Walk On By (Passing Through Series Book 3)

by Sarah Hegger

  “No.” She managed a smile, but he never wanted to see that haunted look in her eyes again. “I really would rather be on my own.”

  And what could he do? He wanted to protest and argue, but he had no right to keep her there. “Okay. Call if you need me.”

  She nodded but she wasn’t looking at him.

  “Kelly?” He waited until she looked at him. “Call me if you need me.”

  And some part of him hoped like hell she needed him sometime soon.

  He watched her walk away and disappear around the corner before he turned for home.

  Arms crossed, Peg scowled at him. “You’re an idiot.”

  Arguing wouldn’t do him any good, because Peg was Peg, and he also suspected she might be right.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Gabe didn’t sleep well and woke the next morning in a crappy mood. His mood wasn’t improved by finding Belinda already up and sitting in the kitchen with Ma.

  Ma looked up when he came in. “You look tired.”

  “Yeah.” He helped himself to coffee. “I didn’t get a great night’s sleep.”

  “Must have been that fight you had with Kelly last night.” Looking annoyingly smug, Belinda drank her tea.

  Gabe bit back his irritation. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of getting a rise out of him. “I didn’t have a fight with Kelly last night.”

  “Really?” She raised her eyebrows. “Because we missed both of you at dinner.”

  He’d come home, grabbed a sweatshirt and some shoes and gone to the Elk for a beer and a burger and an ass kicking at pool, courtesy of Cara.

  Ma gave Belinda a sharp look. “I told you that last night.”

  “I must have forgotten.”

  Yeah like hell she had, which brought up a question. “Kelly was upset last night. Did you say something to upset her?”

  “What could I have said?” Belinda spread her arms.

  He didn’t buy that either, but his phone rang, and he checked caller id.

  “Hey, Cara. What’s up?”

  Cara chuckled. “I’ve got something for you Dr. Wildlife Whisperer. Interested?”

  Let’s examine his choices. Spend the day with his toxic ex or go and wrangle a critter. “Is it a skunk?”

  Cara laughed harder. “Nope. You coming?”

  “On my way.”

  Gabe threw on some clothes and shoes, brushed his teeth and kissed Ma goodbye. “Cara needs a hand.”

  “I can come with you.” Belinda popped up from the table. “Help you. Like I always do.”

  Ma got her by the arm. “You don’t want to do that, dear.”

  Belinda cast him a beseeching look. “But—”

  “No.” Ma had raised five big and active boys, and if she didn’t want you to get out of her grip, you stayed put. “You’re going to stay with me. We’ll have some breakfast, do your laundry so you can start packing, and discuss the differences between reality and fantasy.” She waved him off. “You go ahead. Say hi to Cara for me.”

  *

  Cara’s critter was a fawn, and it was being clutched to the chest of sandy-haired boy of about ten or eleven. “I found him.”

  “Where?” Damn this wasn’t good. Does would often leave their fawns alone while they foraged. People often mistook them for being abandoned.

  The boy’s mother looked anxious. “We think it might be sick.”

  “Let me have a look.” Damn Cara for putting this on him. He sent her a look that told her so. Still, it beat the at home alternative, and he examined the fawn thoroughly. It was very young, but there was nothing wrong with it. But he also needed to impart some wisdom.

  Colton was looking at the fawn. “Can I keep him?”

  “Listen, Colton.” He crouched to get eye level with the guy. “When I was your age, I used to rescue all sorts of things. Once even a deer, like you did.”

  “Did you keep him?”

  “No, I put him back where I found him.” He glanced at the mother, and she nodded for him to go ahead. “Because often their mothers need to leave them alone so they can feed. They leave them somewhere hidden from predators. Do you remember where you found him?”

  “Under a bush.” Colton frowned. “Mom and I were out for a walk. I only saw him because my water bottle rolled under his bush. He was lying so still.”

