“They killed five female copperheads. Of course—”
“Five?” He rubbed his jaw. “I’ve never seen that many snakes in one place. Do they know why there were so many?”
Leigh shook her head. “Ben did say they were all full of baby snakes. However, we don’t know which one bit Martin, but all appear to be mature snakes.” She examined Martin’s leg. It had swollen only slightly more, but still, any additional swelling needed to be considered. “Does it still hurt?”
With round eyes he nodded.
Leigh tilted her head. “Let’s say that on a scale of one to ten, where one only hurts a little and ten hurts so bad you want to yell, which number is the pain closest to?”
Martin bit his lip. “If I don’t move it, maybe five, but if I move it—ten for sure.”
“That helps me a lot.” She turned to his parents. “I want to give him antivenom—Crofab. Again, is he allergic to anything? ”
Adrian laughed softly. “Doctor, that boy isn’t allergic to anything, especially food.”
“Good.” Leigh turned to Cathy. “Get his weight, then prepare four vials of Crofab.”
“You sure he’s going to be all right?” Mr. Stone asked.
“As sure as I can be about anything, Mr. Stone. We’ll admit him to ICU so we can monitor any reaction to the antivenom, but you can stay with him.”
“Thank you, and call me Sam. The way Andre talks about you, I feel I already know you.”
An hour later, Leigh paused from writing her report on Martin and worked the muscles in her neck. So far, there’d been no reaction to the Crofab, meaning he could be moved to a room in ICU where he would be closely monitored overnight. She’d called Marisa to see if TJ had made it home okay, but no one answered. She’d call back in a few minutes.
Her cell phone rang, and she glanced at it. Dr. Robert Meriwether? Her heart kicked into high gear. He was her contact at Johns Hopkins. Her finger shook as she slid the lock off and answered. “Hello?”
“Leigh. How are you?”
“Fine,” she answered cautiously.
“Are you still interested in getting your foot in the door at Johns Hopkins?”
“Yes sir!”
“Then I have a proposition for you. I have an opening at our free clinic beginning October 1st. Interested?”
She swallowed a gasp. The room seemed to stand still. The sounds of the ER faded into the background as she pressed the phone tightly against her ear. She thought about pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
“Leigh, are you there?” Dr. Meriwether’s voice boomed in her ear.
“Yes, Doctor. I’m . . . yes, I’m definitely interested.” She tried not to sound breathless. “When do I need to be in Baltimore?”
“You’ll probably want to get settled in an apartment by the middle of September.”
She couldn’t believe her dream was coming true. Dad’s dream too. And she’d be able to fulfill the promise she’d just made to Emily to work at the clinic the four weeks in August. The scholarship repayment. “Uh, what about the service contract I signed?”
“The clinic is in the program. I’ve talked with your adviser, and he’ll take care of the paperwork. You and I can work out the other details, like signing the contract, next month.”
She stared at the phone long after she’d hung up. She was going to Johns Hopkins. The words danced inside her head. I can’t wait to tell Tony.
Suddenly, the loss of her brother slammed her, and she blinked back the tears that seemed to come from nowhere.
“Leigh? Are you okay?”
She looked up into Ben’s concerned face. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Just got here, why? I brought TJ.”
“I didn’t hear you come up.” She looked past him for her son. TJ’s words of their first night at the Logans’ echoed in her head. “I like it here. I wish we could stay forever.” How was she going to tell him they were moving again? “Where’s TJ? Is he all right?”
“He’s fine. Out in the waiting room with four other boys who want to know how Martin is. Emily is riding herd on them.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and she smiled. Visits from Martin’s friends would probably be better than medicine. “I think that can be arranged before he goes to ICU. But just two at a time.”
“ICU?”
“Mostly for observation. From the looks of the wound, Martin didn’t receive a full envenomation, but I’m not taking any chances with the snakebite or the antivenom.”
He turned to leave, and she stopped him. “Do you have any idea why there were five snakes on the ball field?”
Ben’s face hardened. “I think they were turned loose. On purpose.”
