“LoveBites”—DefLeppard
Hours earlier….
As I finished up supper, I glanced at the clock. Kira should’ve been home. With all the dreams I’d been having about her being seriously hurt, I worried like crazy. The strange thing was, she was always wearing something different, but it was almost always white. Right when I picked up my phone, it began to ring with the number of the vet clinic.
“Did your phone die?” I asked with a grin.
“Mr. Dupré?” It was Dr. Moran. My smile dropped.
“Yes?”
“There’s been a… uh, situation. The police are here. Sasha was shot and Kira is missing,” he said, sounding like he might’ve been crying. My heart dropped as his words hit me.
“What are you talking about?” I was already pulling the food out of the oven and shutting everything off. As he explained what he knew, I grabbed my keys, shrugged on my cut, and pulled on my boots. “Zaka, guard!” I commanded as I went out to the garage.
“I’m on my way.” I ended the call, shot off a text to Venom, and was down the road within seconds. The entire way there, I stewed. I told myself there was a mistake. There had to be a logical explanation.
There were flashing lights as I pulled up. Kira’s vehicle sat there with the passenger-side door open. Doc was talking to one of the officers by the front of it. I jumped off my bike and started toward him.
One of the cops tried to stop me by putting a palm to my chest. Irate, I looked down at where his hand was on my cut. “Get. Your. Hand. Off. Me,” I bit out.
“This is a crime scene. You can’t go any closer.” The fucker was pissing me off. Looking around for Officer Kellogg or one of the others that worked with us, I was disappointed to see none of them were there.
Then I heard my name called from down the side of the building. Leaning back so I could see, I saw that Veronica was hanging out of one of the employee entrances. “His dog is in here,” she said with a sweet smile to the asshole cop.
Shooting him a snide grin, I jogged back to where she held the door for me. As soon as I was inside, she pulled it closed. “What the hell is going on?” I asked her. She was already moving down the hall, so I followed.
“Sasha was shot. Dr. Baranov—sorry, Kira—had just left with her, and we heard the gunshot. At first we weren’t sure what it was. When we looked out the back door to see if we could see anything, we noticed Kira’s passenger door was open and called for her. When we didn’t see anything, we called for Sasha. Nothing. Then we went around the vehicle and saw Sasha on the ground. We called the cops, and Doc Moran operated to try to save her.”
“What about Kira?”
She looked over her shoulder with a pained expression. “We don’t know.”
As we walked, I pulled out my phone and tried to call her.
Voicemail.
Twice more, same thing. Frustrated, I shoved my phone in my pocket.
We turned a corner and stepped into a procedure room. My heart ached at seeing Sasha’s normally lively form lying so still. No matter how tough I thought I was, that proved I was a bit of a softy. Tears filled my eyes.
“She’s still sedated,” Veronica said behind me, and I whipped back around in shock. She gave me a sad smile. “She’s going to be okay. She’s going to be hurting, and it’ll be a long road ahead, but she’ll be okay.”
“Can I have a minute?” I asked gruffly.
She nodded, then stepped out, sliding the glass door closed. I pulled out my phone.
“Hey, brother. What’s up? Your text was pretty vague.”
“I have a problem.”
“Talk to me.” Venom said, his tone immediately going serious. In the background, I heard Raptor ask who it was. “Voodoo,” he told him.
“Kira was abducted from the clinic as she was leaving. Sasha, her dog, was shot and left for dead. I need Facet to see what he can find out.” I was furious. Someone was going to pay for this shit.
“I’ll get him on it. Call me back if you get any news.”
“Roger that.” I ended the call and stepped closer to Sasha, who I could now see was breathing. My fingers sifted through her thick fur. “It’s gonna be okay, girl. We’re gonna find your momma. I promise.”