Carolyn McSparren - The Money Man

Mark believed him—and so, for that matter, did the INS. But that didn’t matter. He pulled out his notebook. “Check grncds subcon vet.” What were the chances he could decipher that tomorrow?

His left temple throbbed, and he longed to go home to his quiet house, put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, pop a cold beer, and watch mindless television until he fell asleep. What a life for a man who was supposed to be in his prime.

Anyone meeting him would think he had the world by the tail—a great job with a boss he not only respected but liked, more money than he’d ever dreamed of and an excellent reputation among his colleagues and friends.

Right. Friends. Acquaintances, more like. There simply hadn’t been time to develop a life away from work, much less create anything resembling a family. He was like the new Silicon Valley computer kids who ate, slept and lived their jobs.

A far cry from the life he’d envisioned when he was eighteen, before his father’s death had brought the world crashing down around his head.

At the knock on his door, he glanced up.

It opened immediately. Dr. Sarah Marsdon came in— no, marched in—and shut it a little too forcefully behind her. Mark didn’t bother to stand up.

She sat down. “I’d about decided you weren’t coming, Mr. Scott.”

He sighed. “Mark—please. I thought we’d settled that.”

“That’s the only thing we seem to have settled. Now, let’s talk about my equipment.”

MARK SIGHED. “Okay. Hit me.”

“Believe me, I wish I could. But let’s get to my list. Bear in mind this is the basic equipment we need. We already have a portable ultrasound. It’s a thousand years old, but it will do for the moment.”

“Oh, goodie.”

“However, we are missing the mobile fluoroscopy machine and the portable X ray…”

“To the tune of eighty thousand bucks or more.”

“And the endoscope and laser. Shouldn’t run more than about twenty-five each for the bare bones. I can share the X-ray developer with the dogs and cats for the moment, but I’ll really need it to stay in my area. The small-animal technicians can come to me to develop their plates rather than the other way around. Of course, a second developer would solve that problem.”

“Another twenty-five thou, if we’re lucky.”

“Be lucky.” Sarah ticked off on her fingers. “I was promised an anesthesia machine. You may be able to find one of those from a ‘human’ medical supply house for about forty-five or fifty thousand.”

“Oh, you’re too kind.”

“That leaves a portable laser, which you can probably pick up for around ten thousand dollars used, and a blood chemistry analyzer. We have an autoclave. I won’t ask for a nuclear cytography machine yet, but I do need a laptop computer with Internet and fax capability that I can carry in my car so I can fax ultrasounds and fluoroscopes either back here to the office or to the vet school at Mississippi State. Oh, and the vet cabinet in my truck is too small. Jack said he’d stock the one I have, but I don’t have enough room for all the equipment and medication I’ll need to take with me on off-site calls. And I need keys to the Schedule 2 drug storage cabinet—both keys, please.”

“Is that all?”

“For the moment. Eventually, we really will need an MRI. And that will involve training at least one employee to use it. Oh, one more thing—a really good pair of surgical clippers for large animals. I can have one sent overnight for four or five hundred dollars. And I’ll have a list of additional medications and supplies I’ll need, as soon as I check what you already have.” Sarah started to get up. “That’s it for now.”

“Whoa, there, Doctor. You’ve just given me a list that runs over two hundred thousand dollars.”

“That’s what I was promised.”

“I’m not a miracle worker. I can’t pull two hundred thousand bucks out of the air.”

Sarah took a deep breath. “Look, I know I sound peremptory. But surely Rick had a budget for the things he promised me.”

This time Mark sank back in his chair. “I haven’t looked at the original equipment list lately. Frankly, I’ve been too damn busy putting out fires. The truth is that Coy Buchanan gave Rick and Margot this piece of land. He could have put up several more mansions on it and made a great deal more money. He’s been in on the plans for the building from the beginning, and we’ve given this place every break on construction we could give.”

“But?”

“You’ve met Margot.”

“And?”

“And Margot has continued to make the building more and more elaborate. The changes have cost much more than originally budgeted. Then the weather, the damage we’ve had—it all adds up. We’re at least a month away from a grand opening, when it should have taken place in February. I think Rick—no, make that everybody—I’m as guilty as he is—has been robbing Peter to pay Paul, and now Peter is presenting his bill. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is—at least for the next six months, maybe longer.”

“You do think you’ll eventually be able to pull things together?”

“I’m dancing as fast as I can. Will you work with me?”

Sarah stood. “I understand your problems, and I’ll try to be as patient as I can. But remember, this is lives we’re talking about, here.”

“Animal lives. Animals can be replaced.” The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He’d done something he seldom did—speak first and think second. She’d gotten to him.

From the look on her face, Sarah wasn’t about to let him get away with it.

“Tell that to the teenage girl who loses her very first pony because we have to take it four and a half hours away to Mississippi State for colic surgery. You might as well say you should avoid an expensive procedure to save your grandmother because she’s old and ill.”

“A grandmother is a human being, and most people don’t have but two. You can’t put a price on human life.”

“You certainly can put a price on animal lives, Mr. Scott. Farmer A knows precisely what his prize Angus bull is worth. If we screw up through negligence, or because we don’t have the right diagnostic and operating equipment, we’ll have to pay that price. You might add that to your two hundred thousand.”

“That’s what we have liability insurance for.”

“Liability insurance won’t cover that teenage girl’s heartbreak. Do you think Mrs. Jepson would prefer to have the value of George and Marian so she could buy a pair of puppies to take their place?”

“No, but she would replace them.”

“Not replace them. She’d bring other dogs into her life, but she’d never forget them or stop grieving for them. And that’s not one bit different from the way you feel about your grandmother.”

“Both my grandmothers are alive and very well, thank you.”

“Dammit!” Sarah snapped. “Don’t play games with me. So long as you don’t see the value of animal lives, you and I will never be able to communicate.” She walked out of his office.

“Hey…” he said, “I didn’t mean…”

The woman always put him on the defensive, made him say stupid things he would never say to anyone else. The problem was, he liked her. He wished he could give her everything she wanted. But there was no way—not if the clinic was to survive. Drat Margot Buchanan, anyway. If she hadn’t been able to wrap Coy around her little finger, if she hadn’t been able to con Rick…Hell, if Mark hadn’t been in Texas building a mall for three months last year, he could have headed her off. Now his job was doubly difficult.

Because Sarah Marsdon stirred his blood.