“Go ahead,” the young doctor consented with a slight nod. “Just make sure you don’t say anything to agitate her. We need to get some answers, Sheriff, and that will be hard to do if my newest patient is too hysterical to offer me any explanations. She might be conscious, but it’ll still be several hours before I can get anything understandable out of her. Once I talk to Cain and Mack, we’ll see about getting the rest of you back to see her. One at a time, of course.”
Zeke didn’t stick around to hear anything after that. He was too focused on reaching Honor’s side. Following on the very young nurse’s heels as she led him through a tangle of hallways, he was relieved when she finally paused just outside a glass cubicle located directly across from the nurse’s station and gestured inside.
“Nurse Daniels is inside sitting with Miss McKinnon, sir, but she’ll give you some privacy once you get settled. Just use the call button if you need us for anything,” she invited before walking toward the circular nurse’s station counter.
Zeke nodded at the other woman before quickly moving to stand in the doorway of the room. Catching his breath as he spotted Honor shifting restlessly in the middle of the narrow hospital bed, her sweet face pinched with anxiety, he quickly moved forward.
“Zeke? I want Zeke. Da bad men won’t come if Zeke’s here,” Honor mumbled almost incoherently though her eyes remained closed as Millie Daniels ran a soothing hand up and down her patient’s arm.
“Shhhh, Honor. He’s just got here, sweetie,” Millie murmured soothingly before looking up to meet Zeke’s worried eyes. “Sheriff,” she greeted the man in a soft voice with a slight nod. “As you can see, our patient is a little restless. She’s not quite awake, but she seems to want you.”
“Want Zeke,” Honor continued to babble her pleas, her head tossing on the pillow as her tiny body stiffened. “Please! I need Zeke,” her drugged voice begged weakly as her hand lifted as though reaching for something.
“She’s been like this for about the last half hour,” Millie explained quietly as Zeke quickly tossed his Stetson into an empty chair and moved quickly to Honor’s side. “Sometimes she rambles about the bad men, but mostly she’s just been callin’ for you, Sheriff.”
Zeke nodded wordlessly, his worried gaze focused on his woman. Already bending toward Honor, he pressed his lips against her flushed temple. “Hush, Kitten,” he murmured against her ear as he cupped her face gently. “I’m here now. Just rest easy, baby. I’ve got you now.”
Honor seemed to relax at the sound of his familiar voice, her petite body subsiding into the thin mattress as her face turned toward the sound of his deep voice. “Zeke,” she whispered, her features visibly relaxing as she heard his voice.
“Yeah, Kitten. It’s Zeke,” he assured her huskily, his thumb moving back and forth over the apple of her cheek as he lifted concerned eyes to Millie. “Is she okay?” he asked shakily.
“She’s coming off the Seconal, Zeke. It’s got a very disorienting effect to it. She’s scared and uncertain right now. But she’s already settled down a whole lot from just the sound of your voice. That’s a good sign,” Millie assured him.
“I’m not leaving her. You tell whoever you need to tell, but until Honor’s herself again, I’m staying right here,” Zeke informed her grimly, dragging one of the nearby plastic chairs toward the bed and sitting beside Honor, her hand held firmly in his.
Millie smiled faintly. “Somehow, I figured you’d say that. I’ve got a couple of other patients to check on, Zeke, so I’ll give you two some privacy for a few minutes. We’ll be moving her to a private room upstairs soon, but just sing out if you need a nurse before then, okay?”
Zeke nodded mutely as his eyes stayed transfixed to Honor’s now slack face.
“Okay,” Millie nodded, patting Zeke’s shoulder as she passed him. “She had a close call, Sheriff, but Honor’s a strong woman. She’ll pull through this… especially if she’s got you in her corner.”
“I’ll always be in her corner,” Zeke returned hoarsely. “It’s where I live, Millie.” Waiting until he heard the curtain swish shut behind Millicent, Zeke leaned forward in his chair to press a kiss against Honor’s forehead. “You scared the shit out of me again, Kitten. What the hell happened today, baby? Why’d you try and leave me again?” he choked, squeezing his eyes closed and wishing like hell for once that she’d open those eyes and give him hell for crowding her. “Talk to me, Kitten,” he begged, pressing his lips to her hand as he opened his eyes to stare at her beautiful face.
