Chapter 11 - Take Your Time

Dani tapped on Trip’s open office door, hoping her desire to be in on Petunia’s examination this morning didn’t reflect a lack of trust in her abilities. She’d gotten the impression Trip’s interest was more personal, more in the direction of Jamie Grant. Before they finished the examination, she’d know for sure. If she knew one thing, it was women, with the exception of Grace, who left her a tangled mass of nerves and emotions. “They’re in exam room three,” Dani said.

“Thanks.” Trip put her pen down and rose from her chair. She wiped her hands on her jeans and looked a little unsettled, though nothing like Sunday morning after the party.

When she brushed past, Dani stopped her with a hand on her arm. She reached around Trip and neatly slipped the white lab coat from the hook by the door. “I’m told that a white coat with doctor on the name tag always impresses.” She handed the coat to Trip with a smile.

Trip’s uncustomary response was a nod and a weak “thanks.” Something was definitely bothering her, but now wasn’t the time to broach it.

Michelle stepped out of exam room three, pulled the door closed, and gasped for breath. “Oh my God,” she said, her voice carrying down the hallway. “I should’ve put that one in a room with a window that opens.”

Trip clenched her jaws, and Dani jumped in. “Michelle, can you give me a hand with the Hollister beagle in the back?”

Trip stopped her. “Actually, Dani, I’d like you to see the Grant dog with me. Two heads will be better than one.” Trip glared at Michelle. “And I want you to wait in my office. We’re going to have a little chat about your continued lack of professional decorum.”

Michelle opened her mouth to say something but checked herself and went directly to Trip’s office. Dani didn’t say another word.

Trip sucked in a deep breath and opened the door to exam room three, and Dani trailed silently behind. “Hey, Jamie.”

Jamie looked from Dani to Trip, her expression questioning. A wheat-colored, wire-haired terrier mix sat on the exam table, watching them with wary eyes and pressing herself against Jamie’s chest. “I thought we were seeing Dani this morning.”

Dani was smart enough to know when to let the boss take the lead.

“Dani and I talked about what you told her Saturday and agreed that two heads would be better to figure out your pup’s problem.” Trip spoke in a soothing tone for Petunia’s benefit. “Will you introduce us?”

Jamie seemed to consider her options briefly, but finally stroked the terrier’s head and nodded. “This is Petunia.” Jamie’s face twisted in a grimace. “I just call her P. Some joker at the shelter probably named her that because of her gastric problems.”

“Hello, P.” Trip held out her hand for Petunia to sniff while Dani made notes in Petunia’s chart. “Hey, girl. I understand you’ve got a bit of a bellyache.” Petunia’s lips curled into a silent snarl.

Jamie cleared her throat. “It might help if you ditched the coat. She was rescued from a research lab, and they probably wore white lab coats.”

“Damn. You didn’t tell me that,” Dani said, shucking her coat and taking Trip’s as well. “I’ll toss these in my office.”

“While you’re doing that, will you send Michelle out back to help Jerome for the rest of the morning?” Trip kept her voice nonchalant so she didn’t upset Petunia, but Dani could tell she was still troubled by Michelle’s earlier comment. “Then call Jerome and let him know she needs to strip some stalls.”

Shoveling out the bottom layers of urine-soaked wood chips was the worst job in a stable. Dani grinned. “Sure thing, Trip.”

But Jamie frowned. “You don’t have to do that for me. I’m used to people saying crap about P’s gastric problem.”

Trip looked up sharply. “Not in my clinic. Not about my sick clients.”

Dani ditched the lab coats, delivered the bad news to Michelle, and called Jerome before heading back to the exam room. When she slipped back inside, Trip and Jamie were ending a hug. From Jamie’s flushed face and Trip’s starry-eyed smile, both had enjoyed it.

“Now, let’s see if Petunia is buying it,” Trip said.

Petunia’s dark eyes went from Jamie’s face to Trip’s, and she sniffed at Trip’s scent on Jamie. Trip tucked the diaphragm end of her stethoscope inside her shirt to warm it and held out her hand to the terrier again. Petunia snuffled Trip’s hand, then stood on the table to thoroughly examine Jamie’s scent on her. Trip scratched behind Petunia’s ears like Jamie had done, then knelt next to the table to put herself at eye level with the terrier, but not so close as to be in Petunia’s personal space. Dani was constantly impressed with her skills with animals.

“So, P.” Trip worked her scratching fingers around Petunia’s neck to her chest. “Your mom and I go way back to when we were both baby dykes strutting around the college campus like we thought we were special. Actually, Jamie is sort of special.”

That explained the familiarity between them, Dani thought, but not the tension.

Petunia thumped her tail against the metal table as if agreeing with what Trip had said, then her back foot when Trip scratched a particularly itchy spot along her spine.

