Zeph Undercover

by Jenny Andersen

  Zeph bent over the dog. “Looks like an artery. Left front leg. He’s unconscious. I don’t see anything else.”

  “Okay. You’ll have to clamp the artery. I’ll tell you what to do. Sorry, but there’s no choice.”

  “Works for me,” Zeph said, a hint of smile in his voice. “‘Just do it.’”

  “Good. Margaret, can you hold pressure on Bongo’s leg?”

  Margaret had turned the color of paper, but she stepped to the dog’s side and did it.

  “Zeph, you’ll need—” Allie snapped out orders as Zeph washed his hands and put on a lab coat and gloves. Talk about locking the barn door after the horse had gone. He buttoned the coat over his blood-soaked shirt and jeans, pulled on gloves, and got out the supplies as Allie talked.

  Instruments at hand, Zeph positioned Margaret to hold her dog while he worked. He cleaned and shaved the area and reached for a sterile clamp.

  Margaret turned gray and her knees buckled.

  “Don’t faint,” Zeph snapped.

  She gripped the edge of the table and steadied, but her hand brushed the clamps and sent them to the floor.

  “What’s wrong?” Allie demanded.

  Zeph explained over Margaret’s soft sobs.

  “How are you at sewing?” Allie asked after a pause.

  “Quilting champion of my unit. It’s like riding a bicycle.” He hoped.

  She talked, he swabbed and stitched, uncertainly for a few moments and then settling into the task, his stitches small and neat.

  The sounds coming from Allie’s phone were better ignored. He focused on Bongo with laser intensity.

  “How are you doing, Zeph?” Allie asked.

  “Almost done.”

  “Fine.” She continued with instructions that he didn’t really need.

  Zeph set the last stitch and added a bandage. “Okay. All done.”

  “I’ll be there in—as soon as I can,” Allie said and clicked off.

  Margaret gripped the edge of the table and stared at him with wide, unfocused eyes. “You’ve done this before,” she said in a shaky voice.

  “Not on a dog. Let’s get this guy into one of the recovery cages in the next room.” He shifted Bongo to a gurney, wheeled him to an empty cage in the recovery room, and maneuvered him in.

  Margaret watched, her breath heaving. “Bongo would have died if you hadn’t been here.”

  Zeph sensed an emotional scene in the making. “Let’s wash up and I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

  She went off to the small bathroom by the kitchen while he washed at the operating room sink and traded his shirt and jeans for clean scrubs. When he got to the kitchen, Margaret sat at the table, her face blank.

  “Here you go,” he said when the tea had steeped. “Lots of sugar. You’ve had quite a shock.”

  She started, then focused on him and obediently stirred sugar into the cup.

  He got her chatting, telling him Bongo stories, until finally she relaxed. He decided to risk pushing her a little. “You said your husband didn’t know Chaz Mentrine, but when I visited his ranch, he was talking about coming to Stone’s Crossing,” he lied. “Wonder why he’d come here?”

  Margaret straightened and pursed her lips. “I have no idea,” she said after a pause. “I’ve never heard anyone in town talk about him. Except you, of course.”

  “But then, you didn’t know Derek Blanton, did you?”

  “No, we’ve only been here four months.” She drank tea, scowling, and her eyes lost focus. Abruptly she set her cup down, stood, and stalked from the room.

  This was one weird cookie. He followed her to her car, where she thanked him for the tea, just as though she’d spent the afternoon at a ladies’ party. Her fingers plucked at the blood dried on the front of her blouse, but she didn’t mention Bongo.

  She got in the car and drove away, apparently oblivious to the bloodstains on the seat. Zeph shook his head. She looked young for any kind of dementia, but he’d bet that was the problem. Poor Bartelett.

  When she’d passed out of sight, he cleaned up the surgery, got a beer, and went to sit on the veranda. Too nervous about his patient to settle, he kept going back to check the dog. Finally, he gave up and pulled a chair next to the cage. Allie found him there, one hand on Bongo monitoring the steady rise and fall of his side.

  She lifted one edge of the bandage. Her mouth dropped open. “Zeph? You did this?”

