Murder at Sunrise Lake

Once she hit the grove of trees, she slowed, pulled her gun and also her phone, shining the light over the ground. “Sonny? Bailey?” She called to both of them, uncaring if the attacker heard her. He would see the light. She held her weapon close to her body. If he saw her, hopefully he wouldn’t see she was armed.

She saw a splash of blood on the leaves first and her heart nearly stopped. Still, she resisted the urge to go rushing in without first taking a cautious look around with her light. She shone it completely around her and then up into the trees before taking steps farther into the grove. Bailey lay on his side, panting in pain, blood pooling on the ground under him, his coat matted with it. Beside him, Sonny stirred, tried to sit, groaned loudly and dropped his head into his hands.

Stella rushed over to them, but again shone the light in a circle to make certain the attacker was gone. He couldn’t be too far away. Bailey had four stab wounds that she could see visibly. Cursing, she took off her jacket and then her outer shirt to tie around him tightly.

“Sonny, how bad are you hurt? A sheriff will be here any minute. I’ve got to get Bailey to the vet or he won’t survive. I’ll take you down with me to meet the police or you can wait here for the sheriff.”

Sonny looked out of it, but she couldn’t see any stab wounds on him. There was no way she could leave him alone, not if the attacker was close by. Why had the watcher stabbed Bailey and not Sonny? Sonny looked like maybe he’d been hit on the head.

Sonny put his hand to the back of his head and looked up at her, moaning again. “What happened?”

“Someone hit you, I think. I’ve got to get Bailey to the vet.” She’d already texted the vet to meet her at the clinic, that it was an emergency. She hoped Bailey would survive the hour-long trip in. He had lost so much blood.

A powerful light burst over them. “Stella?” Griffen Cauldrey’s voice bellowed loudly. “Where are you?”

“In the grove,” she yelled back. “We need help, Griffen.”

She heard two sets of boots running, then Griffen was kneeling beside her and another deputy, Mary Shelton, was beside Sonny. Stella was grateful to turn over Sonny’s care to Mary so she could concentrate entirely on Bailey.

“Get a tarp. We’ll slip it under him and carry him to my rig. Let the vet know he’ll need blood,” Griffen said. “I can make it down the mountain faster than you can. Mary? Can you handle Sonny?”

“Yes, go,” Mary answered. “I’ve got this.”

“The attacker could be close,” Stella warned.

“I’ll be careful,” Mary said.

Stella was fast when she needed to be, but she had no doubt that Griffen knew what he was talking about. She ran to the shed and caught up a tarp and raced back, feeling as though too much time was passing. She just wanted to pick up her dog and run, but he was too big, and when a dog was in that much pain, he could be dangerous.

She talked softly to him while they maneuvered the tarp under him. It wasn’t easy, and even Sonny and Mary had to help. He bared his teeth, but he didn’t snap. Stella thought he didn’t have the energy because he’d lost too much blood, and that terrified her.

“Put your jacket on,” Griffen reminded before they started to lift Bailey onto the tarp.

She’d forgotten she’d taken it off. She’d forgotten her gun, which was lying on her jacket. She holstered the weapon and put on her jacket, unaware she’d been cold until that moment. They carried Bailey to the sheriff’s rig. She texted Sam to meet her at the clinic and then she texted Zahra, asking her to tell their friends. If Bailey didn’t make it, she didn’t know what she was going to do. Bailey had been her constant companion for years. Her family.

“He’s strong, Stella,” Griffen said.

“He lost so much blood,” she whispered.

“What the hell happened?”

“I don’t really know. I had this really eerie feeling that someone was out there watching. It wasn’t the first time. Sam has felt it too. I texted Sonny and he didn’t answer. He always answers. Then I called him. He didn’t answer his phone. I immediately called your office, but I couldn’t wait for you to come just in case Sonny was hurt and needed attention. I gave Bailey the command to find him. I heard Bailey roar as if he had gone into attack mode, and then he was screaming. When I got there, I found Bailey on the ground bleeding and Sonny was just waking up. He was trying to sit up. No one was around that I could see.”