Chapter 3

Bill was just about to leave for the diner when his phone rang. Answering it, it was a huge surprise who was on the other end of the line. "Can you get the doctor and bring him to my place?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Why?" When someone like Jaxson requested medical help, it wasn't a good thing. Men like him were trained in emergency situations and could handle most minor injuries and even some major ones.

"I came across...." Jaxson stopped as his training kicked in. "This isn't a secure line. Just grab the doc and get here as quickly as you can. Bring plenty of O negative and plasma, a surgi-kit and bandages and an extra suture kit."

Before Bill could say anything else, the younger man disconnected the call. Shaking himself, Bill acted quickly, dialing Henry, the town doctor.

"Henry? Gather everything you need to do semi-major surgery and or life-saving surgery, including plenty of O neg and plasma." Bill listened as the man said something. "No, I'll fill you in after I pick you up."

Bill disconnected the line and began to gather his shotgun, his AR-15, tear gas, and several clips and boxes of shotgun shells. He figured Jaxson could probably hold off a small army on his own, but Bill wasn't taking any chances.

As he stepped out of his office, he ran right into MaryLou, the town gossip. Swearing to himself, he made up a quick story when she asked where he was going in an all-fired hurry and loaded for bear.

"Picking the doc up and we are going to a friend's property to shoot. Don't get much practice with the town so quiet, thankfully." MaryLou looked unconvinced but nodded and went about her way.

Bill climbed into his truck and went to pick up the doctor.

When he reached Henry's house, he had a cooler with the blood and plasma, and a leather bag filled with gauze, bandages, sterile water, alcohol and the surgical kit that Jaxson had requested. Hopefully, this was not going to be needed. But Henry reminded himself that Jaxson was a trained soldier, Special Ops. His training kept him level-headed in most situations and Henry felt of chill run up his spine at the thought of what they were headed into.

The drive was made in almost complete silence. When they got to the turn-off to Jaxson's property, Bill pulled out his phone and called.

"We just turned onto your driveway."

Henry could hear Jaxson and the quiet command in his voice as he spoke, "When you come to the fork, take the right one and keep going. Go over the bridge and stop in front of the house. When you come in, come straight to the back to the bedroom on the left." Bill ascertained that he would follow the directions and not ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of the recently restored turn-of-the-century log home.

Gathering his bag, Henry rushed into the house. What he found shocked him.

The missing girl from town was lying on a bed. Her clothes were cut away, Her body was a mass of bruises and stab wounds. As he looked, he could see two gunshot wounds. Wounds that looked like they were not meant to kill, merely to provide pain. The first shot had gone through the top of her shoulder, just grazing the top of her collarbone. The second one had gone through the inner part of her thigh, up close to her groin. It looked like it had been done at close range with a smaller caliber gun. The entry wound was small and there was no exit wound. The powder burns on her skin gave away the proximity of the gun to her wound.

Shaking himself, Henry set his bag down as Bill brought his cooler in. Reaching in, he grabbed the IV kit and tossed it to Jaxson, "Get it started while I complete a quick exam."

Jaxson snatched the kit out of the air and began tying the tourniquet to make a vein pop up. With the amount of blood loss the girl had it was difficult to locate a vein. After searching for several seconds, he found one in her forearm and jammed the needle into her and opened the IV fully. It was the only thing they could do.

Henry stood and looked at Jaxson and said, "How did you find her?"

"When I got home from town, I noticed buzzards circling and I decided to go and check it out. After all, I didn't want what little livestock I had to fall to predators. When I got to where they were circling, she was there. Lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood. She had been beaten beyond recognition, stabbed multiple times and shot twice. Both non-critical, but in places that would cause a great deal of pain. Someone tortured her."

Henry began to work closing up the multiple stab wounds before tackling the gunshots and head injury. This would stop the blood flow and allow her body to retain what they were pumping into her. He also noticed that the young woman's clothes had been removed and her body, somewhat, wiped down.

After Henry pulled the two small caliber bullets from her shoulder and thigh, he stood and looked at Jaxson. He hated having to ask the next question. But, as a doctor, he needed to know. It would affect how he would treat her and the ability to collect evidence from her body.

"Jaxson, I have to ask. Was she raped?" Jaxson frowned at the question and thought back to how he found her and the condition of her body when he removed her blood-soaked clothes.

"I don't think so, Doc. But, I couldn't say for sure. She doesn't have any bruising on her thighs or fingerprints that indicate she was held down. Only that she was beaten and tortured." Lifting her small hand to show the doctor. Her fingers had been bent backward and were almost all at an awkward angle. "I wanted to set them, but I thought it better to wait for you."

