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“I think so” He turned away froe
“It’s a female Her name is Charlie She’s nine months old but still needs to be spayed”
“Okay What does that mean?”
“The Nelson Ani for us We would drop her off there, and once the surgery is done and she’s had time to recover, you could pick her up”
“The Nelson Animal Hospital?”
“It’s run by a nice guy and his new associate, Dr Carson, who’s a real charmer”
“Okay You said so about paperwork?”
“Right out front”
He glanced back at Charlie She stared at hi leery of the animal She wasn’t dumb She didn’t rush up to anyone She was selective He knelt down and extended his fingers through the cage Slowly, she approached and licked his fingers
He smiled “I think she likes me Can I hold her?”
“Sure”
Betty unlatched the cage and allowed the dog out She moved toward Brian and allowed hied her tail before slowlycloser
“She trusts me”
“She’s a slow one to war Very loyal”
He scratched the mutt between the ears “I like that”
Out front, the bells on the door rang, signaling that someone else had entered the shelter Betty frowned “I need to check on that”
“Go ahead Charlie and I are just spending a little quality tiether”
“I can’t leave you alone with the dogs”
Voices out front grew louder “Sounds like you ht have trouble”
Betty glanced between the front door and hirinned She sht back”
“We’ll be waiting” He rubbed Charlie between the ears “We’ll be waiting, won’t we, girl?”
Betty hurried up front, and as she vanished around the corner his gaze faded “Charlie, I don’t know about you, but I want out of this place” Ears back, she licked his face
He glanced to the back of the hallway and the eet the hell out of here?”
He could hear Betty’s voice rising, as did the other two voices “Don’t worry about that I paid those guysus when you can leave with me”
He picked up the dog, which tucked nicely under his arm, and strode toward the back door No alarm sounded as he opened the door andCharlie’s head She agging her tail by the tiot to his truck He settled her on blankets he’d arranged on the front passenger seat and quickly started the car He drove off, glancing in his rearviewat the e for them
He started to whistle “I can’t wait for you to onna love you”
Charlie looked up at hied her tail Her pure love and devotion bolstered hiirl And I like you”
She wagged her tail
“But you’ve got a job to do, little lady You’ve got to make Leah fall in love with you”
She barked, with excitement
“She’s gotta fall for you, hook, line, and sinker and when she does, then I’onna test that love, use that love” Gently, he rubbed her between the ears, and when he spoke, his tone was gentle “I’ on the fact that she’ll cru a knife to your throat”
The dog edged closer to hionna work out just fine”
It took a few phone calls to track down the man who’d last worked with Latimer as a partner Gary Gilbert was a uniforned the East Nashville beat Alex called his sergeant and arranged to meet the officer in a coffee shop
When Alex arrived, the officer was sitting in his car outside the shop, the ine, and got out
Alex extended his hand to the man, who reluctantly took it “Officer Gilbert”
“Agent Morgan” Gilbert appeared to be in his late twenties His build was slim and his hair dark, but his eyes held the wariness of a man who’d seen more than most “I understand you have questions about Philip Latimer”
“That’s correct I was told you were his last partner before he tried to kill his wife”