BIG SKY SECRETS 03: End Game by Roxanne Rustand Page B

escaped them for so long—be with them, and bless them. And please, keep them safe. Her bright spirits faded as quickly as they’d come.
    The “keeping them safe” part was her department. But so far, she hadn’t worked hard enough, hadn’t been smart enough, hadn’t been able to see the pattern and the clues clearly enough to stop that killer in his tracks.
    Seventeen days until the next full moon.
    And if she hadn’t done her job well enough by then, someone else might die.

EIGHT
    “I really didn’t mean to buy a goat,” Scott muttered, standing with one foot hitched on the bottom rail of the corral by the barn. “It just…happened.”
    In the background, the crowd had followed the auctioneer to a rusty, ancient vehicle, where he began his rapid-fire patter extolling all of its amazing qualities.
    “Did you say you bought a goat? ” He looked so grim that Megan tried to smother her laugh. “By accident?”
    “A big one.”
    She followed his gaze to a white goat with impressive horns and a long beard. It appeared to be eating the fence. “Look—he’s trying to spring all his buddies.”
    “I know. I’m sure he and Attila will get along just great.”
    “Not that it’s my business, but how did this happen?”
    “Some teenagers standing next to me were really upset. They were talking about how they’d miss their grandpa’s hobby farm and all the animals he kept for them. One of the girls started crying, saying she’d caught some kids mercilessly teasing the goat and the other animals. When she tried to intervene, the kids said their parents were planning on buying every one of those animals, so she should mind her own business.”
    “So you bought the goat.”
    He cleared his throat. “And a pony.”
    “I really needed to get up here sooner, didn’t I,” she said solemnly. “Was there anything else?”
    “The tractor…and a goose. Not much.”
    “A goose. How sweet. I think we need to get you home.”
    A corner of his mouth tilted up in a boyish grin. “The tractor is old, but it’s perfect for what I need, and the price was right. This was a great sale.”
    She finally gave up and laughed. He’d seemed distant and even a little cold when she’d first met him, and until recently she’d even considered him a suspect in the Full Moon murders. Finding that his tough shell hid a soft heart made her like him all the more. “Maybe God was rewarding you for saving some of his creatures.”
    “I’m not sure He cares much about what I do. But if that’s the case, I guess I’ll accept it and be thankful.”
    Startled, she looked up at him.
    He caught her expression. “Oh, I’ve been a believer since I was a child. My parents never miss a Sunday at church, and that’s how I was raised. I’m just not so sure that God is listening to me anymore.”
    “But…”
    “I worked the streets of Chicago, Megan. Tell me that violence and greed and injustice doesn’t change you, if you see it every day. And if you’ve been in situations where a little intercession could’ve saved a life and God doesn’t answer—then you start to figure that maybe you’re in this alone.”
     
    Megan took a deep breath and led her old dog to the door of the vet clinic. She could feel his body trembling against her leg. “Whatever we have to face, we’re a team now,” she whispered. “And no matter what anyone says, I made the right decision when I brought you home.”
    He balked, then gave up and followed her inside, tagging along at the end of his leash, his head low and tail tucked between his legs. “It’s okay, Buddy. Neva Baker is the nicest vet around. You’ll see.”
    The old retriever’s eyebrows wobbled up and down as he looked up at her, then he sighed heavily, his head resting on her thigh when she took a chair in the waiting room. He clearly trusted her, but he’d been trembling from head to tail since they first arrived in the clinic parking lot.
    Now, if only the news here would be