  “And his mother will remember where she left him.” He stood and looked at Colton’s mother. “We need to put him back and hope she hasn’t returned for him yet. I would put him back and keep an eye on him from a distance.”

  “Why can’t he live with us?” Colton was not giving up without a fight.

  “Because he’s a wild animal,” his mother said, relieving Gabe of the necessity. She scooped up the fawn and cradled it next to her chest. “Now say thank you to doctor Gabe.”

  “Thank you.” Colton didn’t look at all thankful as he followed his mother out.

  Cara leaned against the doorjamb. “Look at you doing the people thing.”

  “Shuddup.” He joined her in the corridor. “How’s Bruce doing?”

  “Come and see.” She opened the door to the holding area.

  Bruce thumped his tail when he saw Gabe. He pointed to the cone. “Has he been at his stitches?”

  “He tried.” Cara pulled a face. “And now it’s the cone of shame for him.”

  “Poor guy.” Gabe crouched and stuck his fingers through the mesh. “Any sign of infection?”

  “Nothing.” Cara grinned. “I’m going to get him on some gentle exercise tomorrow before the poor guy goes out of his mind.”

  “Do you hear that, Bruce?” He really was a good-looking dog and Gabe suspected a Great Dane must have been involved in his conception. “Cara is going to take you walking.”

  Cara chuckled and then shook her head. “I’ve been even busier lately. I really do need to get on that assistant thing.”

  “And a receptionist.”

  Cara made a face at him. “Yeah, but I’m battling to find the right person.” She wore a mulish expression. “Apparently I’m not easy to work with.”

  “No.” Gabe faked shock and stood. A Maltese poodle wagged its tail at him. “What’s up with him? Neuter?”

  “Yup.” She motioned the room next door. “I have something interesting on the other side if you want to take a look.”

  Did he ever. “Let’s do this.”

  They worked late into the evening, and Gabe couldn’t say he’d been bored once.

  Some people might find Cara difficult to work with, but he liked her attention to detail and how exacting she was when it came to her patients. Twin Elks was lucky to have a vet like her.

  He also really liked the way she kept a six-pack of beer in the vaccines fridge.

  It was full dark outside by the time they shut the front doors and grabbed a cold one.

  Cara took a swig and sighed. “Thanks for your help today.” She took another sip. “And I don’t think I ever thanked you for getting the prayer chain involved in my business.”

  He chuckled. “Never underestimate the power of the prayer chain.”

  “They’re scary.” Cara snorted.

  He pointed his beer bottle at her. “And best you remember that, missy.”

  Gabe was tired but he felt great. It felt like a long time since he’d had a good time at work and shared a beer with his coworkers afterwards. He wanted to call Kelly and share with her, but that option was no longer open to him.

  Rapping on the front door made Cara swear as she got to her feet. “I’m hoping this is pizza and not an emergency.”

  “Great idea,” Gabe called after her. “Did you order pizza?”

  “Gabe.”

  The urgency in Cara’s voice got him moving to the front.

  The woman standing with Cara lo
oked familiar. As he drew closer, he put the pieces together. It was the mother of the boy who had brought him the deer. “Mrs. Clark. Everything okay with Colton?”

  “No. I don’t know.” Mrs. Clark wrung her hands. “I was hoping to find him here.”

  “No.” Gabe glanced at Cara and she shook her head. “It’s just the two of us here. And the animals.”

  Mrs. Clark paled and squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t know where he is. I don’t know where to look.”

  “I’ll call Ben.” Gabe grabbed his phone. In Twin Elks they didn’t have to wait to report a kid missing. Ben would get right on it. “When did you last see him?”

  Mrs. Clark’s hands shook as she tried to push a tendril of hair back. “I can’t remember. Let me think.”

  “Here.” Cara handed her a paper cup of water and guided her into a seat. “Breathe and think this through.”

  “It must have been shortly after we left here.” She sipped the water and gathered herself with a huge breath. “Yes, that was it. We took the fawn to where we found him. Like Dr. Crowe told us to, and then we came home for lunch. Colton was really worried about the little thing and I said we would check later.”

