by Dale Mayer
“In some ways, I can understand,” she said, “because I was pretty upset too.”
“And yet, I never said anything about you going to vet school. That seven-year commitment would impact my life too. What difference did it make if I was in the navy while you were in vet school?”
“Oddly enough, I was just thinking that today,” she said with a half laugh. “Back then I obviously wasn’t mature enough to hear what you were trying to say.”
“It really bothered you that I was going to the navy?”
“Not about the joining-the-navy part. But about leaving me, yes,” she said. “I never thought about the fact that you were going to serve our country. So many others didn’t either. All I could see was the fact that you wouldn’t be here for me.”
“But you weren’t going to be here for me either,” he said, a question in his voice. “You would be buried in schoolwork and not even in town during the week, only coming home on weekends. So what difference did it make?”
“Back then it made a difference. I wanted you here when I was,” she said. “I don’t expect you to understand. I can’t even really explain it, but it made a difference.”
“Apparently you kept on with your life’s goal, and I went on with my life’s goal,” he said, “so whatever.”
“I think it was a major contributor to our breakup,” she said. “We just didn’t see enough of each other.”
“If it was meant to be, you’d think we would have made it through that period though,” he said. “We managed for a couple years. Then it seemed like, whenever I came home, you didn’t give a damn. So, when I left, it was more a case of Why did I even bother coming for a visit?”
“I cared,” she said. “But, as soon as I saw you again, I was already girding myself for when you would leave. It was incredibly hard to know you would leave again. It was almost easier when you were gone for long stints. I didn’t have to deal with the emotions and the sense of abandonment.”
“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment’s silence. “I never thought of that.”
She shrugged. “And I never thought how you felt when I went off and became a vet either. It’s what I always wanted to do,” she confessed.
“I know,” he said, “and that’s why I didn’t worry about it. I always wanted to go into the navy too.”
“And yet, your father said it was a sudden decision,” she said. “And I don’t remember you ever talking about it.”
“I never talked about it because it would never be acceptable to Dad. My father never, ever wanted me to go, and my brothers would just laugh at me as they always had.”
“Butch too?”
“Butch most of all,” he said. “In a way I think Brody understood the most.”
“I think he did too,” she said softly. “He always spoke highly of you. He admired your decision. But then he also admired the fact that you would buck up against your dad.”
“There was nothing to admire,” Zane said, his tone weary. “It was one fight after another. No one won. I couldn’t have stayed much longer. And you weren’t ready to take the next step in our relationship, so I needed to do something for me, and that was joining the navy.”
“So then what went wrong?”
“We grew apart. We both wanted different things,” he said. “You insisted I stay home, and I wasn’t sure what you were doing when I was gone. You were always with Brody and his friends.”
She gasped. “Are you saying you think I cheated on you?”
He slid her a glance. “You hooked up with Brody very, very quickly.” Her face paled as he studied her.
“I did not cheat on you,” she said. “Where would you even get that idea?”
He stared out the window. “My father. He told me that you were already seeing Brody and that you two were a better match, that I should just get the hell out and stay out.”
She gasped hard, and he could hear her holding back sobs.
“Look. I’m sorry,” he said. “That was a long time ago. I didn’t mean to bring it all up again.”
“Obviously not long enough,” she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I never cheated on you. I never went out with Brody until we broke it off. Sure, we all hung out together, but we never dated. And I didn’t even like him in the beginning. But he insisted on keeping me company. Your father, however, was very supportive.”
“Yeah, that would be my dad,” he said. “In the meantime, he told me that I needed to butt out so the two of you could have a decent life together. He told me that you two had already been seeing each other, but you felt guilty because I was in the military, and you didn’t want to break it off with me. Yet you worried because God only knows what I was doing at the time,” he said in frustration. “Believe me. Dad let me know quite clearly that I was the one in the way.”
“Is that why you didn’t get along with Brody? I don’t know what exactly happened back then,” she said, “but, for the longest time, I was so angry, so mad at you that I was happy to go out with Brody, if just to stick it to you,” she admitted. “I did say I was young, right?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “And my rage was all because I figured you were cheating on me with him.”
“But I wasn’t. I’m surprised you even came back to see us when you were on leave.”
“I couldn’t help myself,” he said. “Besides, he was still my brother and about the only one who would talk to me.”
“Back then your father was friendly when we were all together,” she said, “wasn’t he?”
“He was to a certain extent,” Zane said. “But I think it was only to make sure I kept away from you guys the way he wanted. He was very happy when you two got married.”
“Amazing,” she said. “I wonder why he didn’t like you and me together.”
“Because he didn’t like me,” Zane said. “Don’t ever think differently. He might tell you something else, but the bottom line is, I was his least-favorite son. And he liked you, wanted you for one of them, and Brody seemed to be it. I think Butch and Sandra were a good mix. Although Butch is turning out to be more like Dad every time I see him.”
“I’m not sure you should tell either of them that,” she said on a half laugh.