  “Yes, me. I have been known to deal with emergencies, you know.”

  “But—this is professional caliber work.”

  “It’s not rocket science.”

  “No, but it’s a dog—” She stopped. “You have experience.”

  “Military.” He swallowed memories. “Line medic.”

  Allie raised an eyebrow. He heard “Where?” as clearly as if she’d said it aloud.

  “Afghanistan,” he muttered. “And I used to hang out in the hospitals when I had the chance. Watch the real docs work. They let me help sometimes.” When there were so many casualties some would have died without getting any care.

  Her glance burned along his face. Whatever she saw there made her drop the subject. “But this is a dog,” she said. “You don’t like ani—” She crossed her arms and looked him in the eye. “You’re beginning to, aren’t you?”

  He was not... He thought about his horse and shifted uncomfortably. “I do what has to be done.”

  “Why don’t you go upstairs and take a shower while I x-ray Bongo? I’ll put your clothes in the washer.”

  He looked at the splotches of blood on her jeans and shirt. “Along with yours. Rough time?”

  Her face set in the stone-like expression that he’d learned meant she’d lost a patient. “Rough enough. None of them made it. A six horse trailer, fully loaded, with two grooms and a driver. And the semi driver walked away without a bruise.” Her breath came deep and ragged. “Let me get those pictures before Bongo wakes up.”

  Zeph stepped forward and put his arms around her. “Aw, Allie,” he murmured. “I’m sorry, honey.” She leaned against him, shaking and fighting for control. He tried hard, very hard, not to react to the press of her breasts against him. “What I heard over the phone sounded pretty bad.”

  “Total chaos. Every emergency vehicle in the county must have been there. Truck parts everywhere. And—and—” She went rigid, fighting for control. He held her gently. When her breathing steadied and she stepped back, he turned away so she could mop away the tears.

  “I’m not supposed to get so emotional. But so much carnage...” She shook herself. “Bring Bongo back in. I’ll get the X-ray set up.”

  When she’d finished, she listened to Bongo’s heart and said, “He can go back in his cage now.”

  Zeph complied. “Did the cops arrest the semi driver?”

  “For whatever good it’ll do.” Allie sniffed and dug in her pocket for a handkerchief. “Thanks. I better develop those films.” She darted into her dark room.

  “You need an assistant to do stuff like this,” Zeph said through the door after he’d carefully placed Bongo in his cage.

  “Hard to find someone with training like that in Stone’s Crossing.”

  Zeph snorted. “I can believe that.”

  “Besides, an assistant wouldn’t be on twenty-four hour call.”

  “That sucks. That just plain sucks.” He went upstairs and showered, pulling on the scrubs again. They’d do until he got back to Wentworth’s.

  Allie stood at a light box, looking at the x-rays when he came downstairs. “Bongo is one lucky pup. No sign of any damage except for a clean break in that leg. I better get it set before he comes around.”

  When they had finished, Allie said, “Well, that was an exciting morning. For both of us. I’m sorry you got sucked into the operating room.”

  “I was glad to help.” With surprise, Zeph realized that was true. “I couldn’t have turned my back on that poor dog.”

  “I’d better call Margaret,” Allie said. �
��She’s probably coming out of her skin worrying. And then we can get to Dad’s for dinner. It’s Sunday. Dinner at one. Command performance.”

  Right. He’d look forward to that.

  ****

  When Allie walked into the living room, her father rose from his chair by the fireplace and gave her a concerned look. “Rough morning?”

  She nodded. “Rough enough. I hope the rest of it is more normal.”

  “Martha made pot roast. That’s pretty normal. And Elena made a chocolate cake.”

  She’d never seen that look on her father’s face before. He looked—she groped for the word—he looked fatuous.

  Zeph came into the room and put an arm around her. “Where’s Mother?”

  “She went upstairs to change for dinner,” Allie’s father said. “She’s been in the kitchen most of the day. I think she’s an even better cook than Martha. Such a talented lady.”

  Allie didn’t think he meant Martha. She glanced up at Zeph and saw an equally apprehensive expression.

