To Love and Protect (24 page)

Shelley buried her face in her hands and groaned.  “I thought I had pulled out all the pieces of hay.”

Matt laughed.  “Relax.  I told him the horses didn’t see anything so they haven’t been corrupted.”

“It’s all your fault.”

“
Mine?
  As I recall, I was being reined around by a very forceful cowgirl who had one thing on her mind.”

Shelley shot him a pretend insulted glance. “Is that so.”

“Not that I didn’t share those same thoughts myself.”

She smiled, then resumed her examination of Shelley.

"How does she look?"

"She's made an amazing recovery."

"Do you think she's ready to go back on duty with me?"

"Physically, I'd say yes. But I'd ease her in to things, just to make sure she can handle it."

"That's what I was planning to do. I thought I'd start out taking her with me a couple days a week, then take it from there."
"Sounds like a good plan."

"So how does it feel now that you're back home? There haven't been any more weird things happening, right?"

"No, just some strange guy who calls me all the time and pretends he's a better horse rider than I am."

"Very funny."

"Actually, it's been great. It's nice to be able to just relax and not have to look over my shoulder all the time."

"Has anyone heard from Geri?"

Shelley's smile faded. "She called Dave and talked to him for a while. I guess she talked to the other staff, too."

"What did she say?"

"That she didn't do the stuff she's being accused of."

"Seriously? She's still denying everything despite all the evidence?"

"It's probably not that uncommon of a thing, is it?"

"I guess not. So I take it she hasn't talked to you."

"She told Dave it was best if she didn't. I can't blame her really. Why would she want to talk to me?"

"To tell you she's sorry," Matt suggested, his voice tensing up in the way it always did when he was being protective towards Shelley.

"I don't expect that to ever happen."

"Is she still with her mother?"

Shelley nodded. "She told Dave that she has a lawyer, but even she admitted that it won't be easy disproving the evidence." Shelley looked down at Carly, her voice quiet. "She said she misses everyone."

"Shelley, you have to take this for what it is. You can't feel bad for someone who tried to hurt you like she did. Maybe she didn't get to the point of
physically
hurting you, but look at the consequences of what she
did
do."

"I know," Shelley agreed. After all, she had been hearing the same advice from everyone at the clinic. Perhaps, she thought, she just had to face the fact that even though the mystery had finally been solved, she was never going to feel "good" about the resolution.

Matt glanced down at his watch. "Well, I'd better bring Carly back home. I'm on duty in an hour."

"I'd say to you to take good care of her, but it's clear that you already do," Shelley said approvingly. She loved seeing Matt's concern and devotion to Carly. In her book, the way someone treated an animal said a lot about the kind of person he or she was.

He leaned over and kissed her, pulling her closer until their bodies meshed perfectly together.

“What do you say we go horseback riding again very soon,” he whispered in her ear before adding a playful nibble.

“I was thinking more along the lines that we skip the trail ride and just head back to the barn.”

He nuzzled her neck. “I like how you think, Doctor.”

Shelley felt her temperature rising, and only the approaching footsteps and voices outside of the treatment room kept her from peeling off her lab coat and everything that came before it.

“To be continued,” Matt said as he determinedly pulled her in again for one last kiss.

She caught her breath. “Soon, I hope.”

Matt grinned. “Oh – that’s a promise.”

It was a busy afternoon at the clinic, but Shelley welcomed the fast pace. It kept her in high gear and concentrating on her work, rather than spending more time worrying about things beyond her control. It was almost 2 p.m. by the time she had a few spare minutes to make herself a cup of hot tea in the break room.

Dave and Jack were already in the room when she entered, hovered over a radio on the table. At the sight of Shelley, Jack clumsily switched the radio off and Dave cleared his throat nervously.

"What's going on?" Shelley asked.

"Nothing," Jack and Dave replied in unison.

"Don't lie to me," Shelley said, her heart beginning to race. Like the animals she treated, she could smell the fear and anxiety in the room. "Please, tell me what's going on."

Dave and Jack exchanged apprehensive looks. Finally, Dave turned to Shelley. "Before you jump to conclusions, I want you to know they haven't said who's involved."

Shelley felt a surge of anxiety course through her veins. She glanced at the radio, wondering what possibly could have transpired to provoke such a strange reaction in her coworkers. "Who's involved in what?" she asked with increasing dread.

"Shelley, why don't you sit down first," Dave suggested, taking a seat himself.

"Dave," she pleaded. "Please just tell me."

"There's been another robbery in town."