“You’re kidding.” Leigh’s brow furrowed. “Why? Do you know who did it?”
“I don’t know why, and I don’t know who. What I do know is a ball field isn’t a natural habitat for copperheads. Not five, anyway.” Ben had seen female copperheads congregate when about to give birth, but never in a populated area like the park. They preferred a quieter, more rural setting. “I think someone captured them and turned them loose. Maybe someone who handles snakes on a regular basis. Have you treated anyone else for a snakebite?”
“A garter bite a couple of weeks ago, but that was a young boy. You may want to check with the makers of antivenom. I know if I were handling poisonous snakes, I’d keep some on hand.”
“Good idea. Do you mind if I ask Martin a couple of questions before the boys see him?”
“Sure. He’s in room 6. His parents are with him.”
Ben walked down the corridor and rapped lightly on the door to the room. When he heard a muffled “Come in,” he pushed the door open.
“Howdy, folks,” he said, nodding at the Stones. “Andre will be here soon to check on Martin. Right now, he’s taking the dead snakes to a local vet for examination.” He turned to Martin. “How are you feeling, buddy?”
“My foot hurts, and I want to go home. Do you think Andre will let me play Saturday?”
Ben glanced at Martin’s dad. “Maybe you can cheer them on.”
“But I want to play!”
Sam rubbed the top of his son’s head. “You want your team to win, don’t you?” After Martin nodded, he continued, “Then you want to feel 100 percent so you can play well.”
The boy sighed. “First I can’t play because I cut my arm and now this. Andre won’t ever let me play again.”
“Martin,” Ben said. “Did you see anyone out by the center field fence? Maybe with a bag?”
Sam startled. “You don’t think—”
“I don’t know. Just asking questions.” He turned back to the boy. “Did you see anyone?”
“There were lots of people walking by, going to the other ball fields.”
“Did anyone stop?”
Martin wrinkled his nose as he considered Ben’s question, then he hunched his shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t remember. What about TJ? Did you ask him?”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t remember, either. Tell me exactly what happened. TJ said you two were picking up trash. What did you pick up?”
“A bag. A big one—you know, like a garbage bag.”
Ben paused. Was it possible the bag had blown against the fence and the snakes congregated under it? His gut said no, but it was a possibility. “Did you see any other snakes?”
Martin shook his head. “That one was enough.”
Ben chuckled. “I imagine it was. Think about it, and if you remember something, tell your brother.” Ben stopped at the door. “Oh, and you have a few friends out in the waiting room who want to see you.”
“Really? Cool.” The grin that spread across Martin’s face lit up the room.
Sam Stone followed Ben into the hallway. “Are you thinking someone put those snakes there deliberately?”
“Like I said before, I don’t know. But if someone did, I’ll find them and bring them to justice.”
“Not if I find
them first.”
Ben grabbed his arm. “Don’t do anything rash, Sam. Let me and Andre handle it.”
“Then you two better do something pretty quick, because I know where to start looking.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There are only a few people in this county crazy enough to fool with snakes.”
Ben knew Sam was referring to Jonas Gresham and a few of his cronies. “Let it be. At least until we know for sure someone collected them and turned them loose on the ball field.”
Sam slid his hands in his pockets, jingling change. “Takes a sick person to do something like that.”
“Well, let’s just hope it was a freak occurrence.”
“Yeah, right.”
Ben left Sam at the door and walked back to the nurses’ station, where Leigh stood talking to her son and one of the twins. The light shone down on her hair, reminding him of rich mahogany. There was something different about Leigh tonight. A sparkle in her eye he hadn’t seen before, and her cheeks were full of color—she emitted excitement.
She smiled as he approached. “Would you show TJ and Josh which room is Martin’s?”
“Sure.” Dutifully, Ben turned around and escorted the boys to the room he’d just left and ushered them inside. “Here are your friends. We can only stay a minute, but the boys wanted to see for themselves you’re okay.”
TJ and Josh crowded around the bed, wanting to see where the snake bit Martin. “Wow. Your foot’s big.”
