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“Damn it, Jess. How many times do I have to tell you to leave the investigating to me?”
“About as many times as it takes for you to actually do some investigating.”
They stood toe-to-toe in front of Jessie’s desk and demolished laptop. Greg towered over her, one hand on his hip, the other on his sidearm. He might have struck anyone else as an intimidating figure in his state trooper uniform. She was immune to it.
She calmly ran down a partial list of suspicious activities, beginning with Sherry’s familial connection to Doc and her potential inheritance, touching on Butch and his personal loans side gig, and ending with Frank Hamilton’s recent visit and resulting destruction of electronic equipment. At least, she started out calm. By the time she got to the part about being pinned between a large man and a smashed computer, she’d lost a considerable amount of her composure.
A muscle twitched in Greg’s jaw. “Do you want to file a complaint against this Hamilton fellow?”
“Yes,” she snapped. Mental images of her future flashed through her brain. Lawyers stating Hamilton hadn’t done anything but had in fact been the victim of Milt Dodd’s attack. Countersuits against Milt. And against her for slander. After all, she’d only been repeating what Sherry had told her. “No.”
“Wise choice. You’re stirring up a hornet’s nest around this place. The best thing you can do is let it all drop and get out of here. Let this woman who alleges to be Doc’s daughter have the damned practice if she wants it so bad.”
“But what about Doc’s murder?”
Greg raised both fists, clenched and shaking. “There was no murder.”
A timid knock at the door interrupted them. A teenage girl with tears streaking her freckled cheeks peered at them through the glass, a bundle of towels clutched to her chest. Greg strode to the back corner of the office as Jessie opened the door. “Can I help you?”
In a shuddering voice, the girl introduced herself as Katie and said she cleaned stalls in Barn M. She gingerly unfolded one corner of the bundle to reveal a pitiful, half-grown orange and white tabby. “One of the horses stepped on him.” She hiccupped. “I think his back is broke.”
Jessie glanced at Greg. He waved a hand. “Go ahead. I’ll wait.”
She escorted the girl into the exam area, gently took the bundle from her, and set it on a stainless-steel table. Once unwrapped, the small cat made no effort to escape. He rumbled like a small gasoline engine.
“Why’s he purring?” the girl asked.
“Cats don’t just purr when they’re happy.” Jessie probed the feline’s hip and pelvis. “They purr to soothe themselves too.”
“Oh.”
“The good news is his back isn’t broken. The bad news is, I think his hip is.”
“Can you save him?”
Rock music burst from Jessie’s pocket. A quick check of her phone revealed a text about an emergency two barns down. “Tell you what, Katie. You leave the little guy here. I’ll see what I can do to fix him up. Check back around three o’clock this afternoon. Okay?”
She flashed a smile through her tears before bolting out the door.
Jessie scooped up the kitty and the towel and carried him down the passageway between her office and the surgical suite, pausing to stick her head through the office door to tell Greg about the emergency. He followed her into the small animal kennel.
“Jess, you have to stop digging into all this stuff.”
She cradled the tiny cat in one arm. “But didn’t you say there was no murder? If no one has anything to hide, what difference does it make if I ask a few questions?”
“Just because Doc’s death was accidental doesn’t mean there’s nothing shady going on. You poke the wrong sleeping bear and your death may not be so accidental. I don’t want to have to investigate another murder.”
“Another one?” She placed a heating pad into the cage before nestling the cat and its towel inside. “The first one being Doc’s?”
Greg blew out an exasperated breath. “Not officially, no.”
She spun to face him. “But unofficially?”
He glared at her. “I’ll ask some questions. Discreetly. Which is a concept you don’t seem to comprehend.”
Jessie gave the cat’s head a quick scratch. “I’ll be back before you know it, little one. You rest.” She latched the cage and motioned for Greg to follow her out. “There’s one more thing you can look into if you’re so inclined.”
“What?”
“Besides Butch and Hamilton, Sherry mentioned Daniel had an argument with Doc a few days before he was killed.” Jessie paused to lock the office door.
“Did she say what it was about?”
“No.”
“It was probably nothing. People argue all the time and don’t end up killing each other, but I’ll see what I can find out.”