Just then the intersection light turned, and he made a left turn, heading toward Reggie’s clinic. “Maybe,” he said. “The thing is, my father has been a very negative force in my life. And I really don’t want to be here with him. I came for the dog, but I’m leaving as soon as I can.” When an odd silence filled his vehicle, he turned and looked at her. “What?”
“Oh, nothing,” she said. “Those words just bring back all kinds of bad memories about how, as soon as you arrived, all I could worry about was the fact that you were leaving again. That’s been our entire relationship. It’s a fact that you come, and then you go, and I’m left dealing with the aftermath of emotions.”
“But, in this case,” he said, “it’s nothing to be worried about. Because we don’t have a relationship.” He heard her startled gasp and winced at his own harsh wording. “Look. I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant, we’re not together, and you were married to my brother.”
“Is that a life sentence to you?” She motioned at intersection ahead. “Turn left to get to Reggie.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, making the turn.
“You said I was married to your brother, as if that’s a life sentence, as if that’s something that can’t ever be walked past,” she said. “Your brother’s dead. I have moved forward. He’s always going to be there in my life, but it’s almost as if, because I married your brother, there’s no such thing as having a relationship with you again.”
“I don’t know that there is,” he said. “There would have to be a big adjustment on my part. And I don’t know how I’d feel about something like that.”
“Maybe you should take another look at it,” she said, “because who knows? Maybe you’ll open yourself up to seeing what’s
still there between us.”
He pulled into the parking lot of Reggie’s clinic and turned off the engine. “Is something still there?”
“Absolutely,” she said. She looked at him, opened the passenger door and hopped out, walking around to the front.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “What?” He studied her face in the darkness.
“Of course there’s something between us,” she said in disgust. “I’d hoped that the years away wouldn’t have stopped you from being honest.”
“I’m always honest.”
“Then, in this case, you’re being thick,” she snapped. She headed toward the front door, but, instead of ringing the bell, she pulled out her phone and called Reggie.
Zane watched her. “Are you saying you want to rekindle things between us?”
“I don’t know. Right now I think you should disappear and stay disappeared,” she snapped. “It’s easier than watching you walk into my life and turn around and walk back out again. That’s something I can’t tolerate.”
“I’m not in the navy anymore,” he snapped right back. “So what difference does it make?”
She glared at him. “None at all. And this is a stupid conversation.”
Just then the door in front of them opened, and Reggie let them in.
Reggie looked at the two of them suspiciously, his gaze going from one to the other. “You two fighting?”
Zane shot him a hard look as he stepped inside and passed him. “Not really. Just different viewpoints.”
“We’re fighting,” Holly announced. “Forget what he said.”
Reggie chuckled. “Obviously you two know each other.”
“Yes,” Zane said, his voice tight. “Maybe too much.”
Holly glared at him, but he ignored it.
“Where the hell are the cops?” Zane asked.
“Some attempted bank robbery delayed them. Since I told them that you were on your way and how the intruder was gone and that I’m not injured, they said they may wait until the morning.”
“So take us through what happened,” Zane said.
Reggie launched into an explanation, leading them to his office, where he had set up a cot in a small side room. “I sleep here at night, so I can check on the animals. The shepherd was in a bad way, so I stayed here overnight. Somewhere around ten o’clock, I heard the alarms go off. I hopped up and went to shut them off, but the intruder had already made it inside. He was heading toward the cages, and that’s in the opposite end of the building.” He pointed out where the security station was and how the intruder had to travel through the reception area to the back, then through the treatment rooms to the surgery room and into the rooms in the back where they dealt with the animals after surgeries.
“I was heading toward the dog when I came through the other treatment room. I just instinctively knew this had to do with the poor shepherd. The intruder had a rifle out, looking at each of the cages, and realized only one of the large cages had a clipboard hanging from it. He dropped down, took a look at the clipboard. The dog started to growl, and the gunman said, ‘There you are, you bastard.’ When he lifted the rifle, I popped on the lights and said, ‘Hey, what the hell are you doing?’ Thankfully he didn’t kill me right then,” Reggie admitted.
“I didn’t even think of that. I just wanted to stop him from hurting the shepherd any more than he had, and I’d already put a lot of time and effort into helping him get better. The intruder took one look at me, and he bolted out the back door. I went outside to see where he was, but he was gone. I did hear a vehicle spitting gravel as it ripped out of the side street.” He pointed to where the clinic property stopped at a corner, where a side street connected to the main road.
“I don’t know if that was him or not, but it seemed logical. When I came back in, I did a thorough search around the rest of the clinic, but he left nothing here and took nothing from here. We have had break-ins in the past, where people have come in after drugs,” he said with emotion as he looked over at Holly. “I’m sure you’ve had that trouble too.”
“Absolutely,” she said. “And it’s worse in a poor economy. Because a lot of people think they can sell these drugs for easy cash. I haven’t had a break-in in a while though.”
