Free Accidentally Catty by Dakota Cassidy Page B

bony finger pointed at Katie as the ends of his down coat, unzipped to reveal a plaid flannel shirt, flapped in the harsh wind. “What have you done?” he bellowed, so loud Katie’s eardrums vibrated with the cavernous rumble. A batch of freshly fallen leaves skittered in on the howl of the breeze behind him, rustling and skipping over her waiting room floor.
    Kaih grabbed her by the arm again when she made a move to approach the man. “Dr. Woods, listen to me! This man is dangerous—”
    “Where is he ?” the old man screeched, hoarse and high, the jowls of loose skin around his jawline trembling.
    “Where is who, sir?” Wanda called, pressing her hands along her hips to smooth her skirt down. Her worried frown marred her beautiful face as she headed in the direction of the front door.
    But the old man only had eyes for Katie, all his vengeance directed at her as he cornered her against the wall. “You crazy zealot! Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Always picketing us, making a ruckus. Now tell me where he is!”
    Nina was instantly at Katie’s side, towering over the squat man. “Whoa there, old-timer. I’m not big on taking down the senior shuffleboarders, but I’ll do it if you don’t catch your breath.”
    He huffed in her direction, spittle escaping his thinned lips. “She did this! You’re responsible for this, and I’m going to the police. Do you hear me, Dr. Woods?” In a flash, one even Nina missed, he went for Katie, his hands, old and arthritic, latched onto her neck, wrapping around it with a strength that left her too surprised to react.
    “Hookay!” Nina roared. “Time to head home for some warm milk and your Bengay rubdown, pardner.” With that, she pried his fingers from Katie’s neck, scooped him up by the back of his jacket, and planted him outside the door on the front steps, slamming the door with an angry grunt.
    And she did it with only two fingers.
    God.
    Nina’s lips were a thin line of pissed off when she surveyed the room. She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against the door and crossing her feet at the ankles. Her eyes zeroed in on Kaih and Ingrid. “So I got a hinky feelin’ somebody’s got some explainin’ to do. And don’t bother to lie to me, because if I gotta get inside your little heads to find out what you’re hiding, I’ll leave you praying for a lobotomy.”
    Kaih’s angular chin lifted, his gaze met Nina’s head-on. “That was some guy who works at the animal park.”
    Katie’s eyes narrowed. “And he was here, screaming at me like some deranged lunatic because?”
    Ingrid, her face wet with tears, cowered behind Kaih. Her reply bordered on a screech. “He was here because we stole Spanky!”

CHAPTER 5
    Katie whirled around, brushing her tangled hair from her face. “You did what?”
    Kaih held up a long-fingered hand to quiet the perpetually panicked Ingrid, tucking her behind his back with a protective hand. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this, Ingrid.”
    He sighed long and harsh before he began. “First, we didn’t exactly steal him. Okay, we stole him. He was injured, Doc. At least when we saw him behind the fence he was. You know how Ingrid is. She’s an animal lover just like you. She loses sleep worrying about them. She’d been down at the park, checking on the animals as best she could since the restraining order was placed on us. I told her those binoculars and that lame hat and sunglasses couldn’t be classified as a disguise.” He shook his dark head in disgust. “Whatever. The point is, when I went to investigate what she was so upset about, Spanky had a huge gash in his side. He was bleeding, Doc, and unconscious. We couldn’t leave him like that. We also couldn’t alert anyone inside the park—because, you know—”
    “Restraining order,” Katie supplied, her stomach a sea of nervous butterflies as Kaih let his story unfold.
    “Restraining order?” Marty chimed in, her poodle lying