Chapter Six
WARM AND COMFORTABLE, Veronica moaned as the sound of her ringing cell phone dragged her from the depths of sleep. Groaning she picked it up.
“Dr. Bailey,” she answered rubbing her eyes and trying to clear her head.
“There’s something wrong with my cow,” a male voice growled.
“I’m sorry, who is this?” Veronica sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. She glanced down at Lincoln, who was peeking up at her from under sleepy lids.
“Johnson Chapman. I need you to look at my cow. She ain’t due yet but she won’t get up.”
Veronica’s insides roiled a bit because there was just something about the man she didn’t like.
“All right, I’m on my way.” She pushed the button to end the call and looked down at Lincoln, who was looking at her with only one open eye now. “I have to go to Chapman’s ranch.”
He immediately came awake and sat up. “I’ll take you. It’s hard to tell what the weather’s like.” He rubbed his hand across his face, raked his fingers through his hair, and pulled himself up to a standing position over her. He put his hand out to her, which she took, and then laughed when he pulled her up into his arms and kissed her.
“Keep that up and we won’t get there at all.”
“Oh, something is definitely up.” Lincoln chuckled.
“You’re so bad.” Veronica laughed as she took a step back and straightened her clothes. She screwed up her face unhappily. “I really hate going there. He just gives me the creeps, but if his cow is in bad shape, I can’t ignore it.”
“I’ll be there with you.” Lincoln took her hand and led her to the kitchen where they put their coats on, and then headed outside to his truck.
The truck took a few minutes to warm up but once it did, they were on their way. Lincoln steered into Chapman’s driveway and stopped close to the barn.
Veronica took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’ll be right back. Stay here where it’s warm.”
“I can go with you,” Lincoln started to say, but she waved him off.
“No. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” She smiled at him but if forced to admit it, she wasn’t so sure about going in alone but it was the professional thing to do.
“All right…but if you’re not back soon, I’ll be in.”
“That’s fine with me,” she told him, giving him a quick kiss before climbing out. She grinned at him as she closed the truck door, and entered the barn.
Johnson Chapman smiled at her when she approached him, and it was all she could do to suppress a shiver of disgust. The man was in his sixties, but stood tall and didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. She was unable to put her finger on it but there was just something, about him, she just didn’t like. He made her feel uneasy, wary. Any time she was out here, he would stand too close or run his eyes up and down her body. If someone looked up dirty old man in the dictionary, his picture would be there.
“Where’s the cow?”
“Follow me, missy,” he said as he turned his back to her and led her down to one of the open stalls. He stopped at one and pointed inside.
Veronica took a deep breath, squeezed past him, and entered the stall only to see nothing in there. She spun around. “There’s no cow in here. Where is she?”
When Chapman entered the stall, she backed away as he advanced.
“There isn’t one. Not one that’s sick anyways. I’ve wanted to get you out here alone for some time. Anytime you came out here, you’d bring a damn tech with you. Well, now we’re alone, and I’m going to give you what I know you’ve been wanting.” He stepped closer.
Veronica thought she was going to be sick. She backed up until she came up against the wall. She put her hands out in front of her to stop him.
“I’m not alone,” she said, but he only laughed.
“If you had someone with you, they’d be in here with you.”
“He’s in the truck.”
Chapman just grinned and shook his head. He didn’t believe her. He placed one hand on each side of her head, and started to lean in close. Veronica drew her fist back and punched him as hard as she could in the nose. He stepped back and put his hand over his nose. It came away bloody.
“You bitch!”
Chapman raised his hand to slap her, but she kicked him in the groin before he could. He fell to his knees and then to the floor. When she made a move to run past him, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the floor. She screamed and prayed that Lincoln would hear her.
She struggled and wrestled in the hay with Chapman. He tried again to hit her. He drew back his hand, and she cringed awaiting the blow, but it never landed. She looked up and saw Lincoln toss Chapman across the stall as if he weighed nothing. Lincoln marched over to him, grabbed him by the collar, and stuck his face in Chapman’s, nearly nose to nose.
