“No way. Don’t flatter yourself.”
He smiled faintly. “You do, you know. I’m very encouraged by it. A little uncertainty can be intriguing. Don’t worry; I haven’t been lurking in the shadows. I’ve just been … waiting.” He stopped beside the stretcher where Toby lay and stroked the dog’s golden white muzzle. Toby’s tail wagged, but he didn’t open his eyes. “His spirit is still strong. He’s not going to leave you soon. I’ll get him there in time, Jane.”
“You’d better.” She knelt to stroke Toby. “I’m here, boy,” she said to him softly. “I’m taking you to see Monty and Maggie and some other dogs who may become your friends. You stay with me. Okay?”
Toby whimpered and tried to turn so that she could rub his belly.
“Buckle up, Jane.” Caleb went down the aisle toward the cockpit.
“I will.” Jane laid her cheek on Toby for a brief instant, then slipped into the seat across the aisle and fastened her seat belt. “Trust me, boy. We’ll get through this together.”
* * *
“I DON’T LIKE IT,” JOE SAID
flatly when Eve finished speaking. “When will Jane be able to get there?”
“As soon as she can,” Eve said. “How do I know? Jane doesn’t have any idea what’s wrong with Toby or if he can be cured. She’ll let me know.”
Silence. “Maybe I’ll be able to leave after the testimony tomorrow. I could take the night coach out.”
“Not likely. Since when did court cases ever go the way you want them to go? You’ll have to stay for that cross-examination. Stop worrying about me, Joe.”
“I don’t like leaving you alone.”
“I’m fine.”
“Keep your phone by your bed, your gun on the nightstand, and be sure to put the alarm on.”
“The alarm is already on. I can take care of myself. Stop worrying. Now go to bed and get to sleep.”
Another silence. “Maybe you’re right. Logic is on your side. I don’t have any reason to go off the rails.”
“Absolutely right.”
“To hell with being right. I’m going to call and have a patrol car make a couple swings by the cottage tonight and tomorrow.”
“And what would the captain say? Personal business.”
“I’ll pay someone off duty. Stop arguing.”
She chuckled. “You’re impossible.”
“I love you. Don’t go for any strolls. Don’t open the door without knowing who’s on the other side.”
“I have to call FedEx and send Ryan off to Bloomington.”
“Send him with one of the cops I arrange to do a pass by. As soon as I set up who it will be, I’ll call you and leave his name and cell-phone number. And I’ll call you first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Relax, Joe.” She paused. “You’re spooking me. I’ll be careful. When you get back, we’ll laugh about this.”
“Maybe. At the moment, I’m not amused.” He was silent. “Phone me when you hear more about Toby. I love that old guy.”
“Me, too. Jane’s not sure that she believes in miracles, but she’s hoping for one tonight. I’ll call as soon as I hear. I love you, Joe.” She hung up.
Joe was definitely overreacting. As an independent woman, she should feel a little insulted that he was being overprotective.
She was not insulted. When you loved someone, your instinct was to fight and cling to them against all odds … and logic.
And, as Joe said, to hell with being right or logical. Joe’s instincts had been honed in the most extreme classroom in the world when he was with the SEALs. He was not often wrong.
She would put her gun on the nightstand tonight.
Summer Island
10:05 P.M.
“WE HAVE COMPANY.” CALEB
was glancing out the window as he left the cockpit. “And they look serious. I don’t think they’re the kindly vets you were expecting.”
“I told you to expect security. But there’s a van pulling up.” Jane frowned at the attractive, dark-haired young woman getting out of the vehicle. “That’s not Sarah Logan.”
“Let’s just hope that she has some authority.” He threw open the door, and the steps emerged. “Stay with Toby. Let me check it out.”
Before she could protest, he was down the steps and crossing the tarmac.
But the dark-haired woman was striding toward the plane and obviously giving orders to the two armed security guards who had gotten out of their jeep.
She pushed by Caleb and ran up the steps. “Jane MacGuire. I’m Dr. Devon Brady. Sarah got an emergency call from her husband right after she talked to you. She had to leave and go back to California. She asked me to take care of Toby.” She turned and yelled at the security men. “Come up and take this stretcher.”
