“Is that Angie?” Griffin asked.
“Yes, she works here. She’s here early. She’s not scheduled for another thirty minutes.” Penny shrugged.
“Well, let’s go see why she is. If there’s any sign of trouble, run for the car and call for help.” Griffin patted her hand.
“Will do.” Penny nodded. Fairly standard practice at this point.
She opened her door and stepped out. Angie hurried over. Her black hair had escaped from her ponytail.
“I’m glad you’re here.” Angie brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. “I need to get inside because my son left his backpack when he visited yesterday and didn’t say anything until this morning. Apparently, it wasn’t important, because he didn’t have homework.”
“Bren didn’t let you in?” Penny pulled out her keys.
“I don’t know if she’s even here. Her car is, but I’ve banged on the front and the back door. No response. I’ve called her and the office. Both went to voice mail.” Angie sighed. “My husband’s coming back for the bag.”
“Well, let’s see what’s going on. I think I’d rather she just walk out rather than any of the other possibilities.” Penny walked to the back door. She opened it with her key and froze.
A pair of sneakered feet and jean clad legs sprawled in the doorway to the kennel room. A shiver raced down her back. She gasped. Bren!
She leapt forward. Griffin somehow swerved around and stepped in front of her. Damn, the man is fast. She peered around him.
Blood pooled around Bren’s head. He knelt and checked her pulse and the wound. His shoulders shifted and he stood.
“Call the police and tell them to send an ambulance. She has a head wound. Stay where I can see you, Penny. Someone was here with her.” Griffin’s gaze swept over the interior of the office. “The wound’s stopped bleeding. I think this happened a while ago.”
“How do you know someone else was here?” Penny glanced around. Did I miss something? “Was it him?”
Griffin nodded. He tapped the side of his nose. She rolled her eyes. Damn, I should have remembered that. Whyr senses. She ran a hand through her hair. The stalker again. What did he think this would accomplish? Why hurt Bren? Griffin would still be right beside her.
Penny called the police. When the call ended, she looked around. Supplies scattered across the floor near the far wall, but not all of them. Only a few boxes remained on the shelves. Broken bottles and gauze littered the floor.
They all waited. Penny knelt near Bren, but she didn’t wake up before the police arrived. John came into the clinic first. He took a deep breath.
“He was here? Do you know how he got in?” John stiffened. He sent two of his officers through the rest of the clinic.
“No, the door was locked when we arrived. Angie was waiting to get in. She doesn’t have a key and couldn’t get an answer from Bren.” Penny moved out of the way as John knelt beside Bren.
John looked over at Angie. “Officer Mahoney will talk to you. You can tell him everything.”
Officer Mahoney, a tall, lean man, guided Angie out the door. John urged Griffin and Penny after them. He guided them away from where officer Mahoney talked with Angie. Two EMTs entered the clinic. They came out with Bren strapped to a gurney.
“So tell me what happened and everything you know so far.” John hooked his thumb in his pocket.
“We arrived and Angie was here. She said she had to get her son’s backpack and her husband was coming back to get it. She couldn’t get Bren to answer the doors or the phones.” Penny rubbed at her temple. “I opened the door and we saw Bren’s feet. Griffin got in front of me and checked Bren.”
“Anything else?” John looked from her to Griffin.
“As soon as I stepped inside, I knew her stalker had been here. The scent had started fading a little so I was relatively sure that he was gone, but I still didn’t want her out of sight.” Griffin slid his arm around her, holding her close.
“And this Bren? Is this normal duty for her?” John looked up as an officer came out of the office.
“Yes, she wanted that shift. She has a child and she usually gets home in time to make him breakfast and take him to school. She catches some sleep, picks him up after school and spends the rest of the day with him.” Penny grimaced.
“And the child, is someone with him?” John straightened.
“His father. I can get you his number so that you can get in touch with him.” Penny flipped her phone face up.
“Give it to me.” John pulled out his phone.
