Alone Chapter Four by hbwgonnabe "How dare you threaten me?" Dr. Fairbanks retorted, taking a deep breath and making him look even bigger than he actually was. "I will not sign those reports. I didn't write them and your boss refuses to let me even read them."

"He told you what they said," the man retorted.

"And I'm supposed to believe him when he has people like you working for him?" Fairbanks demanded.

"You don't know what you're getting into," Fairbanks was warned.

"Not as much as you are," commented Joe, entering the room. He had heard enough. He didn't know what was going on but the Fairbanks had been nice to him and he wasn't going to just stand there and let some lumberjack threaten them. "You've said your piece and gotten your answer, now get out of here before I throw you out."

"Who are you?" the stranger demanded, staring at Joe through sharp brown eyes.

"Doesn't matter," returned Joe. "Now leave."

"When I'm good and ready," the man declared, the top of his head turning red with anger and showing through his thinning black hair.

Joe moved closer to the man who decided Joe was close enough. He raised his arm, his hand clenched tight into a fist, and swung at Joe but Joe ducked the blow, grabbed the flailing arm and tugged. The man was pulled forward and Joe turned him as he came, twisting the arm up and back until the unwelcome visitor was wincing in pain.

"The door?" Joe asked, looking at a stunned Dr. Fairbanks.

The doctor pulled himself together and led the way to the front door and opened it. Joe steered the lumberjack to the door and gave a huge shove that, had Joe been in better condition, would have put the man face down on the ground but in his current state merely propelled him a few feet into the night air.

"This ain't over," the man snarled, glaring first at Joe and then at Fairbanks who was standing behind Joe with one hand on his shoulder.

"For your sake, it had better be," Joe replied, trying hard to stay upright. He refused to let this intruder see how weak he really was.

"Tell Farkas to find someone else to do his dirty work," Dr. Fairbanks told the man before steering Joe back inside the house and closing the door.

"And you!" Fairbanks declared roughly, turning Joe to face him and scowling. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Dad! Don't pick on him," scolded Spirit, rushing to Joe's side. "He's sick."

"Actually, I'm feeling a lot better," Joe said, looking at Spirit and smiling at her.

"But you are still too weak to be wandering around let alone taking on people like John Phipps," Dr. Fairbanks stated firmly, wrapping an arm around Joe's waist when he saw him start to sway.

"Back into bed with you and I will bring you some dinner," ordered Rachel Fairbanks.

"Yes, ma'am," Joe agreed. "Thank you. But do you mind if I ask what that was about?"

"Since you've made an enemy, I suppose I had better tell you," Roger agreed. "But not until you are horizontal."

"Spirit, help me with dinner," Rachel requested as her husband guided Joe out of the living room.

Once Joe was back in bed, Roger sat down in the chair and frowned as he thought about where to start. "Benjamin Farkas owns most of the land hereabouts," he said after a couple of minutes. "He started selling out the lumber from the north west section of the county about a year ago."

"What's wrong with that?" asked Joe. "He can't do but so much because of the laws regulating lumberjacking."

"True," agreed Roger. "But that's not the problem."

"Oh?"

"About five months ago, one of the lumberjacks got sick. It started out with just an upset stomach and fever but two days after that he was losing hair and his skin was getting pale. Three days more and he was dead. Two weeks later two more men got sick and died. There have been five more deaths since with the last one dying about a week ago."

"And what does Farkas want you to sign?" asked Joe.

"Medical reports for the victims," Roger informed him. "I called the CDC after the third victim fell ill and someone there contacted Farkas. He managed to convince them that the first two men had died of natural causes and the third from an accident. But he knows he can't keep hiding the problem. He wants me to sign a prepared report that lies about the cause behind the illness and states the disease is not a dangerous contagion. Of course, I'm only guessing what the report says because he has refused to let me read it."

"Something doesn't sound right," Joe said. "If it's a natural contagion, then why aren't more people coming down with it?"

"I don't think it's airborne," Roger said, looking at Joe curiously. "It's most likely consumed."

"What about testing?" asked Joe. "Won't Farkas allow water samples?"

Dr. Fairbanks shook his head. "He won't allow anyone who doesn't work for him in the area."

"Is he doing any mining?" asked Joe.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"I'll admit I'm no doctor but the symptoms you described sound a lot like radiation poisoning," Joe stated.

Fairbanks shook his head. "The heartbeat; the stomach upset..."

"Could be symptoms associated with a bad heart or indigestion," Joe put in. "Besides, that guy..."

"Phipps," Roger supplied the name.

"Right. Phipps. He was dressed like a lumberjack but there wasn't a single grass stain on him. Not even the smell of pine. He was dirty but it wasn't topsoil covering him," Joe asserted.

"You're very observant," Dr. Fairbanks said as he considered what Joe said. "And you could be right. I will have to look at the files of the first three victims again. I just wish I could get my hands on the others."

"Who handled the other victims?" asked Joe as Rachel and Spirit entered the room.

"Dr. Donovan," Roger answered. "His office is just off the main thoroughfare."

"And he won't let you see the files?"

Roger shook his head. "He's been very distant since he started working for Farkas. Donovan handles all of the emergencies and physicals for Farkas now," he explained.

"Does he take new patients?" queried Joe.

"In a town this size?" asked the doctor, raising his eyebrows. "Who wouldn't? Why?"

"Because if I can get inside, I could probably get a chance to look at the files," said Joe thoughtfully. "I could at least check the symptoms of the other victims to see if the ones you treated were the norm."

"You sound like a detective or something," Spirit said, setting a tray across Joe's lap.

Joe shrugged and blushed. "Maybe I read a lot of mysteries," he suggested.