by Tara Meyers
“Sean is fine,” Walker huffed, waving his hand again and sitting behind his desk. “He’s discreet. Comes with being a doctor. He was actually here delivering the news that my cholesterol is sky-high, so it looks like I’ll be cancelling my reservations at the Rusty Wagon Wheel.”
The mention of the restaurant reminded Ember once more of her dinner with Sean, and she wondered if they’d ever get a chance to try again under more normal circumstances.
Normal, Ember thought wistfully. She was beginning to forget what that was.
SEVENTEEN
It was still dark when Ember drove down her road toward the clinic Tuesday morning. It was ridiculously early. After staying up most of the night Saturday and sleeping half the day Sunday, her schedule was off. As a result, she wasn’t tired by her normal bedtime Sunday, but she had to be up early to meet Mel Monday morning. By Monday night, she was dead-tired. Especially after her exchange with Sheriff Walker. She’d found herself nodding off on the couch with a TV dinner still in her lap.
Daenerys woke her up before four to go outside, and she wasn’t able to fall back asleep. When she started craving a cup of coffee and found herself making a pot at four fifteen, she gave up and got dressed. Normally not a morning person, she decided to take advantage of it and get a head start on the day. She was planning on spending some time with Butterscotch that afternoon and was feeling guilty about leaving Mel alone yet again. She could make up for it by getting a bunch of things checked off the list before Mel even got there.
“Mel will be babysitting you again today,” Ember told Daenerys.
Lifting her head from the seat of the truck, the dog tilted it to one side and gave what looked suspiciously like a real smile. Ember suspected a lot of treats disappeared from the display rack when she wasn’t around.
It wasn’t yet five when they pulled in front of the clinic, and the sky was just beginning to brighten to the east. For a moment she wished she’d stayed home a little longer and watched the sunrise over Crystal Lake.
Distracted by her thoughts, Ember didn’t notice that something wasn’t right until she started to open the door and Daenerys growled low in her throat. Startled by the sound, Ember drew back, her head snapping to attention.
Deep in the building, toward the end of the hallway that divided the back half of the space, a dim light bobbed. Confused, it took her a moment to process the information: someone was inside. But that was all the time Daenerys needed. She managed to get her head inside the door before Ember let go. As Ember fumbled for her cell phone, the dog tore through the front office, emitting what could only be described as a primal cacophony of barking.
“Daenerys, no!” Ember cried. Pulling at the door, she chased after her dog without thinking. Regardless of the fact that it sounded like the dog might kill whoever she caught, she couldn’t help but be concerned for her safety. What if the intruder was armed? That thought gave her pause, and Ember stumbled briefly in the dark. As she reached for the hall light, there was a scraping noise at the other end of the hallway, and it was briefly illuminated by someone opening the outside door that led to the alley.
Although it was still dark out, there was a motion light mounted over the exit. A clear silhouette of someone larger than herself was outlined before the door slammed shut again, and she heard Daenerys thud into it.
She snapped the light on at the same instant, and relief washed through her when she saw that the dog appeared unharmed. Daenerys immediately began growling and clawing at the door. Running to it, she hoped to get a peek outside and maybe catch a better look at whoever it was, but as she passed the back-storage room, a smell stopped her.
Smoke!
Sliding to a stop, Ember fell backwards and landed hard on her bottom. The storage room was on fire.
Clambering over to her stomach and pushing up to her knees, Ember took a ragged breath and tried to control her adrenaline.
Think!
Daenerys abandoned the door when Ember fell and was quickly at her side, licking her face. Gone was the savage killer, replaced by the loyal and concerned friend.
Phone still in hand, Ember tapped out 911 as she got to her feet. “Where’s the fire extinguisher?” she said aloud while waiting for the call to go through. She knew she’d seen two of them mounted in the facility, but she couldn’t think clearly. Peering into the storage room, she could see a small glow of light in the middle of it, and the space was quickly filling with smoke and trailing out into the hall.
The breakroom.
“Haven 911, what’s your emergency?” the dispatcher asked pleasantly.
“A fire,” Ember declared, running for the breakroom. “Someone broke into the Sanctuary Animal Clinic and … there’s a fire. I think he started a fire.”
“What’s the address?”
Clawing at the wall in the breakroom, Ember panicked for a moment when she couldn’t find the light switch. When it finally clicked on, she squinted and looked frantically around. There! Mounted in a far corner was a small standard fire extinguisher.
“Address? Oh, the address! Oh my gosh. Can’t you see it?” In her flustered state, Ember forgot that she was calling on a cell phone, which wouldn’t show the dispatcher the address she was at.
Yanking the extinguisher off its hook, she then ran back out into the hall, which was now filling with smoke. Coughing once, she pulled the pin from the top of the dispenser.
“Ma’am, I need the physical address of the clinic.”
Ember coughed once and tried to remember the street number. “22 … 225 Mountainview Road,” she finally managed to say.
Aiming at the base of the small flames, she squeezed the trigger and swept it back and forth, spraying a broad swath of white foam.
“Ma’am, are you inside the building?” the dispatcher asked in alarm. “Please exit the building. Both the police and fire department have already been dispatched. Do you need an ambulance?”
