Chapter 33 Cami
CAMI
Thursday morning, I couldn’t stop smiling, even though I was running twenty minutes late.
Kyle had woken me up by whispering his fantasy to me.
We made it come true on the very spot where I’d ogled him our first morning together, with each of us taking turns on our knees. Yes, being late was totally worth it.
With our first date officially over, Kyle and Bella walked me to my office. We stood in the hall to say goodbye. He kissed me, then bent down to hug Bella.
“You be a good girl for Boss Lady,” he told her. “And if she doesn’t give you enough treats, you let me know and I’ll stop over at lunchtime to spoil you.”
“Please, she’s going to be spoiled by everyone in the clinic,” I told him as I shooed him toward the back door. “She might just like working here more than at HQ.”
“Well, at HQ she has a dog bed.”
I grinned and opened my office door wider, showing him the pink dog bed with a fluffy white lining. “A gift from Ally.”
Bella trotted into my office, hopped onto the bed, turned in a circle, and settled in for a nap.
He narrowed his eyes. “Your team doesn’t fight fair.”
“You’re on my team, remember?”
“Absolutely.” He kissed me again, taking his time, making me feel it in every inch of my body. When he let me go, he grinned. “And I don’t fight fair, either.”
He left through the back entrance and took off through the woods. Bella picked up her head and whined. She loved their morning runs.
“Sorry, girl, today after PT, Daddy has important meetings at the office,” I explained as if she could understand. And maybe she could because she laid her head down and closed her eyes.
The staff began arriving. Gina popped her head into my office. “Kyle’s truck is parked outside. Did he sleep over?” She faked gasped. “Is he still naked in your bed? And if so, what are you doing down here?”
“He already went to work,” I told her. “And speaking of work...”
She grinned. “Killjoy. I’ll have your first exam room prepped in ten. Our first patient today is a miniature poodle with an anal gland abscess.”
I smiled. “We lead a glamorous life.”
We had back-to-back appointments all morning.
Doc and I were the only vets in that day, and neither of us had a break until the clinic closed for an hour-long lunch break.
As was often the case, the hour didn’t give me a break at all, but it did allow me to finish updating the patient files from my morning appointments.
“There’s no way around it,” I told Bella as I took her to the grassy area behind the building for her potty break.
“It’s time to hire another full-time vet.
” I patted her head to praise her. “The good news is we’re finally making enough money to do it.
I’ll make some calls and put out…” I remembered the conversation I’d had with Gina and Darla the day I’d returned to work.
“Actually, I’ll ask Gina and Darla to start the candidate search. ”
When we returned to my office, I washed my hands, then pulled out a box from my mini-fridge that contained the Giovanni’s leftovers from last night. And then I couldn’t stop smiling again as I thought about my hot date.
The intercom system speaker on my desk crackled, making me jump. It was for emergencies and I couldn’t remember it ever being used. I was about to walk to the front desk to ask Darla what was wrong when I heard her voice.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” Darla said.
“Please!” a woman said. I didn’t recognize her voice. “He said he’ll detonate it. He means it!”
Detonate? Like a bomb?
“All right, I’m going to turn off the security cameras, but I need you to remain calm,” Darla said. “I don’t think anyone is in the back, so I’ll have to check.”
She knew Gina, Doc, and I hadn’t left for lunch, so she was lying, either to warn us or to buy time.
I tapped my computer to bring up the security feeds.
I saw Darla at the front desk and a woman in the lobby.
The woman was visibly shaking. There was collar around her neck with an attached box. The box had a blinking light.
Definitely like a bomb. The woman was clutching something in her hand. The detonator? Or maybe a walkie talkie.
The security feeds turned to snow. Darla had taken down the system. What choice had she had? If that was an explosive device, she’d just saved all our lives. But for how long?
“You’re not going anywhere,” a man’s voice said, but it sounded like it was through a speaker. Maybe he was commanding Darla through the woman’s walkie talkie.
Gina rushed into my office.
“Cami, it’s him. Scott. I saw him through the window. He was in the pharmacy parking lot next door. I tried to call 911, but I don’t have signal.”
I snatched up my phone and hit Kyle’s number as I explained what was happening at the front desk.
My phone line was dead.“I don’t have signal, either.”
Gina turned a sickly shade of gray. “Could he be blocking the cell signal?”
It couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Possibly. Gina, run. Go out the back exit. As soon as you get somewhere with signal, call Kyle, then 911.”
“I’m not leaving you or Darla or Doc, and don’t lecture me because I know you’re staying for them, too. Besides, what if Scott has a gun and sees me making a run for it?’
Our distress upset the dog, who whined and came to my side.
I petted her. “It’s okay girl, we’ll figure it out.” I stared at her collar. “We need a panic button.”
“Do you happen to have one of those handy?” Gina asked.
“Actually, I do. Plus, someone who is low to the ground so Scott won’t see her making a run for it.”
Scott’s voice spoke again, but this time, it didn’t come through a speaker. He’d used his hostage to force Darla to turn off our security system so he could enter into the building.
I pressed Bella’s panic button, hoping that signal wasn’t jammed. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and jotted out an abbreviated message, folded it, and tucked it into her collar. I hoped Kyle would be able to decipher it. But first, I had to set Bella on his trail.
“I need something with his scent,” I said.
“Scott’s?”
I shook my head. “Kyle’s, so she can find his trail through the woods and get to him.”
“Cami, you’re a freaking genius.”
We quickly searched my office, but there was nothing of his there, and I had no time to run upstairs.
I took Bella to the back door and went down on my knees.
“Okay girl, we have to do this the hard way, but we have no choice.” I kissed her head and hugged her.
My heart leapt into my throat when I realized she could get confused, run off course, and end up in the road. “Please, please, please, find Daddy.”
She pawed excitedly.
“Find Daddy, find him.” I opened the back door. “Go on girl. Where’s Daddy?”
She hesitated for a moment, probably expecting me to go with her. When I didn’t budge, she trotted out the door and gave me one last perplexed look.
“Go on,” I encouraged her again, “find Daddy.” I was terrified for her and nearly in tears.
She gave one yelp, dropped her nose to the ground, then ran, heading straight for the woods.
I closed the back door, leaving it unlocked. Remembering active shooter drills from high school, I ran back down the hall and told Gina to lock herself in my office.
“Not going to happen,” she said. “I told you, I’m not leaving you.”
She grabbed my hand and held it tight. I nodded, and we marched down the hall together, toward Darla, toward the hostage, toward the man who might kill us all.
We’d almost reached the door to the lobby when it swung open and Scott strolled into our back hallway carrying a very sick dog.
“There she is.” He grinned, but he looked anything but friendly. “There’s the woman who’s going to get my product out of this fucking dying dog.”
I held up my hands in a conciliatory gesture. “What are you doing, Scott?”
“Getting your help.” He jerked his head toward the front of the building. “I saw your boyfriend’s truck. Where’s he hiding?”
I considered lying to scare him away. But then I looked carefully and saw a gun at his hip, just as Gina had predicted.
“He’s not here today. He’s working at another job.”
“But he left his truck here?” Scott’s face turned dark and more dangerous.
I held up my hands. “I swear, he’s not here. You can check the building.”
The minute I said it, I regretted it. I hadn’t seen Doc, but I assumed he was in his office. He might be hiding, or he might be oblivious to the entire situation. Either way, I wanted to keep him safely out of this.
“I’m going to trust you for old time’s sake,” Scott said. “But I’m warning you, if loverboy makes an unexpected appearance, I’ll put a bullet between his eyes.”