  Elena came downstairs and bustled into the room. Allie saw her father’s face light, and he said, “Elena. We were just talking about you. And you look lovely.”

  She did, Allie had to admit. The soft flowing lines of the silky trousers and tunic complimented her soft, feminine beauty, and the rich, deep red set off her true black hair and the dark eyes that were so like Zeph’s.

  Elena dimpled at Allie’s father and accepted a glass of sherry. “Allie,” she said. “Martha told me you had a hard morning. Let your father get you a nice drink so you can relax. Zephram, you might have helped her more...” Her flow of words washed over Allie, over everyone, as warm and comforting as the fire.

  “Funny,” Allie murmured to Zeph. “All that talk should be maddening. But—”

  “But it isn’t. I know.”

  “I want to talk to Hannah. She’s probably in the house right now and I should just have time to call her before Monty gets here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Allie grabbed her cell phone and slipped into her father’s office, leaving Zeph to chaperone his mother and her father.

  “Did you know he had medical experience in the military?” she demanded when Hannah answered.

  “And hello to you, too,” Hannah said. “He being Zeph, I’m sure. No. Luke might. Why?”

  Allie recounted the morning’s events.

  “Wow,” Hannah said. “That’s wonderful, Allie. I think rural living’s getting to that boy.”

  The hope Allie had been denying ever since Zeph came to town burst into full bloom.

  “Allie?”

  “I’m here,” she said through the lump in her throat. “I don’t want to hope, Hannah. It’ll hurt too much when he leaves.”

  Hannah’s turn to be silent.

  “I guess I’ll just take what I get,” Allie said. “Enjoy the moment, as they say.”

  “I don’t think you have any choice,” Hannah said slowly. “I’m sorry. I know it hurts.”

  “True.”

  “But there’s always hope. Look at the hard time I had with Luke, and how well that turned out.”

  “I feel better. Do you think there’s any chance…?”

  Hannah laughed, a peal of pure joy. “There’s always a chance. And if things work out even half as well for you, it’s worth the gamble, believe me.”

  Allie sighed. “Yeah. Well. We’ll see.”

  “How’s your dad getting along with him?”

  Giggles bubbled up, surprising Allie. “Better than I expected. But Zeph’s mother is here, and Hannah, you wouldn’t believe it. She’s flirting with Dad.”

  “Wow. I mean, he’s a good-looking guy and all, but he’s so dignified. He always scared me to death when I stayed at your house. How is he dealing with that?”

  “Like I said, you wouldn’t believe it. He’s flirting back! It’s just amazing.”

  “You do have the most interesting life, Allie. I can’t wait to meet this woman. And I didn’t ask about your dad’s health.”

  “He seems to be fine. You’d never know he had a heart attack six months ago.”

  “Well, I think Zeph’s mother is going to be very good for his heart,” Hannah said with a giggle.

  “But can his heart take it if anything goes wrong?”

  “What do you think is gonna happen?”

  Allie sobered. “She’ll leave when Zeph does, Dad will mope around, but I won’t notice because I’ll be doing my own moping.”

  “Nice summary, Miss Sunshine. So it all depends on how long it takes Zeph to solve his case. How’s that coming?”

  “Don’t know. But he’s been here almost two weeks. He hasn’t said anything, but surely he’s expected to get results faster than that.”

  “Probably. So maybe he’s hanging around for some woman? Like you, maybe?”

  “I wish. I guess,” Allie said uncertainly. “A smart woman would—oh, who cares? I won’t be any less miserable if I blow Zeph off right now instead of waiting until he leaves.”

  “That’s my girl. Enjoy the rest of his stay.”

  The doorbell rang, interrupting the conversation. “I’d better go act like a hostess, Hannah. That must be Monty. Thanks for the pep talk.”

  “Any time. Have fun.”

  Yes. She would.

  ****

  After dinner, he helped Winn serve coffee in the living room and took his cup to a sofa by the fire. With any luck, Allie would come sit next to him. Hannah must have said something good on the phone, because the looks Allie had given him over the dinner table had been—well, smoldering. Not that he minded, of course.

