by C. J. Miller
“Where is Danny now, Rafe?” Flint asked.
Rafe had already told Flint that Danny hadn’t been home. Rafe felt Gemma’s hand on his back, her touch the only factor keeping him from going off the rails. Typical for the poor kid to be blamed, the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. The kid who’d had a rougher childhood than most of these elitists could imagine. “He wasn’t home when I got there tonight. I don’t know where he is.”
He wouldn’t feed Flint any more details to use against Danny.
“I didn’t want to say anything. I know he’s had a hard time, with his grandfather dying and his brother taking off and leaving him,” Dr. Rand said.
Quiet rage hummed inside him. Danny’s brother, Matt, hadn’t taken off. Matt hadn’t been prepared to care for a fourteen-year-old boy and had let Danny enter the foster care system. Rafe understood where Matt was coming from. Rafe was years older and had access to more resources, and still he had trouble keeping track of Danny at times. Hence, his lack of knowledge about where the boy was. “Danny wouldn’t hurt someone. It isn’t in his nature.”
“You just said he plays football. Aggressive sport,” Dr. Rand said.
What did Dr. Rand play in high school? The flute? “Danny has no reason to attack you,” Rafe said. Danny and Dr. Rand had met once or twice when Rafe had brought him to the clinic, but Danny wouldn’t lash out at Dr. Rand. They’d barely spoken.
“If a cure isn’t found, then the quarantine remains in place and you have to stay in town,” Dr. Rand said. “That could be worth a lot to a boy who’s lost everything else.”
Guilt tripled in Rafe’s stomach. He’d agreed to take Danny into his home because Danny needed a place to live and Rafe thought he could help him. Help him through some of his grief, show him a life outside of Dead River was possible and put him on track to build a good future. Had he been wrong to take the boy into his home knowing he’d be around only a short time?
“I’ll try to reach him again,” Rafe said. He took a few steps away and dialed Danny. Speed dial number two. Why wasn’t Danny answering?
The call went to his voice mail again.
Rafe’s emotions were a combination of anger with Rand and worry and fear for Danny. He returned to the group. Gemma was watching him, worry plain on her face.
“It will be his word against mine, and it’s more trouble than it’s worth. I won’t press charges, but I want that punk to stay away from me.”
Rafe ignored the name calling and addressed Flint. “I’ll find him. I’ve been worried.” But now, he was deeply concerned.
“When you find him, I want to talk to him,” Flint said. His words seemed to please Dr. Rand, which may have been his intention.
“I’ll go with you,” Gemma said.
“I can handle it. You don’t have to take care of everyone,” Rafe said.
Gemma flinched, but then lifted her chin. “You are in no condition to drive and search. You tell me where you want to look and I’ll take you.”
She was right. It was dark and while he had a short list of places where Danny might be, what would he do if Danny wasn’t there? He’d need to search the town and two people working the problem were better than one.
“Come on,” Rafe said. He tossed her his keys.
Gemma slid into the driver’s seat and adjusted it so she could reach the pedals. “We’ll find him, Rafe. I’m here for you.”
It wasn’t the first time she had spoken those words to him. Did she remember the last time? Years before, when they’d been in high school together, Rafe had been desperate to leave Dead River. Even then, he’d hated this tiny, small-minded town. He’d gotten fired from his job at the record store because he’d been late for work again. His reasons for being tardy hadn’t mattered to the store owner, but then again, Rafe hadn’t explained that his father was on a bender and he’d stayed with his mom until his father had shown up because she had been worried. Gemma had tried to console him with those same words while he had waited for his father to show.
Drunkard fathers were something he had in common with Gemma, though his had eventually gotten sober. It wasn’t anything they discussed. Rafe’s father had been inconsistent, unreliable and more bent on getting drunk than moving his family out of the trailer park where they’d lived. Rafe had hated that trailer park. Hated it and everything it had stood for. Gemma’s father was destructive on a whole other level. Showing up now and then, causing problems, embarrassing his family and leaving her grandmother to raise her and her brothers.
