Page 51 of Shattered Sanctuary

A few minutes later, the wound had been cleaned and wrapped with gauze. Erin had dealt with enough scrapes and cuts to feel certain there wasn’t any infection, but it would probably hurt for a while. There wasn’t anything they could do for that, though.

“Since Steve has just about everything, I don’t suppose there’s any baby aspirin anywhere?”

“I haven’t seen any,” Kaely said.

“I’ve got some willow bark pills upstairs. I’ll get him some.”

“I’m sorry. Willow bark?”

Erin grinned. “A natural pain reliever. Native Americans used it to help with pain and inflammation.”

“And it’s okay for animals?”

Erin nodded. “In smaller doses, of course. I’ll go grab my bottle and be back.”

She hurried upstairs, went through her purse, found her bottle, and brought it back downstairs. Before joining Kaely and the dog in the living room, she looked through the kitchen shelves and found some natural peanut butter. She put a spoonful of peanut butter into a small bowl and then sprinkled some powdered willow bark on that. After mixing it, she carried the bowl back into the living room.

“I think he’s really tired,” Kaely said.

“I imagine he is, poor thing.” Erin held out the bowl to the dog, who hungrily licked up every last morsel of peanut butter.

“Let’s take him by the fire.”

Erin grabbed a soft throw that was draped over the arm of the couch and put it next to the fireplace. The dog immediately turned around several times and laid down. Within seconds he was asleep.

“He’s exhausted,” Kaely said. “Must have been out there for quite some time.”

“There’s a storm coming, and we have nothing to feed him.” Erin sighed. “So, what do we do now? He’s going to need more than just peanut butter.”

“I could run back into town and buy some dog food. It wouldn’t take me too long.”

“With all the supplies we have,” Erin said, “I’m surprised Steve doesn’t have some.”

“You’re right,” Kaely said slowly. She walked into thekitchen and opened the door to the large pantry. Just seconds later, Erin heard her make a noise, and she came out holding a large bag. “He really did set this place up so guests would have every need met.” She lifted the bag up and slid it onto the kitchen counter. “Dry dog food. And believe it or not, there are cans of dog food in the pantry too.”

“I looked in the pantry when I arrived, but I didn’t notice any dog food.”

“It was in a large bin with a lid.” Kaely grinned. “Good thing I’m so nosy.” She came over and sat down on the couch. “For now, I think we need to let him sleep.” She picked up her cell phone that was lying on the coffee table. “I’m going to call Adrian. If this dog belongs to someone, they may be worried about him.”

Erin was surprised when, for just a second, she found herself hoping the dog was a stray and that no one would come for it. Why would she think that? Dogs were too much trouble, weren’t they? Her parents had thought so. They’d never had a dog when she was a kid.

She got up and stirred the fire in the fireplace. When that didn’t create the result she wanted, she got two logs from the metal log rack next to the fireplace and added them. Then she sat down, only half listening to Kaely as she spoke to Adrian. Her mind was on what she and Kaely would be talking about. Sure, that’s why she’d come—to have someone to listen to what she’d been going through. But now she was getting cold feet. She wasn’t used to sharing her feelings. After her parents died and Courtney left, it was just her. Then when she worked for the police department, officers didn’t really talk to each other much about what they were going through. They felt the need to look strong and capableof handling whatever awful thing they saw. No one wanted to appear weak.

So, after years of keeping her emotions to herself, she was finally going to pour out her heart and soul to Kaely Quinn-Hunter? A woman who believed in a God Erin was fairly certain didn’t exist?

Yet, Kaely had been there early in the mornings, when Erin couldn’t sleep. When her nightmares grabbed her by the throat and shook her until she wasn’t certain she could continue. When she needed help with the book, Kaely had made herself available. She was one of the only people in the world who knew that Erin had wanted a career with the FBI. And she’d never made her feel silly—or unworthy of the possibility. If she’d ever met anyone in her life that she felt safe around, it was Kaely. She had a strange feeling that it was now—or maybe never. That gun in the box kept whispering her name, and she didn’t want to answer.

She realized that Kaely was off the phone and was staring at her.

“Sorry, did you say something?” Erin asked.

“No. You just looked so far away I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Sorry. Just thinking. What did Adrian say?”

“Before I tell you about the dog,” Kaely said, “we have more information about Hailey Duncan. She was married and active in her church. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t seeing our killer for the wrong reasons, but that might not have been the case after all.”

“That’s interesting.”

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