by Emma Renshaw
“Appreciate it.” He flicked his fingers to wave goodbye before turning and striding out the door. My heartbeat slowly returned to normal. I picked up the glass of whiskey Owen had dropped off while I was distracted and tossed the liquid to the back of my throat.
“What?” I asked as I set it back on the table. I felt the gaze of each person at the table. Outside of work, I had one mood—happy-go-fuckin’-lucky. Even at work, I was focused. Panic? Never. Each person at this table knew that, and I didn’t like their eyes on me, waiting for answers that I didn’t want to give them.
“You knew our new client?”
I licked my lips and met Roman’s stare again. “Sort of. She’s Pepper Jack’s vet and trainer.”
“She going to train him not to pee in my office? Not that it matters, that dog isn’t coming back to the office.”
I shrugged again, but more lightly this time, as the tension eased from my shoulders. “We’ll see.”
“Is that all?” Harper asked. My eyes cut to hers. She was smiling, with an arm wrapped around one of Roman’s.
“We went to high school together, but I didn’t know her back then.”
“Is she pretty?” Ava asked. Hudson’s arm was wrapped around her shoulders. Ava’s gaze was darting among all the women at the table. They’d been trying to set me up for a long time.
Roman scoffed. “That doesn’t matter. She’s a client.”
Harper laughed. “I was too. Didn’t stop you.”
“You were never a client. You were something else and that’s different.”
Harper rolled her eyes.
“Is she pretty?” Ava asked again. Hudson chuckled and kissed the top of Ava’s head.
“Yeah,” I said. “She’s a client. That’s a line I won’t cross. She needs my help. And she’s Pepper Jack’s vet, so I’m her client. And I’m guessing that’s a line she won’t cross.”
I turned my attention toward the bar and froze. I’d been coming to this bar for years, often multiple times a week. I’d sat at this table with my friends often, and I knew this was a first. Caroline was sitting on a barstool looking at the drink menu in front of her. If she had been here before, I would’ve noticed her. “Going to grab another drink.” I stood and walked toward the bar. Caroline was the center of my focus. Every single one of her curves was on display. Her dress was tight, cinched in on her narrow waist and flaring out at her hips. Her long, smooth legs were crossed and dangling as she sat on the stool. The Edison bulb above her seat was casting a glow on her dark chocolate hair. She was playing with a necklace sitting at the base of her throat as she read the menu in front of her. My gaze coasted up and down her body, to her face, to the slender column of her neck. Each perusal caused my thoughts to become dirtier and dirtier.
Within the last few steps of my approach, as if she heard me and my thoughts, her head popped up and her gaze swung in my direction. Her cheeks instantly filled with color. “Kiernan.”
I bit back the groan. My name from her lips, in a breathy whisper, was almost too much with the thoughts that were flying through my head. As much as I was trying to keep her inside the client box in my mind, she was becoming so much more. And it was becoming harder to contain my thoughts. “Can I buy you a drink, Caroline?”
She swallowed and laid the charm on the necklace she’d been fiddling with on her chest. “I’m waiting for my friend.”
“I can keep you company until she gets here.”
Caroline licked her lips and slowly nodded. “Okay.”
Owen was behind the bar grabbing a few drinks. I motioned him over and waited for Caroline to order before ordering another drink for myself. I lowered my voice, leaning toward her, and raised my brows. “I have a confession.”
She bit her lip to stop the smile. I wanted to pull her lip from her teeth and beg her not to stop any smile of hers.
Client.
Client.
Client.
I reminded myself over and over again. And not only was she a client. She’d come to our office for help because some fucking creep had been getting off on watching her, violating her safety. I wouldn’t be that guy. She didn’t need me hitting on her at every turn when she was reaching out for help.
“Uh oh. Do I even want to know?” And she finally released a full smile before it disappeared and she frowned, studying my face. She pointed a finger at me. “Wait, if you are about to confess that you dropped poor Pepper Jack off at a shelter because you couldn’t handle him, I won’t accept that. A dog is a commitment for its entire life. You and I will leave here right now and go get him if that’s your confession, Kiernan Brooks.”
I laughed. “No. Not even close. Pepper Jack may end up without a home one day, but I’ll be with him, and the only reason we won’t have that home is because he ate it. Destroyed it. Or whatever else he’s going to think of next.”
She chuckled and took a sip of the wine Owen had set down in front of her. “Good.” She took a deep breath. “Alright, lay it on me. What’s this confession?”
“Found a copy of our senior yearbook.”
She groaned, covering her face with her hands. “I figured you’d do that. Did my picture ring any bells?”
“Yeah,” I said. “We had chemistry together. We were even lab partners once. Wish I would’ve recognized you right away. Your features are the same, but you are different.”
“You remembered that?” She fiddled with her necklace again.
I nodded.
“I’m shocked.”
“Why?”
“You were always the center of attention, the life of the party, living life like you didn’t have a care in the world and all of it was easy for you.”
“We’re not all what we seem, Caroline.”
“Hey.” I glanced over my shoulder at the new voice. A woman stood next to my stool watching Caroline and me.
