by Diana Palmer
“When I protested, he said that animals didn’t feel pain and I shouldn’t get so worked up over a stupid cat. I should have realized then what sort of person he was.”
“People in love are neither sane nor responsible,” Kell replied flatly. “You were so crazy about him that I think you could have forgiven murder.”
She nodded sadly. “I learned the hard way that looks and acts are no measure of a man. I should have run for my life the first time he phoned me at work just to talk.”
“You didn’t know. How could you? He was a stranger.”
“You knew,” she said.
He nodded. “I’ve known men like him in the service,” he said. “They’re good in combat, because they aren’t bothered by the carnage. But that trait serves them poorly in civilian life.”
She cocked her head at him. “Kilraven said that Eb Scott lets law enforcement use his gun range for free. Don’t you know him, too?”
“Yes.”
“And Micah Steele.”
“Yes.”
She hesitated. “They’re all retired mercenaries, Kell.”
“So they are.”
“Were they involved with the military?” she persisted.
“The military uses contract personnel,” he said evasively. “People with necessary skills for certain jobs.”
“Like combat.”
“Exactly,” he replied. “We used certain firms to supplement our troops overseas in the Middle East. They’re used in Africa for certain covert operations.”
“So much secrecy,” she complained.
“Well, you don’t advertise something that might get you sued or cause a diplomatic upheaval,” he pointed out. “Covert ops have always been a part of the military. Even what they call transparency in government is never going to threaten that. As long as we have renegade states that threaten our sovereignty, we’ll have black ops.” He glanced at the clock. “Shouldn’t you warm up the game system?” he asked. “It’s five-thirty.”
“Already?” she exclaimed. “Goodness, I need to tidy up the living room! And the kitchen. He’s bringing pizza and beer!”
“You don’t drink,” he said.
“Well, no, but you like a beer now and then. I expect somebody told him.” She flushed.
“I do like a glass of beer.” He smiled. “It’s also nice to have friends who provide food.”
“Like your friend Cy and the Chinese stuff. I’ll get spoiled.”
“Maybe that’s the idea. Your boss likes you.”
She’d gotten that idea, herself. “Don’t mention horns, pitchforks or breathing fire while he’s here,” she said firmly.
He saluted her.
She made a face at him and went to do her chores.
“That’s not fair!” Cappie burst out when she’d “died” for the tenth time trying to take out one of the Hunters in the Halo game.
“Don’t throw the controller,” Kell said firmly.
She had it by one lobe, gripped tightly. She grimaced and slowly lowered it. “Okay,” she said. “But they do bounce, and they’re almost shockproof.”
“She ought to know,” Kell told an amused Bentley Rydel. “She’s bounced it off the walls several times in recent weeks.”
“Well, they keep killing me!” she burst out. “It’s not my fault! These Hunters aren’t like the ones in ‘Halo 3…’ they’re almost invincible, and there are so many of them…!”
“I’d worry more about the alien grunts that keep taking you out with sticky grenades,” Bentley pointed out. “While you’re trying to snipe the Hunters, the little guys are blowing you up right and left.”
“I want a flame thrower,” she wailed. “Or a rocket launcher! Why can’t I find a rocket launcher?”
“We wouldn’t want to make it too easy, now would we?” Bentley chided. He smiled at her fury. “Patience. You have to go slow and take them on one at a time, so they don’t flank you.”
She gave her boss a speaking look, turned back to the screen and tried again.
It was late when he left. The three of them had taken turns on the controller. Bentley and Kell had wanted to try the split screen, but that would have put Cappie right out of the competition, because she was only comfortable playing by herself.
She walked Bentley outside. “Thanks for bringing the pizza and beer,” she said. “Some other time, I’d like to have you over for supper, if you’d like. I can cook.”
He smiled. “I’ll take you up on that. I can cook, too, but I only know how to do a few things from scratch. It gets tiresome after a while.”
“Thanks for bringing the game over, too,” she added. “It’s really good. Kell is going to love it.”
