“She is the light of my life,” Kate murmured as she and Jared stood. “Maybe that pregnancy was a surprise, but I wouldn’t give up one moment with her for all the gold in Fort Knox.”
They fell silent for a moment, as they always did at moments like this, and she wondered what he was thinking. If he had regrets. If he longed for the freedom most of his law school buddies still enjoyed...without all the emotional baggage she and Jared still carried.
Collin’s death had changed her forever, leaving her a far different person than the one he’d married in such a white-hot fever less than two years ago. Did he regret that now?
Jared wrapped his arms around her and pulled her backward against his chest to nuzzle her neck. “We’re going to make it, you and me.”
She closed her eyes and savored his warmth, the beloved feeling of his strong arms around her. “I hope so.”
“That book we read said that losing a child is like the worst kind of ‘trial by fire’—that it can end a marriage. I think it made us stronger.” He kissed her cheek. “If we’ve gotten through this year, we can get through anything.”
A brief image of his mother flashed through her thoughts. The subtle implication of blame Sylvia had laid at Kate’s feet on that first day in the hospital. Her cool distance at the tiny, private funeral, when Kate had needed solace more than any time in her entire life.
“Even my mother,” he whispered, as if reading her thoughts, and she could feel him smile.
“Even her.” She turned in his arms and lifted her chin to accept his kiss. “I want to end up in rocking chairs together at some nursing home when we’re over a hundred. I love you, Jared, and I always will.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
PRESENT DAY
When Kate reached the hospital, she hurried to the emergency department doors, nodded at the nurses standing inside, and headed straight for the elevators.
She’d been silently praying the entire trip back into town, steeling herself for what might lie ahead. Poor Casey, there all alone...
And Jared—what about Jared? Why had she listened to the nurses who had encouraged her to leave for a while?
Upstairs, she strode straight to the ICU but stopped there, her hands braced on the door.
Through the windows, she could see the area was quiet. Several nurses were charting on the computers at the desk. Did that mean...
“Mom!” Casey came out of the waiting room to the left and launched herself into Kate’s arms. “Where have you been?”
“I’ve been here since your dad was admitted. I only ran home and out to the clinic because the nurses said he was stable. Your dad...is he...”
Casey pulled Kate over to a chair and sat down, and Kate followed suit. “The nurses came out just a few minutes ago and said he’d stabilized, but we can’t go in for another hour. He was in res...” She thought for a second. “Respiratory distress. Something to do with his medications and a coma.”
Kate breathed a deep sigh and felt her tense muscles go weak with relief. “Thank goodness he’s doing better.”
“But if he’s in a coma, will he wake up?” Casey’s voice lifted in alarm. “Will he be okay?”
Kate gently took Casey’s cold, shaking hands within her own. “He has a number of injuries. The most troubling right now is some swelling of his brain. That’s why they dropped him into a coma with barbiturates—to help reduce the pressure. It won’t be for long.”
“I—I feel so bad.” Casey swallowed hard, her head bowed. Strands of long blond hair had escaped her ponytail and trailed over their joined hands like molten gold. “I should’ve been here. M-maybe I never should’ve moved away.”
“Oh, sweetheart. Of course you should have—this is the time to spread your wings. You wanted so badly to go to school in Fort Collins, right?”
When she didn’t answer, Kate freed a hand and reached over to gently cup her cheek. “I miss you terribly, of course. And so does your dad. But it wouldn’t be right to hold you back.”
Casey’s head dropped lower. “Y-you didn’t go so far away.”
“Are you homesick? Has it been difficult for you?” That last phone call played through Kate’s memory. The tension in Casey’s voice. The hesitance. “If there’s anything at all that you need to talk about, this is a perfect time. We only want you to be happy.”
“I—” The elevator dinged softly, and Casey fell silent as footsteps came slowly down the hall.
Kate looked around, realizing now that the old man was gone. Her heart caught. Had his wife died? Or had she been moved to the cardiac floor instead? Or perhaps he’d just taken a short break, as well.
But it wasn’t his deeply lined face that appeared at the door. It was Sylvia, looking ashen and weak. She was accompanied by a nurse, who had her elbow crooked firmly under Sylvia’s arm to steady her.
The nurse frowned at Kate and shook her head. “Mrs. Mathers has been discharged, against medical advice, and she refused a wheelchair to come up here. We tried, believe me. But—”
“I am perfectly fine. I’m going to sit right here, and I’ll be far better off than I was downstairs on that blasted gurney.” Sylvia’s eyes flashed fire as she disengaged her arm and eased into a waiting room chair. “So just let me be.”
The nurse gave Kate a helpless look. “We wanted to keep her a while longer, or at least arrange for transport home so she could rest. But she said she’s staying at a hotel and refused to go there. Said she has to be up here for her son.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her. If we need any assistance, I’ll call downstairs.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Sylvia snapped. “If I get tired, I can nap here, or I can take my own car.”
Kate met the nurse’s eyes and gave a slight shrug. “We’ll manage.”
The nurse hesitated in the doorway, then mouthed good luck, before disappearing down the hall.
Casey sat back in her chair. “Hi, Grandma. Were you sick, too?”
