Nothing To Sniff At (Animal Instincts Book 5) Read Online Free PDF

know that the game was up. We’d likely never find out what they’d planned on doing or how they planned on doing it. I felt like a heel, but I had to let him stay here.
    I looked around for information about the owner, anything that might help me understand why they would have taken the dog, but I couldn’t find anything to help me out. I knew that at some point in the very near future, I would be expected to talk to Barkley to find out why this had occurred. The more information that I had, the easier it would be to find a plausible explanation for the events. However, this yard and house was not telling me a thing except I needed to leave before I got caught playing with a dog. While normally people accepted that from strangers, I had a hunch that in this case, there would be repercussions.
    Barkley whimpered as I got up and walked back to my car. I called Brate from my cellphone in the car, but as luck would have it, he’d only given me his number at the station. When he didn’t answer there, I called the general police station number and learned that he had the day off. Just my luck. Apparently, he hadn’t thought that I’d get to the bottom of the situation quite so quickly. I made a note to be more thorough next time with my client information.
    I thought about making a fuss to get his home number, but even if I succeeded, I knew that the other Port Clinton officers would remember the incident. Given what Brate had told me, I didn’t want to stick out or be visible in any way to the station. So I thanked them and hung up. Barkley would have to wait for another day to be rescued.
    I imagined that I could hear Barkley whimper as I drove away.

Chapter 3
     
    I woke the next morning to a phone call. I rolled over but it was barely 6am. Brate was on the line, and he was talking so fast that I had trouble understanding him. I had to ask him twice to slow down before I could comprehend what he was saying.
    “Barkley’s been returned,” he said at a slower pace. “The other one spent the night at the station. Barkley did that once in a while, but I didn’t really feel right having an unknown dog in my home. When I got in today, Barkley was back to being himself.” He sighed loud enough for me to hear it on the other end.
    “That’s great,” I said. I was confused and rattled from sleep. My brain needed a minute to process all of the new information.
    I tried to take it in. Then I began to tell him my story of how I’d tracked Barkley down and found him at the house in Onyx. He asked a few questions about it, but I didn’t have much to add.
    Of course, not being a professional detective and not thinking that the thieves would return the dog before I could talk to Brate, I had no photos or other evidence to back up my claims. All he had for the trouble was a name and address of someone who would not be approached about the incident now that it was over. Brate didn’t want to make trouble or have anyone ask any questions about the events, so he wouldn’t look into it further. Doing so would highlight the fact that he’d been negligent about his treatment of the police dog.
    Brate asked for a meeting. I hoped it wasn’t a discussion to ask for his money back. My plan was for Barkley to tell me that he’d seen me at the house yesterday in Onyx. While that didn’t constitute proof in a court of law, it would back up my story and allow Brate to see that I’d earned my money.
    I managed to get a cup of coffee and wash my face before I met Brate at the Port Clinton police station. The small building was quiet at this time of morning, which is likely why Brate wanted to meet now.
    He was standing near the door with Barkley waiting for me. I nodded, and we went inside.
    “As I told you, I put Barkley, or rather fake Barkley, in his crate last night. When I got in this morning, the real one was in his place.”
    I didn’t even need to tell Brate my story. Barkley licked my face and hands when I bent down to