Almost as if she heard his order, Honor’s eyelids fluttered slowly. “Z-zeke?” Slowly meeting his steady gaze with unfocused eyes, Honor smiled loopily. “You’re really here? You came for me?”
“Baby, the one thing you can count on is that as long as I’m breathing, I will always come for you, Honor. Always,” Zeke assured her gently with a loving smile as he stroked her wispy blonde hair from her face. “How do you feel, sweetheart?”
“Yucky,” Honor announced with a yawn. “So, so tired. Why am I so sleepy, Zeke?” she managed to ask as her eyes grew heavier.
Deciding that the less information he offered right now, the better, he simply said, “You’ve had a bad day, Honor, but I’m here now, and nothing else is gonna happen to you. Just rest for me, okay? We’ll talk later, Sweet Girl.”
“Uh huh. You mean you’re gonna lecture. You don’t know how t’talk to a girl,” she grunted as her eyes drifted closed again.
Zeke couldn’t help his smile. If his Honor was feeling well enough to try and get the last word in with him, she was on the road to recovery. Leaning forward to press another kiss to her pale cheek, he inhaled deeply, taking her scent into his lungs and letting it calm him.
He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened between the time he’d left her this morning to go to work and now, but whatever it was, he’d handle it. Because there was no way he was going to lose her.
No way. He’d battle the Devil himself if he needed to do it, but there was no way he was going to give up on his girl. Not after the past several months and everything they’d been through together. Noting Honor’s now serene face, Zeke released a relieved breath and closed his own eyes as he quietly reviewed the last six months of progress – or, at times, the lack of progress, he’d made with his woman.
Chapter Two
November 2015
If the worst phone call Sheriff Zeke Monroe had ever gotten was the night Honor McKinnon went missing in 2008, then a close second would always be November 20, 2015... or more commonly known to him as the second time he’d nearly lost the woman he loved.
It should have been an evening filled with nothing more serious than poker, beer and the male bonding of a handful of his closest friends as they gathered to celebrate the fact that Patience’s sentence of bed rest had been commuted for good behavior. It was a widely known fact that the formerly anti-motherhood Patience and her man, Abel Turner, had been waiting for the birth of their twins with bated breath and no small amount of anxiousness. Since she’d had a little trouble with carrying the two tiny Turners, Dr. Mack Daniels had prescribed prolonged bed rest to the most ornery McKinnon sister – not a hugely uncommon occurrence in multiple pregnancies. Of course, nobody had told Honor’s sister that fact. No, Patience McKinnon had not responded well to being bed bound, but then, she’d never been a bird that was easily caged and she’d repeatedly let everyone – especially that poor bastard, Abel, know it. Thankfully for everyone that loved both Patience and Abel, that imposed restriction had been lifted that very day. And while the expectant momma planned to celebrate with her sisters at their family farmhouse, Zeke had been elected to host Abel and a few of their other friends at his place.
It should have been a time of laughter. A time when Abel should have been able to safely decompress before the birth of his twins while his woman spent time being spoiled by her sisters.
It should have been a lot of things that it hadn’t been.
Because, like most
good things…that night, too, came to an abrupt, screeching end in the space of one phone call.
One second, Zeke had been laughing with his brother, Ice, and their friends Jake Stone and Diego Fuentes over Abel’s seeming inability to follow the simple instructions of one tiny pregnant woman to the letter. A heartbeat later, one phone call had sent four men running out into the night, each praying that they weren’t too late to save two women that everyone there cared about deeply…and two men loved more than reason.
~***~
“Seriously, man,” Zeke smirked, enjoying the annoyed look on his buddy’s face. “How the hell hard can it be? She wrote you a list. I saw it.”
Gazing sulkily at the amused man, Abel shook his head. “You’d be surprised, asshat. There were fourteen different flavors of chocolate to choose from. How the hell was I supposed to know there was such an all-fired distinct difference between Hershey’s and Dove milk chocolate? I thought chocolate was fuckin’ chocolate! I’m tellin’ you, pregnant women set you up for failure. Mark my words. Wait until you finally get Honor in your bed and you knock her up. You’ll see.”
