John Doe on Her Doorstep

Fighting back the tears, Dani forced her attention back to the problem at hand. Sorting through his office. She would leave most everything, just not the files. Especially this file. She stared at the odd little electronic storage stick in her hand, still confused by what it contained. She’d never known him to use this sort of storage. The stick was about two inches long and looked like the ones used in digital cameras, which, when inserted into the right plug in one’s computer, held the downloaded images captured by the camera. Most of his files were stored on the usual disks and CDs and locked away safely in the basement. He’d ensured that his personal research files from his life’s work were properly safeguarded when he retired. Order had been her father’s middle name. Everything had its place. But this one file…it just didn’t make sense—in more ways than one.

After skirting the large desk, she settled into the soft leather chair and loaded it onto the computer. She’d retrieved it from its original hiding place and brought it into the office with her now to decide what to do with it. She scrolled through a couple of screens that were labeled the Eugenics Project. Like the ones in the basement vault it was encrypted and dated. But unlike the others, which corresponded with the early years of his career, the date on this one was recent. Why would her father have been working on another government program? He was retired. Maybe he’d been consulting? She supposed that was a possibility.

At the funeral, Mr. O’Riley, her father’s former director, had said that he hadn’t talked to him in months. And her father certainly wouldn’t have been discussing a top secret government program with anyone except those with proper clearance. And this project was clearly marked Top Secret. Even stranger, she’d found this odd little file hidden inside the vacuum cleaner. If she hadn’t thought the bag was full she would never have opened the canister and checked. The vault in the basement was for safekeeping his work and other personal documents, such as his will, the deed to the property, etc. Why hide this one in the vacuum cleaner, of all places? None of it made sense.

At first, she’d felt certain that he’d put the file there ages ago and forgotten about it. But the creation date on the file, as well as the day and time stamp on the single recorded call on the audiotape, indicated October second of this year, which negated that idea. The file had been stored in its unlikely hiding place the day before her father died. She hadn’t found it until three days ago when she’d gone on a cleaning frenzy. Dani had scanned a couple of screens and realized that the information was off limits. She hadn’t looked at it again until now—not that she could make head or tail of it anyway since it was encrypted. A couple of times she’d considered calling Mr. O’Riley, but for one reason or another she hadn’t gotten around to it.

The audiotape was a minicassette, like the ones used in the dinosaur of an answering machine right here on her father’s desk. Her father’s personal answering machine, as well as the wall phone in the kitchen, was far from the newest technology.

Dani dragged her fragmented thoughts away from the past and refocused on the tape. Knowing the cryptic call had come in the day before her father’s accident made her feel oddly uneasy. The man, whose voice she didn’t recognize, had sounded almost frantic. As if on autopilot she put the tape into the machine and pressed the play button to listen to it again now. She didn’t know why she tortured herself.

“Archer, call me ASAP. It’s extremely important. It’s about the Eugenics Project. I think we’re in trouble.”

The caller had left a number but no name. On impulse, Dani had called the number the first time she’d listened to the tape. She’d gotten a computerized voice mail requesting that she leave a message. She had. She’d informed the caller that her father had passed away, but that she had the file he’d called about if he still wanted it. She left her name and number and suggested that he call her back as soon as possible. After all, she did have a life to get back to, even if she had been putting off making her decision. She recognized that she couldn’t stay holed up here forever. It was well past time she finished with the task of settling her father’s affairs. And yet, she was still here…putting off what she realized with complete certainty she needed to do.

In the three days since she’d left the message, though, no one had returned her call about the file. Oddly, she’d immediately regretted making that call. The file was marked Top Secret…she wasn’t even supposed to have been looking at it. Her father had never involved her in his work. He wouldn’t want her involved in it now, but she’d felt compelled to settle all his affairs. She sighed. She didn’t want to let him down…not in any way. She hadn’t meant to violate security. She had no way of knowing if the caller was even cleared for viewing the file…but then, he’d called it by name. Maybe she was making this harder than it needed to be. She had a responsibility to settle her father’s affairs.

