Sara in Montana - A Christmas Wish (3 page)

“Shush, you’re okay. Just sit back and relax. I’m taking you to see Dr. Baker and then we’ll get everything else sorted out.”

Turning her head to locate the source of the voice, she found herself sinking in the warm gaze of the sheriff, Trent Harding. “Where…,” swallowing, she tried again, “Where am I?”

“I found you parked off the side of the road. You’re in my jeep and I’m taking you back to town so Dr. Baker can look at you. You’re running a fever and were passed out in your car.”

Sara shook her head, “I don’t need to see a doctor. I was just resting. I took some of the cough medicine and was waiting for it to start working before I got back on the highway. I didn’t want to risk having an accident if I started coughing again.”

“Well, I’ll feel better after Dr. Baker takes a look. Sara, I ran the plates on the car.” Trent paused and watched for her reaction as he made this statement. Instead of guilt or even remorse, he saw immediate fear and panic take over.

Trent had trained at the FBI facility in Quantico for several months prior to returning to his hometown. The bureaucracy of the federal government had been more than he could stomach. He had no doubt in his mind that he would have made a fine profiler and field agent, but Castle Peaks was home, and it suited him just fine.

His training came in useful at times like these, as he evaluated her response to him having checked up on her. Sara was scared, and not because she had stolen her husband’s car.

Sara tried to sit up again. She had to convince him to let her go. “The car’s not mine. It belongs to my fiancé.”

Trent gave her a sideways glance, before saying, “Is your fiancé in the habit of reporting his car stolen when he lets you borrow it?”

David had reported his car stolen. Great! “His car was reported stolen?”

“Yep. And, according to the California Highway Patrol records, someone going by the name of Sara Brownell is the prime suspect. Oh, and she’s also wanted for questioning in the attack of David Patterson, the owner of the car.”

Sara sank back into the seat. She watched Trent for a minute before asking, “Have you reported in that you found me, yet?”

Trent shook his head, trying to figure out why she was asking. Sara reached out and grabbed his arm, “Please don’t. Please don’t tell anyone that I’m here. He’ll know soon enough because I bought the cough syrup, but please, just take me back to my car and let me go. I didn’t steal his car and I can’t go back to San Francisco.” Sara knew she was begging, but Trent was her only hope. As she finished her plea, another bout of coughing took over and she hugged her ribs, trying to keep the pain from stealing her self-control.

Trent pulled up in front of the medical clinic and turned the jeep off. Turning to look at her, he placed his hand on her back and rubbed slow circles until the coughing fit eased. Murmuring to himself, he asked, “What are you mixed up in?”

Sara had heard his question, but just shook her head and kept her eyes looking down at her lap. She couldn’t go into the details. Who would believe her?

“Let’s go see Dr. Baker and then we’ll sort the rest of this out.”

Chapter 3

“Thanks for meeting us here, doctor,” Sara told the man who had tenderly examined her ribs and then taken an x-ray to assure himself none were broken. She knew he had seen the bruises, but had allowed her to brush them off as a silly accident.

“No problem. Now, young lady, I’ve filled your antibiotic and cough syrup prescriptions. It may take a day or two before you start feeling real good, but the coughing should be controlled in the meantime. Those ribs are gonna be tender for days to come. Don’t do any heavy lifting and take it easy. Rest is the best thing for you right now.”

Sara glanced at the doctor and felt like crying. He had been so kind to her. Holding back her emotions, she shook his hand, “Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”

“Yes, well – about those bruises…”

“Doctor, I’ll be fine. I don’t even notice them much now, just when I cough.”  Sara knew that Dr. Baker hadn’t believed her story about how she had come by those bruises. Thinking back on the incident, she had trouble believing she had been so clumsy. Deciding it was probably best to end his questions right now, she asked, “How much do I owe you?”

Dr. Baker knew full well that the little gal was trying to change the subject. Giving her another examining look, he decided she had all she could handle right now.  Whomever had been responsible for her previous injuries was no longer a threat, and he knew without a doubt that Trent would not only be digging into her situation, but protecting her in the interim was a given.

“Well, my office gal isn’t here right now. She does all the insurance filing and such. Do you have your insurance card? I’ll just take a photocopy of it and have her straighten it all out when she comes in tomorrow morning.”

Sara dug in her purse for the card and handed it to him. She hoped that it would take several days for the claim to be processed. It wouldn’t bode well for her if David knew where she was and that she was ill. Even now, his henchmen were probably en route to Montana to get her.

Dr. Baker took the card and left the exam room to make a copy. Seeing Trent pacing in the waiting area, he motioned him over and asked, “Where’d you say you found her?”

“She came into the drugstore looking for some cough syrup and things just seemed off. She said she was heading to Butte to pick up her fiancé at the airport tomorrow. When I ran the plates on the car she’s driving, the car’s been reported stolen and the owner says he was attacked during the theft. She panicked when I told her I had run the plates.”

“She does seem rather anxious. Are you going to arrest her?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I want to talk with her and get her side of the story. Something’s not right.”

“She’s a beautiful young woman. It doesn’t set very well with me if someone’s trying to cause her harm,” said Dr. Baker.

