A soft whimper interrupted Kelly's thoughts. She stood up rubbing her arms, trying to shake free from the hold her past had on her. She walked up the bank a little and followed the noise. When she arrived at the top of the bank, she saw a garbage bag resting next to a large tree trunk. She looked around until she heard the plastic bag move. Kelly ran over to the bag and ripped it open. She fell back on her butt in shock. Inside the bag there was a dog and four puppies. The adult dog was obviously dead as were two of the puppies. The two live puppies didn't look well, they were all very skinny and they had all been harshly beaten. Kelly froze as she focused on the injuries and really saw them. They looked familiar. Oh crap. He'd found her. She was sure of it. She took off the fleecy jacket she wore and bundled up the two live puppies before she ran as fast as she could back to the house and back to Adele.
~ * ~
Adele was drinking her coffee and watching out the front window in the direction Kelly had gone walking. It was her first time out alone, and Adele wanted to make sure she was okay. She'd given Kelly a house key on a hospital lanyard so Kelly would know she could come and go whenever she wanted, and if she got lost, anyone who saw the hospital name on the lanyard would take her there. Not that Adele intended on letting her out of her sight long enough for her to get lost. She lowered her mug as she noticed a shiny black ute drive past slowly. Strange. It kept going so she dismissed it as just someone looking for a specific house number on Wattle Avenue.
She took another sip and looked back over toward the river. If Kelly didn't come back soon, she was going to have to go and find her. Sophie was joining them for a meeting at the school. Forms and tests needed to be attended to before plans could be made to get Kelly settled into school. Both her and Sophie were sure Kelly was going to need a lot of help to get up to speed. The poor petit fille could barely read or write.
Adele just about dropped her mug as she saw Kelly running toward the house. She was running as fast as she could and holding her jacket bundled in her arms. As she got closer, Adele saw blood on the jacket and on her shirt. What the hell had happened? She dropped her mug on the table, not caring that coffee sloshed everywhere as she rushed out the front door.
"Kelly, cherie, what happened? Are you hurt?" Adele asked as Kelly skidded to a stop and into her arms. Adele felt something move against her. She pulled back from the sobbing distraught child and looked down. There were two little white puppies poking their noses out of the jacket.
"He did this. He's found me. Oh hell, Adele. He's found me!" Kelly was in a panic; Adele could see in her eyes that her mind was lost to the emotions and memories swirling in their depths.
"Come inside, cherie." She led Kelly inside, double checking the door was locked behind them. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and rang Dominic first. He answered her on the second ring. She quickly told him what had happened, and he was on his way before she ended the call.
While she waited for Dominic to come over, she grabbed some dark towels, a bucket of warm water and a sponge before heading back to Kelly and the puppies.
"How about we try to clean them up a bit? Then we can take them to the vet once Dominic gets here, okay?" She spoke calmly; Kelly was still shaking in panic and needed a distraction. Adele didn't want to risk going to the vet without Dominic just in case the bastard who had hurt Kelly and these puppies was lurking around waiting for them.
~ * ~
Dominic was struggling to not shift as he sat in the waiting room at the veterinary clinic. His body was vibrating from the rage he felt. Kelly's abuser had tortured a female dog and her four pups then left them out for Kelly to find. It was beyond cruel. It also meant the bastard knew where Kelly was living, and that presented a risk to his mate as well as Kelly. When he got back to the station, he was going to organize the cats to continue their protection detail. Someone needed to be watching Kelly and Adele throughout the day, and he would start spending the nights at their house to make sure they were safe.
He looked up as he heard a door open and saw Adele usher Kelly out of the examination room where they'd been with the two live pups and the vet. Kelly clung to Adele as they made their way over to him. She hung on so tightly Adele was having trouble walking.
"How are the pups?" he asked quietly as he ran his hand gently over Kelly's curls.
"The vet said one isn't looking good, but the other has a good chance of surviving. They've got the healthier one drinking some formula, so that's a good sign. His front right paw has to be set which they are doing now. He'll have to stay here for while, but maybe when he's better, we might be able to keep him. I'm going to ask the agent about it once we know if he's going to live." Adele had been rubbing circles on Kelly's back while she spoke, and the poor kid was starting to relax and loosen her grip.