A cop falls for the woman he’s sworn to protect

A K-9 Ranch Rescue romance

From the moment Elissa Yorian arrives at Chance K-9 Ranch, an unknown foe has her in his sights. Fortunately, Officer Doug Murran is on the case. As he tracks Elissa’s mysterious enemy, he does his best to resist the electricity he feels every time he looks at her. Still, their passion might not be enough to protect Elissa from a murderer...

LINDA O. JOHNSTON loves to write. While honing her writing skills, she worked in advertising and public relations, then became a lawyer...and enjoyed writing contracts. Linda’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won a Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Linda now spends most of her time creating memorable tales of paranormal romance, romantic suspense and mystery. Visit her on the web at www.lindaojohnston.com.

Also by Linda O. Johnston

K-9 Ranch Rescue

Second Chance Soldier

Trained to Protect

Undercover Soldier

Covert Attraction

Alpha Force

Alpha Wolf

Alaskan Wolf

Guardian Wolf

Undercover Wolf

Loyal Wolf

Canadian Wolf

Protector Wolf

Back to Life

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Trained to Protect

Linda O. Johnston

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07943-3

TRAINED TO PROTECT

© 2018 Linda O. Johnston

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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“Like I said, think hard about whether there’s someone who might have something against you. A neighbor or coworker who’s mad at you. A driver you cut off. Whatever.”

“Why?” she demanded. “What’s really going on?”

He pursed his lips. “Yeah, I think you should know, though I was asked to keep it quiet. Amber, for one, was choosing to ignore it. But this break-in here...”

“What?” Elissa repeated.

Doug looked straight into her eyes. “The night of your interview at the K-9 ranch, and before you came back up to give your demonstration, this was found on the fence there.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, fiddled with it some, then thrust it toward her.

A photo was there depicting the front gate up the driveway to the main house at the K-9 ranch.

And on it was a sign: Be Careful Who You Hire.

Dear Reader,

As I said here in the introduction to Second Chance Soldier, the first in my K-9 Ranch Rescue series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, I’m a dog lover. Trained to Protect is the second in that series, and it involves both therapy dogs and police K-9s...and their people.

In Trained to Protect, Elissa Yorian is a therapy dog handler as well as a nurse. After hearing about a part-time job being offered at the Chance K-9 Ranch for someone to provide classes for other therapy dog handlers, she jumps at the opportunity to apply for it. She gets the job—but she also becomes the target of some strange threats. Fortunately, she meets Officer Doug Murran, a K-9 cop with the Chance police department, whose job includes helping to protect the ranch in his town—and it soon includes attempting to protect the lovely and vulnerable Elissa.

I hope you enjoy Trained to Protect. Please come visit me at my website, lindaojohnston.com, and at my weekly blog, killerhobbies.Blogspot.com. And, yes, I’m on Facebook, too.

Linda O. Johnston

Acknowledgments

I love the idea of therapy dogs—pets who are taught to help people with physical and mental issues by providing loving visits with them—and very much appreciate the friends and acquaintances who have given me insight into many of the aspects of training them and getting them officially qualified to provide that kind of help. Thanks to all of you, in particular Karen Saunders and Bonnie Schroeder, who provided lots of answers to my many questions.

And thanks, too, to the K-9 officers who have also answered my recent questions or given demonstrations of how those wonderful K-9s work—most especially Officer Maribel Feeley of the Glendale Police Department’s K-9 Unit.

Thank you all!

Of course, as before, Trained to Protect is a work of fiction, so if anything seems untrue that’s because I’ve modified reality to fit the story.

And, as always, many thanks to my wonderful editor, Allison Lyons, and my fantastic agent, Paige Wheeler.

Dedication

Like Second Chance Soldier, Trained to Protect is dedicated to all dogs and those who train and work with them, most especially police and military K-9s...and therapy dogs and their handlers.

And, as I always do, I dedicate this book to my wonderful husband, Fred, as well as our dogs, Mystie and Cari, who in their ways are my therapy dogs.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

Elissa Yorian stepped through the door into the Chance Coffee Shop and looked around.

This was her first time in Chance, California, and she was eager to see how this meeting turned out. If things went well, she could land a part-time job teaching people to train and work with therapy dogs. And giving lessons at a really renowned facility. Therapy work was something she loved, and she’d been doing it for a long time.

This place appeared like nearly any chain shop that specialized in coffee drinks, with a counter where patrons could place their orders and a long glass-fronted display case with food inside. It was noisy with conversations from the many people sitting at small tables, a busy place, which wasn’t surprising since it was nearly lunchtime. Elissa had planned her drive well from her home in San Luis Obispo—sometimes referred to as SLO. It had taken her nearly forty-five minutes to get here, with traffic, as she’d assumed.

Depending on the schedule of classes she’d hold, her commute wouldn’t be especially fun if she landed this job, but her commitment would only be part-time.

And it would be worth it.

She remained at the doorway, searching through the crowd. She knew from the Chance K-9 Ranch website and other online resources what Amber Belott looked like. That didn’t mean she would recognize her, though, in all the faces of people sitting at tables, talking, sipping their drinks and munching on pastries and sandwiches in this place filled with the aroma of coffee.

No, she would rely on what Amber had told her in their telephone conversation yesterday. For one thing, she’d watch for a woman in a Chance K-9 Ranch T-shirt. Amber owned the ranch along with her mother and, from all Elissa had read online about the noted dog training facility, was the one in charge.

And her? She had dressed up as if this was a job interview—which it was. She hadn’t overdone it but had put on a knee-length gray dress and black jacket, not to mention higher heels than she ever wore on a work day at the hospital where she was a nurse.

There. At a table near the counter, Elissa spotted a woman who had just stood up. She appeared slender, of medium height, with wavy reddish hair. And yes, she was wearing the anticipated T-shirt.

Smiling, her small purse slung over her shoulder, Elissa began making her way through the tables. In less than a minute she had reached her goal. “Amber?”

“Elissa!” Amber reached out and gave her a brief hug, as if they were already friends.

Elissa, hugging back, hoped that was a harbinger of what was to come.

“Let’s get you something to eat and drink,” Amber said after stepping back. Elissa noted there was already a brown coffee cup on the table, as well as a paper plate with a half-eaten croissant on it.

“Sounds good.” Elissa was rather surprised that she had to argue a bit about who would pay for the café mocha and scone she ordered, but allowed Amber to treat rather than cause even a small rift between them to start with.

If she got the job, she would be glad to treat her boss to coffee or whatever in the future.

In a few minutes, after the barista had done her thing, Elissa sat on the vacant seat at Amber’s table. Her view was of a few occupied tables between where she sat and the order counter.

Amber began their conversation. “I already know the basics from our phone call, but please tell me more about your work with therapy dogs and training their owners.”

Elissa couldn’t help grinning. She pushed her shoulder-length blond hair away from her face as she tried to get serious. But that was impossible, considering how much she loved what she did.

“Well,” she began, “I’ve been at it for around three years. I’m a nurse, too. When I saw how therapy dogs who were brought into hospitals cheered patients so much, actually helping them improve faster, I had to give it a try.”

Not just a try, but much more. She had chosen her dog Peace, a golden retriever, after watching many skilled breeds and rescue dogs. Goldens performed really well as therapy dogs, following their owners’ instructions and giving lots and lots of attention and love to sad and needy patients.

She described how qualified therapy dog handlers had worked with Peace and her from the first, teaching her all she needed to get started. Then she began doing it on her own.

And recently she had paid it forward and begun working with other potential therapy dog handlers in the hospital where she was primarily a full-time pediatric nurse. She had even provided a few classes for would-be handlers and their dogs, even though formal schooling wasn’t generally necessary for therapy dogs. If they had the right personalities for it, their skills could be learned as people worked with their dogs at appropriate locations with expert handlers. But her students had all been appreciative—and had done well, some going on to become certified handlers themselves.

“Yes, we’re aware that most therapy dog handlers learn how to do it by working directly with others at various facilities,” Amber said. “But we want our Chance K-9 Ranch to expand into many different avenues for teaching dogs and their owners. We’re also looking for a basic pet trainer or two, but we especially would like to hire someone who provides therapy dog training—though I realize that it’s mostly the owners who need schooling. We want to start with basic classes at the ranch, then provide some of that hands-on training when the students are ready.”

“Sounds good to me,” Elissa responded.

“And your experience teaching other handlers sounds good to me,” Amber said as she took a sip of her drink. She was an attractive woman with assessing brown eyes and an expressive mouth. Would she be a good boss?

Heck, she and everyone else at her ranch most likely worked with dogs. That certainly spoke well of her, along with the ranch’s reputation.

“Thanks,” Elissa said. “And if you’d like, I can give you contact information for several more people who’ll act as references for me.” She’d asked some of her fellow therapy dog handlers before taking this meeting. She wasn’t attempting to keep her ambition here secret, although she’d also made it clear to those she’d spoken with about it that she would limit her time in this part-time position, if she got it, so it would not affect her full-time job.

Or at least not much.

“Good,” Amber said. “And as I mentioned on the phone, this kind of class is something new around here. We want someone quickly. You’ve got the best credentials and recommendations of any of our candidates so far, but I’ll want you to come to the K-9 Ranch and give a demonstration, preferably in the next couple of days, before we make any decisions. Also—” She stopped speaking and smiled as she gazed past Elissa.