Dani picked up the receiver and entered the string of numbers again. The same computerized voice asked her to leave a message. She hung up.

I think we’re in trouble.

She’d worked hard not to tack too much significance to that statement. It might not mean anything. But why were the file and the tape hidden in such a manner? If her father hadn’t been consulting on a project, then what had he been doing? If she knew the caller’s name, that would help. The whole situation was too cloak-and-daggerish.

Dani shoved her fingers into her hair and massaged her aching skull. She did not want to think along those lines. Her father had been a loyal, highly respected civil servant. The sheer number of plaques and certificates in this very room attested to that. He was much loved by his counterparts. She had attended several social functions where he was the man of the hour. His research, though top secret, was, from all indications, unparalleled. She’d been there for his retirement party. Everybody had loved Daniel Archer. There was no reason to believe differently now.

I think we’re in trouble.

Why did her instincts have to start plaguing her now? Her father had died two weeks ago. If he’d been involved in anything risky, she would have known it by now. O’Riley would have told her.

What was she thinking? She gave herself a good mental scolding. If her father was involved in a government project, then it was on the up-and-up, end of subject.

Dani started to push away from the desk, but something in her peripheral vision snagged her attention. The final line of text on the screen. Termination. A frown tugged at her mouth. The information on the first few screens had been encrypted, but this part wasn’t. She scrolled down a little farther. She quickly read the text. It was a report by Joseph Marsh, an old colleague of her father’s. She vaguely recognized the name. Why hadn’t she looked this far before? She exhaled a weary breath. Because it had been marked Top Secret. Her father had long ago ingrained in her the relevance of security measures. Besides, she had assumed it would all be encrypted.

Uneasiness stirred again in the pit of her stomach as she read the report a second time. It was about an animal training program and its possible termination. But phrases such as most imperative, life-altering and frightening consequences were used. Studying the screen more closely, she decided it was a faxed report her father had scanned into the file. Squinting to make out the tiny print along the edge of the scanned page, she also saw that the sending telephone number was the same as the one on the tape. I think we’re in trouble. This only confused her further. Was the caller Joseph Marsh? She searched her memory banks in an effort to remember his face or if she’d even met him before. Nothing came to her.

Her first thought when considering animal training was dogs or horses. Was the government using inhumane training procedures? If so, what did it have to do with her father? He was a scientist specializing in human genetic engineering. He didn’t train animals.

She stilled. Could her father have discovered that some sort of immoral genetic engineering was taking place using animals? She could definitely see him fighting to ensure the termination of a program he believed was wrong. The frown reached her forehead, etching deep furrows there. If that were the case, he would have gone to any lengths to stop it. He definitely wouldn’t have hidden the file or acted in secret. He would have gone straight to O’Riley. Her father had been a strong man. He would never have hidden his beliefs or his actions. Unless…

This couldn’t have anything to do with his accident…

Her heart pounded a little harder in her chest. She shook her head. No. That was ludicrous…unthinkable. She wasn’t generally the type to think along conspiracy lines.

This couldn’t be anything like that. No. It was ridiculous to even consider. She was tired, that’s all. The lingering smell of cherry blend pipe tobacco and sandalwood aftershave she’d endured while packing away her father’s personal belongings had her nerves raw. She needed something to eat and a long, hot bath. Now that she thought about it, the day had passed without her taking a break. She’d been too upset this morning to eat the muffins she’d gone to the trouble to make…had worked through lunch. No wonder she was so tired. Her body needed fuel.

She quickly closed the file and removed the storage stick from the computer. She started to drop both the stick and the tape into one of the desk drawers, but something she couldn’t quite name, a feeling, made her hesitate. Instead, she removed the tape from the machine, turned off the brass lamp and headed into the entry hall. She opened the door to the hall closet and knelt next to the vacuum cleaner. Carefully, she replaced the file and the tape where her father had hidden them.

