Page 28 of Stilettos and Outlaws

“Oh, my God!” I shot to my feet. “Where is he?”

“The firefighters washed him down and the paramedics took him to the emergency room to get checked over,” Dad answered.

I grabbed my purse. “Which hospital?”

Dad held up his hand. “Dante has been quarantined until they get the test results back. You can’t see him.”

“Was he exposed to the Cobalt-60? Julie asked.

“We’re not sure. Get started on the fingerprints.”

Fear knotting my stomach, I sank down on my chair. “When will the doctors know if he was contaminated?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

I grabbed my cellphone. “I’ll call him.”

“Dante’s phone is buried in the outhouse sludge. He’ll call you when he can,” Dad said.

I didn’t like the look in Dad’s eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“When he fell, a piece of wood from the toilet seat impaled his shoulder. Doc Halliday is handling the surgery. He said the wound needs to be properly cleaned out and stitched.”

Julie grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Dante’s going to be okay.” Her gaze was fixed on Dad’s face. “Right?”

“The wound will have to be monitored for infection and the canister of Cobalt-60 seemed intact.”

Mom rushed into the command center and dumped her purse on my desk. “Great news! I just talked with the head nurse. Dante’s surgery went well. Pops ran a Geiger counter over him and found no signs of radiation poisoning.”

I let out a breath of relief and the knot in my stomach loosened.

Miss Kitty climbed out of the purse and batted my pen around. I ruffled her fur. “Thanks, Mom.”

“How in the hell did that bastard get into the recovery room?” Dad demanded.

Mom shrugged. “Pops doesn’t share his plans with me.”

The Command Center’s phone rang. Dad grabbed it before I could. “Alpha Dogs.” Dad’s eyes narrowed. “I see. It won’t happen again, Doc.” He hung up the phone. “You did your crazy granny act and used that damn cat as a distraction.”

“Gemma needed answers, and I got them.”

“And I appreciate it, Mom.” I cleaned the muck off the phone.

“The cat has to go,” Dad stated firmly.

Julie, Mom and I gave Dad the stink eye.

“Bodacious will trample it,” Dad growled.

“Miss Kitty is part of our family,” Mom snapped. “Live with it or learn to sleep on the couch.”

Dad shot back testily, “It won’t be me sleeping on the couch.”

“Wanna bet? And you stink bad enough to make a skunk puke,” Mom returned sweetly.

I jumped to my feet. “God, do I need to pee.”

“Me too,” Julie said.

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