by Cate Beauman
He frowned. “I want to stay here with you and the girls.”
“There’s nothing here for you.”
“You’re here.”
She wouldn’t be responsible for holding him back. She shook her head. “You have a job to do in Madrid.”
“I don’t want to leave you here.”
“This is where I belong.” New York was no longer her home. She couldn’t go back to the hospital or her old life. Deep down she’d known since the moment of Mable’s death. Until she found her new place, she needed to be here. “Jenny and Faith need me.”
“You’re going to stay until she’s eighteen?”
“I still have nine months left on my contract. After that—” She shrugged. “We’ll see. I promised Jenny I wouldn’t leave her and Faith. I’m not going anywhere until I know I can take them with me.”
“That sounds like a lot to take on.”
She shrugged again. “I can handle a lot.”
“I don’t doubt it.” He pressed his lips to her jaw. “What about coming to Los Angeles? I could help you find a place. I could help you with Jenny and the baby.”
He meant what he said now, but when he got home to his life, Kentucky would be a thing of the past. He already had a woman waiting for him. “My home’s in New York,” she lied.
“I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“So we won’t. You’ll get on your plane tomorrow and the girls and I will get in the SUV. You’ll do your job in Madrid and Los Angeles and wherever else Ethan Cooke Security takes you, and Jenny, Faith, and I will make plans to move on with our lives.” It sounded so simple, as if watching him walk away wouldn’t break her heart.
He kissed her. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”
She needed it to be—clean breaks were always better. “Yes it does.”
“But it’s not that way right now.”
“No, it’s not.”
He entered her again, clasped their fingers, and took them both to places where goodbyes and shattered hearts were forgotten.
Chapter Twenty-four
Shane carried Faith through Blue Grass Airport as he, Reagan, and Jenny approached the security terminals where he and Chase had arranged to meet. He glanced at Reagan by his side as she handed Jenny another tissue, loathing that their previous night together was the last they would share. They’d slept little, lying wrapped in each other’s arms, talking and making love until his alarm reminded them both he had a plane to catch. He looked her way again, catching her eye, sending her a small smile before he spotted Chase by the diner. Reluctantly, he raised his hand in greeting, knowing this was it. “There’s Chase.”
“He’s really cute,” Jenny said, blowing her nose.
Shane slid her a baleful look.
“I’m just sayin’.” She smiled, her eyes red and her nose pink.
He studied his well-built coworker and friend, certain Chase would be playing a starring role in several of Jenny’s teenage dreams. “Let’s just be clear that Chase is eye candy and nothing more. He’s the same age as me.”
“Got it, Dad.” She rolled her eyes.
Chase gave them a nod and started their way, his gray eyes and expression serious, as usual. “Hey, Shane.” He held out his hand.
Shane accepted his greeting. “Hey.” He adjusted Faith in his arm. “Chase, this is Faith, Reagan, and Jenny.”
Reagan shook Chase’s hand. “Hi, Chase. Thanks for coming out to join us in Kentucky.”
“Are you gonna be Reagan’s new medical assistant?” Jenny asked.
Shane adjusted Faith again, trying to ignore the twist of resentment at being replaced.
Chase looked from Shane to Reagan. “Uh, I don’t think so.”
“I don’t think I’ll be needing an assistant anytime soon, other than Jenny, of course.” She placed her hand on Jenny’s shoulder.
Shane handed over the Pajero keys to Chase, glancing at Reagan as she looked down. “I guess it’s about time for me to hit the road.”
Jenny’s lips wobbled again. “I sure hope you’ll be ready to see me and Faith sooner rather than later.” She walked up to him, wrapping her arms around him.
He hugged her back, kissing her cheek. “Any time you want. I mean it.” He held her jaw in his hand. “You stay away from Terry and concentrate on yourself and Faith.”
She nodded.
He slipped his hand in his pocket, pulling out five hundred dollars. “This is for you and the baby. If you need something, get it. If you run low, let me know.”
She shook her head as she took a step back. “I can’t take that.”
“Yes, you can—I want you to. Faith’s growing fast. She needs clothes and diapers and formula. Pick her out a couple of new books for me.”
Jenny hugged him again, her shoulders trembling as she sucked in several shaky breaths. “I love you, Shane.”
He clenched his jaw, certain this was the hardest thing he’d ever done. “I love you too.” He stepped away from her, needing the space, and smiled at the baby staring up at him. She’d grown so much since he, Jenny, and Reagan fought to bring her into the world. By the time he saw her again she would probably be crawling and have no idea who he was. “Goodbye, Ms. Faith. You take care of your mom and Reagan. They’ll need someone to keep them out of trouble.” He kissed her forehead, breathing in her baby powder scent, and handed her over to Jenny.
“No goodbyes,” Reagan said, her voice thick as he stepped up to her.
“No goodbyes.” He cupped her face in his hands, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. “Call me if you need anything.”
She gripped his wrists. “I will.”
“Anything, Reagan.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
He captured her lips longer than he meant to, hanging on as she clung to him. “Take care.”
“You too.”