“Hey, Daphne. This is Kiernan. He’s helping me with that…” Caroline trailed off, glancing around the bar. “Computer issue.”
I stuck out my hand. “Nice to meet you. Kiernan Brooks.”
“Daphne,” she said and smiled. “Thanks for taking care of my girl. Are you sure you sit behind a computer though? Anyone ever tell you that you should be a model?”
Caroline shook her head. “Nope. Don’t even think about it, Daphne.”
Daphne pouted. “Fine, but only because he’s helping you.”
“Have a good night, ladies. Enjoy your drinks.” I winked at Caroline before turning away and heading back toward my table. Roman stopped me halfway there with his arms crossed over his chest.
“We have rules,” he said and glanced over my shoulder. I knew he was referring to Caroline.
“I know the rules, Roman. And I know that you trampled all over them to get what you wanted.”
He shook his head. “That was different.”
“Maybe this is too.”
12
Caroline
My shoulders sagged as I leaned back in my office chair and took a long sip of my coffee, which was now room temperature. I’d already reheated it three times that morning, but I hadn’t been able to drink more than a few sips while it was still warm. I fought the urge to close my eyes; if I did that, I would be asleep in seconds. A lack of sleep due to feeling unsafe in my home, even without the laptop there, and due to the insane schedule here. I was running on fumes. I glanced at the couch in the corner of my office and frowned. I sighed. A nap sounded like the best idea in the world, but I didn’t have the time.
I took another sip of the coffee, hoping the caffeine would kick in, but this type of tiredness—I wasn’t sure there was anything that could fix it. The chair creaked softly as I spun around and faced the computer sitting on my desk. My gaze flicked up, making sure the bit of opaque tape covering the camera was still there. I didn’t want to take any chances. The local news site loaded, and I skimmed the headlines looking for details about the missing vet, Leah Velasquez. In the days since her disappearance, t
here hadn’t been a lot of information shared. Only videos of her family begging for her safe return. The media and public had been pointing fingers at the ex-boyfriend.
I’d met her a few times through conferences and local jobs. Leah had recommended my dog training class to a few of her clients. She was the only doctor in her practice so, now that she was missing, her patients had been split among three other vets in the area. I was one of them. I wanted to help her in any way possible, but with this new workload and thoughts of what if something happens to me?... Hell, even if I were sick for a day—there would be no one to cover me. I needed to truly start thinking about hiring another vet.
Alicia burst through my office door. Her chest was heaving with every breath she took. I rose from my chair. “What’s happening? What’s going on?”
“He is out of control,” Alicia whisper screamed. She glanced into the hallway and shut my office door, and she crossed the space in two strides. Her hands curled on the back of the Kelly-green chairs in front of my desk. I was still standing, ready to run out of here with whatever news she brought.
“Who’s out of control? An animal? Is it in a room already or still in the waiting room? If it’s in the waiting room and all rooms are full, we may have to kennel it until something frees up. With how busy it is, we can’t have an animal hurting others in the waiting room.”
“I’d love to kennel him.” Alicia huffed. She wiped her forehead, brushing aside some of her tight curls. “That was inappropriate.”
“I’m confused.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“All the animals are fine. It’s Dean. I can’t brush his behavior aside anymore.”
“Oh,” I said. Dean Stevens, another veterinary technician, had been a thorn in my side. It had been all too easy to brush aside a joke here and there. I’d regretted brushing them aside and forgiving him when he apologized, because now his behavior was amping up. He would constantly badger all the female employees to go on a date with him. Including me. “What did he do?”
I knew he needed to go and, honestly, wasn’t sure why I’d waited this long. Maybe the busy schedule, but that wasn’t an excuse. I squeezed the bridge of my nose.
“I caught him taking pictures of me bent over.”
I stared at Alicia in shock. While he had been flirtatious, made inappropriate jokes, and annoyed the staff, he had never crossed into territory like that as far as I knew. He had to go. And it had to be now.
“That’s sexual harassment, Alicia. Would you like me to call the police so you can file a police report?”
She swallowed. “No, but if he continues to work here, I won’t be able to work here anymore. I could brush off his attempts to ask me out. I thought he was trying to be funny and make friends, but now I’m just creeped out.”
I nodded. “I understand. I’m so sorry that he did that. Can you have one of the others working at the front call one of Dr. Velasquez’s technicians? I know they are looking for temporary work until this is solved and Dr. Velasquez comes home safely. I’ll need someone to come in.”
“Thank you.” Alicia nodded. “I’ll call someone right now. I have some friends over there.”
I followed Alicia to the door. She huffed when we both spotted Dean crouched in front of the kennels that lined a far wall. I patted her on the shoulder. “Take a break if you need to or a long lunch. It’s on me today.”
Tears flooded Alicia’s eyes, but she blinked them away. “Thank you.”
I waited for Alicia to step into the front lobby before I approached Dean. “Dean, I need to see you in my office immediately.”
His head popped up and he grinned, not catching on to my foul mood. At a leisurely pace he strode across the space between us. I turned on my heel, stepped into my office, and held the door for him.
“What’s this about? Finally ready to take me up on my offer to take you out for lunch?” He winked and I barely held back my repulsed shiver.
