Pursue

by Vella Munn

  * * * *

  “Mia forwarded the pictures to us,” Jeff told Niko as he exited the agency truck. “Things like this make me sick.”

  “How is the foal doing?”

  Niko didn’t rush turning her attention from Jeff to Darick. She’d seen and talked to the big Oregon Fish and Wildlife officer enough times that she shouldn’t get hung up on those eyes, but she was. It wasn’t just that he outweighed his fellow officer by a good thirty pounds and was maybe three inches taller. Darick’s shoulders were impossibly wide, his gaze unrelenting. There was a don’t-mess-with-me attitude to the way he conducted himself and yet she’d sometimes sensed an underlying vulnerability. Jeff had told Mia there was something wrong with Darick’s back and he’d had at least one operation on it. Maybe that’s what it was—Darick didn’t know how to handle any kind of physical weakness so he buried it beneath masculinity.

  Not that it mattered.

  “Thankfully the colt’s still alive,” she said. “He nursed a little, but I don’t know how much got into him.”

  “The sooner we get the two of them to a vet the better,” Jeff said. “Damn, but she’s skinny.”

  “Yeah,” Darick muttered. “This is a lot more than the result of her pregnancy. She’s been starved.”

  Deliberately? No, she couldn’t wrap her mind around anyone doing that to a living creature. At the same time she couldn’t think of any excuse, not even poverty or illness, for letting an animal become so depleted.

  Instead of wasting time talking about someone who needed to have the shit beaten out of him or her, or asking questions about what she’d done, the men worked together to unhitch the single horse trailer and turn it around. After Jeff did the same to the truck, they hitched things back together. As concerned as she was for the mare that was trying to find something edible and the foal who had shown scant interest in the activity, Niko was relieved to see the men working so efficiently. She detected no weakness in Darick’s back, but he was probably well-practiced in keeping his limitations to himself.

  Jeff shook out a packing blanket that had been in the horse trailer and made a bed out of it. Darick picked up the little colt, carried him into the trailer and placed him on the blanket, looking for all the world like a man holding his newborn. She wasn’t ready for so much humanity in him, not after the way their relationship had started.

  She climbed in next to Darick and guided the spindly legs so they weren’t in danger of getting caught beneath the small body. Darick ran a big, strong hand over the satiny coat.

  “I don’t know,” he muttered.

  She didn’t need him to say anything more. The colt’s survival was far from a given.

  After she and Darick exited the trailer, Jeff led the mare into it. In addition to something padded for the colt to rest on, the men had thrown in some hay. The mare immediately buried her head in it. It took some doing, but Darick managed to find room for Misty behind the mare. Niko hated seeing the mare pay so little attention to her offspring. Maybe starvation had shut down the mothering instinct.

  “We’re out of here?” Darick asked. “You don’t have anything else?”

  Chinook had already jumped into the cab. “Nothing,” Niko said. She didn’t mention feeling as though she was leaving something behind.

  Darick slid behind the wheel and Niko pushed Chinook onto the floor and sat in the middle. Jeff was still settling in when Chinook planted her head on her lap and looked up at her accusingly.

  “I take it she isn’t used to being booted off anything she claims as her bed,” Darick said.

  “No, she isn’t.” Niko couldn’t think of anything else to say. Being sandwiched between two men who were officers of the law was a little disconcerting, but that wasn’t all. She shouldn’t have been more aware of Darick than she was of Jeff. Both men had commanding presences. More to the point, they’d dropped what they’d been doing because this was more important to them.

  “How did you find them?” Darick asked once they were underway. “Mia said to ask you.”

  “Yes,” Jeff said, “how did that play out?”

  So much for putting off the inevitable, not that she should’ve wanted to. After all, Darick and Jeff had seen the grays. They knew what the dogs were capable of.

  She placed her hands on Chinook’s head. “They approached me,” she started.

  “They? The grays, you mean,” Darick said.

