Hope Flames: Hope Book 1 by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

phonefrom her pocket and dialed the local police, putting the phone to her ear as she backed into her office, Daisy in tow. She quietly shut the door behind her.
    “Someone’s breaking into my office,” she whispered, giving the dispatcher her name and address.
    “Are they still there?”
    “As far as I know, yes.”
    “Stay on the line with me, ma’am. We’ll have someone on the scene shortly.”
    Her hands were shaking as she took a seat, hoping Annie was okay out there with whoever was in her clinic. The pup was still so small, so sweet and innocent.
    Please don’t hurt her .
    Sweat ran down her back as she opened her desk drawers, wincing at the slightest sound the left drawer made. Nothing but paper clips and a stapler, hardly a handy weapon unless she threw it at someone.
    The right drawer had a pair of scissors. She grabbed them and stuck them in her pocket. She was not going to be helpless.
    Never again.
    She walked to the door and stood at the other side. If someone opened it, she could at least surprise them instead of sitting at her desk waiting for them to rush in and attack her.
    “Still there, ma’am?”
    “Yes,” she whispered, her voice quavering.
    “Our car will be there in thirty seconds.”
    She hoped she’d still be standing there in thirty seconds. Her heart pounded and her throat had gone sand dry. She couldn’t muster up enough saliva to swallow, and she felt the sudden need to cough. Daisy kept growling, and she had to keep a tight hold on her to keep her from barking.
    Emma shook violently, and it was all she could do to stand upright against the wall.
    It had been much longer than thirty seconds. But how much longer? She was so hot.
    She wanted to go find Annie. Poor Annie. She was tinyand playful, not at all a threat. Whoever was in there wouldn’t hurt a puppy, would they?
    She heard footsteps, then a loud bark.
    “Emma? Emma are you in here?”
    Luke.
    “Is the officer there now, ma’am?”
    “Yes. I’m hanging up now.” She clicked off the phone and opened the door.
    “I’m here.”
    Daisy took off like her tail was on fire. So did Emma, flying through the door. Luke was there, his gun in hand, looking fierce and alert, and oh, God, she’d never been happier to see anyone in her life. Boomer was circling the room, tail up, his neck fur standing on end. She threw herself against Luke, and when he wrapped his arm around her and tugged her close, she felt safe.
    “It’s okay, Emma. Whoever was in here is gone now.” Even better, he didn’t let go. She was still shaking. He holstered his weapon and put both arms around her, sliding his hands over her hair and her back. “It’s all right. He’s gone.”
    “Someone was in here,” she said against his neck.
    “I know. Your drug cabinet was broken into.”
    She finally pulled back, though every part of her was still shaking. “What?”
    “Boomer and I did a search of the whole place before I came to find you. Looks like they were after drugs.”
    Her fear was quickly replaced by shock. “Seriously?”
    “Yeah. Come on, I’ll show you, but be careful not to touch anything. Crime scene unit will want to dust for prints.”
    “Okay.”
    Just then Annie raced toward her. Tears pricked her eyes. She picked up the puppy. “Oh, Annie, I’m so glad you’re okay.” She inspected the puppy for any signs of injury, found none, and snuggled her close to her chest.
    As they walked through the clinic, Emma put both Annie and Daisy in one of the nearby kennels so neither of themwould cut their paws on the glass, or mess up the crime scene.
    She heard sirens outside but ignored them, sticking close to Luke as he led her to the room where they kept all the pharmaceuticals. Boomer followed.
    The room was a train wreck. One of the cabinets had been busted open, some of the drugs were clearly missing. Everything was out of order. They’d have to do a full inventory.
    “Damn.”
    “It was a dash-and-run, obviously,” Luke