He wrapped his arms around her and pointed his finger down. “It’s okay,” he whispered. Sugar plopped on the ground, looking up, pleased she’d obeyed the command, and waiting for a treat. She wasn’t the only one. Raven followed her example.
Nick tried not to enjoy the sensation of Alexis in his arms, especially as both Jeremy and the chief were glaring at him. He tried not to sigh aloud, but the burden of what lay before him in the days to come felt heavy enough to bury him alive. Was anyone on his side?
* * *
Alexis stiffened. Nick Kendrick’s arms were around her, and her hands and face were pressed against his chest. She pulled away, her face hotter than the remaining blaze behind her. “Sorry.” Her eyes searched for the dogs. The offending black Lab that had jumped in her face lay on the ground like nothing had ever happened.
Someone cleared his throat and coughed behind her. She whirled around to see the chief behind the gate, arms crossed over his chest. “I think it’s time someone helped me out of here,” she said.
Jeremy opened the gate and blocked the animals from escaping as she slipped out.
“You have an alarm system,” the chief said to Nick. “I’m told Doc Finn never had one. Why did you feel the need to install it?”
“Doc Finn never had a sprinkler system, either,” Nick answered coolly. “If I didn’t have that, there would have been a lot of sorrow in this town. The practice needed some upgrades.”
Alexis looked between the chief and Nick. It seemed like an odd thing to ask. Doc Finn had been in practice for over forty years. Nick adding such features was reasonable.
“Since I store pharmaceuticals, I need to take precautions, so I got the alarm system.”
“Which pharmaceuticals were you worried about?” the chief volleyed.
Nick raised an eyebrow. “Tramadol, for one.”
“What’s that?” Jeremy asked.
“A pain reliever. It’s narcotic-like but it isn’t monitored like opiates, which can make it a target for some addicts.”
Jeremy and the chief shared a knowing look. Alexis couldn’t figure out why, though. It wasn’t as if Nick was a drug dealer.
“Do you stock something called carfentanil?” Chief asked.
Nick’s eyes went wide. “Elephant tranquilizer? No. I would have no need for that. I work with horses and cattle occasionally, but not anything of the size and weight to justify that.”
Alexis studied the stances of the men. “What’s going on? Why are you following this line of questioning?”
Jeremy’s young face looked like he’d aged several years in the last day. “There was an overdose a couple days ago. Our EMTs gave three doses of Narcan.” He turned to Alexis. “It’s like an antidote for opioids, only it didn’t work. We just got confirmation that the death was due to elephant tranquilizer.”
Nick leaned forward. “Was it mixed with heroin?”
Chief lifted his head in surprise. “How did you know that?”
“My brother worked for the DEA. That combination of drugs seems to be one of the latest highs sought after and also one of the more dangerous. Even in school, when we had to handle carfentanil, we needed to wear protective gear. In its pure form, it can be absorbed through the skin or by inhalation.” He shook his head. “It’s ten thousand times more potent than morphine. They put a miniscule amount in the heroin. But even then, the risk of overdosing, of having a bad reaction...” His voice trailed off, laced with concern.
The chief’s stance relaxed. “The DEA? Where’s your brother stationed?”
“He’s not. Drug runners killed him a couple years ago.”
Alexis barely registered the noises in the background. Even the dogs seemed to know to quiet down and give Nick his space. So his brother had died trying to get lethal drugs off the street.
A loud crash shook the ground. The back half of the veterinary hospital’s roof had collapsed. She wanted to cry for Nick. The strain on his face suggested that if one more thing went wrong, he would break.
“Doc Kendrick!” Marla, a woman Alexis recognized from church, rushed up in a rain jacket, baseball cap, T-shirt and polka-dot pajama pants. “We’ve got volunteers coming to take care of the animals. What else do you need me to do?”
Nick’s eyes hardened. He pointed at the barely smoldering fire behind them. “Our main concern is smoke inhalation. Ask the volunteers to give the dogs baths and let them sleep inside, preferably with a humidifier.” Marla’s scrunched up face matched Alexis’s confusion. “It’ll help them cough up anything in their lungs,” Nick added. “After that...well, we’ll take it a day at a time.”
The chief waved Nick to come out of the pen. Marla took his place as four more women and three men rushed to the scene. Nick gave them a small wave of thanks, then stepped aside to let them take it from there.
“Doc, hold up.” Marla spun around. “I found volunteers for all the animals we’ve boarded, but I didn’t know anything about this young Lab. Any medical considerations before I find her a place to stay?”
“She comes with me,” Nick said. Marla led Raven out of the pen with a leash someone had brought over. He accepted the leash and led her closer to the cops.
Alexis didn’t understand why he wouldn’t want to let a volunteer take care of her. Didn’t he have enough to deal with as it was? Or did he think she wanted to take care of the dog? He would be sorely mistaken. “Is this because I haven’t reached Theresa yet? I’ve left messages.”
“Raven’s a detection canine. Her nasal care will be a priority so her sniffing ability isn’t hindered. Until we get word from Theresa, I’d prefer to keep an eye on her myself.”
