Playing Doctor (Bandit Creek Books) by Julie Rowe Page A

you leave your parent’s place, or have that Navy SEAL of yours call me.”
    “He’s not a SEAL, but yeah, we’ll call.”
    “Did he call me Navy?” Smitty sounded either incredulous or insulted, she couldn’t tell which.
    “He called you a lot of things, including a moron for driving so fast.”
    “Nah, you’re the one calling me a moron.”
    He took a corner so fast both duffel bags rolled over her, shoving her against the front seats.
    “Slow down before you kill us!”
    “I will as soon as we get a few miles from town.”
    “How great a range do you think the sniper has?”
    “Don’t know. That’s the problem.”
    What could she say to that?
    She fell silent and watched the world go by much too fast for a minute or two. Then he slowed down a little.
    “Can I crawl into a seat now?”
    “Yeah, I guess.”
    She dug her way out from under their bags and slithered into the front passenger seat. “Do you know where you’re going?”
    “Mostly. Your dad gave me directions. Feel free to tell me I’ve taken a wrong turn.”
    She didn’t respond to the obvious opening to needle him. “Is it me or could that shot have killed me?”
    “Huh?”
    “I was a pretty stationary target, unlike yesterday when that lucky penny saved me. The sniper could have killed me just now. It begs the question.”
    “Yes it does.”
    “Do you think JD passed on my message?”
    “If the sniper believed it, he wouldn’t have taken a second shot at you, he’d have killed you with it.” Smitty’s brows hung low over his eyes. “You’re right. Something has changed.”
    “Could it have been a warning?”
    “For what?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Damn it, why doesn’t this person communicate like normal people? He could ask me, write me a note, something other than destroying every door in my vicinity?”
    “You’re trying to apply rational thought to an irrational situation. It won’t work.”
    “I hate this. I absolutely hate this. What is it with men and violence? Don’t they know that most problems can only be solved with communication not guns?”
    “Hey, my gun is pretty good at getting my point across most of the time.”
    “You suck.”
    That made him laugh. “You don’t like it when you’re wrong, do you?”
    “Does anyone? And I’m not wrong. A simple conversation would solve this stupidity.”
    “If you can believe the town’s drunk mascot.”
    “JD is a lot of things, but a mascot isn’t one of them.”
    “Sounds like he’s a veteran, seen some action in Nam . A lot of those guys ended up on the streets, though most in big cities.”
    “What did you think of his warning?”
    “About the sniper?”
    “No, about you becoming another ghost?”
    “I think he’s crazy.”
    “Take the next right. We’ll be on gravel from now on.”
    Smitty nodded and took the turn, but didn’t offer any more insight into JD’s ramblings.
    “I think I could turn into a ghost with very little trouble at all.” Abby mumbled.
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.” She didn’t mean to sound so defeated, but that’s exactly how she felt.
    “Why?”
    “I’m haunted.”
    “Hey, we’re all haunted. Every single soul on Earth is haunted by something, some decision, action or lie we wish we could take back. You need to give yourself a break. Maybe even a little forgiveness.”
    “There some things for which there is no forgiveness.”
    “Not even if it means someone will kill you or someone else?”
    She didn’t answer. She didn’t have one.
    “To protect the innocent I would kill, I have killed. The only reason I don’t hate myself for it is because I killed to protect someone else who couldn’t protect themselves.”
    “I did protect myself. I did kill other people.”
    “They murdered a wounded man and would have murdered anyone else they found alive, including you, if you hadn’t shot those insurgents. And after you were done, you dropped the weapon like it burned your hands.”
    “I wish it