“I’m not worried. If loving Honor Grace has taught me one thing, it’s to never underestimate a woman that possesses duct tape, a butter knife, and a determined smile. It won’t end well for you. Like Honor, Patience has access to all three. Did you really expect her not to use them?” Zeke laughed as the usually unflappable former drug lord at the table dropped his cards, face down, on the table and clapped his hand over his ears.
“Yeah, I’ll remind you of this conversation when Honor has your balls on the chopping block,” Abel grumbled.
“Ah! I fold!” the Mexican man huffed. “I can’t concentrate when Señor Pendejo insists on saying things like that about the Little One. Thoughts of gentle Honor doing… those things with anyone… Just no,” Diego denied with a shudder.
Zeke grinned, surprised to find himself liking the scarred Mexican man seated across from him. At first, he’d been concerned by the friendship the man had developed with Honor when he’d moved into the apartment above the diner while waiting for his father’s case to go to trial in Knoxville, but it had quickly become clear that Diego looked upon Honor with a brotherly or fatherly fondness. “Don’t worry, Diego,” Zeke said, peering down at the full house he held in his left hand. “Honor and I are a long way from what Abel just described.”
“Yeah,” Ice scoffed, studying his cards. “Like light years apart.” Offering his little brother a sidelong glance, Zachariah ‘Ice’ Monroe shook his head, dismay shining in his eyes. “Man, maybe you need to think about givin’ up there. I know Honor’s sweet as candy, but there are a lot of other women in this town that’d be a whole lot less work for a man. For cryin’ out loud, when was the last time you got your dick wet anyway? Was Bush in office?”
It was an old argument between them, Zeke reminded himself as he glared at his brother. “Don’t worry about my dick and mind your own business, Ice. Swear to God, sometimes I think one of us must have been adopted. Especially when you start up with this shit. Let it go, brother.”
Dropping his ante in the pot in the middle of the table, Ice shot his brother an annoyed look. “We’re family. You ARE my business, baby brother,” he said condescendingly. “And all I’m saying is that there’s no harm in looking around and seeing who else is available out there.”
“Maybe not, but it’s a waste of time when you know that no other woman is gonna be able to ease the ache. Honor’s who I want, man. She’s the only one I’ve wanted for a long damned time. What the hell is your problem with Honor anyway? You know what she’s been through and when you talk like you are, you gotta know you just sound like a Grade A dick.”
“I’ve got no problem with Honor, man,” Ice spat. “My problem is with you acting like the sun rises and sets on her.”
“Is it so hard for you to understand that, for me, it does,” Zeke snapped roughly as his brother laid his cards on the table.
“Two pair,” Ice growled back, gesturing to his cards.
Seeing the two sets of cards, Jacks and sevens, that his brother held, Zeke smiled coolly, taking his time as he dropped his full house on the table. “I’d say my Queen can take your Jack’s asses any day,” he announced sharply, the double entendre deliberate as his keen gaze fell on the other man.
Jake, Abel and Diego all laughed as Ice glared. “Smartass,” the former Green Beret muttered. “Listen, you’re my brother, Zeke. I’m only trying to look out for what’s best for you.”
“Then you’ll be happy to know I found her several years back,” Zeke returned evenly. “It’s Honor. Honest to God, Zachariah, I don’t know what the hell has crawled up your ass lately, but I know one thing. In this world, you can either offer the hand that helps somebody up or be the hand that pushes somebody down. I know which hand I use. Now, let's talk about you.”
“I’m not trying to push down anybody, Zeke. Least of all Honor McKinnon. Fuck! I just don’t like seein’ you walkin’ around like some fuckin’ pussy-whipped motherfucker,” Ice grumbled under his breath.
“Says the man that can’t commit to anything other than a single night of fun,” Zeke countered, disgusted. Shaking his head at his older brother by barely a year, he scoffed. “You might just wanna keep your eyes on your own life, bro. From where I sit, footloose and fancy free isn’t lookin’ real good on you. Maybe you need to find your own Honor.”
“True,” Jake added from Zeke’s right. “The way Leslie Shepherd told my wife, you can’t even be bothered to offer a gal breakfast. He’s all about gettin’ in a woman’s panties and gettin’ ‘em both off, but he’s a TRUE expert at the whole gettin’ gone thing. Harmony said Leslie was a little pissed you left skid marks in her driveway,” he goaded Zeke’s silently simmering brother.
