Alone in the Dark (17 page)

be, Brady Coltrane was a fantastic lover. Kind, gentle and stirring beyond belief. And no

matter what else happened in her life, she was always going to remember the night they'd

had together.

Disgusted with the fact that she couldn't seem to focus her thoughts for more than

thirty seconds at a time, she began to power down her computer.

As her fingers hit the appropriate keys, a question flashed across the screen.

"No, I don't want to save Document 1," Patience told the screen. "It's all hodgepodge anyway." Served her right for trying to update files when her mind had taken a powder.

"Um, Dr. Cavanaugh?"

Patience looked up to see Shirley sticking her head into her office. Was lunch over

already? Automatically she glanced at her watch.Five after two. Time to get back to work,

she thought, rising from her desk.

She crumbled the foil around her uneaten, almost untouched tuna fish sandwich, sending

both unceremoniously into the wastepaper basket. By her reckoning, she had to have lost

two pounds in the last two days. Her appetite had completely disappeared. Maybe she was

onto something, she mocked herself. She could call it the lovesick diet.

Except that she wasn't lovesick, she insisted silently. Just a little love-under-the-

weather.

She pasted a smile on her face as she turned toward her receptionist. "I'm coming,

Shirley." She began to circumvent the desk. "Who's up first?"

Shirley glanced over her shoulder, as if her memory wasn't sufficient to retain that kind

of information for more than a few moments at a time. "That man who came with that

bird."

Instantly, Patience tensed. The hairs on the back of her neck began to stand up like some

elementary science experiment involving a glass rod and a swatch of fur. She'd distinctly

told Shirley to turn him away if he called for an appointment. Had he just shown up again?

"Walter Payne?"

Shirley's head bobbed up and down. The woman's eyes watched her anxiously. "Um, I

think so."

She couldn't deal with this, not right now. Not when she felt so terribly scattered. "Tell

him I'm too busy. Give him Dr. Johnson's number."

"But he's already here," Shirley told her. "In the office—"

Patience squared her shoulders. "Don't argue with me, Shirley. I said—"

She stopped abruptly as a shadow fell across Shirley. Walter stood on the threshold, a

square white box in his hands. Without thinking, Patience opened the middle drawer of her

desk. Her hand covered the scissors she kept there.

"I won't take any of your time," Walter promised her. "I just came by to give you this present. It's to say thank-you. Mitzi's doing fine."

"Paying your bill says thank-you, Walter," she replied crisply. Her heart hammered hard as she closed her fingers around the scissors.

"I wanted to settle that up, too. I won't be here to get your bill, Dr. Cavanaugh. Mitzi and

I are moving away."

Was he telling her this to throw her off? Or was he finally giving up? Her emotions were

in such a state of turmoil, she didn't know what to think. And she was afraid to hope.

"When?"

"At the end of this week." Taking a couple of steps forward, Walter slipped the box onto her desk. "We're going down toSan Diego. Weather's better for Mitzi and I've got family

there. My brother just got laid off and he thought it might be a good time to start

something new. He's going to be joining me in my company." Walter's expression took on a

forlorn look. "So you see, this is kind of like a goodbye present."

"I still can't accept it. That would be unprofessional," she added in the hope that the

words would finally convince him. But Walter made no move to take back his gift. Or to

leave. "All right, then, goodbye." Why wasn't he going?

He looked at her hopefully, ignoring the fact that Shirley still stood there, seeming

befuddled. "Of course, with the Internet and all, we could still stay in touch if you'd like—

"

Patience cut him off. "I don't think that's a good idea, Walter."

"But if Mitzi gets sick again—"

"There are a great many good vets down inSan Diego."

"Right." Walter sighed, crestfallen. "Well, then, I guess I'd better get going." Picking up the gift, he paused by the doorway. "Thanks again for all your help. Mitzi will never forget

you."

"And I certainly won't forget Mitzi," she murmured under her breath.

"One more thing—" he began.

"Walter, I think you really need to go now." She squared her shoulders, moving out of her office. Forcing him to step back.

"Everything all right here?"

Startled, Patience turned to find Josh standing with Gonzo in the small hallway.

Finding himself so close to the dog, Walter's eyes nearly bulged. He cringed, pressing

himself against the wall in an effort to vacate the confining area without making contact

with the animal. He never took his eyes off Gonzo until he'd cleared the hall.

"It is now," Patience told Josh. She tried to keep the relief out of her voice, but doubted if she succeeded.

«^»

Joshglanced over his shoulder at Walter's disappearing figure. Shirley muttered

something about answering the phone and slipped away.

"Did I just miss something?" Josh's eyes narrowed as he looked back at her.

"No." She didn't feel like going into a long story. Instead, Patience looked at the large German shepherd standing behind Josh in the limited space. "What can I do for you?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead Josh watched her for a long moment, then smiled.

"Well, since you asked…"

Because the game was familiar and because he'd shown up at precisely the right time, she

flashed him an amused smile. "I was referring to Gonzo."

"Can't blame a guy for trying." Josh shrugged, as if resigned to making the best of it.

"Well, as it turns out, I forgot to ask you for Gonzo's heart-worm medication. He ran out."

Walking to where the files were all kept in the passageway, Patience paused a moment to

look for Gonzo's. Finding it, she pulled it out, then turned to the last entry as she entered

the closest exam room.

"That's odd." She flipped through several pages before looking up at Josh. "According to this, he should have enough to last him through the beginning of next month."

Josh's expression bordered on the sheepish. "That's provided he didn't let one of the

pills go rolling down the sink."

She closed the file and looked, at Josh, puzzled. "You're going to have to elaborate on

that."