Which caused Elissa, thrilled to hear Amber’s reference to her background, to turn to see what she was looking at.

She smiled, too, as she saw two cops in black uniform jackets, a man and woman, walk into the coffee shop. But she wasn’t smiling at them.

No, she grinned because these were obviously K-9 cops. They both had dogs on leashes at their sides. As Elissa watched, they approached the table where she sat, maneuvering effortlessly through the crowd.

Amber stood. “Hi, Maisie and Doug,” she said as the cops reached them. “And hi, Hooper and Griffin, too.”

Elissa rose, as well, while Amber introduced the officers and their dogs to her. The two cops apparently had more in common than merely being K-9 officers. They were also brother and sister. If Elissa was correct, Maisie, with short, blond hair and an air of being in charge, was the older sibling. Her dog, Griffin, was a golden retriever who appeared older and larger than Elissa’s Peace, whom she’d left at home.

“Hi, Elissa,” Maisie said when Amber had completed the introductions. “So you’re a therapy dog trainer. I’d like to learn more about that. I think Griffin would be a wonderful therapy dog along with his great K-9 skills—which are mostly scenting out drugs and bad guys.”

Hearing his name, the dog looked up at his handler and wagged his fluffy tail. Elissa couldn’t help smiling. “I’d be glad to show you,” she told the cop.

She turned her smile toward the other officer, Doug. He didn’t smile back as he looked at Elissa. Why not? She felt an inappropriate twinge of hurt—no, it had to be irritation—that she immediately sloughed off.

Too bad his sister seemed nicer, though, since even with a neutral expression on his face, he appeared to be one hot, handsome cop. His hair was light brown, darker and much shorter than his sister’s. His chiseled features were dominated by the way his hazel eyes, beneath thick brows, seemed to focus on Elissa, which made her insides churn with something she hadn’t felt—hadn’t allowed herself to feel—for a very long time: lust.

Though he hadn’t spoken after saying hello to her, she determined to break the silence between them. After all, it wouldn’t hurt for her to have additional allies in this area who clearly cared about dogs. “I’d be glad to give you a therapy dog demonstration, too,” she said. “And if it’s possible, I’d also love to watch a K-9 training session sometime.” One that included his German shepherd.

“Then Amber has hired you already?” Doug’s tone sounded somewhat skeptical—and Elissa figured he knew enough to recognize that she had just met her potential new boss.

“Not yet,” Amber said. “That’ll depend on how Elissa’s demonstration at the ranch goes. Does tomorrow work for you, Elissa?”

She’d fortunately anticipated the possibility and scheduled the next day as another day off from the hospital—though she’d been prepared to change that if necessary. “That works great for me,” she said. She turned back to Maisie, though she also would be interested in a response from her brother. “Will you come and watch the demo?”

“Unlikely.” Maisie’s tone sounded regretful. “We’ll be on duty and there’s an investigation pending that we’ll probably be involved in.”

“Well, maybe another time,” Elissa said, hazarding a brief glance toward Doug. He was still watching her with those intense hazel eyes.

“Maybe,” he said, then looked down and patted the top of his shepherd’s head. “As long as Hooper doesn’t mind. He provides all the therapy I need.”

Doug Murran ran into a lot of women both in his capacity as a police officer and in everyday life, even in a town as small as Chance. Some were nice looking, even pretty.

But few were as attractive as Elissa Yorian.

Maybe it wasn’t only her sexy, appealing appearance in her attractive professional outfit, though. Or her slightly unkempt blond hair framing a lovely, mostly smiling face.

Maybe it was because she clearly loved dogs. After all, she was a therapy dog handler and trainer. She was additionally a nurse, another indication that she cared about helping people.

He cared about helping people, too, though from a different perspective.

He was a cop.

“Do you two have time to join us for coffee?” Amber asked.

“Sure.” He moved his gaze to the K-9 Ranch owner. He’d just been about to suggest the same thing—even though he figured his dear sis, Maisie, would balk at the idea. They’d intended just to come in and leave with take-out coffee. But their next meeting at the Chance Police Department headquarters wasn’t for another half hour.

“Oh, but—” Maisie began from beside him.

“But we can’t stay long,” he added. He didn’t look at Maisie, knowing her gaze would be shrewd and critical.

She knew him well, for multiple reasons—as both his sibling and coworker. But he stayed out of her way—mostly—when she began flirting with a new guy. She needed to learn to do the same with him.

For now, to placate her, he said, “Do you want the usual, Officer Murran? My treat.”

“Yes, thanks, Officer Murran,” she responded, a droll look in her eyes. But telling Griffin to sit, she walked off to pick up a couple more chairs.

While he, Hooper at his side, went to order their regular black coffees and mixed-fruit muffins.

Doug was glad to see that the chair remaining empty after he picked up their drinks and food was next to Elissa’s. He first set Maisie’s stuff on the table in front of her, then took his seat. “Sit, Hooper,” he said, and of course his well-behaved, obedient—and smart—shepherd listened.

“He’s lovely,” Elissa said. “Is it okay to pet him?”

“Sure, in this kind of situation, when we’re not on duty.” He couldn’t help grinning when he saw Hooper ease his head up to meet the gentle scratching that Elissa leveled on him behind his tall ears. Too bad he wasn’t getting the same kind of treatment.

But good thing they were in a social setting here. If Elissa happened to be a civilian involved in some manner in one of their cases, no way could he even consider being attracted to her.

That was how it should be. It had additionally been drummed into both Maisie and him by their wonderful uncle Cy, who was also a cop.

“Like Doug said, we can’t stay long,” Maisie said before Doug had decided how to start a conversation. “But I’ve always had an interest in the possibility of having Griffin trained as a therapy dog for when he’s too old to work as a K-9. He’s a wonderful K-9, and he’s been known to bring down a lot of bad guys, but he loves people, too.”

“Well, if things work out and Elissa becomes our new therapy dog trainer,” Amber said, “you’re more than welcome to participate in one of her classes. No charge, either. You and your dogs have come through for me plenty in the past.”

Doug shot a glance toward Elissa. Would she balk at the possibility of some students who didn’t pay? He’d heard that therapy dog handlers were mostly just volunteers anyway, but Elissa was here interviewing for a job. Of course, she’d probably still get paid by Amber, who had often demonstrated what a good citizen and training supervisor she was during her fairly short career in that position here.

“Really?” Elissa said. “How?”

“I’ll tell you all about it if things work out between us,” Amber said.

“That gives me an even better reason to do a really good job at tomorrow’s demonstration.” Elissa’s smile, first at Maisie and then at him, caused a slow sizzle to build inside him. That was emphasized even more when Elissa said to Amber, “Will the demo be just to you, or will others be present?” She shot a quick glance toward Doug that then landed on Maisie. To his surprise, he had a real urge to be at the K-9 Ranch tomorrow. Too bad he figured it wouldn’t work out.

“Oh, my mother and some of my staff might be there, too,” Amber replied.

“One in particular ought to be there,” Doug added somewhat slyly. “How about your head trainer Evan?”

He knew of their mutual attraction and half expected her to blush a bit, or to attempt to stick a bland expression on her face, but instead Amber’s grin widened. “Oh, absolutely,” she said. Then she looked at Elissa. “He joined us recently after some really great demonstrations. And now he’s continued to prove himself to be both a wonderful K-9 and pet dog trainer. He’s our head trainer at the ranch, our only trainer right now, actually, though we’re looking for others.”

“Does he train therapy or service dogs or their handlers, too?” Elissa asked.

“No, although my dad, who was his predecessor, did a little work with therapy dogs.” Amber’s face looked sad for a moment, but she shook her head then smiled a little. “That’s why we need you for the therapy angle,” Amber continued. “Assuming, of course, that all goes well.”

“Of course,” Elissa said.

If Amber hired Elissa, Doug figured she would give her a quick rundown about the Chance K-9 Ranch’s background—probably including how Amber’s dad had been murdered in a then-unsolved case, and how Amber had come home to keep the ranch going for her mother and herself, without knowing anything about dog training.

She’d held tryouts, and Evan had won.

And she and Evan had managed to figure out together who’d killed Corbin Belott...

“I gather that you two won’t be there to watch my demonstration,” Elissa continued, “which is a shame. My pet and therapy dog Peace is also a golden.” She reached over to caress Griffin’s head, and Maisie’s dog wagged his tail vigorously as he leaned toward the woman petting him.

“It is a shame.” Maisie did appear sorry. “But you’ll see Griffin and me again, to watch if and when you start your classes at the ranch. You can count on that.”

“I will.”

Doug noted that Elissa again aimed a brief gaze toward him, then looked once more at the dog whose head she stroked. If she was silently inquiring if he’d be around to observe future therapy classes, too, he would have thought his response would have been an unqualified no.

Before.

Now, he wasn’t so sure.

But heck. It was time for Maisie and him to go. Sure, he found this new acquaintance charming and sexy and definitely of interest for the future—but she had yet to be hired and he might never see her again.

Too bad.

Well, hopefully she would land that job at the K-9 Ranch. There’d at least be a possibility of seeing her again then, though not as his or his dog’s trainer.

