“Just wait a minute,” she told him. “Let me take off your vest first.”
She undressed Robo, gave him some water, and then took out his tennis ball, his reward for a successful exercise. Mattie tossed it out into the parkway. His nails skittered and caught as he turned to run after it.
Officer Red saluted her and gave her a quick smile before turning to uncuff his two prisoners. They all started to peel off their protective gear. The Simunition they’d used for the exercise was a form of nonpenetrating ammo, but it could still pack a punch on an unprotected body. These trainings were critical for Robo to teach him new abilities and to keep his entire skill set sharp. Not to mention how they enhanced the bond that was growing between Mattie and him as partners.
Mattie played with Robo, looking forward to an evening of drinks and camaraderie with her fellow trainees. She threw the ball and her dog bounded after it, bringing it back with a jaunty step and a proud look on his face. He gave it up readily and backed off, waiting for the next throw with eagerness apparent in his toothy grin. He would retrieve the ball as many times as she could throw it.
Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. Pausing, she took it out, noticing the call came from the sheriff’s office in Timber Creek. “This is Deputy Cobb.”
Chief Deputy Brody’s gravelly voice rumbled through the receiver. “We’ve got a situation here, Cobb. We need you to come back tonight.”
“What is it?”
He paused for a split second. “Adrienne has gone missing.”
Adrienne Howard, Brody’s girlfriend. “She’s missing?”
“Yes. She disappeared yesterday afternoon. I haven’t seen or heard from her since.”
Mattie tried to think of what to say next. Brody wouldn’t want to hear it, but Adrienne could have left town on her own. Maybe even to get away from Brody; she doubted that any relationship with the chief deputy could be easy.
“She’s been missing only twenty-four hours?”
“Sheriff McCoy authorized filing a missing person’s report, even though it’s a day early. There’s no doubt about her status. When can you get back to Timber Creek?”
Mattie didn’t share his certainty, but there was nothing she could do about it. “I have one more debriefing and then I’ll leave. I should be back in about five hours.”
“ETA at seven o’clock this evening, then?”
“Yes.”
“Come right to the station. The sheriff or I will be here.”
“Affirmative. See you then.”
“And Cobb . . . thanks. We need your help on this one.”
“Sure, Brody.”
She disconnected the call, reflecting on the strain she’d heard in Brody’s voice. He really was infatuated with the woman. She hoped he wasn’t in for a big letdown. Right now, she’d bet that Adrienne Howard had run away from him. Even though Brody wasn’t on her best-friends list, she’d hate to see him brokenhearted.
Chapter 2
Cole Walker, DVM, tied the last knot, picked the scissors out of the stainless steel tray his daughter Angela was holding for him, and snipped the suture. He leaned back on his heels and inspected the neat row of stitches he’d placed on the horse’s leg.
“Thanks, Angel,” he said, using the nickname he’d given his fifteen-year-old daughter when she was a toddler. “Now could you get that blue wrap from the counter?”
She turned away to retrieve it.
“This wound is superficial,” Cole told the owner, Garrett Hartman. “It should heal well, though it’s likely to leave a scar.”
The craggy rancher pushed his Stetson back on his head. “That’s okay. This fella works cows, not the show circuit.”
The quarter horse gelding stood steady and quiet in the stocks, a metal stanchion designed to hold horses while they were being worked on. His dark bay coat glistened in the overhead light that Angela had switched on as the sunlight waned. After dinner, she’d come out to the clinic to help Cole with this emergency while his youngest, eight-year-old Sophie, stayed at home with their new housekeeper, Molly Gibbs. Since his attempts at day help had all been tremendous failures, Cole was trying something new: a live-in housekeeper. He was desperate for this new arrangement to work out.
Angela handed him the wrap, her fingers pale and thin against the blue elastic bandage. She reminded him of his ex-wife, willowy and blonde, while his youngest took after him, sturdy and brunette.
“Leave this bandage on for two days and then take it off to check the wound. If it looks clean, you can apply an ointment that I’ll give you and rewrap it. If you’re concerned about how it looks, give me a call, but I don’t think you’ll have any problems with it.” Cole rolled the bandage over a gauze pad he’d placed on top of the sutures. “How’s Leslie doing these days?”
Cole noticed that Angela watched Garrett, awaiting his answer. He and his wife Leslie were the parents of one of her best friends, Grace, a girl who’d been murdered a few months ago.
Garrett cleared his throat. “She’s doing as well as can be expected, I guess. We’re awful lonely. You could come out and see us sometime, Angie, if you want.”
The girl nodded. “I’d like that. Maybe tomorrow after school?”
“Sure, I’ll tell Leslie.”
“Can Mrs. Gibbs take me and Sophie out together, Dad?”
“Okay,” Cole said. “Would it be all right for Sophie to visit too, Garrett?”
Lines crinkled the weathered skin around the corners of Garrett’s light blue eyes. It did Cole’s heart good to see his friend smile, something lacking the last few times they’d visited.
“Sure,” Garrett said. “Leslie will be glad to see both you girls.”
Angela ran a hand down the gelding’s back and then used her fingers to rub in a circular motion along each side of his spine. Cole recognized the technique Adrienne Howard had taught her for relaxing the muscles that connected to the vertebrae. The gelding’s eyelids drooped as he visibly melted under her touch.
Although many owners across the country were using therapeutic massage to help rehabilitate performance horses with strained muscles and injuries, Cole had to wonder if it would ever catch on with the ranchers around Timber Creek. Adrienne seemed dedicated to learning and practicing these specialized techniques, and she’d been willing to work at no charge, so several of Cole’s clients had offered their horses to help enhance her training. Only time would tell if she could turn her volunteer work into a form of income.
“Dad, what did you find out about Adrienne?” Angela asked as she continued to massage the gelding. “Did you call her work?”
“Yeah. The lady I talked to said they don’t know where she is.”
“What’s this about?” Garrett asked.
“Adrienne Howard. She works and lives out at Valley Vista hot springs. She’s a massage therapist the kids and I met about a month ago. She’s been coming to the clinic to practice massage on horses.”
“She was supposed to come this afternoon, but she didn’t show,” Angela said.
“Maybe she forgot,” Garrett said. “I seem to do a lot of that lately.”
Cole shook his head. “I doubt it. She had several appointments, and it’s not like her to miss them.”
“There’s no reason for concern, is there?” Garrett said.
But Cole could read the concern in his friend’s eyes anyway. And why wouldn’t he worry? After what happened to Grace, they all did. “I don’t know what to think. Anya, the therapist I talked to, told me Adrienne worked yesterday morning at the hot springs, business as usual. She was scheduled to have the afternoon off, but she didn’t come home last night. I don’t know . . . maybe she just decided to take off. People do that sometimes.”