“This is totally nuts,” she chastised herself softly as she got back to her feet and closed the door.

But somehow she felt better knowing it was secured in that way. Her father had hidden it for some reason. And he’d been no fool.

Determined to banish the unsettling thoughts about his last days, Dani turned toward the kitchen. Dinner and then upstairs for a nice long, hot bath. No more sorting and packing. No more conspiracy theories. Tonight, she was going to relax and maybe have a couple of glasses of wine. She might even find an old movie to watch.

And she would forget all about death and conspiracy.

IT WAS dark.

He was cold. Very cold. Pain. He needed to rest, but he was lost. His lids were so heavy he could barely keep his eyes open. The ache in his head pulsed with the beating in his chest.

Light. He could see light from…from a…place. He frowned at his inability to put a name to what he saw. Almost too weak to stand alone, he pushed away from the tree he’d been leaning against and went toward the light.

A long time passed before he reached it. He was so exhausted by the time he got there he wasn’t sure if he could go any farther. But he had to get inside…to the light. He would be safer there.

He stared at the door in front of him and tried to think of what to do. He wanted…needed…

He didn’t know what…he was tired…so tired.

DANI shivered.

“What is wrong with you, Dani?” She shook her head and took another bite of her sandwich. A heavy silence had invaded the house, or, at least, it somehow felt that way. Despite her best efforts, another shiver danced up her spine one vertebra at a time.

This was ridiculous. She wasn’t usually so jumpy.

Unable to help herself, her gaze shifted to the back door. It wasn’t locked. Well, duh. She rarely locked the doors until she went to bed. She tried to ignore the nagging feeling, but it just wouldn’t go away. She pushed away from the table, the chair legs scraping over the tiled floor, stood and walked straight to the door and locked it.

“Do you feel better now?” she muttered.

She dropped back into her chair, disgusted with herself. She never acted this way. What was wrong with her? Then it hit her. Rand’s hunting story had her spooked. That was it. Dani breathed a much-needed sigh of relief. The tale had been hanging around in the back of her mind and building up panic momentum all day. No wonder she was feeling out of sorts.

If the county had a halfway decent sheriff, she would have called and reported the incident. Though she trusted Rand’s and Cal’s judgment, she would feel a lot better if someone official checked out their story. But it wouldn’t be Sheriff Nichols. She’d already seen more of him than she cared to, and his men were no more welcome on her property than he was. Their allegiance was, of course, to their esteemed leader. She wasn’t about to give him a legitimate reason to come around. He might have fooled the locals into voting for him, but Dani knew the pervert behind the badge. How did a guy like him get elevated to a position of such authority? He was a lying, womanizing jerk.

Subject change. She wasn’t about to go down that road again. It had taken her months to get over the ulcer she’d developed five summers ago from when that low-life had attacked her and thought he’d get away with it. She had no intention of working herself up over him now. She was older and wiser.

Unable to finish her sandwich, Dani cleared the table and dropped the remainder of her meal into the trash. It was times like this that made her wish she had a dog. When she felt creeped out, she’d have someone to talk to. Plus, the dog would bark if anyone came around, giving Dani advance notice. But neither she nor her father had ever been able to stay here long enough to justify owning a dog. Finding someone to feed him wouldn’t be the problem, but she wouldn’t want the poor animal to be lonely.

Since the house sat empty more often than not, that was bound to happen, especially since it was just her now. She doubted she would be able to get back here for more than a few days at a time. She wondered if her father had lived if he’d have eventually gotten a dog. A pet would have kept him company since he’d taken up permanent residence on the ranch after retiring. It was only natural to have a dog in the country, wasn’t it? For lots of reasons other than security.

I think we’re in trouble.

Dani forced the unbidden thought away. She didn’t want to think about that any more tonight. She didn’t know what the file was about and there was no reason for her to need to know. Her father had stood steadfastly by that government rule. She never knew anything of his work except on the occasions when he was honored for some undisclosed milestone.

