by Sarah Curtis
"You'll only be gone a few days. You'll hardly miss me."
"Oh, I'll miss you all right. I've gotten used to you in my arms at night."
Yeah, she'd gotten used to that, too. She stepped out of his embrace and walked into the bathroom to grab her toothbrush and shampoo.
"Don't you have anything to say to that?" Gage called from the bedroom.
Cassie plopped her stuff on the bed before walking over to Gage and hugging him about the waist. She looked up at him and smiled. "I'll miss you, too."
They got to the ranch house a little later that morning than usual. She looked over at the kennels, and from a distance it was hard to tell, but it looked like one of the doors was ajar. "Could one of the volunteers have left it open?" She mumbled, out loud to herself.
Gage looked over at her. "What?"
She pointed to the kennels. "Doesn't it look like the door is open?"
Gage looked where she pointed. "Yeah, let me go take a look."
"Be careful."
"Lock the car doors when I leave."
Cassie watched Gage make the trek to the kennels. He disappeared inside for a few minutes, then came back out.
"Well?" Cassie asked, when he returned.
"Nobody's in there. I saw a few cages were open, but I don't know if any dogs were in them to begin with."
"We do have a few empty cages, but they should still be closed. One of the volunteers might have left them open. I better go take a look." Cassie got out of the SUV then opened the back door to let Logan out.
"We'll all go look," Gage said, picking Logan up and placing him on his hip.
Cassie didn't have a problem with that, so only shrugged and set out for the kennels. When she got to the door, she peeked her head in before stepping inside. She walked to the end of the aisle and the five open kennels. The five kennels that once held her five pit bulls. "These cages had my pit bulls in them." She said softly. She felt like yelling but didn't want to alarm Logan.
"Are you saying someone took them?" Gage asked just as calmly.
"That's what I'm thinking," Cassie said, closing the cage doors.
On the way back to the house Cassie internally fumed. The only person she could think of that would steal just her pits was Jeremy Beckett. The guy that had been arrested for dog fighting that had come to the ranch that one day. And the more she thought about it, the more angry she became because now she was thinking he might be the one behind the brick being thrown through her window, her car being spay-painted, and the hole in her hose.
They arrived at the house, and Gage turned on Logan's video game for him. He went to the kitchen, pulling his phone out of his back pocket.
"Who are you calling?" Cassie asked, following him.
"Officer Cruz." Gage got connected and had a short conversation before hanging up. "He'll be here in about an hour." Gage placed his hand behind his neck and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't like any of this. It's all too coincidental. Any thoughts on what's going on?"
Cassie paced the kitchen. "Remember that guy that came here asking about his dogs?"
"The bald guy, the day we had the BBQ?"
"Yeah, his name is Jeremy Beckett. He was arrested for dog fighting. That's how I ended up with his pits. I specialize in retraining fighting dogs, then placing them in homes with disabled veterans or vets with PTSD. So, now I'm thinking he might be behind everything that's been happening."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"It didn't all click into place before."
Gage nodded. "Okay, well at least we have something to tell Cruz when he gets here." He grabbed her arm to stop her pacing and pulled her to him. "I want to know when even the tiniest thing feels out of the ordinary, you understand me?"
Cassie nodded against his chest. "Yeah."
"Now I'm really wishing I didn't have to go to New York."
"Everything will be okay. He's got what he wants now."
Chapter Seventeen
Cassie closed the door after waving good-bye to Officer Cruz. He had come and taken her statement, and she had shared her thoughts. He told them he would definitely look into Jeremy Beckett and would call if he discovered anything.
And during all this, Laurie came home. To say she was unhappy to see cops in her house upon her arrival home was an understatement. She had to know everything, and she needed to know it right then, so Cassie's interview with Officer Cruz had taken longer than expected. Cassie also received the third degree from Laurie for not calling her and telling her what was going on.
After dealing and making peace with Laurie, Cassie went to the kitchen in search of ibuprofen. She had a terrible headache from all the upheaval.
Gage came up behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Headache?" He asked, giving her shoulders a squeeze.
"Yeah." Cassie put the pills in her mouth and took a swallow of water.
"I'm going to stay here tonight. I don't want to leave you girls alone in case this guy comes back."
She turned around and gave him a hug. "Like I said, he has what he wants now, but if you want to stay the night, I won't stop you." She gave him a grin.
"I need to go home for a bit. The guys are coming to work on the album, but I'll be back for dinner and to tuck Logan in."
"Okay."
"Come walk me to my car, so I can kiss you good-bye."
She gave him another grin. "Okay."
"I really don't want to leave you," Gage said, through the phone. He was at the airport about to board his flight.
"Would you stop worrying. Everything will be fine." Cassie said, yet again. They've had this conversation at least ten times over the last three days. Gage didn't like that Jeremy Beckett was still on the loose. When the police had gone to Beckett's house, they'd discovered no dogs on the premises and without finding Beckett's fingerprints anywhere on Cassie's property, they couldn't charge him.
