Page 57 of High Intensity

“Drugged.”

“How?” Jillian wants to know, sitting on the floor with Nugget’s limp body in her lap.

“I let them out one more time at about midnight,” I inform her. “They looked fine when I brought them in, but I didn’t see what they were up to outside. It’s possible they ate something.”

Those guys could’ve tossed something in the yard to incapacitate the dogs. It makes sense. They would’ve waited until they were sure it took effect before making their next move, which apparently was to kill the power. That effectively disabled Jillian’s house alarm, which is hardwired into the electrical and does not have an alternate energy source. After that it was a matter of getting inside, which turned out to be too easy.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of the two when the cavalry rolled in, but I felt some satisfaction when the sheriff’s deputy was able to recover the gun the guy dropped when I winged him. There was also a blood trail they were able to follow to an empty house a couple of doors down. The owners have apparently gone south for the winter.

“JD is on his way with Doc Richards,” Bo announces. “She’ll figure it out.”

Janey Richards is our local vet, who took over for Doc Evans when he retired last year. She’s young, but she’s already proven she knows what she’s doing, looking after the horses at High Meadow.

Bo is sitting on the floor taking care of Hunter. He’d already been here working on the dogs by the time I figured it was safe enough to bring Jillian back inside. She’d surprised me, keeping a cool head as she went down to her knees by her dogs and asked Bo what she could do. Both of them have medical backgrounds and I guess when push comes to shove, some of the basic principles remain the same, whether dealing with people or animals.

Peanut, Emo, and Murphy—the three bigger dogs—are groggy but seem to be coming out of it. However, the two smallerones, Hunter and Nugget, are not faring as well. Their breathing is shallow and neither of them are responding to stimuli.

Twenty minutes later, the two smaller dogs are sufficiently stabilized for Doc Richards to take them back to the veterinary clinic, where she plans to keep a close eye on them. If not for the other three still needing care, I’m sure Jillian would’ve insisted on going, but Janey convinced her she’d be more useful looking after the bigger dogs, and she promised to keep her up-to-date on Hunter’s and Nugget’s conditions.

“Let’s pack up the dogs,” I tell her after JD and Doc leave with the two sickest animals.

“What do you mean?”

Bo, Dan, Jackson, and Jonas already left, but the sheriff’s department is still here waiting for the FBI to arrive. I would like to get Jillian out of here before they do, otherwise we’ll be stuck here all night. The feds can wait until tomorrow, when we’ve had some rest and hopefully know Jillian’s dogs are going to be okay. We won’t be able to get that here with people going in and out all night.

“This place will be swarming with law enforcement, and we need to decompress and find a quiet space for the dogs.”

For a moment, it looks like she is going to object before exhaustion slumps her shoulders and she shakes her head.

“Where are we going?”

“The ranch.”

Seventeen

Jillian

“No.”

I cross my arms over my chest and stare down the FBI agent.

Like hell I’ll be leaving my dogs behind, which is what would be expected of me if I volunteered myself into their protective custody.

Special Agents Bellinger and Cohen showed up half an hour ago to get our statements on what happened last night. Bellinger waited until the end to drop the protective custody bomb on me.

“Ms. Lederman…” he placates me. His tone is the equivalent of a pat on the head and has the absolute opposite effect.

“You have my answer. Unless you actually intend to take me into custody, we’re done here.”

I hear Wolff stifle a snort behind me. I’m surprised he hasn’t jumped in, but he seems content letting me take the lead.

“It’s safer for you,” the agent insists.

“I’d rather you keep Hayley safe,” I fire back.

“The girl? We have her safe,” he assures me.

“Good. Focus your energy and manpower on keeping her that way. She has no one else looking out for her.”

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