“Wait a minute.” Jane had been expecting Sarah, and this was going too fast. She instinctively stood defensively in front of Toby. “What are your qualifications? How do I know you’re any better than that vet I left in London?”
“I have authority to run this facility. And you don’t know if I’m as good as that vet in London. I don’t know either. But I’m very good, and I care.” She looked Jane in the eye. “And we have a few rabbits in the hat here that they don’t have anywhere else. We might be able to pull one out for your Toby. Let me try. Your friend, Sarah, trusts me. That should count for something.”
“It counts for a hell of a lot.” She reached into her briefcase, pulled out a folder, and handed it to Devon Brady. “Here are his medical records.” She slowly moved from in front of the dog. “Toby’s breathing is shallower than when we left London.” She added unsteadily, “I’m scared, Dr. Brady.”
“Devon. I know you’re scared.” She was gesturing to the two security men who had entered the plane. “Take him to the lab. I’ve set up the tests.” She handed Jane a set of car keys. “I’ll go with your Toby and do an initial exam on the road. You and your pilot can follow in the security jeep.” She pushed by Caleb again as she ran back down the steps. “I’ll see you at the lab.”
“I’m feeling very unimportant and definitely brushed aside,” Caleb said ruefully as he fell into step with Jane as she started toward the jeep. “So much for taking care of the opposition. I take it you trust her?”
“Maybe. I think so. I don’t have much choice. Sarah is very smart, and anyone she hired would have to be exceptional.”
“Really? What do you know about this place?”
“I told you, it’s an experimental facility. It’s already been confirmed by several scientific studies that dogs have certain healing properties. That’s why they permit dogs to be taken to critically ill patients in hospitals. It’s not only psychological, though some critics claim that’s all it is. Well, Sarah became involved with a group that discovered that some dogs have a heightened ability in that area.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “It’s a mystery. That’s why they started this experimental colony. Sarah says that they have a few theories, but they have to have cast-iron proof.”
“And those theories?”
“I didn’t ask her, and I don’t know if she’d tell me if I did. She’s very protective of her dogs.”
“But you’ve known her for years.”
“And she knows I’ve been skeptical. I have to have proof.” She started the jeep. “It’s my nature.”
“But you’re here now.” He smiled faintly. “An atheist in a foxhole?”
“I’m not an atheist, but I admit this is a terribly deep foxhole.” She blinked away the moisture in her eyes so that she could see the taillights ahead of her. “Did you know that Monty, Toby’s sire, was a search-and-rescue dog? He knew all about foxholes and earthquakes and mudslides. He saved my life once when I was a kid. He was the first dog I ever knew and cared about. Sarah knew I loved him, but he would never have left her. So she gave me his first pup, Toby.”
“A half-wolf? Not exactly a tame animal to give a little girl.”
“Toby has the heart of a golden. He was zany and a little clumsy and easily distracted, so he would never have made a rescue dog.” She cleared her throat. “But so much love. I’ve never known any creature that was so loving. Talk about healing? Just the love he gave could make my sadness and pain go away.” She swallowed. “There’s a building up ahead. That must be the lab.”
“Yes.” Caleb reached out and covered her hand resting on the steering wheel. “It will be all right. We’ll make it all right.”
“We don’t have much to say about it.” She pulled to a stop in front of the rambling one-story building. “Right now it’s up to that vet and God.”
Lake Cottage
Atlanta, Georgia
THUNDER …
It was raining hard, Eve realized as she turned over in bed to look at the clock.
One-forty in the morning.
She had drifted off to sleep about midnight, but it had been a restless slumber. The thunder must have woke her.
Go back to sleep.
She lay there for ten minutes, then sat up and swung her feet to the floor.
Get a glass of water and try again.
She stood at the bedroom window and watched the rain hitting against the windowpane as she drank the water. She always loved the sound of the rain on the roof and the lake. It was wild and yet strangely comforting. Usually, she went out on the porch and sat with the veil of rain surrounding her.
Not tonight.
This was good enough and she—
Headlights speared the darkness.
She tensed.
A car was coming down the lake road.
She set the glass down and stepped closer to the window.
Lightning flashed.
She released the breath she’d been holding.