She rinsed her dishes and loaded the dishwasher. There wasn’t a full load yet so she opted not to start the cycle. Time for that bath now. Hopefully the hot water would melt away the rest of her tension. The wine she’d had with her meal was already making her feel warm inside.

She poured herself another glass and sipped it thoughtfully as she walked from the kitchen to the entry hall. The light from the kitchen lit her way well enough that she didn’t bother with the hall light. She shifted her glass to her left hand and started unbuttoning her blouse with her right.

If she was lucky, there might be one more envelope of raspberry-scented bath salts. God, that would be heavenly, she thought as she rounded the newel post at the bottom of the stairs.

She stilled when she would have taken the first step up. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She swallowed, then turned around slowly. Very slowly.

Someone stood in the shadows shrouding the front door.

Tall. A man. Her heart stalled in midbeat.

God, why hadn’t she locked the front door? Because no one around here locked doors.

He stepped out of the darkness. The dim glow that reached this end of the hall highlighted the chiseled features of his face. His clothing was torn and disheveled. Blood. Dried blood stained the right shoulder of his khaki shirt.

Dani’s eyes widened in fear. The urge to scream climbed into her throat.

She had to run. As if he’d read her mind, a strong hand snaked out and manacled her wrist.

She opened her mouth to cry out.

He swayed. She gasped, and then he crumpled to the floor.

Chapter Four

For an endless moment, Dani stood frozen…unable to move or think. Her physician’s instincts screamed at her to go to the man who was obviously injured in some way, but the vulnerable, human side of her refused to even breathe, much less move a step in his direction. The skin on her wrist still burned where he had clutched at her so desperately and with such strength. How could a man on the verge of collapsing possess such tremendous strength?

When he continued to lie motionless, those instincts honed for nearly a decade in medical school, then a couple more as a resident, finally kicked in. She crouched next to him, bracing one knee against the smooth hardwood floor.

Her heart racing, she reached toward his throat and the carotid artery there. He was breathing, though his pulse rate was a little slow. Needing more light, she flipped on the overhead fixture and resumed her examination.

His color was ashen. Not good. His clothes were mud-splattered, with dried leaves stuck here and there in garish decoration. A number of angry scratches marred his face and bare forearms. The dried blood on his shoulder certainly would not have come from any of the scratches. Easing closer, allowing both knees to rest on the floor now, she leaned over him and examined his right shoulder.

The edges of a small tear in the fabric of his shirt were stuck together with blood. As she noted the damage to the khaki material somewhere in the back of her mind she considered that she should be using gloves. Should be calling the police…an ambulance.

She slipped enough buttons from their closures to facilitate sliding the shirt off his shoulder. More red, angry flesh surrounded an already healing circular wound about the size of a nickel. The injury was unmistakable. A bullet wound. Cal’s and Rand’s story zoomed into her thoughts. But she didn’t have time to reflect on that right now.

Using all her strength against the deadweight pressing down onto the floor, she rolled him onto his left side. She carefully peeled the shirt away from his skin to see if the bullet had exited cleanly.

A sigh slipped past her lips when she found the exit wound, larger and not healed quite so well. Okay, there would be no bullet to remove. The incredible fact that the injuries were healed so well eliminated the need for suturing. Allowing his weight to ease back down against the floor, she sat back on her heels and considered her unexpected patient. The gunshot wound wasn’t the cause of his current state, that much she’d wager. His flesh felt too warm. She needed to verify his temperature. Maybe an infection?

Proceeding with her examination, she checked his limbs, which appeared to have been working fine before he collapsed. He had moved toward her and his grip had certainly been plenty powerful. All appeared to be in order as she made her way along his lean, muscular limbs and torso, then up his neck. Buried in thick, silky hair, her fingers stilled where they roamed his scalp. There was noticeable swelling at the back of his skull. She rolled him onto his side once more and surveyed the area more closely. The flesh was not damaged or discolored. His full head of blond hair looked no worse for wear. Yet there was a definite raised area.

