Lakeside Peril

Hunter got in the front. “Alec Caldwell, meet Chloe Conrad.”

Alec turned around and offered his hand. “Nice to meet you. Sorry about the circumstances.”

Chloe stared at his extended hand for a moment and then shook it. He was different from Hunter. More clean-cut and upper-crust. “Same here. Thank you for helping us.”

“You’re welcome,” Alec said. Then he turned and faced Hunter. “Where to?”

“About that, bro,” Hunter said. “We need one more favor, but it’s a big one.”

SIX (#ulink_f0712cfa-707b-5c69-b46d-3a8c820a4992)

Chloe couldn’t believe Hunter had brought her here, of all places. But she hadn’t had time to argue, since he’d insisted they had to hide her until he could come up with a plan.

He’d asked Alec Caldwell to let her stay in the training dorms at a place called Caldwell Canines Service Dog Association. It was a big industrial building on the outskirts of town, surrounded by security fences and a well-lit parking lot and training yard.

The preacher—their other friend they’d also called—a nice man named Rory Sanderson, escorted Chloe to one of the dorm rooms and set her suitcase on the luggage rack before he scanned the area outside the small window. “You should be safe here. Your room faces the training yard.”

Chloe glanced around at the stark but clean room, which contained a single bed, a cushioned side chair and a small functional dresser/desk combo with a tiny flat-screen television and a narrow closet. A small bath was off to the side. When Hunter had suggested she stay in one of the dorm rooms here, she’d been surprised. But now she was beginning to understand. Alec had readily agreed.

“So this is the Caldwell Canines Service Dog Association?”

Rory Sanderson’s smile lit up. Giving her a blue-eyed gaze, he said, “The official name is the Alexander and Vivian Caldwell Service Dog Association. But that’s a lot to remember. We call it Caldwell Canines for short.”

He pointed to the area beyond the second-story window. “Clients who are in need of a service dog are screened for acceptance, but this organization rarely turns anyone away. Clients come here to train with a dog matched to their needs. Most of the dogs are pound animals, so a lot of them live here on the property until they can be matched with a human. Funding covers scholarships for those who can’t pay their own way.”

He stopped and grinned again. “Sorry. I’m on the board of directors, so I have to give that spiel to everyone I meet.”

“Interesting,” Chloe said, the distraction taking her mind off her troubles for a brief time. She closed her eyes and prayed that Hunter would stay safe. He’d gone back to the bay to search for the two men who’d tried to kill them.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Rory said. “People come here from all over the country, a lot of them wounded veterans, and work with the staff and the animals. I’ve seen a lot of amazing things happen in this place. These dogs learn to do all kinds of everyday tasks, but I think it’s the unconditional love that cures our wounded warriors more than anything.”

Chloe smiled at that. “Animals can sense things like that, right?”

“Right.” Rory gave her a patient, understanding stare. He probably thought she needed lots of prayers and maybe a puppy, too.

She heard dogs barking, but the big yard looked deserted. “I don’t see anyone training out there,” she said, numbness and apprehension tugging at her. She certainly didn’t want to stay in this big place all by herself.

“Alec said they’d just finished a session. But there is an entire staff here around the clock and most of them are trained in either K-9 work or service dog expertise. And if anyone unknown walks up onto the property, the dogs will all start barking.”

She had to smile at that. “Hunter brought me to a place that is covered by a lot of watchdogs?”

“Hunter has a wry sense of humor and a strong sense of duty.”

She could agree with that. “I hope he finds the people responsible for all this.”

Rory turned from the window and gave her another quiet stare. “Hunter is good at his job and he has a knack for sniffing out bad people. If anyone can solve this puzzle, it’ll be Hunter Lawson.”

“That’s why I came across the country to hire him,” she admitted. “I’ll be fine here if you and Hunter vouch for this place.” She hung her jacket across the chair. “And Alec assured me this is okay. I got the feeling he’s here a lot.”

“He’s devoted to the cause,” Rory said. “And his PR assistant had to move to the West Coast with her air force husband, so he’s doing double duty for a few weeks until he finds someone to replace her.”

“That is devoted.” Chloe imagined working here could be very rewarding.

“Okay, then. A few things to know.”

Rory showed her the small bathroom connected to her room and then took her to meet some of the staff members and showed her the kitchen and dining area and the lounge where a television, magazines and books were located, and explained the Wi-Fi hotspots to her but suggested she didn’t get on the internet for her own protection.

“Stay on the premises and mostly in the training yard,” he told her. “This place has tight security. It’s well lit and it has a state-of-the-art alarm system. We’ll all come by and check on you around the clock, and knowing Hunter, he’ll find someone he can trust to sit right outside your room. You can also alert the staff at any time, day or night.”

“Who will come by?” she asked. “I need to know what to expect.”

Again, that patient smile. “Me,” Rory said. “Alec and probably his wife, Marla, Blain and his wife, Rikki, if she’s in town, and my fiancée, Vanessa. She’ll force you to look at wedding stuff and she’ll go on and on about her dress and the food and how much she loves me but just humor her, okay?”

Chloe liked the preacher. She smiled and nodded. “Okay. I don’t mind looking at wedding stuff or hearing how in love your fiancée is with you. I think that’s sweet.”

He grinned over at her. “It’s a girl thing, right?”

“Right.”

Rory said a prayer with her and then gave her a preacherly hug and a pledge to pray for her. “Call if you need anything.”

She waved bye to him and took some clothes and toiletries out of her suitcase, but Chloe couldn’t relax. She felt as if she’d been relegated to a nice prison. Rubbing her hands down her arms, she tried to stay calm, but her skin crawled with fear and anger and dread while her pulse pounded against her temple like a warning bell that wouldn’t stop. She needed all the prayers people were promising.

What if they didn’t find those men?

What if something bad happened to Hunter or one of his friends? When would they be able to sit down and really get to the bottom of this? What if Hunter left her here and took off on his own?

What if...

She finally sat down on the bed and had a good cry. Followed by serious prayers. She missed her sister, Laura, so much. Laura had been completely solid in her faith, so sure that the world still had some good in it. Chloe had doubted. Her faith was more lukewarm and shaky. But she had to admit, when she’d seen Hunter’s name scrawled in Laura’s notes, she’d considered it a sure sign from God.

So why couldn’t she tell him everything? Why couldn’t she tell him that he might be more involved in this than he realized?

Hunter would have been the last person she’d think of in a time such as thing. But Laura had obviously thought of him.

“Laura, help me to find the answers,” she whispered. Then she asked God to guide her. “And...please, Lord, protect Hunter.”

Chloe squared her shoulders and sank down in the chair across from the bed. She thought she’d smoothed things over with her father before she left by telling him she needed to get away for a few days, but her father had a way of discovering the truth. He didn’t know she’d come here to find Hunter Lawson. She’d told him she was coming to Florida for a getaway trip, since she’d been working overtime for the last few months. Had her father really tracked her here and tried to have her killed?

No. Wayne Conrad was a hard, stubborn, powerful man, but he’d never kill one of his own children. He’d been mourning the loss of his only son for years now and then Laura had died, too. Her horrible death had been hard on all of them.

Lately, her father had lost focus on the vast empire he’d created. Tray had been a mean alcoholic drug abuser who’d beaten his wife and controlled every aspect of her short life. But her father had never given up hope that Tray would get clean and have a good life one day.

Hunter’s older sister, Beth, had loved Tray in spite of all of that. She’d never managed to break away from the hold Tray had over her.

But Hunter had avenged her death and put Tray in prison.

Wayne Conrad hated Hunter Lawson.