Aaron nodded. “I hope so.”
“Well, I sure wouldn’t want to get into a battle with you.” Grant smiled and walked away.
Daniel walked past Aaron, staring at the ground.
“Daniel,” Aaron said as he caught up with him. “This has got to be hard on you.”
Daniel stopped and looked at Aaron. His eyes were reddened. “It’s just not fair. So much isn’t fair.
“You can carry on for him.”
Daniel put his hands into his pockets. “Do you believe in God?”
“Sure, I do. That’s the only way things make sense to me.”
Daniel threw out his hands in front of him. “What about any of this makes sense?”
Aaron sighed. “I don’t pretend to have the answers.” He leaned toward Daniel. “But I do know this: you’ve got to carry on for Buck, to honor his memory.”
Daniel gazed up at the sky. As people filed past them, the two men stood side by side.
After several minutes, Daniel turned to Aaron and straightened his back. “You’re right, sir, and I will.”
Aaron thought of the oath Daniel had sworn with his boyhood friends. “Remember: ‘Follow your dreams and live with courage, so you can die with dignity.’ ”
Daniel saluted.
Aaron smiled at him. Daniel will follow his dreams with courage, all right. I don’t think PTSD will hold him back.
He watched Daniel walk away. “I want to honor Buck’s memory, too,” Aaron said under his breath.
That evening, Aaron knocked on Rachel’s door. He’d decided to pay her a surprise visit.
His heart raced as heard her dogs barking. I hope she doesn’t boot me out of here.
Rachel opened the door and her jaw dropped. “Aaron.”
He took a deep breath. “Will you have me back?”
She smiled, her dimples deepening. “Come on in.” She closed the door after him. “You’re hurt. Are you all right?”
He swelled his chest. “Never been better.”
“How did you get injured?”
“I had a fall. I think it knocked some sense into me.”
She grabbed his arm. “I’m glad you’re back. I like that look in your eyes.”
“There’s something I have to do.”
“I know.” She leaned closer to him. “We’ll both be ready.”
“Remember, he wants me, not you, but we have to wait it out.” Aaron sighed. “Race Taggett is playing games with me.”
“We’ll just live like normal until it’s time.”
Aaron looked down. “I might not live through it.”
Rachel shook his arm. “Don’t think about that. I can tell; you’re stronger now.”
Aaron nodded. “I feel that way, but I’ll need some help, from deep inside me, and from outside me, too.”
Rachel hugged him. “I have faith in you and your outside help. And anyway, there’s still hope that the Texas Rangers will get him first.”
“I’m not holding my breath.”
Chapter 58
Stella’s voice was hoarse and her eyes wide open.
It was early afternoon the next day and several patients waited in the exam rooms. Stella fanned her face with a clipboard and signaled to Aaron in the hallway. She leaned toward him and whispered in his ear.
“There’s a guy at the registration desk. He’s never been here before. I think he wants drugs.”
Aaron’s face tightened. “What’s his complaint?”
“Back pain.”
“Go ahead and bring him to a room after he’s registered.”
Aaron walked back to his office. He took several slow deep breaths. Keep calm. Stay in control.
Several minutes later, Aaron opened the door to a patient room and saw a man pacing and grimacing. He wore a rumpled white dress shirt with a red tie, and his hand was flat on his hunched lower back.
“How can I help you, sir?” Aaron said with a husky voice.
“My back is killing me, since this morning. My lumbar herniated disk has been flaring up recently.” Some of the man’s words were slurred, and he didn’t look at Aaron.
“Did you take anything for it?”
“Not yet. When it gets this bad, the only thing that works is Percocet, ten milligrams. I’m out of it.” He moaned and rubbed his back. “I need at least thirty Percocets, but if you can give me sixty, I’d really appreciate it.”
Stella knocked and opened the door. “Can I come in?”
Aaron turned to her. “Are you sure?”
