Page 11 of Nica (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood #17)

He opened his mouth but before he could answer, his phone rang. They both looked at it, sitting beside his cold cup of coffee.

Rafe Boudreau’s name flashed on the screen.

“Your brother,” Gabe said, picking up the phone. “Probably about poker night.”

But even as he answered, he knew better. The sheriff calling at 6a.m. wasn’t about their weekly poker game.

“Gabe.” Rafe’s voice was grim. “We’ve got a situation at your clinic. Break-in overnight. Place is torn apart.”

“Was anything taken? Did you check the drug cabinet?” Gabe asked, his mind racing.

“First thing we checked. It’s hard to tell yet, but it doesn’t look like it’s been breached. But somebody spray painted on your office wall: ‘Ask Dr. Summers about Melissa Carpenter’.” He heard Rafe sigh. “I’m at the station, but I should be back at the clinic by the time you get there.”

Nica was watching him, concern darkening her eyes. Gabe made his decision.

“Can you wait at the station? I can be there in twenty minutes,” he said to Rafe, then ended the call.

“What’s wrong?” Nica asked.

He took her hands in his. “I need to go. Clinic emergency. Somebody broke in and trashed the place. I’m going to meet Rafe there. I’ll be back soon.”

She frowned, clearly unconvinced. “Gabe—”

“Everything will be fine.” He kissed her forehead. “I promise.”

But as he drove through town, Gabe knew he needed help. The caller knew about Nica, about their marriage. Knew where they lived, where he worked. This wasn’t just about tormenting him anymore—it had escalated into a viable threat to everything and everyone he cared about.

He turned his truck toward the sheriff’s station.

Rafe was more than Shiloh Springs’ sheriff.

He was Nica’s oldest brother, and the last person Gabe wanted to confess to about marrying Nica in secret.

Well, except for Ms. Patti. He’d rather sit in a bathtub filled with rattlesnakes than disappoint Nica’s momma.

But if protecting her meant facing Rafe’s wrath, so be it.

The station was quiet this early, just a deputy at the front desk who nodded Gabe through to Rafe’s office. The sheriff was hunched over his desk, his dark hair—so different from Nica’s blonde waves—falling over his forehead. He looked up when Gabe entered, surprise registering on his face.

“Thought you were meeting me at the clinic.”

“We need to talk first.” Gabe closed the door. “Privately.”

Rafe leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. “Something you want to tell me, Doc?”

“Several things.” Gabe took a deep breath. “First, someone’s been calling me, threatening me. Making accusations about something from my past.”

“About the Melissa Carpenter thing on your wall?”

There was something in Rafe’s voice that had the little hairs on the back of Gabe’s neck standing at attention. Gabe’s head snapped up. “How much do you know about that?”

“Did a background check before you moved to town.” Rafe’s expression was unreadable.

“Standard procedure for new doctors setting up practice here. At least it is now. You’re the first new doctor since Doc Jennings, and he’s been here since the biblical flood.

I admit, I might have dug a little deeper than a routine check.

Besides, I’ve got a couple of brothers who know a thing or two about background checks too. ”

“Then you know I was cleared.”

“I know the official findings. Also know there’s usually more to stories like that than ever make the paperwork.”

Gabe fought back his irritation. “There was. A disgruntled colleague illegally drugged me before I performed a surgery. Patient died on the table. I almost lost everything. Decided I needed to make a fresh start and ended up in Shiloh Springs.”

“And now someone’s bringing it back up?”

“Yes. Other cases too. Patients I lost. I worked at a very large teaching hospital, so it’s not surprising I had a higher-than-normal number of patients succumbing, especially in my field of expertise.

Now this anonymous caller is threatening to go to the press, to turn the town against me.

” Gabe paused. “And they’re threatening Nica. ”

Rafe sat forward, all business now. “How? What exactly did they say?”

“They know about her. About us.” Gabe met Rafe’s eyes. “About the fact that we’re married.”

For a long moment, the only sound in the office was the ticking of the clock on the wall. Rafe’s expression didn’t change, but something dark and dangerous flashed in his eyes.

“Run that by me again, Doc.”

“Nica and I got married three months ago. Eloped to the courthouse in Brazos County.” Gabe held Rafe’s gaze.