“No, I was not. Just a little stressed, but anyone would be in this situation.” Sylvia shifted and straightened her spine. “The nurses were quite wrong in ordering me down to the ER—but I suppose that’s how they try to bring in more revenue.”
For a woman who “wasn’t ill,” Sylvia looked remarkably pale, and Kate wished she could run down to the ER and ask about her condition. There’d be no point, though, given the health care privacy laws. She considered the best approach and mentally crossed her fingers before speaking. “What sort of adjustments did they make with your meds?”
Sylvia pursed her lips.
“Did they order a stress test?”
Silence.
“An MRI?”
Sylvia’s gaze shifted away and her lower lip quivered for just an instant, but at that brief glimpse into her soul, Kate saw her for what she was, behind the hard mask she always kept firmly in place.
An old woman in fragile health.
Alone.
Her only daughter away at school, her only son badly injured and lying in ICU—yet she was still too stubborn and prideful to welcome an olive branch of peace and comfort.
Decades of bitterness had carved those lines so deeply in her gaunt cheeks. And while Sylvia would probably never change, maybe it was time for everyone else to try a little harder.
“I know you aren’t tired and that you feel perfectly fine,” Kate said. “But when you do want some rest, our house is closer than the hotel and no one is there.”
Sylvia shot her a disparaging glance. “Thank you, but no.”
“It would be quiet and peaceful, and the guest rooms both have comfy beds. Casey could probably use some sleep, too. How long have you been up, honey?”
Casey flashed her a quick look of understanding. “A good thirty-six hours, but I don’t really want to go home alone. Unless maybe Grandma would go with me.”
“Dr. Mathers?”
All three women jerked around to face the doorway, where one of the ICU nurses stood.
&nb
sp; “Sorry,” she said with chagrin. “I didn’t mean to alarm you. If one of you would like to go back in to sit with Mr. Mathers, it would be all right. He’s doing better. He’s still asleep, but the doctor has tapered those new meds. And Dr. Mathers—you have a call on line four. You can take it in here, if you like.”
“We should let Grandma go in first, don’t you think?” Kate asked Casey. “I believe you must have seen him last.”
When Casey nodded, Sylvia silently rose and left the room to be with Jared. Kate went to the desk phone on an end table to pick up her call.
“It’s me,” Amy said, her voice shaking. “I’m at the clinic and there’s been more trouble. The sheriff is on his way over to see you. Tom is coming too, because he stopped in when he saw the patrol car out front.”
What next? Kate took a deep breath. “I was in the clinic just an hour ago, Amy, and everything was fine. At least as far as I know.” But had she looked that closely? Had the intruder been hiding inside, even while she was there?
“I was late for work this morning, because my truck had a flat when I got up this morning,” Amy said. “I just walked in maybe ten minutes ago. The sheriff was at the café having breakfast, so he came right over when I called. Someone trashed your office—threw papers everywhere, then must’ve walked through your lab and pharmacy and swept everything off the shelves. There’s broken glass all over. And this time...” She swallowed audibly. “This time, there was a note.”
Kate felt her blood chill. “Do you have it?”
“The sheriff does. But I remember what it says. ‘Back off or you’ll be next.’ Next for what? And why?”
WHEN SYLVIA RETURNED from her five minutes at Jared’s bedside, she looked even more exhausted. “His color seems better, and he gripped my hand just a little when I talked to him.” She sank into a chair. “Maybe I should take that rest, after all.”
Thankful for her change in attitude, Kate tossed the SUV keys to Casey. “Can you bring my car up to the back entrance, so your grandmother doesn’t need to walk so far?”
“I could walk,” Sylvia sniffed after Casey was gone.
Kate nodded. “I know, but I just wanted a moment to talk to you alone.”
The old woman’s eyes flared wide with alarm. “About Jared? Is he worse than they told me?”
“No. I just wanted a chance to tell you how much we all love you...and how much I wish that there was a way to mend all the hurt between us.”
Sylvia stiffened.
“I know you were against Jared’s marriage to me. I know you had high hopes for something different. But,” Kate added with a gentle smile, “we’ve made it for twenty years now. I love him with all my heart. And it would mean so much to both of us if we could all be a closer family.”
Sylvia sat upright. Her rigid spine might have been made of granite. But after a long moment, she turned her head away, her lower lip trembling.
“Please? You never know what the future might bring for any of us...or how much we’ll need each other.”
Sylvia clenched her hands in her lap until her knuckles whitened.
“I wish Casey could get to know her only grandmother better. She would love that. And it would mean so much to me if we could all start building some good memories...together.”
Sylvia’s mouth worked, as if she were trying to force words that just wouldn’t come, then she turned away, her back rigid.
Ten minutes later, Casey appeared at the door. “I’ve got the SUV at the entrance. Are you ready, Grandma?”
The older woman hesitated.
“Go on home and rest, you two,” Kate said on a long sigh.
“You...you’ve been a good wife to my son,” Sylvia managed after a long silence.
The words were stilted, still edged with ice, but it was a start. “I’ll call immediately if there’s any change. Okay?”
