Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
“Good.” Her gaze dropped to the folder I was holding. “Do you still have work to finish up before you leave?”
“Yeah, sorry.” I flashed her a sheepish grin. “You were right about me being thrown off my usual stride today.”
“No worries, I have no doubt you’ll finish whatever still needs to be done. I’d offer to stay and help, but I’m meeting the hubby for dinner. Lock up for me before you go?” she asked as she tucked her keys back in her purse.
“Sure.” I looked at the clock behind the reception desk. “Kade is actually supposed to meet me in a little bit so we can talk about him fostering Tucker since his original placement fell through.”
My cheeks heated at her knowing look. It wasn’t unusual for trainers to schedule a meeting after hours when that was more convenient for a potential foster, but that wasn’t the reason I had picked this time with Kade. His schedule had been flexible today, but I had liked the idea of it just being the two of us without any potential distractions from my coworkers.
“Don’t work too hard.” She winked at me before heading out, making my face get hotter even though I wouldn’t do anything inappropriate while at work. Or at least I was pretty sure I wouldn’t. Kade was awfully tempting, though.
Hurrying to the back, I finished some paperwork that was due in the morning. Just as I was closing the filing cabinet, the dogs started barking. All of them, at the same time, which was highly unusual.
Hurrying toward the kennel room, I came to an abrupt stop when I found a man crouched down to unlatch Tucker’s door. His kennel was the closest to the other door, which led to the hallway. I’d used the connecting one from the small office where we kept our training records for the dogs, so I was on the opposite side of the room.
I tried to be as quiet as possible as I took a couple of steps closer to him, but his head still jerked up as the kennel door swung open. “Stop, he’s mine.”
Tucker was part of a litter that we’d worked with since they were puppies and hadn’t been paired with anyone yet, so I knew that wasn’t true. But I didn’t want to aggravate the man when he had a good hundred pounds on me and a worrisome look in his eyes. Holding my hands up in a gesture of surrender, I murmured, “It’s okay. I’ll stay right here.”
He blocked the entrance to the cage, and Tucker let out another bark when he heard my voice. I tried my best not to get attached to the dogs I trained since that would make letting them go harder when they were paired, but something about Tucker had pulled at my heartstrings from the first day we met when he was just a tiny puppy.
The man reached into the kennel, and I couldn’t stop myself from taking another step forward, afraid he would hurt Tucker. He glared at me and growled, “Told you to stop.”
“Sorry, it was just instinct to check on the dogs. I’m used to taking care of them when they bark to let me know they need something.” His eyes narrowed, and I hurried to add, “Not that I’m saying you wouldn’t take excellent care of Tucker, too. He’s such a good boy.”
“Tucker,” he echoed, tugging on the dog’s collar to control him as he moved back and the dog trotted out of the cage. Tucker strained against his hold when he spotted me, letting out an excited bark this time.
The intruder snapped a leash onto his collar, and I barely managed not to rush forward. Instead, I fisted my hands at my sides and said, “He’s a German shepherd, so it’s no surprise how smart Tucker is, but he’s also very gentle. Two of his brothers were trained as police K9, but Tucker has the perfect temperament to be a psychiatric service dog.”
I’d been hoping to snap him out of his fantasy so that he’d see Tucker as a real dog and not whatever story he’d built up in his head, but it seemed as though what I had said only made the situation worse.
The man yanked on the leash to keep Tucker at his side and scowled at me. “That’s why he’s mine! You’re not gonna take him from me. Nobody is.”
“Were you hoping to be paired with Tucker?” I asked.
Seeing the beautiful German shepherd straining against the leash broke my heart as the man ignored my question and growled, “He’s coming with me.”
“We usually send the dogs with all the supplies they need when they go to their new home,” I blurted, desperately searching for something that would give me time to call for help before this man took Tucker. “Do you already have everything?”