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.”
Chapter 4
Risa couldn’t believe she’d agreed to let Jax come over to her place. There was no point, other than self-torture. What had she been thinking? She hadn’t, and that was the problem.
She’d been fantasizing about those broad shoulders and amazing eyes.
She’d been dreaming about his sexy mouth on hers.
One minute she’d been ready to say no to his offer. She’d notify the locals and they could deal with the mess. She’d opened her mouth and different words had flown out. Which is why she’d left work on time and had been running around her house picking up the place before he arrived. No point in lowering his opinion of her any further. He already must think her a madwoman, raging about like a drunken sailor because of a little paint. She didn’t want him to think her a slob, too.
She finished tossing clothes in the bin, dusting, and vacuuming. Satisfied that the place looked presentable, she let the dogs back in. “Don’t go shaking your hair all over the place. I just cleaned, and we’re to have company.”
Athena and Eir flopped onto their pillows and ignored her. Morpheus continued to snooze on the back of the couch, unconcerned with her wishes.
Some days she wondered what had she been thinking, getting all these animals.
Then she looked at their sweet faces and remembered: unconditional love.
A loud grumble from her stomach reminded her she’d skipped lunch—again—and she’d forgotten to take anything out for dinner—again. It was really a good thing her fur babies didn’t require home-cooked meals. A quick peek at her watch told her Jax wouldn’t be arriving for a bit, so she pulled out a frozen lasagna and pre-heated the oven. Once he was done looking for clues or whatever, she could offer him dinner as a thank-you.
It was the polite thing to do.
Uh-huh, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she found him spectacularly attractive and wanted to know more about him. Even if he was on her “no-way” list of men to date.
The phone rang at the same time as the oven dinged it was ready. She shoved in the casserole and lunged for her phone.
At Jax’s sweet, slow hello, she smiled.
“Did you get lost? It happens to a lot of people coming here the first time.”
“I’m still at the base.” The line went quiet for several moments. “It’s Bella. She’s taken a turn for the worse.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Risa didn’t bother asking what was wrong. She could find out when she arrived. She turned off the oven, grabbed her purse, and flew out the front door.
Luck was on her side. She sped through all green lights to arrive in record time. The petty officer on duty let her into the kennel.
She hurried past the other dogs to find Jax sitting cross-legged on the floor of Bella’s kennel. The pup had her head on his lap and appeared to be sleeping.
“What’s going on?” She whispered to keep the dog from waking.
“She won’t eat. Petty Officer Moore called me right before he left to tell me she hadn’t eaten breakfast, and every time he tried to take her out, she’d growl at him.”
“Did she eat after you arrived?”
“Nope, that’s the same dish from earlier. I even offered her a treat with no luck.” He ran his hand down the dog’s back over and over. “I don’t get it. She was doing really well last night and this morning when I left.”
“Did she growl at you when you entered?”
“No. She thumped her tail a little, but otherwise she’s just been laying here.”
“I’m going to come in there and check her out. She was fine this afternoon, and she ate the biscuit I gave her. It’s not unusual for a dog to skip a meal, especially if she isn’t getting a lot of exercise. But let’s just make sure everything else is normal.”
Slowly, she opened the door, murmuring to Bella as she entered the small space. If the dog felt threatened and attacked, there wasn’t a lot of space to escape. Risa wasn’t worried, though. She’d dealt with traumatized animals, rehabbed them, and trained service dogs. She felt more comfortable with four-legged creatures than she did with the two-legged variety.
“Hey Bella. How are you doing tonight, girl?”
Bella lifted her head and whined, her tail wagging. It was a good sign. Risa held out her hand and let the dog sniff. When Bella licked her, she knew it was okay to come in all the way. Risa scratched her ears and took her time moving her hand down Bella’s body. The dog flopped on her back for a tummy rub.
Risa looked at Jax, smirking.
“I swear, this isn’t how she was when I got here.”
Risa snorted and continued her examination. Dogs were a lot like kids. They could be as sick as, well, dogs, but the minute you brought them to the doctor, they acted like nothing was wrong. “Okay, Bella girl. Let’s see how that appetite’s doing.”
She nudged the bowl of food toward the dog. Bella sniffed at it, but didn’t eat. Risa dug a few nuggets out of the bowl and held out her hand. After a careful sniff, Bella lapped them off of Risa’s palm, then dug into her dish for more.
“Have you had to hand feed-her before?” she asked Jax, who looked gobsmacked.
“Never.”
“What about the others, like the guys on night duty?”
“I’m the one who feeds her breakfast before I go into work, and then I feed her dinner every night. The only time I haven’t been with her since the accident is during the day while I’m working, and then I usually come over during lunch.”
Risa sat back on her haunches, totally gobsmacked herself. “What about at night? Has the night watch had any problems with her before today?”
“I am the night watch.”
“You’ve been here every night, all night long, for the past ten days taking care of Bella?”