Angela Campbell - On the Scent - A laugh out loud pet detective rom com!

“You okay?” Brian asked, and she shook herself, feeling slightly dazed.

“There are some bags in the kitchen.” Her fingers fumbled with opening the drawers, and Hannah swore under her breath. “The alarm company came out and repaired the alarm this morning, so it’s okay, right?” When she passed the plastic bag to him, Brian wasn’t smiling. “What?”

“I’ll be honest with you, Miss Dawson.”

“Hannah,” she reminded him.

“Security alarms are great at scaring off amateurs, but against people who really know what they’re doing, you’re wasting your money.” He looked sincere. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t have one, but considering your situation, you really should take extra precautions.”

She slid her hands into her back pockets again. “What kind of extra precautions?”

His stone-faced expression relaxed a bit. “Contacting us was a great start. I’ve got a few ideas we can work on—” He reached for the buzzing phone belted at his hip, frowned and told her, “I’m sorry. I need to take this.”

Hannah leaned back against the counter and felt something furry press against her bare arm. Abbott, the darn cat, had jumped up on the counter again and rubbed his black and white head against her elbow. He circled around and got her from the other side too. She guessed that meant he forgave her for giving him a scare earlier, so she picked him up and gave him a proper petting in apology.

Honestly, she didn’t know what she’d do without the cat and dog these days. Her little boys. She had a feeling she’d be ridiculously lonely without them.

They were her everything, which could mean only one thing.

She was a crazy cat lady. Well, crazy cat lady with a dog. Or maybe there was another name for her. Crazy…pet fanatic?

“Don’t panic!” Brian exclaimed from the other room. Abbott tugged away, demanding to be set on the ground again, and darted into the living room. Hannah followed Abbott, and Costello followed Hannah.

One thing was immediately obvious. Her massive muscle of a bodyguard was weak on his feet. She hurried forward the same second he reached out a hand to steady himself against the back of the sofa, only to crumple to the floor anyway. He never let go of his phone, though, and as Hannah knelt beside him—his color was pale and the pulse at his wrist was unusually high—he told the person on the other end, “Don’t worry. I’ll be right there.”

He pressed END on the phone and immediately began hyperventilating.

What the heck was going on?

Hannah checked his pulse again and then reached out to feel for his temperature. “Breathe slow,” she told him. “Deep breaths. Release. Good.”

Costello jumped up and began humping the leg that was sprawled out in front of Brian. “No.” Hannah told the dog, shoving him away. “You’re not helping.”

The dog sat back so his chunky body was gathered around his back feet. She shot him an I-can’t-believe-you look and shook her head, but the always-content canine opened his mouth and grinned.

“Are you having chest pains?” Hannah reached for Brian’s phone and began dialing 911. “Nausea? How’s your vision?”

Brian’s hand reached out and stopped her. “No.” He shook his head, looking dazed. A gleam of sweat glistened along his forehead. “I think maybe…panic attack?” He shook his head. “I’ve never had one before, but I’ve had friends who have.” He reached for her shoulder and tried to press himself up.

“What happened?” Against her better judgment, she helped him rise to his feet.

His fingers were trembling when he reached for his phone again. “My wife’s water just broke.”

“Oh.” As his words sank in, she felt him begin to tilt sideways and circled her arm around his back to keep him from falling again. Geez, the guy was heavy. My wife’s water just broke. “ Ooooh .” She’d seen this before. First-time father. Panic attack.

Hannah had only worked in labor and delivery during her student nurse rotations, but she’d seen enough to know Brian wasn’t the first tough guy to go down when labor began.

Brian stumbled around, and as his human crutch, Hannah stumbled around with him, the cat and dog dodging their footsteps. Hannah groaned. Where was a camera when you needed one? She didn’t have a monitor handy, but she suspected Brian’s blood pressure was dangerously low due to shock. She needed to get him seated and calm as soon as possible.

Propping her bodyguard against the wall, Hannah reached for her purse, hustled Abbot into his carrier and grabbed Costello’s leash. Then she wrestled the three-ring circus out of her living room and into her car.

She prayed they’d all make it to the hospital in one piece.

Zach clenched his back teeth to keep from saying something that would land him in a lawsuit or worse. He leaned forward, rested his forearms on his desk and fisted his fingers.

“You want to tell me that again?” His voice was terse.

Kellan Murphy met his gaze unflinching across the desk. For the last three years, Zach and Brian had considered him their next-in-charge, the most dependable guy on their team, a leader for the others.

“You’re quitting on us?” Zach clarified.

“I didn’t say that.” Red crept up Kellan’s neck and colored his cheeks. He looked away. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. I swear. It just happened. I thought you should know.”

Zach didn’t know how the hell sleeping with a client “just happened.”

At least the other man hadn’t sugar-coated things. Kellan had walked into his office, told him he’d gotten a job offer as a full-time bodyguard to their highest-paying client, an actress on a popular TV show filmed right outside of Atlanta. And by the way, Zach, I’ve also been sleeping with her for the past few weeks.

Zach popped another antacid into his mouth. This was exactly the kind of shit that had nearly tanked the agency. Regulars took a particular liking to one of their workers and stole them away along with the fees they’d been paying the firm directly. They’d lost good men and reliable income because their contracts hadn’t incorporated the proper penalty fees.

Oh, yeah. They’d suffered a sharp learning curve that first year of business, but things had gotten better, much better, once they’d found their stride. They’d hired a whip smart manager to run the business side of things while they’d focused on getting the job done. Then bam. Things had started to go to hell in a handbasket again.

Zach had taken himself out of the field after what had happened in Kirkwood. Then Gillian, their business manager slash receptionist, had gotten pregnant and left them to be a stay-at-home mom. A national chain had moved into their turf, specializing in cyber security along with traditional private investigations, and Collins Security Firm had started losing business. Too much business.

The few savings Zach had from his time on TV had already gone into purchasing vehicles and equipment. If he couldn’t somehow turn things around, and soon, they’d have to close the doors in three months, tops.

His attention swung back to Kellan. Sleeping with a client? The ex-cop should know better. It was career suicide. Eventually the actress would get tired of sleeping with him and fire his ass. Then where would he be?

“Does she understand we can sue her for hiring you away from us? It’s in her contract, and yours.” Zach reached into the bottom desk drawer where he kept his most important documents, including copies of the contracts with all of the firm’s highest-paying clients. As soon as the drawer opened, his gaze fell on a file labeled DYLAN at the front. All it held was the birthday card he’d bought years ago but was too much of a coward to mail to his little brother—not that he even knew his brother’s address anymore.