She had to have help. She couldn’t move him on her own. Getting him to the hospital was the next logical step. Calling an ambulance, as she’d considered earlier, would be pointless. By the time it reached her remote location, she could have him at the hospital twice over by herself. She just needed help moving him.

Cal and Rand.

She made the call and in less than fifteen minutes, the two were at her door.

“Holy cow.”

Rand looked from the stranger, still unconscious on the floor, to his friend, whose exclamation still echoed in the seemingly too quiet house. “I told you, man,” he murmured.

“You think this is the man you saw?” Dani asked as she knelt next to the stranger and checked his pulse once more. Still a bit slow, but damned steady.

Rand nodded. “It’s him.” Then he shook his head slowly from side to side in visible regret. “Dammit. I didn’t mean—”

“Let’s not worry about that right now,” Dani interjected. “Help me get him to your truck.”

Rand’s eyes rounded in terror. “You going to take him to the hospital?”

Cal jabbed him with his elbow. “Of course she is, you idiot. He’s been shot.”

Dani’s gaze locked with Rand’s and she knew exactly what he was afraid of. The hospital would be required to report the shooting to the sheriff. Sheriff Lane Nichols was an absolute jerk. The idea of having to deal with him left a bad taste in her mouth as well. She shuddered, then shook off the dread.

“We have to—”

“He’s all right, ain’t he?” Rand demanded. “I mean, he’s not going to die or anything…”

Dani peered down at the stranger once more. “He’s stable, if that’s what you’re asking. His life isn’t in danger from the gunshot wound, in my estimation.” She considered his heated flesh. Unless an infection was in the works. “But there might be other complications.” She shrugged as half a dozen scenarios filtered through her thoughts. “Infection. There’s a lump on the back of his skull.” She looked up at the boys then. “Could he have fallen after you shot him?”

Both shook their heads vigorously. “He ran like hell,” Cal explained. “That’s why I thought it was a deer. I saw the blood where he’d been hit, but he was long gone.”

Rand nodded his agreement. “We weren’t close to any bluffs or nothing like that. One second he was there, the next he was gone. I even followed the blood trail for a while but never caught up with him.”

“That happens with deer a lot,” Cal put in. “That’s why I was sure…”

His gaze dropped back down to the man. He didn’t have to say the rest. Dani understood. He sincerely thought his friend had shot a deer that had run off to die someplace where his hunters would never locate him.

“If you take him to the hospital,” Rand said softly, “the sheriff’ll have my hide. He’s got it in for me anyway.”

Dani could believe that. Nichols had had it in for her for a long time. She didn’t trust him. In fact, he scared the hell out of her.

Maybe the boys were right. Maybe involving the sheriff wasn’t even necessary. She peered down at the injured man once more. Maybe she could give him all the attention he needed. When he woke up, hopefully she could convince him not to press charges against Rand.

“All right,” she said as she pushed to her feet. “Let’s get him to the guest room.”

The relief on the boys’ faces was palpable. She had to be out of her mind. What if something went wrong? What if he took a turn for the worse during the night? Then she’d call that ambulance, she promised herself. But, what if he was a fugitive from the law? For all she knew, he could be a killer. Why else would he hiding out in the woods like that?

Just now taking the time to consider who the guy was, she knelt down next to him and searched his pockets for some sort of identification. His pockets were empty. The possibility that he’d been robbed occurred to her. But why, then, would he hide in the woods?

It didn’t make sense.

Any more than what she was about to do.

She stepped back out of the way and let Rand and Cal take over. Cal, the more muscular of the two, hooked his arms under the stranger’s and hefted him upward. Rand lifted him with one arm under the bend of each knee. The typical dead man carry.

Moving the stranger didn’t actually worry Dani. He’d walked into her home of his own volition, and her examination had given her no reason to believe he had any broken bones. That wasn’t to say that there couldn’t be fractures undetectable by the naked eye and probing fingers. But that was a risk even paramedics would have to take were they to heft him onto a gurney and into an ambulance.