Chasing Tail

by Roxanne St Claire

  “No,” Sadie shot back. “I have every right to ask a million questions. Like, forget why you’re doing this, you’re both obviously blind with greed, and I’m blind for not seeing it. Plus you hid your contraband on my property.”

  “It was the safest place I could think of,” Nathan said. “I stuffed them in that plugged hole in the bottom and cushioned them with cotton, and I didn’t think that thing would ever break. Of course, I never dreamed you’d run off and take it.”

  She choked a dry laugh. “You’re both sick, you know that?”

  “Just one of us,” Jane whispered, the words so soft, Sadie wasn’t sure she’d heard right. Then she hit the accelerator and headed north, flying past a sign that said Sweetgum Springs.

  “Where are we going?” Sadie demanded.

  “Somewhere to wait out the dog’s…business,” Jane said. “Is there some way to, uh, encourage that?”

  Was there something she could say or do to get out of this car with Frank? She rubbed his belly, thinking of options. “Dog food.” If they stopped at a convenience store, she could run, find a phone, and get help for Frank.

  Nathan thumbed his phone. “This site says just let ’em poop regular and not feed them.”

  “He did that this morning already,” she said.

  “Meaning this could take hours,” Jane said.

  “Wait. Wait.” Sadie shook her head hard. “Are we seriously having this discussion? I’m talking with the two of you about a dog pooping diamonds like it’s normal? Nothing is normal about this. What the hell is wrong with you two?”

  Jane’s twitch intensified, and now her whole arm sort of vibrated. Sadie had seen that happen only once before, the day she stood in Jane’s office and accused her of sleeping with Nathan.

  “You want me to drive?” Nathan asked, his voice suddenly lower and more gentle.

  “No, no, I’m fine.”

  “You’re not fine, Jane.” He reached to the front seat and put his hand on her shaking shoulder. “Your eyes okay? I can drive.”

  Sadie looked from one to the other, taking in the exchange, missing a piece of…something. Nathan wasn’t generally a nurturer, and Jane would sooner cut off that quivering arm than give up control in a situation like this and…

  “Tell her.” The command came from Jane, simple and clear.

  “I don’t think—”

  “Tell her, Nathan. She needs to know I’m not a common, greedy criminal, and neither are you.”

  “Uh, she’s right here.” Sadie leaned forward, scrutinizing Jane. “Tell me yourself.”

  She swallowed. “I can’t. I can’t say the words.”

  Nathan dropped back with a noisy huff. “She has ALS.”

  “What?”

  “ALS. Lou Gehrig’s—”

  “I know what it is.” The news washed over her, easily drowning out the hate and resentment that had built up toward Jane. “Oh my God, Jane. That’s…” A death sentence. “Terrifying.”

  Nathan tipped his head. “The thing is, it doesn’t have to be…the end. And that’s why we’re in this car talking about pooping diamonds.”

  She waited for more, completely confused.

  “We’re doing this because…” Jane lifted that shaky hand, hitting the steering wheel with a hard tap as if demanding her body obey. “Nathan’s firm is handling a client in the pharmaceutical industry who is putting a drug up for FDA consideration that is showing some extremely positive signs in early testing. It could be the cure everyone is hoping for.”

  “Oh. That’s wonderful.”

  “It will cost five hundred thousand dollars a dose.”

  Ouch. “So you’re fighting for legislation to lower the cost,” Sadie assumed, well aware of all of Jane’s hard work in the health care sector. The cost of prescription meds was one of her most intense fights in Congress.

  “She can’t get the cost lowered,” Nathan said. “It’s a very, very expensive drug to manufacture.”

  “But I can be first in line to buy a dose, which is an arduous and time-consuming process to make, the minute one becomes available…if I make it that long.” Jane let her eyes close for a moment. “And if I have half a million dollars. And as you know, the diamond labs literally grow money.”

  “That you stole,” Sadie said, looking at Nathan.

  He met her gaze. “Look, I’m not going to lie. I love her, and I’ll do anything for her. Save her life? It’s a no-brainer.”

