Chapter 14
14
I parked the ATV in the hardware store parking lot. It was as close to the animal hospital as I could get. Bernie was close behind me. I ran up to the door, but before I could open it, I stopped, because I saw Marlowe’s Jeep. The backend was beat to shit. So was the passenger side.
What the fuck?
Bernie came up behind me.
“Does this 4Runner belong to Marlowe?” he asked.
“Yep. And it wasn’t looking like this two days ago. Looks like someone rear-ended her. More than once. Sideswiped her, too.”
Furious, I turned and went into the animal hospital. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Nash Rivers, Lettie, Alice Draper, and some guy I didn’t know. Nash and the guy were hovering over Marlowe who was seated. I could tell she’d been crying. As soon as she saw me, she leaped up. I pushed my way between the two men and pulled her into my arms.
“Any news?”
“She’s been in surgery for over an hour,” she whispered into my shoulder. “Kizzie said it was bad when she examined her. Kai, I’m afraid she’s going to die.”
She started to cry.
I looked over my shoulder at Nash.
“Marlowe said someone was trying to run her off the road. Amber Road. Up near the Slurry slope.”
I squeezed her harder. I couldn’t help it. If they had succeeded, she would have gone over the steep side of the mountain.
I turned us around, so I was facing Nash and the other guy. “Any idea who did it?”
“All I could tell them was it was a big, black truck with two men in it,” Marlowe whispered into my chest.
“I have one of my deputies up there looking around,” Nash told me. “We’ll also be taking paint samples from the back of Marlowe’s Jeep.”
“Can you explain to us again who you think tried to run you off the road?” Nash asked. For the first time I noticed he had a notepad in his hands.
“It seems farfetched, but I’m suing my old principal for wrongful termination. I can’t imagine that she would be so upset that she would want me dead. That’s the only person I can think of who would want me dead.”
“Any old boyfriends?”
Marlowe pulled out of my arms. I didn’t like it, but I had to deal with it. “The last man I had in my life didn’t take it well when I left. But it was four years ago.”
“What do you mean, he didn’t take it well?” Nash asked the question I wanted answered.
“He sent me notes and followed me around. Stuff like that.”
“When did he stop doing that?”
Marlowe didn’t answer for a long time. “After I got a restraining order,” she finally admitted. I could hear the quaver in her voice.
I pulled Marlowe back into my arms.
“Marlowe, you didn’t file an order of protection with me when you came into town. That is one of the first things you should have done when you arrived.”
“It’s been four years,” Marlowe protested.
“Did you let the restraining order lapse while you were in West Virginia?” Nash continued.
She shook her head. “But that’s because the officer working my case would call me and remind me to re-file.”
Me, Nash, and the other guy all exchanged pointed glances. If the cop was doing that then there were definitely more things going on than just calls and him occasionally following her. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Lettie and Alice were listening in.
They’d want to provide emotional support to Marlowe, but there wasn’t a chance in hell I would let her out of my sight any time soon.
“What city in West Virginia did you file the restraining order, and what was the name of the officer who was handling your case?”
“Danville, Officer Tom Grant.” We all heard the reluctance in her voice.
“Sheriff, I’ll want to know what you hear from Officer Grant.”
“That’s not your purview,” Nash protested.
I raised my eyebrow, then nodded toward Marlowe. Nash tilted his head, and I knew I would be hearing what was in the report.
“Me too,” the other guy said.
“What’s your name?” I asked. I wasn’t nice about it.
“I’m Simon Clark. I run a security company here in town.”
“Why would a town this small need a sheriff’s office and a security company?”
“We work nationwide,” Simon replied. “You’re retired spec ops, right?”
I frowned. How in the hell did everybody know that? First Bernie, now this guy. I gave a small nod.
He pulled out his wallet and drew out a card.
Simon Clark
Security
There was no address, just a phone number.
“Give me a call. I had planned to call you, but this makes things easier.”
“I’m not planning to stay around. Just want to connect with my brother.”
Marlowe softly whimpered. It was so soft I barely heard it. But I did.
Dammit.
“Understood,” Simon said with a smile. “How’s the physical therapy going with Sam?”
I was beginning to hate this town. Seriously, did everybody know everything?
“It’s going fine.”
“Give me a call,” Simon said with a smile. He turned to Nash. “E-mail me anything you get from Officer Grant. I want in on this.”
“Won’t that be up to Marlowe?” Nash asked.
“It’s a freebie. Nobody fucks with people in my town.” Simon tipped his chin to Nash and me. “Marlowe, you call Trenda if you need anything, alright?”
“I will,” she said. She was still speaking to my chest. I liked it.
Nash pulled out his phone and started talking. It must have been on vibrate. “Okay, I’ll come outside.” He looked at me. “My guy is outside, ready to investigate Marlowe’s Jeep. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
I nodded.
“Marlowe, it was smart thinking, what you did up on that mountain,” Nash said. “You saved your life. And your dog’s.”
She whimpered. “But she might not live,” she said as she pushed away from my chest to look up at the sheriff.
“It was because of your quick thinking that Chaos has a chance. Be proud of yourself.” He squeezed her shoulder, then followed Simon out the door.
There was a story there, but I didn’t ask. Right now, I just wanted to get Marlowe sitting down close to me, and comfort her as we waited for Chaos to get out of surgery.
I’ll never know how I fell asleep in the chair, leaning against Kai’s chest. It must have been the adrenaline crash.
“Marlowe. Sweetheart. Wake up.”
I looked up and saw glacier-blue eyes. It took a moment for me to orient myself, and when I did, I sat straight up. Then I looked around. Kizzie was crouched down in front of me.
“Oh, God,” I cried out.
“No, Marlowe. It’s good news, so far. Chaos made it through the surgery with flying colors.”
“Can I see her?” I stood up, and so did Kizzie.
“Absolutely, but first I want to tell you the next steps. We’re going to keep her here for probably a week. We need to monitor her vital signs and hydrate her with intravenous fluids.”
I nodded. I was only halfway listening, I wanted to see my baby. Kizzie must have noticed, because she put her hand on my shoulder.
“Marlowe, when she’s released to you, there’s going to be a lot of other things that you’re going to do, like?—”
“Kizzie, can we go over this later? I just want to see Chaos.” Kai was standing beside me, his arm around my waist. Kizzie smiled.
“Sure, but she’s still sedated.”
“I don’t care. I just want to watch her breathe.”
“Come on back.”
I followed Kizzie back. She led me into a room where I saw Chaos had an oxygen mask on and an IV inserted. I wanted to cry again, but I wasn’t going to. These were good things. I went over to her and started to pet her behind her ears, just the way she liked. I put my lips really close to her ear.
“I love you, honey. I’m here for you. Pretty soon you’ll get to come home with me, and I’ll make you lots of yummy food, and I’ll get to pet you, and we’ll watch TV together. We’ll watch World of the Wild again. You like that show, remember?”
I thought I felt her ear flick, but it was probably my imagination. Still, I intended to visit her every day that she was recuperating.
“I love you, Chaos. Do what the doctor tells you to do, okay?”
I kissed her, then turned and saw Kai and Kizzie standing there. Both of them were smiling.
“Come on, Marlowe, let’s get you home,” Kai said. “Have you ever sat on the back of an ATV?”
“I’m from West Virginia.”
He grinned.
“Well, that answers that.”
He held out his hand to me and I grabbed hold, tight.
“Kizzie, I can’t thank you enough.”
“Marlowe, this was a fantastic day as far as I’m concerned. I’ll be smiling when I go to bed tonight. That’s all the thanks I need.”
I broke away from Kai and pulled Kizzie in for a hug.
“Well, still, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”