Chapter 8 - The Car Without Plates
"Back room!" I shouted.
Tessa pulled June behind the veterinarian's counter. Rourke drew his pistol and went to the window. Through the blinds I saw a dark sedan turn across the clinic driveway. No front plate. Two men inside.
The trooper staggered upright near his cruiser, one hand at his head. He had been struck while checking his trunk. A second car blocked the exit.
"Federal agents aren't supposed to arrive for twenty minutes," Rourke said.
"Those aren't agents."
I remembered the look in Atlas's eyes on the night of the ambush. Work came first. Fear came afterward.
"Atlas. Guard June."
He planted himself between the girl and the hallway.
A man pounded on the clinic door. "Police! Open up!"
"Show your badge through the window," Rourke called.
The man stepped sideways instead. His partner came around back carrying a metal bar.
Rourke called dispatch while I pushed a rolling medicine cabinet against the rear entrance. The bar struck the handle. June clamped both hands over her ears.
"Look at me," Tessa told her. "Count with me. One, two..."
The cabinet jumped. A second blow cracked the wood beside the lock.
Then the front sedan's horn blared. The men outside froze. Actual police cruisers swung into the driveway, lights spinning over the windows. Maya Chen climbed out behind them in a plain dark jacket, badge held high.
The two strangers ran. One escaped through a gap in the fence. The other was caught before reaching his car.
Maya approached us only after the clinic was secure. "I'm Inspector Chen. I need everyone to take a breath and tell me exactly what happened."
The arrested man carried a Cinderline contractor access badge. His name was Caleb Doss. When an officer emptied his pockets, a folded school photograph of June fell onto the hood.
Tessa made a sound like she'd been punched.
"Why would a defense contractor follow an eight-year-old?" Maya asked him.
Doss kept staring at me. Finally he spoke.
"Because the dog was supposed to die today," he said.
Maya went still. "Who ordered it?"
He swallowed. "I can't say."
I knelt close enough to see him flinch. "You can start by telling me who sent the message to my phone."
May you like
Doss raised his eyes.
"I did," he whispered. "Because I didn't want them to kill you too."