  Sadie waited for the impact of that, but there certainly wasn’t any jealousy. Nathan loved Jane. She hadn’t seen it coming, but now it made such perfect sense. They were so right for each other, so much alike, that it was no wonder Sadie had thought she loved both of them. Their drive and focus and ability to mow down every obstacle had been so attractive to her.

  In some weird way, they belonged together.

  “I wish you had told me sooner,” she said softly. “I would have bowed out gracefully and let you be a couple.”

  “I tried to fight it,” Jane admitted. “Nathan did, too. We both care so much about you, Sadie. But I had just found out about my…condition, and I happened to be at an event with Nathan that night and…” Her voice cracked. “He’s been there for me the whole time.”

  Sadie sighed. “Well, I guess I understand why you’re doing this, but it’s still illegal.”

  “You’re not going to help us?” Nathan asked.

  “I…” Was she? “I don’t know what I’m going to do, but…” She tightened her grip around Frank, who was pressed against her like a second skin. “But I won’t leave this dog. Not for one minute. Please take him to a vet for an X-ray. After that? I don’t know.”

  “You have to help us, Sadie.” Nathan put his hand on her leg. “You care about Jane. And you did care about me. What’s a few dozen lab diamonds to you? You’re faking your engagement to some firefighter so you can become mayor. You don’t really have a leg to stand on in the ethics department.”

  She stared at him, letting the words sink in as Jane accelerated onto a highway, taking a bend in the road a little too fast.

  “You’re going to help us, Sadie,” she said with that same cool that she had when delivering an order to the staff.

  “I’m going to help Frank,” Sadie replied. “Beyond that…”

  “You’re going to cover for us,” she ground out. “And you can stick your ethics up your ass. I’ve bent over backward for the lab-grown-diamond industry and passed laws that helped them make hundreds of millions of dollars. They can pay for my goddamn medicine!” She flattened the accelerator and whipped around another corner.

  “Hey, Jane, settle.” Nathan leaned forward suddenly, the move making Frank bark. “Don’t lose it now.”

  “Lose it?” Sadie asked on a whisper.

  “It’s part of the disease,” he said. “She can be…erratic.”

  She swerved and worked to right the vehicle, making Sadie gasp. “Then she should pull over and let the rest of us live.”

  “We’re going to hide in the woods with that dog,” Jane announced, turning the wheel sharply to take a side street that turned into a steep hill. “We’re going to wait to get our diamonds and convince you, Sadie Hartman, how important this is. It’s my life. I’ll do what I have to.”

  The words and threatening delivery sent a thousand chills up Sadie’s arms and a black ball of fear into the pit of her stomach. Jane wasn’t stable. She wasn’t healthy. And she was—

  She veered out of their lane suddenly, nearly plowing into an oncoming truck.

  “Jane!” Nathan yelled. “Pull over. Pull over, now!”

  They were almost at the crest of the hill, not able to see the other side, when Jane gunned it, as if to prove she could do anything she wanted.

  Blood thrummed in Sadie’s head as she held Frank and realized with a shock that she hadn’t buckled her seat belt.

  “Slow down!” she screamed at Jane, fumbling for the belt behind her just as they topped the hill at such a high
speed the whole SUV literally left the ground for two sickening seconds, landing hard.

  She swerved again, but then started careening downhill, as if she had her foot on the gas, not the brakes. Sadie screamed, and Nathan unsnapped his belt, diving between the front seats to get to Jane. The move made her whip the wheel, sending the SUV spinning around, airborne again, until it landed on the steep embankment with a jolt. The front of the car cruised into the muddy swale, the impact not enough to explode airbags.

  “Oh my God,” Jane whispered into the sudden silence.

  “What the hell?” Nathan moaned.

  Sadie landed on the floor with Frank on top of her. She pushed him up and managed to do a total body check, but nothing hurt.

  “Are you both okay?” she asked.

  “Fine, just…stunned,” Nathan added. “Jane?”

  Her only response was a soft sob of defeat.

