Dinner and talking with Pippa had been a nice distraction, but her stomach still hurt and her shoulders felt as if she’d had them tensed for days. Nothing would help that but Wolfe getting home safely. She turned back as Roscoe padded in from the bedroom, stretching after a nap. He headed for the back door. “Need to go out, huh?” She opened the door and let him bound out, watching him chase his tail around the backyard as darkness slowly began to descend.

Then Kat came out of nowhere, also wanting to go outside. He had a litter box in the laundry room, but he seemed to prefer the outdoors, so she let him wander out and sniff the grass, following Roscoe. The humidity hung low and heavy as she stepped out on the deck and sat on the stairs, shutting the door so as not to cool the outside, as her dad would’ve said.

She took a deep breath, looking out at the fence that enclosed the two backyards together. Beyond the fence was a trail and acres of forest, teeming with wildlife. How in the world was Millie Frost going to set sensors and cameras everywhere? It seemed impossible, especially since Wolfe and Pippa owned forty acres between them. Their bungalows were at the end of a long country road with forested land across from them.

The quiet countryside reminded Dana of home, and she leaned back against the glass, trying to relax. The animals played, chasing each other, Kat halfheartedly swiping at Roscoe’s nose.

She let them goof off for a while until they both looked too hot, and then she called them in. “It’s going to cool off someday,” she said, standing and shutting the door to securely lock it before setting the alarm.

Both animals headed for their bowls of food. The AC brushed her skin, and she shivered at the contrast with the heat.

She might as well get back to work. Instead of using the home off ice, she spread her notes across the kitchen table and started typing on her laptop, feeling cozy with the animals in the house and Mal and Pippa next door. Her thoughts kept returning to Wolfe, and she hoped Jethro was as good at backup as Angus had promised.

Her burner phone buzzed, and she scrambled for it. Maybe it was Wolfe. “Hello?”

“Hi, Dana. It’s Dr. Georgetown.”

Oh. She’d forgotten all about the doctor. “Hi. Is everything okay with my blood?” Had there been something else in the drug cocktail? She’d kept her worry under wraps, but it’d be nice to have confirmation that some bizarre disease or germ wasn’t crawling through her system.