Shelter from the Storm. RaeAnne Thayne

to coax a meadowlark to eat birdseed from his hand.

      He spoke Spanish in a low, calm voice. She couldn’t understand him well, both because he pitched his voice low and because he spoke too quickly for her limited comprehension skills.

      After a moment, Rosa answered him quickly, reluctance in every line of her body.

      Lauren found it a surreal experience trying to follow their conversation when she only understood about one word in five. Even without a perfect command of the language, she could hear the compassion ringing through his voice.

      He genuinely cared about Rosa, Lauren thought. The girl might be just a stowaway he had never seen until an hour ago, but he wanted to get to the bottom of things. She suddenly knew Daniel would go to any lengths to protect the girl. Fate had dropped her into Moose Springs, and she had become one of his charges.

      She had a feeling his sincerity wasn’t translating for Rosa. She shook her head vehemently several times, and Lauren could at least understand the most frequent word the girl employed. “No” sounded the same in English and in Spanish.

      After several moments of this, Rosa turned her head against the wall, a clear message that she was done talking to him. Daniel said something, his voice low and intense, but Rosa didn’t turn around.

      At last Daniel stood with a sigh, his big handsome features tight with frustration. He tucked a business card in Rosa’s hand. The girl closed her fingers around it, but didn’t even look at either the card or at Daniel. With another sigh, Daniel nodded to Lauren and left the room.

      She followed him. “She won’t talk?” she asked when the door closed behind them.

      “She claims she doesn’t remember what happened to her.”

      Lauren frowned. “She has no head injury that might account for a loss of memory. I suppose it might be some self-protective psychological reaction to the trauma…”

      “There is no loss of memory. She remembers perfectly. She’s just not telling.”

      “Doesn’t she understand her safety and that of her baby is at stake here?”

      “I think that’s exactly what she’s thinking about. I think she just wants to pretend none of it happened. ‘I’m fine, the baby’s fine. That’s all that matters,’ she just kept saying over and over.”

      “I’ll talk to her. She’ll be under my care and the attending’s here for at least the next two or three days. I want to consult with the high-risk ob-gyns on staff here and make sure we monitor her closely to ensure no lasting harm to the fetus from her injuries. I don’t know that it will do any good, but I’ll try to persuade her she has to talk to you, or whoever did this to her will get away with a double attempted murder.”

      “Thanks, Lauren. I’ll try to stop back in first thing in the morning. Maybe she’ll change her mind about talking to me by then.”

      “You put in long hours, Sheriff.”

      He smiled and the sight of those white teeth flashing in that darkly handsome face sent her stomach trembling. “I could say the same for you, Doc.”

      She gazed at him for far longer than was probably polite, until he finally cleared his throat.

      “You still need a ride back to Moose Springs?”

      Chill, she chided herself. This was Daniel Galvez, the one man in town who shouldn’t rev her motor. She would be better off with a player like Kendall Fox. At least he just annoyed her. Being with Dr. Fox never left her feeling like she had just stood in a wind tunnel for two or three days.

      “If it’s not too much trouble.”

      “No trouble,” he assured her, though she couldn’t help feeling he wasn’t being completely truthful.

      “Just give me a few more moments to wrap things up with Kendall and I should be ready.”

      “Here comes the good doctor now.”

      She turned and found Kendall walking purposefully down the hallway.

      “The sheriff is my ride back to Moose Springs since I came in the ambulance,” she said quickly, hoping to deflect any more flirtation. “Do you mind if I leave my patient in your care?”

      “We’ll take good care of her until they can find a bed for her on the medical floor.”

      “I’ll be back first thing in the morning to check on her,” she said. “I want a phone call in the night if her condition changes at all. Make sure the nurses know that when they admit her upstairs. Any change at all, I want to hear about it.”

      “I’ll take care of her, I promise.” Kendall gave her the full wattage of his lady-killer smile. “I’m on until seven in the morning and I expect doughnuts and some decent coffee out of the deal.”

      “Done.”

      As her interactions with Dr. Fox went, this one was fairly innocuous. She could only hope she would get through the hour-long drive with Daniel Galvez as painlessly.

      Chapter 3

      The slushy snow of earlier in the evening had given way to giant, soft flakes as the temperature dropped. Daniel drove away from the U. toward the canyon that would take them back to Moose Springs through the feeder streets along the foothills. Roads here were mostly clear, though he knew the canyon would probably be dicey.

      He was painfully aware of Lauren sitting beside him and wondered if they had ever been alone like this. He was so conscious of her that it took all his powers of concentration to keep his attention on driving as he took the exit to I-80 through the canyon.

      Still, he was aware of every movement from her side of the SUV. When he caught her covering a yawn, he risked a look at her. “Go ahead and sleep if you need to. I’ve got a pillow in the back.”

      “I’m all right. It’s been a rather long day. I imagine you know all about those.”

      “This week, I certainly do.” He signaled to change lanes around a car with out-of-state plates going at a crawl through what was just a light layer of snow.

      The scanner crackled with static suddenly and he heard radio traffic of somebody in Park City reporting a drunk-and-disorderly patron at one of the popular restaurants on Main Street.

      “I’m sure that’s not the first one of those they’ve had this week,” Lauren said.

      “Yeah, and it won’t be the last until Sundance is over. The detective I spoke to tonight on the way here sounded just a little frazzled.”

      “Things are busy enough in Park City in the winter with all the skiers. Throw in the film festival and it’s a nightmare.”

      “Have you been to any screenings this year?”

      She shrugged. “I don’t have a lot of free hours to go to movies. You?”

      “No. I caught a few screenings last year but I’m afraid this one is going to pass me by. Too much work.”

      “We’re pathetic, aren’t we? Sounds like we both need to get a life outside our jobs.”

      “I’d love to,” he deadpanned, “but who has the time?”

      She laughed out loud at that, the low, musical sound filling all the cold corners of his Tahoe. “We are pathetic. I was thinking the exact same thing. By the time I finish a twelve-hour shift at the clinic, I’m lucky to find the energy to drive home.”

      “You need a vacation.” He pushed away the image of her on a white sand beach somewhere, a soft sea breeze ruffling her hair and her muscles loose and relaxed.

      “Funny, that seems to be the consensus,” she said. “You’ll be surprised to find, I’m sure, that I’m actually taking one next week. Coralee and Bruce Jenkins are going on a cruise. Rather than hire a temp to be the office manager for a