Nick joined the officers, but before the chief could say another word, Alexis rushed in. “Wait a second. Jeremy, why’d you even bring up elephant tranquilizers? Where is the silver Outback? I called you about the suspicious car, and you said you’d send someone. What happened?”
“Officer Sanders did a drive-by, Lexi. He didn’t—”
“It’s Alexis,” she interjected.
The chief and Jeremy shared a conspiratorial look as if she was overreacting. Well, she’d tried to get people to call her by her real name since she’d been back. And after the night she’d had, it was the least they could do to acknowledge her by her legal, adult name instead of the nickname she’d had as a child.
“Okay, Alexis,” Chief said slowly. “None of my men saw a silver Outback at the scene. We need to ask about the tranquilizer since Nick is a veterinarian and the only witness to the alleged drugs on—” he looked around for eavesdroppers “—the mayor’s property.”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” Alexis said.
The chief leaned backward and swung forward as if gearing up to tell her off. Instead he just blew out a breath of frustration. “I’m not accusing the man of anything, Lex—Alexis. I’m just gathering information.”
She would’ve taken a deep breath herself, but the wind had shifted and smoke tendrils were heading their way. “Well, how about gathering more information on the fire, then?”
Her mother had always told her she would make the perfect lawyer because the instinct to argue came to the surface in a heartbeat, but Alexis thought there was more to it than that. She gave in to the impulse when she advocated for someone, not only for the sake of debating. Nick tilted his head, studying her, but with no obvious emotion other than curiosity.
Chief raised an eyebrow. “Do you have more to tell me?”
“Yes. I saw a figure—a shadow running to the build...” She faltered. “Never mind. It was probably Keri running back inside to get the animals before someone blocked her in. And even if it was the person who barred the door and set the fire, I didn’t see any identifying characteristics.”
Though it did mean that whoever started the fire saw Keri run back
into the building before blocking her in. On purpose. Why would someone do that? Surely whoever did this didn’t mistake Keri for Nick. While it was possible they thought Nick was still inside the animal hospital, why not wait for the girl to leave? Unless... Nick wasn’t the target.
“What is it?” Nick put a hand on her shoulder. “You look as if you’ve figured something out.”
“Chief, you said that there was a hit-and-run. Both Joe and Raven were inside that car, right? Raven was also inside my car when the brakes went out, and she was inside the animal hospital when the fire started. Maybe the arsonist wasn’t trying to kill Keri or Nick. Maybe they were out for Raven.”
Chief raised an eyebrow. “That’s an awful lot of speculation without any facts.”
Nick’s face became animated. “Chief, you said yourself that Raven was going to be a gift that the town could never afford in the budget. In the next county alone, drug detection dogs sniffed out almost five million dollars in drugs within eight years. I know we’re a small town, but we’re also next to the interstate—The Corridor.”
Jeremy’s eyes widened. “We haven’t looked at it from that angle.”
Chief flashed an aggravated expression at Jeremy and shook his head. “That doesn’t seem plausible to me. You’re trying to give yourself hope that you’re not in danger, which is understandable. But I think we’re dealing with more than someone who has it out for a dog. I hate to break it to you, Lexi, but in the dark, you and Keri have the same build and hair length. No one has any reason to want to harm Keri. But if we assume you and Nick are targets and they thought you were heading into the vet hospital, it stands to reason they would think Nick was already inside.”
Nick took a step to the side and looked at her profile. He sighed. “I’m afraid he’s right.”
Dread weighed down her bones. She looked into Nick’s eyes but addressed Chief. “You’re saying we’re still in danger.”
The chief rubbed his forehead. “Do you two have somewhere you could go for the night? Somewhere in town most people wouldn’t assume you’d be staying?”
In other words, they needed to hide.
SEVEN
Nick waited in the car as Alexis had suggested. He struggled to stay awake and probably wouldn’t have succeeded if not for being keenly aware of how bad he smelled. Even his skin had the putrid scent of burnt plastic combined with wood and wet dog. Of course the last smell might have been due to the dog pressed up against his side in the backseat. At least she seemed to be breathing well.
Alexis opened the door at the back of the hotel. She leaned forward, a backpack looped over her shoulder, and looked both ways before she waved him to come toward her. He stepped out of her dad’s car before grabbing the duffel bag of clothes and toiletries she had gathered for him at her parents’ house before they’d left. By the time the firefighters and police were done with them, it’d been well past midnight.
Nick stepped through the entrance with Raven right by his side. He questioned whether he had the energy to make it through a shower before his head hit the pillow.
“I know the hotel receptionist from high school.” She hustled him into an elevator and rapidly pressed the button to make the doors close. “She was willing to put our rooms under fake names.”
“I’m pretty sure the button doesn’t respond faster the more you press it.”
She rolled her eyes. “But it makes me feel better.”
Far be it from him to argue with that. He would do anything to feel better at the moment, but his problem was more physical than emotional. His entire body hurt from the cliff incident as well as the fire. He reckoned his emotions were too worn out to make themselves known.
Alexis’s clothes and face showed the telltale signs of soot, the same as his, but somehow she still looked beautiful. “There’s something I’ve been wondering about,” he said.
She raised an eyebrow. “If after today you’re wondering about only one thing, then something is wrong with you.”
