Death by Equine by Annette Dashofy (read this if txt) 📗

and the towel and carried him down the passageway between her office and the surgical suite, pausing to stick her head through the office door to tell Greg about the emergency. He followed her into the small animal kennel.

“Jess, you have to stop digging into all this stuff.”

She cradled the tiny cat in one arm. “But didn’t you say there was no murder? If no one has anything to hide, what difference does it make if I ask a few questions?”

“Just because Doc’s death was accidental doesn’t mean there’s nothing shady going on. You poke the wrong sleeping bear and your death may not be so accidental. I don’t want to have to investigate another murder.”

“Another one?” She placed a heating pad into the cage before nestling the cat and its towel inside. “The first one being Doc’s?”

Greg blew out an exasperated breath. “Not officially, no.”

She spun to face him. “But unofficially?”

He glared at her. “I’ll ask some questions. Discreetly. Which is a concept you don’t seem to comprehend.”

Jessie gave the cat’s head a quick scratch. “I’ll be back before you know it, little one. You rest.” She latched the cage and motioned for Greg to follow her out. “There’s one more thing you can look into if you’re so inclined.”

“What?”

“Besides Butch and Hamilton, Sherry mentioned Daniel had an argument with Doc a few days before he was killed.” Jessie paused to lock the office door.

“Did she say what it was about?”

“No.”

“It was probably nothing. People argue all the time and don’t end up killing each other, but I’ll see what I can find out.”

She led the way outside and reached for the handle on the big outside door. Greg got there first and dragged it closed for her.

“Promise me you’ll stay out of trouble.” He headed for his Interceptor. “I have a feeling if you start shutting down every illegal operation going on around here, there won’t be anyone left to race the horses.”

Jessie made a sour face at his back and climbed into her truck.

The emergency involved a horse that had found an errant nail and had opened a bright pink gouge in his brown hide. A few stitches later, Jessie returned to the clinic and sedated the cat for its x-rays.

She eyed Doc’s old film radiography equipment with trepidation. When was the last time she’d been in a dark room? Abandoning that idea, she dragged her portable digital unit in from the Chevy.

It wasn’t until she finished that she realized she had no computer on which to read the digital x-rays. She watched the drugged feline from the kennel’s doorway and turned the memory card over in her hand. She had two options. Stick the kitty in her truck and drive him home where she could let Meryl take over. Or find another computer on which to view the x-rays.

Ten minutes later, Jessie sat at Daniel’s desk as the pictures uploaded. “I really appreciate this.”

He took a seat in one of the chairs across from her. “No problem. What happened to your computer?”

Jessie tensed. The reason she was stuck using Daniel’s computer was because of the last time she’d mentioned Frank Hamilton’s name in this office. “What exactly did you say to Frank?”

“Hamilton? I asked him about fixing races. He denied doing anything like that here.”

“Here?”

Daniel leaned back and crossed his arms. “Let’s just say he’s been reprimanded for his actions at another track.”

Jessie clicked through the different views of the cat’s hip on the monitor. “Did you believe him?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’ll keep an eye on him. What’s that have to do with your computer?”

“Did you happen to mention why you questioned him?”

“No.” Daniel scowled. “Why?”

“He stormed into my office complaining that I turned him in. Milt tried to get him to leave and the two of them started pushing and shoving. My computer was collateral damage.”

“That jackass. I’ll have another talk with him.”

“No. Please. I can’t afford any more visits from disgruntled paddock judges.”

“And I can’t afford to have my favorite veterinarian being harassed.”

She peeked around the monitor at Daniel. “Then just leave my name out of it.”

He sat forward. “I did. I know full well he didn’t hear from me that you were the one making accusations.”

She returned her attention to the x-rays and sighed. Accusations? Spreading rumors was more like it. Perhaps Hamilton had every right to be pissed at her.

“What’s the verdict on your patient?” Daniel asked.

“As I expected, his back is fine. Unfortunately, his hip isn’t.”

“Can you do anything?”

She gave him a grin. “Of course.” As she clicked back through the pictures, her stomach emitted a loud rumble.

“What was that?”

“I guess I should grab some nachos and a salad on my way out.”

“A snack?”

“Lunch.”

Daniel checked his watch. “No wonder your stomach’s growling. We really have to do something about your eating habits.”

Jessie closed the file and removed her memory card. “Good luck with that.” She stood and stepped from behind his desk.

Daniel rose as well. “I’m taking you out to dinner tonight.”

“Excuse me?”

“There’s no racing. As your boss, I’m ordering you to take the night off. No phones. Go home and put on your best dress.”

Daniel was asking her out?

She hadn’t been on a date since college. Maybe she’d fantasized more than a few times about running her fingers through Daniel’s blond hair. And maybe she’d admired his California beach-boy good looks. What she’d never counted on was this. Fantasies were safe. Reality? Not so much. “That’s really sweet of you, but I don’t think so.”

He placed one hand on his desk and leaned toward her until she could feel his breath on her face. “I do think so. You’ve had a rough couple of weeks and maybe part of your difficulties has been my fault. Let me make it up to you. Besides, boss’s orders, remember?”

Jessie kept her eyes on the buttons on his shirt, afraid to meet his gaze. Afraid of getting sidetracked at his mouth. The last time she’d been this dizzy was at last year’s Cameron Veterinary