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S heriff Woodley walked inside Silas’s hospital room, his hands on his hips, glaring around the small room. Missy immediately stood up, then walked over and motioned him outside into the hallway. He stepped out with her. “Any change?” he asked, even his hushed voice sounding loud in the silence of the hospital.

She shook her head. “No, none.” He frowned at that, and she nodded. “I know, not what you wanted to hear, but it’s not what I want to hear either.”

He winced. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be insensitive.”

“I know. Everybody’s walking on eggshells, trying to see what the end result will be, but we just don’t have any answers.”

“I’m sorry for that too,” Woodley added. “That’s got to be the worst. Listen. Trey is making some accusations and stirring up some pretty strong waves so that I do something here. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do at this point. He says your house was broken into.”

She stared at him. “Have you been to the house?”

“Not yet. I wanted to stop in and to get your take on this first. Trey is new in town, and, while I know he’s lived here in the past, he’s not somebody I know.”

“Yet he came and rescued us and put himself at risk trying to get us in fast enough to give my father a chance,” she pointed out. “So he is somebody I am more than willing to bend over backward for.”

“Agreed, but I also don’t want anybody coming through town, making accusations of a kind we don’t need.”

She smiled. “I don’t think we need any accusations honestly, but he sent me photos because I haven’t been there yet myself.” She sighed. Then she pulled out her phone and showed him the photos.

He stared at them, his jaw working. “When were you there last?”

“I was there yesterday.” When he looked up, she continued. “I didn’t go into my father’s office. I quickly went upstairs, showered, and picked up a change of clothes. I stopped in the kitchen long enough to grab some granola bars, then raced back to the hospital. I didn’t check his office—or the rest of the house for that matter—because I had no reason to.”

He nodded slowly at that. “And that’s the thing, isn’t it? You had no reason to, so who knows what happened or when? This could have been somebody taking advantage of the fact that you were gone, as soon as you went missing, to see if you had some extra valuables around.”

“And, if that was the case, why destroy just the office and not take the TV?” she asked.

“And yet you haven’t seen it yourself.”

She glanced at him. “No, I haven’t seen it myself, but are you really implying that Trey might have done this?”

“No. God no,” he stated, shaking his head rapidly. “I wouldn’t do that. I’m just concerned that it might not be what we’re thinking it is.”

“Maybe so you would walk away from it, without having to deal with something?” she asked, a note of humor in her tone. When he glared at her, she smiled. “Look, Sheriff. I’ve been back and forth on this rollercoaster mystery ride for weeks now,” she explained, “and frankly, at the moment, a break-in at the house is the least of my worries. However, if anything happens to my father, or if the boat was, indeed, sabotaged, that person should be brought to justice.”

He frowned. “Yet that’ll be pretty damn hard to prove,” he pointed out. “Trey and Rob have both brought it up to me, but they are apparently looking for proof, which I don’t have any to offer either way,” he stated. “So that’s a big concern too.”

She nodded. “As is the fact that you would need to be handling it, should it be true.”

“I’m not against handling it,” he protested, “but we definitely don’t have that level of skills here. I’m a small-town sheriff in a town where murders are nonexistent and where sabotage is rare.”

“Which is why Trey and Rob are taking on as much as they are,” she pointed out, “because both of them do happen to have those skills.” When the sheriff frowned at her, she nodded. “Rob doesn’t talk about it much, but he was a cop in his day, and I know that Trey was doing something along that line in the military.”

“When you say, along this line …?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know exactly, but feel free to ask him.”

He groaned. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.”

“Maybe it’s not. Yet, when you want answers, the best thing you can do is go to the source. So maybe you should be talking to them,” she suggested. “I don’t understand any of what’s going on myself, but I’ve got my hands full right here.”

“And your father?” he asked, turning to look at him in the hospital bed. “Did he say anything about this being something other than an unfortunate accident?”

“Yes,” she declared, “he’s the one who told me that the boat had been sabotaged.”

With that, Woodley picked his hat off his head and scratched his hairline. “Well, damn,” he muttered. “Silas’s always been one of those commonsense type guys.”

“Yes, he has,” she agreed, “and I highly doubt anything here would have changed it.”

“Stress can be pretty rough on anyone, and we all have a breaking point,” he muttered. “Potentially losing your life, and knowing that your daughter will die right there beside you are pretty big stressors for a man. A man might have said anything in a situation like that.”

She groaned. “He might have, but, chances are, he didn’t. I can’t tell you anything more than that, Sheriff. You’ll have to talk to Trey and Rob.”

“And your father,” he added, “because that’s really the only person I’ll listen to.”

“I would find it very distressing if you needed his words in order to lend some validity to mine and Trey’s and Rob’s,” she stated, “because there is a very good possibility that Dad won’t wake up.” He turned to face her, and she nodded. “I don’t know who else you’ll talk to because, although the doctors have encouraged me to not give up hope, the reality is, Dad’s not showing any signs of improvement, and that is something we’re all concerned about.”

“That’s the worst,” he muttered.

“It’s very difficult, yes,” she agreed, staring at him, “but so is the thought that nobody gives a crap that someone may have tried to murder us and may well end up succeeding with a second try.”