“You ever touch her again and I will kick the shit out of you so you feel it next year. You understand me?” Lincoln growled. When Chapman nodded, Lincoln let go of him and he fell back onto the floor.
So shaken by what had happened Veronica couldn’t get up. Her entire body started to tremble. She stared across the stall, her mind racing so that she saw nothing. When Lincoln’s legs came into her line of vision, she jerked back from him when he put his hand out to her. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t Chapman.
“Roni, baby, come on, let me take you home. I’ll call Nathan, and he’ll take care of this. Chapman needs to pay for this.”
She stared up at him. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Lincoln helped her up then scooped her into his arms. When he stepped outside of the barn, she gazed up at him. “Please put me down,” she whispered.
He stopped and lowered her feet to the ground. She took a few steps from him, doubled over, and threw up. She fell to her knees and began to cry. She felt rather than saw Lincoln kneel down beside her. She felt his fingers touch her hair.
“Are you all right?”
She looked at him through tear-filled eyes. “Yes…but I want to go home with you. I feel so dirty, contaminated. I’d like to get a shower.”
Without a word, or even a nod, he picked her up and carried her to the truck. He set her on the seat and even put the seatbelt on her. She wasn’t going to argue his taking care of her. After kissing her forehead, she watched him move around the front of the truck and get in behind the wheel. Once he started the truck, he glanced at her then drove them back to his ranch.
LINC CARRIED RONI INTO the house and set her on the couch with pillows behind her back. He covered her with a blanket because she was shaking. He didn’t think Chapman had hurt her but was sure she was suffering the after-effects of the attack.
That son of a bitch! Linc wanted to kill Chapman with his bare hands.
He walked to the kitchen, where he called Nathan who told Linc he’d get there as soon as he could. After hanging up, he returned to the living room with a shot of whiskey for Roni. No argument from her, she sat up, took it from him, and slammed it back then coughed, making him grin. Linc raised her arm up in the air. She looked up at him as if he was crazy.
He laughed and shrugged. “It’s what my dad always did if I choked on something.” She laughed and then sobered, her eyebrows knitting together in a frown. “It’s okay, baby. I have you. He’ll never touch you again. Nathan is on his way here.” When she shook her head, Linc added, “Do you want him to do this to someone else? It’s hard to say what he would have done to you, Roni, but it could’ve been real bad. Don’t let him do it to someone else.” She shook her head again.
“I think I’m going to be sick again,” she told him as she pushed past him to get to her feet before running to the downstairs bathroom. He followed her. She glanced up at him standing in the doorway, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “You’re right. I don’t want Chapman to get a chance to do this to anyone else. Of course, I’ll talk to Nathan. I just hate making him come out in this weather.”
L
inc let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He was glad she was going to report Chapman. He led her back to the living room and had her sit on the sofa. “Don’t worry about Nathan. It’s his job, darlin’.”
They sat in silence until Linc heard a car pull up then he pressed a kiss to her temple, and stood. “Stay here, Roni. I’ll bring him in.”
He walked to the kitchen, glanced through the window in the back door to make sure it was Nathan. It was. Linc opened the door to let him in. “This way, Nathan.”
Linc led him to the living room after Nathan took his coat and hat off. Roni looked up at them when they entered the room. She gave Nathan a half-hearted smile.
“How are you, Nathan?”
“I’m fine, Roni, but tell me about you. What did he do to you,” Nathan asked taking a seat on the couch near her feet. He patted her hand before removing a pad of paper and a pen from his shirt pocket.
Linc pulled up a chair alongside her and took her hand when she hesitated. “Roni, you need to tell Nathan everything that happened.”
She took a deep breath. “I know. Chapman called me on the emergency line to tell me his cow was in labor. It wasn’t her time so I was concerned. I had to go out to his ranch. I followed him into the barn. Lincoln sat in the truck, waiting for me…”
“So, you were with Linc when you got the call from Chapman?”
