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the door behind him, Tucker pushed to his feet to circle the room. The walls were covered haphazardly with tattered papers—changes in procedure, work schedules, and scribbled notes.
    A group of news clippings on a bulletin board drew Tucker’s attention. He had just stepped over to check them out when the door clicked open behind him. He turned to see Samantha Harrigan entering, a middle-aged female deputy following at her heels.
    “Since the two of you are friends, you can wait it out in here together,” the deputy said. “Might make the time pass more quickly.”
    Speaking simultaneously, both Samantha and Tucker blurted, “We aren’t really—” But then they both broke off before finishing the sentence. They weren’t exactly friends, after all—or even what most people might termacquaintances. But the alternative—being stuffed into a cell crowded with strangers—wasn’t appealing.
    The deputy removed Samantha’s handcuffs and gave her the same spiel Tucker had heard, that the drunk couldn’t keep his story straight and she should be out of there and headed home within a couple of hours.
    “Have you found the horse?” Samantha asked, rubbing her wrists where the cuffs had chafed her skin.
    “We’ve called the Humane Society,” the deputy assured her. “They’ve got people combing the fairgrounds trying to find him as we speak.”
    “He’s hurt,” Samantha stressed, “and probably frightened as well. He shouldn’t be wandering loose in a crowded compound. Horses are large, potentially dangerous animals, especially when they panic.”
    “We’re on top of it,” the older brunette insisted. “They’ll find him.”
    “When they do, will they return him to his owner?” Samantha asked.
    The deputy hooked the cuffs over her belt. “If what you’ve told us is true and the animal has been beaten, the owner will have to get a court order to reclaim his property.” She flashed Samantha a saucy grin. “A more likely scenario is that the judge will slap him with a heavy fine and give him some jail time. In Oregon, the penalty for animal abuse is a maximum of five years in prison and one hundred and twenty-five grand. The horse will go to a shelter to be adopted out. If the guy owns any other animals, the same will go for them.”
    “I’m impressed,” Samantha said. “I had no idea our laws on animal abuse were so strict.”
    “Legislators have concluded that there’s a link between animal abuse and human abuse,” the deputy explained. “By cracking down on criminal acts against animals, they hope to reduce the number of crimes against people as well.”
    Tucker folded his arms across his chest. “While on the subject, I need to fill out a report on this incident.”
    The deputy narrowed an eye at him. “Give us a break. okay? You’ll be walking out of here shortly. By filing countercharges, all you’ll do is create more red tape.”
    “I don’t want to file charges, just a report,” Tucker replied. “If I witness animal abuse of any kind, I’m required by law to file a report. If I fail to do so, I can be fined up to a thousand dollars, and it goes on my record.”
    “I don’t remember any law like that,” the deputy said dubiously.
    Tucker shrugged. “Look it up. I’m a vet. Oregon statute 686.455.”
    The deputy’s penciled brows lifted. Then she nodded. “I’ll bring you the paperwork.”
    Samantha tucked in her shirt with short, expert jabs of her slender fingers as she followed the deputy to the door. “I need to contact my family. No one knows where I am, and they’re going to be worried. Can I use this phone?”
    “No, ma’am. We’re so busy that all the lines have to be left open for official business only. When you’re released, you can call out on your cell or use the public phone in the other room.”
    Samantha sighed as the door closed behind the departing officer. She turned to face Tucker. Except for the bruise on her cheek, which was still bright pink,