That Perfect Place Read online

  “There’s an idea. We could do it during Jim’s lunch hour.”

  “Tina, I think it’s OK if he takes a day off to get married.”

  “I just don’t want a big fuss is all. It’s funny, I can’t remember what life was like before Jim came along. I just know it’s better now.”

  Jim came in with some Chinese take-out, a box of caramel turtles, and a balloon tied to a cup of flowers. He was beaming from ear to ear.

  “Jim, I’m not the kind of girl who needs the flowers-and-candy routine, but thanks. I do like caramels. Now listen, we should get married right away. I don’t want anybody to think I have doubts about us. Besides, the kid has got to be legit so he’s protected if we croak. Jill suggested the registrar’s office. What do you think?”

  Jim hugged Jill and kissed her cheek. “I knew you’d make her see reason.”

  “Hey,” complained Tina, “I’m the one making the big sacrifice here.”

  “Wait,” said the prospective groom. He left and returned a minute later. He got down on one knee and opened a small box.

  “Ms. Maitland, would you consent to be my partner in marriage?”

  “Dr. Cullen,” Tina grinned, “I would.” She leaned forward to hug him. They both wound up on the floor. Tina was laughing and crying at the same time. Jim was studiously trying to get the ring on her shaking finger. Jill took the food to the kitchen and served it while they sealed the bargain with a passionate kiss.

  Jill felt like a third wheel during the meal. She was very happy for her sister and Jim. She genuinely liked him. He was such a fun-loving, upbeat guy and so patient with Tina’s outrageous ideas. She couldn’t wait to get home and feel Jake’s arms around her. How did he really feel about remarrying? And would he want even one more child? So far, they had not discussed the future. With all the craziness that had been happening they never talked about much except those events and the clinic. The bedroom, among other places, had just been the site of some very hot sex. Jill shivered with delight just thinking about it. She didn’t want to push him, but she did want what Tina had now gotten, and Jakob would certainly be a good man to get it with.

  When Jill got home Brad was in bed and Jake was watching baseball. She waited for a commercial to tell him about her sister and Jim. He was delighted.

  “I’ll get the general to get in touch with his folks and we’ll plan some sort of party. We’ll have to see if they want to reschedule Jim’s vacation.”

  He took Jill into his lap and held her close. She seemed melancholy. I know she wants the marriage-and-child thing too—she said as much her first week here. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He was going to have to give this some consideration. He felt her sigh. It will have to be soon or I’ll lose her.

  Jake was up and out the door before Jill was stirring. He checked on his son before going out. Brad was sound asleep and snoring lightly.

  Dusty was on stall rest for the foreseeable future, so they were keeping a foundered pony in the barn to keep him company. That meant Lucy could get back out to the grass with the cows. Jake had been looking at getting another horse now that Jill was here but wondered if he’d need two. Dusty would be off for months and might never be sound enough to ride again. He sat on a stump for a few minutes to think.

  I can’t picture a future without Jill in it, so the marriage thing should be OK, but raising more children is a bit more complicated. Brad will be going to college in a few years. There’s the mortgage on the clinic and my student loans. I still owe money on Callie’s medical bills. Thank goodness Granddad left me the cabin mortgage-free. I’ll have to have a talk with her about the money and see if she would be OK being married to someone deep in debt. I should tell her about the war stuff, too.

  He sighed. Jake hated talking about how the fear and rage could dominate his life at times with anyone—even Steve and Maggie, and they were intimately familiar with PTSD.

  About ten minutes later he got up to return to the house for breakfast and noticed movement in the old chicken house. He wondered who it could be this early, maybe SJ?

  Doug McCaffrey, Donny’s cousin, popped out of the door. “Jake, don’t hurt me,” he pleaded, shielding the dog-eared cast on his arm.

  “What are you doing here, Doug?”

  “I don’t want to wind up like Donny. I been the same places he has. You gotta give me some medicine, Gundersen.” Doug edged forward as he spoke.

  “Doug, I’m a vet. It’s illegal for me to treat humans. Besides, if you’ve got anthrax you need a hospital.” He started to turn away.

