Chapter 3
The humidity and high heat of the last few days had finally broken. Risa walked out of her house to bright blue skies, a cool breeze, and the promise of a great day. Her boss was still on his extended trip; she had a full day of patients scheduled, and Bella was making progress with her hip.
Now if only she could raise the pup’s spirits.
“Maybe I could bring her—” Risa stopped dead in her tracks as her gaze landed on the SUV’s back tire.
“Great, a flat.” Did she even have a spare tire, much less a jack?
She turned to go set her purse and travel mug of tea on the front steps and that’s when she noticed the front tire. She dropped everything. “How did I get two flat tires?”
Risa squatted near the driver’s side door. She stuck two fingers in the hole. The tire wasn’t just flat; it had been slashed. Cautiously, she walked around the car looking for further damage as she listened to the noise around her. Nothing sounded wrong. The birds chirped; the dogs were quiet. The only heavy breathing came from her.
Someone had been there. She had four punctured tires to prove it.
But why? As far as she knew, no one hated her. And she’d been really nice to Old Man Gibbons—who lived next door and hated her animals—the last time he’d complained.
Chills ran down her arms. Looking all around, Risa slowly backed up to the steps. She was pretty sure she was alone. Almost positive. It was probably bored teens who’d hiked a half-mile down a gravel road until they found a house in the woods where they could carry out their mischief.
Right. And a mad man in a blue police call box was going to show up and whisk her across time and space.
A few feet from the house, she grabbed her purse and rifled through it for her keys as she dashed up the stairs. Once she was safely inside, she bolted the door and grabbed the cordless house phone. The trees surrounding her property, which she loved so much, created the ultimate dead zone for cell reception. Phone in hand, she went around and checked every window and the kitchen door.
All locked.
The dogs circled her, picking up on her anxiety, as they’d been trained to do. Morpheus lay across the back of the couch, watching. Athena nudged her with her long nose, and Eir stood between Risa and the world.
“Sorry, gang. I’m just being paranoid.”
With neither dog responding in the norm for danger, Risa let out a breath, pulled out the phone book and looked up the number for the sheriff’s station. She couldn’t see calling 911 when there was no clear and present threat.
As she waited for them to answer the phone, she glanced out the window to the side yard and spotted Buggsy and Lolita in their rabbit hutch. “I really should bring them inside, just in case.”
But that meant going back outside.
Her stomach lurched and she decided to wait.
It took several rings before the stationed answered the call. After explaining the situation and receiving a promise that they’d have an officer out to her shortly, she made a second call.
“Hi, Dad, what are you still doing home?” she asked when he picked up.
“I called in sick.”
“What? Are you okay?”
“Yes, but don’t tell my boss.” He chuckled. “I’m playing hooky.”
“But everything’s okay, right?” She tried not to imagine the worst, but bad things happened in clusters.
“Just wanted to take my favorite girl to breakfast.”
So sweet. It was amazing that after forty years of marriage, her parents were still as in love as the day they said “I do.” At times when Risa was growing up, it had felt like she was the third wheel—often forgotten—and when they remembered her, it was almost as if they were shocked they had a child. Still, she knew they loved her. They just loved each other more. Shoving the thought aside, Risa focused on the problem at hand.
“How would you feel about having popovers with your two favorite girls?”
“Is that Risa you’re talking to?” her mum asked in the background. “Why isn’t she at work? Did she get sacked?”
“Tell Mum no, I did not get fired.” Risa glanced out the window, wondering the best way to tell her parents what had happened without alarming them. “The thing is, I’ve got car trouble. Is there any way I could borrow your car for the day?”
Risa waited while her dad relayed the news to her mum and the two of them had a discussion on her utter lack of mechanical ability and how she probably forgot to renew her towing service again. After ten minutes of this, her dad came back on the line.
“We’ll be there in twenty minutes, Pumpkin,” her dad said before hanging up.
While she waited for the police and her parents to show up, Risa whipped up a batch of Patriot Popovers. Her mum would complain, and her dad would scarf down half a dozen. She also put in a quick call to the clinic to let them know she’d be late. Then she called the base kennel to check on Bella.
A small wave of disappointment rolled through her at the news that Bella’s sexy human wasn’t around. She hadn’t seen Jax for a couple of days, but each morning when she checked in, he’d left her a note on how Bella’s night had been.
Really, if it weren’t for that whole pesky active-duty status of his—and her strict no-military rule—he’d be the perfect guy to tempt her back into the dating game. It had been a couple of years since Troy had dropped her like a hot potato, and then the rebound guy. What was his name again? Joel something. Didn’t matter, as it had lasted all of two seconds, and the only thing he’d done was remind her of why she’d hated high school and the games people played.
She popped the muffin pan into the oven and moved to the window, so she could keep an eye on the side yard where her bunnies played happily in their cage. Thank goodness the mischief-makers hadn’t hurt them. When she’d rescued them, she’d promised them a better life, to keep them safe. Maybe it was time to build them a bunny condo? Something sturdy and tall and impenetrable.
