Rory: Hope City, Book 7

by Maryann Jordan

  Passing several other teams of firefighters along the way, they stood close to the wall, allowing Rory plenty of room to maneuver the stretcher without jostling her too much. Finally, they came out the doorway into the Partridge Tower’s well-lit lobby, and he looked over to see Shania and Bobby with the ambulance stretcher.

  “We’re ready,” she called, reaching her hands out to assist the board directly onto the stretcher, strapping Sandy in as Rory jerked off his helmet, hood, and outer coat. Not missing a step, he called to the firefighter to get his equipment and ran out with his crew, rolling her toward the ambulance.

  “Sandy!”

  Rory looked up to see Ted attempting to get to them, being held back by a police officer. “That’s her father. It’s okay.”

  The officer dropped his arms, and Ted ran toward them. Rory never broke stride as he called out, “We’re taking her to Hope City General. You want to ride?”

  “Yes!”

  Without needing to be asked, Shania slid behind the wheel and started the engine as Bobby and Rory secured the stretcher inside the ambulance. Ted sat to the side, staying out of their way. With his hands shaking, Rory was glad Bobby took charge, getting an IV into Sandy as Rory wrapped the blood pressure cuff onto her arm and oximeter to her finger. As soon as the measurements came in, he relayed them to the ER.

  Her eyes had blinked open again sometime during the process and now stayed open, locked on his. She lifted a hand and tried to pull the oxygen mask off. He leaned over, his hand gently brushing her hair away from her laceration. “Leave it on, sweetheart.”

  She managed to offer a nod, and he lifted it slightly from her face to see what she wanted to say.

  “I love you.”

  The words were barely above a whisper, but he heard them as loudly as if she’d shouted. Grinning, his nose skimmed hers as he leaned close to her ear. “I love you, too.” She smiled and he replaced the oxygen mask. Hearing a chuckle, he glanced into the cab, seeing Shania wink as she peered into the rearview mirror. Remembering her father was scrunched into the corner of the ambulance, he looked over his shoulder. Ted held his gaze for just a moment, then a wide, crooked smile curved his lips.

  27

  “No one hit me!”

  Sandy sat on the bed in the ER bay sounding like a broken record. She had told Rory that while the man arguing with Anthony had grabbed her arm and jerked her back as he rushed through the door first, he hadn’t hit her. Her words did not have the calming effect on him she thought they would considering his level of fury seemed to increase. She told her father the same thing, noting his reaction mirrored Rory’s.

  Then she’d explained the situation to one police officer and two detectives. While their reactions didn’t contain fury, their disgust was evident by the tight jaws and pinched lips.

  It had only taken two stitches to close the laceration on her forehead, the ER doctor assuring her there would be virtually no scar. At those words, she’d shot him an incredulous look, wondering why he thought a tiny scar would bother her. But right now, her head was aching, and the adrenaline had left her body, leaving her exhausted. Staring at Rory who was sitting on the edge of her bed, she reached out and ran her fingers over his face, her thumb lightly touching his lips.

  His gaze landed on her, and he drew a ragged breath. “I hear you say the words, Sandy, but I can still see you lying on the floor, not being able to see through the smoke well enough at first to know if you were breathing.”

  Leaning closer, she replaced her thumb with her mouth, kissing him lightly. “I’m sorry.”

  He snorted. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. You did everything you could. You saw something that didn’t seem right and you alerted the people that should have taken care of it. And when you weren’t sure that they were doing it, you made a call to an inspector, which should’ve been the right thing to do.”

  “Who was the man who was arguing with Anthony?”

  “I don’t know, babe. I haven’t heard—”

  “I can answer that.”

  They swung their heads around to see Dave walking into the room, followed by Sean and Colm.

  “Dave?” She glanced between the three men, not understanding why they were there.

  Rory stood and pulled first his dad and then his brother in for a hug. Separating, Sean moved directly to the bed and leaned over, kissing Sandy on top of her head. “I’ll go ahead and warn you that Mom and Dad were in the waiting room with your parents.”

