Page 27 of All of Me

“Go.” I nodded to the door, and Shae sped away to try to find the missing pup.

By the time the vet got here, Shae still wasn’t back. He quickly examined and treated all the dogs, wrapping the deceased puppy up in one of the dog blankets. The vet asked Moira if she wanted him to take him, but she shook her head and reached out for thelittle bundle. He sent his assistant to the clinic with the pittie as he seemed the most serious case, but made sure all the others had vomited and weren’t deteriorating.

“You’re lucky you heard them. They might have been dead by morning. Some poisons have no taste or smell, and they could easily have eaten more of the meat.”

Jay and Alec, who had just arrived, helped move all the beds into the house between their dining room and the laundry area. They would be warm and safe.

(safe to continue reading)

But Shae still hadn’t returned. “I need to find—” but then I whirled around as Shae walked around the side of the barn, cradling something in his arms and my heart just about stopped. He looked up, his expression a mixture of anger and helplessness. “He was all the way down on the main road, crouched by the bushes. I think someone threw him out of a car. He wouldn’t have gotten that far on his own.”

“Lay him down here,” the vet said, but when Shae put him on a blanket, the little guy cried and scrambled back to Shae. The vet smiled. “Sit down and keep him on your lap.” His examination was brief. “He’s cold and scared, but I don’t think he’s ingested anything.”

Moira had gone back to the house with her little bundle and Jay had gone with her to settle the dogs down. Alec was a distance away, making sure whoever had done this didn’t come back, and in another twenty minutes Kane and Danny arrived with both of their dogs.

“I think you’re gonna have to take him with you,” Albert said to Shae as the vet was clearing up. I agreed.

“He doesn’t look like he’s letting you go anytime soon,” I said gently. “How about you take him home? I just want a quick word with Alec and Jay, then I’ll be right behind you.” I met Danny’sgaze, and he nodded. Kane came with me as we did a check and met Jay and Alec.

“This is escalating,” Kane said quietly. “But not in a way that makes sense. I can understand the shooting, but poisoning the dogs?” He shook his head.

My phone and Kane’s buzzed at the same time.

Sum 1 broke in.

I took one look at the text from Danny and set off, Kane right with me. The door was open, and the lock smashed. Shae, Danny, Sadie and their puppy Magic were standing by the door. “There’s no one here. I took a quick look,” Shae confirmed, then reached out and took Maxie from Danny. I bit off a reply because I knew what Shae’s version of a “quick” look meant, and walked in. The kitchen and the living room were undisturbed. “It’s Ellie’s room,” Shae said and followed me down there.

The door was open, and I stepped in, fury rushing through me. It was trashed. All the drawers were open, her clothes tossed on the floor. I picked up a smashed framed photo of Jim and Ellie on their wedding day, and put it back on the dresser. Both nightstands had been tipped out and someone had trodden on a pottery cat and broken it. Jewelry was tossed about, but I knew Ellie didn’t have anything expensive. I walked to the closet and all the clothes were still hung undisturbed, but the small filing cabinet in there had been broken open and there were papers all over the floor.

It was like they were looking for something.

Kane joined us. “Must have happened before Jay got here, and Danny says there isn’t even a doorbell camera.” Because I wanted privacy.Fuck.

We went back to the kitchen. Danny had coffee and tea ready. Magic and Sadie were curled up happily on rugs in front of the range. Shae almost fell onto one of the chairs, still clutchingMaxie. “Who would do that?” he choked out. I knew losing one of the puppies had hit him hard, and then this. I watched as Sadie got up and came to him, resting her head on his leg. Danny took a sip of tea, pulled his laptop out of the case, and got it set up.

“Either the same dick came in here before he poisoned the dogs, or there were two of them,” I said.

“Do you have any idea what might be missing?” Danny asked.

I shook my head. I’d barely been in that room. In a lot of ways, I felt like this was still Jim and Ellie’s house and I was intruding.

“Know any bullies?” Kane said out of the blue.

I glanced over. “Bullies?”

He nodded. “Guns, as ridiculous as it sounds, are impersonal. This was anything but, and why take this little guy in particular?”

I met Shae’s eyes. “Gary.” He nodded. The fucker that Albert had fired.

“Maxie was the one he kicked the day I caught him,” Shae confirmed.

“Gary?” Danny repeated, his eyes on the screen.

I tried to think of the close neighbors. “Maybe Gary Brown? Though I’m not sure. I didn’t actually see him that day. Moira fired him.”

“Bruin?” Danny asked and brought up a license pic.

Shae glanced over and nodded. “That’s him.”

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