  “Yes.”

  “Damn.”

  She didn’t want to look at Darick, yet she did. His eyes were almost as dark as his nearly black hair. In the truck’s cab, so close, his gaze seemed more intense than it had been earlier. It was as if he was asking questions without words, wouldn’t abide anything except the truth.

  “Tell us everything,” he bit out.

  Determined to meet his gaze, she detailed what had happened. No, she answered Jeff, she hadn’t seen any sign of the wolf-dog named Lobo or the two puppies that had been spotted with the grays, but the vegetation around the campground was so thick they could have all been around without her knowing.

  “Yes and no,” she said in response to Darick’s question about whether she’d been afraid. “At first it didn’t seem real, but it didn’t take long for me to grasp what I was looking at. Once I did, I decided to let the grays be in charge. No, ‘decided’ isn’t the right word. It was as if I had no choice.”

  “You didn’t think they might be after you?” Darick asked.

  “I’m not an animal abuser.”

  “No, you aren’t. I’m wondering why they approached you. Before, unless they were attacking, they avoided humans. ”

  “I was there. My having Misty meant I had a way to move the colt. Maybe they’re smart enough to figure something like that out. You aren’t thinking they might have been watching me for a while, curious about whether I’d ever looked sideways at an animal? Hell, I haven’t even gone hunting since I was a teenager.”

  “Why not?”

  They were supposed to be talking about how two massive gray dogs were responsible for her finding the pitiful animals in the trailer. This was hardly the time for a personal conversation, and yet she wished she knew more about Darick. Maybe this was what it took for that to begin.

  “Maybe my attitude toward hunting is something I picked up from my grandfather. He had a huge role in my growing up. He said that the more time he spent in the forest, the more he got in touch with animals’ spirits. I try to do the same thing. What I know is I’ll never kill unless I have no choice.”

  Her last sentence seemed to expand inside the confined space. Was that how it was for the grays? They attacked and killed because the compulsion was beyond their control?

  Jeff’s cell phone rang. Judging by his softened expression, he was talking to Mia. He brought her up to date then listened, nodding.

  “She got in touch with the vet and sent him the pictures,” he said when he was done. “Doc wants us to bring the mare and colt right to him.”

  It would be after office hours before they got to town, but Doc Beck obviously considered this an emergency. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what he’d say following his examination.

  “There’s something we need to decide on before we get there,” Darick said. “How much should we tell Doc Beck about how Niko found the horses?”

  Because her thinking hadn’t gone that far, she didn’t have an immediate answer. That didn’t matter nearly as much as getting mother and foal to help before it was too late.

  “As little as possible,” she said.

  Darick nodded. “That’s probably wise. Is that going to bother you?”

  “No.”

  “In other words, you don’t mind stretching the truth?”

  Was he judging her? If so, that was his problem. “If he comes out and asks for details I’m not going to lie. Does that meet with your approval?”

  “My approval isn’t the point.”

  Then what was? Maybe working for the state had turned Darick i
nto a stickler for following regulations.

  “I don’t want the press getting involved and people talking,” she added, “which might happen if Doc knows everything and decides not to keep it to himself.”

  “There’s something else,” Jeff said. “I’m thinking the three of us suspect this isn’t going to be the end of it. If the grays know who starved that mare…”

  “What if they don’t?” Darick asked. “If they’d attacked someone, we would know about it.”

  Not necessarily. Maybe whoever had neglected the mare lived alone or the grays had dragged him or her into the forest. It could be days before the guilty party’s body was found.

  Good. Let the bastard’s last conscious thought be that he would stop resembling a human being before anyone thought to look for him.

  But what if the grays didn’t know any more than she did about the identity of the guilty party?

  Then it was up to her to find out who it was, followed by—what? Calling animal control? Somehow letting the grays know?

  Watching them exact their brand of justice?

