EMTs from Wickham Falls arrived at the same time as the state police. Motorists were slowing, some videotaping the scene of marked and unmarked police cars, and nearly a dozen law enforcement officers. Special agents from the FBI were contacted because the driver, who would probably be charged as a drug trafficker, had crossed state lines. Seth leaned against his cruiser, answering questions from each of the authorities as cartons of the drug were off-loaded and placed into the trunks of personnel from drug enforcement who’d estimated the haul had netted approximately two thousand pills.
Roger arrived, along with a reporter and camera people from the local television station. When Seth refused to be interviewed, Roger stepped in as the spokesperson for the Wickham Falls’ sheriff department. He affected a serious expression as he bragged that his deputy was responsible for catching a trafficker before he could flood the region with more opioids.
Two hours before he was scheduled to clock out for the night, Roger ordered Seth to go home and relax, that he was proud of his newest deputy and that the mayor and town council were planning to give him a special commendation for his exemplary police work.
Seth, not willing to argue with his superior officer, nodded and got into his cruiser and drove back to the station house parking lot. He still couldn’t get the image of a child’s car seat out of his mind when he first approached the minivan, thinking he’d run a vehicle off the road with a baby or small child inside. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until he saw that the driver was alone.
* * *
Natalia stood up when she heard the approaching vehicle. Within minutes Seth had backed the pickup into the driveway. Word had spread quickly throughout the town about deputy sheriff Seth Collier’s quick thinking in apprehending a man bringing opioids into the state.
“Hey, super crime fighter,” she teased when Seth stepped out.
His head popped up and he stared at her as if he hadn’t seen her before. “How’s it going?”
Natalia saw the lines bracketing his strong mouth that hadn’t been there before. The buoyant mood vanished like someone letting the air out of a balloon. She left the porch and approached him. “I should be the one asking how you are.”
“Other than wound a little too tight, I’m good. I suppose you heard about what happened near Mineral Springs.”
“Yes. Someone came into the office just before we closed and couldn’t stop talking about the car chase and you running someone off the road who had a car filled with pills.” She rested a hand on his upper arm. The muscles under his uniform blouse were hard as cement. “Do you want me to give you something to help you to relax?”
Seth shook his head. “No, thanks. All I need right now is a hot shower, a couple shots of tequila and a firm bed to help me relax. And when I wake up tomorrow, I’ll feel like a new man.”
“I recommend a massage instead of the tequila if you don’t want to run the risk of waking up with a hangover.”
“And where would I find a masseuse this time of night?”
“After you take your shower, I’ll give you a massage.”
Seth’s eyebrows lifted. “You?”
Natalia smiled. “Yes, me. I am a doctor and I can assure you that I’m more than familiar with the six hundred and forty muscles in the human body. It’s the least I can do for our hometown hero who’s responsible for arresting someone transporting drugs that are destroying people’s lives.”
“Our hometown?”
A soft laugh escaped her parted lips. “Yes, ‘our,’ Seth. I also live here and so far I haven’t had to treat anyone addicted to drugs. And I’d like to keep it that way.” Natalia thought of herself as fortunate that since she’d begun working with Henry, none of her patients exhibited any signs of drug abuse or addiction.
“Okay, Dr. Hawkins,” Seth said, smiling. “You’ve got yourself a client. Or should I say a patient?”
She returned his smile. “Either will do. I’ll leave the door unlocked. Just come over whenever you’re ready.”
Chapter Six
Seth lay facedown, on a pillow on the dining room table. Natalia had put down a sheet and several pillows to cushion the hard surface, and another sheet covered his half-naked body. She’d waited until he’d stripped down to his boxer briefs and lay down before she entered the room, perhaps to permit him a modicum of modesty.
He wasn’t her patient, didn’t want to be but as someone who was interested in her as a man was in a woman. Seth had conveniently kept his distance from Natalia, despite their living next door to each other, arriving home when she was probably in or preparing to go to bed, and leaving to go on duty when she was at her office. In the past he hadn’t been so hesitant when it came to letting a woman know he was interested in her but somehow it was different with Natalia. Instinct told him he had to go slowly and cautiously because he suspected she’d been emotionally scarred by her ex-fiancé. She’d admitted that she had just gotten rid of her fiancé and wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, which seemed to imply that the breakup had to have been recent.
“Close your eyes and breathe slowly,” Natalia said in his ear as she leaned over him. “I’m going to start with your occipitalis, the muscles pulling the scalp toward the back, and slowly work my way down to the short peroneus. That’s the muscle attached to the fibula that enables the foot to extend and to draw away from the median axis of the body.”
He chuckled under his breath. “Whatever you say, Doctor. It all sounds good to me.”
“You’re going to have to tell me what makes you uncomfortable because I’m going to apply pressure to stimulate the deeper muscles and surrounding tissues.”
Seth lost track of time as he was transported to another dimension when he felt himself succumbing to the ministrations of Natalia’s magical fingers kneading and loosening knots in his neck, shoulders, arms, legs and finally his feet.
