Chapter 7
It took several hours, but by the time she was done, she felt so damn relieved and happy it was hard to express. She paid off the very last bill, jotted down the confirmation number on the back of the deposit slip, clipped it together with the bills, and filed them away. She shut down her computer, got up and danced around her office. She was free and clear. She poured every penny of her paychecks into this place, and finally she had some money to help cover things.
It was amazing. The bills were taken care of with just under $1,000. How was it that little of an amount could make such a damned difference? But it had. Now that she had caught up, she could hire someone to fix some of the cage doors. All kinds of little bits and pieces of things needed to be done. She had to find a decent tradesman to help out.
She did have someone in mind, but she should also call the vet and see how much she owed for all the work he’d been doing. Charity was helpful, but people couldn’t do it forever. At some point people appreciated getting paid.
She sat back down again, twisted her chair so she could stare out at the huge yard behind her house and kicked her legs up to rest on the windowsill.
Anna sat there for a long moment. For the first time in a long while, she felt peace and contentment. It had been hard road getting here. And she certainly owed Goldberg Holdings a huge thank you that she was back on top again, hopefully at least for a full year. She’d probably lost her dog-walking business with the madness of the last couple days.
And maybe this was a crossroad in her life.
She didn’t know.
Plus, other shelters were always looking for a place to move animals to. She was a no-kill center, but most in Texas killed thousands of animals daily, all combined. It broke her heart.
So many humans and animals ended up in need because not enough people gave a damn. And for those who did, everybody had their favorite charities. And so many good ones existed and were deserving of the donations, but so was her small shelter. She was competing for dollars among bigger nonprofits. It was hard to get the attention she needed.
Maybe she could look at marketing again, like posting an online ad. Even just having someone hug the animals to let them know they weren’t totally alone would be great, which she could accomplish with a visit to a local nursing home or senior center. And that would help the humans there too. On better days she used to take the dogs and cats around to various pet supply stores on weekends. Many of the animals were adopted that way. But there were just so many and the need so great that it often didn’t work out.
She hated taking the animals back to their cages. They needed so much more than that lonely space. But at least they were safe while she found homes for them. And they had dog runs and company here.
Yet what she was doing here was barely enough.
“That’s a pretty long face for somebody who just got ten thousand dollars.”
She jolted at his voice to find Flynn leaning against the doorjamb with a cup of coffee in his hand, staring at her. “Decisions, decisions,” she said. “Never easy ones.”
“The money wasn’t enough to cover what you needed it to?”
“Oh, it is. For the moment it’s huge, but I have to think long-term what I should do,” she said. “Limping along like this is not a good answer. I could stay and continue as I am. Hopefully better than I’ve been doing so far.”
“With money or time?”
“Both.” She stood up and walked toward him. “Are the police still here?”
He nodded. “But it looks like they’re packing up.”
“Great.” She smiled as she glanced around the office. “Things can go back to normal.”
“Whatever that means, considering what has happened.”
She took a deep breath. “I’m also wondering about selling the property and moving the shelter.”
“Why would you do that?” His tone was anything but happy.
“Well, the murder for one,” she exclaimed. “How many people do you think will donate money after this?”
“But somebody just did.”
“No, the check was sent before this happened. Chances are there won’t be more to come.” She turned to stare out the window. “It’s a large property, and real estate prices have gone way up as the city grew around me. I could sell.”
“And do what?”
Her shoulders fell. “Of course that’s the problem, because I don’t really know what else to do. This is where my heart is.”
“Then wait and see. You don’t have to decide today—or this week or month. You have time. This will blow over. And eventually things will return to normal.”
She twisted to look at his face. Then asked that one question sitting in the back of her mind. “Do you think he’s done?”
Flynn didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “There’s no way to know. Unfortunately.”
“You’re thinking this might be related to a previous problem you had in the military.”
“Maybe. But no way to know that either,” he said simply.
She nodded. “Isn’t it ironic Levi sent you to help because of a problem with Katina, and you bring yours here instead?”
There was silence, for longer than she intended. Her gaze intensified. “I’m not blaming you.”
“I’m blaming myself.” He turned on his heel and stepped back into the kitchen.
Yeah, that wasn’t her finest moment. Of course he would take it that way. Maybe she’d intended for him to. Push him away a bit more. But she really didn’t like what was happening to her shelter. Although this work was where her heart lay, she wasn’t so sure this place was where her future was.
She turned and stared out at the animals, realizing that before when she’d been upset and disgruntled, finding her world tilted, the animals had put her back into balance. And she needed to do what she did best. She went down to spend some time with them.
*
“No, I haven’t said anything to her,” Flynn told Levi, walking over to the far side of the living room and staring out the front window. The cops loaded the rest of their gear into their cars. Good that they were done. Not so that they were leaving. A police presence was a great deterrent.