“No!” Ember said quickly. Coughing again, she stepped back out of the room and tried to assess whether the fire was out. The smoke was too thick. She had to clear the air. Stepping to the back door, she didn’t care anymore if the prowler was still out there. She pushed it open and kicked at the doorstop so it would stay on its own.
White smoke billowed out around her, and fortunately, the hallway cleared rather quickly. Telling Daenerys to stay, Ember crept back in and looked tentatively into the back room. She didn’t see any flames. Turning the light on, she gasped at what it revealed.
The papers that had fallen to the floor while she sat there two nights ago were now piled together in the middle of the room.
Someone had set them on fire.
EIGHTEEN
Deputy Trenton tipped his hat before leaving, a half-hearted gesture that matched the crooked grin on his face.
“I don’t think he’s buying my theory,” Ember stated, watching the door close.
Mel glanced sideways at her, a look of concern on her face. “Which one? Because I have to admit I’m having a hard time keeping track.”
The scorn hurt more, coming from Mel. But Ember couldn’t really blame her. What was supposed to be the ideal situation and job for her was turning into something more of a nightmare. If the clinic failed, Mel didn’t have many other job options in Sanctuary, and it would probably mean she would have to move back home with her parents.
It was still barely six. The sirens had awoken Mel, as she lived right across the street, and she’d come running. It was a huge relief for Ember to see her, and she’d taken Daenerys back to her basement apartment, where she was still sleeping while they dealt with the aftermath.
The fire turned out to be nothing more than the pile of papers smoldering, and the smoke ended up being the worse of the damage. Thankfully, the floor was tile, so nothing else burned. Most of the lingering smell was isolated to the storage room, where they had the window open and a fan running. They’d been lucky.
“You’re really buying into Deputy Trento
n’s explanation of teenagers breaking in, looking for drugs?” While Ember doubted Sheriff Walker would have thought otherwise, she still wished he was on duty.
Mel turned abruptly and went to the cold coffee pot on the back counter of the reception area. She carefully measured out the coffee grounds before disappearing into the utility room and then came back after a minute with the water. It wasn’t until she’d flipped the brew switch that she faced Ember.
“Someone did try to hammer open the meds cabinet,” she said without her normal flippant attitude. “And starting a fire like that is totally something a stupid punk would do. Why are you so convinced that it has something to do with Tom and Butterscotch?”
“Ember,” Mel continued when she didn’t answer right away, “I’m sorry I’m cranky, but I am not a morning person. I should have had about two cups of coffee by now. One extra for the stress.”
Ember laughed at that and fought to prevent a tear from escaping. She didn’t trust herself to talk. The reality of the scene she just experienced was threatening to overwhelm her.
“You’ve been through a lot this past month,” Mel said with more compassion. Recognizing the internal battle, she was quick to step forward and wrap her small arms around Ember.
She hadn’t been lying … she was strong. Struggling to take a deep breath, Ember hugged her back, and when Mel turned it into a rocking motion that then progressed into a fumbling, twirling dance, she began to laugh out loud.
“Okay!” Ember gasped, finally breaking away from her giggling friend. “I promise, I’m not about to have a breakdown.”
“Good,” Mel countered, “because I don’t handle them well. I never know when to be serious or joke, and I usually end up doing the wrong thing. Now,” she ordered, pouring out two steaming cups of fresh coffee. “Talk.”
“Those papers,” Ember replied. “They’re the same ones that fell over Sunday night when I was looking through the file for Black Shadow.”
“Yeah, I know. I told you yesterday we should have picked them up!”
“Mel,” Ember persisted, trying to get her to focus. Wasn’t it obvious to her? “What if someone who didn’t want that information shared came here this morning to take the evidence? But when they discovered that impossible mess, they decided to just burn it all and make it look like some random drug-seeking thief was here, rather than try and cart it all away?”
Mel silently mulled it over, sipping slowly at the coffee. “But it was blacked out.”
“Maybe they don’t know that. Or, they thought it would still be enough to prompt an investigation by the insurance company, were they to get ahold of it.”
“Did they burn it?”
Pausing for a moment, Ember fought against her initial instinct to lie and say yes. But she needed to trust Mel. She did trust Mel. Shaking her head, Ember ran out to her truck and retrieved her leather bag. Bringing it back inside, she looked to make sure the front shades were drawn, but then felt silly. Maybe she was getting paranoid.
“I kept them with me,” she explained, pulling out the folder. “But I don’t know what good it’ll do. Sheriff Walker seems more concerned about protecting Ellsworth’s name than getting to the truth of it.”
“I think you should just put that right back in your bag and wait for the autopsy results before deciding what to do with it. If anything. I still feel that what’s done is done, as far as Black Shadow goes, and I don’t want any part of making things worse for Doctor Bernie.”
“I understand that, Mel.” Ember appreciated her honesty. “And I actually agree with you. I thought a lot about it last night. If it weren’t for what I’m sure was an attempt by someone to get this,” she added, shaking the file in the air, “I was prepared to let it all go. Now, we’ll have to wait and see.”
