Chapter Three
“H ere’s your problem, Anna.” Derek Conrad held up the piece of metal he’d plucked from her rear bicycle tire. “Where do think you picked this up?”
Annabelle stood in the service area of Back Alley Bikes watching as Derek slowly spun the wheel from her bike. “Darned if I know. Saturday was the first time I’d had the bike out this spring. I filled both tires with my air compressor and rode all the way up to Sunset Ridge Lane. I stopped to take some pictures. Got back to the bike, and the tire was flat. Been crazy busy, so this is the first chance I’ve had to get her in to you.”
Derek shook his head, making his shaggy auburn hair sway as though he were in a shampoo commercial. “Riverview Road always has crap lying in the bike lanes and shoulders after winter. We need a good gully washer. That would clear things away.” He stopped the spinning wheel and rested his lean, wiry frame against the workbench. “How are things with you and the Walkers? I saw that Cam and Harper bought the building behind us.” He jerked a thumb to the west of his shop located in a small brick building that faced the alley behind Mac’s Riverside Diner and Clyde Schwimmer’s Antiques most of the pet owners he’d worked with at Purdue were there because their animal was deathly sick or injured, so the conversations centered on fixing the critters or helping them through the last days of suffering. Pampered pets were rare at the vet school. Loved pets, most assuredly, but if they were pampered to the extent that old Caldwell was, Sawyer was rarely aware of it.
He followed Caldwell’s owner back to the exam table with a quick side-eye to Mindy, who stood by, one hand on the cat.
“This is Russell Runyon and his cat Caldwell,” she said, handing him the iPad.
Mr. Runyon straightened the blanket under the cat. “I always bring a fleece because these tables are so cold, and Caldwell hates to be cold.”
Sawyer took a breath, then offered the man and his cat a smile. “Okay, Caldwell, let’s take a look, shall we?”
The cat yawned and gave him a look that undeniably said, Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.