Page 34 of A Chance at Forever
“Why not?”
Rusty helped her to her feet. His warm, rough hand held hers longer than necessary and ignited something in her core. Something fiery and unexpected. His thumb caressed hers a moment before Victoria jerked her hand away, and she took off at a fast pace. Rusty jogged easily next to her. Bud kept them in sight a while before he dashed into the woods after one of his favorite furry creatures.
Three-quarters around the lake, Rusty and Victoria covered the remaining distance to their backyards in a brisk walk. As Victoria opened her mouth to mention they hadn’t seen Bud in a while, a gunshot split the air.
She gasped in fright. Rusty grabbed her hand, and they sprinted toward the trees, whistling and calling for Bud. When the animal didn’t respond, Victoria’s heart pounded in terror. Several feet into the tree line, they found Bud lying on one side with blood seeping from a gunshot wound.
Victoria dropped to her knees. “Nooo! Bud!”
The dog whimpered and lifted his head at the sound of his mistress’ voice. She saw his hurt, glazed eyes through her tears. “Don’t die, Bud! Please don’t die!”
Rusty pulled his cell phone from his windbreaker and called Doc Roberts, the veterinarian. “This is Rusty Sinclair. I’m bringing in Victoria Lockridge’s dog with a gunshot wound to his stomach. Yeah, okay.” He tore off his windbreaker and wrapped it around Bud’s middle before he lifted the dog into his arms. “Run,” he ordered Victoria. “I’ll be right behind you.”
He soon outpaced her. “Get my keys out of my pocket and start the truck!”
She fished for them and leaped into the cab. Rusty climbed in and held Bud in his lap. The golden retriever’s whimpers of pain ripped through Victoria. She jammed down the gas pedal and sped toward the vet’s office across town.
Doc Roberts was waiting for them. Victoria touched Bud’s head before he was whisked into an examination room.
“Help him!” she called heartbrokenly. “Don’t let my Bud die!”
Victoria paced back and forth in the waiting room, clenching and unclenching her hands. “How did this happen?” she muttered to no one in particular. “Who would shoot a dog?”
“To answer your question, I don’t know. But I can promise you, Tori, I’m going to find out who did this and make sure whoever it is will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. I’ve already called a cop who’s a friend of mine. He’ll be here in a few minutes to take our statement.”
She nodded and wrapped her arms around her middle.
Officer Dawson Graham strode into the vet’s office ten minutes later. He greeted Rusty, shook his hand, and introduced himself to Victoria. “Do you remember me? Carter and I played basketball and ran track back in the day.”
“I do. It’s good to see you again.”
“Let’s go outside and discuss what happened.”
Dawson removed a notepad from his breast pocket. “So, where did this occur?”
“On Lake Ellis. Rusty and I were jogging, and Bud was running in and out of the trees along the way. When we got back to our property, I realized I hadn’t seen him and was about to mention it to Rusty. Then we heard the gunshot. We found Bud several feet into the trees, bleeding from a wound to his stomach.”
“Did you see or hear anything else?”
Rusty answered, “No, nothing.”
“How long ago did this happen?”
Victoria and Rusty looked at each other. “About an hour ago now,” Rusty guessed.
“Have either of you seen a strange vehicle in your neighborhood lately?”
“I haven’t,” Victoria replied. “Rusty?”
“No. The neighborhood around Lake Ellis is generally quiet. We know everyone who lives on our block.”
Officer Graham put away his notepad. “Look, I’m not going to mislead you. Our chances of finding who did this are very slim. My guess is it’s one or more kids who were fooling around with a gun and accidently shot Bud. They got scared and ran away. Could be Marysville kids or Yuba City kids. We may never know. I’ll do my best, though, to investigate the incident.”
“Thanks, Dawson,” Rusty said.
The cop shook their hands. “Tell Carter I said hi, Victoria. The next time he’s in town we should get together for a visit.”
“I will. Thanks, Officer.”
