“A lot.” She did her best to keep a straightface.
Chris coughed into his hand. “Denise.Surveillance.”
“Right. I made an extra copy when the cops asked for one. It’s in my office.” She cocked her head and led them through reception, the small indoor kennel, and to her office in the back corner. Pulling the door open, she kicked the doorstop intoplace.
“Do you mind if we watch it here?” Chris asked. “That way we can ask questions as we havethem.”
Denise shrugged. “That’s fine.” She sat down and logged onto the computer, plugging in the thumb drive she’d saved the video onearlier.
“I’m just saying my girls don’t play me a lot,” Phil said in a low voice behindher.
“Dude.” Chris’s voice was full ofhumor.
Denise smiled at the screen. Any guy who showed that much disappointment for a girl he’d just met was wrapped around the tiny fingers of any daughter he had. Nothing wrong with that as far as she was concerned. Her tough-as-nails father had been the same way with her andSarah.
She pulled up the video. “I started the recording from the time Eddie pulled into the yard.” She felt the two men crowd into the office, close to her back. If she had to guess, Chris was on her right. His scent reminded her of late summernights.
“How far up the drive is the view from the cameras?” Philasked.
“Not far. The majority of the cameras focus on the yard between the building and the barn and any access point into thebuilding.”
“Why’sthat?”
She glanced up to her left. “When we first opened we had problems with people trying to stealdogs.”
“Seriously?” Chrisasked.
Worried her emotions would show on her face if she looked up at him, she looked back to the screen instead. “We’re primarily a bully breed rescue. Lots of assholes looking for fighting dogs. That’s one reason we decided to start training some of the rescues as service and companion dogs. We could verify a client’s need and work with them directly, instead of just adopting a dogout.”
On the computer screen a white, four-door sedan pulled into the parking spot nearest the door and Eddie got out of the driver’sside.
“Doesn’t really seem like his style of car,” Denisesaid.
“It was reported stolen earlier in this morning.” Chris’s low voice, close to her ear, sent tingles skipping down the side of her neck. He leaned over her shoulder and pointed at the screen. “Can you pause thevideo?”
It was more of a finger spasm than a controlled click, but she managed to stop thevideo.
He braced his hand on the desk, surrounding her. “Can’t see if there’s anyone in the car with him. There’s too much reflection on theglass.”
Just like when he’d caged her in before, she didn’t feel trapped. It should have helped relax her, instead she became hyperaware of his presence next to her and amped up her fight or flightresponse.
“Did you notice anyone else with him?” Philasked.
Denise cleared her throat and looked over her shoulder. “He came in by himself. I didn’t notice anyone outside waiting for him, but I was focused on not shooting him withoutjustification.”
“Good call.” Phil’s phone rang and he pulled it from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “Excuseme.”
One person leaving her small, cramped office should have relieved some of the tension, but being alone with Chris for the first time since Sarah’s funeral just seemed to peg the meter. Flicking her gaze toward him, she asked, “Do you want me to keep playing thevideo?”
He remained silent and she looked at him fully. His eyes still reminded her of the ocean, blue and clear. She’d always found peace in theocean.
“Thank you for calling me.” His voice was deep and husky—intimate in the smallspace.
She struggled to control her breathing and keep it even. “It seemed like the right thing todo.”
“You could have left it to the cops. They would have called us as soon as they ran hisname.”
It hadn’t crossed her mind. The first person she’d thought to call was him. “I’ll do whatever’s necessary to protect Kimber andKaden.”