“Neither had I,” Reggie admitted. “But that was my first thought. When I saw the gun and him heading for the shepherd, I thought, Jesus, it’s him.”
“So he didn’t take anything, and he didn’t attempt to look at anything else?” Zane asked.
“No,” he said, “not that I could tell.” He ran his fingers over his balding head and sighed. “I really could have used a few more hours’ sleep, but I’m far too wide awake now.”
“It’s still early,” Zane said. “If we can make sure everything’s secure and get your alarm set, I doubt he’ll be back tonight.”
Reggie frowned. “I honestly don’t want to keep the shepherd here if that gunman is coming back after him.”
“How badly hurt is he?” Holly asked. “I could move him to my clinic.”
Reggie looked at her hopefully. “That would help, if the gunman knew the dog had been moved. At the moment, as far as he’s concerned, the dog is here, and this is where he’ll come back to.”
“True enough,” Zane said. “But we’re dealing with two things. One, him coming back, and two, him coming back and actually finding Katch. We don’t want the gunman to find this dog, so if we move Katch, that’s one thing. Somehow we need to post a notice saying something about the dog not being here. But that would require an awful lot of explanation for a lot of people.”
“Yeah,” Reggie said moodily, staring at the large cage that held the dog.
“Did you knock him out again?”
“I had to,” he said. “He shouldn’t have been awake in the first place, but it must’ve been instinct, knowing he was in danger again.”
“Good,” Holly said. “If we had a way to move him, I’d say we take him back to the clinic and get him safely installed in one of my cages. I can keep an eye on him at work.”
“We also have to make sure nobody sees us doing this,” Zane said. “We don’t want this gunman to come to your clinic either.”
“If Katch is gone, the gunman won’t know where Katch went, will he?” Holly asked.
“How about the two of you decide how is the best way to transfer the shepherd,” Zane said, “while I go make sure that asshole really is gone.” And on that note he turned and headed out the back door.
Outside, he stopped and sniffed the air. It contained a mixture of pain, fear and gasoline. He sniffed again. It was almost as if he could smell the gunpowder. Giving his head a shake, he walked around to the back area where he’d already been more than once today. And then he checked the parking lot front and back and walked around to the corner of the side street where the vehicle had supposedly been parked. It was obvious a vehicle had recently left because gravel was spit up on the sidewalk and along the path before it. The tracks were there but hard to see because the driver had let the tires spin. Whether that was a deliberate move to hide his tracks, Zane didn’t know, but it was a smart move nonetheless.
He walked around the neighborhood, going out three blocks, checking to make sure nobody was waiting. He found nothing suspicious. None of the houses appeared to have direct access to the clinic itself, so it wasn’t like somebody was in a house watching him.
As he walked back to Reggie’s, Zane gazed around at the immediate area. It was a busy street with easy access from two sides of the clinic, and then, with the side street at the back, that made it easy for anybody coming in that direction too. Good for a business sense but even nicer for somebody skulking around in the shadows. A lot of escape routes were here.
Zane slowly made his way back to where the two vets were talking. As he walked in, Reggie stepped out, his face worried. And then he saw Zane, and relief washed over his features. “For a moment there,” Reggie said, “I thought you were the other guy.”
“I don’t want him back at all,” Reggie said. “I wish I had a photograph of him to warn my staff.”
“If you had a photograph,” Zane said, “I would have an easier time tracking him down.”
“There aren’t even cameras along this street,” Reggie said.
“What about your security system?” Holly said. “Do you have video?”
He nodded. “And I checked it. Got nothing on the intruder.”
“Did you figure out how to move the shepherd?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking at him sideways. “In the back of your truck with me keeping an eye on him.”
He frowned at her. “That’s hardly a good idea, is it?”
“We can move him on blankets.”
“We take him on a gurney out of here, transport him into the bed with blankets,” Reggie said. “And then repeat the process at your end.”
“How many tubes, catheters, etc., does he have, and does he have to keep them in for the trip?” Zane asked.
Reggie shook his head. “We’ll unclip them, or you can take the bag and hold it, if you want. Otherwise, for fifteen to twenty minutes, he’ll be okay. We’ve already got the lines in. You can rehook him up when you get to Holly’s.”
“In that case, any reason I can’t just pick him up and carry him out and put him in the back of the truck, and you can keep an eye on him?”
“In the pickup bed?” she asked.
“Are you sure you can lift him?” Reggie asked.
Zane just looked at the two of them.
Holly shrugged. “Whatever you want to do.”
He walked back out to his truck and checked out the bed. The pickup bed was big enough that it might be the easiest answer. He popped down the tailgate, not liking the fact there was no canopy, then went to the double cab and opened up the door to the back seat.
As Holly came up beside him, she asked, “Why don’t we lay him on the bench seat in the front, and I’ll sit in the back?”
“I was just thinking that,” he said. He moved her purse to the back. He walked around, closed the tailgate again and headed back inside the clinic.