by Carol Ross
“Second Time Around,” she corrected in a wistful tone. “The clothes in there were more expensive second-hand than what I usually had new.”
He grinned. “I was all set to wear my cargo shorts and baseball T-shirt, but you wouldn’t let me.”
“And you were glad.”
He tipped his head back and rested it against the wall. “I was. You were always looking out for me.”
She tucked her chin and looked at him over her shoulder. “That worked both ways,” she said softly.
He considered telling her about the investigation but quickly changed his mind, not wanting to add to her burden right now. As soon as they got back and she could see for herself that Nina was okay. Then he would tell her.
“I hate that it’s dark already and we have hours to kill. I’m going to go crazy.”
He went to his pack again and began digging around. “How about a rematch?”
“A rematch?”
“Alex and I were talking about how you used to beat us at that game.” He joined her again and held out a deck of cards and a flashlight. “Now that I’m a skilled helicopter pilot who has been repeatedly promoted for all my awesomeness, I think I can beat you.”
“Ah, speed trap. Yes, of course I remember.”
“That’s it, speed trap. Couldn’t remember the name.”
She swept her palms together eagerly, “Bring it on, Lieutenant Sloth Hands.”
* * *
A FEW HOURS and innumerable card games later, Aubrey rightly declared herself the champion.
“Well, you might be a passable helicopter pilot, but you still can’t play cards.”
“Winning three games out of fifteen against you makes me a champion in my own mind.”
“I suppose we all need to be winners somewhere, huh?” she teased.
The wind was still bombarding the little cabin, rattling the windows so forcefully a few times she wondered if they would hold. He stowed the cards and returned with a small fleece blanket that he draped over them both.
Aubrey resisted the urge to scoot closer to him. She longed for the comfort she knew he could provide. But she also knew, when it was all said and done, that it wouldn’t change anything. It would just be a temporary fix and one that would end up messing with her head. Again. And she’d already gone too far down that road with him as it was.
She focused on Nina, trying to send good vibes her way. That was something Nina would do—the vibe thing. Aubrey was so anxious to see her she could barely sit still.
She could do this. She was strong. She’d always been the strong one in her family, her sisters and her mom relied on her emotional support. She was the one who always kept it together. She was also the one who moved, who acted, who problem-solved and who made bad things better. Somehow, she promised herself, she would make Nina better.
“Stop fidgeting.” Eli wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
“You—”
“Don’t argue, please,” he urged. “Just try to get some sleep. I will wake you when the wind dies down.”
“I’m too tired to argue, but this doesn’t change the fact that I’m mad at you.”
“Believe me, that’s not something I can forget.”
“Eli—”
“Aubrey,” he interrupted, suddenly sounding tired himself, “we will talk about your...temporary break from duty later, okay? I will explain the situation as best as I can as soon as I can. Just get some sleep.”
“How am I supposed to sleep after that cryptic comment?” she asked grumpily. “You and Gale are like a couple of spies lately.”
His answer was to hold her tighter. But then he sighed and said, “You know what? You’re right.”
“I am?” she asked brightly.
“Yes. I realize how difficult this must be for you. So, for now, I can promise you it’s not as bad as you are thinking. You didn’t do anything wrong and you aren’t in trouble. But, the underlying situation that forced me to make this decision is also probably worse than you’re thinking. That’s all I’m going to tell you right now. Trust me. Please. Believe me when I tell you I had to do this.”
A part of her wanted to badger him for more information while another was relieved to hear even that much. Still another was irritated that he hadn’t told her that from the start. Although, she supposed he might have been trying to when he was texting earlier. Or he was going to tell her when he saw her, but then Nina... Yes, Nina. She closed her eyes and refocused on those vibes for her sister.
She finally drifted off. She didn’t know how many hours she’d slept when she awoke to discover that she was clinging to Eli like a desperate vine of ivy. She was lying mostly on top of him, chest to chest, her cheek resting near his shoulder. She stayed still a moment, listening to the slow, hard thump of his heart.
In the ensuing hours, he’d somehow managed to scoot them both down onto the floor. He was using a portion of his pack as a pillow while she’d apparently used him as a mattress. Her muscles were screaming in pain, so she knew his had to be, too, since his body was also absorbing the cold hard floor.
Moving slowly, careful not to wake him, she attempted to push herself up with one arm. Realizing her arm was asleep she shifted her weight more evenly. That hurt, so she brought up one knee, transferring some of her weight there. Essentially holding a one-armed push-up with Eli beneath her, she was deciding the best way to stand when his arms tightened around her.
“Good morning,” he said, his voice thick with amusement.
Her eyes darted to his to find his amused blue eyes staring into hers. His mouth was curling with a smile.
“How long have you been awake?” she asked flatly.
“Long enough to enjoy this little yoga routine you’ve got going.”
She released her arms and let her weight fall on top of him.
He whooshed out an “oomph” along with a chuckle. She sat up and glared at him.
“You slept.” He sounded pleased.
“Apparently. What time is it? Has there been any news?”
“It’s four-thirty. Nina is awake. Or she has been awake enough to talk.”