Sort of like a particular sailor she knew. She’d bet anything men took one look at Jackson Faraday and thought twice about questioning his authority. There was no sense betting or guessing what women thought, and she had to admit she wasn’t too crazy about the idea of others fantasizing about Jax. Or living out those fantasies.
She shook her head to clear the images running through her brain, checked the popovers, and went to look out the front window. All was quiet. Since she had time, she looked up and called a local tire store and put in an order for four new tires. They even offered, for no fee, to pick up the SUV for her.
Which was just one of the reasons she loved living in her hometown. People helped each other here. Of course, it helped that she’d gone to school from start to finish with the owner.
And she’d saved his dog last month after a wild animal attack.
Athena and Eir ran to the window and barked, deep warning growls that raised the hackles. Risa peeked out, then gave them the command to quiet. “It’s the good guys this time, gang.”
Fifteen minutes later, she was back inside and pulling out the popovers. The police had taken her statement, snapped a few pictures, given the place a cursory inspection, and left. Their declaration of bored teens or a pissed-off client gave her no satisfaction or sense of peace.
As she set the muffin pan on the stove, the dogs ran to the door whining, their tails wagging. They sat and waited patiently.
“Good pups.” Risa opened the door and froze at the sight before her. “Blimey.”
Her mum parked the ugliest car on the planet behind Risa’s SUV. Ugh. The Beast. Once upon a time, back around nineteen eighty, it had been avocado green. Now it had faded to the color of something she’d seen in a baby’s diaper. Why? Why her? What had she done that was so heinous, life would punish her this way?
Maybe they were leaving her the Honda and taking the Beast to the junkyard? One could hope… even in vain.
Her dad bent down to inspect the rear tire on the Santa Fe, looked to the front, then made his way around the vehicle. He didn’t say a word when he finished, but took his time scanning the house and property.
Mum kissed her cheek and turned to look at what caught her dad’s attention. “What the hell have you done to your car this time?”
“Miranda,” her dad warned.
“What? It’s a perfectly acceptable question, given the current situation. Not to mention Risa’s history of forgetting simple maintenance.”
Her dad wrapped her in a bear hug, crushing her a little. “Have you called the police, Pumpkin?”
“Police?” Her mum’s voice changed to concern as her hand flew to her heart. She looked around.
“Those flat tires weren’t an accident or an act of carelessness. Was anything else damaged?” he asked.
“Yes, I called the police first thing. They’ve been by, for whatever good that’ll do. And no, the damage is limited to my tires.” She turned back to the house, where two wet noses were pressed against the glass, waiting for love from their favorite people. “Mum, Dad, why don’t you come in and we can talk. The pups are being patient and I’ve made Patriot Popovers.”
“Huh, you mean bastardized popovers,” Mum grumbled. “I don’t know why you feel the need to mess with a perfectly good recipe and add all that fattening stuff.”
“Because everything is better with bacon and cheese, Mum,” she called over her shoulder as she entered the house.
Her mum made another disgusted sound, and her dad chuckled. The dogs remained sitting until she gave them the release sign, then they ran and greeted the grandparents. Risa got out mugs for tea and plates for the popovers. Mum might complain about her modifications, but she’d no doubt eat at least two.
Once breakfast had been served and the dogs settled down, her dad turned to her.
“When did this happen?”
“I’m not sure. Sometime after it got dark last night and before I woke up this morning.”
“Didn’t the dogs bark?” her mum asked.
“Well, they did last night, but I didn’t think—”
“… that it was anything because you were singing in the shower again,” her dad finished.
“Yes. To be fair, they bark when other people sing, too.”
“Name one person on the radio they bark at,” Mum said around a bite of food.
Her dad chuckled. It wasn’t a secret that neither Risa nor her mother couldn't carry a tune to save their lives, but Mum would never admit they barked at her singing.
“What time was that? Did they bark at any other time?” he asked while slathering honey butter on his roll.
“Last night around ten. It’d been a long day at work, and Dr. Lagasse is still gone. I got off around seven, ran to the grocery store, and by the time I finished everything around here, I was hot and exhausted. I took a quick shower and fell asleep in seconds.”
Her mum dusted off her fingers and turned to her dad. “She needs a security system. Living out here in the woods, all alone. I told you both this was a bad idea.” She sat back, arms crossed around her stomach. “Prime target for murders and ruffians.”
“Mum, I have an alarm system. Two, as a matter of fact. And no one uses the word ‘ruffian’ anymore.”
“Bollocks. It’s a perfectly acceptable word. And those two love bugs wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
Her mum was wrong. While both dogs were friendly and well-behaved, Risa had seen them in protective mode when her ex had decided to be a jerk. However, she had a point about her being out in the middle of nowhere, making her and her home the perfect spot for unsavory types. She had her animals to think of and should look into how she could increase the security. She’d look into that later. Right then she needed to put her parents at ease and get to work.
“So Mum, Dad, what are you going to do with the rest of your day? And please don’t tell me, ‘Go home and have a bit off of the other.’”
