To Love Someone (Baytown Boys #14) - Maryann Jordan Page 0,90

Joseph that her truck was in good working order, she quickly left the clinic and drove toward the highway. Her luck was holding as she spied Annette’s car at the red light. Slowing, she still made it through the light but was far enough behind her that she hoped she would not be seen.

She started to call Joseph, then decided to wait. Let’s see where Annette is going first!

“Come on, boy, let’s wait up front.” Joseph rubbed Frodo’s ears, leading him toward the lobby. He occasionally took the large bloodhound to the shelter, giving him a chance to socialize and exercise while Samantha was at work. He had finished for the day but was waiting for Colt and Liam, having asked both men to come over. Since Samantha’s clinic was in North Heron but Jim Bender’s land was in Acawmacke, he thought it made sense to bring both sheriffs into what he and Samantha were discovering.

He looked up as the front door opened and the two men entered, both tall, well-built, dark-haired, and wearing the tan uniforms of their jobs. Both gave an air of competence in their manner. But Joseph had noticed a change in Colt since Carrie had come into his life. Gone was the taciturn man to be replaced with someone who smiled more often. Inwardly chuckling, he knew the same could be said about himself.

Liam had always struck him as fun-loving, certainly in their dealings with the kids on the AL ball teams. But now, as the two men approached, he saw the intelligent interest in the eyes and had no doubt they were both ready for whatever information he could give them.

“Colt, Liam,” he greeted.

“Joseph,” they said at the same time.

“What’s up?” Colt asked as he settled into the chair that Joseph indicated. Liam followed suit and Joseph joined them after locking the front door and turning off the Open sign. Frodo sniffed the feet of the two sheriffs, then walked back over to Joseph, turned around in a circle, and laid down next to his chair.

He leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees, and said, “Samantha may have stumbled onto a clue into the wolf-hybrid business on the shore.” Colt and Liam’s brows lifted, and their posture imitated his as they leaned forward as well.

“She’s noticed for a long time that some of her vaccinations have gone missing. Not a lot at a time… maybe only one or two, but it’s been consistent. She doesn’t handle the ordering and she’s not the only one administering them, so it was easy to overlook. When Tom abruptly left the clinic to her, she was unprepared for the business aspect and said it took her a bit to get up to speed. She relied heavily on the others to do the jobs they’d always done. But once she noticed the discrepancies, she talked to her office manager who admitted that they’d had some shipments come in where she hadn’t counted all the pharmaceuticals, simply putting them into the storage or refrigerated storage container as needed. Plus, Samantha is out in the field some, and she has a vet intern working with her. She feels badly that things were missing without her noticing, but now she’s keeping track and is continuing to have the… well, thefts. Someone at the clinic is stealing rabies vaccinations.”

Colt glanced toward Liam and then back to Joseph. “I understand this is a problem in my county since that’s where the clinic is, but what does this have to do with wolf-hybrids?”

“According to Samantha, there’s no black market for vaccinations, so no need for someone to steal them to sell. That means that someone is probably using them. Using them for animals that can’t or shouldn’t be getting them through a vet.”

He saw the questions in Colt and Liam’s eyes. Sucking in a deep breath, he plunged ahead. “Okay, I’ll let you know now that I was trespassing to see if I could find any evidence. Trespassing on Jim Bender’s back land.”

“Bender’s Breeders?” Liam asked, brows lifted.

“Yep.”

“What did you find?” Liam continued.

Realizing Liam didn’t bother to tell him what he did was illegal, he moved ahead with his story. “There’s a small barn on the back of the property, buried in the woods but near one of the little piers. It contains some large crates with a couple of big dogs. There’s also a group of about three pups I could see as well.” He leaned back and grabbed a folder from the