to keel over any second now."

"I'm doing just fine, Daddy."

Theo turned at the sound of her voice, and there she was, standing in the doorway, smiling at the two men. She was dressed in

a pair of khaki shorts and a burgundy-and-white rugby shirt that was spotted with paint.

He tried not to stare at her legs, but, damn, it took work. They were incredible. Long, shapely… amazing.

"What are you doing in Bowen, Mr. Buchanan?" Michelle asked, hoping to heaven her voice was calm. Finding him in her

father's bar had shaken her, and when he turned and smiled at her, she thought her knees were going to buckle. Her heart

started fluttering, and she was pretty sure she was blushing. And why not? As the nurses in the OR had said, Theo Buchanan

was drop-dead gorgeous.

"Is that any way to treat a guest, asking questions like that?" her father said.

She couldn't get past the shock of finding Theo there. "Did you call him and ask him for his help?" she asked her father with

an accusing scowl.

"No, young lady, I did not. Now, stop giving me that glare and remember your manners. When Theo was resting up in the

hospital, I invited him to come fishing with me."

"Daddy, you invite everyone you meet to come fish with you," she said.

She turned back to Theo. "You really came to fish?"

"Actually, I-"

Jake interrupted. "I just told you he did, and you know what I just decided? I'm gonna let Theo partner with me in the

tournament next weekend."

"How are you feeling?" she asked Theo, retreating to the comfortable, safe role of physician. "Any complications?"

"I'm as good as new thanks to you. That's one of the reasons I drove out here… besides fishing. I wanted to pay you for

the dress I ruined, but mostly I wanted to say thank you. You saved my life."

"Isn't that nice to hear, Mike?" Jake was beaming like a neon road sign. "It's why you went into medicine, isn't it?

To save lives?"

"Yes, Daddy," she said.

"Are you hungry, Theo?" Jake asked. "It's past noon, and I'll bet you haven't had lunch yet. I've got some gumbo simmering

in the pot. Come and sit at the bar and pass the time while I finish up. Mike, why don't you get Theo a nice cold beer."

"Water will be fine," he said.

He followed Michelle to the bar, noticing that her lopsided ponytail bounced with each step she took. Just how young was she? God, maybe he was going through a midlife crisis. Yes, that was it. Michelle made him feel young again. Except that he was

only thirty-two. Wasn't that a little early for a midlife anything?

Jake placed a big bowl of thick gumbo in front of Theo and handed him a napkin and a spoon. "Be mindful," he warned. "It's hot."

Theo thought he meant that the gumbo needed to cool for a minute. He stirred it and took a big bite. He swallowed. Two

seconds later his eyes were tearing, his nose was running, and he was coughing and trying to catch his breath at the same time. He felt as if he'd just swallowed molten lava. He grabbed the glass of water and gulped it down.

"I think you made it too hot this time," Michelle said. "How much of your special hot sauce did you add?"

Jake handed Theo another glass of water and watched him try to drink it while he was still coughing. "I just added one bottle,"

he said. "It seemed a little bland to me when I sampled it. I was fixing to add some more."

Michelle shook her head. "He comes here to say thank you, and you try to kill him."

Theo still couldn't talk. Jake had reached across the counter and was vigorously pounding him between his shoulder blades.

Theo would have told him to stop, but he was pretty sure his vocal cords had just been cremated.

Michelle handed him a crust of French bread. "Eat this," she ordered. "It will help."

"I'll bet you're ready for that cold beer now, aren't you?" Jake asked as soon as Theo swallowed the bread.

Theo nodded, and after he had taken a long drink of the Michelob that Jake had handed him, he turned to Michelle and said,

"I saw Dr. Cooper this morning."

"I thought you were doing all right," she said. She'd gone behind the counter and was stacking glasses.

"I am," he answered. "But I didn't keep the first appointment. I flew home to Boston a few days after the surgery, but they rescheduled my speech, so I came back. Better late than never," he added.

"You must have felt half dead by the time you got home," she said. "Playing the tough man can kill you."

He nodded. "It about did," he admitted. "Anyway, Cooper told me about the vandalism at your clinic."

"Do you see, Mike? I didn't call him," Jake asserted emphatically. "I suggested calling you," he admitted to Theo, "because

you're the only FBI man I've ever met."

"I work as an attorney in the Justice Department," he corrected.

"Still, the FBI is part of the Justice Department, isn't it?"

"Yes," he said, "but-"

Jake wouldn't let him explain. "Which is why I wanted to call you. I thought maybe you could look into the matter, but Mike wouldn't hear of it. You know what else those boys did to her clinic? They sprayed those pretty white walls with black paint.

Words I'm not going to repeat. They tore up her files too, and contaminated her supplies. Michelle's got to start all over again. Don't you, honey?"

"It will all work out. The timing's good anyway. I've got the next two weeks off to get the clinic cleaned up. That's plenty of time."

"But that was supposed to be your vacation time. You were going to rest up and do some fishing." He turned back to Theo.

"My daughter has always been an optimist. She gets that from me. Now, Theo, what do you think we ought to do about this situation?"

"You did call the police, didn't you?" he asked Michelle.

She looked exasperated. "Yes, I did. Ben Nelson, the chief of police in St. Claire, took the report. He's investigating, and like

my father, he thinks it was kids looking for drugs. Hopefully, word will get out that I don't keep any there, and this will be an isolated incident."

"I'm not sure I can do anything constructive…"

Jake disagreed. "You work for the government, and you carry a gun. I figure those folks in Justice wouldn't give you a weapon unless they had trained you to use it."

"Daddy, you sound like you want him to shoot someone."

"I'm just saying he's an expert. Ben Nelson is a fine chief of police. We're lucky to have him," he said. "But two heads are

better than one. Isn't that right, Theo?"

"I doubt that the chief would want me to interfere in his investigation."

"You wouldn't be interfering, and I think he'd be happy for your assistance."

"For heaven's sake, Daddy. It was just vandalism. Ben will catch the kids. Give him time."

"Mike, honey," Jake said, "why don't you go get me a glass of cold milk from the refrigerator." The minute she was out of

earshot, he turned back to Theo, leaned closer, and lowered his voice. "Pride's going to be my daughter's downfall," he said. "She's stubborn and so independent she thinks she can take on the world by herself, but she's got enough on her plate being

a doctor. Maybe it was vandalism. Maybe it wasn't. But since you're going to be passing time with us for a few days, I think you ought to look into this situation. Besides, she saved your life-you said so yourself-and you owe it to my daughter to watch out for her while you're here." He glanced over his shoulder before whispering, "I'm thinking it might be a good idea if you stayed at her house." He saw Michelle walk out of the kitchen and quickly added, "Don't let her know I said anything to you." As Michelle was handing her father the glass, Jake said emphatically so that both could hear, "Yes, sir, I think Ben