Page 43 of No Bones About It

Troy laughed and peeked to make sure Nina wouldn’t hear. “You don’t appear to be too busy to make time with a certain veterinarian.”

The others laughed, and he shook his head but didn’t bother to hide the grin. “She’s way prettier than you are, Epic.”

The good-natured ribbing continued as they worked out how tohook up all the equipment and how to work everything. The guys had a good knowledge base because they’d brewed two different batches in the shed on Sean’s land.

He was glad he actuallyhadstarted the brewmaster course and brushed up on the beer-making process, so the words they threw around made sense. Flow meters and mash tun and malt mill. It was a whole new language to learn. And a lot of fun.

It had been years since the six of them had worked on a project together. Arrow still led the team in that quiet way of his. Epic cracked jokes and kept everything light. Falcon wanted to ignore the instructions and just get to it already. Slick rolled his eyes and meticulously read out each detailed instruction, probably to drive Sean nuts. Garrett and Oz were the quieter ones. Same as before, but different.

This time, their mission wasn’t about saving lives and taking down assholes. They could relax and have fun. Moving to Phail had been a hell of a good idea.

Arrow’s phone rang, and he moved outside to take the call. When he returned, his face was grim. He moved straight to Garrett. “That was my FBI connection. We need to talk.”

Kimi hated putting animals down, especially if they hadn’t lived a full and happy life. This morning, she’d had to deal with two.

A skunk who’d run into the road and had far too many internal injuries to fix. That had been sad enough.

Then Floyd Macmillan had called her, voice shaky and desperate. The dog he’d rescued a few months back had panicked when one of the farm machines had backfired. Poor Crispy had rushed into the path of the farmer’s tractor and Floyd hadn’t been able to stop in time. Even if Kimi had been there when the accident happened, she wouldn’t have been able to save the dog. The stoic farmer had sobbed without shame when she’d eased the mutt over the rainbow bridge.

Thankfully, she’d been able to save a lamb that had a nasty bite very near its femoral artery. The poor thing needed the cone of shame tostop pestering at the stitches, but it would survive. The rest of the lambs and ewes had been safe and healthy.

Heart heavy, she climbed into the truck to head home. She needed a dose of happy. Seeing Garrett and his shadow, Olaf, should provide exactly that.

As she started up the truck, her phone beeped with a text. The pygmy goats would arrive within the hour. And that eased her heart a little more.

On the drive home, her mind wandered again to the dogs out at John Mead’s compound. After talking with the FBI, she’d grudgingly agreed to keep her nose out of it and let them handle it. She’d offered to help with housing and rehab of the dogs but hadn’t received a firm response. Would they even bother to tell her the result of their investigation? How was she supposed to cope without knowing what happened to them?

When Kimi pulled into her yard, she backed into the garage, a habit she’d forced herself to develop. It was a pain getting the truck in and out, but if she had been spotted on one of her recon or rescue missions, it was an extra layer of protection.

After she locked up the garage, she spotted Garrett and Marcus heading her way, with Olaf right at Garrett’s side.

The image of the two strong, confident men and the newly healed dogs evaporated a bit more of the sad, but then she caught their expressions. Grim. Angry.

She hadn’t ventured on any midnight forays since the conversation with the FBI, so she didn’t think they were pissed at her, but theywerepissed.

“What’s wrong? What’s happened? Is someone hurt?” Had the bear returned? She tore her gaze from the men and checked the animals in view as she moved forward. Everyone looked okay.

Garrett reached for her and leaned down to kiss her lightly. “Everyone’s okay. We just have some news.”

Marcus nodded. “I got a call from Shanice Williams.”

She knew that was the FBI lead agent over in New Hampshire. “Is there news about the dogs? Did they arrest John Mead?”

Marcus shook his head. “No. They’ve been having difficulty getting evidence in order to escalate the investigation.”

Kimi rolled her lips together to keep the curses in. “They’re not giving up, are they? They can’t just leave those dogs when they know what’s happening. We have to save them.”

Garrett wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her into his side, but he let Marcus speak.

The deputy sighed. “As you know, Mead’s property is very secure and isolated. He built in an area of mature trees. The FBI has sent drones in on multiple occasions, trying to get proof of what we know is happening. Without that proof, they can’t get warrants to conduct a search.”

Drones. That was a good idea. She should have considered that earlier.

“If the drones stay high up, they can’t get any pictures. And any drones that venture lower stop working and don’t return. They’ve been caught or shot down.”

Okay, maybe not such a good idea.

“Because Mead owns several acres of untouched forest around the compound, the FBI isn’t able to get as close as you ventured.”

---