“Wake up, Seth.”
He hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep when she shook him gently. He opened his eyes and lifted his head. “How long was I out?”
“Probably about half an hour.” Natalia curved an arm around his shoulders and assisted him to sit upright. “How do you feel?”
Seth rolled his head from side to side. “Like a new man.” He could not remember when he’d felt this relaxed. His eyes moved slowly over Natalia’s face and came to rest on her mouth—a mouth he longed to take in a long, deep kiss. Everything about her seeped into him: her warmth, the natural scent of her body and the subtle fragrance of perfume. “Your hands should be registered as a controlled substance. They cause drowsiness, dizziness and I will have to use extreme caution when operating a vehicle, vessel or machine,” he teased.
Natalia rested a hand on his shoulder. “I hope you’re not talking about driving tonight.”
“No.” His intent was to go home and straight to bed. “How much do I owe you, Dr. Hawkins?”
“A home-cooked meal,” she said, repeating what he’d told her what now seemed so long ago.
He winked at her. “All right! If that’s the case, then are you busy Saturday?”
“We have hours until one, and after that I’m free.”
He leaned closer until their mouths were mere inches apart. “If the weather holds, then we can cook and dine outdoors. After that, if you’re not too full, we’ll go for a drive and I’ll give you a guided tour of our beautiful countryside.”
Natalia lowered her eyes. “Do you want me to bring anything?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Seth angled his head and kissed her cheek. “You. All I’ll need is you.”
Natalia’s intake and exhalation of breath echoed in his ear. “Are you certain you don’t want me to bring dessert?”
He pressed his cheek to hers. “Very certain.” Seth knew he had to get off the table, put on his clothes and go home because
he was becoming aroused under the top sheet, and that was something he didn’t want Natalia to see. “Could you please give me my jeans?” Natalia picked them off the chair and handed them to him. “Thank you.”
“Would you like some water?”
Seth quickly pushed his legs into the denim fabric and pulled them up over his hips. He reached for the T-shirt and put it on. “No, thank you.” He followed her into the kitchen, watching as she filled a glass from the in-door water dispenser. “You were right that a massage is better than a shot of tequila.”
She peered at him over the glass. “Didn’t you mention two shots?”
“Yes, I did. Again, I thank you for making me feel better without having to face the possibility of a hangover.”
Natalia took a swallow of water, and then set the glass on the countertop. “I’m glad I could help.”
He’d experienced a jolt of adrenaline during the high-speed car chase that had continued once he discovered the drugs. But once personnel from the different law enforcement agencies arrived, his euphoria plummeted like an addict coming down off his or her high. The answers to questions he’d had to repeat over and over pelted him like tiny missiles and all he wanted was to leave the scene to the DEA and FBI.
Seth beckoned to Natalia. “Please come walk me to the door and lock it after me.”
Natalia approached him and took his hand. “Are you prepared for the all of the attention from those who are calling you a hero crime fighter?”
He pondered her question as they walked. “I’m far from being a hero. I just did what I’m paid to do and that is to protect and serve The Falls. The guy would’ve gotten away if I hadn’t noticed him driving recklessly. And if he’d stopped when I signaled for him to pull over, I probably would’ve given him a warning because he had out of state plates.”
“Would you have inspected his vehicle?”
“I don’t know,” Seth said truthfully. “Even if he’d lied and said he was exhausted because he’d been driving for hours and that he was going to stop and check in at a motel off the interstate, I probably would’ve believed him. And he had to have been insane to think a swagger wagon could outrun a police cruiser.”
Natalia giggled like a little girl. “No, you didn’t say swagger wagon.”
Seth’s deep laugh joined hers. “Well, it was a minivan.” He sobered. “Once I forced it off the road and saw the child’s car seat, I nearly lost it because I feared there had been a child inside the car.”
“Thankfully there wasn’t.”
He nodded. “You’re right.” Seth lowered his head and dropped a kiss on Natalia’s short hair. “Good night and thank you again for the massage.”
“Good night, Seth.”
* * *
Natalia closed and locked the door behind Seth. She felt as if she’d been holding her breath the instant Seth shed his clothes and lay on the table with only a pair of briefs covering his nakedness. She had lost count since she’d entered medical school the number of times she’d viewed the nude male body. However, she had learned to compartmentalize to separate the two into different categories: one for medicine and the other for sexual pleasure. And there was no doubt she had categorized Seth in the latter.
She knew it had been a while since she’d made love with a man and as a woman with normal sexual desires, Natalia wondered how much longer she would continue to deny her needs. Once she knew her relationship with Daryl was on shaky ground they had stopped making love. There was no way she could share her body with a man with whom she had ongoing arguments, coupled with the fact that she was so exhausted from the long hours she spent in the ER that all she wanted when she returned home was to catch up on her sleep.
Daryl and the double shifts were in her past and despite her prior protest to Seth that she wasn’t looking to get into another relationship, she had changed her stance. He was the complete opposite of the men who’d expressed an interest in her and usually came on so strong that it turned her off. It wasn’t vanity that indicated Seth wanted to spend time with her but what she liked about him was that he was willing to let her take the lead.
