“You are,” Stuart said in a hushed voice, straightening when he realised his game face that slipped. “Why?”
“You have the expertise we need, and I’m prepared to pay for it. Come, bring your staff to the institute tomorrow for an orientation session. If you object to the position? Tell me, and I’ll leave you in peace.” He got to his feet, the men following suit, Diablo quickly moving to Hollingsworth’s side. “A pleasure to meet you both,” he said with a tip of his head.
Chapter 5
Stuart had called a team meeting after the last of the men in black left. He’d both broken the news about the state of the practice and then provided them with a solution all at once. Nick and Janey had sat there kind of stunned, so my apprehensive expression fitted right in.
“So…what will I do?” Janey asked finally.
“I’m not sure. You might be based here, or there, or both. All we know right now is there’s good money on the table. Tomorrow morning at nine, we report to the institute and hopefully get some clarification.”
“So, big cats…?” Nick asked. “We’re gonna be working with lions and tigers?”
“They haven’t said.”
“And who’s going to look after the locals? Mrs Collins is going to be beside herself,” Janey said.
“I know, but—”
“What did you used to do to get this sort of money on the table?” Nick asked, peering at the offer.
“Enough!” We all jumped at that, since Stuart rarely raised his voice. “Look, I get it. This is all new, and there’s a lot of unexplained variables. I just don’t have any answers for you right now. I had no idea this was on the radar or that anyone followed my previous work. All I know is this.” He pointed to the slip of paper. “Let’s meet up at the institute, see what they have to offer, then sit down and discuss it further.”
“So, what do you think about this?” Janey asked me on the way home. She shared Nan’s place with me, after moving in when she died. “Like what even is the Capricorn Institute? When I looked at their website, there’s all this government mumbo jumbo that seems partly about saving the planet and partly about helping the military?”
I couldn’t tell her, of course. Nan’s paranoia was legendary in the valley, so I did my best to pretend I wasn’t the same. I flicked my eyes up to the ridge that curled around our town, to the squat shape of the old prison.
“Military?” I asked with a frown, turning up our driveway. A sense of peace settled over me as soon as I saw the place. For all of Nan’s many warnings, this was home. Hers, Mum’s, mine. The barking started before we even got out of the car.
“Buster! Max!”
My voice was sharp, but I felt it instantly—that wash of unquestioning love dogs lavished on us. It was hard to feel worthy of. They gave everything to me, holding not one thing back.
My boys, I thought, sending a wave of love towards them. It was great helping people with their pets, but nothing beat being home. They bombarded me with thoughts of cuddles and pats, of belly rubs and walkies and food and… I pushed them back gently as we got out of the car.
Max was a black Husky dumped by an owner unable to cope with the typical Husky hijinks. He woo-wooed as I walked up to the gate, then growled his displeasure at me being away. The fact that he had the run of several acres of land now was disregarded in the excitement of us coming home. Buster bounced, basically dancing on his back feet as we got closer.
Away, let us in, I sent out to them, visualising what I wanted them to do, but I used a hand gesture to explain the result to anyone who watched.
“One day, you need to teach me that trick. I use the same hand signal and they completely ignore me,” Janey complained.
“You just need to establish yourself—”
“As pack leader. Yes, you’ve said, Stuart’s said, Nick’s said, but I’m not having much luck. Maybe I'm just destined to be a beta.”
Lower than that, unfortunately, in the dogs’ minds. Janey was nice and gave them pats and treats, but they wouldn’t hesitate to monopolise me, the spots on the couch, her food, if opportunities presented itself. To them, she was a hapless puppy.
“So, what are we doing about dinner?” she asked as we walked inside