She nodded, and Aaron motioned her to enter the room. She closed the door and stood just inside.
Aaron examined the patient and noticed that his pupils were small.
He stepped away from the patient and close to Stella. Aaron’s eyes were wide and his lower lip quivered.
She leaned close to his ear. “It’s okay. We can do this,” she said.
Aaron took a deep breath. “We’d better leave the door open,” he whispered to her.
“Good idea.”
“Can you please help me, Doc?” the man said.
Aaron turned to the moaning patient. “Sir.”
He looked up at Aaron with glassy eyes.
“Sir, I understand that you’re in pain. But, I also believe that you might have a problem using Percocet. I cannot support your need for Percocet.”
The man’s moaning stopped and he raised his voice. “You won’t help me? You’re a doctor, and I need help.”
“I can give you a shot of an anti-inflammatory medicine and prescribe a muscle relaxant.”
“No, no.” His face flushed and he straightened up and put his hands on his hips. “Listen to me. I’ve already told you, only Percocet works,” he said through taut lips.
Aaron could feel his chest wall vibrate with his pounding heart. He heard a buzzing in his ears and his head began to spin. Aaron backed out into the hall. The man—his shoulders squared—followed him.
Aaron talked to himself. You’re doing the right thing. Keep your mind focused.
He stopped in the middle of the hall and Stella, with clenched fists, walked to his side. Standing tall in his boots, Aaron’s vision cleared and he looked the man straight in the eyes. “I will not prescribe Percocet for you. I can try to help you in other ways.”
Pointing a finger at Aaron, the man’s lips sputtered. “I’m going to tell everyone what a rip-off this place is. You’re not doing your job. Pain is a vital sign, and I’m in pain.”
He’s been searching on the internet, Aaron thought.
He moved closer to Aaron. “Can’t you see I’m suffering? It’s your duty to help me.”
Aaron felt Stella’s quivering shoulder against his arm.
“Let’s try physical therapy, or I can refer you to a pain management specialist,” Aaron said, emphasizing each word.
“No, you’re not paying attention to what I’m saying,” the man said, raising his hands in front of him.
Aaron shook his head. “No Percocet, sir.”
The man closed in to about three inches from Aaron’s face. Aaron saw a flash of teeth behind snarling lips and smelled musty breath.
Aaron stared into the man’s eyes. He focused on one of the pupils and imagined he could see all the way back to the retina. He visualized how the optic disk and retinal blood vessels might appear.
Just when the air was as stale as Aaron could stand, the man slapped his hands down against his hips and stomped away. “I’m never coming back to this place.”
He spoke at several patients in the waiting room. “You won’t get any help here. I’m going to shut this place down.” He slammed the front door on his way out.
Aaron took a deep breath and turned to Stella.
“You did real well, Doc,” Stella said.
He put his hand on Stella’s shoulder. “So did you. You look surprisingly calm.”
“I kept talking to myself, to keep my mind focused,” she said.
“That’s what I did, too, and nei
ther one of us lost our heads.”
“I’m learning how to handle myself around addicts. I repeated in my mind that they need understanding and forgiveness, just like everyone else. I’m not all the way there yet, but right now I feel better about myself.”
“I feel better, too. You think we’ve been exorcised?”
Stella laughed. “I like that idea. So, now there are two fewer demons in this town.”
Chapter 59
Two days after Buck Bogarty’s funeral, Aaron and Rachel sat for an early dinner at one of their favorite Tex-Mex restaurants.
Before ordering chicken fajitas for two, they lingered for a while over drinks. Aaron motioned to the server for another margarita.
He looked at Rachel. “How’s the bald eagle doing?”
“He’s growing and acting well. He should be ready for release soon, back to his home in the Big Thicket.”
“You certainly have a knack with animals.”
“Well, I haven’t lost one in a while.”
“If you did, I’ll bet the poor creature was too far gone to begin with. By the way, I’ve been reading a book and studying online about animal rehab.”
