Two ambulances waited at the top of the incline.
Ryan lowered himself onto a stretcher with the help of the EMTs. “We need to ride to the hospital together.”
The bleeding from the cut on his side had subsided, but it still burned like the devil himself walked across his torso whenever he moved.
“Sorry, sir. Space won’t allow two stretchers.”
He didn’t want to leave Nadia’s side. Yet, he could barely sit up, and he wasn’t going to take any chances that Nadia’s bump on the head wasn’t something more serious. He called out to the deputy that had taken his statement and explained that there had been several attempts to harm her. The deputy promised someone would stay with Nadia at all times.
It wasn’t as good as having her by his side, but it was the best he could do at the moment. Still, if forcing them off the road was an attempt to separate him from Nadia, her assailant had just gotten exactly what he wanted.
The victims from the five-car pileup that caused him to turn off the interstate in the first place were also being seen at the hospital. Unfortunately, several people involved in that accident were in critical condition. The deputy kept his word, thankfully, and had an officer shadow Nadia while the doctors examined her head wound.
Ryan called Shawn and filled him in while he waited to be seen by the doctor. He wasn’t surprised when a little over two hours later Shawn pulled back the curtain surrounding his hospital bed. He’d discouraged his brother from coming to the hospital, but he’d known the effort would be wasted breath.
Ryan scowled. “I told you not to come.”
“The doctor has already discharged Nadia. Gideon is with her,” Shawn said.
Ryan felt the tension in his body dissolve and with it the annoyance he felt at Shawn’s presence. “I’m just waiting on my discharge papers.”
Shawn sat in the metal chair next to the bed. “I got an update from the deputies. They found the car that hit you. A rental. Name on the contract is a fake, but the identification was good enough to fool the clerk.”
The nurse had offered painkillers, but Ryan had refused. Now the headache swelling behind his eyes had him rethinking his decision. “None of this makes sense. How did they know where to find us?”
“You sure you weren’t followed?”
Ryan hit his brother with a scorching look. “We weren’t followed.”
“Well, somebody knew you were heading to Rhode Island today.”
He trusted the employees of West Security implicitly, but he knew that Nadia had informed Olivia and the general managers of the hotels that she wouldn’t be in the office today. He hadn’t thought it necessary to keep where they were heading a secret. A number of people knew they were headed for Rhode Island: Olivia, Erik and several employees at West Security for starters. He’d told Shawn they hadn’t been followed, but he couldn’t be sure. He mentally kicked himself for having let his guard down.
“Hey.” Shawn clapped a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out.”
“I could have gotten Nadia killed.”
“But you didn’t.” Shawn withdrew his hand, running it over his bald head before crossing his arms. “Look, I knew you had a thing for Nadia Shelton, but it seems like there’s more to your feelings than you just being hot for her. I don’t have to tell you how bad that can end. For you.”
Shawn had been there for him the last time—the only time—he’d thrown professionalism aside and fallen for a woman he’d been paid to protect. The chemistry was off the charts, and he’d fallen for her hard. But when the danger faded, so had her feelings for him.
“I’ve got it under control.”
Shawn let out a weary sigh. “You may be further gone than I thought. Bro, Nadia is great. Smart, sophisticated, and has a body that—”
Ryan growled a warning at his brother.
Shawn raised his hands in surrender. “What I’m trying to say is right now you’re her knight in shining armor, Black Panther and 007 all rolled into one guy. But when this is all over, you’ll still be a glorified bodyguard, and she’ll still be the heiress to a hotel chain. Never the twain shall meet. You know what I’m saying?”
Ryan understood what Shawn was getting at. He even understood his brother meant to protect him, and he loved Shawn for it. He’d said the same thing to himself a thousand times in the last two days. Nadia was out of his league.
Unfortunately, a little voice inside his head told him it was too late. He already cared about Nadia too deeply. The only thing he could do now was ensure the only heart broken when this was all over was his.
“I hear you. I’m not too involved,” Ryan said.
Shawn’s expression made his disbelief clear.
Ryan wasn’t in the mood to continue the conversation, however. “Was Eugene able to find anything on the security tapes from the Harlem hotel that might help us identify our arsonist?”
“He cleaned the tapes up pretty good. There’s still no way to get a positive identification on the guy, but I got to thinking about you finding Andrei Ledebev’s body so soon after the fire, which made me wonder if maybe it could have been him,” Shawn said.
“And?”
Shawn shook his head. “No way. Wrong body type and coloring for either of the Ledebevs.”
Ryan scrubbed his hands over his face. “The fire feels different from this other stuff that’s happened. If we assume Nadia being pushed into the street was intentional—and I believe in my gut it’s a part of this—then all the attacks except for the fire have been personal and physical. The fire seems aimed more toward the hotel itself.”
“Yeah, but Nadia is the hotel in a sense. She owns it. She runs it. She keeps her office there. The hotel could be seen as an extension of her.”
Ryan didn’t disagree with Shawn’s logic, but his gut was still telling him something was off about the fire. The doctor chose that moment to return with the discharge papers, so he and Shawn would have to wait until later to discuss the situation further.
