had automatically ground together the instant she said Jeremy again. He indicated his trashed house. “I think that ship sailed a long time ago.”
“Nevertheless…” Chief Deb shooed him again.
Though he didn’t want to stay here, not with that there, Owen refused to be shooed. He’d taken great pains not to be seen walking today; he wasn’t going to ruin that now.
“You’ll have to stay somewhere else, Owen,” Deb said.
“I don’t have anywhere else.”
The silence that followed that statement made him wish it back even before Becca spoke.
“You can—”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“I’m not staying at your place.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“She can barely fit in her place.” Deb eyed Owen. “You never would.”
“Where do you live?” he asked.
“Above the clinic.”
“In Doc Brady’s room?”
Owen had been there once with Becca when they’d brought him a bird with a broken leg. Oddly, by the time they got there, the creature was hopping around on it pretty well, and it had flown off as soon as Doc Brady held it out the upstairs window of his teeny-tiny abode.
There wouldn’t be room for him and Reggie in Doc Brady’s—make that Doc Becca’s—place, even if he were willing to go there.
“I can stay at a bed-and-breakfast. There must be a hundred of them.”
More like a dozen, and at this time of year, just after prime leaf viewing, they should be pretty empty.
“Unfortunately none of them accept pets,” Becca said.
“Reggie’s better behaved than most of their clientele.”
“No doubt,” she agreed. “But their clientele doesn’t drool and shed.”
“I bet some of them do.”
“What about Stone Lake?” At Owen’s confused expression Chief Deb continued. “Big-city lawyer got sick of lawyering and bought Stone Lake Tavern. Built some cottages on the water.”
“He lets dogs stay in them?” Owen asked.
“Only when they bring along their duck-hunting owners to pay the bill.”
Stone Lake was more of a pond than a lake but ducks still floated on it.
“Sounds perfect. I’ll just pack up and be on my way. Don’t feel you have to wait for me. I promise not to touch—” He waved at the altar.
“Not so fast.” Chief Deb held up her hand like a crossing guard stopping traffic. “I have questions for you that I want answered before you go anywhere.”
Her shoulder mike squawked static. “Say again,” she ordered, moving into the kitchen, nearer to both an open window and town.
Chapter 5
Owen was acting strangely. Not that finding dead things in your house wouldn’t make anyone kind of off, but—
“Why is it your house?” I blurted. “I thought it was your mother’s.”
“She signed everything over.” Owen’s gaze went to the mess and stuck there. “Lucky me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t trash the place.” His eyes came back to mine. “Did you?”
“Once upon a time, I might have.” I’d been hurt, angry, young, but I also hadn’t been here. By the time I’d returned to Three Harbors for good I was Dr. Carstairs, and I had better things to do.
“Doubtful,” he said. “You were always a Goody Two-shoes.”
He was right. The one rebellion I’d ever made was him. That had worked out so well, I hadn’t bothered with rebellion, or men, since. Animals were more my speed. They were honest about their feelings. If a dog loved you, you knew it. If it hated you, you knew that too. Pretty damn fast.
Chief Deb reappeared and beckoned me. I followed her into the kitchen. She tapped her shoulder mike. “Emerson’s asking for you. Duchess has been in labor for hours.”
As the only Emerson in Three Harbors was Emerson Watley, we were talking Duchess the cow, rather than Duchess the dog, or Duchess the duck. I did count all of them as patients.
“That’s not unusual. But … how did he know where I was?”
“Office is closed. Your cell isn’t getting a signal.”
So he’d called the cops. I wasn’t really surprised. It had happened before with other clients. Usually people called my parents first. Emerson might have, but they wouldn’t have been any help.
Often, if I knew I was going to an area where my phone would be useless I left word with dispatch. Three Harbors was a small town. Eventually, everyone called dispatch. Though this time I hadn’t left word because I hadn’t planned on a side trip. Thanks to the nightmare in the living room, the cops still knew where I was.
Deb’s mike hissed with static loud enough to crack a window if there’d been any left to crack. She leaned out the gaping hole in the wall in