Page 17

Hurrying into the vet clinic with Schooner at her side, Missy smiled as she was greeted by several women, who all rushed over to give her a hug and cuddle Schooner. “Heard you’ve been swamped. I’m so sorry I haven’t been in at all.”

“Hey, we understand. We’re just so happy you made it back okay,” Patty exclaimed. She was one of the older employees and had been working with her father forever. “Things have been a little hairy all of a sudden.”

“So I hear,” Missy noted, with a grin. She quickly shifted to the back office, grabbed her lab coat, and walked over to see Bill working with a patient already. When he looked up, she saw the relief on his face. She nodded and offered, “I’ll take the next one.” For the next couple hours, she was buried in the work she had trained so hard for.

When lunch came and went, she didn’t even notice, until one of the receptionists stopped her. “Have you eaten?”

Missy blinked several times as she thought about it, then frowned. “I think I had breakfast.”

Patty laughed. “Come on with me. We have a few things in the breakroom.”

“Good.” Missy checked her phone and found nothing from Trey. She quickly called him, as she took a break. He answered as she was pouring coffee. “Hey,” she greeted him. “How’s my father?”

“Maybe you should ask him that,” Trey said.

The next thing Missy knew, a soft voice came on the other end.

“Baby?”

“Dad,” she cried out, tears in her eyes. “Oh my God, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

“I’m feeling a little rough, but I’m here.”

“Thank God,” she muttered. “I’m at the clinic right now.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m absolutely fine, particularly now that I know you’re okay.”

“I will be too. It’s just a little rough right now.”

She heard the smile in his voice, even though she knew he was feeling the pain right now.

He continued. “I won’t be leaving here any time soon, according to the doctor.”

“No, you’re not,” she declared. “You need to stay right where you are. Is Trey still there?”

“Yes, he’s here. Apparently you’ve picked up a watchdog,” he teased, “and I couldn’t be happier.”

She raised her eyebrows at that. “He’s been here since we were rescued. In case you don’t know, he’s the one who found and rescued us.”

Silence came on the other end for a moment. “No, he didn’t tell me that. That figures though, but he is—”

Trey interrupted Dad and took over the phone just then. She was ecstatic. “Oh my God, when did he wake up?” she asked.

“Just a few minutes ago. We were just getting ready to call you.”

“Thank you,” she muttered. “I’ve been so busy all morning at the clinic that the time has flown by.”

“Good. That’s probably been a positive change for you, something to take your mind off everything else,” he suggested. “At least Silas is now sleeping and resting normally, so he should be improving markedly over the next few days.”

“Yes,” she whispered, “and I’m so damn glad. I can hardly believe it.” The tears gathered in the back of her throat, and she couldn’t even begin to hold them back. “I’ll come up as soon as I’m finished here,” she muttered.

“Take your time. He’ll be right here. He’s going back to sleep now, but, according to the doctor, he’ll wake up a lot more frequently. Then he’ll eventually get into a normal sleep pattern. Just know that he’ll be here.”

“Yep, and he’ll probably be sleeping when I get there,” she grumbled, yet followed by a laugh.

“Maybe not, he was pretty damn glad to see me and to hear that you were doing fine, but he does need to rest a lot.”

She hesitated and glanced around, before asking, “You won’t leave him alone, right?”

“No, I won’t leave him alone,” he vowed, “and he hasn’t mentioned anything either.”

“Damn,” she muttered, “because that would help a lot too.”

“Only if he has any ideas,” Trey added. “However, we also don’t want him worrying about it or thinking that you’ll be in danger because none of that will help him get better.”

“I know,” she agreed, scrubbing her face with her free hand. “God, I sure wish I didn’t need to be here right now, but I really do. The clinic is swamped.”

“You do what you’ve got to do because that’s also your father’s world, and I know it makes him feel better to know that you were stepping in and taking the heat off the clinic.”

She laughed. “That’s one way to put it. Anyway I’ve got to go. I’ll see you as soon as this calms down.” And, with that, she ended the call and turned back to the others. “Dad’s awake. He’s talking, smiling, and looking for all intents and purposes as if he’ll pull through,” she announced, brushing away her tears.

“Thank God for that,” Patty declared with joy, everyone buzzing with relief.

“So, the clinic can get back to normal sooner than later,” Bill stated, glaring at her.

“Absolutely,” she murmured. “Sorry, I didn’t realize things had gotten so bad.”

His gaze softened for a moment, then he shrugged. “I’m not sure what the hell happened, but it’s as if everybody and their dog came out to support you and your father by coming here to the clinic.” Bill shook his head. “I’m not sure how they thought that would work out.”

“It might just have been curiosity too,” Missy suggested. “People being people, you know? They do that. Let’s go down to the clinic and see what’s going on ,” she quipped, with a smile. “Who knows? Anyway, I’m back, and the sooner I’m done here, the sooner I can get to the hospital.”

