Kitabı oku: «Trained To Protect», sayfa 4
She would do neither.
But she would, as usual, keep Peace by her side. Her dog might not have the same kind of training as an official police K-9, but she would protect Elissa to the best of her ability. Elissa was sure of it.
There seemed to be something else on Doug’s mind, though. He was studying her, watching her face as if he could see inside her brain.
For a long moment he said nothing, which made her even more uneasy. Then he said, “I’d like for you to keep thinking about whether anyone has suggested or even hinted that they have issues with you or what you do—or don’t do.” He reached into his pocket, brought out a business card and handed it to her. “I want you to stay in touch, let me know if you see or hear anything that seems suspicious. In any case, I’ll talk to you on Monday after you come back to Chance and we’ll see how things are going then.”
“Okay.” She wanted to disagree, to tell him she’d be fine and that there was no need for him to worry about her—but she somehow felt a little less stressed that he seemed to give a damn, just because he was a good cop, of course, and not because he seemed at all attracted to her.
And she’d have to make sure her own silly attraction disappeared.
But there appeared to be something else on his mind. He was looking so intensely into her eyes...
“What?” she asked.
“Like I said, think hard about whether there’s someone who might have something against you. A neighbor or coworker who’s mad at you. A driver you cut off. Whatever.”
“Why?” she demanded. “What’s really going on?”
He pursed his lips. “Yeah, I think you should know, though I was asked to keep it quiet. Amber, for one, was choosing to ignore it. But this break-in here...”
“What?” Elissa repeated.
Doug looked straight into her eyes. “The night of your interview at the K-9 Ranch, and before you came back up to give your demonstration, this was found on the fence there.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, fiddled with it some and then thrust it toward her.
A photo was there depicting the front gate up the driveway to the main house at the K-9 Ranch.
And on it was a sign: Be Careful Who You Hire.
Chapter 5
Doug watched Elissa’s expression carefully. No hint of knowledge or recognition appeared in the horror displayed by her huge eyes and open mouth.
“How terrible!” she exclaimed. “I don’t think Amber was close to hiring anyone else, so that must refer to me. And yet she hired me anyway. Why? But I’m so glad she did. Who could have left that? Was it the same person who broke in here?”
“We don’t know...yet,” Doug answered truthfully. “Any of the answers. But frankly, that’s one reason I came here to try to help you figure out what happened with Peace. You appear to be on at least one person’s radar, and we need to figure out who—and why.” Both dogs started barking then, and Doug figured he knew the reason. “I suspect the local cops are here.”
The nearly immediate ringing of the doorbell indicated he was right. He initially stepped outside with Hooper to greet them and tell them what was going on. They didn’t seem too impressed but as a professional accommodation to Doug one of them radioed in to request a crime scene team, then both entered to look around and interview Elissa.
They were quick and efficient, including the crime scene investigators, who arrived fairly quickly.
What they were not was fortunate enough to come up with any answers. Apparently the perpetrator had worn gloves—no surprise. No other evidence was found, either. They promised to send patrols by frequently, without saying how often. Then, after exchanging contact information with Doug—and patting Hooper and Peace—the two officers and crime scene folks left.
“Let’s go back into the kitchen,” Doug suggested. He needed to leave, too. But he also needed to try once more to get Elissa to see reason.
“Sure,” she said. “Only, I suspect you need to get back to Chance to actually do some of your own police work.” They both remained standing near the door, and the look she shot him appeared ironic with a hint of gratitude. “I’ll be fine now. As I said earlier, the intruder isn’t likely to come back, especially with the extra police car patrols those officers promised. And now that I’m aware, I’ll be particularly careful. There is, in fact, one neighbor I can call on who sometimes walks her dog with Peace and me. I’ll at least have company, and it would be harder for someone to harm two of us instead of just me.”
“Well, that’s better than nothing but—”
“Look, I don’t know why Amber hired me, but she’s clearly not giving in to whoever did this. Well, neither am I. I’ll try to get my landlord to have some kind of security system installed, but in any event, as I said, I’ll be careful. And I’m not giving in to someone trying to scare me.” But she seemed to wilt a little then. “I just wish I had some idea who it is, and why.”