“Wonderful. Do you want to get into the field?”
“No, I just want to be able to help you if you ever need me to.” Aaron sighed. “And I’m trying to occupy my mind with something fun.”
Rachel leaned toward him. “I know what you’re thinking about.”
“I’m ready for whatever comes.”
She touched his hand. “I’m worried sick about you. I can’t sleep thinking about Race Taggett, so I know it’s got to be tough for you.”
Aaron grabbed her hand. “I’ve felt a change in me. Before I lost my head and bolted, I was afraid. Now, it’s something different, but it’s not fear.”
“I guess that’s good.”
“I’ve never felt this way before. I think it must be what Daniel, a patient of mine, felt before he charged into a dangerous situation with his Army buddies. Or, what Constable Greevy feels sometimes when he walks into the unknown with his gun drawn. It’s my fate, it’s something I must do, and I’ll give it my all when it happens.”
“I know you will, and I’ll be rooting for you.”
Aaron took a deep breath. “You see, I understand Race Taggett now. I know the pain in his eyes, the pain of his childhood and school years. I know where he came from. I think that understanding will help me when I’m against him. I’ll trust my instincts to guide me through it.”
Rachel shuddered. “What do you think he’ll do?”
Aaron sipped his margarita. “I don’t know, but whatever he does, it’ll be a surprise.”
He turned as a sizzling plate covered with steaming chicken for their fajitas appeared on the table.
After dinner, they walked out into the night air and across a quiet parking lot. Their shoes crunched across the gravelly surface.
“What’s that song you’re humming?” Rachel said.
Aaron squeezed her hand. “ ‘If You’re Going Through Hell.’ ”
“I know that one, by Rodney Atkins.”
“Somehow it seems appropriate.”
Rachel shook her head. “Since I met you, I feel like my life has turned into a wild adventure movie.” She stopped and hugged him. “I sure want you around me when times are tough. And I know my hero will save the day again.”
Aaron swelled his chest. “I’ll admit, I am rather proud of myself.”
“You have every right to be.”
Chapter 60
“You look stressed,” Rachel said.
Three days later, on a Saturday in early October, Aaron and Rachel sat for breakfast in a diner at the edge of the Big Thicket.
Aaron had beads of sweat on his forehead. “I had a horrible nightmare last night; it was so real.”
“Can you tell me about it?”
He took a deep breath. “I saw images of faces, many different ones, in front of me as I walked through a forest. They would dart out from behind trees and laugh at me. I recognized several of them as people I once knew, like the medical chief of staff at my old hospital, and another was one of my medical school professors.”
“I take it these were unpleasant people?”
“They were people that I disliked, for sure. I was afraid and kept trying to run away but I would trip and fall. I couldn’t get away.”
“That would make it a nightmare all right. I sure get a creepy feeling when I think of some people from my past.”
“The last person I saw before I woke up was Race Taggett.”
Rachel shook her head. “I don’t think anyone can rest easy around here until he’s dealt with, once and for all.”
They polished off their eggs and potatoes, walked out of the diner, and stepped into the car. Just after Aaron fired up the engine, Rachel screamed and Aaron jumped, hitting his head on the roof.
A man’s face was outside Rachel’s window, and he pointed a handgun at her. “Get out of the car,” he said. “You’ll pay for what you did to me.”
Aaron jammed the car in reverse and floored the accelerator. He heard pops and Rachel ducked as her window shattered. They squealed backward and Aaron maneuvered the car at full speed away from the shooter and back onto the road in front of the diner.
“That guy is shooting at us,” Aaron said. “Are you all right?”
Rachel checked her chest and arms. “I think so.”
“Is that your ex-fiance?”
“It must be.” Rachel was breathing fast.
After a few minutes, Aaron clenched the steering wheel. “I believe a car is following us.”
Rachel whipped her head around. “It’s probably him.” She grabbed her phone and began to dial 911.
