“And Mrs. Ribble next door,” Valerie finished for him with a wry smile.
“No. The house across the street from yours,” Bricker corrected.
Valerie’s eyebrows rose at this news and she said, “But Mrs. Ribble is at least eighty years old. She’s always home.”
Bricker’s pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Which next-door neighbor is she? The left or right side?”
“The right side if you’re facing the house from the street,” Valerie answered.
“There was no answer there,” Bricker said firmly, and then added thoughtfully, “But a dog barked when I knocked.”
“She doesn’t have a dog,” Valerie said with a frown.
“Bricker, I think you may have found Roxy after all,” Anders commented.
Valerie glanced at him with surprise, but then realized he was probably right. He had to be . . . unless Mrs. Ribble had got herself a dog in the last two weeks, it was probably Roxy that Bricker had heard barking. Straightening, she said, “I have to go see if it’s Roxy.”
“No. You have to stay here,” Anders said firmly. “Bricker will go back.”
“She didn’t open the door to him the first time, what makes you think she’ll open it for him if he goes back?” she asked impatiently.
“What makes you think she’ll answer to you?” Anders asked. “You only moved in next door a week or so before being kidnapped.”
Valerie scowled. “I wasn’t asking permission to go. I’m not a prisoner here . . . or am I?” she added grimly.
“No, of course not,” Leigh said at once, moving to her side to add her support. “And I think we should all go see if it’s Roxy.”
“Oh, no,” Anders said at once. “Lucian would have my hide if I let you out in your condition.”
“So Valerie isn’t a prisoner, but I am?” Leigh asked sweetly.
Anders scowled. “Neither of you are prisoners, but it’s in your best interests to remain here. You, Leigh, because you could go into labor at any moment, and Valerie because—”
“I’m sure a quick drive to Valerie’s house and back wouldn’t be a problem,” Marguerite interrupted soothingly.
“I’d believe that if I didn’t know that Valerie lives in Cambridge, Marguerite,” Anders said dryly. “That’s a forty-five minute drive and if Lucian came back while we were gone—”
“He won’t,” Marguerite assured him. “A couple of new hunters flew in today and he’s meeting with them. He told me to tell Leigh to call if anything happened, but otherwise he’d be a little late.”
“We have new hunters?” Anders asked with surprise.
“Yeah,” Bricker said with a grin. “Lucian said with his men dropping like flies we needed the extra support.”
Valerie frowned. How dangerous was the job of hunting men like the one who had held her captive? Pretty dangerous, she guessed, but pushed that aside in favor of her worry over Roxy. The German shepherd was her responsibility . . . and she loved the dog. She wanted to know if she was all right and where she was. Shifting impatiently, she asked, “Leigh, can I use your phone?”
“Yes, of course, Valerie,” she said at once. “But what for?”
“I’m calling a taxi to take me home,” she answered, spotting the phone at the other end of the kitchen and heading for it.
“Oh.” Leigh smiled uncertainly at her and then turned to Anders and snapped, “Well?”
Valerie was picking up the phone when she heard Anders release an exasperated sigh.
“Fine,” he said curtly. “Hang up, Valerie. I’ll take you.”
Valerie hesitated, but then hung up and turned to face him. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
“Great,” Leigh said happily. “Maybe we can stop for ice cream on the way. I know this great place that sells Rocky Road sundaes with marshmallow topping and—”
“You’re not going,” Anders interrupted firmly. “I’ll take Valerie, but you’re staying here with Bricker. I’m not risking the wrath of Lucian so you can have ice cream.”
“That’s all right, Leigh,” Marguerite said reassuringly. “We’ll wait till they leave and then get Bricker to take us for ice cream . . . and maybe some shopping.”
“All right,” Leigh said, suddenly smiling, and then added excitedly, “Oooo, if Lucian’s going to be late, dinner out would be nice too, don’t you think?”
“Bricker is not taking you anywhere,” Anders said firmly.
Marguerite shrugged. “Then we’ll wait till he’s busy and take Leigh’s car and go ourselves.” She smiled sweetly at Anders and added, “He can’t watch us every minute. He’ll have to go to the bathroom sooner or later.”
Much to Valerie’s amazement, Anders actually growled under his breath with frustration. But then he threw up his hands in defeat and turned to head out of the kitchen saying, “Fine. Come with us. But it’s straight there and back. No stopping for ice cream. No lunch. No shopping. There and back and that’s it.”