  “They’ll get me, Jake.” Doug pursued him.

  “Maybe you should have thought about that before you tried to ransack my place,” Jake said, stopping again and turning back to Doug.

  “It ain’t the cops. Hell, they’re the least of my worries. It’s those crazy guys, they’s after us all.”

  “What guys? Maybe you better start at the beginning.” Jake rested his artificial foot on the fence rail.

  “Me and Don was shipping in stolen cows for Mattson for the past nine months.”

  “Mattson? Do you mean Bob Mattson?” Jake was absolutely floored by that news. Why would the guy take that kind of risk for a few bucks?

  “Yup, seems as though he’s got big money problems. He recruited me first, and I got Donny involved. He didn’t know about Bob though. We thought it was better on account of his big mouth. Anyway, when we left them cows at the farm the last time, there was some there already, four or five of ‘em. So we turned them all out together.

  “Our bunch had ear tags and they was all Angus. The others were all mix ‘n’ match. We took that one that died to the sale barn like we was supposed to. See, we’d sell them at the small places with forged papers so nobody would catch on. Bob used to supply us with all the forms, but he run out so we took some from you.

  “When we come back to get the last couple of our cows, some was already dead and some scary-looking dudes shot at us. Donny got sick a few days later, and you know the rest.”

  “Did Donny handle the dead cows?”

  “Well yeah, he got blood on his shirt, I remember. He called me a few days later to say he thought the guys who shot at us had been to his house. So I been hiding.”

  “Doug, I don’t know whether they will go easy on you about the cattle rustling, but you have to tell the authorities about the farm and the guys there. Lots more people will die if you don’t.”

  “Oh shit, why did I ever start this? I’m completely fucked. Either I go to jail or I die of a horrible disease.”

  “You can be cured if they catch it before you have any symptoms. Do you feel sick yet?” No way was he going to tell Doug he probably hadn’t gotten anthrax. If he was scared he would tell Halloran everything he knew.

  “I got a sore throat, and I’m awful hungry.”

  “Come to the clinic. I’ll get you some food and you can talk to a man I know who can help you.” He turned and headed back.

  “You’re one of the good ones, Jake. I always told Don you was one of the good ones,” Doug said gratefully as he trotted along behind.

  Jake was texting Halloran to come right away as they walked. The agent was there in less than fifteen minutes, indicating he had been somewhere close by. Jake gave them his office for privacy.

  He was in the back rasping the foundered pony’s hooves when Jill entered.

  “Dr. Gundersen,” she said in that tone that let a man know he’s in trouble, “do you understand the concept of a day off?”

  “I’ve got a few calls to make up on account of Wednesday. Besides, I’m used to waking up early. I was just putting Lucy out with the cows when something came up I had to report to Halloran.”

  “I thought you said you were done with all that.”

  “Doug McCaffrey was in the old hen house and asked for my help. I called Halloran and turned it over to him. And that’s all.”

  Jill sighed, fed up with the whole situation that seemed to be forcing itse
lf on them. “I intend for us to go out tonight, just us. We are going to a restaurant that is not one of our usual haunts and spend some time together that doesn’t involve just sex.”

  “OK, steak or seafood? And we’ll just talk—nothing else.”

  “Steak is a safer bet in Iowa, but I want some privacy. I did not say absolutely no sex, it’s just that the talk is most important.”

  “OK. Steak, talk, sex—in that order.”

  “Why are men so impossible? Steak, talk, and we’ll see.” She threw her hands up and headed for the exam room to start her day. Jake grinned as he watched her walk away, admiring the gentle sway of her hips.

  The homeland security officer and Doug were still locked in his office, so he wandered around listlessly until Steph showed up.

  “I’m going to the cabin to have breakfast with Brad. There is a man named Halloran in my office. Would you buzz me when he comes out? Also, arrange my farm calls so I don’t need to crisscross the county.”

  “Yes sir,” she answered a bit despondently.

  “What’s up, Steph?”