“I could be wrong, but he may be waiting for the right time and place to catch up with us.” He glanced at the rearview mirror. “He’s closing in fast.”
Rachel’s voice shook as she described to the dispatcher their current location a few miles east of the Big Thicket and heading south.
Aaron sped along a slight curve in the road. “He’s going to pass us.” Aaron caught a glimpse of another fast-moving vehicle, a white pickup truck, behind the car chasing him.
A car pulled up alongside Aaron, and the driver pointed a gun at him. Aaron ducked as his driver-side window shattered.
Rachel screamed and Aaron jerked the steering wheel to the right and veered off the road. Plumes of grass and dirt shot up on both sides of the car as Aaron and Rachel bounced in their seats across a narrow strip of land.
Aaron spotted an opening in the trees in front of him. “Maybe some shelter will help.”
He managed to steer the car and stop without smashing into a tree.
“Are you all right?” Aaron said.
She slowed her breathing, her hand over her chest. “I think so.” She managed a weak smile. “I’m sure glad I had my seat belt on.”
“Then the shot missed both of us, thank goodness.”
Aaron and Rachel looked back and saw a man leave his car and walk toward them. He appeared to have a gun in his right hand.
“It doesn’t look like Mick, but it must be him,” Rachel said. She turned to Aaron, her hands on her temples. “What do we do?”
“He’s on foot, and we’re still in the car.” Aaron put the car in reverse and gunned the accelerator. “Get down.”
As he backed out, he heard several pops and his rear window shattered.
Aaron slammed the brakes and glanced back over the top of his seat. A scowling man approached Aaron’s car from the side with his gun hand extended, but someone else was near the trees, and a white pickup truck sat behind the pursuer’s car.
Aaron and Rachel watched a man close in behind the gunman, toss a rope over him, and yank it back. The gunman’s eyes flew open and he yelped as the rope tightened around his abdomen and arms, jerking him off his feet and slamming him down on his back. His handgun tumbled away along the ground.
Aa
ron pointed. “Somebody lassoed him, just like in the movies.” He and Rachel jumped out of the car, brushed shattered glass off their clothes, and ran up to the two men. Rachel covered her ears as the man on the ground yelled obscenities and strained in vain, his arms secured at his side with rope.
His long, dirty blond hair flapping, the second man whipped more rope around his quarry’s ankles.
Aaron grinned and raised his hands out in front of him. “Cam Fillmore. It’s you. You look different without your guitar.”
Cam straightened from his crouch and turned to Aaron. “I couldn’t very well throw a lasso with a guitar around my neck.”
“I believe that, but I can’t believe you’re here. You saw my car?”
“Remember, I was watching out for you. My beam blockers warned me today about something bad.”
“That’s right. Someone is looking for you.”
“It wasn’t my enemies. They haven’t found me yet. I haven’t felt their radiation beams.”
“So something else worried you today?”
Cam stared down at the man on the ground. “I saw him driving around yesterday. Today, he looked different, and my beam blockers were jiggling like crazy. I figured he had on a disguise.”
Cam bent down and ripped a mustache and beard off the man, who screamed more obscenities.
“It’s Mick all right,” Rachel said.
Cam stood and held up the disguise. “I suspected he was up to no good, and I was right.” He looked at Aaron. “I saw him following you.”
“Where did you learn to lasso like that?” Rachel said.
“I grew up on a ranch in Montana. I’ve been good with a lasso since I was a kid. I was one of the best at roping calves.”
“It looks like you haven’t lost your touch,” Aaron said.
Cam smiled. “It sure paid off, didn’t it?”
Aaron patted Cam on the shoulder. “Thanks for saving our lives.”
Mick yelled more obscenities and scooted on his back a few feet away from them.
Everyone turned as a police car with flashing lights left the road and approached them. Aaron waved the car over.
Aaron leaned toward Cam. “Don’t worry. They’re not after you. They want him.” Aaron pointed to Mick.
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