“No denying that.” He smiled as the elevator jolted to a stop. “It’s about you.”
The doors opened and she stepped out into the hallway. “Oh?” She didn’t slow her pace as she strode, glancing down at the numbers on the packet of keys she held and back up at the numbers listed on the doors.
“At the fire, you were quick to advocate for me.” In his opinion, it hadn’t gotten to the point of needing a defender, but he still appreciated the way she passionately took up his cause with the police. “It just made me wonder if you were reconsidering—”
Alexis stiffened and looked over her shoulder at him. “No.” She shoved the key in the slot and waited for the light to switch to green. She turned the handle and opened the door. “I haven’t changed my mind. I’m sorry I’m not up for going into more detail, but it’s personal.”
“I can honestly say that’s the first time I’ve received the ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ line.”
“You’re welcome.” She flashed a tired smile. “Everyone should hear that at least once in their lives. It’s part of getting old.”
“So you’ve experienced it?”
She looked at her shoes for a moment. “I plan on staying forever young.” She kept her head down, but her eyelashes rose slowly until she met his gaze and smiled. She turned her hand over so he could take his keycard. “Good night, Nick.”
He remained rooted to the floor as she gently closed the door. If he weren’t in such an exhaustion-induced fog, he’d almost have believed she had flirted with him. Raven shook, her entire body resembling a giant spinning brush. What remaining droplets she had on her fur flung onto his exposed forearm, as if she was trying to tell him he was way off base.
It was enough to snap him out of his stupor. “Let’s get both of us cleaned up and pass out.” First order of business was to take his clothes and tie them up in a hotel laundry bag. He couldn’t wait to smell something other than fire-tainted clothes and hair.
By the time he’d separately bathed and dried off himself and Raven, it was almost two in the morning. Raven had a short sneezing fit after her shower, which was probably the best thing for her after the smoke exposure. Nick examined her once more, struggling to keep his eyes open. Confident she didn’t need any more treatment, he passed out the moment his head hit the pillow.
Sleep came in fitful bursts as he woke up multiple times after experiencing the horror of his business going up in flames all over again. He’d close his eyes and try to picture something nice, like the river flowing over rocks, but those dreams quickly morphed into a repeat performance of running with Alexis and Raven away from gunmen.
The moment six in the morning came, he gave up on trying to rest. He wouldn’t get any answers about insurance until the holiday weekend was over. He wondered if there was an abandoned storefront that would serve as a makeshift practice. There would be so much to do next week. He needed a walk to clear his head.
Raven probably needed a break outside anyway. At least she seemed to have slept peacefully. Her breathing sounded normal, which was a relief.
He took the stairs to avoid other early risers. Using a back alley—the town seemed to have more alleys than streets—they walked to a drive-up coffee booth. The barista didn’t mind and even gave Raven a dog treat. He was glad Raven had enjoyed a full meal before the fire.
He loved the small, laid-back town, and such a small gesture was an example of why. There would be a long journey ahead to rebuild his practice at the same time he was campaigning for mayor. The thought overwhelmed him enough that he put it out of his mind. With two lattes and breakfast sandwiches in his hands, he returned the way he’d traveled, on high alert for anyone who might be watching him. The dog seemed relaxed, though, all the way to the room.
Only when he felt certain he heard Alexis moving around did he knock on the connecting doo
r. She wrenched it open. She was dressed in sweats herself, and her hair stuck up and out in every direction. Her wide eyes gazed at Raven. “Everybody okay?” She noticed the two cups in his hands. “My hero.” She grabbed one and greedily sipped it before her face flushed. “I’m sorry. Did it matter which one I took?”
He’d yet to meet someone who needed coffee in the morning as badly as he did. All those late nights studying in veterinary school had conditioned him to need it before functioning, even before getting dressed in the morning. He supposed law school had a similar effect on her. “Either one.” He grinned. “You can go back to sleep.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I was having a nightmare when you knocked.”
Nick sobered. The noise he’d heard had been her thrashing in a nightmare? It served as a reminder that they needed to be proactive to get their lives back. He waved his hand at the breakfast sandwiches on the table in his room. “Since we both can’t sleep...”
She left the connecting door open and eagerly sat down to eat.
He took a seat at the small desk on the opposite side of the room and pointed to the paper and pen. In small towns, sometimes an officer who had a knack for drawing would volunteer in a dual role as forensic artist, but to his knowledge, the Barings police wasn’t that fortunate. “How about we try again to sketch the drug scout? Tell me everything you remember.”
She swallowed and stared up at the ceiling. “He looked like an out-of-work cowboy.”
Maybe this wasn’t going to be as useful as he’d hoped. “I don’t remember cowboy boots.”
“No. They were brown work boots. But his stance, the faded jeans plus the green-and-brown flannel shirt made me think of it. Thin brown hair that was starting to recede emphasized his round face. No five-o’clock shadow, but he had stubble over his upper lip. I don’t remember the color of his eyes, just that they were a little too close together and had nothing in them but coldness.” Her voice shook slightly. She stared at the curtains but seemed lost in her memories.
Tracking Secrets Page 8