“I know you and Mr. Sergeant were close,” Gemma said.
Rafe made a sound of acknowledgment. He and Danny’s grandfather, a guidance counselor at the high school, had gotten along. Rafe credited Danny’s grandfather for getting him into Harvard University, which had changed the course of Rafe’s life. “He knew I wanted out of Dead River and he gave me a study guide for the SATs. I read that book cover to cover.” Multiple times. He’d practically memorized it. Donald “Donny” Sergeant had told Rafe if he wanted a ticket out of Dead River, he’d have to earn it. Rafe’d had decent grades, but his SAT score had been the clincher to a full ride at Harvard.
“Now you can’t wait to leave again,” Gemma said.
Her voice held the slightest censure. “Can you blame me?”
“For wanting to leave? No. For not seeing how much you have here, yes.”
Her words struck a chord in him, but he didn’t want to talk about the reasons he could not stay. “Can you drive by the graveyard?”
Gemma turned his car in that direction.
“You can say it, Gemma.” He could practically hear her thoughts.
“You say mean things to me because you want to keep me at arm’s length. Me and everyone. Why?” Gemma asked.
He did no such thing. He didn’t sink time into his relationships because he didn’t have time. Danny was an exception and he felt guilty that he couldn’t do more for him. “I am doing everything I can.” He was working at the clinic. He was working for a cure. Why wasn’t that enough?
“Danny adores you,” Gemma said.
“I know. He’s a great kid.”
Another pause. “What will happen to him if you leave?” Gemma asked.
As if he hadn’t asked himself that question before and struggled with the answer. On a good day, he told himself he’d bought the foster care system another three months to find Danny a suitable, permanent place, one with experienced parents who could give Danny a family. He’d been honest with the social worker about his limitations. The social worker knew Rafe planned to return to New York City. Rafe was listed in their system as “temporary.”
On a bad day, Rafe couldn’t think about Danny being passed from family to family trying to find a fit. He couldn’t stand the idea of someone taking Danny in who cared more about the stipend than Danny. “The same thing that would have happened if I hadn’t returned to Dead River.”
“I am glad that you did,” Gemma said. “Even if it’s for a short time.”
Rafe wouldn’t read into her words. Why was she glad? Why did she care? Gemma was nice to everyone it seemed. But she wasn’t an easy woman to get to know. She hated being in the spotlight and she didn’t speak her mind as often as she should. Whenever she spoke, he felt like she was carefully choosing her words. He wondered what it would be like if she let loose and let her emotions run wild.
The thought triggered an entirely inappropriate image of Gemma he hadn’t had since high school. Gemma used to have a short black-and-red plaid skirt that she wore with a white collared shirt and a black sweater. He had fantasized about getting her on the back of his motorcycle and then getting under that sweater, and under her skirt. Gemma on a motorcycle. His motorcycle. He shook loose the thought before it escalated and he was forced to hide a raging hard-on in his jeans.
He didn�
�t have a motorcycle anymore. It was impractical in Wyoming weather. Gemma was off-limits, then and now.
Gemma turned onto the unpaved road leading to the graveyard.
The graveyard was surrounded by tall, bare trees. It was a peaceful place, the groundskeeper putting time into clearing the snow from the path leading to the headstones. Rafe had been there more times in the past several months than he had all his life. He’d visited his mother and father and sat with Danny at his grandfather’s grave.
Danny had told Rafe that the quiet of the field made him feel better and closer to his grandfather. It was a place where he could cry or think without anyone judging him. A tough admission for a teenage boy and Rafe gave him credit for finding an outlet for his grief.
The metal gate around the graveyard was locked.
“He can’t be in there. It’s closed,” Gemma said. She drew the car to a stop.
Two angels holding harps looked over the entrance.
“The groundskeeper might not have checked that it was empty before closing it. Or maybe Danny did what I’m going to do.”