“That’s great...” But something in his tone, in his expression, didn’t sit right. “Isn’t it?”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
“What?”
“The police are coming in to talk to her later this morning.”
“The police? Because of the accident?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“Well, that’s normal, right? Any time there’s an accident, the police get involved...”
He raked a hand through his hair. “Nina said, and the police believe, that her pickup was forced off the road.”
“It... What?” The cabin began to spin before her eyes. The sensation reminded her a lot of the time she’d been hit by a piece of driftwood on a training mission. The initial pain was different but the aftermath was the same. They both left this confusing bout of fuzziness.
“What are you...?”
“She says a big SUV came up fast behind her while she was driving. It sped up till it was beside her, turned into her and forced her vehicle off the road. She hit the brakes, but there was a patch of gravel and she slid over the embankment.”
Aubrey began shaking her head. “This makes no sense. Why would someone want to hurt Nina?”
“I have no idea. But Gale said she’s mentioned Doug’s name.”
“Why would he try something like this now? They’re divorced. They both have plenty of money. Even before it was final Nina told me that she’d removed him as the beneficiary on her life insurance policy. It doesn’t make any sense. He wouldn’t be that stupid, would he? I mean he would know that people would suspect him. If they knew he was in town and Nina got hurt.”
“How well do you know him?” He handed her a protein bar.
She ripped it open and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. “Not that well, really. He visited Mom and Dad with Nina
a few times after they were married when I was there. He was charming and polite, but also kind of...smug. Like he was better than us provincial, working folk, yet amused by us at the same time. He’s really pretentious.”
“So you two were close?” he quipped.
“Very,” she said with fake enthusiasm. She finished her protein bar and downed a bottle of water. Then she added, “I think there was physical abuse along with the mental. Nina never said for sure, but...sisters can sense these things. Needless to say, no one was heartbroken when they divorced.”
She watched Eli tense as she relayed this information.
“Poor Nina,” he said tightly. “I had no idea.”
“It was worse than any of us knew. I’ve learned a lot this past year and pieces are still coming out.”
She pulled her pack on over her shoulders. “Ready?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ALEX WAS WAITING in his Range Rover when Aubrey and Eli emerged at the trail head. They climbed in and he headed straight to the hospital while he filled them in on Nina’s condition.
“Your mom and dad arrived last night, but I’m so glad you’re here. Nina’s been asking about you.”
Aubrey understood. She’d be asking for her sister, too. There was something irreplaceable about sister love in certain situations. Life-threatening injuries fell into this category.
“How is she?”
Alex let out a chuckle. “Tougher than boiled bat wings, as my grandmother used to say. And bossy. But, you know, it’s in that Nina way. She’s not mean. She’s just...specific about her demands. One of those repeated demands has been for me to bring you to the hospital.”
“Feisty. I feel like that’s a good sign.”
“Feisty? Feisty doesn’t quite cover it. She ordered Gale to go pick you up in a helicopter.”
She laughed. “That’s our Nina Nothing-is-Impossible Wynn.”
Alex glanced over at her, his expression sobering. “I need to warn you about something, though. The doctors say that she looks even worse than she is, and she looks really, really bad. I mean like someone beat the living hell out of her.”
Aubrey hadn’t even thought about how she might look. It was thoughtful of Alex to remind her.
A short time later she rushed into the hospital room to find her parents and Camile seated around Nina’s bed. Her parents moved back to let her in, and as she closed the distance, she realized that Alex’s warning was more than thoughtful. It was practical and it kept her from crying out.
Horrible didn’t even begin to describe her sister’s state. Her face was so swollen Aubrey might not have recognized her, the skin discolored in innumerable shades of blue and purple. A long line of stitches ran across one side of her forehead and up onto a strip of now partially shaved scalp.
Aubrey reached down and held her hand. “Nina?”
Her eyes fluttered open. “Aubrey.” Her name came out along with a choked sob.
“I’m so sorry that it took me forever to get here. Stupid windstorm. How are you feeling, sweetie?”
“I hurt. I’m not going to lie. They’re generous with the pain meds, but you know how sick they make me.”
“I do.” She dipped her chin and tried desperately not to cry as her eyes traveled over her sister’s bruised, stitched and battered body. “You’d be a terrible drug addict. No self-respecting junkie wants to hang out with someone who pukes every time they try to get high.”
Nina let out a sound—part laugh, part groan. “Don’t make me laugh. It makes me hurt all over, especially my ribs. Camile has been doing that, too.”
Aubrey smiled. “I’m sorry. I’ll try not to. But that’s one thing we have in common, huh? Making each other laugh.” She reached out and tucked some hair behind her ear. She found a spot that was less discolored than the rest and lightly caressed her brow there. “For the love of...” She sighed. “Why are you so busted up, sister of mine?”
She mumbled something.
“What?”
Aubrey felt her mom squeeze her shoulder as she said gently, “Aubrey, don’t...”
“Don’t what?” she asked even as her stomach took a plunge.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Nina said. Aubrey thought she might be wincing, but it was difficult to tell with her face so messed up. “I wasn’t wearing my seat belt.”