Foolish. It was the patrol car Joe had set up to cruise by the cottage.
Poor guy, he probably hadn’t counted on driving through this awful rain. She’d have to find out with whom Joe had made the arrangement and make it up to him. But even if it wasn’t necessary, the sight of that patrol car did give her a feeling of comfort.
She went back to the bed and crawled under the covers. Jane must have arrived at the island, but Eve hadn’t heard from her yet. She hoped that was good and not bad for Toby. She remembered how Toby had tried to crawl up on Jane’s bed during a thunderstorm when he was a puppy. How many times had Eve come into Jane’s room to see them curled up together? She had always turned a blind eye. She had just been glad Jane had formed an attachment that could not hurt her and only be healthy. She’d always been so alone …
Get well, Toby. God, don’t let her lose him yet.
* * *
SHE HAD GONE BACK TO BED,
Doane thought as he took the earphone out of his ear. It was clear Eve Duncan was restless from the movements he had heard in the cottage.
Why not? A woman who dealt with the dead would naturally be highly sensitive.
Do you feel me out here, Eve?
Or are you worried about your Jane? She had talked to Jane MacGuire a few hours ago, and the affection between them was very obvious. Affection and a protective bond that was as clear as sunlight. He had been right to take measures to remove Jane MacGuire.
He had enough problems with trying to avoid that patrol car that was making rounds. He had thought Venable was responsible for that before he’d monitored the call between Joe Quinn and Eve earlier. Of course, Venable could still have done something to trigger Quinn’s concern.
“Difficulties, Kevin,” he whispered. She’s not as alone and fragile as I thought. I expected it to be easier. I planned it so well. Just the way we did when you were alive.
He looked up at the window of Eve’s bedroom. The rain was striking the sheet of glass between them. She didn’t realize how vulnerable she was as she lay in that bed.
Not yet.
Sleep well, Eve. I’ll get back to you.
I have things to do.
* * *
JANE STRAIGHTENED AS DEVON BRADY
came into the small waiting room at the lab facility. It had been over an hour since the vet had taken Toby into the examination room and told them she’d get back with a report as soon as she could. “Is he okay? What can you do for him?”
“No, he’s not okay,” Devon said gently. “He’s failing. I think you know that’s true.”
“Don’t tell me that. Tell me what you can do for him. I didn’t bring him all this way to have you tell me he’s going to die. What’s wrong with him? With all these instruments and research files, surely you know more than that doctor in London.”
“It could be several things, but it doesn’t fit in any one slot. Respiratory failure, but for what reason? His lungs look fine and so do—” She broke off. “I know you don’t want to hear details and guesses.”
“No, I want you to tell me how you’re going to cure him,” she whispered. “You can find a way, right?”
“Maybe. But first I have to find out what it is we have to cure.”
“Then do it.”
“I intend to make every effort. I’ve called in a consultant to help me, but I had to get your permission.” She checked her watch. “She should be here in another five minutes. I had to call and roust her out of bed.”
“Why didn’t you have her here when we came from the airfield?” Caleb asked.
“I didn’t know I’d need her. I had your vet’s records, and I trust myself in most cases. I thought I’d be able to make a diagnosis.” She shrugged. “And you’re having enough to deal with right now. I didn’t want to upset you unless it was necessary.”
“Why should I be any more upset than I am right now?” Jane asked.
“You didn’t trust me. Margaret is not very professional-appearing. You have to know that she—”
“I hurried as quick as I could. Where is he, Devon?”
Jane turned at the question to see a woman coming in the door. No, not a woman, she looked more like a young girl of not over nineteen or twenty. Her thin body was dressed in jeans and a loose white shirt, and her pale brown hair was shoulder length and glowed under the lights. Everything about her glowed, Jane thought absently. She was tanned a golden brown, with a sprinkling of freckles dusting her nose. Even her bare feet were tanned in the leather thongs.
“He’s in the lab,” Devon said. “I had my assistant take him off the table and lay him on the floor for you.”
“Good. I’ll go right in.” She started for the door. “You should have called me before you—”
“Wait, Margaret,” Devon gestured to Jane. “You have to get permission. This is Jane MacGuire. Margaret Douglas. Margaret’s going to try to help your Toby.”