Page 14 of Only Her (K2 Team)
Thankfully, the remainder of the afternoon was business as usual. “What’d you find out?” she asked Michelle after the last patient of the day had left.
“No, none have had any that appeared to be poisoned. That’s good news, anyway.”
And maybe narrowed down the search to someone who lived in the area of the clinic. What kind of sick mind did it take to enjoy seeing an animal suffer? It made her sad and angry, and she decided to spend a few minutes with Cody’s dogs. That would cheer her up.
“Hey, Sally. You, too, Pretty Girl.” Riley opened the kennel door, stepping inside. Tails excitedly sweeping across the concrete, both sat, as if waiting for permission to greet her.
Never had she seen dogs trained so well. She lowered her butt to the floor. “You two doing okay?” Their tails picked up speed, but they didn’t approach. She should have thought to ask for command words.
“Come.” That seemed to be the magic word, as both bounded into her arms, Sally giving a joyful bark. She’d played with them for a few minutes, tossing their balls up in the air for them to catch, when her phone buzzed.
The caller ID displayed Cody’s name.
CHAPTER SIX
After he and Ryan arrived in Fort Dodge and had checked into their adjoining rooms, Cody decided to use the ten minutes before meeting Ryan to call Riley. He pressed her number, flopping onto the bed as he listened to the ring tones.
“Hi, Cody.”
Expecting to leave a message because she would be with a patient, he was surprised when she answered.
“You there?” she said.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m here.” Her voice, even with those few words, soothed him better than the finest scotch. With the phone pressed to his ear, he stuffed the second pillow behind his back.
“Guess what I’m doing right now?”
Things he’d like her to do popped into his head, and he willed them away. If she could read his dirty mind, she’d hang up. “I’m not good at guessing.” He rolled his eyes. Somewhere along the way, between graduating from college and now, he’d forgotten how to have a conversation with a woman.
A bark he recognized as Sally’s happy one sounded. “You’re playing with my dogs.” She would never know it, but she’d just stolen a piece of his heart.
“I am. Hold on a sec. Okay, you’re on speaker. Say something.”
That she would think of doing that made him want to kiss her. Not that he needed a reason. “Pretty Girl. Sally. You guys behaving for Riley?” Two excited barks answered him.
She laughed. “They’re going crazy trying to sniff you out of the phone.”
It was the first time he’d heard her laugh, and he liked thinking of her as happy. There was a knock on his door. “I have to go. Thanks for spending time with them.”
“We’re having a ball, so don’t worry. Um, I wanted to ask, would you mind if I take them to the dog park?”
Something in her voice set off alarm bells, but he couldn’t think of a reason to refuse. “They’d love that. They know all the commands, sit, come, heel.”
More laughter poured through the phone. “You should have seen them just now. They sat, then came to the phone, then seemed confused about how they were supposed to heel.”
“Down,” he said. “Did they lie down?”
“They did.”
It was the first time he’d given them commands via a phone, and he chuckled. Ryan knocked again. “I’ll try to call you tomorrow.”
“Okay. It was nice talking to you.”
“Same here.”
“Cody?”
“Yeah?”
