He loved Becca. Always had, always would. No matter what.
Was she crazy? He didn’t care. If she was, he’d help her. He was better equipped for that than anyone else.
“But what if she isn’t?”
If she wasn’t, he shouldn’t have let her out of his sight.
Owen whistled. Reggie raced through the underbrush and leaped onto the path. It wasn’t until they erupted into the parking lot that Owen realized something else.
He was running.
* * *
I stood in the waiting room, staring at the closed door. When my phone started vibrating in my hand, I was glad. It gave me something to do.
“Hello?”
“Becca! Thank God.”
I hadn’t looked at the caller ID this time either. Didn’t matter. I knew that voice.
“I found something,” Jeremy Reitman said.
The fog that had descended since Owen had left lifted a little. “What?”
“I have to show you. You aren’t going to believe it.”
Driving to Madison would take five hours, then I’d have to drive back. Wasn’t happening.
“I have appointments today.”
“This won’t take long. I’m nearly there.”
“Three Harbors?”
“I need you to meet me.”
I was so glad I wasn’t going to have to drive forever, then drive back—not to mention miss my appointments, reschedule them—that I said, “Sure.”
“There’s a place called ‘Revelation Point.’ You know it?”
Revelation Point was make-out central for all the surrounding areas. Located on the bluffs of Lake Superior, the area had a terrific view. Not that anyone spent time contemplating it.
I hadn’t been there since high school. Hadn’t had any reason to be. Not only had the idea of making out with anyone but Owen bored me, but I was no longer seventeen.
Thank God.
“I know it,” I said.
“Hurry.”
The line went dead.
As I had nothing better to do than brood about Owen, I got in my car and hurried.
* * *
Owen’s palm curled around the knob on the clinic’s back door. He twisted as he moved forward, smacking into the ancient wood with all of his exuberant momentum when he discovered it was locked.
The door made a nasty crunching sound and popped open. Owen stood there for a second, flummoxed. Breaking down doors was never that easy in Afghanistan.
Reggie bopped his nose against the wood and went in.
“Becca?” Owen followed. “I’m sorry about the—”
Reggie began to howl.
Terrified at what he’d find, Owen hurried toward the sound. Only to find the dog alone in the middle of the waiting room. A quick tour of the rest of the building, upstairs and down, revealed it empty.
Owen glanced out the back door. Her car was gone. If he hadn’t been so determined to find her he would have noticed, and saved her a door.
“Dude.” Joaquin stepped inside. “Was it like that when you got here?”
“It was an accident.”
The kid snorted. Owen had sounded like a five-year-old after he’d broken Mom’s favorite vase.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“Who else asked you?”
“Doc Becca.”
“You saw her? When?”
“Early this morning.” Joaquin frowned. “Isn’t she here?” He walked through the exam room and into the office/waiting area. Owen followed. “We have office hours soon.”
The unease Owen had been feeling since he’d returned intensified. Becca wouldn’t miss her appointments.
He pulled out his phone, dialed her number, got voice mail. He almost disconnected without leaving a message. What could he say?
I’m an ass.
He figured she knew that already. In the end he made do with a short, “Call me,” and hung up.
Joaquin appeared as concerned as Owen. “Should I cancel her appointments?”
Reggie blew air out his nose the way he always did when he was excited, revved, ready for a mission. Owen turned.
The wolf was back.
Reggie licked her face. She rolled her eyes, the amused disgust in the mannerism as human as her green gaze. Then she spun and ran out the still open door, pausing just outside to look back.
“You see it, right?” Joaquin stood at Owen’s side.
“The wolf? Yeah.”
“Look at her wound.”
Her stance gave Owen a perfect view of her shaved flank. The wound that had nearly killed her was gone.
“How does that happen?” Joaquin asked. “Becca said wild animals heal fast, but that’s ridiculous.”
Owen didn’t have the time to explain magic, even if he could. Then the wolf yipped—high, impatient—and Reggie rushed to join her. The two disappeared from view and Owen bolted after them. By the time he caught up, they were trotting down the sidewalk.
“Hell,” Owen muttered, as locals and tourists did double takes, then scrambled out of the way.
“It’s okay,” he called. “She’s tame. Not a threat.”