“Baby, I’m on my way,” he promised.
Disconnecting, her whole body shook as she looked down and saw the foam around her goats’ mouths. Forcing her mind to one more task, she called Sam Collins, gaining the promise that the vet would be right out.
Legs finally giving out, she dropped onto the grass next to the goats, her hands resting on either one as she sobbed.
23
That was how he found her. After racing to the farm, coming to a stop with gravel shooting behind his vehicle next to the house and running out to the field, Scott spied Lizzie sitting on the ground between two of her beloved goats, tears running down her face. He knelt down next to her, pulling her body into his, enveloping her in his embrace. Rocking her gently back and forth, he smoothed her hair away from her face.
She burrowed in close to him as though trying to dig her way inside to protect herself from the pain raging all around.
It only took a few minutes for Colt, Hunter, and two deputies to arrive. Right on their heels came Gareth and Katelyn, having been called by Scott as soon as he got off the phone with Lizzie. Scott looked up at Colt, uncertain what he should do.
Speaking softly, Colt said, “Lizzie, I know this is hard, but I’m gonna need you to walk me through what’s happened here.”
Before Lizzie had a chance to speak, an old truck pulled into the driveway but continued past the house, not stopping until it got to the gate. The sputtering noise from the engine had everyone swing their gazes around. Spying the veterinarian moving toward them, Colt muttered, “Jesus, Sam needs to get a new vehicle or get that one fixed.”
Scott had met the pretty, petite veterinarian when he first adopted Rufus and took him in to be checked. Samantha Collins was a dedicated veterinarian who would take care of any animal even if the owner could not pay. He had no doubt her vehicle was due to working in a rural area in the poorest counties in Virginia. But Colt was right, she definitely needed her truck checked out. He made a mental note to talk with Jason when he went back to town.
He watched Sam approach, her intelligent gaze settled on the scene in front of her before she sighed heavily. “Oh, fuck, Lizzie. I’m so sorry.”
Lizzie looked up through watery eyes and begged, “Please, Sam, tell me they didn’t suffer.”
It was easy for everyone to see that Sam struggled with Lizzie’s question, but Scott appreciated her reply. “Lizzie, honey, why don’t you let Scott take you back to the house. The Sheriff has to take a look around and so do I. As soon as we know what we’re dealing with, honey, I promise, I’ll come talk to you.”
Scott, knowing that Lizzie was in no shape to make a decision on her own, stood and assisted Lizzie to her feet. With his arm wrapped around her, he sent a pointed look toward Gareth and Colt, letting them know that he wanted to be involved in anything they found.
Katelyn stepped forward and said, “Lizzie, let’s go into the kitchen. You look like you could use a cup of tea, and we’ll make some coffee for everyone here.”
Scott was afraid that Lizzie would protest, demanding to stay in the field, but was grateful when she did not. Barely nodding at everyone, she took Katelyn’s hand and started to walk toward the house. Stopping, she turned back. “Don’t do anything with… them. At least not without me.”
His heart breaking for her, Scott watched as Katelyn wrapped an arm around Lizzie and led her back to the house, where they disappeared inside.
Whirling around, rage searing through him, he growled, “Colt, we gotta do something. This shit can’t keep going. First the property. Next the animals. When the fuck is somebody going to come after her?”
Sam’s gaze jerked from the goats on the ground to the men standing around. “Obviously, there’s things going on here that I had no idea about. Colt? I’m going to let you tell me what you need from me.”
Colt’s jaw ticked as he looked from Scott to the veterinarian. “Sam, I need to know the cause of death. Accidental or intentional.” Looking at Hunter, he said, “Get the deputies on the cut wire at their pen.”
Scott watched as Sam snapped on a pair of gloves before kneeling next to the goats. On her knees, she bent forward and examined their faces, pulling her phone out of her pocket to snap pictures. There appeared to be vomit on the ground nearby, and she scooped small samples, placing them into plastic bags. Moving to the other goat, she also took samples of fecal matter. Finally, she looked at the remains of cut plant limbs nearby, her mouth tight as she stood and turned toward the others.
“Azaleas are the standard flowering bush of the South but well-known to be poisonous to many animals, including goats. I remember Lizzie taking out all of the azalea bushes around the house when she decided to raise goats. Her grandfather hated to lose the pretty bushes that her grandmother had planted and loved, but he understood Lizzie’s need to make the entire area safe. Obviously, the goats don’t get to the house, but she didn’t want to take a chance.” Inclining her head downward to the clump of cut, half-eaten plants, she said, “That’s the source of the poison, right there.”
One of the deputies nearby scrunched his brow and asked, “So, the goats just got into the poisoned plant by accident and that’s all?”
Colt whipped his head around and bit out, “I hardly think the goats cut their own plants and brought them into their pasture to munch on. She just said that Lizzie got rid of all the azaleas. That would indicate somebody brought the plants in!”
The deputy blushed but continued to take pictures of the area. Scott, barely trusting his voice to hold with the anger coursing through him, asked, “Why would the culprit put the plants out here when the goats were in the pen near the barn? He would have done more damage to the whole herd if he’d toss the azalea bushes into that pen.”
Shaking her head, Sam said, “I’m afraid that’s for you all to figure out. I can’t begin to imagine what kind of person would poison defenseless animals.” Shifting her gaze toward Colt, she added, “I’m going to head to the barn and check out the rest of the animals to make sure there’s nothing else going on. Once you’re finished out here, let me know. I’ll take care of disposing of the goats after I talk to Lizzie.” With a nod from Colt, she collected her sample bags and headed toward the barn, and Scott was grateful that Sam had dropped everything to come out immediately.
Another deputy came from the barn and said, “The wire was definitely cut. Not a huge hole, but obviously enough that a couple of goats got out.”
Colt scrubbed his hand over his face. “That’s probably what they wanted. Someone is out to make things difficult for Lizzie but not necessarily try to destroy her whole farm.”
Scott looked at Colt and Gareth, saying, “I had the security camera feed into an app on my computer. I can also pull it up with my phone, but it may be too small for us to tell anything from here.”
“Let’s see it anyway,” Colt said.
The men moved into the shade so they could view his phone screen while Scott quickly opened the app. Scrolling along with his finger, they finally spied a shadow moving along next to the barn. Cursing, Scott said, “Fuck! I didn’t get the right camera angles. Fuckin’ hell, I don’t know if we can see any better than this.”