Chapter 14
Tammy
The drive to Leadville felt longer than usual.
Thurlee sat beside me in the ranch truck, chattering about the supplies she needed. Flour, sugar, some special spice blend she'd heard about from one of the ranch hands. I made appropriate noises, nodding when it seemed right, but my mind was elsewhere.
On Craig Broussard. On those vials of medication sitting in my clinic. On Seth, dying of sepsis when it seemed everyone did everything right.
"You're quiet," Thurlee said, glancing at me.
"Just tired." I forced a smile. "Didn't sleep well."
That was true enough. Ripplan had spent the night at John's bedside, and I'd lain awake most of the night staring at the ceiling, thinking about what I was going to say. How I was going to approach this without tipping my hand too early.
Because if Craig had deliberately tampered with those medications, or knew who had, then confronting him directly could be dangerous.
But I had to know. I had to be sure.
"Ripplan wanted to come," Thurlee said. "I told him we didn't need a man hovering over us while we shopped."
Relief flooded through me. "Thanks." If Ripplan had come he wouldn't have let me get within fifty feet of Broussard.
"You need to do this alone." Thurlee's voice was gentle. "Whatever it is you're planning."
I glanced at her sharply. "What makes you think I'm planning something?"
"Because I'm not an idiot." She smiled, but there was concern in her dark eyes. "Just be careful, okay?"
"I will."
We drove the rest of the way in silence.
Leadville looked the same as always. Quaint, picturesque, the kind of mountain town that belonged on a postcard. The pharmacy sat on Main Street, its old-fashioned sign swinging gently in the breeze.
Thurlee dropped me off at the curb. "I'll be at the market. Text me when you're done?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
I watched her drive away, then turned to face the pharmacy. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
The bell chimed as I pushed through the door. The smell hit me immediately. That distinctive pharmacy scent of antiseptic and paper. It should have been comforting. Instead, it made my stomach turn.
I grabbed a basket and started browsing. Bandages. Gauze. Antiseptic wipes. Things I didn't actually need but gave me an excuse to be here.
My mind raced. How was I going to approach this? I couldn't just accuse him outright. But I needed to gauge his reaction, see if he'd slip up, reveal something.
"Tammy."
I jumped, nearly dropping the box of gauze I'd been holding.
Craig stood at the end of the aisle, arms crossed, a knowing smile on his face. He looked relaxed. Confident. Like he'd been expecting me.
"Craig." I forced my voice to stay steady. "Hi."
"Heard about your patient." He moved closer, his smile widening. "The Orc who got snakebit up in the mountains. Must have been quite the ordeal."
My pulse quickened. "How did you hear about that?"
"Small town. Word gets around." He shrugged. "Especially when it involves the ranch. People talk."
"Right." I set the gauze in my basket, trying to look casual. "He's fine now. Healed up well."
"Did he?" Craig's tone was light, almost conversational. But there was something underneath it. Something sharp. "That's surprising. Western diamondback, wasn't it? Those bites are nasty. Even with anti-venom, recovery usually takes weeks."
"He's an Orc. They heal fast."
"Still." Craig leaned against the shelf, studying me. "You must have done a hell of a job treating him."
"That's my job."
"I thought your job was to doctor the humans." His voice hardened slightly. "Not the Orcs."
Heat flashed through me. Anger mixing with fear. "My job is to treat anyone who needs medical care. I'm not going to let someone die just because—"
"Because what?" Craig's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Because they're not human? Come on, Tammy. You told me yourself when you first got here. You're only interested in treating the ranch hands. The humans. Remember?"
I did remember. I'd said that to avoid making an enemy of him. To keep things professional.
Now I wished I'd told him to go to hell.
"People change their minds," I said carefully. "And when someone's dying in front of you, you don't stop to think about species. You just help."
"Noble." Craig's tone was mocking. "But stupid. Those Orcs don't deserve your help. They don't deserve to be here at all."
"That's not your decision to make."
"Isn't it?" He pushed off the shelf and moved closer.
Too close. I could smell his cologne, something sharp and unpleasant.
"This is my town. My family founded Leadville.
We've been here for generations. And then those creatures show up, buy land that should have gone to family, act like they own the place—"
"They do own the place. They bought it legally."
