the reception desk to enter her office.
“Yes, I’m fine!” She inwardly winced at her overly bright-sounding words and wasn’t surprised when her astute office manager narrowed her gaze at her.
“Samantha, you’re as nervous as a cat with his tail under a rocking chair. You’ve been flitting around all day.”
Unable to think of an excuse why her behavior would be off, she shrugged. “You’re right. I’m just having one of those days where I feel kind of nervous.”
“Nervous?” Tonya walked by and leaned her hip against the reception desk. “About the clinic?”
Glad that there were no clients in the lobby at the moment, she lied, “Yeah, sometimes I get keyed up about the business. Just want to make sure we’re running efficiently.”
“Well, if we all ran around every day like you are today, we’d be bouncing off each other,” Susan laughed as she walked in and glanced at the computer screen near Annette. “Thank goodness, we have a break. If you guys don’t mind, I need to go to the back and eat.”
Tonya and Brentley headed to the workroom with Susan, and Samantha was torn. She wanted to follow them to keep an eye on what they were doing and saying while knowing she needed to start printing off the spreadsheets of rabies vaccinations ordered and used in the past year. Tossing another wide, fake smile toward Annette, she headed into her office.
It took a while to pull together and compile all the records, but she finally had what she needed printed off. Not wanting the others to see what she had, she bent and shoved them into her bag next to the desk.
Annette popped her head in, eyes wide, and called out, “You’re needed out here!”
Jumping up, she rushed out to see a sobbing client carrying a blanket with blood on it.
“He ran right out in front of me! I don’t know how bad he’s hurt! But I know he’s in pain!”
She scooped the blanket-wrapped injured cat and rushed to the back, calling for the others, leaving Annette to adeptly calm the owner. Susan and Brentley left the workroom to continue seeing the afternoon clients while Tonya immediately jumped up to help Samantha.
Upon examination, she was relieved to see that there did not appear to be any internal injuries, but the cat’s back leg was broken. Surgery was required to pin it together, and she and Susan worked on the leg for the next two hours. By the time the grateful owner was sent home and the cat was resting comfortably in a recovery crate, the day was almost over.
Brentley offered to stay, but she waved him off, telling him to go home and she’d have him see the morning clients the next day. Susan and Tonya left as well, leaving her with Annette. Walking to the front, she stopped by the pharmaceutical closet and shook her head. She had wanted to try to keep an eye on who might be taking extra drugs during the day, but it was an impossible task. Going through my list will be the only way I can determine who is more likely to have helped themselves to extra doses of the rabies vaccination and medications.
Going into her office, she grabbed her bag, then looked over to see that her computer screen was still filled with the spreadsheets from earlier. Shutting them down and turning off her computer, she flipped off the lights and walked back into the reception area just as Annette was ready to leave.
“Samantha, I know you want to check on the cat again. I’ll lock the front door as I leave that way, and you can take care of the rear door since I know you’re parked in the back.”
Waving toward Annette, she called out, “Thanks for everything today, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Walking through the back once again, she checked on the cat, satisfied that he was fine. As she moved down the hall, she checked the pharmaceutical closet once again. Opening the door, she shook her head. Ugh! I’m so obsessive now, it’s almost like I have no control! But as she looked into the refrigeration storage vault, she noticed they were two vaccines short. I was just in here! I just looked!
The reality slammed into her that Annette was the only one who had still been in the building. She slammed the door and secured the storage. She set the alarm and locked the back door before racing to her truck. Tossing up thanks to Jason and