“Make it look like you’re leaving. If there’ll be another attack, we suspect it’ll be while she’s alone.”
Flynn agreed with that. It meant he’d have to stay inside away from the windows and prying eyes. “She might still kick up her heels over it.”
“It doesn’t matter if she does. She’s not safe. I put you there, and we brought this problem to her door. We have to fix this.”
“Does Gunner have any insights?”
“Lots. He’s tracking down Brendan. But so far his brother doesn’t know where he’s been today—or yesterday.”
“Right.” Flynn frowned. “It’s pretty damn thin motivation to think he’s coming for me after all this time.”
“I know.” There was a harder note in Levi’s tone. “Are you sure you told us everything about your involvement in Brendan leaving the military?”
“I didn’t have anything to do with him leaving. I was kicked out because of not following the orders I was given. Brendan was over there at the same time, but I don’t know what happened.”
“Was he with you?”
“I’m not exactly sure how it all played out. Brendan passed me a message to bring me back to base. I refused because I was busy helping the villagers. I have no idea what Brendan said to the CO. At the time, Brendan had a lot of hard feelings because he felt I got him kicked out. I knew I did myself, and was good with that. But I did talk to the CO and explained that Brendan had nothing to do with me disobeying orders. I don’t know why he was kicked out.”
“Right. Maybe I can ask someone about that.” Levi’s voice trailed off. “I have a mission I need you on. Now I’m wondering if maybe it will be safer to send the two of you so Anna gets out of there for a while.”
“And the animals?”
“Logan said he’d be happy to step in to stay there and look after them.”
“And what if he’s attacked instead?”
“Logan would be prepared. He wouldn’t come alone, and he’s military trained. Like we all are.” At Flynn’s lack of response, he added, “I know. I’m just tossing out ideas here. Looking for the best way forward.”
“That’s for Brendan to face me.”
“A great idea. But it’s not going to happen. As he’s already demonstrated.”
“One thing I do wonder though,” Flynn asked, “is why Jonas was here?” He shifted position to make sure Anna wasn’t listening. “I understand he was probably at the wrong place at the wrong time. But what was his reason for actually being here in the first place? And was there something behind the killer picking him? I’d seen Jonas twice the entire time I was here, but Anna said she didn’t see him that day at all. What was he doing at nighttime on her property?”
“Do you think he would break in?”
“I have no idea what he was trying to do, or might’ve thought. I do understand that he was after Anna. But she hadn’t given him any kind of encouragement, so if he was here for… The neighbors have a security camera, but Anna’s was out.”
Levi’s tone turned businesslike. “East or west?”
Flynn chuckled. “I can’t guarantee that it shows anything.”
“But we can’t discount it until we’ve seen it.”
After the phone call, Flynn walked outside around the house, to see just what the security feed might have seen. It was pointed at the space between the two properties. But given the angle, it might very well show activity going on in the back of her house. The animal shelters were in the center, while the dog runs were horizontal on the sides. But the shed could possibly be in the viewing angle.
Walking back toward the kitchen, his phone rang. Levi calling him back.
“The police say they’ve seen it, and nothing was there.”
“I was just out checking the angle.”
“Stone’s actually patching us through. I’ll get back to you in a few minutes.”
Flynn walked into the kitchen and once again checked the fridge and all the empty cupboards. He went into the office and found Anna gone. From the window, he saw her in the backyard, working with the animals. As he watched, the dogs jumped and scampered as she threw balls and picked up sticks, generally cuddled and played with them. This should be a full-time job for her. No question. But he understood her concerns about staying here.
He wondered if a quiet conversation with Gunner would make any difference. Logan had already gone around Anna as it was. Was the shelter something they could actually help with over the long-term?
What she needed was a couple major benefactors to keep the animal shelter flourishing. Plus, to find more places to give these animals homes. And it could take a while. If a few people would support the place, it would go a long way to add some validity to the shelter. All he had to do was tell a few friends, who’d tell a few more, who’d then tell more. He mentally wrote it on his To Do list. He’d spent a fair bit of time in Logan’s home with his family, knew about their love for animals and extensive network among family, friends, neighbors, and businessmen. He’d start there.
Texas had a huge animal problem, and if Anna could do her bit to help out, then he wanted to assist her. Everyone should have lofty goals.
His was to become a valuable member of Levi’s company. And to do what he loved. Although he was here, he had a tenuous relationship at best with Legendary Security. Not exactly the start to a great working relationship he’d hoped for. On the other hand, Levi had stepped up in a big way.
And that just made Flynn appreciate him all the more.
Flynn turned his attention back to Anna and decided it was time they went out for a meal. Then they could go shopping for food. He walked outside, headed toward her.
Just as he entered the pen, he heard a sound he’d never forgotten. He threw himself at Anna and dropped them both to the ground.