  “Troy has been called up, a support mission in Afghanistan. He’ll be gone six months.” Her husband was on the medical staff of the Iowa National Guard.

  He went around the counter and gave her a hug. “You’ve been married, what? Five months now?” She nodded. “Well, medical corps is a pretty safe billet, and they do let you use the SAT phones often now. I had my first look at my son over the satellite phone. Are you all right or do you want to go home?”

  “I’ll muddle through. I’m just confused right now. I’m proud of him for serving but scared and feeling bereft.”

  “Talk to Maggie Brandeis. She is good at these things—has to be after marrying Steve. She still does her bit for the VA, you know. She probably knows some of the wives whose husbands are also deployed.”

  Halloran came out of the office with a frightened-looking Doug. The sheriff came through the front door at the same time.

  “Gundersen, why does it seem you are at the center of this?” he sneered.

  The homeland security agent looked at Jake and rolled his eyes.

  “Sheriff, never harass a veteran, especially a marine. He’s much better qualified for your job than you are. So far, he has given me all the good leads. You’ve given me jack shit.”

  “If he was the ringleader, he’d know what was safe to leak to you.”

  Jake shrugged and spread his hands. The expression on his face said it all.

  “All right, McCaffrey, you can tell me all about your half-baked theory, after you take this guy to get checked out at the hospital.

  “Gundersen, if I may have a word?”

  Jake led Halloran back into his office. He sat on the edge of his desk, and the agent took a chair. “Cattle aren’t routinely vaccinated against anthrax, are they?”

  “Not here in Iowa, although I did see where they were suggesting it in South Dakota after the flooding.”

  “So if a particularly virulent strain was unleashed it could do a lot of damage before you vets got it stopped.”

  “Yeah, if you could get enough spores to enough locations it could be devastating to the beef industry and any other grazers. You’d probably get some human cases too.”

  “It’s not spread from cow to cow though?”

  “Just from exposure to the spores. Infected cows would shed them everywhere they went.”

  “How about silent carriers?”

  “A cow that got sick and recovered would have antibodies, but if you could infect a cow without it getting sick it could shed viable spores and nobody would be the wiser until a bunch of cows started dropping dead. As far as I know, that has never occurred with anthrax, only certain viruses.”

  “Just wanted confirmation. I’ll be in touch.” Halloran hurried out after the sheriff.

  Jake went to his house to get Brad ready to go to Don McCaffrey’s funeral. His grandparents were picking him up. He had to rouse the boy and help him bathe and dress.

  “Dad?” he asked as they sat down to breakfast. “Is it true what Grandma Ida says about bad things coming in threes?”

  “That’s just one of her old superstitious sayings. Ma is partial to them. Shit, I need to call her and tell her what’s going on before someone else does or I’ll be the wicked son.”

  “It’s just that this is the second funeral I’ll be going to this year. First, Great-Granddad, now Donny.”

  Jake turned away from the stove. He went over and sat with his son. “Are you worried about anyone in particular?”

  “Well, you. With all this anthrax stuff I know Aunt Jeanie is worried.”

  “I just had a booster. I’m immune.”

  “For sure?”

  “Absolutely. Brad, if you’re not up to this I’ll call Marilyn. She’ll understand.”

  “But Mom won’t. Dad, I know some people think Mom’s a nutcase, but she really did love Donny. I want to let her know I care about her feelings.”

  “Jakob Bradley, I’m proud to call you my son.” Jake mussed the boy’s hair. “Don’t let them keep you out too long. If you get tired, call. I’ll pick you up.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Jake said as he flipped some half-burnt eggs onto a plate. “Jill and I are going out to dinner tonight. Eat with your aunt if you get home at supper time.”

  A short while later, they heard a car and Dean came in to help his grandson. Jake cleaned up and headed out to catch up on his farm calls. A big storm was brewing by the feel of the air. He could hear far-off thunder as he loaded the dogs into his truck.

  t was raining hard by the time Jake left his first stop. The sky was a sickly green. He turned up the radio to get a weather update. Hazleton was under a tornado warning, and he was about to pass through there on the way to his next stop. Visibility was poor, and his wipers could barely keep up with the rain. He drove slowly into town and pulled onto the apron of the bank just as the sirens started to sound.