With a nod, Sylvia started to follow Casey out the door, then she turned back. Her face was still lined with fear and exhaustion, but there was a flicker of something new...as if those steel-gray eyes had softened, just a little.
Maybe there was hope after all.
JUST MINUTES AFTER Casey and Sylvia left, the sheriff arrived, his keys jangling in one hand with every stride and a scarred leather notebook in the other. Tom trailed behind, red-faced and breathing hard.
Kate gripped the arms of her chair and stood up. “The clinic has been broken into twice in twenty-four hours. Did you find any clues this time? Fingerprints?”
“I have a deputy going over the scene with a fine-tooth comb.”
“I was just there—right at the clinic.”
“I know. One of the deputies drove by earlier and saw your car.”
“How could it happen so fast?” But even as she said the words, she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Was I being watched?”
“That’s my guess. But it gets even more interesting than that.” The sheriff glanced at Tom, then opened the notebook in his hand to review some notes. “When Jared’s SUV was pulled out of the ditch, we didn’t notice anything at first...as a lot of the paint was burned and the vehicle was badly damaged. And part of one side was buried in the damp ground.”
Her sinking feeling turned into a cold, hard fist that tightened around her stomach as she thought about the dead woman and the evidence that might have been discovered.
“We think we found evidence that the vehicle had been sideswiped—there’s some green paint residue. Do you remember you or your husband having any sort of minor accident when that could have occurred?”
“No. Never.”
He nodded, his lips pursed, as if she’d just confirmed what he’d believed all along. “Then we can look at the possibility that a second vehicle was involved—either accidentally or intentionally.”
“And given the other threats and the break-ins at the clinic, it seems likely that it would be the latter,” Tom interjected. “I’m worried about your safety, Kate. And about Jared’s, as well.”
Kate drew in a sharp breath. “I just sent Casey and Sylvia home. Alone.”
The sheriff tapped the microphone clipped at his shoulder and rattled off orders to a dispatcher, then signed off. “I’ve sent a deputy over there to keep watch, and we’re having that paint sample analyzed to determine the make and model of the car that might have been involved. I also have a deputy questioning people in town to see if anyone saw a suspicious vehicle at your clinic this morning as they drove by. But in the meantime, we need to talk about the possibilities here.”
Tom nodded. “The sheriff and I went through Jared’s records at the free clinic, Kate. There are a couple that look suspicious—a large farming corporation accused by a neighbor of illegally contaminating Silver Creek with feedlot runoff. The neighbor guy came to Jared for help when the county wasn’t taking quick enough action, I guess. There have been a lot of heated words—even some threats—back and forth between these two guys.
“Another case Jared has taken on is against a small meat processing plant in the next county. Two of the employees are trying to sue over being fired—unfairly, they say. Other than that, most of Jared’s pro bono cases have been domestic disputes or wrangles between neighbors.”
She blinked, taking it all in. It wouldn’t set well with those business owners if those little guys were now armed with a determined lawyer. Could someone from the corporation or processing plant have been desperate enough to attempt murder? And were they determined not to stop until no further threat remained?
Tom rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll keep looking through the records, and the sheriff’s department is continuing its investigation. But be careful, Kate. There’s someone out there who’s wanting payback. When your husband wakes up, do everything in your power to make him back off from those cases for a while. Understand? Everything—before something worse happens.”
“This is all just beyond belief,” Kate said. “Twenty years of peace and quiet—then a car wreck, a fatality, an
d now these break-ins all at once.” She shook her head. “Do you have anything at all on the woman who died?”
The sheriff flipped further back in his notebook. “No fingerprint matches. We found no personal ID on the body or anywhere in the car. There’ve been no missing person reports that even come close. And without a list of possible names, dental records can’t be tracked down for comparison.”
“The labels in her clothes? Anything in her purse—a receipt, maybe?”
“Nope.” He lifted a brow and gave her a piercing look. “Did you and Jared ever go out shooting? You know, target practice?”
“I don’t see why—”
“I’d just like to know, ma’am.”
“Some high school friend of Jared’s took us out to a range a few times, but that was years ago. We shot his rifles and some handguns at targets, but we’ve never gone hunting. Why?”
The sheriff hesitated, his eyes still fixed on hers. “Because we found a .44 Magnum in the glove compartment of your husband’s vehicle. Any idea why he’d be packing a gun?”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SPEECHLESS, KATE STARED at the sheriff and shook her head.
“Did he ever mention being personally threatened? That he needed to carry a gun for protection?”
“H-he never said a word.” She paced a few feet away, then returned. “After the kinds of cases he’s seen in court, he’s always said that he’s totally against people carrying weapons.”
“Maybe he thought circumstances forced him to. Though I’m afraid there’s no record of any gun permits being issued in his name...and that opens up a whole other set of problems here.”
“I...” She fell silent. The free clinic wasn’t in the best part of town, and who knew what sort of lowlifes frequented the area and might walk in for free legal advice? What did she really know about his life during those late hours? “I still don’t think he’d ever buy one.”
“He didn’t buy this one. At least, not from any reputable dealer, because the serial numbers have been ground off. What about the people he associates with? Do you know what they do for a living? Do any of them look dangerous to you?”
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