"I don't like being gone while Beckett is still loose," Gage said, something she already knew.
"I know, but like I've said (at least a hundred times) he got what he wanted. He won't be back."
"Promise you'll call me if anything happens. I don't care about the time difference."
"I promise. Now, go before you miss your flight."
"I love you, Sunshine." He hung up before she could respond. Smart man. She still couldn't bring herself to think it, much less, say it. She was happy to take things one day at a time. Maybe one day, if they lasted, she'd be able to say it.
Cassie looked at the time on her phone and saw it was still too early to start dinner. She didn't have any dogs to work with, so she wasn't sure what to do. She decided to pull up her website and go through her e-mails.
She took her laptop to the couch and logged on. One e-mail popped out at her. The one that the tipster had sent regarding the injured pit bulls. The one that had an address. Thoughts quickly formed in her head. Should she do it? She could just drive by, get a feel for the place. See if any dogs were about. She didn't even have to get out of the car. Gage would kill her if he ever found out. He won't find out.
Inner debate settled, Cassie sat back on the couch and planned her attack. She could do a drive-by tomorrow before going to the market, and no one would know. She pulled up the address on the map app on her phone and saved the location.
Cassie's knuckles were white from the death grip she had on her steering wheel as she inched down the street looking at addresses. The neighborhood was old and tired looking, but not run down. Lawns were mowed and mostly green and while the houses looked as if they could use a fresh coat of paint, they weren't in need of repa
ir.
She pulled to the curb across and two houses down from the address she sought. She looked around the property, not seeing any dogs or any sign of life, for that matter. After ten minutes of inactivity, she decided to go but then a black pickup truck pulled into the drive. Cassie looked closely at the truck. No dogs were visible in the cab or the bed.
A tall, muscular man in jeans and a T-shirt stepped out of the house. Not Jeremy Beckett, this guy had long, brown hair. A shorter, skinny guy hopped out of the truck. They did a complicated handshake then proceeded to have a conversation. Cassie peered carefully but, unfortunately, couldn't read their lips so couldn't make out what was said.
She watched as they did another handshake maneuver, then the shorter guy got back in his truck and left. The tall guy pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, then he also got in his car and left. Cassie sat for a few minutes, watching the house but all was quiet. She really wanted to get a quick peek of the backyard and see whether any dogs were back there.
Cassie waited a few more minutes but didn't want to wait too long and give the guy enough time to come back. She jumped out of her SUV, jogged across the street, then casually walked up to the house. Cassie didn't see any movement through the windows, but still tried to stick to the shadows at the side of the house. She stepped lightly, walking as quietly as possible until she came to the back gate. Cassie stuck her hand over the top, feeling for a latch. Bingo! She flipped up the hinge and poked her head through the gate. From what she could see, the backyard looked empty. No dogs came running. A tree in the far corner had a chain wrapped around it, but no dogs were attached.
As she backed her head out and started to shut the gate, she felt a hand grab her arm and a gruff, deep voice behind her say, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
Stunned speechless, Cassie turned her head and looked up into the eyes of Jeremy Beckett. When he realized whom he held, his grip tightened. "What the fuck?"
Cassie held up a hand. "Listen I don't want any trouble."
"Lady, you got trouble just by coming here." If possible, his grip tightened even more.
"No, really, I'll leave." She tried to twist her arm out of his grasp but wasn't successful. His hand was like a steel band.
"I asked, What the fuck you're doing here?"
Cassie racked her brain to come up with a plausible lie. She came up blank so decided the next best thing was to stretch the truth a bit. "Um, I got a tip on my hotline that some dogs were injured at this location, and I was checking it out. I didn't know you lived here."
"I don't live here. A buddy of mine does. And there are no dogs here."
"Okay, my mistake. I'll just go. Like I said, I'm not trying to cause any trouble." She took a sidestep and then another until her arm pulled up, and he either had to let go of her arm or pull her back to him. He let go of her arm. She took another large sidestep, putting distance between them before turning on her heel and walking quickly away.
She got into her car and locked the doors. Her hands shook so badly, she had trouble inserting the key in the ignition. She sat a moment, deep breathing, trying to get herself under control enough to drive. She glanced over at the house. Jeremy stood on the front stoop, watching her.
She shifted into drive, looked over her shoulder, then pulled out, getting the hell of there. It wasn't until she was almost to the market, that she had a thought. Jeremy Beckett never asked her about his dogs, so either he was the one who took them (or he knows the person who did), or he didn't care about his dogs any longer. And she would bet just about anything that it was probably the former and not the later.
Cassie's phone rang as she sat in bed reading. She scooped it up from the nightstand and saw Gage's name on the screen. She looked over at the clock and calculated it was one in the morning in New York.
She hit the answer button. "It's late there."
"Yeah, just got back to the hotel. I had to attend a promo party."
"Was it fun?"
She heard Gage sigh over the line. "It was long, tedious, and boring."