  He grabbed his phone and Newton, the collies following close on his heels as he sprinted into the bank. The manager protested about the dogs.

  “These are service dogs, they stay,” he said in his best no-nonsense tone.

  The manager’s reply was cut off by the freight-train roar of a tornado as it passed through town just a block south of them. Everyone ran for the back and huddled together in the vault as the power went out and the emergency lights flickered on. Newton moaned, shivered, and pressed himself tight against his master as the building vibrated from the fury of the twister. The shaking and howling seemed interminable. The sound of glass shattering made everyone jump.

  A little boy was clinging to his mother and crying. Woody and Buzz bustled over and wrapped themselves around the two as if to say, “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe.” The boy’s mother stroked their fur and looked gratefully at Jake.

  By his watch it had been just under four minutes when the frightening sounds of trees and buildings being torn apart faded. The sirens sounded an all clear, and everyone hastened out to assess the damage. The streets were nearly impassable because of the debris everywhere. Trees that weren’t uprooted had their tops twisted off twelve feet above the ground.

  The bank’s phones were dead, and there was no cell phone reception. Jake called the dogs and headed for his truck. The windshield was cracked, and there were dents in the side toward the tornado’s path. He grabbed his radio and called Jeanine.

  “Thank God, Jakob. Are you all right? Do you know where Jim is?”

  “The dogs and I are fine, but my truck will need some repairs. I was up in Fayette earlier and got caught as I was heading to Fontana. Where was Jim last?”

  “Brogan’s Dairy. He should be just southwest of you.”

  “Christ. That’s the direction the twister came from. Does he have a radio in his truck, do you know?”

  “As far as I know he doesn’t. Oh, wait. He just joined the first responders. I’ll see if I can get him that way.”


  “I’ll head to Brogan’s.”

  “Let me know when you hear anything, Jake, but keep your weather radio on. The radar shows more storms on the way and a lot of rotation in the clouds. There’s a band that should hit us in about twenty minutes.”

  “Close the clinic and you and Jill get everybody to the basement of my cabin. It’s the safest place. Make sure Marilyn and Dean have got Brad in a safe place.”

  “Will do. I won’t get much radio reception down there. Hopefully our cell phones will come back on. The landlines are OK here, so you can get me that way.”

  “I’ll be in touch. Out.”

  It had been a big, intense tornado. The devastation was horrendous. The storm had cut a swath from the southwest through the south end of town and beyond, heading northeast. Several times as he threaded his way through the destruction he almost stopped his truck to help out, but fears for his partner kept him moving.

  As he rounded the corner he could see that the Brogans’ had taken a direct hit. He was anxious as he covered the last quarter mile. Leslie Brogan was Andy Willis’s sister, and they had dated in high school, so he knew her well. They were still friends, and he liked her husband, Hunter, although he saw them seldom since dairymen rarely got time off. He hoped they were safe even as he was heartsick for the destruction of their loafing shed.

  His heart beat faster when he pulled in and saw Jim’s green Chevy with part of a metal roof draped over it. He jumped from the cab, calling out for Jim and Leslie. Then he saw the partially opened door to the storm cellar. The main part of a tree trunk had landed inches in front of it, blocking the way out.

  Jim yelled out, “We’re OK in here, but Hunter didn’t make it in.”

  Jake tried to move the tree, but it wouldn’t budge. “Wait. I’ll get my truck. I have a tow chain.” Woody and Buzz headed out to round up the wandering cows.

  It took about fifteen minutes to move the tree and free Jim, Leslie, and her two children. She screamed and ran for the barn when she saw what was left of it. She called her husband’s name frantically.

  “You girls sit in my truck while we dig your dad out of the rubble. There’s some pop in the cooler here,” Jake said as he scooped up the little girls and sat them in his truck. His hands shook, and he had to force himself to keep moving and thinking.