Chapter 15

The question cameout of left field since just moments before they had been talking about going into town the following day and doing a little shopping and sightseeing.

Before she could choose a vague answer, there was a loud, fast knock on the hall door in Quincy's room at the same time the room phone began to ring.

Thank heavens for a reprieve. Standing, she entered his room. "I'll answer the door, you get the phone."

It took her a moment to undo his extra security, but finally she opened the door, to find a teary-eyed Sadie on the other side. The Little was bouncing in place and wringing her hands.

Before Dolly could give her the hug she looked like she desperately needed, Sadie looked past her into the room.

"Where's Quincy?" she asked. "We need him."

Just then Quincy appeared and paused just long enough to brush a kiss on Dolly's cheek before turning his attention to Sadie. "I was on the phone with Erika. Can you take me where they are?"

"That's why I'm here," Sadie said, taking his hand and starting to run down the hall toward the lobby. Quincy had to jog to keep up.

Concerned about safety as much as what Quincy was headed off to face, Dolly took a moment to close and lock the sliding doors then closed the curtains in both their rooms. After pulling on a pair of sneakers, she flipped on the light in her bathroom and then left, hoping she would be able to find Sadie and Quincy.

When she reached the lobby, she looked around, then headed to the front desk. The night clerk would know where the emergency was.

"He's in the infirmary," Les said before she could ask her question. The man pointed toward the hallway on the opposite side of the lobby from where she had come.

"Thanks, Les."

She took off across the lobby in as fast a powerwalk as she dared. If she tried to run, she would surely fall and hurt herself and the last thing anyone needed was another injury to deal with.

The infirmary was the first door on the right, just across from the cafeteria.

Dolly was surprised there were only three women standing in the hall. She had expected all the residents of the Ranch to be in the hall waiting to hear news of the patient.

Instead, Sadie and another woman she had not met yet were hugging the third while murmuring to her, no doubt trying to console her. The only problem was tears were falling down Sadie's face nearly as fast as they were on the woman she was consoling.

"Sadie? Is there anything I can do to help?" Dolly asked, stopping several feet away from the clusterhug.

Sadie looked at her and blinked before nodding. "Can you go into the kitchen and ask whoever is in there for a bottle of water and a clean dishtowel?"

"Sure thing," Dolly said as she turned toward the cafeteria.

While the kitchen extended behind the cafeteria and both restaurants, going through the cafeteria offered the most direct path.

The dining room was empty and sparkling clean, so she continued through to the kitchen door. She felt uncomfortable for a minute as she crossed behind the counter into forbidden territory, but she was a woman on a mission. Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the closed double doors into the kitchen.

Stopping just inside, she decided to make her presence known just in case whoever might still be around was busy.

"Hello?" she called, wondering how much trouble she would get into if she just wandered around and helped herself to what Sadie had sent her for.

"Hello?" a voice that was not the head chef responded. A moment later, a brown-haired Hispanic man with what appeared to be chocolate smeared on his white chef's jacket stepped into view.

"There's been a medical emergency and Sadie sent me for a bottle of water and a clean dishtowel please."

The man blinked and nodded. "Yeah, I know about the emergency. Stay there and I'll get what you need."

He disappeared from view again, and Dolly took the opportunity to look around the kitchen. There were still a number of people cooking and putting plates together, no doubt for the restaurants, but there was no craziness, no chef yelling instructions or throwing tantrums as television and movies portrayed. Instead, it seemed like there was an air of concern and fear as the staff went about their duties.

"Here you go," the man approached with a towel wrapped around several bottles of water.

"Thank you," Dolly said.

She hurried back to through the dining room to the hall, wondering if she could sneak into the infirmary and find out what was going on.

Les had brought chairs so the three women were now sitting against the wall just outside the infirmary. After handing over the water and towel to Sadie, Dolly stood, unsure what to do next.

"Thank you for your help," Sadie said, looking sadder than Dolly had ever seen her. "We'll be okay now."

With that, Dolly knew she had been dismissed. "If you need anything else, just call," she offered before leaving the women to their waiting.

Wishing she knew what was going on in the infirmary, and why they had called Quincy, Dolly headed back to her room. She could spend some more time making notes about her trip and the magic that seemed to encompass Rawhide Ranch.

It was not until she was back in her room that she realized she had no idea where her notebook was. After tearing her room apart, she took a moment to think back to where she'd had it last.

The pool. It was still on the table by the pool.

Hurrying out the sliding door to the pool area, she walked as fast as she could manage without tripping around the pool. There were only a few security lights on, so she could barely see the table where she had spent the afternoon writing. Her heart pounded, but she was not sure if it was from exertion, or anxiety. When she reached the table, she sighed.

The table was clean and empty. No towel. No notebook. No pen.

Oh, shit.

It was nearly midnight before Quincy left the infirmary. The ambulance had finally arrived and taken away the injured guest. The man had cut himself while showing off during knife play. The knife had sunk deep enough into his arm that the infirmary staff had not felt comfortable treating the injury themselves.

Which was a good thing. As Quincy finished bandaging his arm, the man began to complain of chest pain. He then passed out and stopped breathing. Quincy was thankful the infirmary was fully stocked and had everything he needed when the man's heart stopped.

At that point, Quincy demanded the nurse call for an ambulance to transport the patient to the nearest hospital while he performed CPR. After she made the call, she helped him resuscitate the man. Once his heart started beating again, the man tried to convince Quincy he was fine. But Quincy refused to release him until he went to a hospital and was fully evaluated.

"Want a drink or three?" Derek asked as he entered the lobby.

The resort owner was sitting in one of the wing-back chairs as if waiting for Quincy.

"At least. But I'll settle for a hot chocolate and a couple of cookies."

"I think I'll join you."

With Derek trailing behind him, Quincy headed toward the café, thankful it was open twenty-four hours a day.

After getting their late-night treat, the two men moved to the front porch and the same pair of rocking chairs he had used with Dolly the day before. Quincy was coming to think of these chairs as his.

The lights on the porch and around the drive gave off enough light to hold back the dark but were not glaring in intensity. Quincy sipped at his mug and ate half a cookie before looking at Derek.

"You did good work in there," Derek said after a time.

"Thank you. All part of the job of being a doctor. So, what's up?"

"Excuse me?"

"You have a beautiful wife waiting at home for you. You should be with her, not sitting here with me making small talk."

Derek chuckled and shifted in his chair before taking another cookie off the plate between them.

"There's another problem I need your help with. The cleaning staff found a notebook at one of the tables in the pool area this evening. They turned it over to Lost and Found. When Erika looked through it to see if she could identify the owner, she was disturbed by what she read and brought it to my attention."

"Okay," Quincy said, not sure where the conversation was going, "but I'm not a psychiatrist, so unless they threatened to harm themselves I'm not sure what you need from me."

Derek took a deep breath, as if preparing himself for something. "The writer wasn't threatening anyone, except the anonymity of my other guests and employees. The book is filled with notes about BDSM, and even passages where a few scenes were sketched out in great detail. The writer also described you to a T."

An icy shiver raced down Quincy's spine as he thought of what it might mean if the world learned he was a BDSM practicing Dominant who was also a physician. He had always been careful about where and with whom he played his sexy dominant games.

"Who?"

"We think the book belongs to Dolly."

"My Dolly?"

Derek simply nodded, looking sadly grim. "I'm going to call her into my office in the morning and discuss the book, why she wrote it, and what she's planning to do with the contents. As her Dom, would you like to be there when I do?"

Quincy frowned. "Absolutely."