by Jana DeLeon
"A plane is a damn good idea actually," he said. "Maybe whoever was using that road down at Maylene's was looking for a way to retrieve."
Joe whistled. "That's smack in the middle of the game preserve. You're talking about thousands of acres of marsh to cover."
"Maybe not," Richard said and flipped open his cell phone. "There's a guy in D.C. who owes me a favor. I think I can narrow down our target." He rose from the table and left the room.
Feeling exhausted all over again, Dorie slumped down into a chair at the dining table. She was in desperate need of more sleep, but not like the sleep she'd had-littered with wild dreams of betrayal and lies. No, what she needed was the kind of sleep she had after a few beers or really great sex. Like sex with Richard.
She tried to block the image of her and Richard, locked together in a frenzy of physical need and the feeling she had when it was over and she was snuggled against him, her body pressed tightly into his. That feeling of oneness - completeness. A feeling she'd never had before.
She shook her head. It was a complete waste of time to go there. With all the trouble her dad was in, Richard probably wanted to catch Roland and get the hell out of Gator Bait as soon as possible, conveniently forgetting he ever met her. And the worst part of it was, she could hardly blame him.
Frowning, she looked over at Joe. "Why is it, Joe, that sometimes the law and justice don't seem to walk the same lines?"
Joe shook his head. "You know nothing's black and white when you're dealing with people. And people made the system. People run the system. You knew it was flawed before you ever got in it."
She sighed. "Yeah, you're right. But it's hard sometimes, you know? Reconciling what I'm bound by law to do and what my heart and mind is telling me is fair to do. I don't like being put in this position."
She looked Joe straight in the eyes and calmly said, "When all this is over, I'm resigning from my position as deputy. If things turn out all right with my dad, I'll figure out some way to see he gets the care that he needs."
Joe nodded, not seeming at all surprised by her announcement. "You planning on going big time?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I'm not sure exactly. I just know I don't want to work in law enforcement any longer. I want to focus on the animals, the wildlife. That's where my heart is. That's where I feel I can make a difference. This other-I'm afraid if I stay in much longer, I'll end up doing the wrong thing."
"You know, you're going to have to leave Gator Bait to do that."
"I'll deal with that when the time comes," she said quietly and stared over Joe's shoulder out the window, not wanting to get into a deep conversation with Joe about the idea that had been niggling in the back of her mind, pestering her even before Richard had come to Gator Bait and turned her life upside down.
Besides, now wasn't the time to think about the future. The present was far more important.
A couple of minutes later, Richard dashed back into the dining room, whooping. "He's going to do it," Richard said, unable to contain his excitement. “In a couple of hours we'll have a satellite photo of the entire area. Infrared and everything-the best the military has to offer. He's sending it to your e-mail."
Joe and Dorie looked up at Richard in obvious surprise. "That marsh is right next to the Strategic Oil Reserve," Dorie said. "I'm surprised your request didn't mobilize the marines."
Richard smiled. "Yeah. He was a little upset about that part too, but he's still going to make it happen."
"Damn!" Joe said. “That must have been one hell of a favor you did this guy."
Richard winced. "You don't even want to know. Suffice it to say that this guy is breaking seventy major laws to do this."
"I'm impressed, Dick," Dorie said. "A photo is a sight better than tromping through every square inch of the marsh. What will it show exactly?"
"The kind of photo he's requesting will show the marsh in light grays and anything solid, like houses, boxes, piers in black. The wildlife will come through as white."
“That should narrow things down a bit," she said. "I have a site map of every square inch of that preserve. We can compare the two and eliminate the structures I have on my map. Then all we have to do is-"
The ringing of Dorie's cell phone interrupted the conversation, and she grabbed it off of the table and flipped it open. The conversation was brief, but as the color drained from her face, Richard knew it was far from pleasant. Bracing himself for what was surely coming, he waited as she slowly closed the phone.
"It was the hospital," she said, her voice hollow. "Someone brought Dad in thirty minutes ago with a gunshot wound."
Dorie, Joe and Richard rushed into the emergency room. A nurse behind the front desk recognized Dorie and walked around the desk to speak with them.
"He's being prepped for surgery," the nurse said, "but he should be all right as long as his heart holds. The bullet went into his side, but it looks like it missed all the vital organs."
"Who brought him in?" Dorie asked, trying to assimilate all the information at once and figure out at the same time the most important questions to ask.
"A fisherman found him over in a cove off Rabbit Island. He was alone in the boat." The nurse gave Dorie a curious look. "What's going on, Dorie? There's no way your father got into a boat by himself. What in the world was he doing out in the bayou?"
She shook her head. "I don't exactly know. I've been looking for him since yesterday. Can I see him before they take him in?"
The nurse cast an anxious glance toward the double doors to the emergency room. "I'll take you back, but just for a second or two. I'm not supposed to do something like this."
"I understand. Is the fisherman still here?"
"Yes. We told him he had to wait for the police to arrive. He went down to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee."
Dorie nodded at Joe and Richard, who left in the direction of the cafeteria. Taking a deep breath, she walked through the double doors and into the surgery area. The nurse pointed to a door on the left, and Dorie slipped inside.