The sun finally broke over the ridge, casting long ribbons of smoky sunlight through the room when Ember pulled the shades up. Looking around the reception area, she made a mental check of what still needed to be done. Hopefully airing it out and wiping everything down would take care of the wet campfire smell.
There was a shipment of products slated for delivery the next day, a large order of animal crates for the boarding room to be picked up in Parker, and the two exam rooms still needed to be organized and stocked. Otherwise, aside from the additional cleanup in the storage room, they were practically ready for opening day the following Monday.
Ember estimated that if they got the crates that afternoon, they could save Friday for nothing but cleaning, giving them the weekend to enjoy the parade and rodeo.
“How’s the logo coming?” she asked, deciding to change the subject. She wasn’t going to let things spiral out of control and ruin everything she was working so hard for.
“I thought you’d never ask!” Mel exclaimed, her whole demeanor changing. “Wait here!”
A few minutes later, she was back with Daenerys and a sketch pad. Flipping it open, she revealed her design to Ember.
“Mel! This is amazing!” and she meant it. The creative use of the letters S, A, and C in combination with the animal profiles was simply perfect.
“You really like it? Because I talked with the printing shop, and they’ll convert it to a digital image with a one-time setup fee. We can have T-shirts and a banner made by Friday.”
“Do it,” Ember replied without hesitating. “This is just what we need to make the clear distinction between Dr. Chambers’s practice and mine. And last night I checked out the profile you set up online. I like what you’ve done with that too. I’ll dig my camera out and start posting some pictures to it, showing the remodel and local stuff.”
“Even with the few cancellations after all the business with Tom and Bonnie, we still have a pretty good schedule going for the first month,” Mel offered. “The doc was sure to let his old clients know you were opening, Ember. He’s a good man.”
“I know he is,” Ember assured her. “Aunt Becky speaks very highly of him, and it takes a lot to get her respect.”
Smiling more broadly now, Mel filled her cup back up. “Where do we start?”
“Why don’t you go back home for the rest of the morning and get some sleep? I’ll get the storage room cleaned up. If you drop me off at Becky’s after lunch, I can spend some time with Butterscotch while you take my truck into Parker to get the crates.”
“Uh-uh,” Mel said stubbornly. “You honestly think I’m going to leave you here to this?” she demanded. “Go get the buckets, girl. We can knock this out twice as fast and go out for lunch before I drop you off.”
A sense of calm replaced Ember’s anxiety as she realized that she wasn’t alone. Mel was a true friend, and while she might not believe Ember about the fire, she was still supporting her. Feeling lighter as she went to gather the cleaning supplies, she still checked to make sure the deadbolt was secured on the backdoor.
Her hand was still on the lock when a tendril of coldness slithered around her midsection. Deputy Trenton assumed, when he found no obvious sign of forced entry, that the backdoor had been left unlocked. But as she stood there, reliving the moment, Ember could clearly recall hearing the deadbolt slide open before the intruder was revealed in the light. The front doors and windows were all locked.
How did the prowler get inside?
NINETEEN
Standing with her head leaning against Butterscotch’s neck, Ember could almost forget everything that was happening. They were alone in the back pasture at Becky’s house, surrounded by the still woods.
It was a drastic contrast to the chaos she’d left behind in the house. Mel and Daenerys had gone inside with her so Becky’s kids could get a chance to be reunited. You would have thought it was a year since they’d seen the dog rather than four days. After witnessing Daenerys being buried under several dogs and just as many kids, all fighting for her attention, Ember understood why Becky felt she’d be happier with her. It really was possible to be smothered by too much affection.
Gravel crunched in the dis
tance, and Ember looked up to see Mel headed down the long driveway. Waving, she felt a small pang of sadness at the sight of Daenerys looking at her through the back window. They’d be gone a couple of hours at most. Shaking her head, Ember laughed at herself, realizing how much of an impact the dog had made on her life already. It was a good thing.
“And you,” she said to the horse, giving his muscular neck a pat. “You are the picture of perfect health, my friend.”
Butterscotch whinnied in response and tossed his head once. Sidestepping, he then trotted over to a nearby hitching post and rubbed his face against it.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Ember silently stared at him as he continued to prance around. How long had it been since anyone had ridden him? Becky made it sound like he was well cared for up until he was surrendered. Horses were very social animals, and being isolated and inactive for so long wasn’t healthy, either physically or emotionally.
Making up her mind, Ember strode over to the barn and entered the tack room. Grabbing the necessary equipment, she then hefted a saddle over her right arm. When she reappeared and Butterscotch saw the items, he became even more excited. As she suspected, he wanted to go riding.
It was a good thing he was so mellow and well-trained, because it had been years since Ember saddled a horse. Twenty minutes later, she gave everything a final check. Last thing she wanted was to fall off.
As she swung up onto Butterscotch’s back, a small thrill chased out the last of her anxiety, and she could finally take a deep breath. The world looked a little better from that angle.
Fortunately, Becky’s fields were both large and well-cleared, because Ember spent over an hour galloping and trotting the large handsome horse around in them. He responded well to all of her commands, often anticipating them based on her positioning in the saddle. They were a good match.