He rose then. “Nice meeting you, Elissa.” He offered his hand for a polite and noncommittal shake. When she grasped it firmly in hers, he had to resist pulling her close for a goodbye kiss.

Ridiculous. His mind was taunting him as if he was a sex-starved teenager.

As Maisie, too, said her goodbyes to Elissa and Amber, he nodded at the K-9 Ranch owner, then told Hooper, on his leash, to heel.

And couldn’t help, at the coffee shop door, turning back and looking once more toward Elissa. Who was looking at him, too.

He nodded then turned.

It would probably be a good thing if she didn’t land that job at the K-9 Ranch.

He wasn’t ready for a new woman in his life. Probably wouldn’t be for a long time, no matter how attractive he found someone.

But the thought of not seeing her again?

“Hey, bro,” Maisie said as they and their dogs stepped out onto the sidewalk outside the coffee shop. “What’s with your attitude toward that pretty dog trainer? You after some time alone with her?”

“Hey, you know me, sis. I’m always looking, sometimes scoring, and that’s all fine with me.”

“Well, just be careful.” Maisie aimed her hazel-eyed gaze, so like his own, up at him as both dogs sat at their sides. “I’ve got a feeling that you’ll be the loser, with the lowest score, in any game you play with that one.”

Chapter 2

Elissa drove her black SUV down the narrow forest-surrounded mountain roads and reached the 101 Freeway on her way home fairly quickly. The traffic was moving well. If it continued like this, she would be home in fifteen minutes.

Although she’d put the radio on, the current music she preferred didn’t keep her mind off her earlier meeting.

Or off the K-9 police officers—particularly one.

Well, so what if she’d had a momentary attraction to handsome Officer Doug Murran? And so what if she admired that he worked with a highly trained dog to protect people and catch bad guys? She had other things to think about.

She had caught up with a slow-moving big rig. Putting on her turn signal and checking carefully for other cars around her, she passed it.

And forced her mind back onto what she’d been thinking about earlier, when she had started her drive down the mountain. What she needed to think about.

Her demonstration tomorrow.

She’d talked a bit more about it with Amber, who was incredibly nice and knowledgeable. The kind of person Elissa could see herself working for and loving it.

Plus, she was wise. She’d known that new therapy dog handlers were usually volunteers who received free training from experienced handlers. She had therefore obtained a grant from a charitable organization focused on helping people in need to help pay for the more comprehensive lessons she would provide, starting from the basics. As a result, she had funds toward the salary of whoever she hired as a part-time instructor—hopefully Elissa—so the student handlers in training would only be asked to pay a token amount. Not that Elissa would get rich, either, but that was fine.

And Amber had also mentioned that she was writing a book on dog training with her chief trainer Evan Colluro. She wasn’t sure when it would be done or how she’d get it published, but she wanted to include a chapter on therapy dogs and their handlers, so that would be another fun thing Elissa might get involved with.

Regarding tomorrow’s demo, Amber had told her there would be other people present who would act as if they were in a hospital environment and could potentially be helped by a therapy dog. That would be fine with Elissa. It would allow her to show off what she, and Peace, could do and teach.

And if she was hired, she would need to learn more about the local hospital as well as long-term-care centers, schools for special-needs children and other similar facilities around Chance where therapy dogs and their handlers would be welcome. She needed to know where she could take her students to show them how it worked and, when they and their dogs were trained well enough, to make use of what they learned.

Would that include Officer Maisie Murran? Elissa hoped so—both because she liked the woman and what she did, and because Maisie had indicated she’d like to participate, or at least watch.

Too bad her brother hadn’t seemed interested.

Enough. Elissa had to erase Doug from her thoughts. She had only just met the guy. He might actually be the kind of person she would detest or despise.

Although she doubted it. How could a dog aficionado like him be so terrible...?

Good. She saw the sign for her exit in San Luis Obispo. It was about time.

A few minutes later she drove along the nearest major road toward her house. She soon pulled off onto her street and drove up the driveway to the small, aging stucco house she had rented. She’d found it almost immediately after she had moved here and, though she had some problems with its electrical system sometimes, she had remained, considering it home. Her landlord was nice, though slow to respond to her requests, and so far he hadn’t raised the rent too much—so far being the operative words. He’d been hinting lately that a substantial increase would be imposed soon.

Elissa pushed the button to open the garage door and waited while it creaked upward till it stopped. She drove her SUV in, picked up her purse from the passenger seat and opened her door.

And expected to hear Peace’s cheerful barks welcoming her home. That was what the sweet girl always did.

But not now.

Immediately, Elissa began to worry. Was Peace there? Was she okay?

Was Elissa worrying for nothing? After all, the poor dog could just be in a deep sleep at the far side of the house and not heard her.

But Elissa wanted to find out for herself. She pushed the button on the wall to close the garage door and used her key to unlock the windowed entry door beside it. She couldn’t see into the kitchen because of the taut draperies on the inside of the door that she’d installed for privacy and security.

She hurried through the door into the cramped and outdated kitchen. Peace barked and leaped toward her on the dingy linoleum floor, then crouched and looked at Elissa. No longer barking, she began circling the kitchen. Its door into the house was shut, which was unusual, but Elissa sometimes closed it with Peace inside. She must have done so this morning.

That didn’t explain Peace’s actions. What was going on? This was all entirely uncharacteristic of her sweet and sociable dog.

“Peace, are you okay?” There were times she wished she could hold conversations with her lovable pup and this was one of them. Instead of stopping and sitting and acting normal, Peace sprinted out of the kitchen the moment Elissa opened the door.

Throwing her small purse down on the kitchen table, Elissa hurried to follow. Peace wasn’t really a puppy, but nearly three years old. She was smart. She was fast. And Elissa felt exceptionally close to her thanks to their therapy work.

Right now Peace was popping into each room of the house as she reached it down the center hallway: the living room, the bathroom, the guest bedroom and then the master bedroom. She sometimes sniffed the floor, sometimes kept her nose on the ground, all the time appearing as if she was tracking something—and tracking wasn’t one of the many skills she’d learned to become a therapy dog.

“Peace,” Elissa kept saying softly, rubbing her dog’s soft, furry back each time she got close enough. “What is it?”

Eventually, whether because of exhaustion or running out of places to explore, Peace stopped dashing around. She wound up in the living room, on the polished wood floor, next to the tan sofa on its deep-colored wooden frame. The colorations went well with Peace’s golden coat—usually. Right now, the way Peace was panting, all Elissa could do was worry about her.

She knelt on the floor beside her dog, bending to hug her tightly. “Are you okay, girl? What’s wrong?”

Of course Peace didn’t answer.

Or maybe she did. She put her head up and licked Elissa’s cheek.

Hopefully that meant she was all right now.

Elissa wasn’t sure. And she would do everything she could to take the best care of her beloved dog.

It was early morning. Elissa was back in her SUV, driving up the mountain once more toward the Chance K-9 Ranch. This time she wasn’t alone. Peace was tethered safely in the back seat.

The sweet dog was quiet. Finally resting. Sleeping at last.

Elissa hadn’t gone to bed for a while the previous night, still trying to understand her poor pup’s continued restlessness.

She’d taken Peace for a walk but only a short one, since her moderate-size dog pulled on her leash a lot, despite being told to heel and to stay—something else that wasn’t characteristic of her.

Back inside the house Peace had again moved from room to room, as if seeking something. The source of some scent that only she, and not her concerned owner, was aware of?

That’s what Elissa had guessed. And of course that worried her.

So neither of them had slept well. Each time Elissa had woken, which was often, she’d heard Peace stirring on her fluffy bed on the floor beside Elissa’s.

Elissa used that as her reason to get up even earlier than she’d originally planned to walk Peace once more. The quiet residential area had seemed normal to her, with a few well-recognized neighbors outside, some also walking their dogs.

Peace had seemed somewhat calmer but still did more pulling than was usual for her.

Returning back inside, Elissa had showered, changed into the outfit she’d planned to wear for her demonstration, then fed them both a quick breakfast and gotten on the road.

And made herself concentrate on how she would perform her demonstration—or, rather, the best way to encourage Peace to show off how wonderful a therapy dog she was.

It was early enough that traffic wasn’t heavy, although, as always in this sometimes busy southern California area, she wasn’t the only one on the road, either. She stayed just above the speed limit, though now and then another car had passed her on the freeway—less so on the narrower mountain roads.

Finally she reached the turnoff toward Chance. She decided to take a quick drive through downtown, past the local hospital.

As she slowed, Peace awakened and sat up. “Good girl,” Elissa said, glancing in the rearview mirror. “Are you okay now?”

Peace was quiet and calm, and appeared like her usual self. Elissa took that to mean a positive response.

She soon stopped at a traffic light and turned onto the street that would take her past the hospital. When she’d looked it up on the internet and gotten the address, she had seen that there was an entire floor devoted to pediatric patients, and another area dedicated to seniors—both age groups that were excellent focuses for therapy dogs.

If all went well and Peace and she were hired, she would definitely introduce herself to the hospital administration and offer to do some demonstrations there soon.

The streets downtown seemed a bit crowded that morning but she had no problem navigating her way to the road to the Chance K-9 Ranch. She checked the time display on her dashboard.

“Looks perfect, Peace,” she said and headed along the road.

She wondered then if Officer Maisie Murran would find a way to visit the demonstration even briefly despite her indication yesterday that she couldn’t.

