Zane

by Dale Mayer

  The receptionist frowned. “If you’ll take a seat, I’ll find out when any of that group are coming in, and maybe I can find somebody to talk to you.”

  He nodded and headed toward a large bench against the wall. There he sat and quietly waited. When his name was called, he looked up to see it wasn’t the cop he’d given his statement to but one of the other men who had escorted the prisoner out. He walked forward, and the officer led him over to his desk.

  He pointed at a spare chair. “Take a seat. I thought you weren’t coming until this afternoon to sign your statements.”

  “I’m coming back with the vet at the end of the day,” Zane explained. “But we’re concerned about the safety of the clinic and the animals and people working there. I thought I’d stop in and see what we could expect from the intruder.”

  “He’s being interviewed this morning, with his lawyer in attendance, and we’ll have a better idea of what’s going on. He says he was after the dog, not the drugs, and didn’t give a damn about the clinic.”

  “Do you have any laws that stop him from shooting the animal or hurting him?”

  “The laws on animal abuse are extremely thin,” the cop said. “We’re trying to change it, but …”

  “Surely he’ll get charged for breaking and entering?”

  “Absolutely, particularly if the other clinic confirms it was him as well.” The officer looked down at the paperwork in front of him. “However, it’s a first offense and he’s likely to be released on bail. It should be more than a slap on the wrist for sure, but it depends on how the judge views this.”

  “When will we know?”

  “We should have more for you by the end of the day when you show up. But, if we don’t by tonight, it could be a couple days. Depends on how quickly he’s processed and bail set.”

  “Good enough.” Zane stood and walked away; then he turned and looked back. “Does the dog have any rights?”

  The cop looked at him, then slowly shook his head. “Not much.”

  “Pity,” Zane said. “He’s a vet too.” Something he should look into more. Or at least have Badger ask Commander Cross about that. It hardly seemed fair. But that was like so much in life. Rarely was there justice for those that deserved it.

  Chapter 8

  The end of the day couldn’t come fast enough for Holly. By the time she straightened from checking on the last surgery patient, her back was killing her, and her head was pounding. One of the surgeries had been delayed as the dog’s owner hadn’t followed the presurgery procedures. So no fixing the Lab’s leg today. She moaned. “Done.” She grinned at her assistant. “Thank heavens this last one went easy.”

  “You look like you’re pretty tired,” noted Beth, her surgical nurse, who came in just for surgery days.

  “I am,” Holly said with a brief smile. She glanced around. “But we did well today. Thank you for your help.”

  Beth gave her the same smile she always did. “You’re more than welcome. You know that’s why I’m here.”

  And Holly did know it. But she’d also seen a lot of assistants and surgical nurses who were here because of the paycheck, not because they cared. She considered herself blessed that Beth was one who cared.

  Holly walked over to the sink and washed up, pulling off her mask and gown. With her arms scrubbed free of surgical leftovers, she turned back to see the small Chihuahua being moved into his cage. They’d have to watch him for the next couple hours, but, with any luck, he’d go home tonight. It hadn’t been a major surgery, just a growth removed from the outside of the abdominal wall. Not that it wasn’t always serious, but it could have been so much worse.

  She checked his vitals once again. “Chico is doing well. Hopefully he can go home with his mom tonight.”

  “Maybe,” Beth said, “but you know how I feel about that. Beside Katch is still here too.”

  “You can stay if you want,” Holly said. “If Chico stays, you know one of us has to.”

  “I prefer to keep him overnight and to let him leave in the morning.”

  “Right,” Holly said. “We’ll check him in a couple hours and see how he’s doing.” She walked out, going to her office, brushing her hair off her forehead. She sat down, then realized she hadn’t picked up a coffee. That was something she really needed.

  Just then Mittle came in, bearing a hot cup for her. “I saw you go in without your coffee, so I figured I’d deliver.”

  “Oh, thank you.” Grateful, Holly took the cup and sagged back in her chair, putting her feet up on her desk. “Long day,” she said.

  “No longer than most others,” Mittle said. “But much worse because of not much sleep and the disruptions last night.”

  Holly nodded. “How is Katch doing?”

  Mittle grinned. “I’ve been back and forth a couple times. I can’t help it. Katch is very beautiful but looks like he’s had a rough time.”

  “He has, indeed,” Holly said. “After I have my coffee, I’ll check on him. Just needed five minutes to recoup.”

  Mittle walked toward the door, calling back, “Take your time. I’ll tell Zane that you’ll be ready in a bit.”

  “Is Zane here?” she said, dropping her feet to the floor and leaning forward in her chair. “If that’s the case, send him in.”

  Mittle shot her a cheeky look. “Somehow that’s what I figured you’d say.” She disappeared out the door.

  Holly groaned. The last thing she needed was her staff commenting on her love life. They had all been more than worried about her these last few years knowing what she’d been through. They had been instrumental in her making the effort to succeed here at her clinic. She took a sip of coffee as the door opened, letting in Zane. She smiled up at him. “How was your day?”

  “Better than yours, apparently,” he said, sitting across from her.

