Nothing was out of place. It didn’t look as if anything had been stolen. Jace paused in the kitchen doorway. He’d skirt the island and look in the garage next.
Jace kept his eyes scanning the shadows as he slowly stepped forward. He stopped at the island and used the gun to sweep the area. Nothing. This was so strange. Jace took another step forward. His foot hit something hard and he fell forward. He tucked and rolled so the hit wouldn’t break anything. His breathing stopped as he hit the floor with his curved shoulder and rolled up with the gun aimed.
* * *
Stella’s leg bounced as she kept her hands on the steering wheel. Time seemed to have nearly stopped moving. While the clock in the SUV showed it has been three minutes, it felt more like three hours. She knew from experience it wouldn’t take long for someone to get here. Suddenly the front door was flung open and Jace raced out.
Nothing was going to stop Stella from getting out of the SUV. Not even a firing squad when she saw Jace running toward her with an unmoving Jimmy in his arms. The dog’s head hung limp over Jace’s arm, his body bouncing as Jace ran.
“Jimmy!” Stella screamed, her voice shrill with panic.
“He’s alive, but his breathing isn’t good. Get in the back, Stell,” Jace ordered as she turned and ran back to the SUV. She flung open the back door and crawled in. Jace nudged Jimmy’s head toward her as they scooted him onto the seat.
Jace climbed in behind the wheel and slammed the door shut. “Hang on.”
Jace floored the SUV. Stella braced her feet on the seat in front of her and hugged Jimmy to her as Jace tore down the drive.
“Hello? Ma’am? What’s happening?” It was the sheriff’s office secretary.
Jace tossed the phone from the cup holder and Stella scrambled to grab it. “Someone tried to kill my dog!” She burst into tears.
“Tell her to tell the deputies I’m taking you to the vet clinic. Then hang up and hold on.” Jace’s voice was calm but demanding. He was the anchor in the storm she needed as she repeated what Jace had told her and then hung up. “Hold on.”
Jace took the turn onto the main road on two tires. In the distance, she saw the flashing lights of the deputies, but they flew by heading in the direction of her house.
“Call Katelyn Davies’s cell,” Jace ordered his car’s virtual assistant.
The phone picked up after a couple of rings and Stella heard Jace’s Aunt Katelyn’s voice fill the SUV. “Jace! I swear I didn’t know what your mom had planned.”
“Someone hurt Stella’s dog, Jimmy,” Jace said in that same calm but direct voice he’d used on Stella. “I’m heading to your clinic now. ETA three minutes.”
* * *
“Marshall, I’ll be back!” Katelyn yelled as Stella heard the sound of running feet and then the jingle of keys. “Status?”
“I don’t see blood, but he’s unconscious.”
“Does he have any health issues?” Katelyn asked as Stella heard a car start.
“No. He’s six years old with no issues,” Stella said as clearly as she could as she cradled Jimmy in her arms. “He’s trembling,” Stella said before the tears caused her to bite her lip. She had to stay in control.
“Seizure?”
“I don’t think so,” Stella told her as one of the three deputies’ cars they were passing slammed on his brakes. Stella heard the squealing of tires, and when she glanced back, she saw the deputy was now following them. Jace’s cell phone began to ring, but Jace didn’t cut off from Katelyn to answer it.
“Could he have eaten something poisonous?” Katelyn asked.
“I don’t think so. I have everything locked up. I don’t leave any food out that he could reach. Everything is in containers. Jace, were any of them knocked down?”
“No. Nothing was out of place. But someone had broken into Stella’s house. They smashed a window and came in the front door.”
“Was your dog loose or in a crate?” Katelyn then asked.
“Loose. He never gets into trouble,” Stella answered.
“Poison,” Katelyn said with certainty. “They probably fed him treats so he would let them inside. Jace, do you have any hydrogen peroxide in your car?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes, but if you can, get him to swallow some. It will induce vomiting. I want to see what he’s eaten. I’ll see you there, okay?”
“Yup,” Jace said, hanging up. “My bag is behind you. Grab it and I’ll give it to him as soon as I get there.”
