wasn’t because he had the perfect view of the base veterinary clinic, but he’d found himself in that particular spot several times since Bella’s accident. The good doc wasn’t hard to miss. She was tall, all legs, long blond hair and, best of all, warm caramel-brown eyes.
He could argue that what caught his attention the most had been her smile. It was genuine and playful. But he was a guy, and that smile was only one of many traits he admired on the lady.
Risa tended to come in to work early and stay late. She loved the animals that came in to see her. Never before had he seen Dr. Lagasse—who was a good vet—walk his patients out to the parking lot and hug them good-bye. Even though he hadn’t seen her car the past two days, he knew she was at work and had checked on Bella that morning.
Jax returned to his desk and completed the application for the next agency. If he got into one and hated it, he could transfer. He just needed his foot in the federal-government door to get started.
Three applications later, he rolled his neck and everything went snap, crackle, pop. He should get out, get some air, maybe take a walk. He could stop in and check on Bella’s progress in person, instead of exchanging notes with Risa like a couple of school kids. Liking the idea, he grabbed his cover—his hat—and headed down the stairs. He poked his head into the office to let them know where he was headed. Kelly held up a finger to get him to wait until she got off the phone.
When she hung up, he asked, “What’s up?”
“Nothing important. Are you headed out?”
“Yeah, getting some air. Was that a complaint call?”
“A car vandalized in one of the parking lots. Probably got scratched and the owner is freaking out, hoping their insurance will pay for a new paint job.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’ll send Ventura.”
“Which lot, Kelly?” Something about her attitude and the incident bothered him, but he couldn’t say exactly why.
“Across from the bowling alley.”
“You mean at the veterinary clinic?”
“Yeah.” Kelly shrugged.
Jax bit his tongue before he said something that would land him in front of SECOP. “Don’t bother with Ventura. I’ll handle it. I need to check on Bella’s progress anyway.”
He hopped in the government truck, and five seconds later he was staring at the ugliest car he’d ever seen and one pissed-off lady.
“Well, bugger me. What the bloody hell am I going to tell Mum?” Risa dropped her head and let out a small, frustrated scream before turning to him, sending her blond ponytail swinging. “Well? Tell me, how in the bloody hell does this shite happen on the base?”
Jax choked back his laughter, because swearing was the last thing he’d expected from the sweet vet. He looked at the car and flinched. Not only was it a butt-ugly color and style, but also someone had tagged it with spray paint.
“Whose car is this?” Jax asked.
Risa took a deep breath and glared at the vehicle. “My mother’s.”
“Hope she doesn’t ground you for this.” He smiled, trying to calm her down.
“Ha, if only. She’ll hold it over my head through this lifetime and the next half-dozen or so more. For some unknown reason, she loves this… this thing.” She waved toward the car and turned away from it. “I don’t get how or why this happened.”
Jax pulled out his notebook. “When was the last time you saw the vehicle without the custom paint job?”
She gave him a withering glare. “Around thirteen hundred, maybe a few minutes after. I had driven over to the kennel to check on one of the new pups and to give Bella a treat.”
“Doc, she’s a seasoned working dog. Not a family pet.”
“That’s just it. I don’t think she wants to be one anymore. A working dog, that is.” She tugged at her ear like she was thinking carefully about her words. “I honestly feel she’s burned out and she misses you.”
He paused in writing his notes. “How’s that possible, when I spend every night at the kennel with her?”
“And how is she when you’re with her?” The doc cocked her brow.
“Fine. Responsive. Happy. Her tail wags and she doesn’t whine.”
“Uh-huh. And before the accident, how did she respond to training?”
Jax walked around the car, noting the damage, and thought about the weeks leading up to Bella getting hurt. “With me, she was fine. The perfect partner. With the new guy, not so much, but it takes time for her to trust new people.”
“That’s not how she’s trained, though.” Risa joined him on the other side of the Beast and sighed. “Did you know she lies in her kennel and cries after you leave in the morning?”
Yeah, he did.
Jax nodded at the car. “Did you see anyone hanging out around here?”
“No, the lot was mostly empty when I got back. I went straight inside and I wouldn’t have seen it now, except I walked one of my patients out.”
“Did you cut anyone off when you were driving around? Make a customer mad? Have you had any threats lately?” He ran through the possible motivations with her. There were no cameras on this parking lot. Dusting the car for prints would be pointless, as anyone could have touched it in passing. Most likely it had been someone the doc had pissed off or bored kids.
“No, not that I know of.” She looked around and turned her caramel-brown eyes on him. “I swear, I’m a nice person and don’t usually curse. Please, forgive me for my language when you showed up. It’s just that it’s been a very frustrating week.”
“Think nothing of it.”
“Ah, bloody hell. I’ve got to drive that embarrassment home and for the rest of the week.” She scratched at the words with her fingernail. “Do you think nail-polish remover will take the spray paint off, but not the actual paint?”
He would have chuckled if he hadn’t been afraid she’d get mad. Did she even realize she had cursed again? Probably not, based on how easily it had slipped passed those pretty pink lips. Not that he’d call her out. Plus it was kind of sexy, as her accent got heavier when she swore.
“Probably not. Why are you driving this instead of your SUV?” You couldn’t have paid him to drive the thing.
She walked over to the planter box in front of the clinic, sitting heavily on the edge and looking close to tears. Instead, she laughed. “It needs new tires, and my guy can’t get them in until Saturday. And why does it need four new tires, you ask? Because someone has it in for me and punctured them.”
His head shot up. “When was this, and where?”
“Yesterday or the night before, and it didn’t happen here on the base. It was at my house. So, no worries. It’s not your problem.”
“Did
