ringing up my purchases. “Our clinic is small, but it’s good, and so are the doctors. I can put you in touch with Dr. Elroy or Dr. Abrams later today, if you’d like.”
I’d like that a lot but...besides the impossible task of talking Dad into it, the sanest thing to do is keep a low profile while we’re here.
I’m already taking a small risk coming into town like this. What if Jackknife didn’t blow town?
“Thanks, it’s just...” I pull out my credit card, shaking my head. “My father’s so stubborn. You know how older guys are.”
“Oh, yes.” Her brown eyes glow with understanding. “Mine’s the same way. I don’t know why some men let their egos get in the way of their health. It’s easier with dogs. There are times when I wish I could just put my dad in a kennel and call the vet.”
“It’d make a lot of things easier.” Despite my anxiety over Dad, I laugh.
Milly smiles back. “Right? I’ve threatened it with my father and my husband both, but fortunately I haven’t had to follow through. These lunks call up the vet every time one of their cows sneezes, but for themselves? They think peroxide, gauze pads, and duct tape work miracles.”
“So true,” I say, shaking my head again. “That’s my dad and I wish it wasn’t.”
“Well, don’t give up,” she says, handing me back my credit card and the receipt. “Call the number on the receipt if he gets worse. Maybe I can convince him to go in. I’m very good at putting on my doctor’s voice and scaring a little sense into the folks who aren’t used to it.”
She winks.
“I appreciate it,” I say, putting the card and receipt in my purse.
“No problem.” She hands me the bag of over-the-counter meds. “Oh, and don’t forget the chicken noodle soup! There’s more research coming out every day that it’s more than an old wives’ tale.”
I take the bag and smile.
“I have a friend working on that right this instant.”
She nods, then points to a door past a display of reading glasses. “Use that exit. It leads into the alley between us and the grocery store. There’s a walkway between Filmore’s and the hardware store that we keep shoveled out so we can run over to the deli on our lunch break.”
I twist enough to see over the aisle shelves and out the front windows.
The space where Ridge dropped me off is empty, so he’s probably still at the grocery store.
“Thanks.” I hold up the bag. “And thanks again for all your help.”
“Good luck!” the pharmacist chirps, giving me one more friendly wave.
I hook the bag over my arm and walk to the door. It’s heavy metal, and I’m half expecting an alarm to start blaring as I twist the knob. Luckily, that doesn’t happen.
I step outside into Jack Frost’s den. The alley is cleared out like she promised.
Piles of snow are pushed up against the buildings on both sides. I see the shoveled walkway on the other side, just a short distance up the alley, and follow the path.
Surely fifty dollars’ worth of cough and cold medicines will give Dad some relief.
Pneumonia scares me.
Seriously freaks me out.
If we get to a point where he needs to be hospitalized, I’m not sure what we’ll do.
God, for all I know, he’s already there.
But every day we’re not moving, putting a little more distance between us and the monsters in Milwaukee, is another day we might be found. And this time, with no escape.
I have to get him to a doctor, I decide. Who knows how I’ll pay for it, but that’s the least of our problems right now.
This schtick is getting old.
We can’t be sick, broke, and on the run forever.
My spine ices up as that thought crosses my mind. Then I glance up and have a better reason for my insides to freeze.
A black SUV has pulled into the alley and it’s rolling to a stop.
Two men jump out with black stocking caps.
Even without his bald head shining, I recognize one of them by the mean, stocky build and chaotic tattoo running up one side of his face.
Holy Jackknife Pete!
For a split second, everything just stops. I momentarily tense, then the fight-or-flight adrenaline kicks in, and I make a mad dash for the shoveled walkway.
I’m fast, but they’re no sloths.
The heavy thud, thud, thud of thick boots closes in at an alarming speed.
I question if I should’ve made a run for the drugstore door instead, glancing