And, with that, she quickly disappeared into the next exam room to deal with a dog who had met a porcupine. Groaning, she settled in for what would be a long appointment. By the time the business day was done, she was able to escape with well wishes from all the staff and with her promises that she would let them know when they could come visit her father. Right now she headed to the hospital and took Schooner with her.

As she walked into his room, her father was talking with Trey. Immediately she raced over and gave her dad a big hug. “I’m almost jealous,” she told Trey. “He’s been sitting here visiting with you, while I’ve been hard at work.”

Schooner seemed to agree with that sentiment as he jumped his front paws onto the bed to greet Silas with ecstatic barks, licks and a full on wiggling body. Silas looked just as happy to see him and her.

Silas smiled and patted her cheek. “Yet that’s the way our world is, isn’t it? Thank you so much for stepping up at the clinic.”

She laughed. “Considering it’s our family clinic, it only makes sense. Of course I would help out even if that wasn’t the plan.”

Silas nodded. “Apparently I’ll need to take it easy for a while, so I’m hoping that you’ll be okay to pinch hit even more.”

“Of course, and, yes, you do need to take it easy.”

“I thought I would probably go to the clinic and sit around doing nothing,” he shared, with a smile. “It’ll feel good just to get back there.”

She glanced at him, tears in her eyes. “I have been through so much to get you here.… I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

He reached out his hand, and they clung together for a long moment. “I didn’t think I would make it,” he admitted. “Honest to God, I really thought I was done for.”

“Yeah, me too,” she admitted with a sigh. “I wasn’t sure I would make it either, but first I had to watch you slowly die in front of me. If it weren’t for Schooner here,” she reached down a hand to gently stroke Schooner’s head, “I don’t want to think how that would have ended.”

“Never again.”

“You’re right, never again.”

Silas looked at her, then back at Trey. Silas settled into his hospital bed, smiling the whole time at them.

Missy walked over and sat down beside Trey.

He hooked an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. “How was work?”

“It sucked,” she shared, “yet it was good, except the part about wanting to be here with Dad. Still, I needed to help out, so we got through quite a few patients today,” she added, with a smile. “Bill’s at least a little bit happier.”

“He’s grumpy most of the time,” Silas noted with a smile. “Yet he’s been talking about a partnership. I just wasn’t sure I wanted to go in that direction again.”

“Again?” she asked, looking at him. “Did you have a partnership?”

“I did originally, way back when, but it ended up ugly,” he told them, “and cost me money to buy out the other party. Once that was done, I swore I wouldn’t ever do it again. I did think about it when your mother was ill because it was just so much of a load to bear all on my own, but I made it. Now I have my daughter with me,” he proudly stated, “so that will be even easier.”

“Of course,” she agreed, with a bright smile. She looked at Trey, who seemed to be deep in thought, and she shook her head.

“What’s that for?” her father asked with a testy voice. “What are you keeping from me?”

“It’s not that I’m keeping anything from you,” she replied, facing him. “However, while you were getting sick out there, trying to figure out how to get us back home again, you mentioned something about the boat being sabotaged.”

He slowly nodded. “I remember that. Since nobody said anything about it today, I wasn’t sure just where we were on that subject.” Then he looked at Trey. “I guess I lost the boat, didn’t I?” He sounded sad and resigned.

“You lost her out there, but I went out with Rob, and we brought her back in again.”

Silas looked at him in shock but with a glimmer of hope. “ Forget Me Not is in the harbor?”

“She needs a bit of work. She got damaged pretty well when she was powerless, getting slammed up against the rocks,” Trey explained, “but we brought her back in. I haven’t talked to Rob about the repairs, so I’m not sure what we’re up against there.”

“If anybody can put her back together again, it’ll be Rob,” Silas declared as he sank in the hospital bed with a sigh. “Good God.” He looked over at his daughter. “I am so sorry. I would have done anything to save you from this nightmare.”

“The worst part,” she replied, as she walked over and sat down beside him on the edge of the bed, “was watching you deteriorate and not being able to do anything to help you.”

He nodded slowly. “I hate that and wouldn’t have done that, especially since,… well, you’re my daughter, and I’m supposed to protect you. I would have done anything to save you.”

“Hence the same problem I had,” she noted, with a teary smile in his direction. “It was rough, but then this guy”—she turned to look back at Trey—“pops into town, looking for Schooner no less.” Schooner lifted his head and gave a woof . She bent down, cuddled him, and cooed, “Yeah, you’re the one who kept us alive out there.”

“In what way?” What do you mean by that?” her father asked. She told him about the rabbits Schooner brought her. “Good God,” Silas muttered, “maybe he’s a good hunting dog too.”