“What did we all do for entertainment before video games?” he wondered aloud as they reached his car.
“I used to watch game shows,” she said. “Kell liked police dramas and old movies.”
“I like some of the forensic shows, but I almost never get to see a whole one,” he sighed. “There’s always an emergency. It’s always a large animal call. And since I’m the only vet on staff who does large animal calls, it’s always me.”
“Yes, but you never complain, not even if it’s sleeting out,” she said gently.
He smiled. “I like my clients.”
“They like you, too.” She shook her head. “Amazing, isn’t it?”
“Excuse me?”
She flushed. “Oh, no, not because of…I mean…” She grimaced. “I meant it’s amazing that you never get tired of large animal calls when the weather’s awful.”
He chuckled. “You really have got to take an assertiveness course,” he said, and not unkindly.
“It’s hard to be assertive when you’re shy,” she argued.
“It’s impossible not to be when you have a job like mine and people don’t want to do what you tell them to,” he returned. “Some animals would die if I couldn’t outargue their owners.”
“Point taken.”
“If it’s any consolation,” he said, “when I was your age, I had the same problem.”
“How did you overcome it?”
“My stepfather decided that my mother wasn’t going to the doctor for a urinary tract infection. I was already in veterinary school, and I knew what happened when animals weren’t treated for it. I told him. He told me he was the man of the house and he’d decide what my mother did.” He smiled, remembering. “So I had a choice—either back down, or let my mother risk permanent damage to her health, even death. I told him she was going to the doctor, I put her in the car and drove her there myself.”
“What did your stepfather do?” she asked, aghast.
“There wasn’t much that he could do, since I paid the doctor.” His face hardened. “And it wasn’t the first disagreement we’d had. He was poor and proud with it. He’d have let her suffer rather than admit he couldn’t afford a doctor visit or medicine.” He looked down at her. “It’s a hell of a world, when people have to choose between food and medicine and doctors. Or between heated houses and medicine.”
“Tell me about it,” she replied. She colored a little, and hoped he didn’t notice. “Kell and I do all right,” she said quickly. “But he’ll go without medicine sometimes if I don’t put my foot down. You’d think I’d be tough as nails, because I stand up to him.”
“He’s not a mean person.”
“He could be, I think,” she said. She hesitated. “There was a man I dated, briefly, in San Antonio.” She hesitated again. Perhaps it was too soon for this.
He stepped closer. “A man.”
His voice was very soft. Quiet. Comforting. She wrapped her arms around her chest. She had on a sweater, but it was chilly outside. The memories were just as chilling. She was recalling it, her face betraying her inner turmoil. He’d hit her. The first time, he said it was because he’d had a drink, and he cried, and she went back to him. But the second time, he’d have probably killed her if Kell hadn’t heard her scream and come to save her.
As it was, he’d fractured her arm when he threw her over the couch. Kell had knocked Frank out with a lamp, from his wheelchair, and made her call the police. He made her testify, too. She held her arms around herself, chilled by the memory.
“What happened?”
She looked up at him, wanting to tell him, but afraid to. Frank got a six-month sentence, but he’d already served three months and he was out. Would he come after her now? Would he be crazy enough to do that? And would Bentley believe her, if she told him? They barely knew each other. It was too soon, she thought. Much too soon, to drag out her past and show it to him. There was no reason to tell him anyway. Frank wouldn’t come down here and risk being sent back to jail. Bentley might think less of her if she told him, might think it was her own fault. Besides, she didn’t want to tell him yet.
“He was a mean sort of person, that’s all,” she hedged. “He kicked my cat. I thought it was terrible. He just laughed.”
His blue eyes narrowed. “A man who’ll kick a cat will kick a human being.”
“You’re probably right,” she admitted, and then she smiled. “Well, I only dated him for a little while. He wasn’t the sort of person I like to be around. Kell didn’t like him, either.”
“I like your brother.”
