The shrill ring of the phone at 7:05 a.m. gave Marlo just the fright she didn’t need. She let out a low curse as she knocked her coffee mug from the kitchen bench to the floor, because there was that weird thing about the flying ability of spilled liquid and the places it managed to reach. And, of course, now, a broken mug. Fala had come in to investigate and walked through the entire mess, while the phone was still calling for her attention.

She picked up the handset as she turned to the dog. “Fala, out of there! You’ll cut your feet.” She put the phone to her ear, surprising herself with a harsh greeting while gently nudging the old dog from the kitchen.

“Is everything okay, Marlo?”

The clock stopped. She watched five rivulets of coffee race each other down the front of a cream-colored cupboard door.

Adam.

The sound of his voice sparked her heart into independent action. She stalled while trying to get it back under control because, holy hell, heart, that weird prickling in her veins was calling out for calm. Not one streak of coffee completed a full descent to the floor, so they hung down the cupboard front like stained stalagmites.

Adam.

“Are you still there?”

“Adam, hi, I’m there. I mean, here.” Her voice had become all breathy, as if she’d been stopped partway up a hill climb to take the call.

“You’re there. Good. And you’re…okay?”

“Sure. The phone surprised me, and I broke a mug.”

He laughed. Damn, why did she tell him that?

“So do you have any mugs left or do you need to find a Walmart?”

Marlo grinned. “Are you suggesting I have a habit of breaking dishes?”

“I presumed that came from the Greek in you.”

Silence. She wondered if, like her, he was thinking of the other broken mug, and if all his thoughts were tumbling in on him the way they were for her. Was he thinking about how they’d changed and how rapidly their relationship had inflated, then burst…and how he’d always managed to tease her about that mug?

Almost as quickly, she wondered if there existed such a thing as a puncture repair kit for a relationship. And, if there was, could she buy one, please, and maybe a spare? Because she had lots of sharp edges for relationships to get snagged on.

“Do you need a minute to clean up?”

“No, I’m good.” Heart slowly coming back into sync. She was good.

“I’ve got some news about Justice. There’s been a sighting of him about twenty miles this side of Placerville. If you can get time away today, I thought maybe we could take a drive up there and have a look around. We can do some ground-searching for him.”

Oh, God. Heart kicking in all crazy again. “Yes. Perfect. I’d love that.”

His voice sounded like a smile. “Can you be ready in an hour? It might be a good idea to bring Fala if you think she’s up to it. And if you’ve got something carrying Justice’s scent, bring that, too.”

“Fala will definitely be up for that, and I’ll grab his bedding. See you soon.” She replaced the receiver and did a happy dance all over the mess on the floor.

True to his word, Adam rolled up the driveway an hour later. As Marlo settled Fala in the car, fastening a seatbelt to the dog’s harness, she caught Adam grinning at her in the rear-view mirror.

“What?” She squeezed her lips together, suppressing her own smile.

“I’m imagining putting seat harnesses on the farm dogs. Motorized transport for them is normally a gap on the back of a quad bike. And some days they have to fight even for that.”

“Well, if you brake suddenly, Fala becomes a missile, and I’d hate her to hurt her head as she wallops into the back of yours. Just sayin’.” She gave him a wink in the mirror before closing the back door and hurrying around to the passenger’s seat in the front.

He started the engine. “We’ll head over to Highway 107 and out toward Placerville. I have a number for the guy who thinks he spotted Justice, so we can meet and have a chat with him. I’ve also arranged for a SAR guy to meet us there with his tracker dog, hence Justice’s blanket.”

Right at that moment she wanted to hug him. Really damned tight. “So, all the other news? Ready to share?”

“Oh, the other news. Sure. Tell me what you know about Jarrod Carter.”

“Total pain in the ass. Every so often you get someone who doesn’t fit, and Carter was our square peg. Lulah thought that he didn’t actually like dogs. He was certainly odd. None of the others got along with him. What a relief when he decided to pull out. Why the interest?”

“Some people know Jarrod Carter as Simon Weller, our rogue CRAR driver. He’s also known as Michael Forge and under that name calls himself a private investigator.”

Marlo exhaled. “Phew, busy guy. But what was his interest in us?”

“A man with a cause. He has friends in the anti-pit bull lobby and they hired him to try to find the Richmond Thirty-Two. Turns out he was hanging around when the original thirty-one dogs were euthanized. We’re still trying to get a handle on whether he had any part in the shambles that caused that disaster. With thirty-one down and one to go, his nose led him to Dog Haven Sanctuary. He was the one who copied the DVDs to make the video.”

“Huh. And I thought it was the journalist and her creepy photographer.”

“No, turns out they’re legit and that article should be published soon. They were simply a genuinely obnoxious pair, and they’re actually on your side. The article has been held over until the outcome of the trial.”