He stepped away, leaving his heart behind, and shook Chase’s hand, knowing the only thing that made going even slightly bearable was that Chase was a good man and things in The Gap had settled down again. “Take good care of them.”
“I will.”
Jenny started to cry, and Reagan took Faith, wrapping her arm around Jenny’s waist, murmuring something close to her ear.
Jenny nodded.
He glanced at his watch, aware that he’d waited as long as he could. He pulled his boarding pass and license free. “See you around.”
Reagan smiled. “See you.”
He walked to the TSA agent, handing over his items, walking past the point of no return, and looked back as Reagan, Jenny, and Faith stood as a unit while Chase waited off to the side. He paused, noting the tear sliding down Reagan’s cheek.
“Damn it,” he murmured, stepping their way, ready to throw away his career. But he stopped when Reagan gave a quick shake of her head. Sighing, he lifted his hand in a final wave, turned, and walked away from the three most important people in his life.
~~~~
Reagan sat in the passenger’s seat, staring out the window as the familiar landscape of Black Bear Gap came into view. She glanced at the dashboard clock, then toward the partly cloudy skies. Shane was in the air by now, his destination home.
Sighing quietly, she looked to the bold reds, yellows, and oranges of fall trees in their glory and rundown buildings, no longer wanting to be here without him. She’d come to Eastern Kentucky to start over and help the people in this tiny town, but nothing had turned out the way she’d planned. In three short months she’d alienated an entire community and fallen in love with a man who left her behind. She pressed her hand to her aching heart, certain she would never quite be whole again.
“There’s not much here.”
She looked at Chase, giving him a small smile. “No. The gas station and market are pretty much it.”
He slowed, leaning closer to the windshield as he turned his head from side to side, his gaze darting around, taking everything in. “I saw the pictures and maps, but actually being here… This
place is pretty desolate.”
“It’s a bit of a shock.”
He raised his brows. “It’s definitely different from LA.”
“Mmm,” she agreed, studying the man who would spend the next three months with her and the girls. He was certainly gorgeous with his dark brown hair, square jaw covered in a close-shaven boxed beard that looked more like five ‘o clock shadow than scruff, firm lips, and long, straight nose. His build was equally as tough as Shane’s, but their eyes were different. Where Shane exuded fun and friendliness, Chase seemed guarded and intense. “But time passes surprisingly quick. You’ll be back in California before you know it.”
He nodded, sending her a knowing look, then chuckled as he glanced in the rearview mirror. “Jenny’s out cold.”
She peeked over her shoulder, smiling her first genuine smile as she stared at Jenny’s mouth hanging open and her face still blotchy from a morning of crying. “Yeah, Faith’s teething. Neither of them are getting a lot of sleep.”
“She’s pretty young.”
“She is. She’ll be seventeen in a couple more days, but she’s a great mother.” She trailed her gaze over the pretty blond and her baby. Shane was gone; the people in The Gap hated her, but the two girls resting soundly needed her. They were counting on her strength. She sat up straighter, smiling again. For the first time since Shane turned their worlds upside down with the news of his early departure, her sense of purpose was renewed. “I’m incredibly proud of her.”
He nodded as he started up the dirt road to the cabin, following the twists and turns. “So Shane’s been keeping me filled in on the happenings around here. It sounds like things got pretty eventful.”
She shrugged, thinking of Henry’s accidental cremation and her lack of resolution with his and the other men’s cases. Things were still fairly eventful—for her anyway. “I guess it depends on how you look at it. I don’t have any patients to speak of, and the one I was trying to help just died, so it should be quiet.”
Chase turned the last corner, slowing for the cop car parked in the driveway. “What’s this?”
She frowned. “I don’t know.”
He pulled into the spot next to the police vehicle. “Maybe there’s a little more excitement than we thought.”
“Maybe.” She opened her door and got out as an officer stepped from the vehicle, dressed in slacks and a button-down.
“Doctor Rosner?”
She nodded. “Yes. I’m Reagan Rosner.”
He closed the distance between them, offering his hand. “I’m Detective Joseph Reedy.”
She accepted his greeting. “It’s nice to meet you…I think.”
The detective smiled. “I have a few questions for you.”
Her brow furrowed again. “Is this about Henry?”
“No, ma’am. Doctor Heinz Schlibenburg.”
Her frowned deepened. “Doctor Schlibenburg?”
“Yes.” He looked toward Chase.
“Chase Rider, Head of Security for the Appalachia Project,” he said as he shook the detective’s hand.
“Nice to meet you.” He gave his attention back to Reagan. “Doctor Rosner, can we go inside?”
“Yes. Please. Right this way.”
Jenny got out, yawning and holding Faith’s carrier. “Is everythin’ okay?”
She nodded. “Everything’s fine.” Even though it clearly wasn’t. “Go ahead and lay back down for a while. You still look tired.”
“Okay.”
Reagan led the way up the steps to the house, letting Jenny in, then the officer and Chase. She shut the door, waiting for Jenny to close herself and the baby in their room. “Can I offer you water or coffee, Detective?”
