by Mary Burton
“And I stood here after you were hurt,” Rick said. “It’s just our turn to wait on Alex. Shit. It sounds like he doesn’t even have a legit injury.” The last comment was meant to distract, break her growing panic. “As a kid, he at least had a compound fracture and signs of exposure.”
“That’s not funny!” Georgia shouted.
Rick shrugged. “Cracked ribs, Georgia. Don’t be dramatic.”
“We don’t know it’s just cracked ribs! They might not be telling us the worst.”
So that she could fight rather than cry, Rick said, “Alex’s old scar and, hell, my scar are a hell of a lot longer and nastier than a few bruises.”
Deke, understanding Rick’s motive, nodded. “Alex won’t even have a scar. Just bruises. This really doesn’t even count as an injury.”
“I agree,” Rick said. “Just like Alex to get a baby injury and then try to hog all the attention.”
Jenna and Rachel swallowed smiles when they glanced at Georgia’s thunderous expression.
Georgia gritted her teeth. “God, you two are such jerks. Why’s it always a competition with you guys?”
“It’s no competition when you know you’ve won, Georgia,” Rick said. “He’ll be out of here in a day with a handful of aspirin. I had months of rehab.”
Georgia’s face reddened.
Jenna laid a gentle hand on Georgia’s shoulder. “Tell me again why you like having older brothers?”
Tears glistened in Georgia’s eyes. “I don’t. They’re a pain.”
Jenna smiled. “I know. But in a good way, right?”
Rachel’s pale face revealed her worry far more than her words. “He’s going to be fine.”
A young doctor wearing green scrubs and a white medical jacket rounded the corner, and Jenna was the first to spot him. “Your answers have arrived.”
The five turned and arguments and jokes were silenced.
The doctor had thick, brown hair and dark circles shadowing smiling eyes. “Your brother said to follow the sound of arguing voices. He said when I located the source, I’d find the Morgans. Have I found the Morgans?”
Deke extended his hand. “You found us. And before my sister attacks, how’s Alex?”
“He’s got bruised ribs. But he’ll be fine. He’ll be out in the morning.”
Deke looked at Georgia. “See?”
She swiped away a tear. “Jerk.”
Rick winked at her. “Brat.”
Deke grinned. “Can we see him?”
“Room 206. He’s awake and ready for visitors. Though I want you to clear out in ten minutes. He needs rest.”
The Morgan entourage made their way up in the elevator and then down the hall. Georgia was the first to push into the room and find Alex trying to sit up. Pain and fatigue had paled his angled face, but his gaze remained sharp and alert.
“You’re supposed to be resting.” Georgia came up behind him and propped his pillows.
“Just the idea makes me want to jump out of my skin,” Alex said. “I want out of here.”
Jenna and Rachel hovered close to the door of the small room while Deke and Rick moved to the foot of the bed. For a moment, neither spoke as the weight of the evening lessened.
“Get a look at the guy?” Rick asked.
He grunted as he settled against the pillows. “Like I told Deke, fucker came out of nowhere. I think he’d have caved in my skull if I hadn’t drawn on him.”
“What did you see?” Deke pressed.
“Hoodie. Mask. Tall. Lean. Broad shoulders. Black jeans and tennis shoes. Couldn’t tell you more than that, which really pisses me off.”
“Okay,” Rick said. “Take it easy. This isn’t something we’re going to figure out tonight.”
“The doc says you have to spend the night,” Deke said.
Alex pushed to straighten up, winced, and collapsed back against the pillows. “I want out.”
“I can stay the night,” Georgia said. “Consider me your personal nurse.”
“I’m fine,” Alex said. “Really.”
“I want to stay.”
Alex shook his head. “I can’t sleep if you’re staring at me.”
Her sweet smile belied her tenacity. “I won’t stare.”
“Yes, you will. And you’ll fuss. I’m not doing that tonight.” A crooked smile meant to soften the honesty fell short. “I mean it.”
Georgia smoothed her hand over the rumpled sheet. “You shouldn’t be here alone.”
Alex closed his eyes. “I need to sleep and get better. Someone is going to pay.”
Deke laid a steady hand on Georgia’s shoulder. “He’ll be fine. You can see him first thing in the morning.”
She pointed a finger at Alex, her voice cracking as she spoke. “You scared me.”
Alex arched a brow. “You’ll survive. Where’s my phone?”
“You can’t have your phone,” Georgia said. “You have to rest.”
“Phone, Georgia.” Pain honed the words to brittle sharpness.
She rolled her eyes and moved to the closet, where his personal items had been stowed in a plastic bag. She fished out his phone and tossed it in his lap.
He winced. “Brat.”
Groaning, she closed her eyes. “Are all my brothers jerks?”
“Yes,” Alex said. “Now beat it.”
The Morgans left the hospital, each grateful to be away from the antiseptic smells and fluorescent lights. The five hovered near the emergency room doors. Cold wind blew across the lot, forcing them all to burrow deeper into their coats.
Whatever goodwill they’d projected to Alex vanished. Deke glared at Rick. “What’re you doing tonight?”
“I’m at the station with you, trying to figure out what the fuck happened to Alex.”