  “And loved meeting them, I might add,” Colm threw out, his eyes warm as he moved over to take her hand.

  Her eyes jerked open wide, followed immediately by a wince. “Ow,” she mumbled, lifting her hand to the small bandage.

  “Your head is really bruised, sweetheart.” Rory sat back down on the bed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in tightly before looking up at their visitors. “What did you find out?”

  “I’ll leave this to Agent Anderson.”

  “Agent?” she exclaimed then immediately winced again.

  “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but will you three stop surprising her?” Rory kissed the side of her head after shooting a glare at the other men in the room.

  Dave stepped forward and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sandy. I’m an agent for the local FBI office. My specialty is organized crime. I’ve had Kovski from Hope City building inspections and Perkins on my scope for a while. When Perkins Electrical Company managed to snag working on Partridge Towers through Anthony Partridge, that put him on my radar as well.” A self-deprecating shrug followed, and he added, “My father was a general contractor, and I knew enough from working with him as I was growing up and through the summers in college to be able to go undercover. Plus, what I didn’t know, I faked well enough with the help of the other condo contractor. He was brought into the investigation only to assist with my cover.”

  “I had no idea!”

  He chuckled. “That’s the whole concept of undercover, Sandy.”

  She rolled her eyes, then winced again. A growl erupted from Rory, and she placed her hand on his leg. “It’s okay,” she whispered.

  Dave looked toward Colm and smiled. “I never got to work with Agent McBride at the Bureau, but just met him in the ER lobby. He was a legend, and it’s an honor to meet him.”

  Colm brushed aside the praise, but Sandy noticed Rory was watching carefully. She turned her attention back to Dave. “So, was it Perkins or Kovski arguing with Anthony?”

  “It was Perkins. There’s inspection fraud going on in city hall and that investigation is still on-going. I’ve been following Kovski for a while, and through him, Perkins Electrical. He’s desperate to get back into the game with a big contract, so I wasn’t surprised when he underbid the others for the Partridge contract. Anthony hired him, and I was sure that Perkins would begin to cut corners, knowing he had an inspector in his back pocket. My investigation isn’t complete, but I can let you all know of this because my cover is no longer in place. I ran into Sean in the lobby, and with him being an Arson Detective, I thought I’d better let him know what was going on. The Tower caught on fire from faulty wiring but doesn’t fall under the category of arson. I was trying to keep an eye on everything and had followed Perkins to the gala.”

  “What happens now?”

  “I had already started the process of having the wiring re-inspected by a private organization and they were building a case, citing the various electrical systems that need to be replaced. We had made it through the condo floors and to the fifth floor of offices by yesterday. It was fuckin’ dumb luck that you were involved on one of the last floors that needed to be re-checked. It was on the schedule for tomorrow—well, today, now.”

  “I didn’t even ask about the Tower! Is it okay? Did everyone get out? Did it burn—”

  “Shhhhh, babe,” Rory admonished. “It’s good, it’s all good.”

  “Rory is right,” Dave assured. “Everyone got out. Many of the att
endees had left for the evening. The others were in the lobby—well, except for the couple who decided to sneak into the bedroom of the model condo—”

  “Oh, my God, you’re kidding?”

  Dave grinned, shaking his head before continuing. “The only thing that caught fire was the panel in the office you were in and it set fire to the wall right next to it. There was a lot of smoke, but mostly water damage. The fire alarm system was installed by a company that knew what they were doing and was set correctly. It did everything it was supposed to do. It was the fuse boxes that Perkins Electrical was taking shortcuts on. Not enough that would make everyone realize something was wrong, but the inspector certainly should have caught it.”

  She held his gaze, then sucked in her lips before heaving a sigh. “Anthony knew something. I don’t know what, and I don’t know how much, but it was evident from their argument that he knew corners had been cut.”

  Dave nodded his agreement. “While there’s no evidence that Anthony Partridge was actively seeking fraudulent inspections, his awareness of what was happening makes him a person of interest and perhaps an accessory.”