“M
mmm, this really is good,” Valerie murmured, dipping her spoon into her ice cream and scooping out a large mouthful.
“I told you it was.”
Valerie shifted around in the front seat and smiled at Leigh. The pregnant woman was seated between Bricker and Marguerite on the SUV’s backseat where all three of them were each gobbling up their own Rocky Road sundae with marshmallow topping, nuts, and a cherry.
“You were right.” Valerie assured her and then settled back in her seat, her gaze sliding to a scowling Anders in the driver’s seat. The man had been scowling since leaving the house. Her gaze dropped to the sundae sitting on the floor between them and she said, “You really should pull over and eat yours before it completely melts, Anders. It will only take a couple minutes.”
“I don’t have a sundae,” Anders said grimly. “That’s Leigh’s. She said she wanted two, so she has two.”
“And I told you I lied so you could have one because I knew you were too annoyed to order one for yourself,” Leigh said patiently. “Pull over and eat it, Anders. I promise you it’s the best thing you’ve ever tasted.”
When he didn’t respond, Marguerite said, “Why don’t you feed him, Valerie. That way he doesn’t have to stop, but can still enjoy it.”
Valerie’s eyes widened. “Oh, I don’t think—”
“Just pretend he’s a sick and cranky child you have to feed,” Marguerite said with amusement.
Valerie’s eyes shot to Anders in time to catch him casting a dirty look into the rearview mirror, no doubt at Marguerite. Since the woman suddenly chuckled, she supposed Marguerite caught the look.
Valerie glanced down at the melting sundae. It did seem a shame for it to go to waste. It was good ice cream. And it hadn’t been cheap.
“Just give him a taste, Valerie, so he’ll stop and eat it,” Leigh suggested.
Valerie hesitated, but they were pulling up to a red light and it wouldn’t interfere with his driving, so she scooped up a healthy selection of her own ice cream and topping and leaned over to offer her spoon to him.
Anders eyed the offering, but didn’t at first open his mouth. She was just about to give up, sit back and eat it herself when he suddenly did. Valerie moved the spoon between his open lips, watching silently as he closed his mouth around the spoon and ice cream. She could have sworn the gold flecks in his eyes flashed bigger and brighter in the black irises and then he closed his eyes on a long moan that sounded almost sexual.
Valerie stared wide-eyed as he savored the food, then withdrew the now clean spoon and sank back in her seat uncertainly.
“Told you you’d like it,” Leigh said with amusement from the backseat.
When Anders didn’t respond, but remained still, eyes closed, Bricker said, “Yo, A-man. The light’s changed.”
Anders blinked his eyes open, saw that Bricker was telling the truth, and urged the car forward again. He only drove half a block though, before pulling into a mall parking lot to finish his sundae.
“W
hat kind of dog is Roxy?”
Valerie glanced around in surprise at that question from Leigh. She’d dozed off in her seat shortly after they’d finished their ice cream and continued on the drive. She hadn’t meant to, but supposed she’d sleep a lot for the next little while as she healed. In truth, she was still tired and would no doubt still be asleep if her head hadn’t fallen off the headrest and bumped into the side window. Clearing her throat, she shifted around so she could see the people in the backseat and answered, “She’s a German shepherd.”
“How old is she?” Marguerite asked with interest.
“About three,” Valerie said, and then added, “She was a rescue animal. She’s one of several dogs who were brought into my clinic after a raid on a puppy mill.”
“Your clinic?” Anders asked, sparing her a glance before turning his eyes back to the road.
“Yes. I’m a vet,” Valerie explained. “I have a clinic in Winnipeg.”
“You have a clinic in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but live in Cambridge, Ontario?” Bricker asked, and before she could answer, commented, “That’s one hell of a commute.”
Valerie smiled faintly, but shook her head. “The house in Cambridge is a rental. I’m just staying there while I take some courses at the University of Guelph.”
“Changing careers?” Anders asked curiously.
Valerie shook her head. “No,the courses are actually at the veterinary clinic at the university. I’m just brushing up on the career I already have,” she said and when he raised an eyebrow in question, she explained, “I got my degree and training there. There have been advancements in the field the last couple of years and I wanted to get caught up on the latest techniques.”
“Do all vets do that?” Leigh asked curiously.