  Instead, Monty settled next to him. “I think those slimeball friends of Seldon’s—Lem and Pete Johnson, I ran a make on them and they’re bad news all the way—anyway, they’re on their way out of town. I passed them going out toward his place when I drove over here. Can’t miss that truck with the purple door. They had it loaded with gear, and Paul down at the store said they got a bunch of maps a couple of days ago.”

  Zeph sat up straight, his interest piqued. “Maps?”

  “Topo maps. Show the topography and the roads.”

  “I know what topo maps are. They’re up to something.”

  “Of course they are.”

  “What maps?”

  “The next county over. They’ll be Jed’s problem. I gave him a heads up. Sure will be glad to have them outta here.”

  “I think I might just take a little ride,” Zeph said. “See what they’re up to.”

  “Lord sakes, Zeph. Take five here. Whatever they’re plannin’ is gonna happen somewhere else. Just relax and have another piece of your mama’s cake.”

  Zeph stood.

  Monty sighed. “I might just have to come with you,” he said, reluctance printed clear on his face.

  “Nah. I’ll take a quick run out of town and see what they’re up to. There’s that overlook just outside the town limits, on the road up to Fresno Peak, that gives a good view of Seldon’s place. No need for you to come.”

  Monty sank back with obvious relief.

  “I’ll come with you,” Allie said.

  He hadn’t heard her come up behind him.

  “No.”

  She put a hand on his shoulder. “Let me come. You’re just going to sit in the car and watch, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, but—” Her fingers trailed up the side of his neck and Heaven help him, he didn’t have the strength to resist the chance to be with her.

  No, he tried to say again, but it came out, “Sure.” After a struggle, he added, “No. It might be dangerous.”

  “He’s right, Allison,” Wentworth said.

  “Don’t be silly, Dad. How much trouble can we get into, just staking out Wendover’s house?”

  Chapter 12

  “We should have taken your truck,” Zeph grumbled once they’d gotten on the road in Lincoln’s SUV.

  “Because it has bench seats?” Allie bounced on the seat in anticipation, of an adventure or Z
eph, she couldn’t be sure.

  “Because they might recognize this. But you have a point. You’re too far away.”

  She leaned across and ran one finger along the top of his thigh. “But if they see Dad’s car, it won’t alarm them like yours or mine would. Are we really out here to surveille, or did you make that up?”

  “Unfortunately, that isn’t an excuse, and I must be out of my mind bringing you along. If anything happens…”

  She tried not to pout. Not successfully. “How long are we going to stay out here?”

  “Normally I’d stay as long as it takes, but I don’t figure it’d be too believable if we stay out all night.” He glanced sideways at her and his mouth curved in a smile. “I thought about it, though.”

  He pulled off the road onto a flat spot just big enough for the vehicle and ran his window down. “Nothing says we can’t sit in the back seat while we wait.”

  “Thank goodness. I was afraid the private detective code had some rule against it.”

  “I can guarantee making out while staking out is not a good idea. But I’m easy.”

  “Good. So let’s—”

  “Wait.” Zeph grabbed a pair of binoculars from the door pocket and eased out of the car. He closed the door silently and ghosted into position behind the bush that screened them from the ranch.

  “Anything happening?”

  “Nope. That mess of a truck we saw yesterday is there. How many vehicles does Seldon have?”

  “I can’t be sure. A blue pickup. Maybe he still has Lander’s old jeep.”

  Zeph stared intently down at Seldon’s ranch.

  A frisson of uncertainty chilled her. “Zeph?”

  He grunted.

  “Am I—are you—I mean, I know you didn’t come here for me. And then you said you loved me. So...was that just the heat of the moment? Is this thing we’re having nothing but a cover for your work?”

  He sidled around the bush to get a different viewpoint, keeping himself hidden from the ranch yard. “No.”

  That was it? Just “No”? She got out of the SUV.

  Zeph must have caught the motion from the corner of his eye. “Don’t slam the door,” he ordered. “Sound carries a long way.”

  He looked so totally focused on the job at hand that the uncertainty grew. “What would you do if I weren’t here?”