  “I know this might sound like a stupid question in light of everything, but what’s going to happen to Partridge Tower? There are people that are going to be living there and working there. I’ve got a list of new clients that were going to have their offices there.”

  “The investigation is still ongoing, but I can tell you that it’s moving rapidly. The entire building will have state inspectors come in and analyze every inch. There are no suspicions nor evidence that there were any problems with it structurally. From the architecture to the foundation, general contracting, concrete, steel—everything was done to code, but that’s to be looked at as well. The work that Perkins Electrical completed will be thoroughly inspected. Anything that is not up to code will have to be redone.”

  “Anthony’s goal was to come in on time and under budget.”

  Dave snorted. “That’s not gonna happen.” He tapped her knee and said, “I’ve got to go. There’s a lot to sort out. I’ll keep you posted on what I can, and until then, don’t worry about Partridge Towers.”

  “Dave?”

  He stopped at the door and turned back toward her.

  “Thank you. For everything you’re doing… thank you.”

  He chuckled and inclined his head toward Colm and Sean. “Don’t mention it. Hell, these men will tell you. Getting to the end of an investigation and catching the bad guy, it’s what we live for.” With a chin lift and wide grin, he turned and walked out.

  A nurse popped her head into the doorway and said, “I’ll be back with your discharge papers in a few minutes.”

  After she left, another noise sounded at the door, and the occupants swung their gazes to see Todd walking in, wearing a lab jacket with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. Sandy gawked at the sight, then burst out laughing. “What on earth are you doing?”

  “I tried to tell them I was your husband, but they already said there were men back here. I almost told them that you had a harem of men and I was simply one of many, but I didn’t feel like the lady at the ER desk would believe me. Then I happen to see one of my friends who works in radiology or some such place here. He loaned me his lab coat, and I swiped a stethoscope that was lying on the edge of the nurses' station.” Tossing his hands into the air, he added, “So, here I am. Dr. Todd to the rescue!”

  “Jesus,” Rory mumbled under his breath. Sean stifled a smile while Colm simply stared at Todd with raised brows.

  “I’m fine, Todd, although you might be arrested for impersonating a medical professional.”

  “Nonsense,” he quipped.

  “Or you might be unemployed if all our clients pull out from us since Partridge Tower might have problems filling their occupancies now.”

  “Darling, don’t worry about that!” Todd enthused. “We made so many contacts at the gala that have nothing to do with the Towers. We’ll be adding employees soon!”

  Her eyes widened in surprise and once again, she winced. “Ow.”

  “Okay, that’s it,” Rory declared. “Dad, love you. Thanks for coming, and tell Mom we love her, and she can visit tomorrow. Sean, bottom of my heart, bro. Tell Harper that Sandy’s okay, and we’ll call her tomorrow, also. Todd… I don’t know what the fuck to say to you other than thanks for being such a good friend.” Laughter flowed from the three men as they walked out the door, and Rory turned to her.

  “Oh, my, I can see the strict, paramedic Rory is about to take over.” She smiled softly and added, “By the way, I haven’t thanked you for saving my life.”

  “Babe, it was everyone on the team.”

  “I know, but it was you who carried me down all those steps.”

  “You don’t weigh much more than my regular equipment.”

  Huffing, she glared. “Rory… take my appreciation.”

  He stepped closer and cupped her face in his hands. “Okay, babe. But know that I’d walk through fire for you.”

  Her heart soared as her breath halted in her throat. Tears pricked the back of her eyes as she stared into his face, wanting to memorize every nuance. Swallowing deeply, she blew out a soft breath. “I love you—”

  His kiss interrupted the words but not the emotion. Allowing him to sweep her away with the feel of his lips on hers, she held on tight.

  28

  One Month Later

  Rory glanced up at the heavy, wooden Celtic Cock sign swinging slightly as the breeze blew down the street. As many times as he had been in and out of the pub, a strange sense of déjà vu filled him. Pushing open the door, he entered the familiar and welcoming interior.