And her brother? He was even less likely to attend.

The road narrowed even more and Elissa kept an eye out for signs indicating addresses. As soon as she passed a large property labeled Chance Resort, she saw a signpost at the next driveway for the Chance K-9 Ranch.

They had arrived.

The ranch property was surrounded by a large plank fence that probably wouldn’t keep anyone out but perhaps helped to keep dogs inside. The gate was open. Elissa drove through it and up the driveway. She saw other vehicles parked at the top of the rise near what unsurprisingly seemed to be a ranch house—one story high and extending for a substantial distance.

“Let’s go,” she told Peace after parking beside another SUV, a big black one that appeared to be an official police vehicle, with a light on top. Was one of the K-9 officers there after all? Or was it another cop?

Elissa exited through the driver’s door, then opened the one behind it to let Peace out after snapping on her leash. When she turned, she was happy to see Amber exiting the house, holding the leash of a black Labrador retriever. A tall man came out after her, also leading a leashed dog, a German shepherd—Evan, the head dog trainer, whom Elissa recognized from the demonstration videos on the ranch’s website. With them was an older woman Elissa figured must be Amber’s mother. Sonya Belott. No surprises there.

But what did surprise her was that this group of anticipated people was followed by another person with a dog on a leash.

Officer Doug Murran and his German shepherd, Hooper.

What was he doing there? And why did Elissa’s heart both soar and sink at the idea of his watching her initial therapy dog demonstration?

There she was—the reason Doug had brought his dog to the Chance K-9 Ranch early this morning, even though he had determined yesterday not to come here at all.

And his presence was definitely not for the reason he’d even considered coming.

No, he was here on official police business.

A sign had been attached to the front gate near the road that had worried the Belotts enough to call the police and request that he or Maisie be sent to the ranch that morning. Maisie had already left for their previously assigned case, so it had fallen on him.

He’d just finished talking to Amber Belott and her mother, Sonya, as well as chief dog trainer—and Amber’s fiancé—Evan Colluro inside the house. Now he followed as they strode out to greet Elissa.

He couldn’t help liking the big grin on her face or the way she stepped forward and hugged Amber. Her hostess and potential boss introduced her to her mother and to Evan as well as to their dogs.

He saw her eyes shift slightly in his direction more than once. He didn’t think her smile was for him, which was fine. He kept his expression blank.

But he was looking forward to seeing her reaction to the reason he had been called out to the K-9 Ranch.

Still, the decision had been made to proceed with the demonstration that had brought Elissa to the ranch and to ignore, at least temporarily, the reason he was there.

He’d been asked by Amber to not only observe but to also help in the demonstration. He would pretend to be someone recuperating from an injury who was under a lot of psychological stress and needed soothing, perhaps by a therapy dog. Amber had said that Evan and her employee, ranch hand Orrin Daker, who was sometimes used as an agitator in K-9 training situations, would also participate.

That didn’t mean Doug shouldn’t at least be polite and greet her. “Hi, Elissa,” he said after the other introductions had ended. “And hi, Peace.” He’d heard her introduce her dog to the others, too, but he didn’t bend to pet her. Not when he was soon going to act like he needed some canine TLC from this therapy dog.

Besides, he now had even more reason not to allow his initial attraction to this lovely woman turn into anything. She was potentially involved in the case he’d just been assigned to handle.

But he felt a surge of warmth inside when she returned, “Good morning, Doug. And Hooper, too.”

Interestingly, her dog Peace got up close and personal with Hooper, her tail wagging furiously as she sniffed his shepherd’s face. Hooper seemed fine with it, sniffing and wagging back a bit. Good thing he wasn’t officially on duty at the moment.

“Okay, we’ll get started,” Amber said. “I’d planned to have some neighbors’ kids come over, but...well, things have changed. We’ll just do a demonstration with adults. Come this way.” She led them all back into the house.

With Hooper, Doug stayed back and held the door open for Elissa and her dog. “So you need the warmth of a therapy dog today?” she asked with a smile as she went past him, but he also saw puzzlement in her deep brown eyes. Yesterday she’d been somewhat dressed up. Today her outfit consisted of a blue plaid shirt over jeans—a look that seemed comfortable for her but might also help put stressed people at ease. Or at least that was what Doug assumed.

Soon Amber got the three men lined up in the living room, leaving her mother holding the leashes of Hooper, Evan’s dog Bear, and Amber’s Labrador retriever Lola at the far end of the room. Fortunately they were all well trained. Doug wasn’t sure how Sonya, a somewhat fragile-looking senior, would do with aggressive or even eager dogs.

“Okay,” Amber said to Elissa. “Assume these three guys were in the military and suffer from PTSD.” She looked toward Evan, who smiled at her. Doug knew that the statement was accurate as far as Amber’s guy was concerned. “They need a bit of TLC and soothing from a really good therapy dog. Show me how you and Peace would handle it.”

As far as Doug could tell—without knowing more about how therapy dogs worked—they handled it well, including him. First, Elissa knelt and tied a blue scarf that said “Therapy Dog” around Peace’s neck. Then, on direction from Elissa, Peace went up to each guy individually, sat before him on the floor to be petted, walked carefully around him while sidling against his legs, and acted wholly engaged and pleased, even wagging her tail, as each of the men knelt and hugged her—or, in Evan’s case, pretended to ignore her until the last moment.

There was more to it, too. Doug was impressed, especially as Elissa explained with each movement, each command, just how that was intended to help calm a nervous, scared or psychologically impaired person. But mostly she left it to her dog to interact with the supposed needy human.

And who wouldn’t be soothed by a loving, caring dog? Especially one trained, and handled, by someone as apparently loving and caring as Elissa?

Heck, he thought as he once again sat on the wood floor and pretended to mope as Peace came over and nuzzled him. He had to remind himself yet again that he knew far better than to even think of getting involved with someone entwined in a case.

And now it appeared that Elissa was exactly that.

Even Orrin, who must be used to being given all sorts of strange things to do here as a ranch hand, seemed to enjoy Peace’s attention. He was a young, strong guy wearing a red Chance T-shirt. Even as he pretended to be sad and sick, he wound up petting and hugging Peace as the dog lavished attention on him.

Then it was Doug’s turn. “Okay, dog,” he said gruffly. “What if I don’t want your attention?”

“That’s exactly why you need her attention,” Elissa said softly. “She wants you to hug her.”

Which Doug found himself doing with the furry, snuggling golden.

The demonstration went on a while longer. Eventually, Elissa also gave Amber and Lola a brief lesson on how the Lab could also be trained to be a therapy dog.

Amber seemed to have gotten everything accomplished that she wanted to. “Okay,” she said when her lesson was finished. “Good job, Elissa and Peace. Let’s go into the kitchen, shall we?”

She unobtrusively motioned for Doug and the others to stay there, in the living room, while she led Elissa and Peace through the door. In a couple of minutes she returned and requested that Orrin get back to work. The ranch hand left.

“She’s good,” Amber said once he was gone. “Real good. Her explanations to people as well as working well with her dog... I want to hire her no matter what.”

“I don’t like the idea.” Evan drew himself to her side. “No matter how good she is.”

“Me neither,” said Sonya, staring at her daughter.

“But that sign really didn’t say anything.” Amber directed her gaze toward Doug. “Did it? Is it really a threat? I know what real threats are like.”

Doug was well aware that Amber had received text messages not long ago containing some really nasty threats. Fortunately, that situation was now resolved. “We don’t know enough yet,” he said. “I’m just beginning our investigation.”

“Well, we’ll all be aware and be careful. But I don’t intend for some stupid, unclear sign to make me change my mind regarding something I feel strongly about. She’ll only be here part-time anyway.” And with that, Amber pulled away, turned and left the living room.

“Then you’ll really have to help us,” Sonya said pleadingly to Doug.

“I’ll do all I can,” he promised. But he was definitely concerned—about the Belotts and others who lived at the ranch, their dogs and now also about Elissa.

He might not be able to act at all on his initial attraction to her. But neither did he want her, or her dog, to be harmed.

“For now, I’ll join you while you talk with Elissa, and just listen in. We’ve already secured the sign and locked it in the back of my car.”

They’d wrapped it in plastic carefully so as not to obscure any fingerprints or other evidence.

The sign had been hooked onto the gate down by the road that morning when Amber and Evan had first gone outside to walk their dogs. They didn’t always walk that way but Evan had noticed something a bit off at the upper driveway.

The sign read Be Careful Who You Hire. It was a small cardboard sign, hung on the gate by the road with string and not too obvious. The dogs hadn’t alerted on it, either.

But it wasn’t something Doug, or the Chance Police Department, would ignore.

Chapter 3

Like the rest of the house that she’d seen, the kitchen seemed utilitarian yet attractive to Elissa. A tiled floor and counters, too, lent themselves to being scrubbed clean despite the abundance of dogs undoubtedly brought in here. The metal sink and refrigerator were large, and the stove, with the microwave attached to the wall over it, was more moderate in size.

Sitting on a stiff chair at the round kitchen table with Peace lying on the floor near her, Elissa made herself look over the paperwork Amber had left for her to review. It described the Chance K-9 Ranch, its history and goals, as well as the contract she would be expected to sign if she was hired.