  When he studied her face, she schooled her features so she wouldn’t look quite so tired, but it was pretty darn hard when she was exhausted.

  “Sounds like it’s time to go home, grab some food and go to bed,” he said. “Although we need to stop in at the station too.”

  “Right. I’d forgotten about that part,” she said. “I have to check up on the patients, and I’ll leave Beth here on watch. She’ll call me if I’m needed.”

  “And Katch?”

  She lifted her cup. “As soon as I’m done with this, I was going to check on him again. How did you do with the police?”

  “Not very well,” he said. “There are only a few laws against animal cruelty.”

  “I know,” she said sadly. “We’re always up against a very different mind-set when it comes to animals. We know there’s a time when they need to be put down for their illness’s sake and a time when we have to consider human safety over an animal’s life, but I don’t think either apply to this dog.”

  “Neither do I,” he said. “So I’d like to get him as healthy as possible and find a better life for him.”

  “And how will you do that?”

  He shook his head. “I haven’t a clue.”

  “The dog could be happy here,” she stated. “We just need to get the shooter to leave.”

  “That would be ideal,” he said, “but Katch still doesn’t have a home.”

  “You could keep him.” She’d been uncertain about his reaction when mentioning this idea of hers, but he surprised her.

  “I could,” he said, “but, since I don’t have a home or a safe place for him, that’s hardly ideal. And I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to move back here either.”

  Her heart sank. She nodded but didn’t say anything. She was too tired for this conversation, and she knew she couldn’t hold back if it got truly personal. She had so much she needed to say, and yet, nothing would ever come out. So maybe the words didn’t need to be said at all. She finished her coffee, pushed her chair back and, with an attempt at a bright smile, said, “I’m taking a look at him now.”

  He stood. “May I come?”

  S
he considered the time, then nodded. “The girls should be done cleaning up after surgery.” She led the way to the back to the surgical room.

  Beth looked up and smiled. “Chico’s doing fine.”

  “Good. How about Katch?”

  Beth nodded. “Bettina has checked on him several times today. I updated the file, saying she upped the pain meds once, and then reduced them again when he seemed to be okay. I think he was just moving around in there and hurt himself.”

  “Has he been out?” Zane asked.

  Beth nodded. “We took him out earlier, he’s walking, but poorly. He needs to go out again.” She checked the clock. “I’ll do that when I’m done here.”

  “No need,” Holly said, opening Katch’s cage door. “I’ll take him out right now. Zane can help.”

  Beth stood back and watched, but Holly could feel her curious gaze going from Zane to her. Holly introduced them and said, “Zane is my brother-in-law.”

  Carefully they helped Katch gain his feet and then walk, a strap under his belly to help carry some of his weight as they went outside to the back run. With Zane taking most of the dog’s weight, they led him several times around the circle of the yard, giving him a chance to walk, to exercise the sore muscles, to smell some grass and fresh air and to finally lift his leg.

  After he went to the bathroom twice, and, with Zane still mostly holding him up with the belly sling, Holly bent and checked over his face. “How you doing, boy?”

  Katch just stood there and let her work on him.

  “He seems to be very docile right now,” Zane said.

  “It’s partly the medication he’s getting.” Holly checked his legs. They appeared to be scraped but were healing nicely. She searched on the side of his mouth where he had a bit of swelling. “Looks like he scratched the inside of his mouth too. But that’s healing as well.” She walked around the animal. “Can you ease up the sling? I want to see if he can support himself and for how long.”

  Zane slowly lowered the sling around the animal’s belly. Katch stood tall and firm on his own. And then he tried to take a step or two, managed it, but he was weak and wobbly. Without the sling there to hold him, he would have fallen.

  Holly nodded. “It’s progress, just not enough. Let’s get him back inside again.”

  They took him back and helped him into the cage. Immediately Katch collapsed far in the back of the cage and looked like he was snuggling in to sleep.

  Holly changed out his food and water, made a notation on the chart and then straightened. “Beth, are you okay for the first two hours?”

  “Might as well leave me here ’til midnight,” she said. “You can relieve me then.”

  Holly walked back into the office. “I think I need food first. What about you?” She turned to Zane, who stood with a frown on his face. “What?”

  “You have to come back at midnight?”

  She nodded. “It’s always like that when we have animals overnight. It’s actually nice of Beth to stay ’til midnight. Otherwise, I’d be camping out here all night.”

  “And then what? You get up two or three times in the night to check on them?”

  “Exactly,” she said. “I set an alarm clock every four hours. If I’m more concerned, it’s every two hours. And, if I’m really concerned, I don’t go to sleep.”

  “Then why don’t we stop at the police station first, then pick up some food, take it home, and see if you can get some sleep before your shift. I’ll wake you up before midnight, and you can come down.”

  She smiled up at him. “That’s not a bad idea. As long as I don’t get a second wind, I might just crash for a few hours when we get home.”

  “Come on then.”

  He reached out a hand, and instinctively she put hers in it. As she stared down at his hand, she gave a head shake. Remember, Holly. He’s leaving. He’s always left before, and this time is no different.

