Fractured Eden (22 page)

Aaron scanned the room and spotted Rachel sitting in a chair at one of the small tables. She waved at him and he strolled toward her table.

As she came into sharper view, he caught his breath. She wore a silky black dress, which hugged her lean figure like a gift wrap. 

Aaron’s heart pounded faster as he pulled a chair out and sat down. He couldn’t suppress a broad grin. “Hello again.”

“It’s great to see you,” she said.

Now I know why cowboys sing about angel eyes,
he thought.

Rachel stood. “Let me show you the buffet. The food is usually good.”

They brought back plates heaped with steaming vegetables, chicken, and fish.

Aaron and Rachel chatted for the next hour. They mostly discussed hospital issues, and she pointed out various doctors, nurses, and administrators in the room. After dinner, the hospital CEO gave a short presentation on future plans for improvement.

“Who’s that tall guy in the expensive suit standing in the corner?” Aaron said.

She glanced over at a man who was fond of smoothing his hair. “That’s Dr. Sterling, the head of orthopedics.”

“He’s been alone in that same spot for a while.” 

“He’s a respected surgeon here, but I don’t think he’s very popular. I know he’s turned off more than one female in this room. I hear he thinks all women are attracted to him.”

Aaron chuckled. “Some doctors get inflated egos.”

At one point, Aaron looked around at the other tables. “People are leaving.” He turned to Rachel. “Is it already time to go?”

Rachel smiled. “How time flies.”

Aaron took a deep breath and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “I hope you don’t mind, but you don’t have to call me at my office—”

Rachel nodded. “Yes. Let’s exchange numbers.”

After the social, Aaron pulled into his garage and sat in the car for several minutes letting his thoughts flow.

He slapped the dashboard with his palm, jumped out, and hopped up and down, pumping his arms.

Go for it, dude.
He pulled out his phone and searched his contact list.

“Hello?” a woman’s voice said.

“Rachel, it’s me, Aaron.”

“Well, hi. Is everything okay?”

“Everything is terrific. I wanted to tell you it was great seeing you tonight.”

“I feel the same way.”

“Do you want to go on a dinner date Saturday?” He held his breath.

“Yes, I’d love to.”

Aaron exhaled. “Wonderful. I’ll pick you up about six o’clock? Is that all right?”

“Six o’clock is fine.” Her voice softened. “I need to let you know something.”

“Sure.”
Oh, no. Here we go,
Aaron thought.

“I like animals. I have lots of animals in my house.”

“Lots of animals?”

“I help rehabilitate injured and abused animals.”

Aaron smiled. “I think that’s awesome.”

                                         
Chapter 42

Aaron switched on a light in his kitchen and stopped in mid-stride. Curtains fluttered near the back door, and he heard a noise from another room.

Someone is in here.

He held his breath as he peered around a corner of the wall toward his bedroom. He saw a flash and lurched back as a gunshot rang out.

His heart racing, Aaron sprinted to the garage, punched the garage door control button, and rolled out under the rising door.

On his hands and knees, Aaron saw a man running across his front yard with a bag under one arm and waving at an approaching van. In his waving hand was a gun. As the van screeched to a stop, the man jumped in through the rear door.

Flashing lights and a siren erupted at the end of Aaron’s street, and a police car sped toward the van. Aaron trotted to the street as the van burned rubber down the road ahead of the police car. He watched the two vehicles squeal into sharp turns at the nearby intersecting road.

Aaron’s mouth gaped open at the scene before him, which seemed to play out in slow motion. Tipping over onto its left tires, the van lost stability and slammed down on its left side. Sparks flew up from the pavement as the van skidded down the road with a horrific shriek and crashed into a light pole. Aaron ran back to his car and drove to the area of the wreck.

Constable Keller Greevy pulled a man out of the rear of the van. “Take a look at him, Doc,” he said as Aaron jogged over to them. “I’ll check on the driver and anyone else in the van.”

Keller held his gun in front of him as he crept toward the front of the van. He stopped and looked back at Aaron. “Don’t come too close. I think it’s on fire.”

Aaron backpedaled as he saw flames shooting out of a window of the van and held up his hand toward Keller. “Maybe we should wait for the firefighters.”

Keller crept back toward the rear of the van. Smoke billowed from the rear doors. “I don’t know if I can get back in—”

Aaron jumped as the van exploded, knocking Keller off his feet and onto his back. After several seconds, he rolled over and crawled back to Aaron.

“Are you all right?” Aaron said. “Let me check you over.”

Keller managed to stand upright, his eyes wide open. “That was close.” He checked out his body parts. “I guess I should’ve waited.”

“Does anything hurt? I don’t see any burns or gashes.”

“I’m okay, just a little shook up.”

Aaron wiped off Keller’s back. “You’ve got some scrapes back here. You’re lucky; I don’t smell any burned clothing.”

Keller pointed to the man on the street. “How’s he doing?”

“I think his neck is broken. Anyway, he’s dead.”

“Let’s stand farther away from the fire.” Keller called the fire department and EMS.

He exited his phone and stepped closer to Aaron. “These guys had a string of robberies going. One guy would rob a house, and the van would pull up just in time to pick up the loot.”

