C.J. Miller - Colton Holiday Lockdown

No sign of him.

Football practice was over. The field was clear. Rafe’s phone rang and he fumbled to answer it. It wasn’t Danny. Worse still, it was Flint. If he was calling because Danny had been hurt, Rafe wouldn’t forgive himself. He should have called Danny after school or told him to text when he was home safe. He hated to place restrictions on Danny, but how else did a parent keep a son safe?

Rafe stuttered on the thought. Not that he was Danny’s father. Foster father was a big stretch from real father. Still, he’d taken Danny in without any parenting experience and he’d had no idea how hard it would be.

“Flint, what’s going on? Is it Danny?” Rafe rarely felt this panicked. Panic was an emotion he had learned to lock away in emergencies.

“No. Why? Isn’t he with you?”

At least Danny hadn’t been found hurt. “He’s late from practice,” Rafe said.

“Sounds like this is a bad time, but I need you back at the clinic.”

Another outbreak? “What’s happened?”

“Someone’s attacked Dr. Rand.”

Dr. Rand wasn’t a small man. He could handle himself. It would be ballsy for someone to openly attack him. “Is he okay?”

“Shaken, but okay.”

“What about Gemma?” Rafe asked. He had second thoughts about leaving her at the diner. Had she returned home safely? Recent events gave Rafe plenty of reasons to worry.

“I talked to her a few minutes ago. Gemma’s fine, why?” Flint asked.

“I was curious.” More than curious. Though Gemma was intrusive and pushy and seemed too eager to talk about how everyone felt, he liked her. She was good at her job and he enjoyed working with her.

If she had wanted, she could have her pick of hospitals to work in.

Rafe changed directions and drove to the clinic. He called Danny several more times on his cell phone.

He even tried calling a couple of Danny’s friends. They hadn’t seen him since football practice. He tried Danny’s brother, Matt, who hadn’t spoken to Danny recently. When Rafe arrived at the clinic, he parked in the lot. Half the spots were piled with snow and the ice underfoot was slick. In this part of Wyoming, snow and ice would stick around until the spring melt.

Rafe strode directly to Flint. It was the second incident at the clinic in twenty-four hours. “Did you find the person who did this?” Rafe asked. They had to have a lead to find and stop the person hindering the clinic’s research and attacking the staff.

Flint shook his head and pointed to the ambulance where Dr. Rand was being examined by a paramedic. “That’s what I need to speak with everyone about. Whoever is targeting the clinic is now targeting the staff. I need everyone to be careful.”

Rafe should ask the paramedic if he needed a consult. It wasn’t like Kit could take Dr. Rand to the nearest hospital in Cheyenne. Rafe approached and waited for Kit to acknowledge him. Nothing was more irritating than another medical provider intruding during an exam.

“Hey, Dr. Granger, good to see you. Wish it was under better circumstances,” Kit said. Rafe had known Kit in high school. Even after so many years, she still had a splash of freckles across her nose and a warm smile.

Josh Hadaway, the EMT, climbed out of the back of the medic. “Crazy times around here, huh?”

Rafe was familiar with Josh from drop-offs at the clinic from time to time.

Dr. Rand was looking sad. Or was he embarrassed? Angry? Rafe wasn’t a huge fan of Dr. Rand’s. Lucas was arrogant, even more arrogant than most doctors. He’d claimed he had a cure for the virus, but it had proven to be ineffective with their patients. Rafe wasn’t sure why the man had thought his “cure” would do anything. Their lab tests were nowhere near ready to make such a claim.

“Dr. Rand, I’m sorry to ask you to tell your story again, but maybe you’ve remembered additional details,” Flint said, joining them.

Dr. Rand sighed and rubbed his face. “We have enough problems in this town. I don’t want anyone in trouble.”

Flint arched a brow and Rafe tamped down his irritation. They didn’t have time for this! If they could find the attacker, maybe they could recover their lab results or samples. Could Dr. Rand identify his assailant?

“The faster we find the person who stole our samples and destroyed our lab, the better off we’ll be. We can’t have these endless setbacks,” Rafe said, using the voice he usually reserved for speaking to his patients. Calm and relaxed. Rand wouldn’t respond well to irritation and threats.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rafe saw Gemma approach. She was wearing the same clothes she’d had on at the diner, but she’d done her hair differently. It was braided over her shoulder. He liked it. Too much.

Gemma stood between her brother and Rafe. Gemma shivered as the wind blew stronger. Rafe removed his jacket and draped it over her shoulders and Gemma looked at him in surprise. “Thank you,” she said.

“Dr. Rand, please tell us what you know,” Flint said.

Rafe took his eyes off Gemma, though he could see her watching the exchange intently.

“We don’t need to stand in the cold debating this,” Dr. Rand said.

They weren’t debating anything. They were waiting for Dr. Rand to tell them what he knew. Did everything with Dr. Rand need to be a production? The man’s eyes welled with tears and if he hadn’t recently lost his ex-wife and wasn’t struggling with his grief, Rafe would have punched him. He wanted to tell him to stop crying and focus on what was important. Like finding the vandal and finding a cure.

“I was attacked as I was leaving the virus wing. I only caught a glimpse of him.”

A disgruntled patient? A dissatisfied woman Dr. Rand had had a one-night stand with? Rafe kept his thoughts to himself. He was in a bad mood and he didn’t need to share his mood with everyone.

“That boy who’s living with Dr. Granger. Danny. He attacked me,” Dr. Rand said.

Flint and Gemma turned to Rafe. His denial was immediate. “You’re mistaken. Danny had football practice after school.”

“Where is Danny now, Rafe?” Flint asked.

Rafe had already told Flint that Danny hadn’t been home. Rafe felt Gemma’s hand on his back, her touch the only factor keeping him from going off the rails. Typical for the poor kid to be blamed, the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. The kid who’d had a rougher childhood than most of these elitists could imagine. “He wasn’t home when I got there tonight. I don’t know where he is.”

He wouldn’t feed Flint any more details to use against Danny.

“I didn’t want to say anything. I know he’s had a hard time, with his grandfather dying and his brother taking off and leaving him,” Dr. Rand said.

Quiet rage hummed inside him. Danny’s brother, Matt, hadn’t taken off. Matt hadn’t been prepared to care for a fourteen-year-old boy and had let Danny enter the foster care system. Rafe understood where Matt was coming from. Rafe was years older and had access to more resources, and still he had trouble keeping track of Danny at times. Hence, his lack of knowledge about where the boy was. “Danny wouldn’t hurt someone. It isn’t in his nature.”

“You just said he plays football. Aggressive sport,” Dr. Rand said.

What did Dr. Rand play in high school? The flute? “Danny has no reason to attack you,” Rafe said. Danny and Dr. Rand had met once or twice when Rafe had brought him to the clinic, but Danny wouldn’t lash out at Dr. Rand. They’d barely spoken.

“If a cure isn’t found, then the quarantine remains in place and you have to stay in town,” Dr. Rand said. “That could be worth a lot to a boy who’s lost everything else.”

Guilt tripled in Rafe’s stomach. He’d agreed to take Danny into his home because Danny needed a place to live and Rafe thought he could help him. Help him through some of his grief, show him a life outside of Dead River was possible and put him on track to build a good future. Had he been wrong to take the boy into his home knowing he’d be around only a short time?