Interesting stuff, but she couldn’t help wondering how the conversation in the living room was going.

She assumed they were all analyzing her therapy dog demonstration as well as the brief training lesson she’d provided. That was expected since they were considering hiring her.

Or at least Amber, her mother and their lead trainer were.

But what was Doug Murran doing there? A K-9 officer didn’t necessarily know anything about therapy dogs. Nor had Elissa thought he or his sister would attend today, but there he was.

She hadn’t anticipated seeing him again anytime soon, if at all. Of course, if she was hired and spent more time in Chance, there was always that possibility.

A thought struck her. He was a cop. He knew dogs. Maybe she could ask him...

“Hi, Elissa.” Amber strode into the room with Lola at her feet. They were followed by Sonya. Both women sat at the table, facing her, and Elissa felt her heart speed up. Would they make her an offer—or would they thank her and usher her out the door?

It was the former and she was thrilled! “We understand you have a nursing job in San Luis Obispo,” Amber began, “and that works out fine with us as long as you don’t mind the commute. We’d like to hire you part-time, for about eight hours a week, at least to start. That means you could spend four hours a day here for the two days you’re not at your hospital each week. If you’re okay with that, we’ll work out the schedule, how we’ll bring in students and other details.”

“That’s great,” Elissa said. “I’ll give you the general training parameters so you can decide which students might work best, and their dogs, too. We can start working with younger dogs and maybe take them to therapy venues for practice, but they have to be at least a year old before we can actually get them qualified.”

“Great. We’ll need your input on that.” Amber made notes in a folder she was holding. “I’ve already posted info on social media about plans for an upcoming class and received some nibbles from potential students, so we’ll be able to start quickly.”

“Another thing—do you have any contacts at the local hospital?” Elissa asked. “Before branching out to other facilities, I’ll want to see if Peace and I can do a little therapy work there, as well as use it as a potential teaching location once we get handlers in our classes trained enough to actually start therapy work with their dogs.”

“Actually, I do,” Sonya said. “One of the senior nurses on staff is a good friend of mine.”

“Excellent,” Elissa said.

“Now let’s talk some details like salary, timing, benefits and all.” Amber smiled at Elissa, who could only grin back. She wouldn’t get rich at this, she was sure, even with the grant that Amber had said she’d obtained. But Elissa had her other job to pay for the basics. The main thing was that this was something she really wanted to do.

Fortunately, those details as Amber described them worked well for Elissa. Today was Friday, and they determined that Elissa would actually start working there the following Monday.

That would give her time to put more hours in at the San Luis Obispo hospital. She had already arranged to be there over the weekend, partly because she was due to work then and partly to make up for the couple of days she’d just taken off.

She had looked over the contract and found the terms acceptable, so she and Amber both signed it.

Soon, they were done. They had a deal. But they both had provisions for getting out. Nothing was etched in stone, and Elissa realized she would be somewhat on trial here at first.

Which was fine with her. She’d also have to weigh whether this new part-time job would be worth it for her.

She felt certain it would be. She had loved the idea of the Chance K-9 Ranch for a while, and now she would be part of it. And the very idea of training therapy dogs and their handlers? Wonderful!

Amber soon stood, as did Sonya. Elissa did the same, smiling as both Peace and Lola, too, stood on the kitchen floor.

“Lola’s a sweetheart,” she said to Amber. “I think she’d make a good therapy dog.”

Amber’s smile broadened. “I look forward to your training her more, too.”

Soon, they were all outside on the ranch’s front porch—which was where Evan was with his dog Bear and Doug was with Hooper. They were sitting on a couple of the beige sling chairs, talking.

With the two German shepherds so close together, Elissa noticed even more the similarities and differences between them. Hooper was lighter in color and appeared thinner and, perhaps, younger. Bear had more black in his fur and his ears were more pointed and mobile.

Both appeared to be alert, caring and smart dogs. Which was a good thing, especially with Hooper, who had a K-9 job to do. But she wondered about Bear’s background—and his owner, Evan’s, too. Military maybe? The ranch website hadn’t said. But Elissa noticed that Evan sometimes seemed uncomfortable looking straight into people’s faces as he spoke to them, so perhaps he had a mild case of PTSD.

The men stood. “Everything work out?” Evan asked.

“Yes,” Amber said. “Elissa will start working here on Monday.”

“Great.” Evan strolled over and held out his hand for Elissa to shake, which she did.

She then glanced at Doug. He was nodding as if in approval, although he then aimed what appeared to be a long, questioning look toward Amber.

“It is great.” Her tone sounded stubborn and Elissa wondered what that was about.

“Well, Peace and I will be off for now, then,” Elissa said. “We’ll look forward to coming back here on Monday.” She turned to head down the steps toward her SUV and was glad to see that Doug and Hooper appeared to be accompanying her.

She quickly recalled the thought she’d had a while earlier. This guy was a cop. He was involved with dogs.

Maybe he would have an idea...

They’d reached her vehicle. She waited to open the rear door to strap Peace in, turning to Doug. Before she could ask him anything, though, he began talking.

“Hey, I have a couple of questions for you. Would you mind meeting me in town for coffee before you leave so we can discuss them?”

He had questions for her? Interesting. She had questions for him, too. “Sounds good,” she said.

But she wondered how good it really would be.

They drove separately, so that gave Doug time to consider his approach as he navigated first the winding roads then the busier ones into town.

He didn’t particularly want to hit Elissa over the head with the contents of that warning to her new employers. In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d mention it directly at all. At least not yet.

But he wanted to talk to her, to get an idea why she’d decided to seek a job at the ranch—and whether there was something in her life, someone in her life, who’d known about it and didn’t like the idea.

He found a parking spot near the front of the coffee shop where he’d first met Elissa and pulled in, not needing to use the cop card to park in a spot regular citizens couldn’t. Since he saw Elissa pull into another space not far from him, he didn’t have to try to preserve one for her.

Once he got Hooper out of the back, he walked to the front of the shop and was quickly joined by Elissa and Peace. “I figure K-9s are allowed everywhere,” she said, looking up at Doug, a somewhat quizzical expression on her lovely face, “and I hope they’ll be okay with Peace joining me, too. She’s not a service dog with an identification vest or anything, although I could put on her scarf—but even so, therapy dogs aren’t always given the same respect.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Doug told her. “I’ve seen other dogs in this place, too. The owners seem to love them and look the other way even if the law isn’t on the side of canine customers.”

“And I assume that at least one particular lawman turns a blind eye to that kind of violation.” She stuck a solemn expression onto her face that quickly morphed into a smile, and he smiled back.

“Maybe so.” He held the front door open for her and her dog as Hooper followed his hand signal and sat beside him. Then he followed her in.

It was late afternoon and the Chance Coffee Shop always seemed to have a crowd. Today was no different but fortunately there were a few tables near the wall that they could choose from—good locations where their dogs wouldn’t get in the way of servers or other patrons. He allowed Elissa to lead the way then, as she sat, asked what she wanted.

“I’ll go get our stuff,” he said. “You hold this table—and Hooper will help you.” He told his dog to sit, which of course he did, near both Elissa and Peace, who immediately started wagging her tail eagerly and sniffing at Hooper.

Doug wasn’t surprised when Elissa requested he get her a café mocha. “But either let me pay for it or plan on getting together with me for coffee again when I can treat.”

He liked the latter idea—although he shouldn’t. But maybe they could get together again sometime soon to figure out the origin and meaning of that sign at the ranch, if she didn’t suggest a viable explanation to him now.

That would most likely be the only reason he’d allow himself to see more of her. Unless, of course, Maisie loved learning about therapy dogs enough that she convinced him to join her.

He had to wait in line for about three minutes. During that time, he turned back often to look toward Elissa, only to discover she was watching him, too—with one hand on each of the dogs’ heads.

What was she thinking?

And how was he going to approach the questions he needed to ask her?

So what was this really about? Elissa wondered. She did find Doug appealing and thought that he, too, might feel some attraction between them—but she didn’t think that was why he’d asked her to have coffee with him.

What were his questions?

He soon returned to their table and placed a medium-size cup of mocha in front of her. As far as she could tell, he’d chosen the same size black coffee.

Plus, he’d brought a bowl with water in it, which he placed on the floor near the dogs.

He was a considerate guy, then, including as far as dogs were concerned.

When he sat, he looked at her as he took a sip from his cup. The expression in those hazel eyes of his looked particularly intense, especially since his brow was furrowed, arching his thick brown eyebrows even more.

Even more curious now, Elissa thanked him for the mocha, took a sip of the rich brew and then waited for him to speak.

“So what made you decide to apply for the job at the K-9 Ranch?” he finally asked. “Especially on a part-time basis, so far from your home and regular job?”

Why did he want to learn that? She didn’t ask, though. Instead she replied, “Impulse, of sorts—though I’m not really an impulsive person. But the Chance K-9 Ranch has such a wonderful reputation. At least it did when its original owner, Corbin Belott, was there. And now I’ve seen all sorts of praise online about how it’s coming back, how so many police K-9s are being trained along with their handlers—and even great pet training, too, despite its rather remote location. I love its website and the demonstrations shown there, too. When I saw they were looking for someone to work with therapy dog handlers, I thought, ‘Hey, that’s me,’ so here I am.”