“Dean, please take a seat.”
He did, leaning back into the chair with his legs spread and his fingers playing with the scruff along his jaw. He was the epitome of casual. I sat in my chair, folded my hands on the desk, and looked him in the eye. “Dean, you are a good veterinary technician. You work well with the animals and with their owners. However, you do not work well with our female staff.”
He started to argue, but I held up a hand silencing him and kept speaking. I wouldn’t let him stall me. He’d been here for far too long, and it was time for him to leave. Immediately. He wasn’t the first person I’d fired, but it was the first time it had happened in the middle of the day. I usually waited until all the patients had left and it was a quieter environment. Not this time.
“When you started here, you were friendly and kind. I think that’s what made it easier to brush aside jokes and inappropriate behavior until it escalated. I can’t allow this to continue at my practice. You were caught taking pictures of a female employee as she bent over. You are fired. Effective immediately. You may gather your things and leave through the back entrance.”
Dean fumed in the chair across from me. The casual pose was gone. His fists were clenched on his knees and he was scowling at me. “You’re going to take that bitch’s word over mine?”
“This is not up for discussion, nor is it only due to this one incident. It has been building over time due to your behavior. I have asked you repeatedly to stop flirting with the staff, asking them out, and making inappropriate jokes. You would stop for a while, until it would slowly start to happen again. We have been so busy that I fear I’ve let your behavior slide for too long. I’m unwilling for that to happen. Please collect your things and leave. I will escort you. I will also not hesitate to call the police if you do not leave cordially.”
Dean jumped up, kicking the chair to the floor behind him. I stared at him, not giving in or giving him a reaction. I knew that was what he wanted, and he wouldn’t get it from me. I strode across my office to the door and opened it.
“I don’t have anything to grab,” he muttered.
I nodded and walked down the hallway in front of him, keeping my head slightly turned so I could keep an eye on him in my peripheral vision. I popped open the back door and let him pass through. “Your I.D. badge.” I held out my hand.
He ripped it off his shirt and flicked it at me. It bounced off my leg and lay next to my feet. I closed my hand, bringing it down to my side, as I watched him walk to his car and peel out of the lot. I bent to pick up the badge and released a long shaky breath as I walked back to my office. I placed his badge on my desk, grabbed my white coat from the back of my chair, and strode toward the evaluation rooms. The two-minute break I’d allowed myself for coffee had ended up being longer, and now I had multiple visits waiting on me. But that needed to be done immediately.
The next time I was able to breathe was the end of the day. The staff had already gone home; it was just me, sitting in front of my desk putting the last touches on the day’s paperwork. Tabitha, the technician Alicia had called, had worked perfectly through the rest of the day. I’d asked her to stay on temporarily, until Dr. Velasquez returned. I wouldn’t let myself think she wasn’t coming back. I barely knew her, we’d only had professional conversations, but something about her connected with me. I didn’t know if it was because I was always struck my how similar our features were when I saw her picture splashed across the Austin headlines or if it was because she was a single female business owner, working with her love of animals, and went home alone every night.
It was too easy to put myself in her shoes and imagine that it could’ve been me, so she was coming home. And she would come home safe. I shook away those thoughts and hit enter as I finished setting up Tabitha on our pay system. When Tabitha left to go back to Dr. Velasquez’s practice, I would start looking for a new tech and a veterinary partner.
I hung my lab coat on the golden hook on the back of my door, grabbed my bags, set the alarm, and left, locking the office doors behind
me. I hiked my heavy bag higher on my shoulder and kept my face down as the wind in the parking lot kicked up. It was late, but there was still daylight from the late summer sun. I glanced up as I approached my car. It was the only one left in the lot. The locks clicked as I unlocked it, and I set down my bags in the back seat. Sitting on my driver’s seat was an envelope. I glanced around me, my heart starting to pound.
The wind kicked up again. I yelped as the chain link fence alongside the neighboring property creaked with the force of the wind. I slid into my seat, shut the door, and engaged the locks on the car. The envelope was sealed, but there wasn’t writing on the outside.
My car had been locked. I was sure of it. It was locked, so how in the hell did this get inside my car? My hands shook as I ripped open the envelope. My throat was dry, and it was getting harder to breathe as my anxiety and fear clung to me.
I pulled out three things: a thick piece of cardstock with a typed message and two pictures.
You won’t get rid of me that easily. I’ll always find you.
I didn’t want to see the pictures, but I knew I had to. Slowly I lifted the cardstock and laid my eyes on the first black-and-white picture. It had been taken from above, from the corner of a room. I knew exactly where, because I’d selected that spot for the security cameras inside the office.
I was reading through a chart on a tablet. My finger was poised over the screen, ready to scroll down as I stood in front of an examination room door.
I went to the next picture. Again, it was me, but this time I was looking up, like I had accidentally turned on selfie mode on the tablet in my hands. There’d been a faint line between my brows as I read the screen, and the camera on the device, unknown to me, had taken my photo. This person really could find me everywhere. First my home, then my business, and finally laying the evidence of how far they would go in my locked car.