“Hurts too. But your mom fixed me up.”
TJ grinned. “She’s good.”
Josh cocked his head. “How come you got bit and we didn’t?”
“Good question,” Ben said. “Did either of you see the snakes?”
Josh shook his head, but TJ said, “I just saw the one that bit Martin. Where’d they come from, anyway?”
After a few minutes of talk, the blood pressure cuff on Martin’s arm activated and the boy became still. He looked a little peaked. “I think it’s time to go,” Ben said and herded the two boys toward the door. “They’ll come see you once you get home.”
Outside in the hallway, TJ looked up at him. “Is Martin going to be okay?”
“Yeah,” Ben said. “Your mom says it’ll just take some time to heal. You two go to the waiting room, and I’ll be out in a minute. Tell the other boys that he’s okay, and they can see him later, after he gets home.”
Ben stopped at the nurses’ station, where Leigh was putting away a chart. “Thanks for letting them in to visit Martin.”
“I’m sure it did him a world of good.” She looked past Ben. “Is Ian here? At the ball field, he said he’d take care of getting TJ to your folks, and then he’d drop by the hospital and take me home.”
Ben squared his shoulders. “I informed him I’d take care of getting you home.”
Leigh blinked and took a step back. “Okay. That’ll work too. After transport moves Martin to ICU.”
“I’ll have Emily take the boys home, and I’ll wait for you.”
A few minutes later, an orderly approached the desk.
“Got an order to move a patient.” He glanced at his clipboard. “Martin Stone.”
“Room 6,” Leigh said. She cocked her head toward Ben. “Be right back.”
Ben leaned against the counter. Even in their high school biology lab, Leigh had been compassionate. When he’d learned she wanted to be a doctor, he’d known she’d make a good one. Seeing her in action confirmed it. A few minutes later, the door opened and Leigh exited, followed by Martin in his bed.
“I’ll check on you in the morning,” Leigh said as she bent over and hugged the boy. Then she shook hands with the Stones. “He’s going to be fine. And let’s quit meeting this way.”
“I’ll gladly do that, Doctor,” Adrian replied.
Ben waited while Leigh walked to the elevator with them, then when she returned to him, he held out his arm to escort her. She hesitated briefly and then took his arm. “Thank you, gallant sir.”
“You seem awfully chipper tonight,” he said.
She stopped, and when he turned around, she beamed at him. “I have to tell someone. Dr. Meriwether at Johns Hopkins called tonight and offered me a position, starting the first of October. We’ll be leaving the middle of September so we can get settled in.”
Words escaped him as he stared at her. She was leaving in six weeks? Just like that, she was leaving?
12
When are you going to tell TJ he’s moving and leaving his friends behind?”
Leigh jerked her head toward Ben. His disapproval had ridden with them for the last five miles, and now he wanted to lay a guilt trip on her.
“He’ll make new friends. Baltimore will be a great experience for him. Museums, the Orioles. There’ll be so much more for him to do there. And at least there, no one will be trying to kill his mother. Have you heard from the fire marshal?”
“No. If I don’t hear anything today, it’ll be Monday before he’ll be back in his office. If I don’t hear by the afternoon, I’ll give him a call to see what the holdup is.” Ben rubbed his finger around the steering wheel. “Why don’t you want to stay in Logan Point? TJ is happy here.”
“How about my dreams? My dad always wanted to practice at Johns Hopkins, and it’s all I’ve ever wanted too. He would be proud of me.”
“But is it what you really want, Leigh? I’ve seen the way you love the people here, and the way they love you. This town needs you. Take Martin—”
“Any doctor at Bradford General could have done what I did.”
“But he trusts you. You fixed his arm. And how about my sister. She needs you at the clinic when Dr. Hazelit leaves.”
“I’m not leaving until the middle of September, so I can easily fill in for him.”
“But Hazelit is retiring next year. You could be her full-time physician at the clinic.”
Leigh tried to shut out his words. She had nothing and no one in Logan Point to stay for. What about TJ? He has family here who would love him . . . if they knew. She swayed as Ben made the turn onto Logan Road.