Trey walked back into the hospital, Schooner at his side. The War Dog obviously knew where they were going, and his steps had quickened to get there. Trey stopped at the doorway to Silas’s room and smiled when he saw Missy stretched out on the cot beside Silas’s bed. Because Trey hadn’t moved forward, Schooner looked up at him and tugged ever-so-slightly on his leash.

“I know, buddy,” Trey whispered. “I just don’t want to disturb her. Missy’s resting and really needs it.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” she muttered, stifling a yawn. “I haven’t been able to sleep for a while.”

When she looked over at him, he smiled. “How’re you doing?”

She opened her arms for Schooner, who pulled at the leash and raced into her arms. “Hey, buddy,” she said in a cooing tone, as he hopped up on the cot. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his chest.

Trey studied her features, or at least the little bit he could see of them. Her movements made him realize something was wrong. He looked around as he walked closer and sat down on the edge of the cot. “What’s up?” He kept his voice lower than normal.

She looked over at him, gave him a small smile, and shrugged. “Just life, I guess. The sheriff was here, but he doesn’t seem to be too concerned about whether this was a deliberate act or not,” she muttered. “It’s hard, you know? My dad has spent his entire life here, helping people in many ways, and now when he needs help, it doesn’t seem as if anybody cares.”

“Oh, I think people care, but I don’t think the sheriff wants to move too quickly because of any number of issues that could come up to bite him in the butt,” he suggested, waving his hands. “Let’s give him a break for now. He is involved in his own investigation, and you’re right. He doesn’t like what we’re telling him, but he’s not ignoring us.”

“Maybe that’s what he’s saying to you, but that’s not what he’s saying to me.”

He nodded, then rubbed her shoulders. “I’m sorry. This is the hardest part. You don’t know if your father will wake up. You don’t know how he’ll be if he does, and it’s all just a waiting game, and that hurts. The idea that someone may have done this on purpose is really just too much to consider on top of everything else.”

She sniffled back the tears and smiled at him. “Very true,” she muttered. “I’m just trying to hold on while we figure out what’s going on and what’s next. Everything in my life suddenly came to a complete stop, and I can’t begin to know how to pick it up again.”

“For one thing,” Trey began, “I’ll come by more often and stay with your dad, while you go home on a more regular basis and come back on a regular basis. Sitting here full-time, just waiting, is not the best thing for your health, physically or mentally. You can also check in on your dad’s business to ensure everything is okay there, as well as the things at home, you know? Just getting out of this hospital would really help you in the long run.”

She looked at him and slowly nodded. “You’re right. I just hadn’t really gotten to that point yet. Going to the clinic just reminds me that it was supposed to be something my dad and I did together, something we’ve planned for my whole life.”

“And that’s not off the table by any means,” he reminded her. “Let’s stay positive.”

She smiled, wiped away her tears, and nodded. “Sorry, it’s just,… some days are better than others.”

“And some moments will be better than others,” he added. “You really have to take it one moment at a time.”

She studied him, then leaned a little closer so she could look into his eyes. “You really do know what it’s all about, don’t you?”

“When you’ve been there,” he replied, “you never forget. There is life on the other side of whatever this turns out to be. That’s what you have to hang on to.”

She straightened up, gave Schooner a big hug again, and sighed. “Okay then. In that case, maybe I could ask you for a ride back to my place.”

“Sure,” he said. “I know the sheriff wanted you to check out your home, just to determine if anything was missing.”

“That makes sense,” she noted, “though I’m not sure I can tell.”

“Let’s get you home and get you some food and a shower, then, if you want to come back,… I’ll bring you back again.”

She looked at him and then nodded. “Maybe that would be best. I sure could use a chance to get out for a little bit again.”

“It should definitely be a daily thing,” he suggested, “and don’t ever feel guilty about it.”

“But what if he wakes up, and I’m not here?”

“Then he’ll wake up, and you’ll see him as soon as you get back. Plus, I’ll ask Jackson to stay with Silas for a bit, while we’re gone,” he added, with a smile, already typing the text. “Remember that you also have to look after yourself.”

“It doesn’t feel like it. I really just want to look after him.” She turned to face her father again. She walked closer, then leaned over and whispered, “I’ll be back soon, Dad. I’ll go get showered.” As she walked away, she was overcome with emotions. Outside, she stopped and took several deep breaths of fresh air. “What if he never wakes up?” Tears once again choked her voice.

“You’ll adapt, but it will be really hard and not the way you want it. Yet you’ll learn to survive,” he explained, with a nod to Jackson, as he waved to them on his way inside the hospital. “The human spirit takes time to heal, but it does manage eventually.” He wrapped an arm around her and gave her a gentle hug. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

“Food and a shower,” she murmured.

“You should also have a nap in your own bed, where you could get some real sleep. That cot looks uncomfortable.”

“I don’t want to be gone that long,” she said, shaking her head. “That just feels like too much time away.”

“Then you do what you can do today and take it as far as you can,” he suggested. “Yet your dad would never blame you for looking after yourself.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” she agreed with a smile. “He was always really big on making sure I did that.”