“We were waiting for the right time to tell everyone. But your momma went missing, then there was the whole thing with Nick coming back from Australia, your dad’s health, and there just hasn’t seemed to be the right time. ”

Rafe stood slowly, his palms flat on the desk. “My sister married you. In secret. Three months ago.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re telling me now because…?”

“Because whoever’s coming after me is now a threat to her too.” Gabe’s voice hardened. “If anything happens to me, she’ll need you. All of you. And you should know the truth.”

Rafe came around the desk, stopping inches from Gabe. Despite being the same height, the sheriff somehow seemed to loom over him.

“Let me get this straight. You married my sister without a word to her father or her mother. Didn’t say a word to the rest of the family. You brought some vendetta from your past to our doorstep. And now you want my help?”

Put that way, it sounded bad. But Gabe stood his ground.

“I want your help protecting your sister. My wife. Whatever this person wants, they’re willing to hurt her to get to me. I can handle myself, but if anything happens to her…”

Something in his voice must have reached Rafe, because the sheriff’s expression shifted slightly.

“You love her,” he said, not a question.

“More than anything in the whole world.”

Rafe stared at him for a long moment, then nodded once. “Tell me everything. Start at the beginning.”

So Gabe did. The calls. The threats. The names from his past being dragged into the light. By the time he finished, Rafe was pacing the small office.

“We need to tell Nica,” Rafe said finally.

“She knows everything already. There are no secrets between us.”

Not anymore.

“Gotta tell the rest of the family.”

Gabe winced. “All at once?”

“Rip the band-aid off, Doc.” There was the ghost of a smile on Rafe’s face. “Tomorrow. Sunday dinner. You get to explain to Momma why she missed her daughter’s wedding.”

The prospect drove a shaft of terror at the thought, and Gabe swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and nodded. “Fair enough.”

“Meanwhile, we need to head over to the clinic, see the damage, and try to figure out who from your past might want to expose all your secrets. What they’ll accomplish besides embarrassing you publicly.

I’ll have deputies drive by your place regularly.

Look into these calls. Need to pull phone records, check security cameras around town.

” Rafe paused. “And I want copies of all the documentation from the Carpenter case. Everything from the hospital investigation, the medical board. All the stuff they sent to Nica. Everything. No surprises.”

“You’ll have it.”

Rafe studied him. “One more thing. You’re sure there’s nothing to these accusations? No cases where you made mistakes, where patients died who shouldn’t have?”

The question stung, but Gabe understood it. “Absolutely. I’ve lost patients. Every doctor has. I’ve made calls I second-guessed later. But I’ve never been negligent or knowingly put a patient at risk.”

Except for Melissa Carpenter, a voice whispered in his head. He should have known something was wrong that day. Should have recognized the symptoms of the drug in his system. Should have stopped.

“I believe you.” Rafe’s gaze held compassion, which was a lot more than he deserved, especially after keeping so many secrets from the Boudreau family.

“The Melissa Carpenter case,” Gabe continued quietly. “I was drugged. That’s a long story, might be part of why this caller is harassing me, but again, it might not. I still blame myself for not realizing I was impaired. For thinking I could operate when something was clearly wrong.”

Rafe nodded slowly. “That I understand.”

The sheriff grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. “Let’s go see what they did to your clinic. Then you’re heading home to tell my sister to prepare herself to tell Momma and Dad the whole truth. No more hiding.”

As they walked to their vehicles, Rafe called to him. “Gabe.”

He turned.

“Whoever this is, we’ll find them.” Rafe’s expression was grim. “Nobody threatens my family. And like it or not, that now includes you.”

The weight on Gabe’s shoulders lightened fractionally. He wasn’t alone in this, and by telling Rafe, he’d made sure Nica was protected.

As he followed Rafe’s cruiser through the quiet streets of Shiloh Springs, his phone vibrated with a text. Unknown number.

Tell the sheriff whatever you want. It won’t help. Some mistakes can’t be forgiven, Dr. Summers. Or forgotten. Some debts can only be paid in blood.

Gabe’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as he tossed the phone on the seat beside him. One thing was clear to him now, whoever this was, they were here in Shiloh Springs, or they had somebody who was, because he knew Gabe had gone to see Rafe.

Whoever was after him, whatever they wanted, he would protect Nica with his life. Even if it meant facing his past. Even if it meant losing everything else.

Because some things were worth fighting for.