She smiled. “I like him, too. He was just going downhill with depression in San Antonio. We were over our ears in debt, from all the hospital bills. It’s lucky our cousin died and left us this place,” she added.
Bentley’s eyebrows lifted. “This place belonged to Harry Farley. He got killed overseas in the military about six months ago. He didn’t have any relatives at all. The county buried him, out of respect for his military service.”
“But Kell said…” she blurted out.
Her expression made Bentley hesitate. “Oh. Wait a minute,” Bentley said at once. “That’s right, I did hear that he had a distant cousin or two.”
She laughed. “That’s us.”
“My mistake. I wasn’t thinking.” He studied her quietly. “Well, I guess I’d better go. This is the first Saturday night I can remember when I didn’t get called out,” he added with a smile. “Pure dumb luck, I guess.”
“Law of averages,” she countered. “You have to get lucky sooner or later.”
“I guess. I’ll see you Monday.”
“Thanks again for the pizza.”
He opened the door of the Land Rover. “I’ll take you up on the offer of supper,” he said. “When we set a date, you can tell me what you want to fix and I’ll bring the raw ingredients.” He held up a hand when she started to protest. “It does no good to argue with me. You can’t win. Just ask Keely. Better yet, ask Dr. King,” he chuckled.
She laughed, too. “Okay, then.”
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
He closed the door behind him. Cappie went back up on the porch and watched him throw up a hand as he drove away. She stood there for several seconds before she realized that the wind was chilling her. She went in, feeling happier than she had in a long time.
CHAPTER FIVE
CAPPIE FELT awkward with Bentley the following Monday. She wasn’t sure if she should mention that he’d been to her house over the weekend. Her coworkers were very nice, but she was nervous when she thought they might tease her about the doctor. That would never do. She didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable in his own office.
Having lived so long in San Antonio, she didn’t know about life in small towns. It hadn’t occurred to her that nothing that happened could be kept secret.
“How was the pizza?” Dr. King asked her.
Cappie stared at her in horror.
Dr. King grinned. “My cousin works at the pizza place. Dr. Rydel mentioned where he was taking it. And she’s best friends with Art, who runs the software store, so she knew he was taking the game over to play with you and your brother.”
“Oh, dear,” Cappie said worriedly.
Dr. King patted her on the back. “There, there,” she said in a comforting tone. “You’ll get used to it. We’re like a big family in Jacobs County, because most of us have lived here all our lives, and our families have lived here for generations, mostly. We know everything that’s going on. We only read the newspaper to find out who got caught doing it.”
“Oh, dear,” Cappie said again.
“Hi,” Keely said, removing her coat as she joined them. “How was the game Saturday?” she added.
Cappie looked close to tears.
Dr. King gave Keely a speaking glance. “She’s not used to small towns yet,” she explained.
“Not to worry,” Keely told her. “Dr. Rydel certainly is.” She laughed at Cappie’s tormented expression. “If he was worried about gossip, you’d better believe he’d never have put a foot inside your door.”
“She thinks we’ll tease her,” Dr. King said.
“Not a chance,” Keely added. “We were all dating somebody once.” She flushed. “Especially me, and very recently.” She meant her husband, Boone, of course.
“And nobody teased her,” Dr. King added. “Well,” she qualified it, “not where Boone could hear it, anyway,” she added and chuckled.
“Thanks,” she said.
Dr. King just smiled. “You know, Bentley hates most women. One of our younger clients made a play for him one day. She wore suggestive clothing and a lot of makeup and when he leaned over to examine her dog, she kissed him.”
Cappie’s eyes widened. “What did he do?”
“He left the room, dragged me in there and told the young lady that he was indisposed and Dr. King would be handling the case.”
“What did the young lady do?” Cappie asked.
“Turned red as a beet, picked up her dog and left the building. It turns out,” Dr. King added with a grin, “that the dog was in excellent health. She only used it as an excuse to get Dr. Rydel in there with her.”
“Did she come back?”
