“He’s in the lab,” Devon said. “I had my assistant take him off the table and lay him on the floor for you.”
“Good. I’ll go right in.” She started for the door. “You should have called me before you—”
“Wait, Margaret,” Devon gestured to Jane. “You have to get permission. This is Jane MacGuire. Margaret Douglas. Margaret’s going to try to help your Toby.”
“What?” Jane stared in disbelief. “This is your consultant? I thought she was a tech.”
“Because I look so young?” Margaret wrinkled her nose. “I’m almost twenty.”
“A great age,” Caleb said.
She gave him a brilliant smile. “Old enough.” She turned back to Jane. “I can’t take much time to try to convince you I can help your Toby. Devon says he’s going downhill.” Her expression was suddenly grave. “So you’ll have to trust me. Will you do that?”
“Why should I?”
“Because I’ll treat your Toby with as much love and care as you give him.” She was holding Jane’s gaze. “And I can sometimes help.”
“Only sometimes? That’s not good enough for me to—”
“Please,” Margaret said softly.
Radiance, warmth, blue eyes glowing with life and gentleness. Jane found she couldn’t look away from that face. She suddenly felt as if she was a part of the light that seemed to envelop the girl. She could feel the anxiety and edginess ebbing away from her.
What the hell.
She said jerkily, “You can go look at Toby, but I don’t want you doing anything without a vet’s okay.”
“I won’t.” She gave that luminous smile again and moved toward the door. “You don’t mind if I have Monty with me, do you? He might help.” She didn’t wait for an answer but raised her voice. “Monty, come.”
Shock. The golden retriever that bounded through the doorway at her call was so familiar to Jane. Familiar, yet not familiar.
Monty acts like a five-year-old now, Sarah had told her.
Jane had not really believed her. Monty was years older than his pup, Toby. She couldn’t imagine that he could be this spry when her Toby was arthritic and slow and had lost that wonderful vim and vigor. Yet here he was, and Jane could swear he looked no older than when she had first seen him all those years ago, when she had been a child of ten.
“Okay if I use him?” Margaret was looking at Jane. “Sometimes, I can’t do it alone.”
“Do what?” Jane instinctively started toward Monty. “Monty? Do you remember me?”
The golden retriever gave a low woof, and his tail wagged, but he turned and trotted toward Margaret.
“He remembers you,” Margaret said quietly. “He’ll greet you later; now he has a job to do.”
Margaret and the golden disappeared into the exam room.
“What the hell is happening?” Jane asked Devon in bewilderment. “Why do you think she can help?”
“Because she’s done it before,” Devon said. “And I have to know what’s wrong with Toby before he can be treated.”
“And she can tell you?”
“Maybe. If Toby knows why he’s sick.”
“If Toby knows…” She stared at her in disbelief. “Are you saying what I think you are?”
“Interesting.” Caleb gave a low whistle. “You’re not going to like this, Jane.” He tilted his head. “A dog whisperer, Dr. Brady? That young girl can talk to dogs?”
“Anyone can talk to dogs.” Devon made a face. “She seems to get answers. And not only dogs; she has an affinity with most animals.”
“Get her away from Toby,” Jane said tightly. “I won’t have his time wasted with someone who thinks she’s a voodoo priestess.”
“Did she really strike you that way?” Devon asked.
“No, she’s appealing as hell, the girl next door, everyone’s best friend, but that doesn’t mean that she can help my Toby.”
“It doesn’t mean that she can’t,” Devon said. “I can see why you’re suspicious. Do you think I wasn’t? When she showed up on the island, my first reaction was to throw her into the ocean. We always knew that the research might attract weirdos and she seemed a prime example.”
“How did she even manage to get on the island with all your security?” Caleb asked. “I can see a plane’s being surrounded as soon as the landing gear hit the ground.”
“She didn’t come by plane. She moored her speedboat on the other side of the island and hiked through the rain forest until she got to the hospital.”
“And where did the speedboat come from?” Caleb asked. “There’s not another island anywhere near here.”
“She said that her friend had a schooner and dropped her off.”
“And who is this friend?”
“She said that he wouldn’t want anyone to know who he was or that he’d gone out of his way to bring her near here.”
“A smuggler?” Caleb was thinking about it. “Or maybe he was—”
“Stop it.” Jane was tired of speculation. “I don’t care who he was. But it should have raised red flags that would keep you from welcoming her here.”
“It did.” Devon shrugged. “But she asked for a chance to work with the dogs, and she convinced me that she could help take care of them.” She held up her hand. “She just took a job as kennel help. She didn’t claim any special abilities.”
“That came later?” Caleb asked.
Devon nodded. “I could tell you the stories, but all you need to know is that Margaret is fairly amazing. She still works with the dogs, but I occasionally call her if I need her.”
“I can’t believe you’d trust her,” Jane said.
“Yes, you can,” Devon said. “Everyone trusts Margaret. You let her go in and look at Toby, didn’t you?”
“But that’s before I—” She headed for the exam-room door. “I’m going to see what she’s doing to him.”
“Go ahead. She won’t mind,” Devon said. “Just let her keep on working with him.”
“I don’t care if she’d mind or—” Jane stopped as she opened the door.
Margaret was on the floor holding Toby in her arms as he was stretched over her lap. Monty was lying quietly beside them, so close he was touching Toby.
She looked up at Jane in the doorway and shook her head. “Not yet. Soon.” She was gently stroking Toby’s neck. “Soon…”
Jane stiffened. What did she mean? Was Toby fading?
“No,” Devon said behind her. “No danger. She’d tell you if it were near.”
Toby’s eyes were open, and he was licking Margaret’s hand.
“Shh, rest.” Margaret was hugging him, holding him closer. “You don’t have to show me.”
Love.
Jane could almost see the love bonding Margaret and Toby together as a visible force.
“Satisfied?” Devon asked quietly.
Jane nodded jerkily and backed out of the room. “How long?”
“She said soon.” Devon strode toward the cabinet across the room. “Coffee?”
Jane shook her head. “I don’t want anything. I just want to know. I’m feeling so damn helpless.”
“Join the club.” She poured coffee into a Styrofoam cup. “It’s my worst nightmare. That’s why I let Margaret talk me into using her the first time she came and asked me to let her try to find out what was making my greyhound sick.”
“And did she do it?”
“Yes.” She sipped the coffee. “But it took two more cases before I stopped telling myself that it was coincidence or luck.” Her lips twisted. “I still use science first; and then whatever works.”
“And Margaret Douglas usually works?” Caleb’s gaze was narrowed on Devon’s face. “But you’re still scared and shaky.”
She shrugged. “I like to be in control. Control doesn’t seem to be a factor when Margaret is involved. I can’t be sure if she’s even in control of what’s going on. She told me once it was just nature. I’d be happier if there was—”
“We have about four hours.” Margaret was standing in the doorway. “You’ll have to flush out Toby’s entire system and replace the blood.”
Devon frowned. “Flush out the system?”