Trip continued. “Jamie upped my game on the basketball court so much, we were both being scouted to play pro.” She kept up the running monologue while scratching turned to a massage before she slowly stood. “But things happened and she ran off to join the Army. I didn’t even get to talk to her before she left. I was really scared when I found out she was doing tours in Iraq.”

Trip finally glanced up at Jamie, who was watching her with an unreadable expression. Dani sensed definite chemistry between them but returned her attention to the chart.

Petunia sighed and rolled onto her back, releasing a long expel of flatulence as she relaxed into Trip’s gentle massage of her belly. Trip continued, keeping her voice low and even, and Dani scribbled notes as Trip dictated. “Possible neuter scar along the belly crease, but since she came from a research lab, it could be from a different, more extensive surgery. Significant bloating, but flatulence odor is indicative of incomplete digestion rather than fetid bowel. Tenderness apparent in the upper quadrant upon palpation and a thickening of tissue which could indicate a number of things—intense inflammation, blockage, scarring from previous surgeries, intestinal cysts, or tumors.”

Trip pulled her stethoscope from her shirt, keeping up the massage with her other hand. “Jamie, can you rub her lightly while I do some listening?” Jamie trailed her fingers along Petunia’s chest while Trip listened to her bowel sounds, then along her belly while Trip listened to her heart and lungs. “Heart and lungs sound good, but her gut is definitely painful and producing a lot of gas.” She held the stethoscope out to Dani and stepped to the side. “How about you take a listen just in case you hear something I didn’t.”

Dani couldn’t suppress a moment of pride that Trip wanted her opinion as well. She put her notes aside and rubbed her hands together to make sure they were sufficiently warm. Petunia’s only reaction when Dani’s hand replaced Trip’s was to let out a long snore. She was a picture of relaxation. They waited in silence for Dani’s verdict.

“Heart and lungs good,” Dani confirmed. “And I concur on the tenderness.” Petunia’s hind foot twitched when Dani pressed against her lower belly.

Trip gently rolled Petunia onto her side when she began to sneeze from lying on her back. The terrier stood and shook herself, then looked to Jamie.

“So,” Jamie said.

“I understand that Petunia has a history of bowel problems, but let’s talk specifically about why you brought her in today.”

“She’s been reluctant to eat lately. I’ve been feeding her prescription food that a specialist in New York prescribed, but she’s either tired of it or doesn’t feel like eating at all.”

“If her intestines are tender or she’s feeling too bloated, that could discourage her appetite,” Trip said. “Dani, let’s draw some blood and get a panel on her.”

“I brought stool and urine samples,” Jamie said, pointing to a pair of plastic containers by the exam room sink.

“That’s great.” Dani gathered what she needed from the cabinets over the sink’s counter.

“I know the drill. I’ve taken her to a dozen specialists, trying to fix this for her.” Jamie’s voice broke on her last words, and the muscle in her jaw worked while she watched Dani.

While Dani collected the samples, Trip took the chart, and when she spoke again, her voice was thicker and quieter as if she were fighting deep emotions. “So, can you give me some background on Petunia? You rescued her from a research lab?”

Jamie shook her head. “I got her from a kill shelter. She’d originally come from a research lab. The people who left her there said their son had adopted P from the SPCA after the lab gave in to public pressure to stop animal testing. Then he dumped her on them when he decided to travel overseas after graduating college.”

“If we could track down the type of research they were doing, it might give some clues about her problem.” Trip was in full problem-solving mode, and Dani just watched her work.

“The shelter asked, but the couple didn’t know and their son was overseas and unreachable. I asked for information on the people who turned her in, but the shelter said that was private information they couldn’t give out.”

“What was the name of the shelter? I’d like to talk to the vet they use to see if they can give me any history on her.”

Surprise showed in Jamie’s eyes, then a glimmer of hope. “Nobody, none of the specialists we’ve seen, ever asked me that before.”

Dani patted Jamie’s shoulder. “I promise Trip and I will leave no stone unturned. Trust us.”

Jamie looked down at Petunia, her throat working. When she looked up, she searched Trip’s face, not Dani’s, and Dani hesitated to break their connection.

She finished collecting and labeling the specimens and held them up. “I’m going to get these off to the lab. On the way back, I can pick up lunch.” Trip pulled her attention away from Jamie long enough to nod, and Dani couldn’t get out of the exam room fast enough. Whatever was happening between Trip and Jamie was personal and none of her business.

She drove into town slowly, giving Trip and Jamie time to finish the intake forms and have a real talk if they wanted. She could kill some time before collecting their lunches. She parked near Main Street but sat in her car for a while with the windows down. Seeing the interaction between Trip and Jamie had spun her thoughts down that emotionally uncomfortable but physically pleasurable path of thinking about Grace again, until a loud commotion across the street distracted her.

