help but to strike back.
“From the public. There’s a serial killer on the loose, or have you forgotten?”
Patience remembered she was alone in the K9 clinic, and saw the darkening October sky through her office window. The early sunset was a sign of the winter to come, not a harbinger of more killings. Her body thought otherwise as shivers ran down her spine.
“Of course I haven’t forgotten. But Hamlin’s just like our father. His priority is always business and that means Colton Energy. Above all else, Layla, even your marriage.” She almost choked on the word marriage, and yet guilt tugged at her. How could she judge anyone, even Hamlin, for postponing the nuptials? A psycho intent on killing grooms remained at large. Even if Hamlin had the resources to provide himself with the best security on the planet. And she had to admit, if only to herself, that she was a hypocrite. She’d been relieved that the wedding was called off for now. The thought of Layla on Hamlin’s arm made her sick, and it had nothing to do with baby hormones.
“Tell that to Bo Gage, Michael Hayden, Jack Parkowski, Joey McBurn or Thad Randall.” Layla’s sharp reply sounded as if she was a woman sure of her place in life, but Patience saw through her sister’s smoke screen. Red Ridge wasn’t a tiny town, but it was small enough that they’d both known all five victims, at least as acquaintances. “And the RRPD still hasn’t caught our cousin Demi—if she’s the killer, of course.”
Layla referred to Demi Colton, a bounty hunter whose relation to the murders was circumstantial at best. Patience didn’t know Demi well as they hadn’t spent a lot of time together growing up, or now as adults. But she didn’t believe the gossip one bit, not since Demi brought in an injured dog to the clinic shortly before she’d fled. Demi cared. Killers didn’t.
“She’s not. She’s only a suspect.”
Demi had left town right after Bo Gage, the first victim, had been found. Because Demi and Bo Gage had been engaged for a week, until he’d dumped her for Haley Patton, there was circumstantial evidence, as well as motive, for Demi’s guilt. It made no sense to Patience, though, because Demi had zero relationship to the other victims. But community opinion named Demi as the killer. Fortunately, the RRPD worked with facts, as did Patience.
Patience had to stand up for the truth, even if they flew in direct opposition to popular opinion. She put her trust in the RRPD’s investigative capabilities over fear-fueled town scuttlebutt.
Layla’s silence grew long and Patience wondered for the umpteenth time if her sister needed her to talk her out of the Hamlin Harrington agreement.
“Layla, you know I admire your loyalty to Colton Energy and our father, even though he doesn’t deserve it. And we haven’t talked about it since the fund-raiser, for obvious reasons, but are you sure you still want to marry Hamlin?”
“Of course I do.” Her prompt reply was too quick, too reactionary. “Look, I’m not the one who went off the Colton straight and narrow. I’m holding up my part of the family business.” Nice dig at Patience, who’d eschewed accepting the family legacy of becoming a financial wizard, like her father and sister. Finances had never appealed to her; serving others had.
“That doesn’t mean you have to marry a man you don’t love.”
“Who says I don’t love him?” Didn’t Layla hear the lack of conviction in her own reply?
“Please. We can agree to disagree about your engagement, but we need to drop the pretense that you care for Hamlin if we’re going to remain sisters.” Patience would never have been so direct even a day ago. Was the baby giving her some kind of relationship superpower? Where she was realizing the preciousness of life and wanted to protect her bond with her sister?
“I wish I could tell you more, Patience, but you’re going to have to trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
“I’m here if you need me, Layla. Let’s meet sometime next week, after I get through this weekend.”
Layla’s sigh sounded over the phone’s speaker, and Patience felt sorry for her sister—almost. It was her decision to become involved with Hamlin, a man their father’s age and just as disagreeable and greedy when it came to business. They weren’t wealthy by accident. Although Fenwick’s recent investment blunders were bleeding the company funds to near bankruptcy. From a pure economic standpoint, Colton Energy was desperate for what Hamlin Harrington offered.
Gabby’s screech reached through the walls. Layla gasped. “What was that?”
“Our resident parrot. She’s ready to come out of her cage again and stretch her wings. I’ll give you a call later tomorrow, when I’m off duty, okay?”
“Maybe we can meet for a meal, then? With a nice bottle of red. My treat.” Layla’s infectious optimism made Patience laugh. It’d be soda water for her from here on out, but Layla didn’t need to know that yet.
“We’ll see.”
Patience managed to get all the animals taken care of by eleven o’clock that night. Her legs thanked her as she lay down and stretched out on the folding bed assigned specifically to the overnight watch. She rotated the duty with another local veterinarian, who worked for the clinic on a contract basis, and the vet assistants. She’d thought that finding out she wasn’t just bloated or had gained a few pounds, but was in fact pregnant, would keep her up all night. What did she know about being a mother? And what was she going to say to Nash? How was she going to tell him? How could she make sure he completely understood that she wanted nothing from him, needed nothing?
Snuggling into the rose-printed down comforter she’d brought from home, she promised herself she’d worry about it later. She had a few hours before the next rounds. She fell into a sound slumber that lasted until the alarm on her watch pinged at 2:00 a.m.
She blinked in the stillness, her mind blank for a brief second until reality seeped back in. Her entire life had changed only hours earlier with the positive sign on the pregnancy test’s pee stick. Stretching her arms and legs, she chuckled in the inky dark. Who was she kidding? Her life had changed almost three months ago after the K9 training seminar with Nash. They’d made this baby while the summer sun was still shining, before autumn was more than a thought. And now the fall was passing quickly, the cold arctic winds beginning to dip down into the mountains.
Anxiety mounted at the task ahead of her and she sat up. Her job at the moment remained to care for her animals—the clinic’s caseload.
Patience mentally ran through the patients that needed to be checked and, in particular, walked. Fred was the only canine needing a walk, unless some of the other dogs asked to go. Moving through the familiar steps she’d done countless times when she’d had night duty gave her comfort in the midst of the chaotic change a baby added to her life. But it didn’t erase her exhaustion. No wonder she’d been dragging the last month or so. It wasn’t the change of season or heavy workload—she was pregnant!
As an extra bribe to herself to get up and get going, she planned to take a look at the trees surrounding Black Hills Lake in hopes of spotting a great horned owl. There was a family of the majestic birds that roosted in the nearby fir trees, but the nocturnal animals were difficult to spot most nights and impossible in daylight hours. Tonight, with the full moon and predicted