She rolled her eyes at her mum’s blush and her dad’s grin. As if they haven’t told her that before. No child, no matter how old, wanted to hear about her parents’ sex life.
“Your dad’s going to take me for a proper breakfast and then we’re going to our travel agent’s and plan our holiday,” Mum said.
“I didn’t know travel agents still existed. Where are you going this time?”
“Biking through the French countryside.” Mum sat up, her eyes glittering with excitement. Risa looked at her warily. “You should come with us, darling. Think of all that lovely fresh air and exercise. Plus, you never know whom you might meet, like a French veterinarian. I’ve always adored the French. Such great fashion sense.”
Oh boy, just what she wanted: Being the third wheel on her parents’ romantic holiday. Watching them wander off on moonlit walks. Seeing their sleepy, relaxed, satisfied smiles over morning pastries. And let’s not forget suffering through Mum’s matchmaking attempts.
“I would love nothing more than to spend my holiday with you both, but there’s a good chance I’ll be promoted to head veterinarian before next summer. I wouldn’t want to be so far away, in case anything happened. Probably wouldn’t look very professional of me, so thank you, but I’ll pass.” She was rambling and not doing a very good job of hiding her true thoughts, given the knowing smiles on both parents’ faces.
“Suit yourself, darling.” Mum stood and smoothed out her sundress. “Your father and I really should be going. Thank you for the, um, snack. And please do take care of my car.”
Risa walked them to the door, then kissed her mum and hugged her dad.
“Call me if you notice or hear anything, and I’ll stop by on our way home this afternoon to check on the animals for you. Oh, and careful with the Beast. Wouldn’t want to wreck her perfect paint job.” He whispered the last part, and Risa had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
“Thanks, Dad. You’re the best.”
* * * *
The days were ticking down on the calendar. Tired of waiting for his dream job, Jax made a plan. He sat back and scanned the information entered into the online application. The NSA wasn’t his first choice, but it beat Diego Garcia. Next up, Homeland Security. Hell, at this point, he’d be happy to deal with cranky travelers checking carry-on bags, if it meant not sleeping in his truck or going to an island in the middle of nowhere.
Unable to stare at the computer for another minute, he got up and strolled to the window. He told himself that it 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 you call the police?”
“Of course I did. Just like this attack, there were no witnesses or reasons that I could think of. They felt teens were most likely responsible. But really, two random acts of vandalism in two days to the same person? It doesn’t feel random to me.”
He agreed with her.
Coincidences rarely happened, and he didn’t like it happening in his jurisdiction. Whether she realized it or not, she’d made an enemy. The questions were, who and why?
“Who knows where you live who also has base access?” he asked.
“Um… my best friend, Fiona. My boss, Dr. Lagasse, but he’s in Florida and sixty-five. I might have mentioned to a few clients that I live in Ledyard, although I know I haven’t given anyone my address. There’s Fiona’s ex-husband, whom I share a mutual hate with.”
“Is he stationed here?”
“Yes. Oh, wait, I just remembered the wanker is on his honeymoon this week.”
Jax choked on her choice of words, but kept his response to himself. “What about coworkers? Ex-coworkers? Ex-boyfriends or husbands of your own?”
“I’ve only been at the clinic for a couple of months and haven’t had anyone over yet. Too busy working. None of my previous coworkers were military and ‘no’ on the other. I don’t date military guys.”
He looked up from his notebook. Interesting, I wonder why. He tried to ignore the remark. It didn’t matter to him personally who she did or didn’t get involved with. A couple more months, and he’d be gone. The last thing he needed was the complication of a relationship.
“Could someone have mixed up your car, or you, with a roommate?” It was a legit question. Again, her personal life was none of his business, but he couldn’t help his curiosity.
“Morpheus is a bit mischievous, and goodness knows Athena and Eir have pissed off Old Man Gibbons a couple of times, but none of them had best be driving, as they don’t have licenses.” Her earlier anger had faded, as had the melancholy mood. Now her eyes sparked and the corners of her mouth tilted upward.
“How about ex-roommates of the two-legged kind?”
“None, and now that I’ve calmed down and thought this through, it has to just be a string of bad luck. But on the plus side, Mum will have to paint the Beast now.”
“There is that.” He liked her ability to find a silver lining. Most women he knew, especially his mom and sister, would still be ranting or crying.
But he didn’t agree with Risa’s reasoning, and he didn’t like the idea of her being alone. What if these two attacks were just the beginning? What if the person, or persons, escalated the violence and went after her home or her, personally?
“I’m going to talk to the employees at the bowling alley and see if anyone saw anything suspicious. It might help if I came out to your place and took a look around.”
Her face froze, then lit up before turning serious. “Jax, that’s really nice of you, but it’s out of your jurisdiction. Plus, the local cops didn’t find anything. And since then the tow truck has been out, the dogs have run around the yard, and any evidence would be gone.”
He knew that, but it would answer his concerns about her safety. “The local boys aren’t trained the way I am.”