“Me either. There’s something about her that just gets to me.” Trent shook his head, knowing that Dr. Baker was liable to start examining him next. As the town’s most eligible bachelor, Trent had made it clear to all of the town’s proud mamas that he didn’t intend to settle down anytime soon and they should set their sights on other young men as future sons-in-law.

At the age of twenty-nine, Trent was comfortable with his life. Sure, he dreamed of someday having a family and a couple of kids, but he was in no hurry. He had seen too many of his close friends rush into things, only to see the relationship end in failure before it could reach the two year mark. He wanted to do it once and do it right.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but in light of the information you found out, you should know she’s got some rather suspicious bruising. The marks on her upper arm look like someone grabbed her pretty hard, and there’s another bruise on her back and one on her thigh indicating she either took a nasty fall or was struck.”

Trent immediately saw red at the idea of someone hurting the woman sitting in the next room. In his book, there was never a justifiable reason to hurt a woman, and anyone caught doing so on his watch had better run for cover.

“Did you ask her about the marks?”

“Yes and she got very defensive. She told me that she had fallen down the stairs at work and that they actually looked much better.” Dr. Baker looked at Trent and shook his head, “I’ve seen a lot of bruises, and those can’t be more than a couple of days old.”

“Okay, I’ll see if I can get anymore information out of her. I’m holding the cards right now.”

“I’ll bring her back out front.”

“Thanks.”

Sara finished dressing and was ready to leave when Dr. Baker came back in with her insurance card. “Here you go. Trent’s waiting out front for you. You make sure you take that entire prescription of antibiotics and use the cough syrup as often as directed.”

“I will. Thanks again, doctor.”

Sara walked back into the waiting area with trepidation for what was to come. Looking at Trent, she knew her time for running had ended. Trent stood up as she entered, “Are you feeling better?”

Sara nodded, wrapping her arms around herself again. Trent held out a brown jacket and helped her put her arms inside, “Dr. Baker had an extra jacket and he’s letting you borrow it. It’s too cold for you to be outside without some protection from the elements.”

Sara looked back at the doctor, “Thank you again.” She smiled at him as she pulled the coat more closely around herself.

Gesturing towards the door, Trent waited for her to precede first. “Thanks Doc, are you coming to the council meeting tomorrow?”

“Sure am. I hope they’ve all got their heads on straight this time. The Winter Festival has been a tradition in this town since I was a little boy. Whoever came up with the idea of foregoing it this year needs to re-examine their priorities.”

Trent nodded his agreement, “I think old man Mercer’s behind the cancellation request. I know his wife isn’t doing well, but the entire town can’t cancel Christmas because of it.”  Trent and Dr. Baker were both silent for a minute as they thought about the fact that Miriam Mercer would be lucky to see the New Year, and definitely would not see next Christmas.

Miriam and Bill Mercer were patriarchs of Castle Peaks and had been a stable presence in the town since before Trent had been born. When Miriam had begun to feel poorly late in the spring, she had resisted coming to see Dr. Baker until finally, Bill had insisted. The findings had been the worst. Miriam had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and based upon the x-rays, it had already metastasized to the surrounding organs making it inoperable.

Bill had taken her to the Mayo Clinic and the Cancer Treatment Center with the same prognosis – the cancer had spread too far and their only option was to keep her comfortable and at home as long as possible. Bill had hired a full-time live-in nurse and brought Miriam home to die. 

Trent was astonished at the hint of tears in the older man’s eyes. “I hate cancer with a passion,” Dr. Baker said passionately. “Miriam Mercer is the sweetest lady I know, and she doesn’t deserve the pain and discomfort she’s going through. Hell, her family doesn’t deserve to see her in pain.  It’s times like these that I detest my job and the fact that with all of the advances in modern medicine, I can’t do anything for her except keep her drugged up so she doesn’t hurt as much.”

Trent reached over, placed a hand on the docs shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “I know, and they know you’re doing everything you can for her. There’s not a person in town who wouldn’t move mountains if it would bring a cure for her.”

Dr. Baker nodded his agreement, “Life just doesn’t make sense sometimes.”

“Well, we’ll see how things go tomorrow night. Becky said she saw her daughter yesterday and the idea to cancel the pageant isn’t coming from the kids. From what she said, I think Bill is hoping to put off the inevitable but putting off the pageant. If the pageant doesn’t take place, maybe Christmas won’t come as quickly and Miriam will live longer. I was planning on driving out to talk to Bill this evening, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

Sara had watched and listened to the exchange, and even though she had never met the Mercers, her heart broke for the despair she knew all too well.  Sara’s mom had died of pancreatic cancer while she was in college. She and her sister, Grace, had taken turns staying with their mom the last several weeks, making sure her pain meds were kept on board and seeing to her every need. It had been months after the funeral before Sara had been able to remember her mother happy and pain free. That had been several years ago, but at times like this the pain came back fresh and new. She hoped that one day she would be able to think about her mom and only remember the good times.

Taking a step towards Dr. Baker, Sara couldn’t resist offering some words of comfort, “Has anyone tried acupressure therapy to help alleviate some of her pain?”

Trent and Dr. Baker both looked at her. “Acupressure therapy?  I’ve heard about that but no one here in Castle Peaks would have a clue. How do you know about it?” Dr. Baker could see on Sara’s face that she wasn’t simply offering an off-hand suggestion. She had offered the suggestion because somewhere, somehow, she knew it could be effective.