“Riley—”
The soft, sexy voice was gone, replaced by one that was full of command. “I didn’t risk your dogs,” she said, cutting him off. “I never took my eyes off them, I swear.”
“That’s not my worry. I know you wouldn’t put them in danger. It’s you I’m worried about. Has it occurred to you that the person poisoning animals might be the same one who tried to run you over?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. No, that had not occurred to her. What had she ever done to anyone to make them hate her so much that they’d want to kill her?
“Riley?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not saying it is, but it’s entirely possible. Would you promise not to go to the dog park alone? It’s a good bet that the person hurting your patients is the same one who put the meat there. If you feel you need to keep an eye on the place, I’ll go with you when I get back, hopefully, in a day or two. Either that or at least take someone with you. Okay?”
She’d been on her own as far back as she could remember, and with the exception of the year she’d lived with the Haywoods, she’d made her own decisions. A part of her bristled at having to curtail her investigation, but she couldn’t argue with his logic.
“Okay, I’ll either wait for you or take someone with me. Do they have a command for attack?”
He let out a long breath. “Thank you. I’ll sleep better knowing you’re safe. And to answer your question, they do, but they’re trained not to attack unless it’s me giving the command.”
“That’s probably wise. Listen, you stay safe, too.” Whatever he was doing in Iowa, it had to be dangerous, else he would have told her what he was up to.
“I will. Nite, darlin’.”
“Nite.”
She plugged the phone into the charger, and no longer interested in her book, she turned out the lamp. What was he doing in Iowa, anyway? To the cats, lights out meant that Arthur got to curl up against her stomach, Merlin buried his nose in her hair, and Pelli dived under the covers, worming his way down to her feet. Sticking to his usual bedtime routine, the kitten sucked on her little toe, which, fortunately, wasn’t ticklish. In a few minutes, he would fall asleep, and normally, Riley would, too.
Not tonight, apparently. All the things Cody had said to her ran through her mind like a movie reel. He’d kissed her not long after they met, then at her clinic on the day he’d dropped off his dogs, she was sure he’d wanted to, but he hadn’t. Instead, he’d said something about the timing being wrong.
The man confused her, but she couldn’t deny that he fascinated her. She’d had two boyfriends in college, the first in a relationship that had lasted less than six months. The second, Brad, in her second year of veterinarian school. His pursuit of her had been relentless, and she’d finally given in and agreed to a date with the cute fellow student. She’d even fantasized about them opening a practice together. That dream had ended when she’d skipped a class to deliver a cake and herself, wearing nothing under her raincoat, to wish him a happy birthday.
Surprise! All three of them—her, Brad, and the girl he was screwing—were stunned stupid by her appearance at the off-campus house he rented with two friends. After him, she’d decided to devote all her time and energy to getting her degree. No more men for her who either died or cheated on her.
Cody was the first man she was interested in since what she thought of as Brad’s Big Cheating Reveal. Was she willing to risk getting hurt again? For Cody, maybe.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cody’s night was blessedly nightmare-free. As he dressed and repacked his duffel, he wondered if Riley would mind if he called her every evening. He and Ryan ate a hearty breakfast at a place filled with local cars in the parking lot. The waitress they showed the kids’ picture to had never seen them, or so she said. They were two strange men in a town that likely didn’t trust outsiders easily.
The first stop after breakfast was to a little place on the main drag that advertised cabin rentals. “Hello. I’m Mrs. Waterman. What can I do for you gentlemen?” a silver-haired woman said, sliding the book she was reading into her desk drawer.
Ryan stepped forward. “I’m Ryan O’Connor, and this is Cody Roberts.” He showed her the picture of the couple. “Have you by any chance rented them a cabin or seen them around?”
Her gaze flicked from Ryan to him, and Cody could tell she was wary of them. Going on instinct, he decided honesty might be the best policy. “They’re a couple of kids who ran away from home. The girl is Megan Sanders, and she’s only sixteen. Her parents asked us to find her.”