Ryan listened to the doctor’s admonishment to take it easy and rest, a suggestion he didn’t bother to pretend he’d be following, and headed out to meet up with Gideon and Nadia.
Nadia’s head popped up as he exited the sliding glass doors separating the exam area from the waiting room. She hurried to him, Gideon following in her wake.
“How are you?” she asked, placing a hand on his bicep.
Concern for him darkened her brown eyes, and his heart fluttered at the sight of it. He tried for a smile, but the deepening creases in her forehead suggested it had come out as more a grimace. “Just needed a few stitches, and I’m as good as new. How about you?”
“I may have a headache for a day or so. A couple ibuprofens will take care of it.”
“You were both lucky,” Shawn said. “Things could have been a lot worse. I’m guessing you still want to go to Rhode Island?”
Ryan nodded. He stole a glance at Nadia and found her doing the same.
“Okay. Northpath, here we come.”
* * *
THE REMAINDER OF the drive to Rhode Island was, thankfully, uneventful. Nadia pretended to sleep for most of the trip. She understood the need for personal protection at the moment, but she desperately needed some time to process everything that had happened in the last couple of days. Ryan hadn’t come right out and said it, but she got the feeling that things were going to get worse before they got better.
Nadia pretended to awake as Shawn pulled the car to a stop in front of a midsize hotel. A row of redbrick buildings with matching black awnings lined the cobblestone sidewalk as if they were the Queen’s Guard. Antique lamp posts and the blue-purple sky cast shadows on those braving the chilly evening to spend cocktail hour outdoors.
Shawn returned from checking them in and announced he’d gotten them adjacent two-bedroom su
ites. They had just enough time for Shawn and Gideon to drop their bags in one of the suites before heading to the police station.
She’d overheard Ryan on the phone with Sheriff Charlotte Haley on the ride. The sheriff seemed understanding when Ryan explained that they’d been in a car accident. She’d been happy to push their meeting to six, meaning they now had a little over a half hour before they had to be at the sheriff’s office.
The police hadn’t allowed them to get their bags from the trunk of their totaled car. Shawn and Gideon offered to go to the big-box store outside of town to pick up basic toiletries and necessities while she and Ryan spoke with the sheriff. Since they were working with a single car, Shawn dropped Nadia and Ryan off in front of a sandstone building with imposing columns guarding the front entrance.
A deputy led them through a maze of desks and into Sheriff Charlotte Haley’s spacious office.
“I’m glad you two made it in one piece.” Sheriff Haley leaned back in her chair, her sharp eyes examining them.
Nadia sat beside Ryan on the other side of the sheriff’s desk. A stout woman with red hair shot through with a generous dose of gray.
“We expected to be here hours ago. Unfortunately, as I said on the phone, we met with some trouble. Someone tried to run us off the road on the way here.”
Ryan filled the sheriff in on the details of being forced off the road. As he spoke, Sheriff Haley’s expression changed from one of alarm to concern.
“The driver didn’t attempt to see if the crash killed you, though?” Haley asked when Ryan finished.
Lines formed on Ryan’s forehead. “Not that we could tell.”
“And no one approached you at the hospital, Miss Shelton?”
“No.” Nadia looked from the sheriff to Ryan. They seemed to know something she didn’t. “What am I missing?”
Sheriff Haley shot a look at Ryan.
“If the person who forced us off the road wanted to hurt you, they had the perfect opportunity to do so when we crashed,” Ryan said.
“But they didn’t take it,” Nadia said.
“The crash could have been an attempt to separate you from your bodyguard here. That would make it a lot easier to kidnap you if that was the goal, especially in a busy hospital, but since no one approached you there...” Sheriff Haley shrugged.
“So what does that mean?” Nadia asked.
Ryan shifted awkwardly in his chair. The ER doctor had stitched his cut and prescribed a painkiller, which Ryan had declined to fill before leaving the hospital. Nadia knew he had to be in pain, but he hadn’t complained once.
Neither Ryan nor the sheriff immediately answered her question. “Ryan?” she asked again.
“I don’t know.” Ryan shook his head. “But this incident feels different from the others. Whoever’s doing this has been persistent from the start, so why did they walk away when we were in no position to fight back?”
“It is a conundrum, but you folks came up here to ask about Miss Shelton’s brother’s accident,” Sheriff Haley said.
“We don’t want to take up too much of your time, Sheriff. I’ve already reviewed your official report of the accident that killed Nate Shelton. What I’d really like is to hear your take.”
Sheriff Haley narrowed her eyes at Ryan. “I won’t ask how you got your hands on a copy of my file.”
It was a question Nadia wouldn’t mind an answer to, but Ryan remained silent and expressionless.
Sheriff Haley huffed. “If you read it, you know the important stuff.”
“That depends on what you define as important. You noted the brake lines seemed worn,” Ryan said.
“Yes.” Haley’s tone was cautious.
“Seemed worn. Those were the exact words you used in the report. Not were worn,” Ryan pressed.
Nadia’s gaze flicked between the two of them. They were talking in code again. “Since I’m not fluent in whatever coded language you two are speaking in, would you mind saying the unspoken parts out loud, please?”