“Yeah, me, too.” He had a sudden urge to take her into his arms, hold her tightly against him, maybe attempt to cheer her a little by kissing that alluring yet sad mouth of hers...
But of course he wouldn’t do that. Never mind that he felt attracted to her, or that he wanted to fix things for her. He had plenty of reasons not to get involved with her other than as a civilian who needed help. But she did happen to be a civilian who needed help.
A vision of his uncle Cy’s face flashed in his mind, encouraging him and Maisie to become cops like him—and to act like professionals at all times. And never, ever, to get involved except as cops with any of those civilians they were bound to be seeing a lot of as crime victims or otherwise.
Cy had gotten involved, more than once, and, after professional scolding and even a divorce, had learned to regret it...
“Anyway,” she said, “I’ll be working at my local hospital tomorrow and Sunday, both as a nurse and doing therapy dog work, so I won’t be home much this weekend. Then I’ll head back up to Chance on Monday to give my first therapy dog training class. I’ll call you then and maybe we can catch up on what’s going on here and there.”
“All right,” Doug conceded. What else could he do? He might be concerned about this attractive, dog-loving civilian, but he wasn’t even a cop in the jurisdiction where she lived who could theoretically give her orders—or at least conduct some of those patrols and drop in on her sometimes.
And he clearly wasn’t convincing her to do something else—except to walk her dog along with a neighbor. Some of the time. Without additional protection at night.
“Well, be sure to keep in touch.” He recognized that his words had come out in a tone of command, which appeared somehow to amuse her.
He wanted to kiss that smile right off her lovely face...but didn’t.
He motioned for Hooper to join him at the door, where he removed his dog’s leash from his pocket and snapped it on his collar. “Let’s go,” he told his well-trained partner.
Peace also came to the door to see them off. While they stood there, Elissa petted both dogs. Then, to his surprise, she leaned toward him. “Drive carefully,” she said, and planted a soft and swift kiss on his lips before backing away. “And I can’t thank you enough for all your help.”
You just did, he thought, but all he said was, “You’re welcome. Be careful, keep in touch, and we’ll see you next week.”
Now, why on earth had she done that? Elissa scolded herself as she shut and locked the door behind Doug and Hooper. No matter how much she liked the guy, he was a cop. He was acting like a cop. Helping her as a cop would. Trying to figure out what was going on and how to keep her safe.
And, more important to him, attempting to learn the origin of an apparent threat to a person in his own jurisdiction.
Shaking her head, she decided to call Glynnis Crandal, the friend and neighbor she’d been referring to when she’d spoken with Doug about having a companion to walk dogs with. It was late afternoon now, nearly five o’clock, and Glynnis, a middle school teacher, was likely to be home.
Elissa couldn’t plan on taking all her walks with Peace with Glynnis, too, but a couple tonight should at least give her a sense of whether she also needed to work something out with another neighbor.
“Peace, come.” Elissa motioned to her pup, who followed her into the kitchen. There, after clearing off the table and taking a few more sips of water, she used her cell phone to call Glynnis, who answered right away.
“Hi,” Elissa said. “I’m looking for a little company on my walks with Peace this evening. Partially as a therapy dog training thing. Are you and Socia available?” Socia was Glynnis’s smart and friendly Rottweiler.
“Sure!” There was a happy lilt to her voice, as if she was thrilled by the idea.
Elissa suspected she wouldn’t be so thrilled when Peace and she arrived at Glynnis’s front door and explained one of the reasons they needed company.
She had to at least mention it. Not that she anticipated putting Glynnis in danger, or she wouldn’t be involving her. Still, the possibility was why she did want another person and dog with them.
They made arrangements for Elissa and Peace to come by, which they did, in about half an hour.
Glynnis’s home was on the same block, but three houses down. It was two-story, with a lovely blue-siding exterior, and was in a lot better condition than Elissa’s rental.
Peace at her side, Elissa walked up to the front door and heard Socia barking. Glynnis opened the door only a few seconds later, as if she’d been waiting.
Glynnis was a solid and determined-looking woman in her late forties, a divorcée whose two kids were both in college in different parts of California. She wore jeans, a long-sleeved orange T-shirt and athletic shoes, and Socia was leashed at her side.