And aside from his incredibly handsome face and spectacular body, she admired his modesty. Word had traveled quickly in Wickham Falls when folks reported that Seth refused to be interviewed, which left Roger to represent the sheriff’s department. She and the staff had gathered on Main Street along with throngs of the curious when affiliates from several national television stations set up to cover what had become a major drug bust. What was earlier purported to be two thousand pills was confirmed to be closer to twenty thousand. Once agents from the DEA examined the van and found more boxes hidden beneath three rows of seats, they claimed it a major victory in the effort to stem the illegal sale of fentanyl.
A slow smile parted her lips when she turned and walked into the dining room to remove the bedding from the table. Her sexy neighbor was definitely someone she could consider as a boyfriend. It had been less than five months since she and Daryl broke up and she needed at least six months before she could consider dating again.
She hadn’t thought that when she had agreed to relocate from Pennsylvania to West Virginia she would move next door to a man she didn’t want to lump in the same category as her ex. There were times when she’d imagined Daryl felt he was doing her a favor by dating her, when she realized it was the complete opposite. Even before she had become involved with him, there were a number of men who’d asked her out but her vow not to date anyone with whom she worked ruled them out. And now that she looked back Natalia realized she had been too rigid and that pledges were made to be broken.
* * *
“Dr. Hawkins, your next patient is in exam room two.” The medical assistant’s voice shattered Natalia’s concentration as she attempted to finish reading an article on heart disease published in a medical journal.
Natalia tapped a button on the intercom. “Thank you, Leah.” Henry had been called away to make a house call, which left her with the sole responsibility of seeing patients until his return. In the past, when he had to leave the office, the receptionist would call patients to inform them Dr. Franklin was running late or to reschedule them for another day and time. Natalia had made it a practice to come in at least an hour early to review the files for all of the patients scheduled for the day.
She glanced at the name of the patient on her desktop, left the office, walked across the hall and pushed open the door. She saw a young mother sitting on a chair bouncing a raven-haired toddler on her lap.
Natalia smiled at a woman with a mane of brown, reddish-tipped curls framing a tawny-gold complexion and ending above her shoulders. “Mrs. Wainwright. I’m Dr. Hawkins. Dr. Franklin had to step out, so I’ll be taking care of Lily today.”
“I know who you are, Dr. Hawkins. I’m Mya and we’re practically neighbors.”
An expression of confusion crossed Natalia’s features. “We are?”
“Yes. I live across the road from you and Seth Collier. Seth and my husband have become good friends because both of them were in the Marines.”
Natalia’s dark eyes met Mya’s large hazel ones. She extended her hand. “It’s nice meeting you, neighbor. I’m Natalia.”
Mya shook Natalia’s hand. “I’d planned to come and introduce myself, but I didn’t want to impose.”
“Believe me, you would not have been an imposition. I’ve lived here for two weeks and the only folks I’ve interacted with, aside from Seth, are patients.”
“Even though I grew up here and I’m a stay-at-home mom I rarely find time to do much socializing.”
Natalia nodded. “Taking care of a toddler is definitely a full-time job.” She glanced over at the computer with Lily’s medical record. The medical assistant, Leah Perry, had entered the little girl’s temperature, height, weight and blood pressure, checked her eyes, ears, throat, heart and lungs—all of wh
ich were within normal range for her age. “What brings Lily in today?”
“We’re going to the Bahamas next week, and I’m a couple of months past due getting Lily’s second dose of hepatitis A.”
“It’s good you brought her in,” Natalia said as she washed her hands in the stainless-steel sink and then slipped on a pair of examining gloves. “You can place her on the table and pull down her pants to her knees.” As Mya readied her daughter for the injection, Natalia removed a vial with the vaccine from a locked drawer, shook it vigorously and inserted a hypodermic into the solution, and slipped the needle into the pocket of her lab coat. She had performed the task without letting Lily see what was to come.
She stared at the child with clear, sky-blue eyes and inky black hair. Lily looked nothing like her mother and Natalia assumed she must resemble her father. “Oh my, you have such pretty eyes.” Lily stared without blinking as her tiny rosebud mouth tightened noticeably. She clung to her mother’s arm.
“Most of the time she’s a chatterbox,” Mya admitted.
“Many children are traumatized by doctors.” Natalia leaned closer and when she sang the nursery rhyme the “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” Lily joined in. It was obvious she was familiar with the song. Meanwhile Natalia swabbed an area on the toddler’s thigh with alcohol and, in a motion almost too quick for the eye to follow, injected the vaccine.
Lily barely had time to react and stopped singing, her eyes filling with tears. “No!”
Mya kissed her daughter’s silky curling hair. “It’s over, sweetheart.” Lily sniffled loudly, but didn’t cry. “Thank you,” she whispered, smiling at Natalia. “She’s always hysterical after getting a shot.”
The Sheriff of Wickham Falls Page 8