“I’ll only be here a minute, Grace.” A hulking, hairy man flying Hell’s Angels colors on his leather vest squared off with Grace beside a cherry apple red Harley.

“I can’t let you park here, Will. We’ve had this conversation before. My new deputy has a hard-on for illegal parking. I’m just doing you a favor.”

“All right then, Grace, you know what has to happen.” The man stepped closer and reached around her waist at the same time Grace placed her right hand on his left arm.

Dani imagined the cop in Grace flying hot at having her warning ignored and her personal space violated, and the big man protecting his machismo by standing up to a woman. Dani ran across the street, grabbed the man’s right arm, swept his feet from under him, and threw him to the ground. She jammed her knee in his spine and wrenched his arms behind his back. “Cuff him.” When Grace didn’t move, Dani looked up. “What are you waiting for?”

“What are you doing, Dani?”

Grace’s irritated expression said Dani had done something stupid. Again. What was wrong with her? She didn’t overreact, except where Grace was concerned apparently.

“Grace, will you get this person off my back before I smash her like a bug.”

Dani looked from Grace to the man under her. “What’s going on?”

“Let Will up, Dani. He’s not going to hurt me or anyone else.”

Heat rose up Dani’s neck as she released the man and slowly stood to face Grace. “He put his hands on you.”

Will brushed off his clothes and grinned at Grace. “This your new girlfriend?”

Grace shook her head. “Go get your mother’s lunch. I’ll watch your bike.” When Will walked away, Grace turned back to Dani. “Care to explain?”

“I thought he was going to hurt you.” Grace stepped closer, and Dani thought she was about to touch her but stopped short.

“I appreciate your concern, really, but maybe you should ask next time, especially if I’m on the job.”

Dani tried for nonchalance, but she burned with embarrassment. “He grabbed a deputy sheriff. You grabbed him. Where I come from that means things are going to get ugly. What was happening if you weren’t going to arrest him?”

“It’s an old shtick from our teens. When we disagree about something, Will and I dance it out. The first one to step on the other’s toes loses.”

Dani shook her head. “You’re one strange law enforcement officer. Excuse me for overreacting…and for caring.” She glanced at the ground. She’d admitted that she cared for Grace, but out loud this time.

“You care about me? That’s certainly news.” The lines around Grace’s eyes and mouth softened, followed quickly by a wide grin.

“We had breakfast together at the diner, with the rest of the town. You stopped me from getting a bad haircut. I practically live with you at the B and B. I’ve been in your home. We almost kissed at your place once, sort of kissed, twice, at the cookout. Guess I must like you a little, right?” She tried to make light of her blunder, but Grace slid her hand down Dani’s arm creating a deep stirring.

“I’m just surprised you admitted it. I’m flattered but also having trouble keeping up with the back-and-forth. Do you want to talk about what happened at the cookout?”

“Not really. Sorry.” Dani looked around and their little scene had attracted more than a few curious bystanders. “I apologize for my macho bullshit, then and today. Every time I’m around you, I get…”

“What?”

“Never mind.” Grace stood up to Dani when she lashed out, gave advice about small town survival, and offered emotional comfort. Grace mesmerized and pulled Dani in, made her feel safe and cherished, like family only better. But Grace also gave her hope for a love and home she’d never imagined, and that was the first step toward pain. From Grace’s viewpoint, Dani was a very bad gamble. From Dani’s perspective, Grace was a chance at the lottery, but could she take the risk?

“O—kay. Unnecessary as it was, thanks for trying to protect me.” Grace touched Dani’s hand and held it briefly before adding, “I was wondering if you’d do me a small favor.”

“Sure. Seems I need to atone.”

“Help me get Harry back home.”

Not exactly the request she’d expected, or possibly wanted, but easy enough to accommodate. “Sure. When?”

“MJ will have the sunroom ready tomorrow afternoon. Bring him with you from work?”

“I can do that.” She wasn’t ready for Grace to go but struggled for something else to say, something meaningful that needed saying, but then she nodded and walked toward the diner. When Grace was around, Dani turned into a malleable, eager to please butch, groveling at the feet of her femme Dom—a thought that both excited and terrified her. But Grace deserved more.

* * *

Grace forced herself to leave Dani outside the diner, though she’d felt a powerful urge to stay and help Dani tweeze the words she was struggling with to the surface. But she hadn’t asked for Grace’s help. As she walked toward her patrol car, her walkie-talkie crackled with Jamie’s voice. Had something gone wrong with Petunia’s exam this morning? When she looked at her watch, more time had passed than she realized while she and Dani chatted. The woman made her lose track of time and herself, probably not a totally good thing.

“Sarge, you on?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Can you come by Clay’s garage? We’ve got a situation over here.”

