"Sheriff Wexler. How good to see you. Won't you come in?"
The tall man sank down into one of the chairs. "You got a problem at your facility," he said without any pleasantries. How she hated boorish men.
"Do I?"
"You've got patients dying way more than any other facility in town or the county. Hell, you've got a higher deaths-per-patient ratio than any facility in Durango. Something's going on here."
She forced out a chuckle. "We deal in very sick patients. They die. Sometimes it happens that we have a rash of deaths, depending on how many terminally ill patients we have at one time. Sometimes we may only have one or none. I don't know what more I can say."
"There're people a lot sicker than the ones who've died. Some of them weren't that sick, like Mrs. Heller or Mrs. Higgins. I talked to their doctor."
She smiled. "Dr. Daniels was their doctor. Out of the three doctors here, he's the most optimistic. Dr. Rudman is definitely more realistic about the patients and what the quality of their life is. I would say Dr. Daniels probably held out a lot of hope in his assessment of the two women you mentioned. They were both quite ill."
"But you got sicker ones here. I've been talking with all three of the doctors and they all told me that."
"Of course we do, but I can't play God and decide who lives and dies. In life, things don't work logically a lot of the times."
Wexler leaned forward and propped his elbows on her desk. "Well, someone's playing God around here, and I aim to find out who." He took out a document and handed it to her. It was a subpoena asking for all written records for patients and employees.
When he cracked his gum, it was like a bullwhip snapping in the air. She jumped up, her nerves on edge, her fingers trembling slightly. She needed a drink.
"Of course, it'll take some time to gather all the records you're requesting." Get the fuck out of my office, you inconsequential man.
"Of course. I took that into account when I put the date in the subpoena that we need them produced by." He walked over to the door, opened it, and walked out.
She dashed over, locked it, then scurried over to her desk and took out the bottle of vodka again.
"Just a few nips," she said to no one as she brought the bottle to her lips.
Chapter Twenty
"I blew it with Goldie," Hailey said as she picked at her dinner.
"You mean Garth, right?" Rory said as she took a bite of her barbecued ribs.
"He goes by Goldie now. I've told you that before." Hailey pushed her plate away. She shouldn't have gone out with Rory and Claudia. They had a standing girls' night out every Tuesday, and they usually went out to dinner. Sometimes they'd go to a new club or bar, but mostly they tried out different restaurants.
Since the night she'd danced with Goldie at High Dive, she hadn't seen or heard from him. She hadn't even bumped into him at Cherry Vale, even though she'd purposely stay later in the hope she'd see him. It was like he was avoiding her.
"I did tell him to leave me alone," Hailey said.
"And he is, so all is good. He was so not your type. You were just taken in by his looks. I'll admit that he's got a totally drool-worthy body, but when he gets older he'll probably get the middle-age spread that seems to hit most men, and his tats will fade and look ridiculous on crepey skin."
For a brief instant, Hailey imagined herself stuffing Rory's mouth with her napkin to get her to shut the fuck up. I shouldn't have come out tonight.
"Stop it, Rory. You're not helping. Hailey obviously likes Goldie." Holding her hand up to stave off yet another quip from Rory, Claudia shook her head. "And it doesn't matter if you get it or not. The point is you like him. Right, Hailey?"
She nodded. And boy, did she like him. Never had she been so taken with any man. At first she'd thought it was because she'd known him, but as time went on, she realized they had a real connection apart from their background. And whenever she was with him, her whole body responded. His touch, his voice, his scent, his body, and his taste combined wonderfully, making her mind swim with a heady intoxication. And now she'd blown it with him.
"I think if a man wants you, he'll chase you. Since he's not, I think you have to accept that he still thinks of you as your brother's little sister and move on. What was wrong with Palmer? I mean, he handled the whole thing with Garth like a gentleman. Garth acted like an arrogant rogue, but Palmer held his own."
"He came back to the table with his tail between his legs. He was scared shitless of Goldie," Claudia said.