Jace’s phone rang again and he answered it.
“It’s Luke. I’m going to pass you to escort you to wherever it is you’re going.”
“Vet clinic.”
Jace hung up again and didn’t slow a bit as the cruiser flew past him. They raced toward Keeneston before making a sharp turn and then down another street.
“Hang on.”
Jace turned hard into a parking lot and stopped. A deputy Stella hadn’t met yet pulled open her door while Jace picked up Jimmy and placed in him the grass at the edge of the parking lot.
“Hi. I’m Luke Tanner. You must be Miss Winters. I’m here for your safety.”
“He has a gun,” Stella blurted.
“Miss Winters,” Luke said kindly. “Everyone in this town has a gun.”
“I need the peroxide!” Jace yelled and Stella was snapped back to focus solely on Jace and Jimmy.
“Let me, Miss Winters.” Luke grabbed the bottle and ran far faster than Stella could on her wobbly legs. She stumbled over and watched as Jace measured out a certain amount and then poured it into Jimmy’s mouth. He held her dog’s snout up and rubbed his throat. She saw when Jimmy finally swallowed, but the relief didn’t last. He didn’t throw up instantly like she thought he would. Instead, he just laid there as Jace listened to his heart.
Two headlights turned into the lot and then Katelyn shot out of the car, clad in a tank top, sleep shorts, and barefoot. Her blonde hair was up in a messy bun, and regardless of being in her sixties, she still looked as if she has just stepped off the set of a photo shoot. “Get him inside.”
Jace lifted Jimmy as Katelyn opened the door and flipped on the light. Jace followed her with Jimmy in his arms as Luke helped escort Stella. Stella couldn’t tell anything about the clinic as her eyes were glued to Jace and Jimmy as they made their way through an exam room and into the back.
“Put him here,” Katelyn ordered and Stella looked strangely at what looked to be an elevated shallow metal bathtub with a wire baking rack over it.
Jace stretched Jimmy out on the rack as Katelyn slipped her feet into rubber shoes and slapped some gloves on her hands. She opened Jimmy’s mouth and pressed her fingers to his gums. “See how my finger indentation doesn’t turn that much whiter and see how long it takes for color to fill in after I remover my finger?”
Stella nodded as Jace moved to stand by her. He wrapped his arm around her for support.
“It means he’s low on oxygen. What’s his name again?”
“Jimmy,” Stella said through the lump in her throat.
Katelyn shoved her face in Jimmy’s mouth. She pulled back his lips and examined his teeth. “Certain poisons have a scent. I don’t smell them here. I’m going to hook him up to an IV and start him on fluids while I draw blood and run some tests.”
Stella nodded again and watched numbly as Katelyn worked to save her dog. After a patch of hair on his leg was shaved and Katelyn had drawn blood from the dog’s neck, she inserted the IV. “I’ll be right back. Yell if anything happens.”
Katelyn rushed off and Stella stepped forward slowly. She reached a shaking hand out to rub over Jimmy’s head. “Fight, please. I love you. I’m so sorry this happened. Come back to me, Jimmy.”
The tears broke free then as Stella placed her forehead on Jimmy’s and cried. Jimmy suddenly jerked and Jace pulled Stella back. “He’s throwing up,” he told her and she held her. Stella gripped Jace’s arm hard as she watched her dog battle for
“He’s throwing up!” Jace yelled.
“Good. I’ll be right there,” Katelyn called back from the depth of the clinic.
Jimmy heaved and heaved and finally threw up. He didn’t respond even as he vomited. Jace leaned forward and stroked Jimmy’s head. He talked calmly to him as he looked down into the metal tub beneath Jimmy. The wire rack now made sense.
“What did Jimmy eat tonight?” Jace asked Stella as Katelyn rushed back into the room and looked into the tub.
“He hasn’t eaten yet. I was going to feed him when I got home,” Stella answered as she stepped forward to rub Jimmy’s neck.
However, she did notice the frown that passed between Jace and Katelyn.
“Do you ever feed him human food?” Katelyn asked.
“Maybe some cooked meat if it’s not overly seasoned, but not normally.”