“What did you see that made you think Nate’s accident might not be an accident, Sheriff?” Ryan asked bluntly.
Nadia gasped, her mouth falling open at the implication in Ryan’s question.
Sheriff Haley seemed less surprised. “You’re good.”
The sheriff studied Ryan for a moment longer. “There was nothing I could prove, or you better believe I’d have chased it down to the end. I had an expert take a look at them, but the results were inconclusive. Still, the brake lines didn’t look like any I’d ever seen worn. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t just regular wear and tear.”
“But it got you thinking,” Ryan pressed.
“Yeah. And when we couldn’t find any reason for your brother to be in our little town...” Haley’s voice trailed off, but she leaned forward, resting her arms on her desk, a questioning gaze focused on Nadia.
“I don’t know why Nate was here. I assumed...” Even though he was gone, Nadia was hesitant to say anything casting Nate in a poor light. Her brother had his vices, but he was a good man.
She cleared her throat. “I assumed Nate came here with a woman. Those first days after Nate’s death I was pretty out of it. Uncle Erik took care of all the paperwork and brought Nate’s things back to New York.”
“Erik Jackson. I interviewed him. He was quite torn up about your brother,” Sheriff Haley said.
“Uncle Erik and Nate were close,” Nadia replied. “Uncle Erik dodged all my questions about what Nate did in Northpath. I loved my brother, but I was well aware of his faults, including his penchant for dalliances with married women.”
“Sheriff, there was something else in your report I wanted to ask you about,” Ryan said, changing the subject. “You included a bunch of information about high and low tide and water flow in the sound. Why?”
“Well, you know our working theory was that Mr. Shelton’s body was carried out to sea with the tide. It’s possible, and hydrologists are expensive. In the absence of evidence of foul play, I couldn’t justify spending the money for one.” The sheriff’s voice held more than a note of uncertainty.
Nadia’s heart began galloping in her chest.
“But I’ve lived in this town all my life. I know the tide as well as I know the streets of this town. The tide that night was not strong enough to carry Mr. Shelton’s body out to sea. I told your uncle all this when he was in town. I figured with your kind of money, you’d commission a hydrologist report.”
Sheriff Haley tipped her head down, looking at Nadia over the top of her glasses. “To be honest, I expected to see you in my office months ago, Miss Shelton.”
Chapter Ten
Shawn and Gideon were waiting in the car in front of the sheriff’s office when Nadia and Ryan exited. It didn’t escape Nadia’s notice that cars appeared to be a difficult space for her and Ryan to navigate. At least one of them seemed to be annoyed with the other every time they were in one together. That or someone was trying to kill them.
If Shawn or Gideon noticed the tension, they didn’t comment on it during the ride back to the hotel. Nadia hadn’t felt comfortable asking Shawn to pick up clothes for her, but he’d done so, anyway. A modest nightshirt, a peach cardigan set and a pair of jeans that miraculously looked like they might actually fit were in the bags on the back seat when she and Ryan got into the car. He’d even picked out a camisole and a three pack of cotton underwear, a purchase that saved her from having to wash out her undergarments in the bathroom sink. She made a mental note to write a check to Shawn to cover the cost of the clothes.
The four of them agreed to meet for dinner in fifteen minutes and each pair retreated into their suite.
Nadia carried her bag of new clothes into the larger bedroom, not caring that she’d commandeered the room.
“You’re angry with me.”
She turned to find Ryan
standing, arms crossed, in the door to the bedroom.
“Why would you ever think that?” She ripped the tag from the cardigan with enough force to leave a small hole and silently swore.
He crossed the room, pulling a key chain from his pocket as he did, and held a small Swiss Army knife out to her.
“I wasn’t sure the sheriff had suspicions about the accident. It was more a feeling than anything concrete.”
She turned to face him, full-on ignoring the offer. “Then, why didn’t you tell me what you were thinking?”
He exhaled heavily. Lifting her hand, he dropped the key chain in it and sat on the edge of the bed, looking up at her. “Because you are Nate’s sister. You’re emotionally involved in this on so many levels. I didn’t want to throw out theories that might be hurtful to you without evidence.”
“So you thought it would be better to just spring it on me in the sheriff’s office?” She didn’t try to hide the incredulity in her voice.
Nadia sat beside him massaging her temples. Another headache threatened, but she didn’t think this one had anything to do with the bump on her head.
“Are you okay? Do you want another painkiller?” Ryan asked.
“I should be asking you that.” She raised her gaze to his. “I just don’t understand any of this. Are you saying you and Sheriff Haley think Nate’s accident could have been intentional? Like murder?”
“It’s possible.”
Fear pounded in her chest, even as her head rejected the notion. Even with everything she’d been through, it was hard to imagine Nate having been involved in something that would get him murdered.
She studied Ryan. “But you don’t think so. If not murder, then what?”
His forehead creased. “Why do you think your uncle didn’t tell you about Sheriff Haley’s theory concerning Nate’s death?”
Nadia clenched her teeth, biting back her initial response to him dodging her question. If he thought she would forget about it, he had another think coming. But she was curious enough about his line of questioning to play along for a bit.
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