Shelley closed her eyes tightly, knowing what was coming next. "Go on," she said in a near whisper.

"There aren't a whole lot of details yet. All that's being said so far is that three gunmen held up Fairfax Credit Union and the police responded."

"When?" Shelley asked. "
When?
!"

"About a half-hour ago," Jack said.

"Is it still going on?"

"No," Dave said. "They shot two of the gunmen, and the other one surrendered."

Shelley felt a wave of relief flow through her body. At least it was over, she thought. But looking back at Dave, she felt a sense of dread return. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there."

Dave slowly nodded. "One of the officers who responded to the call was shot. But Shelley, they're not saying who that officer was. I'm sure it wasn't Matt. He was just here this morning, wasn't he?"

"He was going into work after he left here," Shelley mumbled, her mind dazed.

"That doesn't mean it was him," Jack added. "According to the news report, officers from Middleton responded to the call, too."

"I need to find out if Matt's okay," Shelley said, stumbling from the chair as she stood up.

Dave reached over to steady her. "Why don't you sit here and I'll go call the station."

"They probably won't tell you anything."

"Who should I ask for then?"

"Sergeant Rinaldi," Shelley said. "Tell him you're calling for me. And if you do get him on the phone, can you let me talk to him?"

"Of course. Stay right here. I'll go grab my phone.”

Shelley waited patiently for Dave to return. Shock had a way of numbing one's senses so that even time no longer seemed real. She knew she should be the one calling the station, but she doubted her fingers could complete the simple task of dialing the numbers.

"Here," Dave said as he swung back into the room with his cell phone in hand. "It's the sergeant you wanted to talk to."

"Dan!" Shelley exclaimed breathlessly before she even had the phone up to her ear. "Please tell me what's going on! Who was shot? It wasn't Matt, was it?"

The few seconds that lapsed before Sergeant Rinaldi's answer seemed like an eternity, but deep down Shelley was expecting to hear
good news. After all, how could it be that Matt would have been shot when he already had a near miss less than a month ago?”

“Shelley, I'm afraid it was Matt who was shot."

"No!" she screamed, burying her head in her hands. As the phone dropped to the table with a clang, Jack quickly reached over and scooped it up, placing it back in Shelley's trembling hand.

"Is he dead?" she asked, the words almost too painful to utter.

"No."

"Thank god," she gasped. "How bad is it?"

"Shelley, I need to be honest with you. He was in pretty bad shape when the rescue unit took him away. They found two entry wounds on him, but there could have been more. I'm at the hospital now. The station got a hold of me when they found out you were waiting to talk to me."

"Have you seen him?" she asked tearfully, feeling her world slip away from her once again.

"Not yet. He's in surgery to remove the bullets."
Dan," Shelley began, trying to squelch the sobs that were bubbling at the surface. "How did this happen? How could he be in a situation like this again?"

Sergeant Rinaldi sighed. "I know, Shelley. It's senseless, truly senseless. We think it's the same armed robbery ring from before."

"You mean the guys that shot Carly?"

"Not the same guys per say, but men from the same organized group. They're operating out of Boston, hitting all the small towns even an hour and a half away, like Fairfax. Matt was first on the scene. He immediately called for backup when he realized what he was up against, but he didn't have a chance."
The words plunged into Shelley's being like a bullet all their own. It made Matt sound dead, and Shelley wondered if there was a reason why Sergeant Rinaldi chose to explain it that way. "So that's it? He walked into the bank and was shot?"

"No. Before he even had chance to enter the building, two of the suspects ran out and shot at him while he was in the car calling for backup."

"Oh my god..."

"These guys are ruthless, Shelley. They're scum, and they don't deserve to ever see the light of day again. And one of them won't, that's for sure."

"Why?"

"Matt managed to get a few shots in before he blacked out." Sergeant Rinaldi paused. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have put it that way."

"That's okay. There's really no nice way to say what happened," she choked. "You said there were three gunmen. What happened to the other two?"

"One's in custody, and the other's in surgery himself. Matt got a shot in on him, too, when he came at him outside the bank."

"I want to come down to the hospital."

"Of course. I just got here a little while ago and wanted to first find out where things were at before I called you.  You beat me by about two seconds.  This situation could have been a lot worse for many more people if it weren't for Matt's actions. We're praying for him that he pulls through this."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Jack asked as Shelley gathered her things together. Once more, the clinic atmosphere had turned heavy and downbeat. She was such a joy to be around these days, Shelley thought to herself as she looked at the young veterinary assistant's eager but concerned eyes.

"I'll be okay," she said. "But thanks."