She led the way outside and reached for the handle on the big outside door. Greg got there first and dragged it closed for her.
“Promise me you’ll stay out of trouble.” He headed for his Interceptor. “I have a feeling if you start shutting down every illegal operation going on around here, there won’t be anyone left to race the horses.”
Jessie made a sour face at his back and climbed into her truck.
The emergency involved a horse that had found an errant nail and had opened a bright pink gouge in his brown hide. A few stitches later, Jessie returned to the clinic and sedated the cat for its x-rays.
She eyed Doc’s old film radiography equipment with trepidation. When was the last time she’d been in a dark room? Abandoning that idea, she dragged her portable digital unit in from the Chevy.
It wasn’t until she finished that she realized she had no computer on which to read the digital x-rays. She watched the drugged feline from the kennel’s doorway and turned the memory card over in her hand. She had two options. Stick the kitty in her truck and drive him home where she could let Meryl take over. Or find another computer on which to view the x-rays.
Ten minutes later, Jessie sat at Daniel’s desk as the pictures uploaded. “I really appreciate this.”
He took a seat in one of the chairs across from her. “No problem. What happened to your computer?”
Jessie tensed. The reason she was stuck using Daniel’s computer was because of the last time she’d mentioned Frank Hamilton’s name in this office. “What exactly did you say to Frank?”
“Hamilton? I asked him about fixing races. He denied doing anything like that here.”
“Here?”
Daniel leaned back and crossed his arms. “Let’s just say he’s been reprimanded for his actions at another track.”
Jessie clicked through the different views of the cat’s hip on the monitor. “Did you believe him?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I’ll keep an eye on him. What’s that have to do with your computer?”
“Did you happen to mention why you questioned him?”
“No.” Daniel scowled. “Why?”
“He stormed into my office complaining that I turned him in. Milt tried to get him to leave and the two of them started pushing and shoving. My computer was collateral damage.”
“That jackass. I’ll have another talk with him.”
“No. Please. I can’t afford any more visits from disgruntled paddock judges.”
“And I can’t afford to have my favorite veterinarian being harassed.”
She peeked around the monitor at Daniel. “Then just leave my name out of it.”
He sat forward. “I did. I know full well he didn’t hear from me that you were the one making accusations.”
She returned her attention to the x-rays and sighed. Accusations? Spreading rumors was more like it. Perhaps Hamilton had every right to be pissed at her.
“What’s the verdict on your patient?” Daniel asked.
“As I expected, his back is fine. Unfortunately, his hip isn’t.”
“Can you do anything?”
She gave him a grin. “Of course.” As she clicked back through the pictures, her stomach emitted a loud rumble.
“What was that?”
“I guess I should grab some nachos and a salad on my way out.”
“A snack?”
“Lunch.”
Daniel checked his watch. “No wonder your stomach’s growling. We really have to do something about your eating habits.”
Jessie closed the file and removed her memory card. “Good luck with that.” She stood and stepped from behind his desk.
Daniel rose as well. “I’m taking you out to dinner tonight.”
“Excuse me?”
“There’s no racing. As your boss, I’m ordering you to take the night off. No phones. Go home and put on your best dress.”
Daniel was asking her out?
She hadn’t been on a date since college. Maybe she’d fantasized more than a few times about running her fingers through Daniel’s blond hair. And maybe she’d admired his California beach-boy good looks. What she’d never counted on was this. Fantasies were safe. Reality? Not so much. “That’s really sweet of you, but I don’t think so.”
He placed one hand on his desk and leaned toward her until she could feel his breath on her face. “I do think so. You’ve had a rough couple of weeks and maybe part of your difficulties has been my fault. Let me make it up to you. Besides, boss’s orders, remember?”
Jessie kept her eyes on the buttons on his shirt, afraid to meet his gaze. Afraid of getting sidetracked at his mouth. The last time she’d been this dizzy was at last year’s Cameron Veterinary Hospital Christmas party when she’d discovered—and liked—chocolate wine. “First of all, you aren’t my boss.” She hoped she sounded flip rather than stupid. “And if you were, wouldn’t this be considered sexual harassment in the workplace?”
“Yes, it would. Too bad.”
Another obstacle came to mind. “What about your girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend?”
“That evening I saw you at the races?”
