The blood drained from David’s face.He almost asked what Jackie was talking about before remembering that he’d examined an Air Force dog the day before he and Faith left for Italy.
Jesus, I need to pull myself together.“I thought I had, but I’ll double check.Is he here?”
“Yeah, they stopped by to see if we could squeeze it in without an appointment.”
“Go ahead and draw the blood,” he said.“I’ll put the order through right now.”
“Okay.Thanks, doc.Hey, is that Gary’s mug?”
“Yeah, he’s letting me borrow it.I’ll make sure he gets it back.”
Jackie winced.“I told him not to show you that.I figured… Well, it’s a joke, but…”
“I like jokes,” David replied.Sometimes.“I’m glad you two are getting along so well.”
She brightened, and he immediately regretted encouraging her.“We are!”she exclaimed.“He’sSOOOcute.He’s a huge dork, but I’m a huge dork, so that works for me.He’s areallygood kisser too, not that you asked.”
“I definitely didn’t,” David said drily.
Jackie caught the hint.She pinked a little and said, “Well, thank you for sending him my way.I’m really glad we finally hooked up.Not like… hookedup.I mean, we did hook up, but…” She reddened further.“I’m gonna go now.”
David nodded patiently, and the embarrassed nurse closed the door and headed off to draw the Air Force dog’s blood.Hopefully she didn’t daydream while she was working the needles.
His eyes fell to the caption on the mug.He grimaced and turned it around, but that only showed a frightened dog recoiling from the unhinged vet.He sighed and moved the mug behind the picture of Faith and Turk on his desk.
He looked back up at the file, and his office door opened again.He flinched and pressed his lips together, grateful he’d moved the coffee out of the way.
“Sorry, doc,” Jackie said.“I was just wondering if you knew what was going on at the base.”
He blinked.“The base?”
“Yeah.My cousin said she saw a bunch of dogs exercising in a field inside the base.Her boyfriend is a Marine, and she visits him on base a lot.He’s a helicopter mechanic, and she sometimes…”
David tuned Jackie out as she related the story of her cousin’s relationship.He could just kick himself.He was trying to figure out what secrets the Marine Corps might be keeping about working dogs when there was a literal Marine Corps base in Quantico.He hadn’t looked into them because they didn’t officially have a K9 program at that base, but if the 93rdwasn’t sharing their existence with the world, then they would probably want to station themselves at a base that didn’t officially have a K9 program.
“Anyway, I was just wondering if you knew.I thought Faith might have heard something.”
He blinked and smiled at Jackie.“No, I’m sorry.She hasn’t said anything to me.”
“Oh well.No big deal.I’ll go get that bloodwork done.”
She left the office for good this time, he hoped, and David opened his computer once more.He typed a single note at the bottom of the word document.
INVESTIGATE MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO.
He checked his watch.Eight-twenty-five.Time to get ready for his first patient.
He took the coffee mug with him and dumped the liquid in the breakroom sink before rinsing the mug and leaving it to dry on the rack next to the sink.He didn’t need coffee anymore.He had a lead.He was going to find out what was happening to Sierra.
Even if it killed him.
CHAPTER FIVE
Greg smiled at Buddy, then laughed when the border collie leaped backwards over the head of a Pekingese and stole a frisbee tossed by the little dog’s owner.He put a hand to his mouth and called, “Hey, Buddy!Give that back!”
Buddy stopped and looked at Greg, eyes wide open in awho, me?expression.Hilarious, considering the frisbee was still in his mouth.
“Yeah, I’m talking to you.Give that back.”