  Chapter Three

  “This is the worst case of starvation I’ve ever seen.” Doc Beck’s nostrils flared. “The mare’s body is using muscle mass in an attempt to keep her vital organs functioning.”

  Balling his hands served no purpose, but Darick couldn’t stop himself. Judging by his partner and friend’s expression, Jeff was struggling to control the same anger. Doc Beck had come out his office’s back door as Darick was pulling the truck and trailer into the well-lit, graveled parking area reserved for vehicles carrying larger animals. As soon as the truck had stopped moving, Doc had gripped the metal bars and peered in. He’d briefly studied his newest patients then directed Niko to unload her gelding. Once Misty was out of the way, Doc climbed into the trailer and started running his hands over the mare’s sides.

  “What about the foal?” Niko asked. “Do you think he’ll live?”

  Darick wanted to caution Niko that it was too early for Doc to have an answer, but surely she knew. He didn’t blame her for wanting and needing hollow reassurance. He wondered if she’d get through the night without a nightmare, assuming she could fall asleep.

  “I’m not making any promises,” Doc said. “Has he stood?”

  Looking grim and a little frayed, Niko explained that she’d been able to get the colt on his feet but had had to support him while he nursed. She wasn’t sure how much nourishment he’d gotten into him, not enough.

  “He shouldn’t have been born yet,” Doc said as he backed the mare out of the trailer. When her hind legs threatened to collapse, Darick positioned himself at her side, not that he stood a chance of keeping her from falling.

  “He’s here because his mother’s body made the decision to abort in order to keep her alive,” Doc continued.

  Feeling sicker and angrier by the moment, Darick climbed into the trailer and scooped the little colt and blanket into his arms. His surgically repaired back protested, but he didn’t care. He lowered his head and inhaled the scent of new life, then carried the baby to within a few feet of its dam. The colt made no attempt to break free, but his head was up.

  “Take him inside.” Doc indicated the door he’d used. “Thanks to the pictures Mia sent, we knew what to expect. My tech was getting ready to leave but volunteered to stay. He’s in the surgery room setting things up so we can start getting fluids into this baby.”

  Darick hated separating mother and child, but the pitiful-looking mare barely acknowledged her offspring. He had the sinking suspicion that the colt, if he lived, might never be able to nurse from the creature that had given birth to him.

  Niko opened the door for him and trailed close behind as he walked down a short hall to a brightly lit room dominated by a metal table. A thin young man wearing a wrinkled white shirt patted the table. Several bags containing liquids were suspended at one end and there was a small piece of fabric with needles on it. He hated the thought of those needles trying to find a tiny vein.

  “Hold on, baby,” Niko whispered. “You can do this. Please, you can do this.”

  “There isn’t anything for you to do right now,” the young man said once the colt was on the table with the blanket still under him. “I’ll start the fluids. Doc will be here as soon as he can. He’ll need room to work.”

  In other words, Niko had gone from being rescuer to being in the way. Darick wasn’t sure she comprehended what the tech was trying to tell her, so he touched her shoulder. She stiffened and glared at him.

  “I’m not going to leave,” she snapped.

  “Yes you are.” He increased the pressure on her shoulder. “We both are. You’ve done your job. Now let the vet staff do theirs.”

  “When I first saw him, I was scared he was dead,” she muttered. “Then he opened his eyes. They were bright. He was so helpless.”

  The colt was still helpless and that had to be killing Niko—him too. Anger bubbled just beneath the surface. If he felt this way, Niko must’ve been having an even harder time controlling her emotions. He didn’t know much about her but guessed she needed to do something physical if she stood a chance of getting through this. Not judging his actions, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and propelled her toward the door. She didn’t lean into him, but neither did she twist away. Her sweatshirt had added substance to her, but she was slender, almost thin beneath the layers. Her cheeks were nearly colorless, in contrast to the dusky flesh he remembered. Her long ebony hair was caught in a thick braid that hung between her shoulder blades. Even with everything he was trying to deal with, he wished he could stroke the braid to see what it felt like, nothing more.