“Oh, but I still don’t like them. Bad me, huh?” She laughed.

She’d laughed. Hell, he’d missed that sound. That little exhale rippled right through him, giving his heart a good hard thump as it passed by. It was Marlo dropping some anxiety and being the person she really was. He stole a glance her way and could see little bits of happiness seeping through. He would love to make it even better. So sure that he could. But she’d clearly said that wasn’t his place. Haul yourself back, mate.

He cleared his throat. “So, Jarrod leaves Dog Haven and becomes Simon and gets a job with CRAR. He realized he wasn’t going to get a finger on Justice with you around, so he was trying to work something else. He could either nab Justice if there was a situation where he’d be transported, or grab a dog from the next seizure.”

“And it all played right into his hands.”

“Yeah, he must have thought he’d jackpotted when the call went out for Justice to be picked up from Animal Control. But like many before him, he got greedy. The small-time crook wanted his payday, so he decided to take Justice and try to sell him back to the dogmen. He figured Justice had a suitably large price on his head, and that would normally be the case. What he hadn’t figured into the equation was that Justice had been neutered. Suddenly the dogmen weren’t quite so interested.”

“Like I always said, neutering saves lives.” She flicked a quick look at his crotch and grinned.

“Jesus, Marlo, you’ve got me sweating now.”

“Chicken. So how did they end up in Placerville?”

“I think the idiot was driving about, aimlessly trying to do deals. He stopped to let Justice out to drink and walk and,—bless that dog—as Weller tried to get a leash onto the collar, Justice bit him. A couple of times. Weller decided his wounds needed professional help. The doctor he saw reported the dog bite and the rest, as they say, is history.”

An hour into the trip, they stopped to give Fala a break. They had parked beside a lake, and Marlo sat on an old log at the edge, watching her dog amble along the shore while she waited for Adam to get coffee from a nearby shop.

“Here, I got you the special unbreakable mug.” He passed her coffee in a take-out cup. The sun was on them, the day so calm the lake mirrored the landscape in a way that made you look once, and look deeper again. The surface beckoned as though you could walk right out over it without spoiling a thing.

Without getting your feet wet.

Adam nudged her gently. “So how are you doing?”

She looked up at him, into those eyes with reflections as deep and as precious as the lake, and was filled with his warmth. “I’m doing well.” She ran her foot over a small pebble. “I’m excited about looking for Justice. It feels so good to be able to get out and physically do something about finding him. Thanks. I mean that.”

She smiled and nudged him back. When he shifted slightly, his arm stayed rested against hers and, oh, heck, that set up a little flutter that settled right between her legs. The pleasure overwhelmed her common sense so that she no longer cared about the good advice it was dishing up. She was about to abandon caution.

“Good, let’s get going.”

The save filled her sensible self with relief.

After another half hour of driving, Adam started to slow the car. “The entrance to the park where Justice was spotted should be right along here.” They’d already seen posters with his photo, and, when they swung into the parking lot of Buffalo Point State Park, they were presented at the gate with a smaller flyer with Justice’s photo and details.

“Wow, CRAR can really hustle up a land army when they need to.”

The area was popular with mountain bikers and hikers, and the Justice sighting had been made by a biker. Unfortunately, there had been no further sightings, so it was difficult to tell if he was on the move.

Adam checked his phone messages while Marlo introduced herself to the CRAR volunteers. She saw him frown, and, when he noticed her watching, he indicated with his head that she should follow. Out of earshot, he stopped. “Looks like I’m the take-you-to-Promise-Land guy again.”

Marlo’s breath cut out.

“We can’t have the tracker dog. They’ve been called out to search for an autistic lad who’s prone to taking himself on solo excursions.”

Breathing kicked back in. “Oh, Adam, that’s fine. His poor parents must be distraught. I can’t begin to imagine how they feel. Actually, that’s wrong. I can sort of imagine what they’re going through. Maybe a little.”

She noticed Adam exhale. He had held his breath, too. Probably waiting for her to go ballistic. Was that what she’d done to him? Her fingers twitched, wanting to reach out with a friendly touch to tell him she was sorry.

He squeezed her arm. “Seems I can’t catch a break for you.”

“It’s okay. I know you’re doing everything you can.”

They spent the day walking and calling and watching for tracks, but by late afternoon they had to admit Justice was unlikely to still be in the area. If he was, he didn’t want to be found.

They regrouped with the other volunteers and discussed a few more ideas before heading home.

Marlo slid low in her seat and watched out the window as they passed acres of National Park, wondering in which area Justice was. Was he confused, uncertain about the direction to head, because he may not recognize Dog Haven Sanctuary as his home? Was he even trying to get to Dog Haven?