She smiled at him. That wasn’t really all of it, of course. She’d worked with some wonderful therapy dog trainers and handlers before but had been looking for a different direction, something even more special as an adjunct to the part of her life devoted to nursing and helping ill and injured people medically...and psychologically, which really appealed to her. And what was more psychologically helpful to those in need than therapy dogs?

If she could help a lot more caring people to gain appropriate credentials with their dogs in a setting like the K-9 Ranch, well, then, she had to do it. Providing ongoing classes sounded wonderful.

“I see,” Doug said, though his expression was now somewhat blank, as if he didn’t see at all. “And are all the people where you work as a nurse on board with you doing this?”

Puzzlement flooded through her. Why would he ask that? “Those who know about it seem fine with it.” Would they continue to when she had to negotiate more about the days and hours she’d be available? That was unknown, but she’d deal with it.

“That’s good. So all’s well with you, and Peace, and you are both fine with your becoming trainers here in Chance?”

“Yes.” She knew her response sounded short and frustrated—but maybe it was because his questions had started a stirring in her, a reminder of yesterday and her return home to find Peace acting so strange.

Not that it had ever really left her thoughts.

“Yes,” she repeated. “Although...” She let her word trail off, knowing she should only act completely sure of herself. But heck, she was in the presence of a cop, a dog-loving one at that. Maybe he would have some ideas about how she could figure out what had bothered her dog yesterday.

“Although what?” he prompted.

“Look, this probably has nothing at all to do with my interviewing for a job here, but the problem is that I don’t have a clue about the reason. Yesterday, when I returned home after interviewing for the job with Amber, my usually sweet, calm, loving dog Peace acted really strange.”

Interest and concern seemed to take over Doug’s expression. Did he really give a damn? “Strange how?”

She described how Peace had behaved, from her barking to roving from room to room and not even acting completely calm after they’d taken their walk and gone to bed. “I didn’t see anything unusual to cause her to act that way. But it was so uncharacteristic. I wondered whether, if I brought another dog in, I’d get any similar reaction, if there was some scent in my home that was causing it, but I didn’t want to alert any of my friends to something that probably meant absolutely nothing.”

“Or maybe it actually meant something.”

Then Doug believed her? Gave a damn?

Was his interest part of some kind of flirtation?

She didn’t think so. He seemed too serious, too professional as a cop.

“I just wish I knew,” she responded.

“Well, how about if Hooper and I accompany Peace and you back to your home and I let my very special K-9 have a sniff around?”

Chapter 4

Doug followed Elissa in her black SUV down the 101 Freeway in his large police vehicle and wished he’d driven her, or even ridden with her, so they’d be in the same car, able to talk. Though he wanted to check out her place to try to figure out if her dog’s actions were in some way related to the sign found on the K-9 Ranch, he had no intention of staying in San Luis Obispo for long. Therefore he’d needed a set of wheels so he could leave when he wanted to.

As it was, he was stretching his claim of still being on duty, though he had reported to his commanding officer to let her know where he was going and why, as well as an estimate of the time he’d return. She’d given him permission to continue working on this matter, even if it meant he could not take on the other case he and Maisie had been previously assigned to look into. He’d also called on his cell phone as he’d taken off after Elissa to let Maisie know where he was going, and his sister had sounded anything but pleased.

“She’s caught up in a case now,” she had told him. “You know better than to get involved with her in any way other than professionally.”

“That’s all I’m doing,” he had attempted to assure Maisie. “She had a problem at her home that could be connected with our investigation at the K-9 Ranch.”

“Which itself isn’t much of a case,” Maisie had retorted. “A possible threat with no substance to it.”

“But you know the department’s position about Amber Belott and the Chance K-9 Ranch,” he’d reminded her. “She helped us solve her own father’s murder, and the current view is that we owe her. So we need to find out if that threat is legit, and who placed it there and why. That’s what I’m working on.”

“Sure,” Maisie had said, and they’d quickly ended the call.

Fortunately the traffic wasn’t bad so they reached Elissa’s home fairly quickly. “Okay, boy,” Doug said to Hooper after parking along the street and getting his dog out of the back. “You’re on.” No need to put Hooper’s official vest on him for this, though he’d be on duty—kind of.

And Doug was curious whether even a trained police K-9 would find a reason for Peace’s alleged odd behavior. It was probably nothing. Under other circumstances, Doug wouldn’t have given it a second thought, let alone take a substantial chunk out of his day to check it out.

But behind it all was that potentially threatening sign: Be Careful Who You Hire.

The driveway Elissa had pulled into was narrow and led to the garage of a house that appeared to have been there for a while. Its stucco seemed worn, and it looked a lot more rundown than its nearby neighbors. That surely had nothing to do with Peace’s actions yesterday—or did it? Maybe someone was trying to do something to scare this tenant away so the house could be torn down and replaced with something newer and fancier.

Doug left his jacket in the car, wearing just his white cop shirt with his uniform pants. He hurried down the driveway of the house with Hooper’s leash in his hand. Elissa had exited her SUV but seemed to be taking her time getting Peace out of the back.

Because she was concerned about the dog’s reaction?

Because she wanted Doug to be there when she let the dog in?

In any event, she didn’t open the door to the house but motioned for Doug to follow her to the lawn. “It’s been a long drive. I want to let Peace decide if she needs some outdoor time.”

Which she did, and so did Hooper. When both dogs were finished, Doug said, “Okay, let’s go in.”

“Of course.” But Elissa appeared anything but thrilled about the idea.

Still, Peace’s leash in her hand, she returned to the garage and used a key to open the door into the house. Doug, with Hooper, followed—and immediately saw Peace’s strange reaction as they walked into the kitchen. The golden had seemed nice and gentle and reserved...before. Now she pulled ahead, yanking on her leash so hard that she nearly pulled Elissa behind her.

Nose to the floor, she walked in circles, growling occasionally, looking as if she was tracking something down.

Beside Doug, Hooper looked up at him as if waiting for his command—which he quickly gave.

“Find,” he told his K-9. He released Hooper from his leash, determined to follow the dog no matter where he went in the house.

At first, Hooper appeared to follow in Peace’s paw prints, but not for long. Soon he leaped out of the kitchen before the dog who lived there, nose still to the ground.

Was he following a scent—the smell of some animal that had gotten inside?

A human animal? One other than Elissa?

One who didn’t belong and emitted a scent of fear?

Doug glanced toward Elissa, who stood in the hall. Peace now appeared to be following Hooper. “What is he doing?” Elissa’s whisper was loud and sounded afraid.

Doug had an urge to put an arm around her in comfort, but that wouldn’t solve anything—like figuring out what was happening.

“He’s following a scent,” Doug answered. “That might be what disturbed Peace yesterday, although I can’t tell you what kind of scent it is—at least not yet.”

“But...could it be—”

“I don’t want to speculate.” But she looked so forlorn and frightened that he did approach Elissa and put an arm around her. “Let’s follow and see what he finds.”

He was impressed by the nice furnishings in this old, beat-up home. Obviously, Elissa’s tastes were good, even if she hadn’t rented something a bit more modern.

Maybe she couldn’t afford to.

Maybe she’d hoped that working at the K-9 Ranch part-time might increase her income enough that she could eventually find something nicer.

There was a lot about this woman that he didn’t know. Shouldn’t want to know. But he did.

Together, they followed the dogs, who both seemed to go from room to room now—the living room, what appeared to be a guest bedroom, a single bathroom and then the master bedroom.

Which was where Hooper bounded toward one of the windows that was covered by a closed shade.

“Was this open yesterday?” Doug asked before touching it.

“No, although I did look at it and the other windows in here after Peace acted so strangely, to make sure they weren’t open.”

“Well, let’s check it out.” Doug removed gloves from his pocket and put them on to avoid messing up any prints if there actually was something wrong here, and pulled on the rope at the side to open the shade.

Nothing. The window was closed, as Elissa had said.

But that didn’t stop Hooper from jumping up and reacting, indicating to Doug that whatever the scent the two dogs had been chasing, this was most likely the place of origin, at least at first.

“Hooper, sit.” When his dog obeyed, he added, “Good boy.”

Since Peace was still beside him, he looked at Elissa, who took her dog’s leash and led her away.

Which gave Doug the opportunity to look more closely at the window.

And to find what he had somewhat anticipated on the lock at the top of the bottom piece of glass along the window frame.

It appeared that some kind of tool had been inserted to unlock it, judging by the barely visible wearing away of the metal and glass.

Carefully, Doug worked at the window and found it opened with almost no effort at all. Opened enough so that someone outside could have gotten in—and someone who’d managed to get inside could get out.

“Bingo,” he said.

Standing behind him, watching what he did, Elissa felt herself shudder in shock, though she realized it shouldn’t be a total surprise.

Forcing herself into steadiness, she bent slightly to stroke and attempt to calm Peace, who also quivered, though possibly because she wanted to run and not just sit there. Elissa loved Peace, trusted her, and the dog’s actions yesterday had been a loud statement of something going on around here, though Elissa hadn’t known what. She still didn’t.

Now another dog, trained for more appropriate ways to look into the situation, had confirmed that something was not right.

“Can you tell from Hooper’s actions if someone actually came inside and what they did?” Elissa hated that her voice came out as a soft croak but she wasn’t surprised.