The room was empty except for her dad, but Dorie knew that wouldn't be the case for very long. She needed to talk to her dad and get out before the surgeon showed up and the nurse caught hell for letting her in. She walked over to the bed and looked down at her dad. He was pale, and for the first time in her life, he looked really old.
"What were you thinking, Dad?" she asked and stroked his head with her hand.
Sheriff Berenger's eyes flew open, and Dorie could tell he was trying to focus, but was under heavy sedation. "Dorie?" he finally asked.
"Yes, Dad. It's me. The nurse says you're going to be all right, but a doctor is going to have to see to that gunshot wound. Can you tell me who shot you?"
H looked confused and disoriented, as if he still wasn't quite sure where he was and why, then stared at her and tried to speak, his mouth moving but no sound coming out. She leaned in closer, hoping to hear what he was trying to tell her.
"Careful," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "Friends betray you. Don't trust friends."
She heard him sigh and lifted her head to look at him, but he was out cold. "Dad," she said and watched his shallow breathing.
The nurse stuck her head in the door. "We've got to get out of here. They just paged the doctor. He's on his way down."
Dorie nodded and hurried out of the room with one last look back at her dad. She closed the door and hurried with the nurse down the hall and into the waiting room where they arrived just seconds before the surgeon.
"Ms. Berenger?" the doctor asked when he saw her standing beside the nurse.
"Yes," Dorie replied.
The doctor extended his hand. "I'm Doctor Walker. Your dad's prognosis looks good, considering. I'm not anticipating any problems, but I'm sure you understand that with his heart condition, I have no way of being certain."
"Life doesn't hold guarantees, Doctor," she said. "I'm painfully aware of that."
He nodded and clasped
one hand on her shoulder. "We'll be in surgery for about an hour. I'll let you know something as soon as we're out." He dropped his hand, nodded to the nurse, and walked through the double doors.
Richard and Joe returned while Dorie was speaking to the doctor, and she turned to address them as soon as he was gone. "Did you get anything?" she asked.
Joe shook his head. "The guy is a regular fisherman in that area. He saw the boat and didn't think anything of it at first, but when he was passing and started to wave, he realized that your dad was in a wheelchair and was slumped down. He pulled alongside and saw the blood, checked for a pulse, and tried to start Buster's boat, but it was a no-go. Not having any other choice, he said he tilted the wheelchair to the side, and dumped your dad out into the bottom of his boat. Then he hauled ass to the docks and called 911 from the marina."
"He didn't see anyone else around?"
"Not a soul," Joe replied. "He said it was dead quiet out there. No sight or sound of other boats."
"What do you think happened?" Richard asked. "Was your dad awake? Did he say anything?"
"I don't know what happened. Dad was heavily drugged, and I'm not sure how much of what he said he really understood, but what he did manage to say bothers me." And she told them what the sheriff said.
Joe blew out a breath. "Do you think Buster was still in on everything, and the sheriff found him out?"
Dorie looked at him and slowly shook her head. “At this point, I can't assume anything," she said and sat down on a couch to wait while Joe went to make some phone calls, letting all concerned parties know what was happening.
Richard paced the floor back and forth a few times and finally came to rest on the couch next to Dorie. "You okay?" he asked. "All things considered, I mean."
Dorie shrugged. "I guess I'm as good as I'm getting for the moment" She looked at him and tried to control the wavering in her voice. "I never wanted to do this again. Sit at the hospital, wondering whether he would live or die."
Richard took her hand and held it in his. For a moment, she felt better, the strength of the man beside her coursing through every nerve in her hand.
"He's going to be fine," Richard said. "I'm sure of it. He's a tough guy, you know that. Pretty soon he'll be out of that bed and raising hell again, just like before."
Dorie shook her head. "Not just like before. Something's got to give. If all of this turns out all right, Dad has got to quit law enforcement altogether."
He stared at her and finally nodded. "If you're worried about the cost of his care, I can pull some strings. I heard about your education, and I know the DEA would love to have you on board. The salary would more than cover your expenses and help take care of your dad."
Dorie was momentarily taken aback at Richard's comment about her education, but it only took a second to realize her dad must have spilled the beans. She lowered her head and looked at the floor, desperately wishing for the first time in her life that things could be different-that she could be different. "I appreciate the offer, really I do, but I can't leave here."
"Why not? You only came home to take care of your dad. If you can do that somewhere else and better your position at the same time, why wouldn't you?"
She looked him straight in the eye and whispered, "Because I can't breathe anywhere else."
Confusion was written all over Richard's face. "What do you mean?"
Dorie blew out a breath and scanned the room. She'd managed all these years to hide it from everyone else, and Richard had already witnessed entirely too many of her breaking points in only a few days time.
But it also wasn't fair to let him think there was even the slimmest possibility of her leaving Gator Bait. And even though he'd mentioned the job offer casually, Dorie could see the expectant, hopeful look in his eyes.
"Dorie?" Richard said gently.
