She didn’t wait for doubt to catch up. She slipped on her shoes, yanked the door open, and stepped into the hall.
Valentina stood a few doors down, hair loose, coat pulled on crooked, and Pippa clutched against her chest.
Her eyes were wide, unfocused, as if she’d woken into the wrong story. “What’s happening?”
Millie paused. “I’m not sure.”
“Is it—? Should we—?” Valentina’s voice wobbled, the practiced calm stripped away.
The barking surged again, louder now, closer.
“I’ll go see if I can find out some information,” Millie said. “Stay here.”
Valentina nodded nervously. “Okay.”
Millie took the stairs two at a time, hand sliding along the railing for balance, every sense locked forward.
What was going on? She prayed everything was okay.
chapter
twenty-one
As soon asthe sound of barking hit Caleb, his feet were in his boots and his arms in his jacket.
He rushed outside and paused when he saw the commotion.
Dogs were scattered across the driveway and all over the open space beyond the kennels. Their forms were dark shapes streaking through deep shadows.
Some ran in tight circles, panicked. Others bolted straight for the tree line, noses down, freedom overriding training.
Caleb stopped short, dread slamming into his chest. “You’vegotto be kidding me . . .”
Max burst out the door beside him, breath fogging hard. “What in the world . . . ?”
“I have no idea what happened,” Caleb said. “We’ll figure that out later. For now, you take the west side. I’ll work toward the drive.”
“Got it.”
Caleb rushed forward. Too many dogs were loose and running in too many directions. Rounding them all up felt like an impossible task.
This wasn’t a mistake—someone had done this.
Caleb took off toward the nearest pair of dogs—two golden retrievers. He dropped to a crouch, his hands out, and his voice low and steady. “Hey. Hey. Easy.”
One skidded to a stop, recognizing him. The other kept running.
The second dog decided to run after him also.
Caleb straightened and sighed, his heart pounding harder now.
Someone had opened every kennel, he realized.
Not to steal.
Not to hurt the dogs.
To send a message.