Penny read off the name. With all this going on, someone should notify Durwood.
“I have to call Dr. Durwood. This is his clinic and he needs to know what happened here.” Penny lifted her phone.
John lifted his hand and an officer came over to them. “Go ahead and call. Griffin and I will be a few steps away.”
Penny called Dr. Durwood and put her phone back in her purse when she finished. Not a happy man, but he was coming. She stepped back over toward them and the officer followed.
Doctor Durwood arrived fifteen minutes later. He strode directly to John. He raised his hands and gestured wildly. John shook his head.
“We have animals in there. Live animals. What do you not understand about the fact that they need care.” Durwood’s voice rose.
“I know you have animals in there and that they’re alive. I can’t have any more people than have already done so traipsing through it. Arrange for them to be picked up or transferred to another clinic if needed.” John’s voice remained calm. “There is also a person here who was hurt.”
“I’ll have Alice begin calling those that can be picked up and get the number that will need to be transferred temporarily. After that, I’ll arrange the transfer.” Doctor Durwood spun on his heel and stalked off. “Of course, I’ll check on Bren later once I make sure everything here is settled.”
She shook her head. He definitely didn’t like being denied. She could also see his point. The animals did need to be taken care of. The crime scene would prevent that.
Griffin stood next to her for a while and squeezed her shoulders. He dropped a kiss to her head. Heat radiated from him. His arm tightened, a steady, reassuring pressure. She leaned into him.
“Penny, Durwood will wait and take care of the animals. He said you can go home because the clinic will be closed today with the investigation and clean up.” John smiled.
“I’m sure we’ll find some way to occupy ourselves.” Griffin tugged her in front of him.
“Just be careful on the way there. The stalker attacked here. He might try again.” John rolled his shoulders as if to release tension.
Chapter Nineteen
Penny hustled alongside Ethan and Griffin up to Leslie’s house. The gorgeous slate colored home sat on a hill. Dawson pulled the car in. He’d let them out so Ethan and Griffin could get her inside quickly. Ethan rang the bell. She glanced back. Dawson shut the car door.
The door opened and John stood there. He stepped back.
“Come on in.” Leslie poked her head out from behind him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting drinks?” John glanced over his shoulder.
“You can’t keep me out of everything. I waited until I was sure it was someone you would let in.” She laughed. “Want to come help me, Penny? I’m getting drinks for both us and them. They’ve got some man talk planned. We’ll have some time to chat before they join the party. In the meantime, I’ll leave them some drinks for their big, secretive conversation.”
“Sure.” Penny nodded. As if even a guess was needed about the subject. The stalker. That’s all most of them talked about on a steady basis.
“Come on. We’ll just have to pour it. I’ve got some iced tea ready for them.” Leslie led the way through the house to the kitchen.
White and gray tile with yellow accents brightened the room. Penny smiled. Gorgeous. And the marble counters were a dream. Leslie stopped beside the breakfast
bar that separated the kitchen from the dining room.
“I have some of our stuff on the table. I thought we could sit, chat, and snack. The chairs in the dining room are comfortable. They’ll talk in the living room. Apparently, it’s important enough for some privacy.” Leslie turned and rolled her eyes upward. “The glasses are in the cabinet to your left.”
Penny chuckled. “Yeah, like they won’t tell us what it was about anyway. So, if they’re having iced tea, what are we having?”
“Apparently going into details would be harder for them if we were there. I guess they don’t want to scare us. As if much could scare me after that whole someone’s-trying-to-kill-John thing.” Leslie sighed. “We’re having sangria. I mixed it up earlier so that the flavors would have time to meld.”
“I wouldn’t think a human stalker would have such an effect on them after all of that. I know he’ll be caught. What worries me is wondering if it will be before he hurts someone badly.” She pulled down glasses for the tea and wine glasses for the sangria. “Will everyone be here?”