“What about dessert foods?” Katelyn asked again.
“Of course not. Those are dangerous,” Stella said, pissed she was being interrogated over how she took care of her dog.
“It’s what I thought. Luke, you’ll want this for evidence,” Katelyn said. Stella had forgotten about the deputy and looked over her shoulder to find him half in the room and half out. He’d been guarding the entrance.
“What’s going on?” Stella wanted to know as Katelyn scooped some dark brown sludge into a specimen cup and handed it to Luke before doing the same with the sample she’d taken.
“I think someone fed your dog chocolate. Not just chocolate, but sugar-free chocolate,” Katelyn told her before turning into the cabinet and pulling out another IV bag.
“How do you know that?” Stella asked curiously. “Will he live?”
“He’s hypoglycemic. You know how people can go into a diabetic coma? He’s not quite there, but that’s what made him pass out. His blood sugar plummeted suddenly, leaving him unconscious. I’m giving him IV dextrose to try to stabilize him.” Katelyn hooked up the new bag as she explained. “The number one thing that causes these symptoms is xylitol poisoning.”
“What’s that?” Stella asked looked to see Jace nodding in understanding.
“Xylitol is a sugar substitute. It used to just be found in sugar-free gums and such, but now people are baking with it as they try to make everything sugar-free. I think someone baked brownies or a cake and stuffed it full of xylitol for the sole purpose of hurting your dog.”
That got Luke’s attention. “Why do you say that?”
“His blood sugar was so low that a small amount shouldn’t have caused such a bad reaction for a dog of his size. Even if it were just a bad reaction, someone still fed your dog chocolate with poison in it when they could have slipped the dog a sedative to get into your house. Or opened the door and let him run off. Maybe it’s because I’m married to the former sheriff, but this whole thing seems to have been done with malicious intent to me.”
“Would your ex-boyfriend do this?” Luke asked Stella as he head spun.
“He wasn’t Jimmy’s biggest fan, but he knew how much I loved him and just kind of ignored him. I think he sometimes felt like he was second fiddle to Jimmy, which should have been a warning sign for our relationship. But he never was mean to Jimmy. He never swatted at him or pushed him away,” Stella told the deputy.
“You don’t have to keep defending him.” Stella could tell Jace was angry. She was, too, but she just couldn’t see Rick doing this.
“I’m just being honest.”
Luke nodded, but Jace just clenched his jaw.
“Jimmy is waking up.” With that, all of Stella’s thoughts turned away from Rick and focused on her sweet boy. “I’m going to move him to a kennel,” Katelyn said. “I’ll stay with him for a couple more hours. Our night nurse will be in soon to take over.”
“Can I stay with him?” Stella asked as Jace picked Jimmy gently up.
“Of course,” Katelyn told her as she grabbed the IV bags.
Jimmy looked up at Jace and his tongue darted out to lick his chin. “You’re welcome, buddy. You’re such a good boy.” Jimmy’s tail barely wagged, but it was a wag and that let Stella finally take a deep breath. He was going to make it. She just knew it. Not only that, but talk about signs. Jace was giving his everything to protect her and her dog. That was a good man. She’d already known he was a good guy, but the sight of Jimmy licking Jace’s chin as he carried her dog. Then, too, the memory of Jace holding April and the two of them laughing, well, it shifted something deep inside her. It felt like a warm blanket wrapped itself around her and she wanted to snuggle into it. She was in love with Jace Davies.
Jace set Jimmy into a large kennel and Katelyn worked to get the IV lines just right. Jace reappeared with an old comforter that he folded in half and set down in front of Jimmy’s kennel. He held out his hand and together they sat by the open kennel door. The sound of Jimmy’s tail thumping against the metal kennel reverberated through the room.
“I’m sorry to bother you when you’re worried about your dog, but Andy just finished looking over your house and is on his way to talk to you. Is that okay?” Luke asked.
Stella had completely forgotten he was even here. “Yes, of course. Did they find something?”
“Yes and no,” Luke said vaguely. “He’s lead on the case so I’ll let him explain. And Jace? Ava said she can fill in for you if you need her to.”
