Page 13 of Safe With Me

“As a matter fact, I can. The furniture will be delivered in the next few days. We can use some heavy lifters.”

“Harlan has Fridays off,” Caleb told him. “He wants to help too.”

Gemma asked, “I’d like to do something other than heavy lifting.”

“Come along with them. There’s still a lot of things that need to be done.”

“Thanks.”

“No, thankyou.”

* * *

Pax was riding high all the way home. The clinic was all set up, he already had three volunteers, and he still had Mutt. He brought in two of the bags Stephanie had purchased. She’d bought double of most things, one for the clinic and one for home. He attached the second leash and took the dog around back to do its business.

Afterward, he unpacked Mutt’s new bowl and poured some food into it. “Here, boy.”

While the dog ate, he went to his laptop. He told himself he wanted there to be a lead on Mutt’s owner, but way down deep, he hoped there wasn’t. Shit, things better change soon or he’d be keeping the animal. Who already made him happy.

Emails came up. Pax scanned them. There was one from Noreen Shannon, which he skipped. He answered the one from his sister in L.A. But there were no emails with LOST DOG in the header.

He leaned back into his chair and breathed a sigh of relief. He scanned the rest. The confirmations from each vendor for delivery of the furniture were in his feed. Now that would be fun. And all the stock for the exam rooms would come a day early.

Pax himself ate a heart-healthy pre-made dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. By then he realized he was exhausted. He managed to shower and went to check on the dog one last time. Mutt was wide awake. He let him out on the leash again and when they came back in, Mutt stared up at him. “Aw, come on. You can sleep with me. Its only temporary, until we find your owner.”

Damn it, if the dog didn’t scowl. But they went together down the hall.

The blare of his cell awakened him from a deep sleep. The dog awoke, too, and began to bark. He checked the time. 3 a.m.

“Pax Barry,” he said calmly.

“Dr. Barry. This is Chief Thomas from the WPD.”

Uh-oh. This was going to be a problem.

* * *

The phone awakened Steph. She reached for it and said sleepily, “Giordano.”

“Steph, it’s Pax.”

His voice sounded husky. From sleep?

“Sorry to wake you but the police notified me that somebody broke into the clinic.”

“My God. How much damage did they do?”

“Some of the rooms have paint thrown on the walls. Luckily, my office was locked, so there was no paper scattered around. I’m leaving now.”

“I’ll meet your there.”

“That’s why I called you. I was hoping you’d come with me to talk with the police about more security in the place.”

“I’m so sorry. See you soon.”

Steph leaped out of bed and threw on some sweats. Poked her feet in sneakers. Grabbed her keys. And was out the door minutes after Pax’s call. His car was out front along with two squad cars still with flashing lights on. She parked down the road and raced to the clinic. She found Pax inside, talking to the police. They were taking notes.

Thomas looked over at her when she came inside. “Nice to see you again, Steph.”

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