“Yep, Dixie, Chloe, and Shonna are on their way. Tony, Logan, and Jason will be here, too.” Leslie carried the pitcher of tea over. “They’ll be on guard until he’s caught. John told me about that woman being hurt. How is she?”
“She spent a couple days at the hospital and is out, but not back at work. They must have fought. The bastard dislocated her shoulder as well as gave her a concussion. She won’t be on the nightshift for a while. Dr. Durwood has a male tech covering that now.” Penny clenched her hand into a tight fist, but turned back to the task.
Penny put ice in the tumblers and handed them to Leslie. When the last glass was filled, they carried them into the living room. John and Judge were setting up chairs.
“Just set them on the coffee table, kitten. We’ll get them when we have everything here finished. Tony and the others will be here soon.” Judge smiled.
“And he’s leaving the go on back to the dining room part off. We’ll have a better time there anyway.” Leslie shook her head.
“Because he’s not stupid. The quickest way to get you to stay somewhere is to tell you to leave.” John strolled over and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Leslie’s laughter rolled through the room. “Probably. We’re heading back to the kitchen. When Chloe, Dixie, and Shonna get here send them to the dining room. And after you finish your man discussion, we can get to the barbecue part of the day.”
“Will do, angel. We’ll do the barbecue and probably start cooking before you five finish your talk.” Archer ruffled Leslie’s hair.
“That’s because when we talk, we actually talk, not just state the point of the problem and move on.” Leslie walked out the door.
Penny followed. Leslie seemed absolutely in love with Archer, John, and Judge. Hopefully, she could have the same with Ethan, Griffin, and Dawson. Did they love her, yet? They poured four glasses of sangria and a mocktail, before carrying them into the dining room. Leslie had some edibles already out on the table.
“I’ll get the stuff that needed to be kept cold when they get here. I didn’t want it to get warm.”
Within five minutes, the others arrived. John escorted them in. They settled around the table.
“So, while they’re having the man camp in there and we can ask this without anyone feeling like you don’t trust them or are insulting their capability to take care of you, how are you doing?” Shonna leaned toward Penny.
“I’m doing all right. Sometimes, I feel guilty about what’s happened. Ethan says not to, that it’s all on the stalker, but hell, none of this would be happening if it wasn’t for me.” Penny closed her eyes and exhaled, before she met their eyes again. “They’ll take care of me, but the last thing I want is one of them hurt.”
“I know what you mean. It’s not your fault, but having someone injured while they’re protecting you isn’t something you can think about rationally.” Chloe put her hand on Penny’s. “Though it wasn’t the same situation, I know what you’re going through.”
“And even if they’d been told things would be much worse than they are now, they still would have done the same thing. They wouldn’t change anything.” Dixie flicked her hand in almost dismissive motion. “You’re their mate. Whatever they have to go through to keep you safe and happy is worth it.”
“True. Males can be very single-minded when it comes to mates.” Leslie took a long drink of her sangria. “Delicious, if I say so myself.”
“It is delicious, Leslie.” Chloe laughed and sipped her fruit mocktail. “How’s your relationship with your boss?”
“A little tense, but he’s cooperating. I still don’t know why he offered to sell a piece of the practice when it’s become obvious he doesn’t want a partner. He could just hire vets to work there.” Penny ran a hand through her hair. How were they supposed to make a partnership work when he was always pissed and would barely speak to her?
“He’ll get over it. There isn’t any other choice. He won’t be able to play the tricks he used with the people who tried to buy in before you.” Shonna popped a cherry tomato into her mouth.
“Have you heard from Maggie lately? I know you were worried the last time we talked.” Dixie leaned forward and grabbed a deviled egg from a tray.
“Yeah, I heard from her maybe three days ago and she called me again last night. We talked. She’s been working overtime at her new job. She’s trying to make a good impression. I could hear some stress, but she seems all right. She did remind me that if she was in danger I’d be able to tell from our conversation.” Penny took a sip of her sangria.