“Ava is Luke’s girlfriend. She lives here, but she’s the doctor in Lexington I told you about,” Jace whispered to her before turning to Luke. “Thank you. I’ll call her if I need her to cover for me.”
Jace pulled Stella against his chest and bent his lips to her ear. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”
Stella nodded but couldn’t say anything because she wasn’t so sure it would be okay.
17
Jace listened as Andy told Stella that Rick had an airtight alibi. He saw her head shake and her shoulders slump in defeat.
“He could have hired someone,” Jace pointed out.
“We’re looking into it,” Andy reassured them.
Stella still hadn’t said a word as she sat on the folded-up comforter and gently stroked Jimmy’s head while Katelyn ran another blood test.
The front door chime went off in the distance and Jace moved to stand between her and the door. Andy and Luke were moving down the hallway with hands on guns as Jace slipped his hand under his shirt and wrapped his fingers around his gun.
“It’s Nabi,” Luke called out from where he was looking down the hall.
Jace watched as Andy walked in with Nabi, the head of security for the Ali Rahman family, and his teenage daughter, Faith, followed behind.
“Nabi, Faith, what you are two doing here?” Jace asked, stepping to the side so Stella could see the new arrivals.
“Nash is not available at the moment so I pulled the security footage from the cameras we put up the other day. And my daughter has a favor to ask,” Nabi said with a paternal glare.
Jace had known Faith since she was born and now she was his patient. It was hard to believe she was already driving. Faith looked guiltily at her father and then held out a piece of paper to Jace. “I start track and field this week and I can’t join the team unless I have a physical, but I didn’t get it set up with your office like I told my parents I would, and tomorrow is the deadline to have them turned in.”
Jace heard Stella smother a laugh behind him as he said, “My bag is in the car. Wait in the lobby and I’ll get your height and weight on the dog scale and give you your physical when I’m done here.”
Faith tossed her arms around him and hugged. “Thanks, Jacey. You’re the best!”
Stella waited until Faith was out of the room before she turned to him with a grin, “Jacey?”
“I used to babysit Faith. It was cute back when she was a toddler.”
Nabi shook his head and took a deep breath. “If at all possible, skip the teenage years when you have children. Do you know I called Ahmed and asked to borrow his drone the other night when Faith had a date with a senior on the basketball team?”
“You watched their date?” Stella gasped and Jace just shook his head. It was pretty par for the course in Keeneston to have overprotective fathers but Ahmed, and now Nabi, took it to a new level.
“I’m pretty sure every father does,” Nabi answered as if he were confused why Stella would even ask that. “Now, I have good news and bad news.”
“What’s the good news?” Stella asked as she stood up and came to stand beside Jace.
“It appears they didn’t go into your house,” Nabi answered as he turned his tablet around and pressed play.
“And the bad news?” Jace wanted to know as they watched a person in a black hoodie, jeans, face covering, and gloves walk up to the house. It seemed they carried a plastic container with them as they approached the door. They set the container down and used a planter to break the window. They reached inside and unlocked the door. The white mark on Jimmy’s face could be seen in the darkness as he approached the door. Jace, Stella, and everyone else crowded around to see the person open the container and set it down in front of the barking dog. Jimmy paused, sniffed, and then gobbled up the food. The person picked up the empty container, shut the door, and ran off camera.
“Their sole purpose was to hurt something Stella loved. And that is far more dangerous than a burglar,” Nabi warned.
Jace’s whole body tensed at Nabi’s words. “How do you know it’s not Rick?”
“He was at an expensive restaurant downtown for a late dinner with his new girlfriend. There’s video of it, they posted pictures on social media of their dinner, and the owner swears he was talking to the couple at the time the security cameras caught the person sneaking onto Miss Winter’s property about an hour and a half ago,” Andy told them. “Detective Braxton of the Lexington police was able to stop Rick and his date as they were exiting the restaurant and question him and the staff, and view the surveillance video.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t hire someone to do this.” Jace noticed that Stella was quiet and turned to her. “What do you think?”
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