Page 38 of Secret Weapon

Ana put a hand over Paulo’s mouth, and I sent her silent thanks.

“A young woman had an accident in the forest, and Luca rode to the hospital with her.I’m sure he’ll call you just as soon as he can.”

Brooke’s turn to gasp.“What sort of accident?Isaac said Shauna’s dog got stabbed.”

“Well now, I’m not sure, but they took her away in an ambulance.She had a lot of bruises.”

“Who was she?Do you know?I thought I heard a scream when I was talking with Romi, but we figured it was kids.”

Good to know a scream from out there was audible in the break room—that added credence to my “I heard a noise” story.

“I didn’t recognise her.”

Brooke slumped onto the couch beside Paulo.“What’s happening in Baldwin’s Shore?It always used to be so quiet around here, and now we’ve had three incidents in one day.”

“Three?What was the third?”

“Isaac was already dealing with an emergency when we got there.Someone’s dog got poisoned over at the Peninsula.Isaac thought that maybe it ate rat bait, but I can’t imagine Nico being careless like that, not with that beautiful cat of his roaming around, and Colt’s Tigger too.”

A poisoned dog, a stabbed dog, a beaten woman, and a car parked between the veterinarian and the hotel… I was beginning to get a bad feeling about this, and when I glanced at Ana, her tiny nod told me her thoughts had gone in the same direction.

“What’s the dog’s name?”she asked.

“Uh, Widget?”

“Gidget,” Romi said from the doorway.“Gidget, like the movie.A Little Girl with Big Ideas.”

“Gidget Curran,” Paulo added.“Isaac writes the pet names on the board with the owner’s surname.Isn’t that cute?Vega Mendez, Tigger Haines, Chunky Monkey Bartlett, Sne…Snej… Whatever Nico called his cat.”

“Snezhinka.”But I was more interested in Romi and Aaron’s new addition.“You named your puppyChunky Monkey?”

Her cheeks reddened.“It was meant to be a nickname, but it kind of stuck.He’s just a chubby little lump with legs.”

Less than a month into their relationship, and they’d already acquired a joint creature.Was that normal?Caring for a living thing together seemed like a big step to me.Rad and I had once tried sharing custody of an Accuracy International sniper rifle, but we’d invariably wanted to use it at the same time, which had only led to bickering until I went out and acquired a duplicate.Damn, I missed that gun.Four and a half years on, and I was still bitter that I’d had to leave it behind.Yes, guns were only tools, but it had been a particularly nice one.

And who knows, maybe it would have come in useful someday?

“Did Dr.Ward say whether Gidget would recover?”I asked Romi.

“He said that he washed out her stomach, but she had another seizure while he was treating Scooby.So we’re not sure.”

“And how is Scooby?”

“Isaac’s operating on him right now.Shauna’s sister showed up, and the waiting room only has three seats, so we decided it would be better if we came back here.”

Paulo jumped to his feet.“We need to clean the floor and tidy all the mess away.Otherwise, how will we open tomorrow?One of us can go check on Shauna and Scooby later.Should we take a card?Candy?A fruit basket?What about the lady in the hospital?”

“I’m sure Luca will get in touch with her family.Brooke, can you tell us if you hear anything?I don’t like the thought of a maniac running around town.”

“I’ll call you with updates.Romi, we should walk Vega and Monkey together for a few days.”

Good plan.“Maybe Luca could go with you, hun?Or Aaron?He carries a gun, doesn’t he?”

“Not really?I mean, he owns a gun, but he doesn’t use it much.”

“Why don’t you guys pay a visit to the gun club in Bandon tomorrow?Practice never hurt anyone.”

“I guess I could suggest it.”

And I’d wake up early and head out with my own guns, although I never ventured near the range in Bandon.A year ago, I’d invested in my own little piece of wilderness an hour’s drive from Baldwin’s Shore, four hundred acres of hillside with a long meadow that was perfect for target shooting and a ramshackle cabin I’d spent time fixing up.In an emergency, I could disappear there and live off-grid for months or pick up the money, weapons, and documents I’d cached and go farther afield.The Darla Lewis identity was my strongest, sound enough to pass a reasonably thorough background check, but I had two others that nobody was aware of, both good for international travel.

“Let’s clean up, then we can all head home and get some rest.It’s been a difficult day.”

And little did I realise that it was about to get even more complicated.

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