Chapter 7 #2
Bernie ducked into a small office, snagged the spare keys for the produce truck and ran to get in front of Gerard.
She opened the passenger door and waited for Gerard to climb in with Howey and settle into the passenger seat.
Once they were in, she shut the door, ran around to the driver’s side, climbed in and twisted the key in the ignition.
The engine turned over once and died.
“Come on,” she urged and turned the key again. This time, the engine caught and roared to life.
With her foot on the clutch, she shifted into first, released the clutch and eased her foot onto the accelerator. The truck lurched forward, steadied and rumbled down the driveway as she headed for town.
She shot glances toward Gerard and Howey several times on the way. “Is he breathing?”
“I can’t tell. But his body is still warm,” Gerard replied, holding the dog close.
Bernie didn’t slow much once she reached the outskirts of town. Dr. Saulnier, the only veterinarian in town, was two blocks past Broussard’s Country Store and one block north of Main Street.
Bernie blew past the sheriff’s office, the fire station and Broussard’s, slowing as she neared the turn off Main.
She took the turn a little faster than the old truck liked, the tires squealing as it slid sideways.
Quickly straightening the wheels, she skidded to a stop in front of the vet’s clinic.
The engine hadn’t completely shut down by the time Bernie leaped from the driver’s seat and rounded the hood to the passenger side.
She flung open the door and helped Gerard slide out with Howey.
Once they were on the ground, Bernie ran ahead, opened the door to the clinic and waited for Gerard to enter.
Then she was at the desk. “Linda, please tell me Dr. Saulnier is in. Something’s wrong with Howey. I think someone tried to kill him.”
Linda’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, dear. Yes, the doctor is in. He’s with a patient. I’ll let him know it’s an emergency.” She rushed from the room into the back of the office. When she returned, Dr. Saulnier was with her.
“Bring him into exam room one,” he said and led the way.
Once in the small room, the doctor had Gerard lay the dog on the stainless-steel table and immediately pressed his stethoscope to Howey’s chest. “He has a heartbeat. It’s slow but steady. Did he eat something he shouldn’t have?”
“Not that I know of,” Bernie said. “I think someone might have poisoned him. I found him in the barn with the door closed after I’d left him on the porch last night.
And my trailer full of watermelons was destroyed.
Howey always warns me when intruders are near the house or barn at night.
Whoever smashed my melons had to have given him something to keep him quiet, or I would have heard him. ”
“Leave Howey with me,” the doctor said. “I’ll give him something to counteract poison and keep him under observation overnight. I’ll keep you informed of his condition.”
Bernie didn’t want to leave Howey. What if he woke up and was confused about his surroundings? He’d think she’d abandoned him.
“As out of it as he is, it will be a while before he’s coherent enough to care about his surroundings. We’ll take good care of him,” Dr. Saulnier said. “Now, go. The sheriff needs to know what happened.”
“He’s right,” Gerard cupped her elbow in his palm. “We need to let the sheriff know what happened.”
She knew he was right, but she hated leaving Howey in a strange place with no one he knew to wake up to.
Bernie let Gerard guide her out of the office and into the parking lot. A sheriff’s vehicle had pulled up behind the old produce truck, and Deputy Taylor was getting out.
“Bernie, what’s going on?” she asked. “You blew through town like the devil was on your tail.”
“It’s Howey,” Bernie said, choking on the lump rising in her throat. “He might d-die.”
Taylor reached out and touched Bernie’s arm. “Holy shit. What happened?”
“I—we—” Bernie started shaking and couldn’t stop. She’d held it together for so long, staying strong for Ray throughout his battle with ALS, his death, the struggle to get the farm back up and running and now this.
Gerard folded her into his arms. “We need to get some food in you,” he said.
“Take her to Tante Mimi’s Diner,” Deputy Taylor said. “I’ll contact the sheriff, and we’ll meet you there.”
Gerard helped Bernie into the passenger seat of the old truck.
“I can drive,” she said as he leaned across her to snap the belt into the buckle.
As he backed out, he brushed a kiss across her forehead. “I know you can, but let me help.”
She didn’t argue, glad for once that someone else was taking charge.
As she sat back against the seat and stared ahead, a thousand thoughts came rushing at her like a firehose out of control.
