“Men,” she retaliated childishly, under her breath.
“Where are we stashing Teresa?” Marco asked. “I feel responsible for her.”
“Someplace they won’t find her and she won’t be able to contact anyone,” Rio said.
“Adan has a cousin,” Conner said, “not far from where we’re going. If I can’t persuade the doctor to help us, we can go to him.”
“How well do you know the doctor?” Rio asked.
“Fairly well. He and my mother were friends. They played chess. He actually taught me chess. He would never betray our people.”
“Switch places with me,” Elijah said. His voice was strained.
Isabeau could hear rustling in the backseat.
“Down this road, Felipe,” Conner called out. “The third farm. He practices out of his home now, he’s retired.”
The road was pitted with deep potholes. She could imagine a leopard choosing this spot to live. The forest encroached close to the houses, and there was a large distance between each farm, giving plenty of privacy. As they bounced past the first two farms, in both instances someone came out to the porch to mark their passing. Obviously more than curious, she wondered if they were leopard as well. She found herself being nervous all over again, or maybe her anxiety hadn’t had the chance to dissipate. It didn’t help when the men all checked weapons and Rio slipped her a small Glock.
“Take it,” he hissed. “Just in case.”
Discovering how these men had to live was a revelation. She knew it was a choice, and that she was making that choice with them, because her choice was always and forever Conner. She took the gun and checked it to make certain it was fully loaded and safe to carry.
Elijah took over again for Conner so Conner could pull on a pair of jeans before Rio opened the back of the SUV. They went onto the porch together. Conner rapped on the door and waited. He could hear movement: one, no, two people. One had a heavier tread than the other. The heavier tread approached the door and swung it open, no small telling crack, rather a wide welcome.
“What can I do . . .” The voice broke off, taking in Conner’s torn body. “Come in.”
“Doc, it’s Conner Vega. You remember me? I’ve got a kid in bad shape. Really bad shape. A leopard attack. We need your help.”
The doctor didn’t ask questions but motioned them to bring the boy inside.
“I’m sorry, Doc, but we’ll have to know who’s in the house,” Conner said.
“My wife, Mary,” the doctor answered without hesitation. “Bring him in, Conner. If your friend has to search, tell him to hurry if it’s as life threatening as you’re implying.”
Rio went into the house and Conner ran back to the SUV, waving for the others to bring Jeremiah. Isabeau dropped back to protect Elijah as he carried Jeremiah into the house. Leonardo stayed on the porch. Felipe and Marcos drove away, taking Teresa with them, presumably heading to Adan’s cousin, where they knew the tribesman would look after her.
“Puncture wounds to the throat. We’ve been breathing for him most of the time,” Conner explained as Elijah laid Jeremiah on the table in the doctor’s small office. They hung the bag of fluids on the hook and stepped back to give the doctor room.
“Mary!” the doctor called. “I need you. This is more important than your soap opera.”
She came in, a small woman with graying hair and laughing eyes. “I don’t watch soap operas, you old coot, and you know it.” She smacked him with a rolled- up newspaper as she went past him straight to the sink to wash her hands and don gloves.
“Get out, Conner. But don’t go too far. You’re next and then the young lady,” the doctor ordered gruffly. “And don’t pace like you used to. Sit down before you fall down. There’s hot coffee in the kitchen.”
Mary glanced over her shoulder. “Fresh bread under the tea towel.” She bent over Jeremiah.
Conner watched the two working so smoothly together, barely speaking, handing instruments back and forth with the doctor grunting occasionally and shaking his head.
Isabeau tangled her fingers with his and looked up into his face. She was exhausted and worried. He tightened his hand around hers and pulled her with him out of the room. Elijah followed reluctantly.
“He’s good?” he asked.
Conner nodded. “All the leopards came to him. He might be retired by now, but he knows his stuff. He won’t let him die if he can possibly save him. His name is Abel Winters. Dr. Abel Winters. He was in our village for a while, but left before my mother and I did. Of course he was very young and probably had gone off to school. I didn’t really remember him, when I was that young, but my mother did. She knew everyone in our village.”
He looked around until he found a towel to soak so he could try to clean some of the blood off before he sat down. “When we moved to the cabin, my mother would take me to him for the normal broken bones. I shifted fairly early and used to try leaping from the canopy and trying to shift on my way down. I broke a fair amount of bones that way.”
Elijah laughed. “I’ll bet you did.”