“May we come in for just a minute?” Elissa asked. “There are a couple of reasons for our wanting company that I think you should know.”
They remained in the high-ceilinged entry while Elissa explained about the break-in at her house. No, Glynnis hadn’t heard of anything else like that in the neighborhood or otherwise. Elissa also told her about the sign at her new part-time employer’s dog training ranch.
“So if you’ve changed your mind and don’t want to walk with us, I’ll completely understand,” Elissa finished.
The look on Glynnis’s round, aging face beneath her short yellow hair was determined. “Changed my mind? Heck, no. In fact, I’m even more eager to go with you. If anything strange occurs, my Socia will take care of it even if your sweet Peace can’t. So let’s go.”
There was a lot more traffic on his way back to Chance than earlier, which gave Doug time to think. Overthink. He regretted leaving Elissa alone, with no additional protection except, possibly, a few more patrols on her street now and then.
But he couldn’t have stayed. Nor had he enough clout with the local police department to get further protection for her.
And though he could have contacted some private protective services in the area—and even paid for them, since it appeared that Elissa wasn’t exactly wealthy, though neither was he—he felt certain she would have vetoed the possibility.
Damn! Oh, yeah, he was overthinking this. Elissa was a big girl. She knew now about the break-in, partly thanks to Peace. Doug had alerted her to the potential additional threat in Chance. She could handle things the way she chose—which apparently was to ignore it all, or at least to do nothing more than bring some additional company into her dog walking and try to convince the owner of the decrepit house where she lived to install some kind of security system. Yeah, right.
But her bravery appealed to him, even though he considered her foolish.
“Enough of this, Hooper,” he said out loud, as if his dog in the back seat knew what he’d been stewing about. He glanced into the rearview mirror to see Hooper sit up from where he’d been lying. He was tethered safely. And now he was looking at Doug with his eyes large, his ears up, as if waiting for the next command.
Which he wouldn’t get in the car. Except... “Good boy, Hooper,” Doug said. “Now, down.” And of course the smart and well-trained dog obeyed.
Doug spoke aloud a little more, mostly so Hooper could hear him. But all he talked about was his frustrations—with traffic and with Elissa. Nothing that Hooper would understand, except, perhaps, for his handler’s mood.
When Doug finally pulled off the freeway and onto the mountain roads, he used his car’s wireless connection to call his sister, needing to blow off steam—and hoping she had a minute to talk. Maisie was devoted to her job—and, of course, to Griffin. If they were out on an assignment, she simply wouldn’t answer.
But she did. “So what’s going on, bro?” she asked.
“Any further word about the K-9 Ranch?” he asked.
“Nothing I’ve heard, and they haven’t called Griffin and me in to try tracking whoever left that sign.”
“Not surprising. Hooper didn’t alert on anything when we were there, so Griffin probably wouldn’t, either. But Hooper did alert on a situation at Elissa’s home.” Doug quickly explained it to his sister, including his subsequent communications with the local San Luis Obispo police.
“Did Elissa give you any more idea of what’s going on?” Maisie’s tone sounded like a demand, as if she really did want to know if there’d been an answer—and what that answer was.
“She didn’t seem to know.” He knew his frustration resonated in his voice. “She didn’t make any guesses about who might be doing this or why, though she seemed justifiably scared. I tried to get her to stay with a friend or do something else self-protective, but all she indicated was that she’d take her dog on walks with a neighbor for a while—at least sometimes.”
“Brave lady,” Maisie said.
“Foolish lady,” Doug retorted then changed the subject. “So what’s going on with you?”
They talked for a while longer. Maisie and Griffin were at the station. Assistant Chief Kara had set up a meeting with them tomorrow morning, though it was Saturday. “Not sure exactly what’s on her mind but she indicated that Hooper and you should join us if possible. Can you come?”
“Definitely,” he responded. They talked about nothing for another few minutes and Doug said he’d see Maisie soon, at the home they and their dogs shared. It was evening, and they were off-duty that night—unless, of course, a case came in that required the assistance of one or more K-9s.
Then he hung up.