She was stressed.

She was scared.

Doug turned and aimed an ironic half grin toward her. “Possibly. But rely on your own dog, too. I’d say whoever it was managed to walk around your entire house. Your Peace already told you that.”

She nodded. “Yes,” she said, “she did. But why?”

“I’d suggest you look around and see if any valuables are missing.”

“What valuables?” This time she did manage an ironic smile of her own.

“Okay, then, non-valuables. Whatever you own or keep here.”

She had a sudden urge to explain herself to this man, this cop who had traveled a long distance to try to help her. For a variety of reasons, mostly involving how she had been brought up by her frugal family, she tried to save more of her nursing salary than she spent—though that didn’t always work. The extra income from her new part-time gig at the K-9 Ranch was bound to help a little.

But mostly, she liked helping people and using therapy dogs was one of her favorite ways to do so.

All she said now was, “I’m not really into bling, and I don’t keep cash around, so whoever was here probably didn’t find anything to take.”

But she’d keep checking, just in case. Still, she couldn’t help wondering why her house had been a target. Had others around here been broken into, too? She didn’t know many of her neighbors well, but she’d have to ask them.

“Well, the person who broke in might not have known that.” But Doug’s expression, when he turned to look at her, suggested that he somehow wanted to dig inside her head for some answers.

Answers she didn’t have.

“Possibly,” she said.

“Okay, then. I’ll let Hooper take another swing around the place and see if he reacts to anything else. And by the way, I will speculate now that the scent he reacted to was fear—fear of getting caught as an intruder. After Hooper’s done this time...well, do you have any friends you can stay with tonight?”

She had made friends in the years she had lived in San Luis Obispo, though not that many, and none particularly close.

With the vocation and avocations she had, even she found that a bit surprising. But as much as she liked to help people, she’d learned the hard way that getting close to anyone, even friends, wasn’t always a good idea.

“No,” she said lightly, “but I’ll be fine here. Whoever broke in is unlikely to do it again. They already know there’s nothing here worth stealing. And they’ve already been inside, so why try it again?”

“But—” Whatever he’d started to say, Doug seemed to catch himself. “Okay, let Hooper and me do our thing. Then we’ll talk.”

Why did even the mention of a talk with this man make her feel uneasy? He’d come here to help her, and so far he really had. Whatever they’d talk about, it would have nothing to do with the fact that she found him attractive. More than attractive. A truly brave and genuinely kind man who clearly took his job of policing, helping people, to heart.

“Sure,” she said, trying to act completely nonchalant. “Let me know when you’re ready. Peace and I will wait in the kitchen.”

For the next ten minutes Elissa sat at the square kitchen table sipping on a bottle of water she’d taken out of the small but adequate fridge that had come with the house. She’d get a bottle out for Doug when he joined her. She had already set out a container of shortbread cookies that she occasionally brought along to her therapy sessions with kids. The sweets sometimes made them smile and become even more receptive to interacting with a caring dog.

After checking Peace’s water bowl on the scratched yellow linoleum floor near the door to the hall, she’d also retrieved some healthy dog treats. She gave her smart, caring dog a few, partly in gratitude for her having let Elissa know about the intruder in the first place, and partly because she just wanted to keep her companion happy.

But why had there even been an intruder...?

In a few minutes Hooper came into the kitchen followed by Doug, who still held the end of the leash. After the two dogs traded nose sniffs, Hooper went to the bowl and started lapping up some water. Elissa rose and got Doug a bottle of water, which she placed on the table near the seat across from her.

“Here,” she said. “I’ve got some treats for both Hooper and you.” She tried to sound like a good hostess, as if his being there was because she’d invited him—not because she’d needed him and his cop senses.

“Thanks,” he said, taking a seat. He picked up the water, removed the cap and took a swig, as if it were something stronger, which sort of amused her. Or maybe she’d be attracted to anything this kind man did while in her company, particularly here at her no-longer-private house. Then he looked at the table in front of her, at the dog treats and the packaged cookies, and asked, “Which ones are for me?”

She laughed. “Whichever you want, though I’d suggest these.” She pushed the shortbread container across the table to him. “Is it okay if I reward Hooper with some of these?” She gestured at the dog treats.

“Sure it is, right now. Not when he’s searching, though.”

Both Hooper and Peace seemed happy when Elissa gave them treats. “Good dogs,” she said, and they both were.

When she had given them each their share, she looked back up at Doug, who seemed awfully quiet. He was watching her. She couldn’t read the expression on his handsome, craggy, all-too-intense face, but it made her shudder inside. What was he thinking?

As if she’d said something aloud to prompt him, he asked, “Do you know of anyone who might want to harm you—or even just intimidate you?”

She blinked. “No. Not at all.” But the idea seemed to increase her internal shivers. “Is that what you think it is—someone who wants to scare or even hurt me, not just try to steal from me?”

He didn’t answer directly, at least not at first. “Before I leave here, I’ll contact the local PD, communicate to someone there about what happened and request they send a crime scene team over right now—which they might do more as an accommodation to another cop than because of their concern about the alleged crime. They’ll then probably start patrolling your street every hour or so, although if you don’t have any ideas who it might be, maybe they won’t. In any event, I’ll make sure that the vulnerable area where whoever it was got in before is sealed up.”

“Thank you.” Elissa did feel a lot of gratitude to this determined police officer—that and some highly unwanted attraction. He’s just doing his job, protecting a civilian, she reminded herself. Even so... “Is there anything else I should do?” Besides scream and run away.

She would do neither.

But she would, as usual, keep Peace by her side. Her dog might not have the same kind of training as an official police K-9, but she would protect Elissa to the best of her ability. Elissa was sure of it.

There seemed to be something else on Doug’s mind, though. He was studying her, watching her face as if he could see inside her brain.

For a long moment he said nothing, which made her even more uneasy. Then he said, “I’d like for you to keep thinking about whether anyone has suggested or even hinted that they have issues with you or what you do—or don’t do.” He reached into his pocket, brought out a business card and handed it to her. “I want you to stay in touch, let me know if you see or hear anything that seems suspicious. In any case, I’ll talk to you on Monday after you come back to Chance and we’ll see how things are going then.”

“Okay.” She wanted to disagree, to tell him she’d be fine and that there was no need for him to worry about her—but she somehow felt a little less stressed that he seemed to give a damn, just because he was a good cop, of course, and not because he seemed at all attracted to her.

And she’d have to make sure her own silly attraction disappeared.

But there appeared to be something else on his mind. He was looking so intensely into her eyes...

“What?” she asked.

“Like I said, think hard about whether there’s someone who might have something against you. A neighbor or coworker who’s mad at you. A driver you cut off. Whatever.”

“Why?” she demanded. “What’s really going on?”

He pursed his lips. “Yeah, I think you should know, though I was asked to keep it quiet. Amber, for one, was choosing to ignore it. But this break-in here...”

“What?” Elissa repeated.

Doug looked straight into her eyes. “The night of your interview at the K-9 Ranch, and before you came back up to give your demonstration, this was found on the fence there.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, fiddled with it some and then thrust it toward her.

A photo was there depicting the front gate up the driveway to the main house at the K-9 Ranch.

And on it was a sign: Be Careful Who You Hire.

Chapter 5

Doug watched Elissa’s expression carefully. No hint of knowledge or recognition appeared in the horror displayed by her huge eyes and open mouth.

“How terrible!” she exclaimed. “I don’t think Amber was close to hiring anyone else, so that must refer to me. And yet she hired me anyway. Why? But I’m so glad she did. Who could have left that? Was it the same person who broke in here?”

“We don’t know...yet,” Doug answered truthfully. “Any of the answers. But frankly, that’s one reason I came here to try to help you figure out what happened with Peace. You appear to be on at least one person’s radar, and we need to figure out who—and why.” Both dogs started barking then, and Doug figured he knew the reason. “I suspect the local cops are here.”

The nearly immediate ringing of the doorbell indicated he was right. He initially stepped outside with Hooper to greet them and tell them what was going on. They didn’t seem too impressed but as a professional accommodation to Doug one of them radioed in to request a crime scene team, then both entered to look around and interview Elissa.

They were quick and efficient, including the crime scene investigators, who arrived fairly quickly.

What they were not was fortunate enough to come up with any answers. Apparently the perpetrator had worn gloves—no surprise. No other evidence was found, either. They promised to send patrols by frequently, without saying how often. Then, after exchanging contact information with Doug—and patting Hooper and Peace—the two officers and crime scene folks left.

“Let’s go back into the kitchen,” Doug suggested. He needed to leave, too. But he also needed to try once more to get Elissa to see reason.

“Sure,” she said. “Only, I suspect you need to get back to Chance to actually do some of your own police work.” They both remained standing near the door, and the look she shot him appeared ironic with a hint of gratitude. “I’ll be fine now. As I said earlier, the intruder isn’t likely to come back, especially with the extra police car patrols those officers promised. And now that I’m aware, I’ll be particularly careful. There is, in fact, one neighbor I can call on who sometimes walks her dog with Peace and me. I’ll at least have company, and it would be harder for someone to harm two of us instead of just me.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing but—”

“Look, I don’t know why Amber hired me, but she’s clearly not giving in to whoever did this. Well, neither am I. I’ll try to get my landlord to have some kind of security system installed, but in any event, as I said, I’ll be careful. And I’m not giving in to someone trying to scare me.” But she seemed to wilt a little then. “I just wish I had some idea who it is, and why.”