  “Did you?” Gabe waited for Ben to answer his phone.

  Mrs. Clark shook her head. “No. I got busy, and then I had to pick my daughters up from dancing.”

  “Hey, Ben,” Gabe said as his brother answered. “Can you meet us at the veterinarian’s? We need a hand finding Colton Clark.” He hung up. Ben would be on his way as soon as he could. “What was he wearing?”

  “Umm…” Mrs. Clark pressed a hand to her head. “Jeans, blue jeans and a Titan’s sweatshirt.”

  “Don’t tell my brother Mark that.” Gabe tried to ease her worry. “He plays for the Strikers.”

  “Right.” Mrs. Clark swallowed and gave him a wan smile. “I knew that.”

  He crouched at her feet. “Can you tell me where you released the animal?”

  “Do you think he might have gone back there?” Hope dawned on Mrs. Clark’s face. “I drove past but I didn’t see anything.”

  “It’s what I would have done,” Gabe said. “When I was Colton’s age, I was animal mad.”

  “So is he.” She grabbed his hands in an iron grip. “We should go and look.”

  “Good idea.” Gabe stood and grabbed his coat. He turned to Cara. “Can you talk to Ben when he gets here?”

  She nodded.

  “Also, get hold of my mom and get the prayer chain working.”

  Mrs. Clark swayed on her feet. “You don’t think he’s—the prayers.”

  “No, it’s not that.” Gabe put his hand under her elbow. “But in this town, nothing happens that the prayer chain doesn’t know about.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Gabe drove with Mrs. Clark sitting beside him, her knuckles white from clasping them together. “It’s getting cold,” she said.

  “Yup.” Gabe drove through town and took the road leading up to the hiking trails. “But we have a blanket.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t believe he would do this.”

  “Maybe he hasn’t.” Gabe squeezed her ice-cold hand. “Let’s eliminate this possibility and get the prayer chain and Ben working on the alternatives.”

  They didn’t speak much as he drove. A sharp wind tossed bare tree branches around as a new weather pattern moved in. They would probably have snow sometime tomorrow. By which time, they would have Colton safely with his mother.

  Shit! If he’d only watched his mouth, Colton wouldn’t be out here on his own.

  His phone rang and it was Ben. “Hey there. I’ve got Mrs. Clark with me and we’re heading up to Overhang pass.”

  “I’ll meet you there.” Ben hung up.

  Mrs. Clark guided him close to the trailhead for the hike where she and Colton had left the fawn. Gabe parked and grabbed his flashlight out of the trunk with a blanket.

  “I want you to stay here and wait for Ben.” He didn’t fancy her chances in her present shoes. “I’m going to take the trail and see what I can find.”

  “I feel so useless standing here.” She was holding it together amazingly well. At least on the outside.

  “You’re waiting for help, and also in case Colton is closer by than we think.” He held up his phone. “Tell my brother I have it on me.”

  Gabe took the trail at a quick pace, the flashlight lighting his way. He’d hiked the area as a kid all the time and knew it well.

  Coyotes chuckled in the distance, but not close enough to be trouble.

  He found the area Mrs. Clark had described and crouched to peer beneath the bushes. The ground had been flattened and some branches snapped where Colton had put the fawn back.

  The fawn was long gone and larger hoof prints in the old snow on either side of the bush suggested the doe had been back at some point. At least, Gabe could see no sign of a predator having gotten the little creature. But there was also no sign of Colton.

  Gabe walked slowly further down the trail, scanning his flashlight over the floor. A boy-sized shoe print had cracked the thin ice layer on the side of the trail.

  Colton must have come to check on the fawn without his mother. Gabe owed his own mother an apology for the number of times he’d done this sort of thing to her.

  Senses straining in the dark for any sign of the boy, he moved down the trail.

  The ring of his phone jarred the silence and made him jump.