“What about your clinic? Did you have to shut it down while you’re away?” Bricker asked.
“And aren’t there veterinary schools in Winnipeg?” Marguerite chimed in. “This seems a long way to go to brush up.”
Valerie grimaced at the barrage of questions, but answered, “I don’t know if other vets take courses to stay current. I have a partner, and two other vets work at the clinic; they’re covering things till I get back. And Guelph is where I got my original degree. It just seemed easier to return for these courses than to apply somewhere else.”
Her answers were mostly true, and they were also the explanations she gave to everyone else. It was nobody’s business that she’d chosen to brush up and to do so in Ontario because she’d wanted to be out of Winnipeg for a while.
“So were you born and raised in Winnipeg, or Ontario?” Anders asked.
“Cambridge, Ontario,” Valerie answered reluctantly, knowing what question would come next.
It was Bricker who asked it. “Then how did you end up opening a clinic in Winnipeg?”
Valerie considered how best to answer, but really there was only one answer. “A man.”
Silence filled the SUV briefly and then Anders said, “You aren’t married.”
It wasn’t really phrased as a question, more like a command, she thought, and wondered about that, but said, “No. I’ve never been married. But I started dating another student my first year at university. We dated all seven years of school, but he was from Winnipeg. He wanted to go back when we graduated and he asked me to go.” She shrugged. “I moved there with him and set up shop.”
“But you didn’t marry?” Anders asked and she glanced over to see that his eyes were narrowed on the road. There was a tension about him she didn’t understand.
“No.” She turned to stare out the window at the passing scenery and said, “We split up eventually, but by then the clinic was successful and I’d made friends there. I stayed.”
They’d split up nine months ago after ten years together. Ten years during which he’d claimed he never wanted to marry—a marriage certificate meant nothing to him. They didn’t need one. Two weeks after they split up he was dating Susie; six weeks after that he asked Susie to marry him. It seemed it wasn’t that he never wanted to marry, he’d just never wanted to marry Valerie. And she had no desire to be in town when he said I do to the woman he
did
want to marry. It wasn’t that she wasn’t over him. She’d been over him long before they’d got around to breaking up. It wasn’t her heart that couldn’t take it. It was her pride. It hurt that Larry had never wanted to marry her, yet had popped the question to his new girl within weeks. What the hell was up with that? Why hadn’t she been the type he’d marry?
She had no idea and that bothered her.
“Oh, we’re here,” Marguerite said suddenly. “And now we’re not.”
Valerie blinked and focused on the view out the window to see that they . . . were driving past her house? She turned to Anders in question. “Why—?”
“Put this on,” he interrupted, holding out a baseball cap and sweatshirt.
Valerie recognized them. He’d made a trip upstairs to fetch them before they’d left, and set them on the floor when they’d got in the vehicle.
When she didn’t immediately accept the items, he asked, “Have you forgotten Igor and his boss already? They may be watching your house.”
“Why would they do that?” she asked with a frown.
“Why did they take you in the first place?” he countered and then admitted, “They might not be watching, but they just as easily could be, and isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?”
Valerie nodded, took the items, and quickly shrugged on the sweatshirt over her own clothes, then pulled the ball cap on her head.
“Tuck your hair under,” Anders instructed as he cruised past her house again, his eyes scanning the area as they went.
Valerie took the hat off, caught her hair in a ponytail, twisted it around into a bun on top of her head and then held it in place as she slid the hat over it. “Okay?”
He glanced over, nodded, then turned his attention back to the road, but made one more circuit around the block before pulling into Mrs. Ribble’s driveway.
Valerie had the door open and was hurrying up the driveway almost before the SUV had fully stopped. She didn’t head for the front door, however, but straight up the side of the house to the fence running across the end of the driveway from the house and going around the backyard. She didn’t need to go to the door and ask Mrs. Ribble if Roxy was there. She could see Roxy in the backyard.
She was halfway to the gate when the German shepherd spotted her and raced to the fence barking excitedly. Grinning, Valerie ran the last few feet and reached over the gate to unhook the latch. She’d barely started to swing it open when Roxy burst through the narrow opening like a bullet. The dog circled Valerie, barking wildly, and then, tail wagging like a mad thing, she rubbed up against her legs and turned in circles in front of her. Roxy was happy and excited, but not so excited she’d forgotten that she wasn’t supposed to jump up on people.