When her father looked at the dog with added interest, she groaned. “No sir, you’re not taking this dog hunting. Never. I already promised Schooner that he gets to live on Easy Street from now on.”

Trey smiled in her direction. “Sounds as if you get to be on Easy Street too,” he teased.

“I wouldn’t disagree with that, but Dad and I both know that having our own practice will be demanding, and there probably won’t be anything easy about it.”

“You’re right,” Silas declared. “Easy it is not.” Yet he smiled broadly. “We’ll have to decide if we want to let Bill go or if we want to keep him there to ease up on some of the work ourselves.”

“I think we should probably wait on making a decision on that just yet,” she suggested, “especially considering that we still need to figure out who’s behind the sabotage.”

“I was really hoping when you woke up that you would tell us,” Trey shared.

“Did I say anything about it while I was out all that time?”

She shook her head. “No, you didn’t, and that was so hard because I didn’t know who to trust and who not to trust.”

“Apparently you did good by trusting this guy.” Silas motioned at Trey.

She smiled. “It’s not hard to trust a man who risked his life to come look for us, long after others had given up, even dragging your sorry ass back to town.”

Silas laughed. “Isn’t that the truth?” He looked over at Trey. “So, tell me. Just how the hell did you find us, when everyone else had failed?”

Trey smiled. “Let’s just say that I had a couple of your favorite fishing spots in mind that you showed me a very long time ago.”

Silas looked at him in alarm. “Good God, you still don’t remember those, do you?”

“Of course I do, and I’m pretty happy about it now that I’ve heard you’re pretty much the fishing derby king around here.”

A crafty look came in his eyes. “But you don’t know if that’s where my fishing derby spots are.”

“No, but I don’t have to,” Trey replied, “since your panicky expression is already telling me. But don’t be sad, as I already had a good idea where they were. You just get back on your feet, and we can either be on the same team or we can go against each other.”

“Oh come on, Trey. Let’s not get him started on that yet,” she muttered, giving him a smirk.

Her father looked at him, and a big smile crossed his face. “Son, I’ll enjoy having you on my side.” Then he looked over at his daughter. “I’m pretty sure I’ll have to, since I do remember showing him those damn places and more, way back when.”

She burst out laughing. “I’m not sure what to even say to the two of you right now,” she scolded. “But can I at least remind you that there are much more serious issues at play here?”

“There are,” Trey agreed, with a smile, “but, if Silas doesn’t remember or have any clue who could have done this, we’re back to square one again.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t remember. I do remember most of it, although obviously not when I was unconscious,” he noted. “I was thinking about it during the time we got shipwrecked. I just don’t know if I came to any conclusion,” he admitted.

“We’ve gone through a ton of people. I’m just not sure that we’ve come up with any answers.” She looked over at Trey.

Trey shook his head. “No, we don’t have any solid leads. We’re pretty much back to square one, but I did go talk to Mildred.”

At that name, Silas frowned at him. “Why did you talk to Mildred?”

“Because I wanted to know if her son was involved.”

“Ah.” Silas nodded. “In a way that makes sense, but I also know that Keith would do an awful lot to avoid jail again.”

“Yet did you break up because of him?”

“Who, the boy? No, I didn’t break up because of Keith. Why?”

“That’s what Mildred told him and me.”

“No, no, no,” he countered. “I broke up because of Mildred. She was getting very, very clingy and very… stifling, maybe? I don’t know the right word or exactly how to explain it. She’s just very intense, and I found it hard to be peaceful around her.”

“But she doesn’t know anything about boats?”

“No, she doesn’t know anything about boats,” he confirmed. “I can’t see her behind it, at least not… If she was behind it, then she most definitely would have somebody else help.”

“But not her son?” Trey asked.

“No, not her son.… No, no, not her son.”

“But you were just thinking about something.”

Silas opened his mouth, then closed it. “I can’t just say things that don’t have any factual bearing on this.”

“But you need to,” Missy stated, walking closer to her father, as Trey came up behind her. “We’ve been considering this from all different angles and don’t have a clue. Yet what you don’t know is that you were attacked while you were in this hospital.”

His gaze widened. “No, no, please not.”

“Yes, and our house was broken into. Your office was trashed.”

He stared at her and then winced. “Oh God,” he muttered.

“So you need to tell us what you’re thinking,” Trey urged.

“But I could be wrong.”

“Good, go ahead and be wrong. At least it would be somebody we could take off our list.”

Silas stared at them, his gaze going from one to the other. “But…”

“No,” Trey declared as he wrapped his arms around Missy’s shoulders. He tucked her up tight, her arms automatically going around his chest, waiting instinctively for bad news. Trey grabbed her father’s hand and continued. “Listen. The time for protecting anybody is past because now we’re afraid that somebody will come after your daughter.”

