He herded the dogs that were still hanging around back into the pen and went into the cabin to look for the volunteerlist.
A text message chimed and the phone rang at the sametime.
Grady picked it up. It wasNessa.
“Nessa?” He wondered if he’d forgotten an appointment he had with her. “What’sup?”
“Have you heard fromLinx?”
“No, has anything happened?” His throat tightened and worry thumped in his chest. “She’s not at the rescue center. Is sheokay?”
“I don’t know, but she called me asking me to take over the rescue center. It sounded strange, like she was going away and not comingback.”
“Not coming back?” Grady’s breath hitched. “I’m at the center and someone’s opened all the gates. Half of the dogs are missing and I’m about to call my brothers over to help me find the dogs. Linx’s SUV isn’t here and neither are Cedar andGinger.”
“She tried to invoke client confidentiality, but the more I thought about it, the more worried I got,” Nessa said. “She said she was a fugitive from the law. Has she doneanything?”
“Nothing other than a lie she told years ago. It’s not like her brother’s going to arrest her oranything.”
“Anyway, thought I should let you know. She wants someone to take care of the dogs. I’m on my way from San Francisco, but it’ll take me a couple of hours to get there. Sounds like you have a mess on yourhands.”
“Yeah, thanks. I better go round up the cavalry.” Grady thanked Nessa and hung up, as text messages and missed calls flooded hisphone.
It was his family, probably berating him for bailing out on the dinner with Linx’sfamily.
But then again, couldn’t Becca smooth it over with them? He wasn’t exactly in the mood for socializing after the bombshell she dropped about Linx’s lies and the possibility he wasn’t Jessie’s father afterall.
Grady typed a message to Dale.Need you, Connor, and Brian over at Mountain Dog asap. Gate’s wide open. Dogs aremissing.
A siren cut off as a police cruiser tumbled up the graveldriveway.
Well, that was fast. He certainly couldn’t complain about the response time. They showed up before he’d evencalled.
Grady ran toward the police car, waving at Todd as he stepped out of thecar.
“The dogs are missing. We need to get them rounded up and put back in thebarn.”
The sheriff pulled a gun. “Stop rightthere.”
What thehell?
Was he being blamed for Linx’s disappearingact?
Slowly, Grady raised both hands and gaped at the sheriff. “Someone let the dogs out, but there’s no sign ofburglary.”
“What are you doing here?” Todd’s eyes narrowed over Grady. “I need to take you to the station to account for yourmovements.”
“I came over from your father’s ranch.” Grady couldn’t believe he was being given the third degree. “You werethere.”
“You left well over an hour ago.” He put his gun down and gestured to his deputy. “Secure the area and call in the searchparty.”
“Linx isn’t here. I already checked,” Grady said. “She tookoff.”
“We know that,” Todd said as a minivan pulled onto the driveway and Pastor and Mrs. Patterson tumbled out. “It’s Jessica Patterson. She’smissing.”
“Jessie? Missing?” Grady jumped and felt like his insides were turned out. “What happened?Where?”
“She disappeared from church,” Pastor Patterson said. “We had a festival to kick off God and Country Week. When it was over, Jessie was nowhere to be found. We questioned the other children, and they claim Jessie was talking about getting apuppy.”