Meeting tomorrow with the assistant chief was fine with Doug. If nothing else, it would be a genuine, official distraction from the nonsense going on in his mind.
No, not nonsense. There was a civilian in potential trouble.
A very lovely and, yes, brave civilian in an apparently inexplicable situation—or at least not explainable for the moment, if she truly was telling him everything.
And he wanted to trust her. Did trust her, even though he hardly knew her. But should he?
Think with your brain and nothing else, he ordered himself. For despite all the orders he’d given himself, despite everything his revered uncle Cy had drummed into his head and Maisie’s when they had, at his urging, decided to become cops, he found Elissa Yorian not only a distraction but a very sexy, appealing woman.
But he was a cop. A damn good one. And so he would help figure out what was going on with her, find a way to protect her, without getting emotionally involved.
“Yeah, right,” he expressed aloud.
His tone must have startled Hooper, who sat up once again on the back seat and gave a small growl.
“You said it,” said Doug with a brisk nod.
Chapter 6
“Peace, heel.” It was early Saturday morning. Elissa had just stepped onto the front walkway with her dog leashed beside her and checked to make sure her house’s front door was locked. She had additionally double-checked the other doors and windows. Everything seemed secure.
She’d taken Peace for a walk twice last night with Glynnis and Socia, and all had seemed calm and peaceful in their neighborhood.
But that was yesterday. This was today—after a spotty, uneasy night’s sleep.
At least the weather here in San Luis Obispo was fairly cool for an August day, and not much humidity, either. Peace was doing her normal thing of sniffing the air and ground, and prancing as she walked along, although she sometimes stopped with her nose down as if checking for the right place to relieve herself, which she did relatively quickly.
She was a good dog in many respects, and that was one of them. Elissa would take her along to the hospital for the first couple of hours she was there so Peace could do her thing as a therapy dog, helping to cheer patients in whatever stage of recovery they happened to be.
She wondered what Doug Murran would think if he ever watched her actually engaged in therapy work, with real patients and not just those involved in her interview process with Amber. But why should she care?
A car drove by slowly and Elissa found herself tensing up and staring at it. But it turned out to be another neighbor, apparently leaving early for his job at a nearby bank.
Drat. Was she ever going to feel normal again?
Sure, when her mysteries were solved and she knew who’d broken into her house and left that sign up at the Chance K-9 Ranch, especially if the person or persons were arrested and prosecuted successfully.
Right, as if that was likely to happen.
Although...well, Doug Murran seemed to be one good, dedicated cop. A K-9 officer to boot. If anyone could solve this situation, she suspected it would be him.
Or was that just her totally inappropriate attraction to the sexy guy clouding her judgment?
Peace completed her usual morning routine and Elissa used a special plastic bag to clean up the grass. “Come, Peace.” They returned to their house.
They were soon back in the kitchen eating their own breakfasts. When they were done, they’d head to the hospital for Peace’s therapy time, then Elissa would bring her home and return to the hospital in her nursing persona.
She liked what she did, both ways of helping people.
Well, okay. She sometimes loved her therapy work even more than nursing—and she adored nursing, especially with kids. But the people needing Peace and her for therapy were sometimes stressed, even just by being where they found themselves—like the hospital or even a nearby assisted living facility. Others were damaged physically or psychologically, and sometimes their mental health issues resulted from poor physical health. Fortunately, though, those who were ill tended to be healing, though often slowly.
Since she’d started doing therapy work, though, she occasionally found that the people they interacted with were in worse condition than she’d initially thought. Some had physical or mental conditions that became more severe, so bad that they weren’t aware enough to even recognize a therapy dog. One she had once worked with had even died.
But nearly always, introducing the ill or stressed to therapy dogs cheered them and helped their progress.
“Hey, Peace,” she said as she finished her cereal. “Are you ready to roll?”
Peace, beside her on the kitchen floor, barked and Elissa took that as a positive response.
“Good. Let’s go.”
The drive to the Central Hospital of San Luis Obispo didn’t take long. Elissa parked in the area reserved for staff and got Peace out of the back seat. Her wonderful golden sat immediately and nuzzled Elissa, and she bent to give Peace a big hug.