  Recognizing many of the patrons as fellow first responders or members of the police department, he stopped to greet a few, offering chin lifts to many of the others. Moving through the crowd, he made his way to the far end of the bar where his gaze landed on a beautiful blonde perched on top of the barstool.

  Her thick hair was pulled away from her face and held with a clip, allowing the long tresses to hang down her back. A blue, silky blouse with an off-centered bow tied around her neck was tucked into a tight black skirt that reached just above her knees, showing off her shapely calves. Her legs were crossed at the ankles. Black pumps with tall heels encased her feet that barely reached the rung of the barstool. He knew instinctively that even with the added height, she would still tuck just under his chin if she was standing.

  As usual, she was chatting with a small group of women and surrounded by several men. Her right arm rested across the top of the highly polished wooden bar, and her delicate fingers stayed around the stem of her glass filled with pale yellow liquid. A Lemon Drop Martini.

  She was beautiful… fuckin’ gorgeous. Her left hand waved around as she talked, her expression as animated as her movements. Around her wrist was a thin diamond bracelet that reflected the lights in the bar. But it wasn’t the only piece of jewelry that glistened. A diamond engagement ring captured the light as well as his attention. Some guy is a lucky bastard.

  He stepped closer, keeping his gaze on her so that he could watch the exact second that she realized he was there. Her head swung around, her blue eyes twinkled, and a wide, slightly crooked smile spread across her lips. And just like always, that expression speared him straight through his heart. Fuck yeah, I’m a lucky bastard.

  He closed the distance in two steps, his hand landing on her back as he bent and took her lips in a quick kiss. “Hey, baby.”

  “Hey,” she breathed, staring at him with unabashed emotion.

  He dragged his gaze away from her face, greeting Harper, Kimberly, and Erin. A few minutes later, his brothers Sean and Kyle made it into the pub, immediately heading to their wives. It didn’t miss his attention that Erin drank little but cast her eyes in Torin’s direction whenever his back was turned. It also didn’t miss his attention that Torin’s gaze often shot to Erin’s end of the bar. A fingernail poked him in the ribs, and he look
ed down at Sandy who offered him a bug-eyed shake of her head. Assuming that meant she didn’t want him to interrupt Erin and Torin’s ridiculous looking and not-looking dance, he rolled his eyes.

  Bill walked by and said hello, his flavor of the week on his arm. After Sandy’s rescue, he’d had a heartfelt talk with both Harper and Sandy, admitting that he’d grown used to their trio friendship and had felt left out when Harper got with Sean and it was obvious that Sandy was interested in Rory. He admitted it was petty, and since his apology was sincere, they had all maintained their friendship.

  With his arm draped around Sandy’s shoulder, Rory chatted with his brothers while keeping an eye on her drink—a habit he now knew he’d never stop. Anything to protect Sandy and keep her focused on the future. They’d only been engaged for a week, but between his mom and Martha, he had no doubt Sandy would get the wedding she deserved. He didn’t care how it happened, he just wanted her.

  “How’s the house hunting going?” Sean asked.

  He grinned, capturing his brothers’ attention as well as Harper and Kimberly’s.

  “You found something?” Harper asked, her eyes bright as they shot between his and Sandy’s. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  Sandy smiled up at him, then shrugged and looked back at Harper. “It wasn’t just my news to share, it was ours.”

  “Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Kyle said, his arms around Kimberly and his chin resting on the top of her head.

  “We found a house in the northern part of the city that’s about fifteen minutes from Mom and Dad.” Shooting his brothers a smile, he added, “And it’s only about ten minutes from each of your places.”

  While he accepted their congratulations, he listened as Sandy gushed, “It’s absolutely darling! It only has three bedrooms, but it’s got a great yard that’s already fenced in. The kitchen and bathrooms have been remodeled, and there’s a two-car garage that’s attached as well as a basement. And there’s plenty of room to build an additional bedroom and den in the future if we want.”