“Yeah, me, too.” He had a sudden urge to take her into his arms, hold her tightly against him, maybe attempt to cheer her a little by kissing that alluring yet sad mouth of hers...

But of course he wouldn’t do that. Never mind that he felt attracted to her, or that he wanted to fix things for her. He had plenty of reasons not to get involved with her other than as a civilian who needed help. But she did happen to be a civilian who needed help.

A vision of his uncle Cy’s face flashed in his mind, encouraging him and Maisie to become cops like him—and to act like professionals at all times. And never, ever, to get involved except as cops with any of those civilians they were bound to be seeing a lot of as crime victims or otherwise.

Cy had gotten involved, more than once, and, after professional scolding and even a divorce, had learned to regret it...

“Anyway,” she said, “I’ll be working at my local hospital tomorrow and Sunday, both as a nurse and doing therapy dog work, so I won’t be home much this weekend. Then I’ll head back up to Chance on Monday to give my first therapy dog training class. I’ll call you then and maybe we can catch up on what’s going on here and there.”

“All right,” Doug conceded. What else could he do? He might be concerned about this attractive, dog-loving civilian, but he wasn’t even a cop in the jurisdiction where she lived who could theoretically give her orders—or at least conduct some of those patrols and drop in on her sometimes.

And he clearly wasn’t convincing her to do something else—except to walk her dog along with a neighbor. Some of the time. Without additional protection at night.

“Well, be sure to keep in touch.” He recognized that his words had come out in a tone of command, which appeared somehow to amuse her.

He wanted to kiss that smile right off her lovely face...but didn’t.

He motioned for Hooper to join him at the door, where he removed his dog’s leash from his pocket and snapped it on his collar. “Let’s go,” he told his well-trained partner.

Peace also came to the door to see them off. While they stood there, Elissa petted both dogs. Then, to his surprise, she leaned toward him. “Drive carefully,” she said, and planted a soft and swift kiss on his lips before backing away. “And I can’t thank you enough for all your help.”

You just did, he thought, but all he said was, “You’re welcome. Be careful, keep in touch, and we’ll see you next week.”

Now, why on earth had she done that? Elissa scolded herself as she shut and locked the door behind Doug and Hooper. No matter how much she liked the guy, he was a cop. He was acting like a cop. Helping her as a cop would. Trying to figure out what was going on and how to keep her safe.

And, more important to him, attempting to learn the origin of an apparent threat to a person in his own jurisdiction.

Shaking her head, she decided to call Glynnis Crandal, the friend and neighbor she’d been referring to when she’d spoken with Doug about having a companion to walk dogs with. It was late afternoon now, nearly five o’clock, and Glynnis, a middle school teacher, was likely to be home.

Elissa couldn’t plan on taking all her walks with Peace with Glynnis, too, but a couple tonight should at least give her a sense of whether she also needed to work something out with another neighbor.

“Peace, come.” Elissa motioned to her pup, who followed her into the kitchen. There, after clearing off the table and taking a few more sips of water, she used her cell phone to call Glynnis, who answered right away.

“Hi,” Elissa said. “I’m looking for a little company on my walks with Peace this evening. Partially as a therapy dog training thing. Are you and Socia available?” Socia was Glynnis’s smart and friendly Rottweiler.

“Sure!” There was a happy lilt to her voice, as if she was thrilled by the idea.

Elissa suspected she wouldn’t be so thrilled when Peace and she arrived at Glynnis’s front door and explained one of the reasons they needed company.

She had to at least mention it. Not that she anticipated putting Glynnis in danger, or she wouldn’t be involving her. Still, the possibility was why she did want another person and dog with them.

They made arrangements for Elissa and Peace to come by, which they did, in about half an hour.

Glynnis’s home was on the same block, but three houses down. It was two-story, with a lovely blue-siding exterior, and was in a lot better condition than Elissa’s rental.

Peace at her side, Elissa walked up to the front door and heard Socia barking. Glynnis opened the door only a few seconds later, as if she’d been waiting.

Glynnis was a solid and determined-looking woman in her late forties, a divorcée whose two kids were both in college in different parts of California. She wore jeans, a long-sleeved orange T-shirt and athletic shoes, and Socia was leashed at her side.

“May we come in for just a minute?” Elissa asked. “There are a couple of reasons for our wanting company that I think you should know.”

They remained in the high-ceilinged entry while Elissa explained about the break-in at her house. No, Glynnis hadn’t heard of anything else like that in the neighborhood or otherwise. Elissa also told her about the sign at her new part-time employer’s dog training ranch.

“So if you’ve changed your mind and don’t want to walk with us, I’ll completely understand,” Elissa finished.

The look on Glynnis’s round, aging face beneath her short yellow hair was determined. “Changed my mind? Heck, no. In fact, I’m even more eager to go with you. If anything strange occurs, my Socia will take care of it even if your sweet Peace can’t. So let’s go.”

There was a lot more traffic on his way back to Chance than earlier, which gave Doug time to think. Overthink. He regretted leaving Elissa alone, with no additional protection except, possibly, a few more patrols on her street now and then.

But he couldn’t have stayed. Nor had he enough clout with the local police department to get further protection for her.

And though he could have contacted some private protective services in the area—and even paid for them, since it appeared that Elissa wasn’t exactly wealthy, though neither was he—he felt certain she would have vetoed the possibility.

Damn! Oh, yeah, he was overthinking this. Elissa was a big girl. She knew now about the break-in, partly thanks to Peace. Doug had alerted her to the potential additional threat in Chance. She could handle things the way she chose—which apparently was to ignore it all, or at least to do nothing more than bring some additional company into her dog walking and try to convince the owner of the decrepit house where she lived to install some kind of security system. Yeah, right.

But her bravery appealed to him, even though he considered her foolish.

“Enough of this, Hooper,” he said out loud, as if his dog in the back seat knew what he’d been stewing about. He glanced into the rearview mirror to see Hooper sit up from where he’d been lying. He was tethered safely. And now he was looking at Doug with his eyes large, his ears up, as if waiting for the next command.

Which he wouldn’t get in the car. Except... “Good boy, Hooper,” Doug said. “Now, down.” And of course the smart and well-trained dog obeyed.

Doug spoke aloud a little more, mostly so Hooper could hear him. But all he talked about was his frustrations—with traffic and with Elissa. Nothing that Hooper would understand, except, perhaps, for his handler’s mood.

When Doug finally pulled off the freeway and onto the mountain roads, he used his car’s wireless connection to call his sister, needing to blow off steam—and hoping she had a minute to talk. Maisie was devoted to her job—and, of course, to Griffin. If they were out on an assignment, she simply wouldn’t answer.

But she did. “So what’s going on, bro?” she asked.

“Any further word about the K-9 Ranch?” he asked.

“Nothing I’ve heard, and they haven’t called Griffin and me in to try tracking whoever left that sign.”

“Not surprising. Hooper didn’t alert on anything when we were there, so Griffin probably wouldn’t, either. But Hooper did alert on a situation at Elissa’s home.” Doug quickly explained it to his sister, including his subsequent communications with the local San Luis Obispo police.

“Did Elissa give you any more idea of what’s going on?” Maisie’s tone sounded like a demand, as if she really did want to know if there’d been an answer—and what that answer was.

“She didn’t seem to know.” He knew his frustration resonated in his voice. “She didn’t make any guesses about who might be doing this or why, though she seemed justifiably scared. I tried to get her to stay with a friend or do something else self-protective, but all she indicated was that she’d take her dog on walks with a neighbor for a while—at least sometimes.”

“Brave lady,” Maisie said.

“Foolish lady,” Doug retorted then changed the subject. “So what’s going on with you?”

They talked for a while longer. Maisie and Griffin were at the station. Assistant Chief Kara had set up a meeting with them tomorrow morning, though it was Saturday. “Not sure exactly what’s on her mind but she indicated that Hooper and you should join us if possible. Can you come?”

“Definitely,” he responded. They talked about nothing for another few minutes and Doug said he’d see Maisie soon, at the home they and their dogs shared. It was evening, and they were off-duty that night—unless, of course, a case came in that required the assistance of one or more K-9s.

Then he hung up.

Meeting tomorrow with the assistant chief was fine with Doug. If nothing else, it would be a genuine, official distraction from the nonsense going on in his mind.

No, not nonsense. There was a civilian in potential trouble.

A very lovely and, yes, brave civilian in an apparently inexplicable situation—or at least not explainable for the moment, if she truly was telling him everything.

And he wanted to trust her. Did trust her, even though he hardly knew her. But should he?

Think with your brain and nothing else, he ordered himself. For despite all the orders he’d given himself, despite everything his revered uncle Cy had drummed into his head and Maisie’s when they had, at his urging, decided to become cops, he found Elissa Yorian not only a distraction but a very sexy, appealing woman.

But he was a cop. A damn good one. And so he would help figure out what was going on with her, find a way to protect her, without getting emotionally involved.

“Yeah, right,” he expressed aloud.

His tone must have startled Hooper, who sat up once again on the back seat and gave a small growl.

“You said it,” said Doug with a brisk nod.

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