Strange Medicine (Dr. Maxwell Thornton Murder Mysteries #1)(40)

“Holy smokes.” He looked horrified. “What the hell is going on with this damn house? I’ve never had anyone call me even once in ten years, and now it’s like every few days something is happening here.”

“I’m about ready to pack my bags and go back to LA.” I glanced at the pile of rubble in my kitchen. “I’m not used to this kind of violence and mayhem.”

Royce’s expression tensed at the suggestion of me going back to LA. “I guess you need to do what you need to do.” He moved away from me and crouched on his haunches in front of the shattered wall. “What the heck was he looking for?”

“And why did he think I wouldn’t come back when I did?” I felt uneasy. “Did he have something planned that was supposed to hold me up in town?” I shivered.

“Who demolishes another person’s kitchen like this?” He shook his head. “This makes no sense.”

“If I could have just got my hands on him,” I growled.

He glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. “Oh, yeah? I don’t see you as the brawling sort.” He set Grumpy down, and the puppy wandered toward me.

“I’m not a wimp.” I sighed, kneeling down to pet the puppy. “I can hold my own in a fight if I need to. I took several years of tae kwon do.”

“Then I guess all the bad guys better watch out.”

I scowled. “I can’t help but feel you’re mocking me.”

“Nah. Just teasing.”

I grimaced. “To be honest, he was a bit of a bruiser. He looked like a muscle-bound Neanderthal. Do you think I should hire a security guard?”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did. At the very least you need to have an alarm put in.” He straightened and went to the sledgehammer. He pulled gloves from his pocket and slipped them on, then picked up the heavy hammer with a grunt. “What we need to figure out is are they trying to scare you away, or do they actually mean you harm?”

“Yes. I’d love to know if this is personal. Maybe I get all the fun simply because I happen to be the guy who lives here.” I sat on one of the kitchen stools. “It can’t go on like this, or I’m going to get an ulcer. It crossed my mind perhaps I should move the clinic to a location in town.”

He faced me. “You mean if you don’t run back to LA?”

I held his enigmatic gaze. “I don’t fit in very well here anyways. Everybody seems to dislike me.”

He lifted one shoulder. “I like you,” he drawled.

His gentle tone gave me butterflies. “Is that so?”

“We’re just getting to know each other.”

“True.”

“You go running back to LA, that’s gonna be the end of that.”

“Also true.”

Without another word he left the room, and I stood, grabbed the puppy, and followed him. He went to his car and popped the trunk. Then he set the hammer carefully on a piece of plastic that was spread inside the car. “I’ll have this checked for fingerprints.”

I grimaced. “He was wearing gloves.”

“Of course he was,” he said gruffly. “Well, maybe someone touched the sledgehammer before they put their gloves on. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Luck doesn’t seem to really be on my side lately.”

“I disagree. You could have had a sledgehammer planted in your head, but you didn’t.”

“Fair enough.” I shuddered. I couldn’t see his features in the dark very clearly, but I could feel his concern radiating off him. “Do you think it’s safe to sleep here tonight?”

“I don’t know how much sleep you’ll get since I have to send my forensics team back over here to process the kitchen.”

“Oh.” I sighed. “Looks like I’ll be sleeping at the Dusty Steer again for the next few nights. Will I be able to open for business tomorrow?”

He studied me. “If you keep everybody out of the kitchen, you can see patients tomorrow.”

“Thanks. You’re collecting fingerprints, so I wasn’t sure.”

“You have way too many people in and out of this place on a daily basis, it’s not like I can check for prints anywhere else in the house and have it be conclusive. We’ll just stick to the kitchen area.”

“Okay.” I pulled my phone from my pocket to give the hotel a call to see if they had a vacancy. I didn’t really relish another stay at the Dusty Steer. It was a perfectly nice hotel, but it was kind of noisy because it was right over a bar. But according to the Auto Club it was the best hotel in town, so I didn’t have much choice.

Royce noticed me scrolling through my phone. “Who you calling?”

“I need to call the Dusty Steer. It’s short notice, so I hope they have a room.”

He shifted and shut the trunk. “Why don’t you bunk at my place for a few nights?” He sounded breathless.

His suggestion caught me completely off guard. “At your place?” My voice was higher-pitched than I liked because I was so surprised.

“Sure. Why not?”

“Well…”

“I’ve got a big guest room that never gets any use.” He sounded stiff, and I wasn’t sure if he regretted making the original offer.