Radclyffe - Safe Harbor

Reese stood up and stretched, grinning at the friendly banter. "Im going to make another tour, Chief," she called, already anxious to be out of the cramped office.

Gladys waited until the door swung closed before turning to the Sheriff.

"Hows she doing?"

"About what youd expect, considering her resume. Shes the best officer Ive ever had!"

"Quiet, isnt she."

Nelson eyed his old friend speculatively. "Just what is it you want to know, you old busybody?"

"Ha! Like you arent nosey! I worry about a young girl like that in this town out on the end of nowhere. Could get mighty lonely."

"She doesnt seem lonely to me," Nelson mused. "Just solitary - like shes used to being alone."

"That can get awfully close to lonely," Gladys observed.

"Maybe. But I wouldnt worry about her too much. Looks to me like shed have no trouble finding company, no matter what kind she chose."

"As if it aint plain what kind of company that would be!" Gladys commented dryly.

"Now dont go making assumptions, just because this is Provincetown," Nelson remarked, irked that Gladys always seemed to know more than he did.

"Oh, Nelson. You could put that girl anywhere in the country and shed be turning womens heads!"

"Yours too, Gladys?" he joked.

"If I werent so old and twenty years married to George, she just might at that."

Nelson stared at her, finally at a loss for words.

**********

Reese left the engine running outside the deli while she ran inside for a sandwich. The two women who ran the tiny gourmet market in the center of town greeted her warmly. After only a short time she seemed like one of their regulars.

"Tuna, lettuce, and tomato?" Carol called as the tall, trim officer entered.

Reese laughed. "Im obviously getting too predictable. Make it corn beef today."

"Sure. Hows the new house?"

Reese hid her surprise. She hadnt yet gotten used to the easy intimacy of the year round residents. This was definitely not the place to come if you didnt want to know your neighbors.

"Fine. Im living in it - and the renovations will be done in a few weeks. Sarahs crew is really good."

Carol nodded in agreement as she wrapped Reeses order. "I envy you that view. There arent many places left with a clear line to the bay."

"I was lucky to find it," Reese agreed.

"Here you go. Take care now."

"Thanks."

Reese opened the sandwich on the seat beside her, eating as she slowly cruised through town. Theyre werent many people in the streets yet, but in two days there would be. She was looking forward to it even though she knew her work would be tripled. She liked the sense of being part of the community, and taking care of it in her own way. Without conscious thought, she found herself headed back to the clinic. The parking lot was crowded as she pulled in.

The young man behind the counter in the reception area looked harried. Reese waited while he finished making a chart up, standing quietly beside a mother with two small children in tow. He looked up at her expectantly, flipping his hair out of his eyes distractedly. His astonishingly beautiful face was set in an anxious frown.

"Any chance I could see Doctor King?"

"Oh please! Id sooner get you an audience with the Pope," he sighed dramatically. He had the longest eyelashes she had ever seen. If he were a woman, she'd call him pretty, but there was still something decidedly masculine about him that belied that description. "Let me see where she is, okay? Were way behind, but I guess you know why."

Reese nodded, shrugging apologetically.

He returned a moment later.

"Follow me - shell meet you in her office when she gets a break. She said she'd just be a couple of minutes."

He led her to the office Reese had left just a few hours previously. As she waited, she perused the walls. There was just the one diploma, announcing that Victoria Claire King had received her medical degree from McGill University in Canada. Of much more interest were the many framed and mounted photographs of women rowers, some in squads of four or eight, many in single sculls. Reese bent closer to look at the faces. In several photos the woman pulling the oars was unmistakably Victoria King.

The sound of the door closing behind her interrupted her study, and she turned to find the doctor watching her.

"Surprised, Sheriff?" Victoria questioned edgily.

Reese raised an eyebrow at the defensive tone in the womans voice. Her blue eyes met the flashing hazel ones calmly. "Why should I be?"

Victoria tapped the leg brace with her cane. The metal rang sharply.

"Ah - to be honest, I didnt think about that," Reese replied, her gaze still surveying Victorias face.

Victoria returned the look steadily and finally shook her head ruefully. "You may be the only person who ever has forgotten about it."

"I didn't say I forgot," Reese said softly. "It just never occurred to me that it would inhibit you on the water. I saw you this morning - out on the bay. You seemed so much a part of the sea, you didnt even disturb the rhythm of the waves."

Victorias lips parted as a small gasp escaped her. There had been many descriptions of her rowing, but none quite so genuine, nor so eloquent. She averted her gaze, swallowing hard.

"Thank you," she said at last into the silence around them. She walked to the desk, finally looking at Reese, who stood ramrod straight in the middle of the room, her hat tucked under one arm. Victoria wondered if she had any idea how imposing she was, or how attractive.

"Sit down, Sheriff. Youre making me nervous," Victoria said lightly.

Reese laughed, a deep full laugh, as she strode to the chair facing Victorias desk. "Now that I doubt."

Victoria was irrationally pleased at the response, and aware of her disappointment as a serious look eclipsed Reese's smile as quickly as it had come.

"I know youre busy," Reese said. "Have you had a chance to find out whats missing?"

Victoria sighed wearily. "It would figure today would be the day half the town has the flu. Ive been going nonstop since you left. I did get together a list for you though. A damn strange one."

Reese sat up a little straighter, her eyes flashing. "How so?"

"We are missing needles, but not syringes. Some surgical instruments, but not scalpels. Boxes of gauze and alcohol, and of all things - a portable sterilizer."

"No drugs?"

"The narcotics are all accounted for. I cant be sure, because I dont inventory pharmaceutical samples, but I think there is an assortment of antibiotics missing."

"Thats it?"

"As near as I can tell. If I find anything else, Ill let you know."

Reese nodded. "Mean anything to you?"

"Not a thing. Addicts would want the syringes. I guess the sterilizer would make sense if someone wanted to reuse the needles, but what good are they without the syringes?"

"I dont know," Reese mused. "How late are you open?"

"Until six, except Wednesdays, when I see patients until ten oclock."

"Is there someone here with you the whole time?"

"Well, Randy, the receptionist, leaves when the clinic closes, and my nurse, Sally, stays until we clean up. I usually stay an hour or so later to finish the paper work."

"Dont," Reese stated flatly, "at least not for the next few days. Leave when Sally does, and make sure youre both in your cars with the engines running before either of you drives away."

Victoria looked at her in amazement, her shoulders stiffening. "Is that really necessary? Ive got work that needs to be done - and Im sure this was just some kids"

" Im not sure of that," Reese rejoined firmly. "Youre fairly isolated here. There might be something else they wanted and couldnt find this morning. I dont want you here alone if they decide to come back."