“Oh, yes, she was an extremely persistent young woman. The third time she showed up here, she insisted on seeing Dr. Rydel. He called Cash Grier, our police chief, and had him come in and explain the legal ramifications of sexual harassment to the young lady. He didn’t smile while he was speaking. And when he finished talking, the young lady took her animal, went home and subsequently moved back to Dallas.”
“Well!” Cappie exclaimed.
“So you see, Dr. Rydel is quite capable of deterring unwanted interest.” She leaned closer. “I understand that you like to play video games?”
Cappie laughed. “Yes, I do.”
“My husband has a score of over 16,000 on Xbox LIVE,” she said, and wiggled her eyebrows.
Keely was staring at her, uncomprehending.
“My scores are around 4,000,” Cappie said helpfully. “And my brother’s are about 15,000.” She chuckled. “The higher the score, the better the player. Also, the more often the playing.”
“I guess my score would be around 200,” Dr. King sighed. “You see, I get called in a lot for emergencies when Dr. Rydel is out on large animal calls. So I start a lot of games that my husband gets to finish.”
“Kell had buddies in the army who could outdo even those scores. Those guys were great!” Cappie said. “They’d hang out with us when they were off duty. Kell always had nice video gaming equipment. Some of them did, too, but we always had a full fridge. Boy, could those guys eat!”
“You lived overseas a lot, didn’t you?” Keely asked.
“Yes. I’ve seen a lot of exotic places.”
“What was your favorite?”
“Japan,” Cappie replied at once, smiling. “We went there when Kell was stationed in Korea. Not that Korea isn’t a beautiful country. But I really loved Japan. You should see the gaming equipment they’ve got. And the cell phone technology.” She shook her head. “They’re really a long way ahead of us in technology.”
“Did you get to ride the bullet train?” Keely asked.
“Yes. It’s a
s fast as they say it is. I loved the train station. I loved everything! Kyoto was like a living painting. So many gardens and trees and temples.”
“I’d love to see any city in Japan, but especially Kyoto,” Keely said. “Judd Dunn’s wife, Christabel, went over there with him to buy beef. She said Kyoto was just unbelievable. So much history, and so beautiful.”
“It is,” Cappie replied. “We got to visit a temple. The Zen garden was so stark, and so lovely. It’s just sand and rocks, you know. The sand is raked into patterns like water. The rocks are situated like land. All around were Japanese black pine trees and bamboo trees as tall as the pines, with huge trunks. There was a bamboo forest, all green, and a huge pond full of Japanese Koi fish.” She shook her head. “You know, I could live there. Kell said it was his favorite, too, of all the places we lived.”
“Are we going to work today, or travel around the world?” came a deep, curt voice from behind them.
Everybody jumped. “Sorry, Dr. Rydel,” Keely said at once.
“Me, too,” Cappie seconded.
“Nihongo no daisuki desu,” Dr. Rydel said, and made a polite bow.
Cappie burst out smiling. “Nihon no tomodachi desu. Konichi wa, Rydel sama,” she replied, and bowed back.
Keely and Dr. King stared at them, fascinated.
“I said that I liked Japanese language,” Dr. Rydel translated.
“And I said that I was a friend of Japan. I also told him hello,” Cappie seconded. “You speak Japanese!” she exclaimed to Bentley.
“Just enough to get me arrested in Tokyo,” Bentley told her, smiling. “I was stationed in Okinawa when I was in the service. I spent my liberties in Tokyo.”
“Well, isn’t it a small world?” Dr. King wondered.
“Small, and very crowded,” Bentley told her. He gave her a meaningful look. “If you don’t believe me, you could look at the mob in the waiting room, glaring at the empty reception counter and pointedly staring at their watches.”
“Oops!” Dr. King ran for it.
So did Keely and Cappie, laughing all the way.
There was a new rapport between Dr. Rydel and Cappie. He was no longer antagonistic toward her, and she wasn’t afraid of him anymore. Their working relationship became cordial, almost friendly.