Leah arrived at the hospital just before one in the morning. She paused as she entered the emergency room. The last time she’d been there, she’d been on her back, bleeding, pain cutting through her body. The doctors had been talking over her, as if she weren’t there. Several times, when her eyes were closed, a few of them had voiced their fear that she would die.
But it was a young nurse who had taken her hand and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “You hang tough, Leah. We’re going to fix this, but you have to stay with us. We need your help.”
Leah had opened her eyes and seen the vivid smile. The moment of kindness had been the anchor that had kept her among the living.
At the admitting desk, she cleared her throat, and a clerk gazing at a computer screen looked up at her. “I’m here to see Alex Morgan.”
“It’s after visiting hours.”
“I know. He texted me and told me he was here.” The truth wouldn’t get her past the gatekeeper. “I’ve got his medicine. He asked me to bring it.”
The clerk’s gaze narrowed. “What kind of medicine?”
“I’m not exactly sure. He’s a private guy.” She fished a bottle of prescription pain meds out of her purse. It was for a canine with a bad hip. When the owner, a longtime client of the clinic, had called in, she’d offered to drop it off. They hadn’t been home when she arrived so she’d kept the pills. Pills rattled as she shook it. “I won’t be long. Honest.”
“I can give it to him.”
Her fingers tightened around the bottle. “He was clear I take it to him.”
“Let me check.”
Frustrated, she turned and waited. The clerk’s phone started ringing just as an ambulance crew showed. They had a teenager with alcohol poisoning, the paramedic shouted to a harried doctor. All this offered just enough distraction for her to slip past the desk and down the hallway toward the elevators. She punched the Up button and waited, as if she had every right to be there. The doors opened and she slipped inside.
Seconds later, she approached Alex’s door. A television buzzed conversations as the light from the screen flickered and cast shadows on the wall. She knocked gently.
“What?” He sounded angry and annoyed.
She pushed open the door. “Good to hear you’re in such a good mood.”
Gripping the remote control, he turned from the screen. For a moment, he didn’t say anything, as if he wasn’t sure she were real.
“Better let me in your room. There’s a nurse out there right now paging security to have me thrown out.”
He clicked off the television. “Breaking and entering.”
She closed the door behind her, moving toward his bed. “That would be correct. The hospital has a thing about visiting hours.”
He pushed himself up into a sitting position and winced. Without a word, she came behind him, fluffed his pillows, and settled him in a comfortable position.
She sat on a chair beside his bed, not sure why she’d come to his side. He’d returned her text an hour ago, saying he’d been delayed by a minor injury. “So what happened?”
He tossed the remote control aside. “Someone confused me with a piñata.”
Carefully, she set her purse on the floor. “You were hit with a bat?”
“That’s correct.”
His even tone belied the jolt of panic shooting through her. “Did you see the guy?”
“No. Too quick. That’s what I get for not paying attention.”
“Do you think it was Philip?”
“That’s one guess.” His gaze lingered on her face, as if searching. “But I’ve made more than a few people angry lately.”
“Imagine.”
A smile flickered. “Why’d you come?”
She shrugged off her coat. “I was worried.”
“Why?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“You have any trouble?”
“No. But I’m now counting the minutes until Wednesday.”
“He’s not going to hurt you again.” So much confidence. So certain.
She traced a pale finger along the handrail of the bed. “I’ll do whatever it takes to catch him. Whatever. You just need to let me know how to help.”
“I’ll come up with something, Leah. I promise.”
Her gaze caught the darkening bruise on his forearm. “I had a bruise like that once. I was blocking a blow.”
He frowned. “That’s what I was attempting to do.”
“Not as easy as it looks in the movies, is it?”
“No.”
She reached over and brushed his dark bangs away from his eyes. “Tonight, you sleep. Tonight, you let yourself heal, and tomorrow we’ll worry about Philip.”
“We?”
“The way I see this, we’re in it together.”
“Yes, we are.”
She laid a hand on his. “Nothing is going to happen tonight. Sleep.”
His brow furrowed, as if he were weighing and arguing a dozen points at once. “I’ll try if you try.”
“Deal.”
She rose, leaned forward, and kissed him softly on the lips. His hand came up, resting at the small of her back and coaxing her forward. She deepened the kiss, savoring his taste and the feel of his lips against hers.
Outside, she heard a sharp voice, a nurse, and, grinning, pulled back. She touched her fingertips to her lips. “That would be my exit cue. See you soon, Agent Morgan.”
“Count on it.”
Music pulsed from the jukebox as he elbowed his way into the crowded all-night diner. He flexed his fingers, still annoyed that he hadn’t caved in Alex Morgan’s skull. He’d had a clear shot, had moved fast, but the son of a bitch had heard him coming at the last second and whirled out of his way. He’d heard the crack of the bat against bone and the agent’s thud to the ground. Before he could take a second swing, Morgan had drawn, and he’d been staring down the barrel of a gun.
He’d underestimated Morgan. Roughing him up should have been an easy job. Don’t think I forgot you, Agent Morgan.
