The Kincaids: Private Mergers. Tessa Radley

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СКАЧАТЬ chasing him and would catch him if he slowed. College, medical school, a fellowship with the CDC and his residency had led to the pinnacle of his success: a position as an ER doctor at Presbyterian University Hospital in New York.

      “I will not have a breakdown. Is this about getting upset with Flint earlier today?” The Coltons had always stuck together. Rafe understood if she was sticking up for her brother.

      “This isn’t about Flint. He’s a big boy and he can take it. This is about you. You’re the only doctor who works additional shifts.” Gemma pointed to the coffee the waitress had slid in front of him. “Is that the majority of your meals?”

      Rafe glanced at the coffee. He wasn’t keeping track of his food. “Worried I’ll have shaky hands during a procedure?”

      Gemma shook her head. “Please hear me. I am not concerned about how you treat others. I am not concerned about your patients. I am concerned about you and how you will drive us crazy if you don’t ease off.”

      Gemma had struck a nerve. Ease off. Slack off. Sit around and wait for someone else to do the work. He would set Gemma straight now. “I do not expect you or anyone else to help.” The cold in his voice hit its mark. Gemma drew away and her face dropped.

      “I can do this entirely on my own if that’s what it takes. I don’t need to rest. I need to find a cure to help the people of this town get better. I will not put my personal needs ahead of someone’s life.”

      Gemma seemed shocked and then gathered herself. “That’s not really true is it, Dr. Granger? You want to help our patients, but you have another motive.”

      He’d made no secret of his desire to escape this town. “Like everyone else here, I can’t wait to leave.”

      Gemma drew back. “I don’t want to leave.”

      She wouldn’t. She had a great family, people who cared about her and she’d gone with the flow and seemed happy doing what was expected of her. Even in high school, she’d been the school’s sweetheart, not popular exactly, but few had a bad word to say about her. “Then I guess that’s one reason we don’t get along. I don’t want to be here a minute longer than I have to.”

      Gemma leaned in and glared at him. “You can try that bad-boy routine on me, but I see through you. You’re here because you want to be.”

      He snorted. “You know nothing about me. I am here because of a promise I foolishly gave.”

      “Why not break the promise if you hate it here?”

      “Because breaking a promise to a dead person would make me the tyrannical, self-serving shithead you’re implying I am.”

      Gemma’s mouth dropped open. “I said no such thing.”

      Rafe threw several twenties on the table. “See you at work.”

      He fled the diner and ignored the looks from the people around him. He didn’t need their condescension and he didn’t need this town.

      * * *

      Rafe opened the door to his rental, a two-story, three-bedroom colonial. It was too big for him, though somehow he thought it was too small for him and Danny. The teenager seemed to have a lot of stuff, or maybe it seemed that way because nothing was ever put away.

      “Danny! Are you home?” Rafe asked.

      Rafe was accustomed to some signs that Danny was inside. Muddy shoes by the door, winter jacket thrown over the chair in the living room or the sound of music pulsing from the boy’s bedroom.

      It was quiet.

      “Danny!”

      Was he wearing headphones?

      Rafe took the oak stairs to Danny’s room and found it empty. No backpack slung on the floor. Rafe picked up an empty box of cookies and tossed it in the trash. He called the cell phone he’d given to Danny, but the call went directly to voice mail.

      Worry knotted in his stomach. He gave Danny his freedom and his privacy, as Danny’s grandfather had, but Rafe and Danny had an agreement. Danny would let Rafe know where he was and when he would be home and Rafe did the same for him. That morning, Danny had told him he’d come home directly after football practice. After the fire at the clinic, Rafe had texted him that he would be late tonight. Danny was usually good to his word.

      Rafe called the Dead River Youth Center. It was a safe place for students to hang out after school and Danny had friends there. Maybe he’d forgotten to tell Rafe he’d changed his plans. A quick call to the director of the youth center and Rafe was again at square one. Danny wasn’t there.

      His worry increased. Dead River was usually quiet, but with the virus outbreak and a murderer hiding somewhere in town, Rafe didn’t like the idea of Danny anywhere alone. He could be sick and unable to call for help. His cell phone battery could have died.

      Danny wasn’t naïve or helpless, but Rafe cared about the boy. His anxiety ticked up a notch. Returning to his car, he drove the short distance Danny walked to school, checking the sidewalks.

      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 СКАЧАТЬ