"With stolen gold." Craig's voice dropped, venom seeping into every word. "Gold they mined from underneath land that wasn't theirs. They're thieves. Parasites. And people like you, people who help them, who treat them like they're equals, you're just as bad."
My hands were shaking. I gripped the basket handle tighter, trying to steady myself.
"I didn't come here to argue," I said. "I came to talk about the medications."
Craig's expression shifted. Just slightly. A flicker of something. Wariness, maybe. Or calculation.
"What about them?"
"I think something's wrong with them."
Silence. Craig stared at me, his face unreadable.
"Wrong how?" he asked finally.
"The antibiotics." I forced myself to meet his eyes. "They're not working the way they should. I've been treating patients and the response times are off. Slower than expected. Sometimes nonexistent."
"Antibiotics take time to work."
"Not this much time." I took a breath. "Seth died of sepsis. Despite daily antibiotics. And Ripplan, the Orc who was snakebit, he nearly died too. Despite anti-venom, despite everything I gave him. His body fought off the venom on its own. The medications didn't help at all."
Craig's jaw tightened. "Maybe you're not as good at your job as you think."
"Or maybe the medications are compromised."
The words hung in the air between us.
Craig's smile returned, but it was different now. Colder. More dangerous.
"That's a serious accusation," he said softly.
"I'm not accusing anyone. I'm just saying something's wrong. Maybe they were stored improperly. Maybe there was a bad batch. Maybe—"
"Maybe you should mind your own business."
The shift in his tone made my blood run cold. All pretense of friendliness was gone. His eyes were hard, his posture threatening.
"It is my business," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "I'm the medical provider for the ranch. If there's something wrong with the medications I'm using, I need to know."
"Seth died because he was weak. Because he worked for Orcs and got what he deserved." Craig stepped closer. "And if that Orc had died too? Good. One less beast polluting our town."
Horror washed over me. "You knew. You knew the medications wouldn't work."
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to." My voice shook. "You tampered with them, didn't you? You deliberately gave me compromised medications knowing people would die—"
"Careful, Tammy." Craig's voice was low, dangerous. "You're making claims you can't prove, in a town my family owns."
He took another step toward me, closing the distance between us.
The pharmacy suddenly felt too small, the walls pressing in.
For a moment, just a fleeting, desperate moment, I wished Ripplan was there.
Wished I could feel his solid presence at my back, his protective instinct that would never let anyone threaten me like this.
But I was alone. And I had to handle this myself.
"I'm not claiming anything. I'm stating facts. Seth died of sepsis despite proper treatment. Ripplan nearly died despite anti-venom. The only common factor is the medication, all of which came from your pharmacy."
"Correlation isn't causation." Craig's smile was cruel now. "Maybe you're just a shitty NP. Ever think of that?"
"I'm not—"
"Or maybe those Orcs are just weaker than everyone thinks.
Maybe their bodies can't handle human medications.
Maybe they're not as superior as they pretend to be.
" He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"Or maybe, just maybe, someone decided it was time to remind them they're not welcome here. That this land belongs to humans."
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst. "It's murder."
"It's not murder to kill an animal around these parts." His smile was vicious.
The casual cruelty of it, the calculated malice, made me want to vomit.
"You're sick," I whispered.
"I'm a realist. There's a difference." Craig turned and walked toward the counter. "Now if you're done, I suggest you leave. And Tammy? Next time you need medications? I'd recommend driving to Frisco. Because you're not welcome in my pharmacy anymore."
I walked the few blocks to the market, my arms wrapped around myself despite the afternoon warmth.
Every shadow felt like a threat. Every footstep behind me made my pulse spike.
I kept looking over my shoulder, expecting to see Craig following me. Or worse. Because if he was willing to murder Orcs with tampered medications, what would stop him from coming after me? I was a witness now. I knew what he'd done.
God, I was being paranoid.
But was I? Seth was dead. Ripplan had nearly died. And Craig had all but confessed to tampering with medication.
A truck rumbled past and I flinched, my heart hammering. Just a local rancher heading home. Not anyone dangerous.
I forced myself to keep walking, to keep my pace steady and normal. The last thing I needed was to draw attention to myself. To look like prey.
I wished Ripplan was here.
The thought came unbidden, fierce and desperate. I wanted his solid presence beside me, his hand at the small of my back. I wanted to hear his low rumble of a voice telling me everything would be alright. I wanted to feel safe.