Nonstop Spaniels (Novella) by Linda O. Johnston

Author:Linda O. Johnston
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2013-05-06T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

“When was the last time you spoke to Dr. Ideman?” I asked, keeping my tone mild. I stood in front of our leopard print welcome desk as if hiding it, since this man wasn’t welcome in the least, not with his attitude.

Even so, he didn’t look particularly dangerous. He wasn’t much taller than my five foot six, plump but not huge, with a lot of mousy brown hair that he might not have combed that day and enough of a beard shadow to make me wonder if he was trying to look sexy. If so, he didn’t succeed.

“Yesterday,” he spat. “And the day before. And the day before that.” He took a deep breath while glaring, as if preparing to shout once more. Then he seemed to take control of his temper. “Okay, look. Dan Ideman was the vet a friend’s family used for their dog. I learned about his PetForYou shelter and when I decided I wanted a dog, I went there. My friend introduced us, and then someone showed me around the place. I really liked Ivo and told Dan so. Ivo’s a really nice Brittany spaniel mix.”

I knew that. He was one of the dogs I’d scooped up and taken to Carlie’s.

“Dan seemed happy about it,” Bartt continued. “Said Ivo’d been there for a while and had nearly reached the time he’d be put down simply because he hadn’t found a home.”

“Really?” I knew I must have sounded incredulous. Sure, Ricki had had her concerns, and Ideman had said he didn’t want to join NKLA. But despite my own doubts I was surprised he had been so open with this man about the possibility of killing Ivo. Bartt took a menacing step toward me. Beyond his shoulder I saw Nina pick up the phone and motion toward it, silently asking if I wanted her to call the police.

I gave a quick shake no, then said, “Look, Mr. Bartt. Since you’re here, you must know I’ve taken Ivo away from PetForYou to make sure nothing like that happens to him. But we have a lot of policies here. Right now, Ivo’s being checked over by our vet of choice, and that’s not Dr. Ideman’s clinic. Assuming he’s okay, he’ll be available for adoption here in a week or so. You can always put in an application, but you should know that we only adopt out to people we think will provide a good home.” I hoped my smile wasn’t too challenging. “And if you think that’s you, you’re not really demonstrating it here.”

I braced myself either to duck or run, but instead of attacking he wilted.

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that . . . well, Dan was a con man, or at least I think he was. He said that the PetForYou shelter had some financial issues despite its being related to the veterinary clinic, which was fairly successful. I own my own trucking company, it does well, and I gave him some substantial contributions for the shelter.

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