“On my way.” When Grace pulled up a few minutes later, Trip, Jamie, and Petunia headed toward her. Clay was on the phone and didn’t look happy. “What’s going on?”

“P alerted on a toolbox in the back of the garage.”

Grace took a second to register the information, her mind still partly on Dani, and the improbability of Jamie’s words. “Drugs? Here?”

Jamie nodded. “Clay suspects they belong to Bo, one of their mechanics.”

Grace turned toward Clay, but the question she was going to ask stalled when she saw the fear on Clay’s face. “What’s wrong?” Grace took a step toward her.

“Bo, why are you answering River’s phone?” Clay said as Grace moved closer and leaned in to hear the conversation.

“Cause me and your girl are taking a little drive.” There was static or wind noise in the background. “Let’s just say you’ve got something I need, and I’ve got something you want.”

“I’ll bring your shit, Bo. It’s not like I want it, but you better not hurt River.”

Grace touched Clay’s arm, trying to keep her calm so they could get more information. “Where is he?”

Clay punched the button to end the call. “He’s got River and wants me to bring the drugs and meet him at the mill to trade.” Clay stomped around, dust flying up from her boot falls. “Damn it all to hell.” She stopped and looked at Grace. “I’m going.”

“No.” Grace was firm. These situations could get out of hand quickly enough without a loved one nearby escalating things. Grace needed to focus on River, not divide her attention worrying about Clay.

“He said for me to come alone. He specifically told me not to bring you. So, I’m going.” She squared off in front of Grace.

“No, you’re not. You’re staying here with Jamie.” She looked at Jamie. “Call for backup. Tell them we have an active hostage situation and drugs are involved. Who knows if Bo is under the influence of something right now.”

“It would explain a lot.” Clay swept her fingers through her hair. “God, I’m an idiot.”

Trip rested her hand on Clay’s shoulder. “Leave it with Grace, pal.”

“But he’ll see her and do something stupid. He said no cops.”

“Clay, I’ve got this.” Grace’s voice was steady, calm. “He’s not going to hurt River. Besides, she’s smart and will be trying to escape. At the least she’ll distract him, throw him off his plan.” She walked toward her patrol car, planning her route, with Clay on her heels. “He’ll take the Mill Road, that’s fastest and the most secluded, and I’ll be on the loop road. Trust me, he’ll never see me coming. I’ll approach on foot once I get there. Now, let me do my job.”

“Aren’t you going to wait for backup? Isn’t that how this works?” Clay asked.

“I can handle one redneck.” Grace closed the patrol car door and backed away from the garage. Dust and gravel swirled as she whipped the cruiser onto the paved road.

Things like this didn’t usually happen in Pine Cone, and Grace hadn’t expected the adrenaline that flooded her system and made her feel like Super Woman. She stomped the accelerator flat out, lights and siren blaring, and leaned forward as if her body weight would propel the car forward faster.

When she reached the Mill Road fork, she veered to the right following the loop road which would be less conspicuous and have less traffic. Finally, she saw dust clouds in the distance on the main road and gunned the gas again. She caught sight of Clay’s old pickup that River drove ahead of her and to the left. The vehicle was weaving in the road, and it looked like the two people inside were fighting.

River was one feisty woman, and she wouldn’t give up easily. “Good girl. Keep it up,” Grace said as she watched in disbelief as the pickup suddenly swerved off the shoulder of the road, down the embankment, and into the Altamaha River. “Oh, no! This can not be happening.” She skidded to a stop at the spot where the truck left the road and saw it sinking slowly, water pouring in through the windows.

Grace unsnapped her seat belt while opening the door and ran toward the bank. River popped through the surface and started treading water. “Swim this way, River. Over to me.” The top of the truck was almost completely under water and disappearing quickly. River glanced back and forth between the sinking truck and Grace before diving back under. “What are you doing? River, no.”

Grace pulled at her heavy utility belt and dropped it on the ground. She’d sink like a stone if she tried to swim with all the equipment around her waist. She stripped off her uniform shirt to release the bulky vest and toed off her shoes. As she started toward the water, River emerged dragging Bo behind her.

“Are you all right?” Grace asked.

“I’m good…” Her breath came in gasps. “But I need…to get away…from him. He’s all yours.” River swept her hands through her wet hair and started walking barefoot back the way they’d come.

Grace grabbed her gun and pointed it at Bo who was still spitting and coughing on the ground. He wasn’t going anywhere. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Clay and Trip pull up in Trip’s truck. Clay would take care of River now. Grace reached for her walkie-talkie, canceled further police assistance, and requested an ambulance, non-emergency.

When Bo recovered enough to breathe properly, Grace handcuffed him and pulled her shirt and utility belt on. The only things left to do now were fill out the paperwork back at the office and keep Clay away from Bo until the ambulance arrived.