The lot was full, as usual. She rose and looked up at the long four-story building, first toward the part closest to her. That was where the pediatrics wing was, and it was her goal for now to conduct therapy work with Peace.
She let Peace do some final outside sniffing on the concrete between cars, then headed inside. She stopped initially on the first floor to clock in at the computer—and was surprised that, as soon as she’d made her entry, a message came up that she was to see senior nurse Mae Shuller right away.
What was that about? Well, she’d find out. “Come, Peace,” she said, and the two of them passed through the hospital lobby to the administrative offices at the left side of the same floor.
They then went by some of the main admin areas and the doctors’ section. Mae’s office was the first beyond that, and Elissa soon knocked on the closed door.
It opened nearly immediately. Mae stood there in her official blue scrubs, similar to what Elissa would be wearing if she’d come here first thing in her nurse capacity.
“Elissa,” Mae said. “Hi. Come in.” She looked down and scowled at Peace, then preceded both of them through the room.
Her tone had seemed—well, off, Elissa thought. Unfriendly, maybe. And usually Mae seemed to enjoy gushing over Peace and other therapy dogs.
Mae was in her early sixties, and she said often that she looked forward to retirement soon—though she intended to continue her nursing in a personal-assistant capacity. She liked people, and she liked to keep busy. But she indicated she’d gotten tired of all the politics and other headaches involved with helping to run a hospital.
Now, she waved toward the seats across her desk from where she sat. Her hair was an interesting orange-ish shade that Elissa hadn’t ever seen on anyone else, cut short to frame a face that looked older than she was. Possibly the stress of her admin work or nursing had helped to age her.
And at the moment, the way she was frowning, she looked even older. Elissa felt herself freeze up inside. Something clearly was wrong.
She took one of the seats Mae had gestured at, telling Peace to sit beside her on the floor. Then Elissa leaned forward, still holding the strap of Peace’s leash as well as wringing her hands slightly. She waited for Mae to say something—and when she did, Elissa wished she had simply run out of the room.
“So tell me what’s going on, Elissa,” Mae said in a chilly but intense tone.
What did she mean? She knew about Elissa’s interviewing for the part-time therapy dog instructor position at the Chance K-9 Ranch, since Elissa would only have gone forward with that after getting her full-time employer’s okay.
And Mae surely didn’t know about the break-in at Elissa’s house, or the strange sign on the ranch fence. Immediately, Elissa thought about Doug and about how well he knew both of these issues. Had he contacted Mae for some reason? Had other cops, either from the San Luis Obispo or the Chance departments?
But why?
Elissa had to ask. “What do you want me to tell you about, Mae?” She tried to sound professional and sincere without revealing the angst squeezing everything inside her.
“Your therapy dog work here, of course,” Mae responded, staring down at Peace. “And everything that’s been going wrong with it.”
Elissa swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing’s gone wrong with it.” In fact, she’d had a feeling that starting out doing therapy work this day would be wonderful for her own psyche, as well, considering everything else she was going through.
Mae leaned forward, clasping her work-worn hands on top of her wooden desk. “We’ve had several complaints over the last week, Elissa. People have said that Peace, instead of helping to soothe them or their kids during therapy sessions, has been acting aggressive and scary. And that you haven’t discouraged it but have been criticizing the patients and how they react to your dog. One of them even hinted that Peace had bitten a child, though I’m not sure of that.”
Elissa felt her eyes widen. “That’s simply not true,” she said. “Who told you that?”
“We can’t divulge names—partly because the people indicated they were afraid you’d come after them for speaking up.”
“Never! And how can I prove they’re lying if I can’t talk to them?” Elissa felt tears sting her eyes but she refused to let them fall. “You’ve seen us work. Peace is the sweetest dog ever, and she gets our subjects completely relaxed and happy. And if something was wrong and she didn’t seem compatible with a patient—well, you know me enough to recognize that I’d calmly but immediately take her away.” She had already done that once—a good thing since something bad had happened to that child a while afterward. Now, she stared right into Mae’s face with her moist eyes. “You have to believe me.”
Inside, she felt sick. This had to be related somehow to the two other recent issues in her life—but how?