“Oh. Gwen.” He waved a dismissive hand. “She’s just someone I spend time with on occasion. Nothing serious. I’ll pick you up at seven.” He placed a hand at the small of Jessie’s back and escorted her from the office.
“Wait a minute.” She turned to face him. “Where are you taking me?”
“Lorenzo’s, Mount Washington, Pittsburgh.”
She had a sneaking suspicion her mouth gaped open. He flashed a dimpled smile as he stepped back and shut his door.
***
ALL THE WAY BACK TO the clinic, Jessie chided herself for being a moron. How in the world had she gotten herself into this? Lorenzo’s? Mount Washington? There was no way she could possibly fit into a place like that. She didn’t have the wardrobe for it. And she sure as hell didn’t have the sophistication for it. She should’ve flat out told Daniel no.
Katie was pacing in front of the clinic looking pale and worried when Jessie pulled in. “How is he?” the girl asked as Jessie slid down from the truck’s cab.
Relieved to be back in her comfort zone, Jessie said, “The kitty has a broken hip. I can do surgery and fix him up.”
“When?”
“Right now. Check back in a couple of hours. If he’s coming out of the anesthesia by then, you can take him home.”
Katie smiled and thanked her before jogging away.
Jessie found the tabby in the same spot where she’d left him, purring in his kennel. She gently scooped him up and carried him into the adjacent operating room.
The surgery consisted of performing a femoral head ostectomy to remove the broken bone fragment. She’d done many of them and this one went flawlessly. To finish, she created a perfect line of stitches across the cat’s hip. Her handiwork would never be seen once the cat’s fur grew back.
Five o’clock came and went with no Katie. At five thirty, with only an hour and a half until Daniel would be picking Jessie up, she decided to track down the freckled-faced girl. She made a quick trip to Barn M only to learn that Katie had come down sick and left early.
“Looks like you’re going home with me,” Jessie told the sleepy cat.
She crossed the hall to the storage room where she’d seen a plastic cat carrier. Somewhere. As she searched the shelves, her phone rang. Another emergency? She dug the device from her pocket thinking at least she’d have a good excuse to cancel her date. But the text was from Greg. Stop at my apartment on your way home.
Maybe he’d learned something about Doc’s death. She located the cat carrier and transferred the tabby into it. Before leaving, she gathered an armload of Doc’s folders from her office, as well as the notes and records she’d rescued from the floor following the brawl. Loaded down with paperwork and her patient, she climbed into her truck and headed for West Cumberland.
Since moving out of their house, Greg had taken up residence above a secondhand store. Jessie turned right at the only traffic light in town, pulled into the alley, and parked behind the building next to Greg’s car. She assured the groggy tabby she wouldn’t be long, climbed the steep stairs to his apartment, and knocked lightly.
When the door swung open, she expected to see six-foot-four dark-haired Greg. Instead, the person who stood there was barely five feet tall and very blonde.
“Vanessa?”
Her receptionist’s eyes widened. “Dr. Cameron. I—I—didn’t think—”
Jessie struggled to process the scene in front of her. Everything about it was familiar. But the pieces didn’t fit. What was her ditzy receptionist doing in her husband’s apartment?
Vanessa turned away from Jessie. “Greg! Dr. Cameron’s here.”
A door squeaked elsewhere in the apartment. Greg appeared from around the corner dressed only in a brown towel wrapped around his hips. “Jess? I didn’t expect you so soon.”
With a thunk, the pieces fell into place. Vanessa’s tardiness at work. Meryl’s suspicions about a new boyfriend.
Meryl’s fury at Vanessa last night.
“Oh, my God.” Jessie averted her eyes from her half naked soon-to-be-ex-husband. “I’m an idiot.”
Greg strode toward her. “You never head home from the track this early.”
“I have a date.”
He stopped. “A what?”
“A date.” She looked up at him. Noticed his ripped abs. Turned away only to find herself looking into Vanessa’s deer-in-headlights blue eyes.
“With whom?” Greg demanded.
“Daniel Shumway.” Jessie immediately regretted it. Her social life was none of Greg’s concern. “You texted me to stop here. Did you find out anything about Doc?”
