please read and tell me what y'all think so far...did Dr Donna try to kill Walt? And where is she? Is she Branch's mother? I'm loving your reviews and feedback!

The VA office was crowded. I parked the truck and meandered through a sea of vehicles to the front door. Men lined the small, shabby reception area and several oogled my ass when I walked to the window to speak with the receptionist.

I flashed my badge.

" Deputy Moretti. Is Dr Donna in?"

The woman looked up from her computer screen.

"Do you have an appointment , ma'am?"

I could feel the steam emitting from my ears.

" I am a COP, investigating the shooting of the county sheriff. I NEED to know when was the last time she came in to work."

The woman clicked a mouse on her desk.

" Um, Dr Monahan was in all day yesterday. She left at 4."

" Has she called in sick today?" I asked

"No. Which is unlike her. She's usually so dedicated to her patients. But I had to send each and every one of them home today.

Yeah, I 'm sure she's a damn saint already.

"I am gonna need to search her office."

"I'm sorry, Deputy, do you have a warrant? Otherwise, I can't let you in there."

Shit. The warrant. I knew I'd forgotten something. Absentmindedly I rubbed my temple.

"Give me a couple hours, and you'll have your warrant," I left the clinic and called Ruby back at the station.

As soon as I got in the truck to drive back to the station , my phone buzzed. I looked at the caller ID. Ferg.

" Shit" I said aloud as I pulled over and called him back.

" I was driving , so I couldn't pick up right away. What's going on?"

" Ballistics came back on the slug found in Walt. The bullets match Walt's Colt. I'm on my way to the cabin to see if we missed finding his gun at the crime scene. "

"Damn! Ok, I'm on my way back to the office to get a warrant to search Donna's office, so I'll meet you at the cabin as soon as I can? Sound good? "

"Yup."

I ended the call and refocused on getting back to the office. I don't know how the hell Walt has everything under control in the middle of an investigation, as usually I am one of the people either working alongside him or following his orders.

Alongside him. My mind drifted back to a conversation Sean and I had after Gorski sent him a photo of Walt and I checking into a hotel when we worked that case at the Arizona girls' reform school. Even though nothing romantic had happened between Walt and I that night, it did serve to bring us closer as friends.

Sean had said to me" You look happier in that picture than you ever did with me." He's right. Even thought Walt and I never moved beyond friendly colleagues, being with Walt makes me happy. Not only happy, but I feel complete.

" Please don't die, Walt. Please don't die" I said under my breath as I drove to the center of Durant.

I ran up the stairs and burst through the office doors to find a startled Ruby. She handed me a piece of paper , which I grabbed out of her hands.

"Thanks, I said

"What does the doctor have to do with what happened to Walter?" Ruby asked

" Dunno. But I intend to find out. She didn't show up at work today, and fingerprints from her were found in Walt's cabin last night, soo"

Ruby's eyebrows lifted.

"The doc was at the cabin last night?"

Don't rub it in, Ruby. I stuck the warrant in my jeans pocket.

"She was. But she wasn't there when the 911 call was answered and the record of the call has a woman's voice calling in the emergency. I'm going back to the VA clinic to search her personal space. Ferg is back at the crime scene hoping to retrieve Walt's missing Colt.

Ruby nodded. " By the way, Victoria, Deputy Eamon is coming over here to fill in for a few days until you and Ferg find Walter's shooter.

Shit.

" Call me if you need me,"I said to Ruby and walked out the door. I needed to stop at The Red Pony to get a beer, but Walt taught me to never drink on the job, and I promised that I'd stay 'on duty' until we found the person responsible for putting Walt Longmire in the hospital.

Just as I turned the key my phone buzzed.

"Deputy Moretti"

" Deputy , this is the floor nurse at the Intensive Care Unit, Sheriff Longmire has been transfered to this unit. He's semi-conscious and is asking for a " Vic" His daughter is here and she said that you are Vic. "

"I'll be right there." I said and ended the call.

I grabbed the steering wheel tightly and did an illegal U-turn right in the middle of Main Street.