Wilde Chase by Susan Hayes Page B

his head free of
Ben’s hands to circle the hall. He whined once and then took off, moving as
fast as Ben would allow as he followed Kelly’s scent.
    They were back in
the parking lot in no time at all. Ben expected Chase to head straight to
Kelly’s car, but his partner veered off and started making for the entrance to
the alley. That didn’t make any sense, but Ben trusted Chase’s nose. In all the
years they’d been together, Chase had a near-perfect track and capture record.
Ben didn’t know why, but for some reason Kelly had headed toward the alley on
foot instead of going to her car.
    Chase raced into
the dark alley only to come to a sudden stop and double back. He started
barking, his paw scratching at the weatherworn concrete. Ben dropped into a
crouch beside him and started looking for whatever Chase had scented. It took
him a few seconds to find it in the gloom and a few seconds more to recognize
what he was holding: Kelly’s wallet. Fuck .
    “Good boy, Chase!”
Ben’s tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth and he had to force the words
past the lump of fear that was wedged in his throat, threatening to choke him. There
was no way her wallet had wound up here by accident. Kelly was in trouble. “Chase, Such ! Such Kelly.”
    Chase took off
like a shot, nearly pulling Ben off his feet. Chase’s nose was off the ground,
telling Ben that the track was so fresh that it was still suspended in the air.
She wasn’t far ahead of them now, and that didn’t make any sense either. Where
the hell was she going and why wasn’t she answering her phone? How had her
wallet ended up in the alley? He had far too many questions and no answers. Only
a terrible sense that time was running out.
    After a few
minutes Ben had a sinking suspicion he knew where Kelly was going. Her trail
was leading them straight to the clinic. Scenarios started racing through his
mind, each one more alarming than the last. His instincts screamed that this
was related to the break-in and the lowlife scum he’d spotted hanging around
outside the clinic earlier today. It was the only thing that made any sense.
    His worst
suspicions were confirmed when they got close enough to see that there was a
single light on at the clinic. The “Closed” sign was still hanging on the door,
and there was no one in the waiting room. The place should have been locked up
and dark, but it wasn’t. Someone was in there. It had to be Kelly. Every instinct
Ben had was screaming for him to do something, but instead he ordered Chase to
sit and forced himself to stay out of sight.
    He needed a plan.
    The night air was
oppressively hot, cloaking the street in a stifling blanket as Ben checked the
area. They were alone. Whatever was going on inside the clinic, they hadn’t set
a lookout. Ben snagged his phone from his back pocket and dialed. He was going
to need backup.
    Not that he had
any intention of waiting for his fellow police officers to arrive before he
went in. Kelly was in trouble. He wasn’t going to stand around. He was going in
there and do his job. To find her
and protect her.

Chapter Nine
     
    Panic alarms were
a great idea in theory, but Kelly was discovering they only worked when the
reason you needed to hit the damned button wasn’t already in control of the
situation.
    The tallest of her
attackers had kept the knife pressed to her side the entire walk to the clinic.
She’d tried to go slowly, exaggerating the injuries she’d gotten when she’d
been tackled. The tactic had worked, but it had come with a price. Kelly was
bleeding from a handful of cuts where he’d used the knife to prod her into
moving faster. There wasn’t anything she could do about them, except use her
hand to apply pressure and try to slow the bleeding. The cuts were shallow
enough they’d heal quickly, but only if she survived the night. Right now she
wasn’t sure that was going to happen.
    If she ever saw
Ben again, she owed him another apology.
    The would-be
thieves