Why did he have to bring up these things now? Sure, she was beginning to love her work at Bradford General, and she was sure she’d love working at Emily’s clinic, but Johns Hopkins . . . it’d always been her dream, her goal. The way to prove her value. “I don’t want my dream to end up like yours.”
Ben turned into the Logan drive and keyed in the code on the gate. “What are you talking about?”
“The dream you had ten years ago of becoming a U.S. Marshal. Didn’t you tell me that’s why you changed from law to criminal justice? Seems to me like you’ve settled for acting sheriff.”
“I’m not settling.” Ben pulled through the gate, and it closed behind his truck. Without a word, he drove the short distance to the back of his parents’ house and put the gear in park. Finally he spoke. “I have a different dream now. I want to protect the people of Bradford County. That’s why I’ve qualified for the election.”
“That sounds like a canned answer. At least I’m being honest.”
“Are you? Why is Johns Hopkins so important?”
“It was a mistake having another child.” Her mother’s words rang in her ears. If she could work at a hospital like Johns Hopkins, it would prove she wasn’t the mistake her mother talked about. “You wouldn’t understand. Just like I don’t understand why you’re content to stay in Logan Point.”
In the moonlight filtering into the cab of the truck, she could see he was formulating a reply. He took a deep breath.
“I’ve finally realized it’s where I belong. I love Logan Point, and I do want to protect it. We both know something crazy is going on. First Tony is killed, and then you’re shot at. Your house is burned down, and now snakes at the ball field. These are not coincidences. Someone is taunting me, saying I can’t protect the people of this town. After tonight, I need you to be really careful.”
“Why? The snakes had nothing to
do with me.” She put her hand on his arm. “You’re doing a good job, Ben. Protecting me and this county. And this evening you were where you were supposed to be. I thought you were only dropping the twins and TJ off on the way back to your office.”
He turned to her, and she caught the desperation in his eyes. “I didn’t want to stay, but it didn’t seem right to leave Andre high and dry after Wade didn’t show up.”
She remembered how he’d turned TJ down when he’d asked him to come watch him play ball. Maybe there was more to his reluctance than she knew. “Why don’t you like to be around kids? You’re uncomfortable even around your nephews.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and shifted his gaze away from her. “It’s a nice night out. Want to take a walk to the lake?”
Leigh caught her breath. She hadn’t been to the lake since . . .
He opened his truck door, the interior light scattering her thoughts. “Maybe a short walk, just past the barn,” she heard herself saying.
In the dim light, his eyes appeared almost black, unreadable. Was he remembering their last time at the lake? He shut the door and came around to the other side and helped her out of the truck. She willed her legs to carry her away from the magnetic pull Ben seemed to have on her.
The August full moon lit their path as they walked in comfortable silence, soon passing the barn. Her steps slowed as they rounded the curve in the grassy road and moonlight spilled onto the water.
“Want to walk out on the pier?” Ben’s husky voice broke the silence.
She followed his lead to the end of the dock and sat beside him, their feet dangling over the water. In the distance, a whip-poor-will called to its mate, the sound haunting and lonely. Beside her, Ben sighed.
“What happened to us?” he asked.
She froze. “You had your dreams, I had mine,” she said when she finally found her voice.
“That could’ve been worked out. I thought we had something special.”
Leigh had thought that as well. Especially after . . . But it’d been the next day that Tom Logan had offered her the deal. “I’ll drop all charges against Tony. All you have to do is end this summer romance.” Leigh hadn’t considered it a summer romance. It’d been for keeps with her. Not that it would have ever worked out—Sheriff Tom had big plans for his son, and Leigh Jackson—the girl with the spiked hair who worked at a questionable dance club—was not a suitable wife for a future sheriff. Between love for her brother and Tom Logan’s pressure, she made her choice, and after she discovered she was pregnant, it was too late to undo it. Ben had moved on to someone else, not that she really blamed him. His voice, hesitant and unsure, broke into her thoughts.
A Promise to Protect (Logan Point Book #2): A Novel Page 15