She had a fleeting wish that Doug had remained in SLO overnight and accompanied her here to help. But nice man though he was, he was a cop. If there was any alleged proof that she was mishandling therapy sessions, he wouldn’t have been on her side.
But he could vouch for her in the other situations...right?
Well, he wasn’t here. And she had just met the guy, knew he was protecting citizens of Chance and helping her, too, somewhat as a result.
But she mostly had to help herself.
Should she tell Mae what else had been going on?
Would that help her—or just appear she was making things up to protect herself?
At least local cops had showed up at her house yesterday, so there was that possible evidence.
“Mae, I don’t know who you talked to or what’s really going on, but somehow this week I’ve been hit by...well, several very difficult situations. One was a break-in at my house. The other—I don’t want to get into detail but it involves my interview for the part-time therapy dog trainer job in Chance, which, by the way, was a success. I don’t know that these claims are connected with each other or what you’ve said, but I wouldn’t be surprised. And I’ll never find out unless I’m able to follow up in some way and talk to the people accusing me.”
Mae stood, and therefore so did Peace at Elissa’s side. That made her rise, too.
“I’m sorry, Elissa,” Mae said. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t ignore the accusations. Nor can I violate their privacy, even though I understand what you’re saying. Best thing I can do is look into it further. But for now...well, this is serious enough that I was going to terminate your employment and therapy volunteering, but to be fair I’ll just put you on administrative leave until I have more information. But to protect our patients, and our hospital, I can’t do nothing. Again, I’m sorry. I’ll be in touch.”
Elissa had gasped while her boss was talking and now the tears were flowing freely down her cheeks. “But can’t I keep working and providing therapy services while you check things out? Or at least just work as a nurse?”
“Sorry, but as I said, I have others to protect.” Her tone had grown cold once more. “Now, I think it would be better if you left. I’ll tell your coworkers and fellow therapy dog handlers that you’ve taken a leave and won’t get into details—unless they hear them from the people involved, of course. And I do hope for your sake that things work out. The sooner the better.” She then shot a telling glance toward her office door.
What could Elissa do but leave? “Peace, come,” she said, and the two of them left.
She ignored all the other people in the hallway and entry area, figuring she’d know some of them but not wanting to talk to anyone. She didn’t even bother signing out.
But neither did she leave immediately. Her intent before had been to provide therapy services in the pediatrics area. Maybe she couldn’t do anything like that officially, but at least she could visit—right?
No one stopped her as she got Peace into the elevator to the third floor. No one stopped her there, either, as she walked with her dog to the large room where they usually worked and provided warmth and psychological help to scared and unruly kids who needed it.
One of the other therapy dog handlers, Dianne Doriene, was present with Sparta, her Australian shepherd mix. They were working with one of the long-term juvenile patients, Marcus, who had a kidney issue. Marcus’s mother, DeeDee, was there, too, along with a couple of other parents, mostly ones whose kids were scheduled to come in for some therapy work later.
Another person present was Adellaide Willmer. Elissa had been surprised to see Adellaide at recent therapy dog sessions along with Popo, the dog she was training. Elissa hadn’t asked but assumed she was taking up therapy dog handling in memory of her son, Tully, who’d had severe psychological issues. He’d been the child she’d removed Peace from working with because of his particularly difficult mental illness. Sadly, he had fallen out of a hospital window and died after a therapy session given by someone else.
She caught Dianne’s eye, and the other handler frowned. Was she aware of Elissa’s situation?
The answer was clearly yes.
Dianne handed Sparta’s leash to one of the parents and sidled over to Elissa. “I’m surprised to see you here,” she said.
“Me, too,” Elissa said softly. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“I heard...well, as I said, I’m surprised to see you here.”
Elissa had to ask. “Do you happen to know the reason I’ve been asked to take a leave of absence?” That was, in fact, what Mae had finally said—even though that leave might wind up being permanent.
Dianne glanced down at Peace, then looked straight into Elissa’s face. Her blue eyes were shadowy, her expression grim. “It’s partly about Peace. Did you let her hurt, or even scare, some of the kids here?”
“No!” The word exploded from Elissa’s mouth but fortunately no one was looking their way. “No,” she repeated more softly. “Who did you hear that from?”
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