She couldn’t process any of them, knowing Howey, her trusted hound dog, lay unconscious on a cold stainless-steel table because someone had likely poisoned him.
Gerard climbed into the driver’s seat and secured his seatbelt. He turned to her. “Howey’s in good hands. Dr. Saulnier will do everything he can to save him.”
She knew he would, but what if he couldn’t save him?
Her heart lurched in her chest, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
“Ray brought Howey home the day after the doctor told him the ALS had progressed, and there wasn’t anything they could do.
” She swiped at the second tear. “He was just a puppy with big feet and big ears. All I could think when he carried him through the door was how much work he’d be while I was taking care of Ray through the end of his life. ”
Gerard reached out and wrapped his fingers around hers. He didn’t speak, just listened.
“Ray said Howey would be the last puppy he would ever get to love. He said that Howey would be there for me when he was gone. Ray knew I needed to be needed. Before I’d met him, I’d lost everyone I’d ever loved.
Losing him would leave me alone again. He couldn’t stand the thought of me being alone.
” Tears spilled down her cheeks. She couldn’t stop them. “If I lose Howey...”
Gerard’s fingers tightened around hers. “It would be like losing Ray all over again.”
She nodded.
“You loved him.”
Again, she nodded.
“He was a lucky man,” Gerard said softly.
She laughed. “Lucky? He died of ALS before he turned forty. How is that lucky?”
“He didn’t die alone,” Gerard said. “He had you. Your husband died knowing he was greatly loved. Not everyone is that fortunate.”
“Howey can’t die.” Bernie blinked back tears, her jaw hardening.
“He deserves to live a long, healthy life. Whoever did this to him...whoever killed Gertrude...” She couldn’t think of any punishment painful enough to equal the pain she felt for her beloved pets.
“This has to stop,” she said, bunching her free hand into a fist. “Maybe I need to sell the farm and move my animals somewhere they won’t be targeted by greedy investors. ”
“Your life might be easier if you didn’t have to run a farm all by yourself,” he said, “but is that what you really want?”
“No,” she said. “I want whoever is targeting my farm and my animals to stop. I guess I need to stay awake all night to guard my animals and produce.”
“That’s not practical,” Gerard said.
“I might as well.” She waved her free hand.
“I won’t be able to sleep knowing someone might be out there hurting my animals and destroying my livelihood.
As it is, I’ll only make half what I had hoped to make on my melons, and only if I can deliver the other half intact.
I was counting on that income to pay my taxes. ”
“We’ll think of something,” Gerard said.
“What? I can’t grow a field of watermelons overnight. The season is ending. I won’t be able to plant again until next spring. It’ll be next fall before I can harvest again.”
Gerard’s hold on her hand tightened. “We’ll figure it out.” Then he let go and turned the key in the ignition. The engine started right up.
Of course, it did.
Bernie shook her head. She couldn’t let this get to her. Nothing got better from whining about it.
She sat still while Gerard pulled out of the parking lot, drove onto Main Street and turned toward Tante Mimi’s Diner.
“I’m sorry,” Bernie said. “I’m not usually so negative.”
“You’re allowed to vent.” He shot her a quick glance and returned his attention to the road. “It’s been a shitty twenty-four hours.”
“Not all of it,” she said softly.
He looked again, his gaze gentle. “No, it hasn’t all been so bad.”
“No, it hasn’t.” She looked out the side window. “But the bad sure does suck.”
“But knowing you now for a whole twenty-four hours, I know you won’t give up. You’re one of those that when the going gets tough...”
“—the tough get going,” she finished, squaring her shoulders. She looked forward, her eyes narrowing. “I’m not a quitter. And they’re not going to beat me. If they want a fight...bring it.”
“That’s my girl,” Gerard said with a grin. “Let’s get some food in you, talk to the sheriff and get back out to the farm to see what we can salvage.”
Bernie was fired up and mad, ready to take on these people who were making her life hell. She only wished she knew who was doing it. She had an idea of who might be behind it, but the actual culprits? Not a clue.
If she had to, she’d sit up all night with her shotgun ready. When he showed up to commit more mayhem in an effort to scare her off her property, she’d fill the bastard’s ass full of buckshot.
She’d teach him what happens when you kill a girl’s goose and poison her dog.