Love's Taming(75)
“Or the smell.”
Shane halted the progress of his fork to his mouth as he looked at her, still eating.
She continued, “I mean they don’t always clean up after the animals so the smell of feces would be overwhelming I would think. Who knows what they feed them, so they would have diarrhea. The flies would be awful too. Without medical care, they would have open sores as well.” Looking up, she noticed that Shane had stopped eating.
“Do you not like the dinner?” she asked.
“Baby, you just talked about a whole lot nasty stuff. Do you vets always do that?”
Blushing, she just laughed. “I’m sorry honey, I’m so used to talking about animals and what is going on with them that I don’t even realize it isn’t appropriate.”
Shaking his head, he laughed too. “Well, I asked.” Looking thoughtful for a moment, he said, “So, if you wanted to have this kind of operation and have it fly under the radar, what would you do?”
She pondered his question then replied, “The lady at the shelter was right. You would need some acreage. Out somewhere private. Preferably with woods around.”
“Why woods?”
“The trees would act as a natural sound barrier so the barking of the dogs would be heard less. Also, near a possible water source would be good, so that you could use that to at least have water and do whatever cleaning you are going to do. Or well water. Just not city water or the bill would be too high. They probably order the food. There are cheap discount online food stores they could get it from.”
Impressed, Shane stood to clear the dishes bending to kiss her lips. He watched her lick her lips and he dove in for another. Deeper, wetter. The dishes clattered to the table as he arms circled around her, pulling her up. Leaning back, he stared into her face overwhelmed with the emotion he was feeling. This untamed man was home. “Love you, sunshine.”
That night he showed her just how much he loved his home with her.
Chapter 24
Annie sat in the lab area of the clinic working on computer searches during a break between clients, trying to find more information.
Leon looked over her shoulder, then exclaimed, “What the hell are you looking up puppy-mills for?”
Suzanne and Carl came from the front at that moment and circled the computer as well.
Annie glanced over her shoulder at her staff with a grimace on her face. “These places are disgusting.”
Suzanne echoed Leon’s question, “Why are you looking them up?”
“I’m just trying to find out more information to see if I can help Shane.”
Carl chimed in, “Help Shane with what?”
“Just a case he is working. It may involve dogs that come from a puppy-mill in the area so I thought I would see what I can find.”
“Now don’t you think he should do the detective work since that is his job, doc?” Leon said as he and Suzanne took an older cat over to the table to draw blood.
Carl, still staring at the horrible conditions on the computer screen, asked, “Are you finding anything? I mean, wouldn’t Shane have the same info, if not more, than you can get?”
Smiling at the group, Annie said, “Well that’s where I think I have an advantage. I know a couple of vets in the rural areas outside of the city and in the state. I’m sending out messages to see if they have heard anything. I’m also looking into some of my professional sites to see where there may have been some extra or unusual requests for dogs in this area. I might be able to find something that I can offer to Shane.”
Carl smiled at Leon over Annie’s head as he exclaimed, “We’ve got our own personal Nancy Drew right here in this office!”
Suzanne, finished with the blood draw, ended the group discussion when she announced, “By the way, the Richardson family is bringing in their snake today. They think it may have eaten their hamster.”
Annie just hung her head and shook it as the other laughed.
“Never a dull moment,” Carl said as he headed out front to the next appointment.
Later, Annie called Shane to tell him of her latest findings. His response was similar to Leon’s.
“Baby, what the fuck are you doin’? I don’t want you anywhere nearer to this case then you already are!”
“Honey, I’m just checking on some things.”
“Well, stop. You vet and I’ll detect. Got it?”
Huffing, she agreed, then hung up.
“Clinic is ready for tomorrow, chief,” Carl reported as he and Suzanne walked into the room. Leon was checking the stock in the lab cabinets finishing up the clinic’s orders.
“So,” Suzanne said, plopping down in one of the chairs, “What did Shane say about your research?”