He spotted the woman sitting at the counter and forced himself to push aside his disappointment. He’d failed with Morgan, but he wouldn’t wither. Shrugging off the anger, he straightened his shoulders and adjusted his jacket as he stepped up to the hostess stand. “I see my wife at the bar. You mind if I scoot in the seat beside her?”
The young woman smiled. “Sure.”
He moved through the crowd of people and took the seat beside the woman. After ordering a coffee, he grabbed a laminated menu. “What do you recommend?”
He spoke loud enough for her to hear but was careful not to lean toward her or even look at her. A smart predator always moved slowly and carefully until he pounced.
Her gaze flickered toward him, as if she wasn’t sure he’d spoken to her.
He smiled, knowing the dimple in his right cheek could charm the hardest of hearts. Carefully, he sipped his coffee as he closed the menu. “I see you like breakfast for dinner.”
Grinning, she held his gaze. “It’s the cheapest and best dinner there is.”
“I hear ya.” When the counter waitress came up to him, he handed her the menu. “Whatever she has looks great.”
“Two eggs over easy, pancakes, grits, and bacon.”
“It’s a winner.” He liked the taste of fresh eggs. Not the powdered crap most places served these days but cracked fresh from the shell. And he liked bacon crisp with lots of fat. “Do you remember me?”
She leaned back a fraction as she studied his face. “We met at the church last week. And you dropped Charlie off at the vet.”
He produced a sheepish grin. “Gail, right?”
“Good memory. You never came back to get Charlie.”
He nodded. “My mom died within an hour of my dropping off Charlie. I only just got back into town. Is she doing all right? You didn’t send her back to the shelter, did you? Poor thing hated the place.”
Her gaze warmed a degree. “No, we didn’t send her back. Fact, one of our vets wants to adopt her.”
“Really?” He shook his head. “I was gonna call first thing tomorrow and ask about her.”
“Good luck getting her away from Leah.”
“Leah?”
“The vet.”
“Does she really love the dog?”
“Crazy about her. Crazy in love with that dog.”
A smile quirked his lips. “That’s good for Charlie. Real good. I need to settle up with the clinic for my bill.”
“You gonna take Charlie?”
“This Leah really does love her?”
“Yes. Loves her.”
He shook his head, low and slow. “Don’t know if I have the right. And I want the dog to be happy.”
“She is.”
“Tell Leah I’ll be by tomorrow to settle up, and if she’s really loving that dog, well, she can have her. The pound’s got plenty of dogs that need a home.”
She leaned in a fraction. “The dog reminds Leah of one she had as a kid.”
“That’s good. Real good.” He set the salt shaker close to the pepper shaker. “It’s been a week for losses.”
She cocked her head. “You lost your mom.”
“Yeah. Sudden.” His grin was watery, vulnerable. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Like what?”
He shrugged, sensing he’d dropped just the right bait in the water to catch this fish. “I don’t know, what’s got you eating dinner so late tonight?”
“I work some evenings at the animal hospital. I just got off and I’m starving.” She reached for a crispy piece of bacon and carefully snapped it in half.
He’d chosen her. Not because she was pretty or because she was remotely his type. He’d chosen her because she knew Leah. And he wanted to show Leah how close she was to dying.
As the waitress set a black coffee in front of him, he reached for the sugar shaker and dumped in a couple of teaspoons. As he stirred slowly, his spoon clinked against the sides of the mug.
Winning a woman over was one of his strengths. He knew when to smile, when to compliment. Seduction required a certain degree of skill, an artist’s touch, if you will. And so he set abou
t winning the fair Gail; charming her, sensing the right things to talk about and to avoid. Within thirty minutes, both had finished their meals and were lingering, laughing.
When she spoke to him, she leaned in just a little as she gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Want to get out of here?”
“Sure. Where?”
Color warmed her cheeks. “My place is a mess.”
He kissed her very gently on the lips. “I don’t care.”
She kissed him back in an aggressive way he didn’t quite enjoy but allowed. When a woman believed she was in control, she’d go just about anywhere with a man.
She drove her car and he drove his truck. Risky to release control for this brief time, so he stayed close on her bumper, even running a red light to keep her in his sights.
When they arrived at her apartment, he parked directly beside her and quickly crossed to her door so that he would be there to escort her inside. Under the glare of the street lamp, she blushed as he closed her car door. He leaned forward and kissed her very softly on the lips. She ran her tongue over her teeth and took his hand in hers.
Hand in hand, they climbed the stairs to her apartment, and as she fumbled to put her key in the lock, he kissed the nape of her neck. She giggled. When the door closed behind them, he threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her, none too gently, closer to him.
She giggled.
He growled.
Leah arrived home at two thirty in the morning. Fatigue had drained her body, and her mind refused to stop spinning. Charlie barked from her crate, and she crossed the room to let the pup out and took the dog outside for a walk. Back inside, she changed into sweats and a T-shirt and, with Charlie at her side, settled in front of the television to unwind.
An infomercial playing, she relaxed her head back against the couch and thought about the listening device perched feet from her. Philip. She’d wanted to tell Alex about the device, but one look at his pale, drawn features and she’d decided the information could wait. If she had told him, he’d have ignored his body’s need for rest and forced himself out of bed.