Roni blushed at the question. Linc gave Nathan one of those don’t go there glares.
“Yes. Lincoln wanted to drive me there since he has four-wheel drive, and I don’t. Anyway, once I got to the stall, I could see there was no cow so I confronted Chapman. He told me…” She took a deep breath before continuing. “He’d wanted to get me alone for some time. He kept walking toward me and I kept backing up, until I ran up against the wall. When he came in close, I hit him in the nose making it bleed. He was angry with me and when he came at me again, I kicked him in the balls. He fell but when I tried to run past him, he grabbed my leg and pulled me to the floor. I screamed for Lincoln.” She shuddered. Linc swore under his breath but knew Nathan heard him because his friend glanced at him.
“His breath was so horrible,” Roni said shaking her head. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if Lincoln hadn’t been there.” Tears slid down her cheeks.
Nathan looked at Linc and stood. Linc stood too. “I’ll go arrest the S.O.B. right now. I never did trust that old bastard.” He turned to Roni. “You will press charges, right?”
When she nodded, he gave a nod back and headed toward the kitchen to leave.
Linc followed behind him and once he was out of earshot of Roni, he grabbed Nathan’s arm. “You gotta put him away. I could’ve killed him, Nathan. That old man was about to hit her when I got there. I wanted to, believe me, I wanted to.”
Nathan put his coat and hat on. “Glad you didn’t, Linc. I’d hate like hell to arrest a friend for defending his woman. I’ll take care of this. Just don’t let her back out of pressing charges.”
Linc assured him he wouldn’t. Roni needed to do this in case Chapman had other plans. After Nathan left, Linc walked back into the living room to find Roni still sitting on the couch waiting for him. He sat down beside her taking her hands in his and noticed the color had returned to her cheeks.
“Is he going there by himself? What if Chapman does something to him?”
Linc laughed softly. “Trust me. Nathan is mean as hell when it comes to arresting people. He won’t take anything from Chapman.”
A mischievous grin suddenly lit up her face. “I’d forgotten how really good looking Nathan is.”
Linc reared back. “Really? I don’t see it.” Then he burst out laughing when she glared at him. “Yeah, I know the women love him. Nathan is a good bit older than you are, but he had that bad boy reputation too. All the women and girls were crazy about him. Hell, most still are.”
Roni smiled at him. “I can see why.”
Lincoln pulled her onto his lap. “He’s married now, remember.”
“I remember.”
“He loves Shelly, she’s his world. She moved here about six years ago. She was dating Dakota when she met Nathan.” Lincoln chuckled.
“How did Dakota take that? I mean, his big brother stealing his girl?”
“Hell, you know Dakota. He knew they were in love from the first meeting. He does tease them ruthlessly about it though.”
“I’m feeling a whole lot better now, but I need to take a shower now and wipe that old man from my skin.” She stood and put her hand out to him. “Will you join me?”
Linc grinned up at her and then took her hand. “I was hoping you’d ask.”
They walked hand in hand up the stairs. Linc knew she needed to scrub that old man off her skin and he was more than willing to help. He wanted her to let Patsy know about her ordeal too. Patsy certainly didn’t need to go out there alone if the old man managed to get out on bail.
ON MONDAY MORNING, Nathan called Veronica at the hospital and asked her to come into his office to file an official complaint. He told if she didn’t, Chapman would be a free man. Veronica assured him she’d be there on her lunch break.
Veronica walked into the sheriff’s office and when she entered, a woman at the desk asked if she could help her. She told her she was here to see Nathan and that he was expecting her. The woman smiled at her, and called Nathan on his phone. When she hung up, she told her to go right in but Nathan was waiting with the door open. He stepped aside allowing Veronica to enter the office.
Nathan motioned for her to sit down and asked if she wanted anything to drink. She declined politely and took a seat in front of his desk. She just wanted this over.