“What did she mean you’d be able to tell from the conversation? Just the words or stress in her voice?” Shonna plucked a veggie from the tray.
“No, in college, she thought someone was following her. If anything happened, she wanted me to call her brothers. I asked how I’d know something happened or if she’d decided to stay somewhere overnight.” Penny picked up a piece of chocolate and slipped it into her mouth. She so wouldn’t do justice to anything they cooked later. “She came up with a code that she’d say or text if there was trouble. She had me come up with one even though there was no need.”
“Well, that’s good, so if she does get in trouble she might be able to alert you.” Dixie nodded. “So, Chloe, how are you and have you heard anything from your cousins?”
“Yes, I heard back from them and I’m doing good.” Chloe smiled and swirled a chip in dip before crunching into it.
“Well, what did they say? Are they going to be asshats or do they want to meet you?” Shonna refilled her glass of sangria.
“They want to meet me. I told them that I’m a whyr now and that Casgrove is a whyr town. They wrote back that they knew that Casgrove was whyr and that it doesn’t matter. They want to meet. I wrote back and we’re trying to arrange a date.” Chloe stared at her plate.
“That’s great. Are you still nervous about meeting them?” Penny twisted her empty wine glass in her fingers.
“A little. I don’t know how it will all come out.” Chloe bit her lip.
“We never do. We have to take the chance and wait, but as we said before, if it all goes wrong, we’ll be there.” Dixie put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder.
“I know you will and that’s a great comfort.” Chloe smiled. “So tell us about your work? I know you were ranting about it to your mother the other day.”
Dixie waved her hand. “Is nothing sacred? That woman will tell you anything.”
“What can I say? She loves me.” Chloe shrugged. “Aside from that, I knew you were having issues with a couple women.”
“It’s the principle of the matter.” Dixie pointed at Chloe.
“So tell us what’s been going on at work and stop whining because your mother talks to Chloe. I mean seriously. Why wouldn’t she talk to Chloe about it when you tell all of us almost everything?” Shonna rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, logic is not helping h
ere. Not when it doesn’t work both ways.” Dixie threw up her hands.
“What do you mean that it doesn’t work both ways?” Chloe scowled.
“How is it she didn’t tell me that you were all ready to start trying for baby bear when you found out earlier in the week about it.” Dixie leaned forward.
“She didn’t tell you, because I told you first.” Chloe laughed. “And you would have felt insulted if I hadn’t told you about it myself.”
Dixie growled. “Maybe.”
“Definitely.” Shonna finished another cup of sangria. “Now, tell us what’s happening. Something is off with you, because you’re nitpicking things that aren’t an issue.”
Dixie sighed and sat back in the chair. “Just some people being a pain in the ass.”
“Why don’t you explain how they’re being a pain in the ass and why it’s affecting you.” Leslie pointed with a ham wrapped veggie.
Dixie reached out and snatched it from Leslie’s fingers. She bit into it, downing it in a couple bites. Leslie sat there, staring at her.
“Don’t point something yummy at me unless you want me to steal it.” Dixie grinned and reached for another of the veggies. “It’s two women who try not to do anything at work. They have a history of calling in on weekends when they’re scheduled.”
“Ugh, I’ve had to work with a few people like that. It makes the day even harder.” Shonna shook her head.
“Les, we’re headed out to the deck to start the grill. Is there anything you need?” Archer poked his head into the room.
Leslie turned to him. “No, we’re good.”
“Good. Remember, we are eating barbecue for dinner so don’t fill up on snacks.” Archer wagged his finger.
“We’ll eat. Go on, light the fire. I have the potatoes and corn ready, like you asked. All you have to do is pull the corn out of the fridge and grab the tray of potatoes.” Leslie swept her hands in shooing motions.
“We’re going, woman. Later, we’ll see who’s throwing around those orders.” Archer’s eyes narrowed.
Staking Their Claim Page 14