  “Let me open this door.” Sadie unlatched the door and pushed it open, and immediately, Frank scrambled out. “Wait, Frank, wait.”

  He barked once, landed on the ground, and started to run.

  “No!” Sadie launched herself up and out, sliding in some mud on the hill. “Frank, stop! Stay!”

  But he ignored the order, tearing off toward the thick woods.

  She’d never find him in there! With one glance back to the car to see Nathan helping Jane upright, she made a sudden decision. She couldn’t lose Frank. She couldn’t, especially if he was hurt. The idea of him curling up in the dark woods and bleeding to death shot through her like a gallon of adrenaline, sending her running as fast as possible after the dog.

  “Frank, stop!”

  Her pleas didn’t slow him down, but the forest did a little. She was able to keep him in sight as he seemed to find a path between the trees, dodging rocks and branches, sliding through bushes, and running like he knew exactly where he was going.

  Her heart hammered as they ran deeper into the woods, the sun nearly blocked by the trees, even though they didn’t all have thick leaves yet. They tore through the branches, her feet pounding and occasionally stumbling, but she wouldn’t stop. Frank had to give out before she did. She had to get him, had to save him.

  Suddenly, after passing through a thicket of trees, he ran to the top of a steep hill and disappeared over the other side.

  “Frank!” She was so out of breath, his name barely came out, but she forced her legs to keep going, each step burning as she hiked to the top. “Frank, it’s me. Don’t leave me!”

  She crested the hill, looked down the slope on the other side, and…he was gone.

  “Frankendog!” Frustration and fear rocked her so hard, she almost fell, which would have sent her down to the creek rushing about forty feet down the embankment.

  Where did he go?

  She looked left and right, and neither direction looked safe for the dog to have gone down. She turned, peered into the woods, and examined the hill again.

  Then she heard him bark. Faintly, fairly far away, but that was him, barking over and over again.

  She followed the sound, gingerly making her way over rocks and dirt that slid out from under her every few steps. She scraped her hands when she slipped, but swallowed the pain because losing Frank would be so much worse.

  “Frank!”

  He barked in reply, urging her on, but still out of sight. If she could hear him, she could find him. She stopped every few seconds to listen for him, definitely getting closer.

  Come on, boy. Show your face. Show me where you are.

  Just before she reached the bottom, a ledge jutted out and curved around the hill, and his barking got louder. She lurched around the side and almost screamed for joy when she found him at the very edge of the ledge, leaning over, barking at something near the bottom.

  “Oh, Frank.” She fell to her knees next to him, overcome with relief.

  He never turned, but leaned out even more, barking like he did when he saw Demi and couldn’t get to her.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Still on her knees, she crawled to the edge and peered down. About fifteen feet below was the creek, rushing noisily over rocks and around trees.

  “You can’t go down there, boy.” She tried to pull him back. “We have to get back to the road, and I sure hope you know the way.”

  But he was having none of it. He kept barking and staring intently. Not at the creek, but at something… She squinted down to see roots and branches sticking out of the brush about six feet away. “What is it?”

  His bark grew a little more furious as he stared.

  There was nothing there…except…what was that? Something small, navy, like a tiny beanie cap or a glove, just dangling from a root, with some twigs and dirt stuck to it.

  “That’s what you want? Sorry. We got bigger fish to fry, Franko.” She managed to stand, but her legs were shaking hard from the run.

  He dropped to the ground and somehow made himself heavier, his ears down, his tail still, but that incessant barking at a lost glove, or whatever it was, wouldn’t stop.

  “Frank!” She pulled at him, but he didn’t budge. “We have to go. You could be sick. I don’t have a phone. Why are you not understanding how dire this is?”

  He stared at the navy thing and barked like it was all that ever mattered to him.

  “Oh, for God’s sake. Okay. I’ll get it.” It wouldn’t be easy, but she could possibly get partway over the ledge. Then maybe grab it with the tip of her foot and bring it to one hand? If it would get him to move, it might be worth a try.

  “Really? You really want me to do this for you?”