  “Gabe,” Ben said. “I’m coming up behind you.”

  “Great.” Searching through vast black emptiness could take too long. “Maybe we need to get search and rescue out here. It’s dark and the temperature is dropping.”

  Then Ben said, “Any sign of him?”

  “Yup. He was here, and it looked like he might have gotten turned around and gone further down the trail rather than back to the trailhead.”

  “Damn.” Ben drew a deep breath. “I’ll call the mountain rescue boys.”

  They would need them if Colton had gotten himself turned around in the dark. Easy enough in the daytime, the trails looked very different at night. Noises in the dark could all carry threats for one small boy and disorient him.

  Gabe remembered that feeling well.

  His phone rang again, loud and discordant in the dark. “Ben?”

  “They’re on their way. I’m almost with you.”

  “Good.” Gabe shone his flashlight around him to orient himself. “Tell them I’m about—”

  “Doctor Gabe?” A small querulous voice came out of the dark.

  Heart pounding, Gabe stopped. “Gimme a second, Ben.” He strained his vision against the dark. “Colton?”

  “Doctor Gabe.” His name came out on a sob. “Is that you?”

  “It’s me, Colton.” He knew Ben could hear them. “I’m going to turn and wave my flashlight; can you see it?” He spoke to Ben as he waved. “I think I have him.”

  “Thank Christ.” Ben breathed hard. “Is he okay?”

  “I’ll let you know.” Gabe hung up. “Colton, can you walk.”

  “Y-yes.” The voice came from Gabe’s left and he moved in that direction.

  “Did you hurt yourself?”

  “N-no.” Colton sounded like he was crying now.

  Poor little guy. He must be scared shitless. “Can you tell me what hurts?”

  “Nothing hurts.” Colton hiccupped. “But I got scared and I had an…accident.”

  “What sort of accident?”

  “The bathroom kind.”

  Gabe’s heart ached for the kid. “I’m sure you did,” he said. “I would have too.”

  “Really?”

  “For sure.”

  The bush crashed and a short form coalesced out of the dark.

  Gabe reached for him and picked him up. He di
dn’t give a crap about Colton’s wet pants. “There you are.”

  “Doctor Gabe.” Colton’s entire body shook with tears. “I was so scared, and then I peed and my pants were wet. Mom is going to be mad because of me going away, and only babies pee themselves.”

  Ben emerged from the dark and breathed a huge sigh of relief. He kept his voice easy and soft. “Hey, Colton.”

  “Chief Crowe.” Colton’s eyes grew huge. “Did you come and find me?”

  “Yes, Colton. Your mother is really worried about you,” Ben said. “You shouldn’t have gone off in the dark like that.”

  “It wasn’t dark when I got here.”

  Ben clenched his lips together as he tried not to laugh. “You still shouldn’t have been here on your own.”

  “I know.”

  Gabe wrapped the blanket around Colton and got moving. “Let’s get you back to your mother.”

  “She’s gonna yell.” Colton sighed.

  “Yup.” Gabe had no doubt. “And you understand why, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” he whispered. “I’m not allowed on the trails without an adult.”

  “But that’s where you were.” Ben had his dad voice on. “What were you doing there?”

  “I went back to check on the deer.” Colton smashed his face into Gabe’s shoulder and Gabe strongly suspected he was now wearing snot and tears as well as the wet patch on his belly from where Colton clung to him.

  The three of them walked in silence until they rounded the trail to the trailhead. Several more vehicles had joined them, and headlights lit the parking lot. As they walked, Ben had called off search and rescue, but it looked like Twin Elks had turned out in full force.

  Mrs. Clark ran for him and grabbed Colton. The reunion made his eyes sting. He turned his head away and caught Ben doing the same.

  “Gabe?” Ma separated from the knot of bodies. She grabbed him and hugged him. Holding him at arm’s length, she checked him out. “You used to do that to me all the time.”

  “I remember.” He gave her another hug. “And I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”