Greg put his hands on his hips and must have only then remembered his current state of undress. He clutched at the towel. “No. This isn’t about Doc. Excuse me while I go put on some pants.”
“Please.” Jessie fixed her gaze on a spider crawling across the stair’s railing. Anything to avoid looking at Greg. Or Vanessa.
He disappeared into the back room. “Come on in.”
Jessie stepped around Vanessa into a small but neat kitchen. The aroma of fresh coffee permeated the apartment.
Peanut rose from his bed on a rug in the living room and, tail wagging, galloped to Jessie.
Relieved to have something safe to focus her attention on, she dropped to her knees. “Hey, there, old boy.” She threw her arms around the dog who greeted her as if it had been a year since he’d seen her instead of a day.
“Coffee?” Vanessa asked, her childlike voice even softer than usual.
“No, thanks. I’m kind of in a hurry.” Jessie gave the dog’s ears a final scratch before standing. Peanut ambled back to his rug and flopped down.
With the dog out of the way, Jessie and Vanessa stood alone and silent, awkwardly avoiding each other until Greg returned, zipping up his jeans.
Jessie cleared her throat. “What did you want?”
He reached toward Vanessa, who moved to his side and wrapped her arms around his waist. “For starters, I wanted to tell you about us.”
“Okay. I got that. Can I go now?”
“We’re living together,” Vanessa added with a shy smile.
Jessie suddenly remembered the restaurant in West Cumberland. “What happened to the redhead?” she asked, making no attempt to hide her contempt.
Vanessa’s smile faded. She looked up at Greg. “What redhead?”
His face blazed as he gave Jessie a look he usually reserved for hardened criminals. “That was a long time ago.”
“Not that long.”
She could tell he wanted to say more to her, but instead he looked down at the petite blonde, his eyes softening. “It was one date. She meant nothing to me.”
Vanessa considered his words for a mere moment before forgiving him with a smile. She snuggled in closer. “Go ahead,” she said. “Ask her.”
Jessie eyed the pair in disbelief. Clearly, Greg had brainwashed Vanessa.
He brought his attention back to Jessie. “The other thing I’ve wanted to talk to you about...” For a moment the big, tough state trooper struggled to gather his nerve. “It’s about our divorce settlement. We want the house.”
The room started spinning.
“This apartment is too small for both of us and Peanut. He needs room to run.”
“You can’t be serious.” Jessie reached for one of the kitchen chairs. Maybe it wasn’t the room that was spinning. Maybe it was her head. Whatever it was, she wanted it to stop.
“Yeah, I’m serious.”
“Our lawyer said we have as much right to that house as you do,” Vanessa said. He gave her shoulder a squeeze and made a shushing sound, shaking his head at her.
Our lawyer? “Why don’t you just get your own house? Why mine?”
“That house is huge, too big for one person,” Greg said. “I always dreamed of starting a family there. And you’re never home.”
“A family?” Jessie pointed at Vanessa’s tiny waist. “Are you...?” The word refused to pass her lips.
Greg filled in the blank. “Pregnant? No. Not yet anyway.”
Jessie clung to the chair, willing the screaming pain in her head to shut up. “There is no way in hell I’m giving you two my house. I bought it. I paid to restore it. Hell, I did most of the restoration myself. And what about poor old Molly? She’d have a terrible time adjusting to a move.”
Greg’s gaze didn’t waver. “I thought about that. We want you to leave her there. We’ll take care of her. She’ll be happy to have Peanut to harass again. And she’ll get more attention from Vanessa than she does from you.”
Vanessa beamed. “You know how I love cats. And they love me.”
Jessie glared at the blonde. “I suppose you want to take over Cameron Veterinary Hospital too.”
“Oh, no. Don’t be silly,” Vanessa said. “I’m not a vet.”
Jessie’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the chair’s back. It wasn’t the room or her head that was spinning. It was her life spiraling out of control.
“There is no way I’m giving you my house and no way you’re getting Molly.”
Greg pulled away from Vanessa and took a step toward her, extending a hand. “Jess—”
“No.” She backed away from him. “It’s not going to happen. Not in my lifetime.” As she turned toward the door, she spotted the look of shock in Vanessa’s eyes. Struggling to catch her breath, Jessie staggered out of the apartment.