  He just barked.

  “Fine. Because I love you. And the man who owns you. There, I said it. I love him. Are you happy?” She crawled to the very edge, turned around, and started to slowly drop her legs over.

  Thank God, the barking stopped while he watched, rapt.

  “You’re surprised I love him?” She ground out the words as she clung to the ledge for balance. “Well, imagine how I felt when I realized it. Which was…I don’t know, a few minutes ago when I was running after you like…” She grunted and stretched her leg toward what she could see now was a child’s mitten dangling from the branch. “Like a crazy woman because I know that Connor would be…” She huffed out a curse when she got her toe under it and lifted, but it didn’t move.

  Frank barked.

  “Not helping, but okay. One more try.” She twisted her body, extended her leg, and caught the mitten thumb on the edge of her sneaker. “There we go,” she whispered.

  As if he sensed the need for quiet so she could finish the operation, Frank stopped barking, leaning closer to her.

  “Now if I can just get it…” She lifted her leg and let go of the ledge with her right hand, holding on with her left. “Right like this…” She plucked the disgustingly dirty mitten from her foot and slapped it on the ledge with a smack of victory.

  Frank pounced on it and slammed his paw on her left hand, making her scream and instinctively yank free, sending her right off the ledge. She opened her mouth to scream again as she tumbled down the cliff.

  She felt the scream tear at her throat as she flailed, somehow managing to grab on to the same root that had held the mitten. But now her feet dangled about six feet above a rushing, spring-fueled creek.

  Above her, Frank leaned over the edge and stared at her, his treasure held firmly between his teeth.

  “Help me,” she cried softly, trying to get some kind of footing to climb back up. “Frank, please.”

  He backed away and started around the ledge the way they’d come.

  “Don’t leave, Frank. Please, please!”

  But all she heard was the sound of his paws on dirt as he left her hanging several feet from ice-cold, rushing water and rocks.

  She bit her lip, fought tears, and clung to the root with the strength she had left.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  “Are you sure my blood pressure is normal? And that heart rate?
” Miss Clara Dee actually looked devastated.

  “Right where you should be,” Connor assured her, on one knee next to her rocker.

  “But I’m not where I should be,” the old lady murmured. “I should be with Henry.”

  “When the time is right.” He patted her arm gently, not wanting to leave another purpura on her aging skin. “He’ll be there when you get to him.”

  She didn’t answer, but her old eyes grew wide with surprise as his comm device crackled and beeped.

  “Engine One, Rescue Two, vehicle lost control, currently stranded on Sweetgum Springs Road. Call came from passing driver who was waved off.”

  He clicked the button to silence the call, since they wanted the other EMT and Miss Clara Dee looked so sad. “I know you miss your husband,” he said softly. “Maybe there’s a nice man right here in Starling for you.”

  She chuckled and patted his cheek. “If he looks like you, maybe.”

  “Hey, Connor.” Tasheema signaled him.

  “Almost done, Tash.” He wrapped up the blood pressure monitor and smiled at the old woman. “But it was nice to see you again, Miss Clara Dee.”

  “I think you want to hear this.” Tash came closer, lifting her comm device. “That stranded vehicle? Black Buick Enclave with DC tags.”

  He stared at her for a moment.

  “I asked dispatch, who said there are two passengers, male and female, and they apparently turned down help from the truck driver who pulled over, but the vehicle’s in a ditch.”

  He searched her face, thinking. Could Sadie be hurt? What was she doing out in Sweetgum Springs with that guy?

  “Tell dispatch we’re done here and not far. They can send our engine home, but let’s take the ambulance and check it out.”

  She nodded while he said goodbye to Miss Clara Dee, then they hustled back to the ambulance, cleared the move with the station, and headed a few miles west to Sweetgum Springs.

  “Hey, isn’t this where you found Frank?” Tash said, pulling Connor out of a deep reverie about…nothing. His head and heart had gone blank since he’d seen Sadie running after Nathan. He didn’t understand it, he didn’t like it, and he didn’t want to think about it.