“Me, too,” Gwen said. “Potential danger aside, I want to see what’s really going on and help Ginger and any other animals like her if we can.”
“You know I’m in,” Barbie said. “I’ll consult my notes and see if I have anything that may be relevant or useful.”
“Okay,” I said. “I want to do a little more research first, talk to Slash when he calls, and then we drive out and see the lab for ourselves. That work?”
Basia nodded. “But I need a nap first.” She stood. “Wake me when it’s time.”
“I will.”
“I’ll gas up the car,” Gray said. “Check the tires.”
“And I’ll stay here and help you and Barbie research,” Gwen added.
They all moved off, dividing tasks like this was just another day, which it wasn’t. I stayed where I was, staring at the quiet room, trying to understand the knot in my chest.
Animals had never been my thing. Chickens attacked me. Pigs chased me. A camel had tried to run off into the desert with me on his back.
Dogs, well, dogs had always been attracted to me, and that alone made them suspicious. Animals were unpredictable, instinct-driven, and impossible to reason with. I preferred systems. Code. Problems that behaved logically.
Ginger didn’t fit any of that.
She wasn’t random. She wasn’t chaotic. She watched. She listened. She understood. And more than that, she trusted me. For reasons I still couldn’t explain, she’d chosen me as her safe person.
Maybe that was the problem.
I barely knew her, but I knew she was scared and trapped, and people with power were treating her like a thing instead of a living being. I didn’t need to love animals to recognize injustice. I didn’t need a lifetime bond to know when something was wrong.
And once I understood that, I realized walking away wasn’t an option.
Not for Ginger. Not for me. Not for the girls.
Not for anyone.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lexi
I stayed glued to my laptop until my phone rang, breaking my concentration. I recognized the number.
Slash.
Surprisingly, it was well after nine o’clock, which was late for my early-rising, tai chi–practicing husband. It must have been one heck of a man party the previous night. I answered my cell before it buzzed again. “Hey.”
“Morning, cara,” he said. “I just wanted to check in. What happened with the dog? Did you take her to the shelter yet?”
I leaned back in the chair, keeping my tone as casual as possible. “We had to relinquish her last night.”
There was a brief pause. “Relinquish how?”
“The foil shifted off her shoulders during the night,” I said. “Once the GPS was uncovered, the lab guys showed up again…this time with the police. They had paperwork. We didn’t have a choice.”
I left out the dart gun. And the birthmark. And the way an unconscious Ginger lay limp when they took her away.
Slash exhaled. “I’m sorry. It’s concerning that they couldn’t wait until the morning.”
“My thoughts exactly.” I left it at that.
Another pause. “Everyone okay?”
