Page 36 of Trapped with the Covert Ops Soldier

“Get out of my office you two, if I’m going to disappear for a few days, I have some calls to make.” She waggled her fingers at them.

“Walk me to my truck,” her father said to Smitty.

“I need him in one piece, dad.”

“Don’t worry, honey, I won’t hurt him. Much.”

The two men left. She shook her head as she picked up the phone. If she didn’t know better, she’d think her father liked Smitty.

She called the Sheriff and let him know what they planned. His reaction was ridiculously happy and he asked to have Smitty call him before they left. She also got a hold of the other doctor in Bandit Creek, who complained about having to cover for her again, until she pointed out that it was better than having her in the morgue. The last person she called was her receptionist, letting her know that the other doctor was covering for her.

She shut her computer down, locked her door and went searching for Smitty.

He was nosing through some of the medical supplies she kept in the clinic. “You finished?” he asked when he saw her.

“Yeah, let’s go.” She led the way to the backdoor, opened it, and stepped out.

And nearly stepped on JD snoring on the doorstep.

He startled awake and glared at her in a drunken, disoriented way.

“JD, what are you doing here? Again.”

“Sleep’in. Again.”

“I can think of a dozen more comfortable places than this to crash.”

“Yeah, well, none of those places is close enough to guard the door.”

Guard? She glanced at Smitty, who narrowed his eyes and squatted down next to JD.

“Guarding the door from what?”

“The ghost.”

Smitty tilted his head to one side. “This ghost have a name?”

“It’s what they called him back in Nam. Bastard could shoot an apple out of your hand from more than 1000 yards away. He saved my life once, back then, but I don’t think he’d make the effort now.”

Smitty studied Jack’s face with a soldier’s seriousness. “Ghost was a sniper?”

“He was more than that. Used to go on long patrols alone. Live off the land, killing any VC he found.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“Compared to him the VC were a bunch of Girl Scouts.”

“You were scared of him?” Abby asked, fascinated and horrified the same time.

“I’m drunk, not stupid. Of course, I was scared of him.”

“And now?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m still not stupid.”

“So, why are you guarding the doc’s door?” Smitty asked.

“It’s not her time to die yet.”

---