Lu shook her head. “I’m sure he’s long gone.”
“I know we’re a small town, Ms. Gauge, but we don’t allow people to shoot pets and get away with it. I’m sure if you could identify the man, the sheriff will do everything he can to make sure he’s found and brought up on charges.”
“Really?” I said. I was sitting on the floor, too, my hand rubbing over Lorde’s soft head, her softest ears, mirroring Lu’s movements. “You think the law is going to go all out to take down one asshole who shot a dog? You have more faith in how the sheriff departments spend their resources than I do, lady.”
“I’ll look into it,” Lu lied.
There was no chance Lu was going to drag the authorities into this fight. If she wanted revenge, which I was pretty sure she did, she’d catch up with Hatcher and get it with her own hands.
And there was more than him injuring Lorde at stake. There was the book and the magic it held. There was the fact that he was a hunter of things that go bump in the night and might come back to try to kill Lu or Lorde. There was the fact that he had followed Lu, maybe waiting for her to find something magical. Something like the book.
And there was the fact that he was working for someone. Someone who wanted powerful, old magic.
The smart move would be to let it go. Let him take that weird book to whoever he worked for and never think of it again. The smart move would be to go on with our lives, such as they were, looking for our own clues to our own puzzle. To find a way to be whole and alive again.
But I knew Lu. She wouldn’t let this lie. Not when she had a chance at magic that might hold the answers we needed. Or make a hell of a bargaining chip to pry answers out of whoever might have them.
“We’ll keep Lorde overnight. You can come get her in the morning,” Dr. Carter said.
Lu’s hand stopped stroking Lorde’s fur. I could see her wanting to argue. Wanting to pick Lorde up and carry her out of there right this moment.
When you’ve had things you loved taken away from you, it was hard to let go, even when it might be necessary and better for the thing, the person, you loved. You held on tight because you knew things could be whisked away, stolen, taken so quickly, so permanently, it hollowed you out and left you empty and numb.
“I’ll look in on her,” I told Lu. “The truck isn’t even ready yet. She’ll be more comfortable here than at the B&B. Let Dr. Carter look after her. She’s gonna be fine. I’ll make sure she’s fine.”
Frown lines thumbed a curve between Lu’s eyebrows, but she finally nodded.
“I’ll be here when you open,” Lu said.
Dr. Carter smiled, and it was warm and approving. She could see how much Lu loved Lorde. “We will take very, very good care of her. Do you want to see the kennel area?”
Lu did want to see it, so she walked back with the doctor’s assistant, a slender young man named Leon. I stayed with Lorde and told her what a good and brave girl she was and made her promises of bones and soft blankets and grassy fields in which she could hunt fat, slow gophers.
When Lu came back, some of the worry had melted away and her shoulders had lost some of their stiffness.
“Good?” I asked her, giving Lorde one last long stroke. Lorde sighed in her sleep. Content. Happy.
Lu nodded. “She’s going to be comfortable.” I knew she was talking to me, but Leon answered.
“We’ll make sure of it. We keep someone here overnight to make sure she has everything she needs. It’s my turn. I’m going to pamper the heck out of this brave girl. Chasing off that jerk trying to steal Dot’s car.”
His brown eyes were so sincere, his smile so wide, it was impossible to doubt him.
“Thank you,” she said.
Dot was waiting out in the lobby, sitting in a chair that let her look out the window and keep an eye on the door to the other rooms at the same time.
“How is she?” Dot stood and smoothed her shirt and pants. She was nervous, her hands trembling. I’d thought she would have left, would have been done with this nonsense, but she’d stuck like glue.
“Good,” Lu said. “She’ll stay the night. I can pick her up in the morning.”
“Oh, that’s…that’s good news. Very good. I can bring you.”
“Not necessary. I’ll have the truck.”
Dot shook her head. “Please. Let me. I can’t believe what that horrible man did. And…” Her voice faded as she was reminded of the other unbelievable things that horrible man had done.
Like stealing a book radiating magic. Like disappearing into thin air. “…and that’s that,” she said. “I’ll bring you tomorrow, and we’ll make a nice cozy bed for Lorde in the corner of your room. I think I have a small mattress that will fit nicely.”