"I was talking to Hailey, not to you." Rory put a forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth.
"Goldie would never chase a woman. I don't think it's in his biker lifestyle," Hailey said.
"If a guy wants you, it shouldn't matter if he's a biker or a lawyer or a welder. A guy should chase a woman. I hope you're not thinking of calling him or anything like that," Rory replied.
Hailey shook her head. "No, I'm not. I know he won't come after me, and it's probably not all because of the biker thing. The whole thing with Ryan is complicated for them. It's not for me, but it seems to freak them both out."
"You should go out with another biker," Claudia clapped her hands and squealed. "He'd totally deserve that. He shouldn't have played with your emotions if he was fucked up about who you were."
Hailey nodded. But we were attracted to each other before either of us knew the truth. I was drawn to him the moment I saw him, and he was to me. I don't care what anyone says. Goldie and I shared something that night. Some damn connection that kept pulling us together.
"I'm serious about going out with another biker," Claudia invaded Hailey's thoughts. "Oh shit. One of them is coming over to our table. I can't believe it."
Hailey turned around and saw a tall, good-looking guy covered in tats and wearing the same type of vest Goldie wore. "He's Goldie's friend. I've met him before. His name is Army. I wonder why he's coming over here."
"Because they're all wolves looking to score." Rory's eyes were glued on him as he came over to the table.
Army went over to Hailey and bent down on his haunches. "Goldie's brother is getting married and he wants to pay for the flowers."
"Dylan asked Skyla to marry him. How wonderful," she said.
"Dylan's got a great job, and he's good-looking. He's a catch. He's the one you should've been looking over," Rory said.
"Dylan's cool. I see him all the time when he comes into the pet store. He's got the cutest dog. It's a mutt he got at the pound, but he's super friendly and just a sweetie," Claudia added.
Army fixed his gaze on the two women. "That's great. Enough about Dylan. Goldie wants to buy the flowers for the wedding."
"So? He can come to the shop and place an order. Or if he'd rather not see me, then he can go to Rambling Rose. It doesn't concern me what he does."
He shook his head. "You're just as fuckin' stubborn as he is." He rose to his feet and swaggered away.
"That was strange," Rory said, her gaze fixed on him. "He's got a nice butt."
Nodding, Claudia let out a loud laugh. "I totally agree."
"Goldie's such a jerk. Sending his friend to tell me to call him. Screw that. If he wants to talk to me, he can call me."
"Maybe he came on his own. He's sitting at a table with a bunch of guys, and they're all wearing leather vests." Rory craned her neck. "I don't see Garth in the group."
"Why would he come over here and tell me that? I hardly know him. Besides, he's a biker, and I can't picture bikers doing that."
"Are you kidding? Men can be way worse than women with gossiping and getting involved with the petty crap." Claudia squinted. "There're some hot men over at that table."
"Maybe Goldie's been acting like an insufferable pain in the ass since High Dive and his buddy's sick of it." Rory placed her napkin on the table.
Hailey darted her eyes from Rory to Claudia. "Have I been an insufferable pain in the ass?"
"Not insufferable, but a bit mopey and whiny. I mean, we understand, but you have to admit it's been the topic of all our conversations," Claudia said as Rory bobbed her head.
"Wow. I didn't realize it. Sorry, guys. Now let's talk about something totally unrelated to bikers, Goldie, or Ryan."
They laughed and talked well into the night, and when Hailey came home, she was in a better mood than she had been all week. After unlocking the four locks Goldie had installed on her front door several weeks before, she turned to lock her screen door when she saw the outline of a man standing across the street, his white shirt having caught her eye in the darkness. It seemed like he was looking at her. Slamming the door, she quickly locked it, then went around the house closing the curtains. Goldie and his buddies had secured all her windows and made her basement into Fort Knox, so she felt relatively safe in her home. But the mere fact that a stranger had been watching her made her legs buckle.