“No, thank you.”
“Chase, I’m not sure what you want to do...” She wanted to be finished with the pleasantries and hostess duties and figure out what in the world was going on. What did a detective have to do with Doctor Schlibenburg?
“I’ll stay here if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.”
They sat on the couch as the detective took the chair.
She smiled at the detective even as her stomach churned. “Detective, I’m afraid I’m a little confused by your visit.”
“Doctor Rosner, I’m here because we’re investigating the murder of Heinz Schlibenburg.”
She gripped the edge of the couch as the detective’s words sunk in. “I don’t—I didn’t realize—murder?” She shook her head. “His daughter told me he’d passed away, but I had no idea he was murdered.”
“I’m sorry to bring you such terrible news. Were you and the doctor close?”
“No. We just recently met.”
“Doctor Rosner, Effie Schlibenburg, the doctor’s daughter, shared your name with us. She said you told her you and her father had been in contact. I’m hoping you might be able to help me piece together Doctor Schlibenburg’s last days.”
“Yes. Of course. I’ll do my best. When was his last day, exactly? Effie only said he had died.”
“We’re keeping the case quiet until we have more facts.”
“Why?” Chase asked.
“We don’t believe the community is in any danger.”
“So Doctor Schlibenburg was targeted?” she wanted to know—and understand how something like this could have happened.
“There’s a possibility, but back to your original question, Doctor Rosner. The coroner estimates the doctor expired late October sixth or in the early hours of the seventh.”
She swallowed bile. “I met with Doctor Schlibenburg on the sixth.”
“Maybe we should stop right here,” Chase said, holding up a halting hand. “I think we should contact an attorney before you say anything more.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t hurt Doctor Schlibenburg.” She looked to the Detective, her eyes going wide. “I didn’t harm Doctor Schlibenburg, Detective.”
“Let me put you both at ease. You’re not a suspect at this time. We’re simply trying to nail down his last day.”
“I want to help.” She pressed her fingers to her temple, willing away the stirrings of a nasty headache. “May I ask what happened to him?”
“I’m afraid we’re not disclosing the details at this time.”
She nodded. “I just can’t believe this.”
“I can only imagine how difficult this is.” He pulled out his notebook. “You said you met with Doctor Schlibenburg on the sixth.”
“Yes.” She laced together her icy fingers in her lap.
“At his residence?”
“Yes. We had a one o’ clock meeting.”
“What time did you arrive?”
“Just before one—probably twelve fifty-five.”
“What time did you leave?”
“Right after two.”
“What was your meeting about?”
“He was consulting with me on one of my patient’s diagnosis—four patients, actually.”
“If you can, go back through the details of your conversation. Perhaps he said something that might be helpful to us now.”
She didn’t think the jumbled question-and-answer session with the late doctor would help the detective but nodded anyway. “Sure. I’ve been practicing medicine in The Gap for the last three months. The people here are slow to trust outsiders. Eventually community members started coming around for wellness checkups. Over the course of a few weeks, I ended up with four patients presenting with identical symptoms and similar x-rays. I was certain they had a lung disease called progressive massive fibrosis. It’s a complicated form of black lung.”
The detective nodded as he jotted down notes.
“I sent my findings off to a specialist in Lexington who didn’t agree with my diagnosis.”
“His or her name please.”
“Doctor Steven Jacobson.”
He wrote again.
“After contacting other specialists in the area without results, I started doing research on the internet and came across Docto
r Schlibenburg’s name. I called him and asked if he would be willing to meet with me, which he was, albeit very reluctantly.”
“Can you expand on that?”
“He agreed after a bit of begging.” She smiled sheepishly. “Doctor Schlibenburg was one of the top pulmonologists in the US—if not the best—when he was still practicing. I was eager for his opinion. Perhaps you saw the films I left with him.”
Detective Reedy made a sound in his throat as he jotted down another note.
“Anyway, he agreed to an hour-long meeting at his home. He wouldn’t give me his address over the phone.” She frowned with the memory. “He asked me to call when I got to Berea. From there he told me how to get to his house.”
“Was anyone else there when you arrived?”
“No. He didn’t strike me as a man who had many guests.”
“Why would you say that?”
“He kept his curtains closed and he had three locks on the door. He didn’t like me being there. He watched the clock like a hawk. When my time was up, he kicked me out.”
The detective’s pen paused against the paper. “Kicked you out?”
“Yes. He dragged me to the door and shoved me outside. I almost fell down his stairs.”
“You had a physical altercation?” The detective scribbled on his pad.
“No. I made him upset when I asked if he would share an article he was rumored to have written.”
“What was the article about?”
She shrugged, shaking her head. “I’m not exactly sure, but I can only presume black lung.”
The detective frowned. “Why did that upset him?”
“I’m not sure on that either. But he refused. I pushed a little, and that’s when he got agitated. He was nervous the entire time I was there.”
“So you asked him for an article—subject unknown—and he got pissed?”
She shook her head. “Not pissed, just more distressed than he already was. He said people didn’t want to hear what he had to say, but I assured him I did.”