“Oh God,” Silas gasped, trying to straighten up in the bed, but Trey pushed him back in place.

“No, don’t try to get up,” Trey said, “but you need to tell me what’s going on in your mind.”

He winced. “I don’t know. I can’t be sure, and all my memories are a mess. I do know that some things fit, and some things don’t.” He swallowed hard. “Mildred’s brother was my original partner.”

At that, Trey turned to Missy and nodded. “That would fit.”

“No, not at all,” Silas argued. “I don’t know why it would. I haven’t seen or heard from him in a very long time.”

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean he’s dead.”

“No, I don’t think he’s dead at all. Why would you even say that?”

“Because one of the questions we’ve had fits only when something happened when you were in business together.”

At that, her father swallowed, the color draining from his cheeks, as he whispered, “Life insurance on the business partners.”

“Yes,” Trey repeated, “life insurance on the partners of the clinic. So, if Mildred’s brother is alive,” Trey added, “there’s a good chance that an active life insurance policy is still in place. It could very well be all about that.”

“Oh my God,” Missy exclaimed.

Trey asked Silas, “So, who is Mildred’s brother, and where would he likely be right now?”

“I don’t know. I lost track of him after I bought him out. Mildred and I were together back then, after my wife died, but we never really talked about her brother. Mildred wanted us to marry, but she and I were together off and on, plus I was raising Missy, so that didn’t suit me. Mildred knew things had gone bad between me and her brother, but she didn’t seem too worried about it, and neither was I. I thought we parted amiably.”

“Sure,” Trey conceded, “but now that you’re totally separated, maybe she has a different viewpoint on it.”

“But she wouldn’t get the life insurance,” Silas pointed out. “It would go to her brother, and that’s only if I died. And it wouldn’t change if my daughter died too.”

“No, but maybe by taking both of you out, maybe all of your estate could potentially go to the same person.”

“I don’t know,” Silas said. “Sounds like a long shot. At the very least he would get the life insurance.”

“What about Mildred’s son? Would he be in on this?”

“No, I don’t think Keith would have anything to do with it. Honest to God, his uncle, the one I was in partnership with, he was the worst of the lot, but I always protected him. We’d been best friends since forever,” Silas explained. “I didn’t really see that side of him until I was in business with him, and then it was just too late. Things got ugly,” he shared. “Yet I really haven’t had anything to do with him in a very long time.”

“Good enough,” Trey replied, as he looked over at Missy. “If you’re okay to stay here for a bit, I need to make some calls, get in touch with my boss. I don’t know how long this part will take, but I need Schooner with me. Will you two be okay for a while here?” She immediately nodded, and Trey grinned, then leaned closer. “By the way, when this is all over, we’ll have to try a real meetup.”

She looked at him oddly. “A real meetup? What does that mean?”

He smiled, then kissed her briefly, prompting her fingers to immediately go to her lips. “A date, a real one, not all these halfway stolen moments.” And, with that, Trey and Schooner were gone.

She turned to her father to find him grinning, an absolutely huge smile on his face.

He looked at her, then nodded. “You know, there is something to be said for leaving you to work it out on your own,” he muttered, “because, this time, you’ve found a man I approve of.”

She rolled her eyes at that, as she sat down beside him. “Trey said you were upset when he went into the military.”

“I wasn’t so much upset that he went into the military, more that I was afraid he wouldn’t come home again. That was happening to so many other families, and I loved him like a son,” he explained. “But I wouldn’t try to stop him from making his own decisions. Just like I didn’t want to pressure you into going to veterinary school, but you were adamant, so it was for you to decide.”

“Of course,” she declared, “I wanted to be just like my dad.”

His eyes filled with tears, and he reached out, beckoning her to come closer. “I’m glad you’re not like me because, as it turns out, you’re a whole lot better than your old man.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she argued. “I did an awful lot of thinking when we were on that rock out there, and nothing is quite so terrifying as seeing somebody you love dying right beside you.”

He gave her a long look. “That’s how I felt when we lost your mother. It was the most terrifying journey, spending every day watching her slowly slip away and not being able to do anything about it.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she nodded. “And that was a journey that you took on largely yourself because I was so young,” she whispered, “but I understand it so much more now, and I feel so much sympathy for you.”

“I don’t need sympathy,” he declared. “When life happens, you just get back on the horse and keep on riding because there’s really no other choice. Only after you get some distance do you have a different perspective and then realize how far you’ve come,” he explained. “Right now what I can tell you is that you have become an absolutely brilliant and gorgeous young woman, and I’m so terribly proud of you.”

“I tried so hard to get us out of there, but I just couldn’t.”

“Yet you did get us out of there.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she stated immediately. “That was all Trey.”

Silas nodded and smiled. “Apparently it was Schooner too,” he added, with a chuckle.