  Returning to daylight helped. He hoped she felt the same way. Still touching her, he took in their surroundings. Except for the truck and trailer, the parking lot was empty. There was a small barn not far from the main building. He couldn’t tell if any of Doc’s other patients were in there. Jeff held the mare’s halter while Doc Beck pressed a stethoscope against her side. Darick studied the vet’s face but couldn’t determine what he was thinking. Probably Doc was locked into his professional role. Still, it couldn’t have been easy for him to keep his emotions under wraps—for any of them to.

  “Are you okay?” he asked Niko.

  “No, I’m not. How can I be?”

  Okay, stupid question. Deciding not to make it any worse, he let go of her. She took a sideways step then stopped and wrapped her arms around her waist.

  “Her heart rate is accelerated,” Doc said. “That’s an indication she’s in pain. My other tech will be here as soon as she checks on her kids. Obviously two critical patients are more than I want to deal with on my own.”

  Niko made a faint sound that left no doubt she was experiencing her own brand of pain. He didn’t try to stop her from approaching the mare, only watched with his heart heavy as she wrapped her arms around the animal’s neck.

  “You fight, got it,” she muttered. “I didn’t go to all that trouble just to have you give up. You owe me. And your son needs you.”

  During the first real conversation, if it could be called that, he’d had with Niko Fox, she’d accused him of using something she’d told him in confidence to have a woman thrown in jail. He’d tried to explain himself, but she hadn’t been interested. At the time, he’d had all he could do not to get angry. Despite her undeniable attractiveness and lack of a ring on her left hand, he’d concluded it was best to keep his distance from the woman.

  Then all hell had broken loose this summer and they’d been forced to spend time in each other’s presence. Fortunately, life had gone back to something resembling normalcy.

  Considering the ramifications of what had happened today, normal might never happen again.

  “When are you going to contact the humane society?” Niko asked Doc. “I’d be happy to—”

  “At the moment there’s nothing to tell them.”

  Darick exchanged a puzzled look with Niko. “What do you mea
n, nothing?” he pressed.

  Doc lifted the mare’s eyelid and studied what he’d exposed. “Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with animal neglect. I take it you don’t have any idea who the owner is.”

  “No, I don’t,” she said.

  “Unless we can identify the owner, animal control’s hands are tied.”

  “No.” She hissed. “That’s not right. That bastard can’t get away with—”

  Doc jabbed a finger at her. “I hope to hell Hank can build a case he can take to court. I intend to call him once I’ve completed my initial examination and done what I can to stabilize these two, but keeping them alive comes first.”

  “Hank?” she asked. “He’s, what, one of the humane society’s cruelty investigators, right?”

  “Not one of. He’s the county’s only official investigator.”

  Darick understood what Doc was getting at. The county was sparsely populated, with a town that would never qualify as a city. A fair number of people lived beyond the town limits on the quiet roads that wandered through valleys and hills. Those folks were independent and isolated by choice. Hank had told him it was nearly impossible to get the rural residents to cooperate during his investigations.

  “I’m not leaving until the other tech gets here,” Jeff said. He lightly rubbed the mare between her ears. “I’ll have Mia pick me up. Darick, why don’t you help Niko get her horse and dog home? Niko, leave your contact information here so Hank knows how to get in touch with you.”

  “Leave? I can’t—”

  “Yes you can,” Darick interrupted. “You’re looking pale. When did you last eat or have something to drink?”

  “I don’t give a damn about me.”

  Instead of telling her she shouldn’t think like that, he pointed at her horse. Despite the bit between the gelding’s teeth, he was pulling weeds from the edge of the parking lot.

  “He needs to be watered and fed. So does your dog.”

  Niko didn’t immediately respond, not that he blamed her. She wasn’t the only one having trouble keeping it together today.