Josh leaned a hip against the examination table. "I tossed it to him because that's the

way he likes to take pills." She gave him an incredulous look. "Trying to shove them down his throat doesn't work," he explained. "Anyway, I tossed, he jumped, the damn thing

bounced off his nose and landed in the sink, where it went down the drain, making us one

pill short."

Patience shook her head and laughed. "So, you think you're Michael Jordan, do you?" She

petted Gonzo's head, then turned toward the cabinet where she kept certain standard

medications. The one she was looking for came prepackaged in a six-month supply. Finding

it, she handed the small box to Josh. "Here, this should hold him for the next six months.

And you might just try giving it to him instead of having him field it."

Josh pocketed the box. "He doesn't like swallowing pills the regular way."

She ran her hand along the dog's well-brushed coat. "He does when I give it to him."

Josh laughed shortly, as if what she'd just said was self-evident. "Gonzo would probably

stand still for an enema if you were the one giving it to him."

Patience cocked her head as she looked at Gonzo's partner. A bemused smile curved her

lips. "That has got to be the strangest compliment I ever got, but thank you—I think."

The reason for the unexpected visit concluded, Josh appeared reluctant to leave. He

nodded toward the back office. "What was going on here when I came in? You seemed …

threatened."

So much for keeping a poker face, she thought. "Did I?"

Patience blew out a breath, debating. She'd thought that Brady had told Josh earlier

about Walter. But maybe he hadn't. It seemed that her ability to read Brady came up

short. In a lot of ways.

Since he'd pushed, she gave Josh a quick summary, without the highlights. The less she

said about the situation, the faster she could put it behind her. "For some reason, Walter

Payne got it into his head that there might be something between us if he just pressed

hard enough."

By his expression, this was obviously news to Josh. She saw anger crease his forehead

just before he nodded toward the outer door. "That little weasel?"

"He's not a weasel, he's just—" She shrugged, searching for the right word, and then

settled on "—misguided. And lonely."

Josh's eyes grew dark. "Did he try anything?"

A vein popped up on Josh's brow. Signs of a temper she'd never been aware of became

evident. Patience placed her hands on his chest, as if that could hold him down. "Whoa,

CaptainAmerica, hold it, it's okay," she teased. "Walter just came by to tell me goodbye.

He's moving."

Josh appeared unconvinced. "I can keep an eye on him for you."

She shook her head. "Not necessary."

But Josh didn't seem to think she was right. "Maybe a woman like you doesn't realize

what kind of fatal attraction she represents."

She knew that she didn't stop clocks when, she passed, but she'd never thought of

herself as particularly beautiful, either. "I'd hardly call it fatal."

"That's because you're oblivious to it. But other people aren't." There was a glimmer of annoyance in his voice. "Like Coltrane."

The mention of the man who had disappeared from her life brought with it a strange

feeling that rippled through her. She felt oddly abandoned, even though she'd tried, over

and over, to talk herself out of it. Coming from the family that she did, she knew all the

reasons that could have kept Brady from coming to see her. Policemen didn't exactly keep

regular hours. But that shouldn't have stopped Brady from at least giving her a two-second

phone call just to touch base. To…

What was she doing? She didn't want this relationship, so why was she pining?

Because she was going crazy, that's why.

Patience brushed back a strand of hair that had come undone from the clip at the back of

her neck. "Could we change the subject?"

"Fine with me." The smile on Josh's lips was warm and sensuously teasing. "Let's talk about something closer to home."

"Like Gonzo."

His eyes held hers. "I was thinking of something a little more human."

"You're insulting him." She grinned, petting the dog again. Gonzo seemed to curl into her touch. She gave him one final pat and picked up his chart again, heading for the door. "And

now that you have his pills, I'd better get back to my other patients or I'm liable to be

here all night."

Josh walked out the door with her. "Call me the next time you need rescuing."

She laughed. "I will."

He paused before going into the reception area. "I mean it."

He sounded so serious. Had he seen something in Walter Payne's eyes that she'd missed?

No, she couldn't let herself think that way. She wasn't going to live her life glancing over

her shoulder all the time. It was time to end this conversation.

Patience looked down at the German shepherd. "Gonzo, be a good dog and take your

master back to work."

Gonzo barked once, as if in agreement, and then led Josh out. The latter gave her a quick

wink before he allowed himself to be dragged off.

She shook her head and laughed as she entered the next exam room.

It had been a very long day, with two emergencies that had to be wedged into her

appointments. An undersize cocker spaniel had had an altercation with a rosebush and lost;

and a Great Dane had decided to help herself to some chocolate cake that had been left

out on the dining room table. Luckily the dog's owner had stopped her before she'd

consumed die whole thing. Chocolate could often be deadly for a dog.

Lucky the same wasn't true for humans, Patience thought, locking the door. Tonight's

main course was going to be a pint of chocolate ice cream. She had no desire to make

anything edible on her own and didn't even feel like putting out the energy to dial a number

for take-out.

Claiming to be coming down with a cold, Shirley had long since gone home, leaving her to

juggle patients, charts and payment statements on her own. Exhausted, Patience was about

to shut off the lights when she heard pounding on the door.

Everything inside her froze.

Was that Walter?

Lulling her into thinking he was moving away, had he decided to sneak back to see her?

She tried to calm herself down. Walter wouldn't be pounding on the door like that. That

was drawing attention, not sneaking.

"Patience? Patience, are you still in there? Open the damn door!"

Brady.

Her heart resumed beating. Pounding in time to the fist that was meeting the door. Why

was he yelling like that?

Patience ran to the door before the rest of her questions could even form.

The second she unlocked the door, it flew open, banging on the opposite wall. Brady

staggered in, struggling with the weight in his arms. He was carrying King. The dog was

covered with blood.

Patience stifled the gasp that rose in her throat. There was no time to react as a person,