He retrieved a paper from a file on his desk, handed it to her, and asked her to fill out in as much detail as possible—everything she could remember about what happened. Veronica took a deep breath and started writing. She finished writing her report and handed it back to Nathan. He took it from her, read it through, and signed it. Veronica stood and held her hand out to him.
“Thank you so much, Nathan. I appreciate your help.”
Nathan put his hand in hers and shook it. “It’s my job, Roni. I’m just glad you decided to press charges because so many times, women are too afraid.”
Veronica nodded, understanding the fear. “I don’t want him to do that to another woman.”
He smiled at her, giving her hand a squeeze. “Great. If you have any questions just give me a call.”
As she walked back to the hospital, people stopped her all along the way, telling her how sorry they were about what Chapman tried to do to her. This little town had always been like this. Nothing was ever a secret for long, but everyone was always eager to help. She finally got back to the hospital and the rest of the day passed quickly.
At the end of the next day, she was entering files into her computer when Carrie hurried into her office, almost in tears. “Nathan’s out front. He said Nero was hit by a car.”
Veronica jumped up and ran to the waiting room. Nathan was sitting on the floor with his dog in his lap, talking to him in a soothing low tone of voice. The dog was lying there looking up at his master with fear in his eyes.
“Nathan what happened?” Veronica knelt down beside the dog and ran her hands over him.
“He was chasing a deer. He knows he’s not supposed to do that, but he did. The deer ran down my driveway and across the road, and Nero followed. The deer made it across fine, Nero didn’t.” His voice was so sad that it tore at Veronica’s heart.
She stood. “Please bring him back here and I’ll have a look at him.”
Nathan nodded and picked the dog up. Veronica led him to exam room one, where she told Nathan to put him on the table. Running her hands over him more efficiently this time, she thought she felt cracked ribs.
“I need to x-ray him. Let me get a table.” Veronica ran from the room. She wheeled a table back into the room with Patsy right behind her. Veronica asked Nathan to put Nero on the table s
o she could wheel him back to x-ray. After Nathan did as she asked, he stood back with his hands on his hips looking forlorn.
Patsy followed Veronica to the x-ray room.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Patsy asked her. Veronica nodded and Patsy swore. They kept their hands on Nero to comfort him as they took x-rays. Veronica then had Patsy stay with Nero while she waited for the pictures to develop.
When Veronica returned to the exam room, Patsy glanced up at her. She’d been cooing and gently stroking the dog trying to keep him calm. Veronica shook her head at her.
“One of his broken ribs punctured his lung. His gums are white, which is an indication of internal bleeding so there could be even more damage.” Veronica sighed. “I’ll tell Nathan and see what he wants me to do.”
When Veronica entered the waiting room, Nathan quickly jumped up from his seat. She walked to him and put her hand on his arm. She explained to him about the rib and possible internal injuries. She really needed to do an explorative surgery to get a better idea, but it was his decision.
“If I say no, then what?” Nathan rubbed the back of his neck.
“The only other option is to euthanize him,” Veronica said knowing it was the worst option.
Nathan walked away from her and stared out the window. Veronica walked up to him and put her hand on his arm again, trying to comfort him the way he’d comforted her after the attack.
“He’s only three. I’ve had him since he was six weeks old. I don’t know what to do, Roni. I don’t want him to suffer…”
Veronica nodded. “I know you don’t. Let me do the surgery then. If I can save him, I will. A punctured lung isn’t a death sentence but I do want to see if there’s internal bleeding.” Nathan ran his hand through his hair then nodded to her. “Go on home, Nathan. This will take a while and you can’t do anything sitting here. I’ll call you as soon as the surgery’s over. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him. I’ll give him some medicine for pain so he’s not hurting.”
Nathan didn’t say another word. He just turned and walked out. Veronica watched him go, and then headed back to Nero. It was going to be a long night.
Lincoln Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Book 4 Page 9