“Oh...” Aubrey resisted the urge to react. “Well, that explains why you look like a pile of rotten hamburger.”
“Aubrey!” she heard her mom gasp.
She heard her dad chuckle as Camile burst out laughing. Nina giggle-groaned again and then her face formed what was clearly a grimace. “Ouch, I told you not to do that.”
“Sorry,” she said loud enough for their mom to hear. She dipped her head and kissed Nina on the forehead. She lowered her voice and whispered, “Not sorry. We’ll talk about that stroke of idiocy later. Right now, I’m just so, so glad you’re going to be all right.”
Nina heaved a sigh as her eyes fluttered closed. She seemed inordinately relieved by Aubrey’s response. She knew she could be rigid when it came to certain things—important things like matters of safety.
She thought about the conversation with her mom, that black-and-white thing. Did decision-making and strong opinions make a person judgmental? It broke her heart to think her sister had been lying in a hospital bed fearing that she’d be mad at her because she hadn’t worn her seat belt.
Camile rose from the chair she’d been sitting in and stood across the bed, so Nina was between them. She looked at Aubrey and said, “She’s been so keyed up waiting for you to get here. Every time she wakes up, she asks where you are and when you’re getting here.” She reached down and caressed Nina’s puffy cheek with the backs of her fingers. “I feel like she’ll be able to rest now.”
“I hope so.”
They stayed where they were for a long time; two sisters listening to the soft sound of their big sister’s breathing while the beeping of the machines assured them she was alive.
* * *
THE WYNNS ESTABLISHED a pattern of sorts over the next few days. Their mom and dad would take the overnight-till-morning shift, Camile would come in late morning and stay through lunch, while Aubrey took the afternoon-till-evening shift. This gave her time to work out in the mornings, teach her swim lessons and help with Marion. Poor dog. Aubrey and Camile had been keeping her close.
The police had determined that Doug hadn’t been involved in the accident. Nina didn’t even remember mentioning his name. The doctors said it wasn’t unusual for someone with a head injury like she’d suffered to make statements that didn’t have any bearing on the accident. But that they could be a manifestation of other fears brought out by trauma.
Forensic analysis did confirm her report that a vehicle had run her off the road. They’d found paint transfer and a broken turn signal lens. The police seemed to favor the notion that it was kids fooling around. There had been several reports of vandalism along that same stretch of highway in recent weeks; mailboxes destroyed, driveways torn up, even some items reported missing.
On the fourth day, Aubrey walked into the hospital and headed to the café to fetch Nina a container of her favorite Greek yogurt. As she entered the cafeteria, she saw Eli sharing a table with an older man. So sweet that he and Gale had visited Nina almost every day. It was the only time she’d seen him in the last few days and they hadn’t yet had a chance to talk about her suspension.
She walked over to say hi and it wasn’t until she was almost upon them that she recognized the man.
“Mr. Pelletier? Hello! Eli didn’t say you were for sure coming home for Christmas. Well, I guess this isn’t home for you anymore, is it?”
Already on his feet, he engulfed Aubrey in a huge hug. “Hi, sweetheart. Eli didn’t know. I told him I might make it on Christmas day. Then a big fishing party that had me scheduled for the entire week canceled. A buddy of mine works for one of the airlines, so I headed to the airport hoping without much hope I’
d get on a standby flight. But I’ll be darned if it didn’t work out and here I am.”
Aubrey was smiling. “I’m so glad you did. I hope you’ll be able to make it to the St. Johns’ party tomorrow night.” She couldn’t believe Christmas Eve was the next day. They were planning to release Nina in the morning. Even though she would have to miss out on the party, at least she wouldn’t have to spend the evening in the hospital.
Something occurred to her then. “Why in the world are you guys having dinner in the hospital instead of a restaurant?”
“Also my fault. I rented a car at PDX. I called Eli when I got on the road and asked him what was going on. He said he was here, and filled me in on what happened to Nina. I pulled in here and surprised him.”
“He sure did,” Eli said with a warmth to his tone. “He just got here about an hour ago.”
Aubrey felt bad about interrupting. “Well, I’ll leave you two to—”
“Actually, I’d like to talk to you, if you have a few minutes? Dad is going to go up and see Nina. Your mom and Gale are upstairs with her right now.”
“She would love that,” Aubrey said. “She’s getting so bored. A sure sign, I think, that she’s ready to get out of here.”
Tim hugged her again and left the cafeteria.
Eli motioned for her to have a seat.
She did and, without pausing, he said, “There are some things I’m going to tell you that you’re not going like, and that you’re probably going to find very difficult to believe.”
* * *
EVEN AS HE spoke the words, Eli wondered if he was doing the right thing. Because instead of telling her part of it, now he had to tell her everything.
“As you’ve probably suspected, Gale and I aren’t really here to evaluate rescue procedures.”
Her head tilted as her brows drifted up. It was more a sardonic look of confirmation than one of genuine surprise. All that was missing was a sarcastic “no kidding?”
“We are part of a joint task force with the DEA and the Coast Guard...”
Aubrey listened silently as he recited the details of their assignment. From the look on her face, she hadn’t expected anything quite so dramatic.