Rafe climbed out of the car and scaled the fence. Though it was dark, he knew the way to where Danny might be.
“Rafe, be careful,” Gemma said.
When he was on the other side of the fence, he looked over at her. Underneath the sole light, she was beautiful. It was impossible to miss.
“I will,” Rafe said. He jogged through the snow. When he reached the back of the graveyard, he saw a dark figure hunched over.
Relief tore through him. “Danny, I’ve been calling you.”
Danny’s head was lowered, his hands jammed in his pocket and his shoulders tucked forward as if he could close into himself. He stood in front of his grandfather’s grave, his body shaking and not just from the cold. His eyes were red-rimmed. “I’m sorry. It was a bad day.”
Rafe drew the boy into his arms. He didn’t like treating Danny like a child, knowing he wasn’t. And given what he’d been through, Danny was more mature than most boys. But Rafe couldn’t stop himself now. He hugged the boy and wanted him to know he was a friend.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I asked a girl to the winter dance,” Danny said.
Rafe had been in his shoes enough to know this could be going many painful places. “Didn’t go well?”
“She said she wouldn’t go out with someone like me,” Danny said.
Someone like him? That could mean anything. “Like someone smart, strong and brave?” Rafe asked.
Danny let out a short bark of laughter. “Right. I’m none of those things.”
Rafe’s heart squeezed. He took Danny by the shoulders. “Look at me. You are all of those things. Every single one. If she’s too clueless to see it, then forget her. You don’t need that dragging you down.”
Danny shrugged him off and looked away. “No one wants me. Everyone rejects me. My mom died, my grandfather died, my dad didn’t want me. Matt says he wants me, but he rarely comes by. And you...”
Danny didn’t need to finish the thought. Rafe’s guilt did that for him. He was leaving. He was another person in the long line of people who had let Danny down. It felt terrible.
“Danny, I think you’re amazing. I think you’re an incredible person with a bright future. You know I have to return to my job in New York. I signed a contract. I gave them my word.”
“You have a job here,” Danny said. “The clinic needs you.”
It was a job he liked, but a town he didn’t. “Before I leave, we will find you a good family.”
“Yeah, right,” Danny said. “I wish you would stay. Forever.”
Rafe put his arm over Danny’s shoulder. “Let’s talk more about this at dinner.”
“Are you pissed I was late?” Danny asked.
“Not really. I was worried,” Rafe said. “Maybe we need a better check-in policy.”
“Okay,” Danny said.
Rafe was surprised he was agreeable to it. He expected resistance. He would have resisted if his parents had tried it with him.
“Danny, I need to talk to you about something that happened tonight.”
Danny sighed. “Here it comes. Am I grounded?”
Was he copping to the attack on Dr. Rand? Rafe sensed this was still about going missing. “You’re not grounded. This isn’t about coming here instead of being home. There was an incident at the clinic and Chief Colton needs to speak with us about it.”
Danny shook his head. “I’m not talking to the police. I didn’t do anything.”
“I know you didn’t. But we’ve had some problems at the clinic and Chief Colton wants to speak with us to make sure we’re safe and that we’re not doing anything wrong,” Rafe said.
Rafe read anger in Danny’s face. “I’m always doing something wrong. Everyone expects me to screw up.”
“I don’t,” Rafe said. “I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong.”
Danny looked at the ground. “I want to go home.”
Rafe hated forcing Danny to speak with the police, but drawing it out meant the real attacker was at large and Danny would remain under suspicion. “We have to talk to Chief Colton. He’s a friend. Trust me on this, Danny.”
Danny let Rafe lead him to the car. Once they were closer, Danny stopped when he saw Gemma. “Is she your girlfriend?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend. I would tell you first if I did.” He wanted Danny to feel safe in his home and not worried about random women passing through. Random flings weren’t Rafe’s style, anyway. “You know Gemma. We work together at the clinic.”
Danny tossed Rafe a half smile. “I know her. Maybe she’ll go to the dance with me.”
