Page 22 of Intangible
“What, Knox?” He looked up at the ceiling, a move she knew meant he was debating if he wanted to ask a question or not. “You’ve never had a problem asking me anything before. Do you remember when you thought my prom date had rented a hotel room for us? You held him by his throat outside the ballroom while you interrogated both of us. I thought I’d die of embarrassment, but I answered all of your questions.”
“Thayer, why do you have on Memphis’ shirt? What happened when he went into the cellar? I mean, the rape kit came back negative, so your father feels better about that,” Knox quickly added when she flinched like he had slapped her.
Between clenched teeth, she answered him. “When he showed up the last time as a hologram, I was being attacked by one of the men Memphis had been worried about. Memphis managed to scare him off, but not until the man had torn my shirt off. When he came to get me, all I had on were my pajama pants and the filthy blanket they gave me. He helped me put on his shirt before picking me up to carry me out.”
“Okay.” Knox held up his hands as if he could stop the anger radiating from her. “I’m just trying to get a full picture of everything that happened.”
“He never stopped trying to find a way to get me out. I trust him with my life, it’s just too bad you can’t believe in him as well.” She stared at him hard until the big man actually started to squirm. Thayer had always been taught by this very man never to back down. He had also taught her to call bullshit when she saw it. “Did my father send him home?”
“Thayer, he’s just concerned about you.”
“I get that, but you, Mr. Monroe, should have stuck up for him.” Knox sighed in relief when Mr. Kent took that moment to enter the room. As her glare cut to her father, Knox ducked out of the room.
“I’m exhausted,” she said, turning over to place her back to her father. She loved him and knew he was only concerned for her well-being, but this time he had gone too far.
There was a sound of chair legs scraping on the floor as her father took up his post next to her. She knew he would still be there in the morning, offering her all the support he could. Knox would also be there in the same way.
Unfortunately, the one person she wanted, who would understand what she had been through, was back in Minnesota.
Chapter 8
Memphis had blownoff the text from Knox. Like the man cared how the fuck he was doing. He did wonder how Thayer was, though. He had dug through his bags, hoping the stupid pink bunny was still there, but everything of hers had been carefully removed. He couldn’t just simply jump to where she was. That’s simply not how this ability worked. Or at least, it never had in the past.
His staff at the clinic, which just consisted of the high school vet tech and the receptionist, had gone from looking at him with concern to shaking their heads with sadness whenever they caught him staring into space, thinking about her.
He would put her behind him eventually, it’s not like there was any other choice. He didn’t have her cell number and he wasn’t pathetic enough to hunt for her on social media. Not yet anyway. It had already been two weeks since he carried her out of that hole. He knew time was the only thing that could help him now. He could survive this.
Shaking his head, he bent back over his desk to finish the prescriptions he was writing for one of the local cattlemen. He had promised to get them done before the end of today so the man could buy the mineral for his cattle he needed tomorrow. He would fax them to the feed store as soon as he had them done, so there would be no hold up on his part.
He had already told his staff they could leave for the day. Murphy slept on his dog bed across his office, contentedly waiting until Memphis had his work finished.
“Alright, boy. I think I’ve got everything done. Let me get these sent, then we can go home.” The dog thumped his tail but didn’t open his eyes.
With a sigh, Memphis fed the prescriptions into the fax machine next to his desk. He had some billing he needed to work on, but he was tired. He had been on his feet all day between an emergency surgery and a full day of appointments. Tomorrow, he had three farm visits before he even saw the office.
Turning off the lights, he whistled for Murphy as he headed out the door.
The dog happily trotted to his truck as he locked the back door. Murphy always rode in the front seat next to Memphis when he came to the office. On farm visit days, the dog would just laze around the house for the day.
The one time Memphis had taken him on a visit, he had spent the entire time herding the man’s sheep around. The dog would herd anything if given the chance. There had been more than one incident at the office of him herding kids into an empty exam room. The kids thought it was great fun, the parents, not so much.
“I would suggest we stop by the grocery store to get a movie, but I think I’m too tired tonight. What do you say we read for a while after supper, then hit the hay?” He rubbed his hand down the dog’s back.Sure, Memphis, that sounds great, he answered himself in a goofy voice. Good God, he must be pathetic if he was expecting his dog to answer him.
Turning onto the narrow road leading up to his cabin, Memphis caught a glimpse of someone sitting on his front porch steps.
“Oh, come on!” he grumbled, not looking forward to whatever vet emergency was waiting for him.
Pulling closer, he slowed to a stop in front of a woman. She had stood at hearing his approach. Holding her hand up to shade her eyes from his headlights, she waited for him to get out.
Throwing the truck in park, he quickly turned it off, cutting the lights off as well. She lowered her hands, wrapping her arms around her middle. Murphy started jumping around in the truck, barking. Memphis just sat completely still, staring at her until he was hit in the face by a tail, breaking him out of his stupor.
“What in the hell…?” Murphy responded by barking even harder. “Dog!” he shouted, reaching for the door handle. When he wrenched it open, Murphy bounded over his lap out the door. Reaching the woman, the dog jumped up, knocking her back down onto the steps. Memphis jumped out to rush to her, but saw her laughing as the dog bathed her in kisses.
“Murphy!” Memphis shouted, crossing to the dog. Catching his collar, he pulled the straining dog back. “Inside,” he said, turning the dog loose. With one last lick, he raced around the cabin to use the dog door.
“I like him!”
“Thayer, what are you doing here? How did you even find me?” Memphis stood over her, staring down for a minute, wondering if he had actually dreamed enough about her that he was starting to hallucinate.