She looked back at him and tried to hold back the tears threatening to flow. "The whole time I was at school, I was miserable. Oh, I was a great student. All my professors thought I was going to go on to a prominent career with a national agency, but I just couldn't."
She took a deep breath and continued. "I think it really hit me when I did an internship with a local police department. I couldn't take the misery of the victim's families, the sheer evil that one human being could perpetrate on another. It was all so senseless, so wasteful, and I knew I'd never be able to handle all of the sadness that the crimes created. It pressed on my chest until I felt like I was suffocating from the pressure."
"A lot of people feel that way at first, Dorie," Richard said. "I promise you it gets easier."
She shook her head. "I knew then that I wasn't cut out for that line of work. Here in Gator Bait is one thing. Until this Roland problem, we didn't have much going on here. And besides, being back here I got to work in the preserve with the animals. That's what I really care about."
Dorie rose from the couch, walked to the window across the room and stared outside. "When I received the phone call of my dad's heart attack, do you know I was actually relieved? How horrible is that? But finally I had a reason to chuck the city and return to Gator Bait. A reason that no one could argue with."
"It's not terrible," he replied and gave her a sad smile. "I think it's sort of wonderful that you have a place where you belong so absolutely. I've never had that."
She turned from the window to face him. "Why not?"
He shrugged. "You know how big cities are. People are so absorbed in their own lives, their own problems. They don't take the time to get to know anyone else's."
Dorie nodded. "I guess not."
He grinned. "Hell, until I came to Gator Bait, I didn't even know a place like this existed-where people actually looked out for their neighbors and considered the whole community family. It's really nice. A little too personal sometimes, but still nice."
She smiled back at him. "Yeah, it's hard to keep a secret in this town," she said, but even as the words left her mouth, she thought of all the secrets that had been kept. Secrets that had caused the trouble they were in now.
An hour passed, and Dorie and Joe were still waiting at the hospital. Richard, under much protesting, had finally gone back to the station to get the satellite photos from his friend. As soon as Dorie was sure her dad was all right, she and Joe would head out and meet him at the station. Joe had called Jenny and asked her to come to the hospital and sit with the sheriff after surgery, and she'd agreed to close the cafe and hurry to Lake Charles. She arrived at the same time the doctor came out of surgery.
"He came through just fine," the doctor said, immediately putting their fears at rest. "His heart is stable and showed no signs of stress during the procedure. There was no damage to his internal organs, so the worst thing to watch for is infection. I closed the entry wound and the stitches will dissolve; however, I still want to see him back here a week after he is discharged. And he should have someone watching him."
Dorie nodded, relieved at the doctor's words. "He lives at Southern Retirement. I'll give one of the women there a little extra to ride herd over him."
The doctor smiled. "That's about the best setup I can imagine." He put one hand on her shoulder. "It was nice meeting you, Ms. Berenger. I've heard a lot about the work you and your father have done. I'm glad he's okay."
He walked across the room and started to push the doors open, but paused a moment. "Don't feel guilty, Ms. Berenger, if you need to leave. Your father is in excellent care, and I'm sure there's a more pressing matter you need to see to. Perhaps before I notify the Lake Charles police of a gunshot wound?" He gave her a smile and left.
Dorie hugged Jenny and thanked her again for coming. "Are you sure you're okay with this? I don't want to cause you any problems down at the café."
Jenny rolled her eyes. "Dorie Berenger, you are not causing me problems. Now, get the hell out of here and get that bad man out of town. I'm getting a little tired of this nonsense, and since Joe has finally agreed to go out with me, I'd like to manage at
least one date before the year is over."
Surprised, Dorie looked at Joe and saw a slow blush creeping up his face. Jenny leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to blush even more.
"Go on and get out of here," Jenny said and gave them a shove. "And Joe, you better watch Dorie's back or you'll have to answer to me," she shouted as they were walking out the door.
"I didn't know you and Jenny were dating," Dorie said as they pulled out of the hospital parking lot.
"We're not really dating," Joe said. "Haven't exactly had a chance."
Dorie grinned. "Are you trying to tell me this investigation is cramping your life? You're going to have to learn to work your way around that if you want a relationship with Jenny. The job is not going to stop, although, I admit, something this bad will probably never happen again."
"You mean I should be more flexible, like you?" he asked dryly.
She knew he was referring to her relationship or whatever with Richard, but she wasn't about to get into that discussion. Not now. Probably not ever. And definitely not with Joe, who wouldn't understand the turmoil she was feeling. Joe thought love made everything better. And although Dorie wasn't convinced that what she felt for Richard was love or even the beginning of it, she was sure it wasn't a passing fling. No, from where Dorie was sitting, love or the possibility of it only made things complicated and stressful.
"Maybe flexible isn't the worst thing to be," she finally said. "If this entire mess has shown me anything, it's that nothing is forever and you better get the good stuff in before you run out of time."
"Yeah, but when the bad guy is locked up and the adrenaline rush is over, what do you have?"
She stared out of the truck and down the highway. "I guess that remains to be seen."
Richard looked up when they walked through the door of the sheriff's office. "How's your dad?" he asked, an anxious look on his face.