Rafe gave Danny points for courage. “She’s a little old for school dances.”
Danny mumbled under his breath, but he climbed into the backseat of the car.
“We were so worried about you, Danny. Are you cold?” Gemma turned up the heat in the car.
“I’m good,” he said.
“You look upset,” Gemma said.
“Girl stuff,” Danny said.
“Can I help? My brothers used to tell me about their girl problems when they were in high school,” Gemma said.
“Nah, I’m okay,” Danny said.
Gemma made small talk, mostly with Danny.
“We’re going directly to the police station,” Rafe said. “To talk to Flint.”
Rafe glanced in the rearview mirror. Danny appeared scared.
“Chief Colton is my brother. He’s a good guy. Trust me. He’s just trying to figure out what’s happening at the clinic,” Gemma said.
Hearing her words, Danny seemed to relax. Gemma drove them to the police station and parked.
“Gemma, could you give me a minute alone with Danny?” Rafe asked.
Gemma nodded as she exited the vehicle. “See you inside.” She closed the door and hurried to the station.
Rafe faced Danny. “I will only ask you this once and I will believe anything you tell me, okay?”
Danny nodded. “Something bad happened. I knew it. You’re blaming me.”
“I told you we had trouble at the clinic. Were you near the clinic today?” Rafe asked. He realized he was holding his breath and he let it out.
“No.”
“Did you go to football practice today?” Rafe asked.
Danny shook his head. “I skipped it. I didn’t feel like it.”
No alibi then. “Have you seen Dr. Rand today?” Rafe asked.
Danny shook his head again. “No.”
It was all Rafe needed to hear. Though he wouldn’t say why he believed Danny was telling the truth, he did. Wasn’t that what a good parent was supposed to do?
Chapter 3
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Gemma waited in the Dead River police station while Flint was speaking to Danny and Rafe. Rafe and Flint would butt heads over the issue surrounding Dr. Rand’s accusations against Danny. Rafe would back Danny and Flint would press for the truth. He would press hard.
It was a volatile cocktail. Someone would leave furious.
Gemma had witnessed her brothers fighting with Rafe at school, on the football field and when they were hanging out. Rafe had an edge. He always had. As much as he seemed to want to polish those edges with his medical degree and a prestigious fellowship and coveted job, deep down, he was still a bad boy.
A bad boy her brothers had kept her away from and warned her to keep her distance from. He had been fun and free and wild enough for them, but he was off limits to her. She had once fantasized about Rafe asking her to his prom. Ridiculous. He had gone to the prom with the wildest, prettiest girl in school and Gemma had cried when she’d found out.
Rafe had skipped school, smoked cigarettes in the parking lot and wore jeans and a leather jacket, a flannel shirt often tied around his waist. When he’d started coming to school on a motorcycle, one that every single girl had wanted to ride, Gemma had thought she would absolutely die. Flint had told her Rafe had bought the junker and fixed it himself.
It had been so thrilling and exciting and forbidden.
Rafe was different now. He’d outgrown his rebellious tendencies, he wasn’t late for his shifts, he worked hard and yet he still had an air of strength and power and excitement around him. She couldn’t get enough of it and she couldn’t stay away. Not that she would ever tell anyone how she felt about Rafe. She’d been hiding it for so long it wasn’t hard to keep doing so. It was futile anyway. He couldn’t wait to flee Dead River for his new job and no way would she leave her family. The one time in her life that she had, she had made colossal mistakes, enough that she realized she was better off with family around.
The door to the interview room banged open and Rafe strode out, his hand on Danny’s shoulder.
“Rafe, just a minute. I have more questions. Danny might know something important,” Flint said.
Rafe whirled and glared at Flint. It was a meeting of titans. “If you have more questions, you’ll ask them when we have a lawyer present. Danny did nothing wrong and I won’t have him interrogated like a criminal. Go find an actual criminal. Like whoever trashed my lab, or the rat who stole Molly Colton’s savings or the escaped killer.”