things, but since he helped kids, too, I could live with it. He also wasn’t wild about dogs, but I’d already gotten Peace and started therapy dog training, and he let me work with some of his patients.”

  Her former guy-friend was irrelevant to Doug, or so he told himself, unless this somehow led to Dr. Kids-Mean-Money coming after Elissa now for some reason.

  But just hearing about her relationship, over or not, gnawed at his insides.

  “Sounds good,” he lied.