  He wondered at the look on her face when he grabbed her hand and led her out of the office. He knew they had an odd relationship, one that had taken a turn a few years back, and yet it, seemed to be coming back around again. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. And neither was he sure how he felt about moving back here. Now that thought tantalized him at the edges of his mind, making him consider if that was really what he was supposed to do. Not that Holly couldn’t practice as a vet elsewhere, but he was the one without a home, while she had a home, her clinic, her staff …

  It was almost like Badger had called it. Zane wanted to send him a text and tell him how he hated him for it, but, of course, that wasn’t the truth. If this opened up to something beautiful, then maybe he owed Badger something extra for it. But it was hard to see anything in front of him right now. Things were a mess. Although he’d found Katch, they’d found the dog in very difficult circumstances, and it certainly wasn’t an ideal start for the dog’s new civilian life.

  But Zane didn’t know what he was supposed to do about it. This War Dogs assignment was up for interpretation, based on the individual handling each file. It wasn’t like the government, Commander Cross or even Badger had given Zane strict parameters to work from. Hell, there were none at all. It was a case of check to make sure the dog was having a decent life. If not, then what? It seemed like Ethan had settled in with the dogs he had saved, turning it into a new business for him. Of course in Pierce’s case, he’d reunited the dog to its owner. But, in this case, there didn’t appear to be an owner. There’d been an adoptive family originally, but Katch never made it there. And that had been months ago. He’d likely been handed off to the wrong people over and over.

  A part of Zane said Holly was the right person to take care of Katch, but could she handle the dog? It was one thing to deal with a large shepherd when it was sedated on your operating table or drugged in your clinic, but it was an entirely different thing to have a shepherd that big and wild and free in your backyard who didn’t want to listen to your orders. And a one-hundred-pound woman walking a two-hundred-pound dog on a leash? Forget about it.

  He sighed and stopped at his truck at the passenger’s side. “I’ll bring you back at midnight, so we might as well take the one vehicle home.”

  She shook her head. “No, I’ll drive.”

  “You’re too tired,” he said, his voice stalwart.

  She glared at him.

  He grinned. “I know you want to be stubborn,” he said, “but let’s not take it too far.” He watched as her shoulders sagged, and he could see the fatigue settling in deeper. He opened the truck door for her.

  She nodded and hopped into the passenger side. He got in the driver’s side and headed to the police station, where they were in and out in under thirty minutes. Outside the station he asked, “So is there any decent take-out food around here?”

  “I’d prefer no pizza tonight,” she said. “There is Indian and Chinese and Greek.”

  “Objections to any of them?”

  “No, I just object to having to choose.” She smothered a yawn. “You’re right. I’m tired.”

  “Decision made then,” he said. “Indian. Where is it?”

  She gave him directions, and soon he pulled up out front. He walked into the restaurant, leaving her with her head leaning back, her eyes closed in the front of his truck.

  Inside, at the cashier, he asked, “What’s fast and ready to go?”

  “Butter chicken is ready. Roti is ready. We have a few other items here.” He pointed at the front, where there was a large glass case. “And then everything on the menu won’t take too long to get ready, maybe ten to fifteen minutes.”

  He considered his time frame. “Let’s just get butter chicken for two, roti, and some of those vegetables and pakoras.” As the man started to dish it up, Zane changed his mind. “Actually make it enough for four people.”

  Before long the order sat on the counter. Zane paid for it, picked up the bag, nodded his thanks and headed out to the truck. He hopped in and asked in a low voice, “You awake?”

>   “I am,” she whispered. “But only just.”

  “We’ll be home in five,” he said, “then dinner, and afterward you can crash.”

  She gave a light sigh, opened her eyes and smiled up at him. It was the same smile she used to give him that made him feel like he was the most special person in the whole world, how he felt so damn lucky because she would look at him that way. He hadn’t ever had anybody else give him anything close to that look.

  He turned on the truck, backed out of the parking lot and headed to her place, his mind in a turmoil, trying to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do at this stage of his life.

  “Did I do something wrong?” she asked, her voice hesitant.

  He shot her a quick glance of surprise. “No, of course not. Why?”

  “You suddenly withdrew,” she said, “as if you were uncomfortable or upset about something.”

  “The butter chicken is going cold,” he said with a half laugh. “No, I’m just fine.” He reached over and squeezed her fingers.

  She caught his fingers in hers and just hung on.

  He knew they were heading down a path, … but they both had to be sure they wanted to go there.

  Chapter 9

  “Holly?” A gentle murmur broke through her dream state. Her eyes flew open, and she stared up at Zane. She reached up. “You’re home?” She had a quiet joy in her voice.

  He frowned at her and sat beside her, his weight shifting her body. “I’ve been here all evening,” he said gently. “Time to wake up. You have to go to the clinic to relieve Beth from her shift.”

  Holly blinked up at him several times as she tried to remove the cobwebs to understand what he said. Finally it filtered back in. She groaned. “Wow. I didn’t know if I was dreaming. It was so lifelike, but from years ago, when once again you were gone and then suddenly came home again.”

  “It’s probably not all that far off to the reality of what you’re experiencing right now,” he admitted. “But I’m no longer in the navy.”