1 Bless Her Dead Little Heart by Miranda James

Author:Miranda James [James, Miranda]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

Dickce and Benjy stayed at the veterinary clinic for about thirty minutes. The first sign of skittishness the animals betrayed was when they took them into an examination room. At first Dr. Romano was going to separate them, but Benjy protested politely.

“I think they’re used to being with each other,” he said with a shy smile. “They’ll be happier if you can keep them together.” Since the dog had whimpered earlier when Dr. Romano started to take the cat from the room, Benjy seemed to be right.

“No problem, then.” Dr. Romano, a cheerful, attractive woman in her late thirties, motioned for Benjy to place the dog on the examination table. She then positioned him so that the cat remained in his sight line. “Let’s check for a microchip first, since neither of them has a collar and tags.” She ran the scanner over the back of the dog’s neck.

“No chip?” Benjy said.

“Correct.” The vet turned to Dickce. “Miss Dickce, if you don’t mind holding the cat in your lap, I’ll check her now.”

“Certainly,” Dickce said. She put one hand under the cat’s stomach and patted her head with the other.

Dr. Romano scanned the cat. “No chip here either.” She put the scanner aside, then leaned against the cabinet to look at her patients and the humans with them. “From just a cursory glance, neither of them looks malnourished, so I’d guess they weren’t on the roadside long before you found them. No more than a day or two. They’re reasonably clean, too, though the dog has a few burrs and other debris in its coat.”

“You don’t recognize them, do you?” Dickce asked.

Dr. Romano shook her head. “They haven’t been in this clinic before, I’m certain. My best guess is either they got loose from a car passing through or someone deliberately dumped them by the road.”

“People who would do such a thing should never have animals in the first place,” Dickce said. “I’d like to see them dumped on the side of the road and left to fend for themselves.”

“I’d take a bat and knock them upside the head myself,” Benjy said.

Dr. Romano smiled. “I agree with both of you, though please don’t tell anybody I advocated the use of a bat upside the head.” She stood and came back to the examination table. “What is the plan for these two? I can call someone from the animal shelter and have them picked up after I’ve finished examining them.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Dickce said. “They will be coming home with me. If anyone comes looking for them, I want to have a little chat with that person before he tries to take them back. Run whatever tests you need to run, and give them whatever shots they need. How long will all that take?”

“If you’ll leave them here overnight, that will be sufficient,” Dr. Romano said. “You can pick them up after lunch tomorrow. But give Wendy a call first to check.”

“That sounds fine. We’ll be back tomorrow.” Dickce rose and set the cat on the table with the dog.

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