"I'm sorry."
"Nothing for you to be sorry about, Sunshine. Just part of my job."
"True."
"So, how was your day? Everything okay over there?"
Cassie inwardly cringed. "Everything's fine. Logan asked when you were coming home. I told him soon."
"No unusual activity? Nothing I should be worried about?"
"No, like I said, everything's fine."
"You sound a little funny." Did he sound suspicious or was that her imagination?
"I'm just tired."
"Okay, I'll let you get some sleep. I love you."
"Gage," she said, quickly before he could hang up.
"Yeah."
"I... miss you." That was as close as she could get, right now, to saying what she really meant.
Gage must have sensed her hidden meaning, for he paused a few beats before replying, "I miss you, too." His voice was low and husky. "Goodnight, Sunshine."
Cassie gripped the phone tightly in her hand, knowing something important had transpired. "Goodnight." She put the phone back on the nightstand and lay back against her pillows. Crap. Her head had finally caught up with her heart. She was in love with Gage.
A little more than twenty-four hours later, she was back in front of the tipster house again. She needed to know what happened to her dogs. She wasn't acting entirely stupid. She didn't plan on leaving her car. She hoped, if she followed someone leaving the house, they would lead her to where they kept the dogs, thus giving her an address to send Animal Care to for a pick up. So far, she'd waited over an hour with no activity from the house.
When she'd left her house this morning, she had told Laurie she needed to run a few errands and asked if she would mind watching Logan, so she couldn't be away too long and hoped something happened soon.
But that wasn't her biggest problem. She noticed this morning while taking a shower, an ugly, dark-purple bruise that encircled her upper arm. Compliments from Jeremy Beckett, she would presume. She had to scrounge through her T-shirt drawer for a mid-length sleeved T-shirt that would cover it. And just her luck it was over a hundred degrees today.
She clicked her air conditioner up another notch then pressed the preset-one button on her radio to change the station. One of Engage's songs, Angel eyes, came on and for the first time in five years, she didn't change the station as soon as she heard it. She turned the radio up a bit and tapped along on the steering wheel to the beat of the song.
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. The same black truck from yesterday drove by her, slowing to turn into the driveway of the tipster house. He honked his horn, and a minute later Jeremy Beckett came out of the house.
Reflexively, Cassie scrunched down in her seat. The last thing she wanted was another encounter with Jeremy. He gave the guy in the truck a wave as he walked to the passenger side and got in. The truck backed out of the driveway and took off down the street.
Cassie waited about thirty seconds, put her SUV in drive, then pulled out to follow them. After a few blocks, the truck stopped at a stoplight. She was still a ways back but there was no car between them, and if the light didn't change to green soon, she would catch up. This invisibly tailing people was hard. Much harder than it looked on TV.
Cassie started to panic as she grew nearer. She slowed to a crawl, but still the gap was closing. Her palms were sweaty and slipped a bit on the steering wheel, causing her to grip it tighter.
Then miraculously, the light turned green, and the truck shot off. Cassie let out a sigh of relief. Her heart slowed as the distance between her and the truck grew. She drove slo
w, looking ahead for more red lights. The truck made a right at the next corner, and a minute later, Cassie made the same turn. She worried for a moment when she didn't see the truck, but then she saw the back end of it making a left down an alley.
They had led her to an industrial section of town, mostly warehouses, some small businesses. Cassie drove slowly past the alley, looking for the truck and spotting it about halfway down the narrow lane. She drove to the end of the block then made a U-turn, parking at the side of the road so she could watch for the truck to leave.
Sure enough, about five minutes later, she watched the truck pull out of the alley, turn right, and drive away. Cassie waited until the truck was out of sight, before slowly pulling forward and turning in to the alley.
She stopped where she thought the truck had been parked and looked around. A large, overflowing dumpster was about three yards in front of her. It's contents suggesting it belonged to a Chinese restaurant. The alley was pretty nondescript. There were no signs hanging over any of the doors indicating what types of establishments lay beyond. There was what looked to be a delivery truck of some kind at the far end of the alley, but Cassie couldn't read the lettering on the side to tell what it was for. She looked up. Dusty or boarded up windows lined the alley, a few had metal balconies.
A door across from her was slightly ajar. She checked out the alley once more to make sure no one was around. She wanted to take a quick peek in the door to check whether she could see or hear any dogs.
She climbed out of her SUV and quickly made her way across to the open door, leaving her car door open for a hasty getaway. As she neared the door, she looked around one last time to make sure no one watched before she slipped through the opening. She stopped just past the threshold. The interior was gloomy, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the poor lighting. She stood in a hall that had a closed door at its end. A door to her left was open, displaying a desk and some filing cabinets but, thank goodness, no people.
Cassie debated opening the door at the end of the hall. She honestly didn't know who or what might be behind it, but she knew after coming so far, she couldn't walk away without any information. She had to know if there were any dogs. And besides, if anyone asked, she could always say she was lost.