“Of course he was because, the bottom line is, he wants you safe. The last thing he would want is to come back to full health only to find out you had wasted away to nothing in the meantime.”

She smiled. “That’s a little melodramatic.”

“Hey, I’m trying to make a point here,” he said with a big smile. “Just think about it. All kinds of things make life worth living, but it all starts with you taking care of yourself. If you don’t, nobody else will.”

“That’s a sad truth, isn’t it?” she muttered. “Even if people are willing to take care of you, they can’t do it in the way that you need it. People are always all over the place and willing to help, but there’s still a certain element that requires you to step up.”

He quickly drove her back to her place, which was only a few blocks from Trey’s brother’s home.

“Are you still staying with Elizabeth and Jackson?” she asked Trey.

“I am.” He nodded. “I’ve got to figure out what I want to do from here on out pretty soon.”

“You could stay,” she replied, looking over at him. “I would be happy with that.”

He smiled. “I was thinking about it, but I don’t want that to be the only reason.”

“It would be a good one though,” she said, with a laugh. “I don’t remember us having these kinds of conversations before.”

“No, we probably didn’t. We were miles apart in school years, and that meant miles apart in life experiences. I was really happy to hear you’d gone to veterinary school though.”

“Me too.… Yet, if, if my father doesn’t come back,… if something happens to him, I don’t know if I would maintain the business.”

“Why not? You have somebody—Bill, you said—who’s already there. Surely you can intern somewhere nearby, while helping out there as well. And you would pick up the business aspects in no time.”

“I don’t know,” she muttered, looking at him. “I hadn’t considered that, but maybe.”

“Regardless, I’m sure there is a solution, one way or another,” he noted. “This town definitely needs more people like your father.”

“I know. He was… is,” she corrected immediately, “well-loved by a lot of people.”

“Exactly.”

Back at her house, she hesitated at the front door, and he nodded. “The sheriff and his deputies have been here, though I’m not sure that they did a whole lot. They took pictures at least. If you want to come take a look, then you’ll know the worst of it.”

“Sure. Why not? I have to do it sometime.” As she walked into the office, she stopped and gasped. “Jesus, I wasn’t expecting this. I saw your photos but still…”

Schooner sniffed the entire area going from chair to desk to different areas of the mess on the floor as if searching for her father.

“In a way your reaction’s a good thing. I was hoping you wouldn’t say it was like this all the time.”

“Right.” She chuckled at his joke. “But, no, God no,” she muttered. “Dad was meticulous with his records.”

“What records would that be here though?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. Everything businesswise, such as legal matters and things, he kept with his lawyer. As for the actual business, the veterinary practice, he didn’t bring any of those records home—not that I ever saw.”

“And yet he had a home office. So what is this room for?”

“Honestly, he would work on some of his cases, doing research in the evenings on stuff that he didn’t know, people he needed to contact or to consult with, that sort of thing. I don’t know that he needed this home office except that it was a good place for him to spend time when he needed to work, but not as draining or as full of interruptions as being at the clinic.”

Trey nodded and didn’t say a whole lot to that. “So, I’ll ask you another question. Did you ever have any serious boyfriends, or did you ever get close to marrying? Or, crap, maybe you’re married already,” he said, staring at her, his eyebrows raised. “I don’t know why I just assumed you weren’t, but is there anything like that in your world?”

“No, not at all,” she said. “Why?”

“I just wondered if somebody in your world may have been at odds with your dad.”

She smiled. “That would assume that I was some sort of femme fatale,” she teased, “and that is definitely not the case.” He just smiled at her. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” he began, still focused on her. “It’s just that something has happened, and, until we can rule out suspicions in every direction, we don’t really know which way to go.”

She nodded. “I hadn’t really considered that,” she admitted, “and you’re right. It is possible, I guess,… but my one and only serious relationship broke up before I went to veterinary school.”

“Okay, we’ll table that discussion for now.”

“Are you certain you’re not asking out of interest for yourself?” She smiled at him.

He flashed her a bright grin. “Okay, it might have been a dual-purpose inquiry. So I’m glad to hear you weren’t still pining away for somebody else.”

“No, absolutely not,” she declared. “No pining here. It was very serious at the time, but it didn’t work out.”

“Lots of things don’t work out, particularly when we’re young,” he said, with a laugh.

“What about you? Do you have a girl in every port?”

“God no,” he replied. “That’s definitely not my style. I want to thoroughly enjoy each and every one of them.” At that, she looked astonished, then burst out howling with laughter. He grinned. “See? Laughter is good for the soul.”

“Oh my gosh. You got me on that one. I did not expect that for an answer, but thank you. I needed a good laugh.”

He shook his head at her. “It wasn’t intended to be hilarious, but I was hoping to put a smile back on your face.” He was quite happy that he’d succeeded.

As they walked through the rest of the house, she shared, “Nothing else appears different.”

“Okay, I’ll tell the sheriff that.”

“I don’t think he’ll really care,” she muttered.

He patted her on the arm and added, “Don’t worry about that now. Just go get a shower. Let me talk to him, and we’ll see what happens.”