“I never took Harmony for a town gossip, but evidently your wife has a big mouth,” Ice returned gruffly.
“It’s not gossip when you get the information from the source,” Abel pointed out.
“Breakfast implies more commitment than I’m comfortable with offering,” Ice stated defensively.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that toast and coffee are often precursors to a diamond ring,” Abel stated dryly.
“Shut up!” Ice growled, balling up a napkin and tossing it at Abel.
Zeke’s chuckle was cut off as his phone rang and the buzzer on his police scanner suddenly went off.
Turning in his chair to turn down the volume on the scanner, he swept his thumb across the screen of his phone and pressed it to his ear without paying attention to who the caller was. Pressing the phone to his ear, he ignored the old-fashioned ribbing going on at the table to answer the call. “Sheriff Monroe,” he greeted the caller brusquely.
“Zeke? It’s Trudy over here at the Emergency Operations Center. I’m sorry for calling, but Miss Myrtle and I knew you’d wanna know right away. By any stroke of luck, is Abel Turner there with you? Myrtle said he would be,” the woman questioned in a rush.
Stiffening in his straight-backed dining room chair, Zeke gripped the phone tighter as he listened to his normally calm emergency dispatcher babble. “Trudy, slow down. He’s here with me. What’s going on over there?” he asked a feeling of dread settled in his gut and the table around him went quiet.
“Zeke, what’s goin’ on?” Jake asked from beside him.
“Sheriff, I hate to do this to you, but there’s been an accident. It’s Patience and Honor McKinnon.”
Zeke hissed through his teeth as he rose from the table, knocking his chair backwards. “How bad and where, Trudy?” he asked sharply as the men began to rise around him, each one poised for battle.
“Route 17 at Rosewater Creek. We’ve got units in route, but if you’re at your house, you’re gonna get to them quicker. I’m listening in on Myrtle’s call. It sounds bad, Zeke. Patience thinks she’s in labor and Honor….”
“What about Honor?” Zeke asked harshly, his long legs eating the distance between
his dining room and the front door of his house. Dimly aware of his friends dogging his heels, he distantly heard Abel shouting questions at him.
“She was driving. They were run off the road and went over the embankment into the creek. Honor is unconscious and Patience says she’s impaled on a tree limb that came through the windshield,” Trudy answered, her kind voice thick with tears. “You all need to hurry. They’re in the water, Zeke, and with the rain we’ve had…”
“Shit! Patch through the call. I want to hear them!”
“Are you sure, Sheriff?”
“Patch the fuckin’ call through now and put every free man we’ve got in the area on the road to the crash site!” he barked, pulling keys out of his pocket before climbing into his SUV, barely aware of Abel climbing into the passenger seat behind him. Glancing in his rearview mirror, he saw his brother slide into the backseat of his Durango as the echoing sound of doors slamming shut thundered in his head while Jake and Diego started a nearby truck.
“Patching in now, Zeke,” Trudy’s soft voice acquiesced while Zeke quickly explained to Abel and Ice what was happening.
~***~
He made the trip to the site of Honor’s wreck in record time while he, Abel, and Ice listened to Patience’s scared, weak voice feed information to the dispatchers. Beside him, Abel gripped his hands in fists as his body vibrated with pent-up energy, waiting for them to reach the wrecked car. And Zeke completely understood where the man’s head was. Thankfully, Zeke’s intimate knowledge of all of Paradise’s roads and shortcuts came in handy, getting them to the site of the crash in record time, but nothing on Earth could have prepared any of them for what they found there when he’d pulled his SUV over to the edge of the road and stared down into the creek bed below them.
Honor’s car rested at a forty-five degree angle against a large tree growing out of the water, the nose of her vehicle crumpled as if it was made from construction paper rather than steel. Swallowing hard as he’d pushed his way out of his own vehicle, he crawled over the busted median to slide down the steep, muddy embankment into the water, hissing as the frigid temperature penetrated through his denim clad legs. He knew they needed to act fast. Otherwise, both Patience and Honor would freeze to death before their injuries could kill them. Wading closer to the smoking vehicle, he heard the sounds of Abel and Ice following him into the creek and Abel’s deep, broken voice as he called Patience’s name.
Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) Page 4