“Do you know them?”

Keller looked at the prostrate man lying on the ground. “I’ve seen him. He was a drug dealer and probably a user, too.”

Aaron’s stomach tightened as he walked over to the inert body. He recognized the clothing and pointed at the man. “He shot at me.”

An image of his smiling parents flashed into his mind, followed by a vision of a drugged robber standing with a gun over their bloody dead bodies. His head swam and he gasped for air, then his vision went black.

Aaron felt arms around his waist, and he was pulled back.

“Doc, snap out of it.”

Aaron blinked and put his hand to his forehead. “What happened?”

Keller released his grip. “You started yelling and kicking the guy. If he wasn’t dead before, he sure is now. It even hurt me to watch, and I’m hurting more than enough already.”

Aaron pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped sweat from his eyes and off his face.

Keller leaned toward him. “It must’ve been something real personal.”

Aaron took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. “Yeah. It was.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m better now, thanks.”

A fire truck and an ambulance arrived, and Aaron and Keller watched as the firefighters doused the fire and the paramedics examined the victims.

Aaron turned to Keller. “What about Wanda’s voodoo curse on you? Did the poppet work?”

Keller grinned. “Like a charm. There’s no curse on me now.”

One of the medics walked over to Keller. “I don’t think we need to transport them to the hospital. CPR won’t help. They’re both dead, one traumatic cardiac arrest and the driver burnt to a crisp.”

“I’ll call the ME,” Keller said.

“How did you happen to be right behind the van?” Aaron said.

“We got a call that a robbery was going down in your neighborhood.”

“One of my neighbors called? That’s interesting. Our houses aren’t that close together, and trees block the views. I wonder how they knew?”

“I don’t think the caller was one of the neighbors on your street.”

Aaron cocked his head. “Who was it then?”

“He didn’t leave his name, but the dispatcher said it sounded like Grant Belkin, the rancher behind you.”

                                                        ****

Grant Belkin sat at his kitchen table and spoke to an empty chair. “Your hair looks good today. Soft and bright.”

Grant sighed and nodded. “I know I look stressed. A lot has been happenin’ around here. Things that needed to happen.”

He listened for several seconds.

“Yeah, I know. The doctor is havin’ a rough time.”

                                         
Chapter 43

Aaron skipped around puddles in the parking area as he caught up with Stella outside the front door of the clinic Wednesday morning.

“How did you sleep last night?”

Stella sighed. “Not well.”

She stopped inside the door. “What happened to your hand?”

Aaron looked at the bandages on his right palm. “I surprised a robber in my house last night. He had a gun, and I scraped my hand while I was crawling out of my garage to get away.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m not hurt. They’re just abrasions.”

“Did the robber steal anything?”

“Not much. An old watch and some money I’d left out on my bathroom counter. I don’t think he’d been inside for very long.”

“So, he got away?”

Aaron shook his head. “No, he didn’t. He died when his getaway van crashed.”

Stella’s eyes widened. “I heard about that on the news. What a night you had.”

“He shot at me. I’m lucky he missed. I felt the bullet whiz by my ear.”

“Honey, with all that’s been happening to you lately, you must have a guardian angel.”

Aaron nodded and looked up. “I think I do.”

Later that morning, Aaron strutted down the hall toward a patient room.

“Okay, Doc,” Stella said. “What’s up with you? Since you got here today, you’ve been acting like a cowboy who’s just lassoed a cowgirl.”

Aaron stopped and smiled. “Is it that obvious?”

“Something has perked you up.”

“I think I’m in cowgirl heaven.”

“Is it anyone in particular? Maybe that nice lady who called a few days ago?”

“You’re sharp.”

“A woman knows when love is in the air.”

“Love?” He scratched his chin. “I don’t know.”

“You’re blushing, so it must be love.”

Aaron smiled. “We’ll see.”

Aaron drove to a nearby store in the early evening to pick up toothpaste, shaving cream, and a few other personal necessities, and then he guided his car through a drizzling rain to his happy hour place. After shaking water from his umbrella at the front door, he entered the bar and looked for Red, but the corner chairs were empty.

Aaron sat down in his usual place.

“Did you hear about Red?” the bartender said.

“No. What about him?”

“He died in his sleep two nights ago. His son flew in and stopped by here yesterday.”

Aaron shook his head. “That’s too bad. I was just getting to know him. I’ll sure miss him.”

“So will all of us. His son said Red used to talk about our bar all the time.”

“I know he liked it here.”

They looked at Red’s empty space.

“We’re thinking about putting a plaque on the chair, in memory of him,” the bartender said.

“That’s a great idea. I’ll contribute to that.”

“Thanks. His son asked about you. I think Red really liked your company.”

Aaron sipped his cabernet and sat in silence at the bar.

So maybe Red’s shell didn’t protect him. I guess he never got over that misdiagnosis, that patient of his who went berserk and killed his own family.

Aaron looked down and sighed.
I wonder how my shell is doing.

He nodded and pounded his thigh with his fist.

I’m going to do my best with this job, even if it kills me.

He stayed for several hours, thinking of Red and the parade of recent strange events in East Texas.

It’s like I’m in the twilight zone.