The doctor nodded his approval and gestured for Jaxson to begin the process of setting her fingers, then wrapping each one and then the whole hand. He wrapped the stretchy bandage all the way to her wrist, just in case. They really needed to x-ray her entire body, But, it was too dangerous to move her. No one can know she survived. Whatever she had seen must have been bad for the people who found her to do what they did.

Having mentioned it to Henry, the doctor nodding, commented, "Bill, how are we going to justify me being out here for several days? I want to be close to her, in case of complications. Which, I'm trying to avoid."

The sheriff looked up from where he was typing up his report on his tablet. "We'll think of something, Henry. You and Jaxson are both ex-military. Put those brains to use and find a good reason."

Just then, Jaxson added antibiotics to the girl's IV while the Doc finished removing the two bullets and sewing up her head wound after flushing it and cleaning it up.

"I know. We will let it out that Jaxson and I served at the same time and.... No, that won't work. We all know that he doesn't care for people." Turning his head, he looked over at the subject of the conversation, "No offense."

Jaxson felt a ghost of a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. "None taken."

"How about Jaxson was bitten by something and had to be watched closely? Would that work? This time of year, copperheads and rattlers are coming out of their nests in the ground and are a little more ornery than usual. Will that work? " Henry asked with an eyebrow raised.

"You know, that might just work. Give you a reason to be out here for about four or five days, at least. Give you both a chance to watch the girl and make sure that infection doesn't set up in her wounds." Bill stated with a relieved look.

Jaxson left the two men to finish taking their pictures and notes of the injuries, type and location and write down their probable cause. He felt a shudder go through his body and looked towards the heavens. "Really, you're going to trust me not to get someone else killed?" Then he turned to the kitchen counter to make coffee. The sheriff would still be here for a few more hours and it was getting later in the day. Going to the bedroom where the girl was, he stopped to listen to the conversation of the two men.

"Frankly Bill, I think it's the best thing for him. Gives him something to focus on besides his own pain. It might even help him come out of his shell a bit."

"Henry, you didn't read that report. His men were shot all to hell. He is the only survivor. And while logically, he knows he isn't at fault, he blames himself. Men like Jaxson take their responsibilities very seriously. As the man in charge of the mission, it was his job to make sure everyone came back home. Alive."

"I know that, Bill. I saw enough during my stint. I had nightmares myself after I got out. Going to med school was probably the only thing that saved me, mentally. Jaxson needs something, someone to focus on. Our Jane Doe is just that someone."

Having heard enough, he entered the room. Both men turned, knowing that Jaxson had heard them. "Let's just hope I don't wig out one night and kill her."

"So you have PTSD, Jaxson? Nightmares, things like that?" Henry asked.

"No. Thankfully, that's one burden I don't carry." Jaxson looked over to the bed where the girl lay covered up and realized the other men were right. He really did need something to focus on besides his guilt and pain. Realizing something, he quickly turned to Bill and said what he had been thinking.

"Don't turn that report in yet. Let the dust settle for 48 hours and see if anything comes out of the woodwork. When you do send it, encrypt it. You have that capability, don't you?" At Bill's nod, Jaxson felt something twist in his stomach. It always did that right before a rough mission.

Raising his eyes to look over at the two men, he said, "Who's hungry? We've been in here for three hours getting this woman cleaned and stitched up."

Bill and Henry both stated that they were ready to eat. They followed Jaxson into the kitchen and watched as he pulled a ham out of the fridge along with mayo, tomatoes, onions, pickles, lettuce, cheese, mustard and a loaf of bread from the counter. Then he went to his pantry and got several apples and passed out two bags of chips and sat their coffee cups on the table. "Dig in, gentlemen."

About that time a loud grumble was heard and Henry turned a shade of pink. "Sorry about that. I was just about to eat breakfast when Bill called."

Everyone was quiet as the men made thick sandwiches and ate in silence. When they were finished, they offered to help put away and clean but Jaxson waved them off. "It's just some cups and knives, since we ate out of paper plates."

Bill looked at the clock on the wall, shocked. "It's later than I realized. I'd better be going. Henry, I'll run some clothes out to you tomorrow and check on our patient." Grabbing his hat, the sheriff left.

Looking around, Henry realized that the house was very modern in a lot of ways. "You know, you would never know this place had all the modern amenities — internet, TV, running water. Speaking of, do you have something I can put on? I'd really like to take a shower."

As the men went through a shower each and watched some TV, each took turns checking on the mysterious woman in Jaxson's guest room.

When it came time to go to sleep, Jaxson insisted Henry take his room and he slept on a pallet in the girl's room.