Chapter 5 Kendra stared

Kendra stared at him in shock then threw up her hands in disbelief. "You're all going to go and leave him here by himself? What if he gets sick and throws up or goes into shock? He's unconscious! Someone needs to stay here to look after him. I don't think you understand how serious his injury is."

"I was really hoping you might be able to do that. You know, just stay here for the night and take care of him. You would know what to do if something went wrong. And with your expertise, you could take much better care of him than we could anyway."

Kendra's mouth opened then closed. Was he insane? What the hell was he thinking? That she would be willing to drop everything and hang out overnight in a secluded cabin with a criminal she didn't know? Yeah right, like that would happen in a million years. If they wanted someone to look after him, they could call one of their groupies.

Kendra was already shaking her head. "Look, this is not my problem and definitely not my responsibility. I did what you asked because it was an emergency situation. I fixed his wound and stitched him up. Any other person in their right mind would've called both 911 and the cops. You're asking way too much from me."

She glanced over at Tom, who was sitting silently at the kitchen table. "I know I owe you for rescuing that dog and bringing him in, but come on. This is crazy. You've crossed so far over the line here already. I'm not kidding when I say I could very well lose my license if someone found out about this."

Jesse nodded gravely as she spoke. "I know what we're asking. We all do. That's why I'm willing to make it worth your while. Have you heard of the charity ride the Steel Infidels always put on in the spring?"

Kendra shrugged. "Not really, but go ahead." Personally, she'd always wondered if motorcycle gang charity drives were scams. Or at the very least if the gangs were skimming most of the donations off the top. She'd bet good money they were.

"Our club's bylaws allow us to choose any charity we want to donate the funds to," Jesse explained. "Basically it's a goodwill gesture on our part for the community. So I have a proposition for you. What if we agreed to donate the money from the ride this year to the Shaw Wildlife Center in exchange for your help?"

"Seriously?" Kendra answered, suddenly much more interested. "How much money do you usually raise on a charity drive?"

"Twenty thousand minimum. Think of how far that would go in your center. Last year we wrote a check to the children's burn unit for twenty-three thousand dollars."

Whoa! Kendra's mind started churning. Twenty thousand dollars would take the center out of the red. The wildlife rehabilitation center was currently funded solely by donations and by her vet practice that shared the same building. There were times when the center barely had enough money for raw meat for the carnivores, much less any specialized housing facilities.

She thought of all the things twenty thousand dollars could do for the center. A donation that large would help build a huge outdoor aviary for the orphaned and injured raptors that came in every year. Plus the money might even cover the cost of a deer facility to allow the baby fawns to acclimate to the weather before being released back into the wild.

On one hand, she absolutely loathed the thought of getting involved with a motorcycle gang up to their necks in illegal activities. On the other hand, the money would help feed a lot of animals when baby animal season rolled around in the spring.

This wasn't the first time Kendra had been faced with difficult choices where animals were concerned. And this time, like every other time, no matter the consequences, she chose the side of the animals. Right or wrong, it didn't matter.

She didn't hesitate. "Okay, I'll stay," she said firmly. "How long do you need me?"

Jesse heaved a long sigh of relief. She noticed he was quite a handsome man in a bad boy sort of way when he wasn't looking so strained with worry. Though he was not nearly as devilishly good-looking as his injured brother. Not by a long shot. Of course, Jesse was also a good ten years older.

"As long as you can spare," he replied. "Flint needs to stay here where he is safe and out of sight for a couple of days at least."

"You're lucky it's a Friday and I don't have any big plans. A few of my staff are on duty at the clinic all weekend to take care of the animals, but I'll need to be back at work on Monday morning. Three nights at the absolute maximum and that's it. No more. Two would be better. One of you fellows better be back up here bright and early to check on him no later than Monday morning."

Jesse reached out to shake her hand again. "Thank you so much, Dr. Shaw. You don't know how much this means to us. Especially to me."

Kendra shook his hand and dropped it quickly. "Let's get something straight," she interrupted. "I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for the wildlife clinic. As long as you come through with your end of the deal, we'll all be fine. Don't even think about screwing me over."

"Don't worry, my word is good," Jesse replied.

"Good. Before all of you hightail it out of here, I need you to answer me one more question."

"What's that?"

"How do you know the people who shot Flint, the Liberators, aren't going to come up here looking for him? If they knew your route before, wouldn't it be plausible they would know where to find him now?"

"Don't worry," Jesse replied. "This is a safe house. Nobody outside our club knows about it. You'll both be safe here, I promise. I wouldn't leave him here unprotected if I didn't believe that."

"A safe house?" Kendra echoed. She didn't realize such things existed in real life but then again, she didn't make it a habit to hang around people who might need one. "Who owns it?"

"A man who owes us a big favor. That's all you need to know. Trust me, the least you know about our business, the better off you'll be."

"No doubt," she agreed.

Kendra followed the men out the back door of the house and watched as they climbed onto their motorcycles and roared off in single file. She waited until they were out of sight before walking back to her truck. After unlocking the glove box, she pulled out a pistol and the extra box of bullets she always kept stowed there.

Kendra hoped Jesse was right about the Liberators not knowing where to find Flint. In any case, the pistol made her feel a little safer. On second thought, so would the shotgun hidden underneath the front seat.

Looking like a gunslinger from the Wild West, she carried both guns into the house and locked the door behind her. After placing both guns on a table by the door, she sent up a small prayer that the weekend would go by quickly and without incident.