Army Ranger Redemption

by Carol Ericson

  The doc went on to explain Dax’s condition in greater detail, but all Jim heard was fifty-fifty. His brother had beaten those odds before, and Jim had faith that he could do it again.

  Although he hadn’t seen Dax in years, he wasn’t ready to lose him now. “His girlfriend. He has a girlfriend who’s in Seattle right now. I should call her. Do you have his personal effects?”

  “The nurse can help you with that. I’ll transition your brother to the ICU tomorrow morning and have his doctor there give you a call.”

  “I appreciate it, Dr. Verona. Can I look in on him here?”

  “Of course. I’ll have the nurse bring you back.”

  As the doctor turned, Deputy Stevens held up his hand. “Can I ask you a few questions, Dr. Verona? We’re treating this as an attempted homicide.”

  The doctor pointed to the left. “We can go in that office, but I just have a few minutes.”

  When they disappeared into the office, Jim leaned against the counter and addressed the nurse. “Dr. Verona said I could go back and see my brother.”

  She held up her finger, and then picked up the phone. “Tell Tiana the brother wants to see five twenty-eight.”

  Jim lifted his eyebrows and Scarlett said, “His name is Dax.”

  “Sorry.” The nurse spread her hands. “It’s just a shortcut. He received excellent care. Dr. Verona’s the best trauma doc around.”

  The door to the exam and operating rooms swung open and a nurse in pink scrubs poked her head out. “Are you Dax’s brother? This way.”

  Jim grabbed Scarlett’s hand. “She’s my wife, and she’s coming with me.”

  The nurse rolled her eyes. “No, she’s not. She’s Scarlett Easton, and I know for a fact she’s not married, but she can come, anyway.”

  “Tiana...” Scarlett snapped her fingers. “Your grandmother and mine were friends for years.”

  “That’s right—Gokey. Tiana Gokey. I didn’t grow up here because my parents left the reservation, but I moved back here when my grandmother was ill and I stayed.”

  “Thanks for letting me check in on Jim’s brother. I—I’m the one who found him.”

  “It’s a good thing you two acted quickly. If he lives, it’s because you stanched that flow of blood.” Tiana pulled aside a curtain and Jim’s eye twitched at the sight of his brother with tubes running in and out of him, hooked up to machines.

  “The doc said Dax had a fifty-fifty chance.”

  “If that’s what Dr. Verona said, it’s probably close. He’s the best.” She stuck a chart in a holder at the foot of the bed. “We’ll be moving him out of the emergency wing to the main hospital in the morning. Take your time.”

  “Thanks, Tiana.” Jim dragged a plastic chair next to his brother’s bed, his gaze tracking along the tubes and monitors crisscrossing Dax’s body. “He looks bad.”

  Scarlett stood beside him and squeezed his shoulder. “Shh. He may be able to hear us. Be positive.”

  Jim leaned close to his brother’s pale face and murmured a few words of encouragement, talked to him the way he might talk to one of the vets he worked with.

  “God, I hope he pulls out of this.”

  “We just have to have some faith and think positive thoughts.” Scarlett reached past him and twitched Dax’s sheet into place, her hand skimming his arm.

  She jerked back with a gasp.

  “What’s wrong?” Jim narrowed his eyes. “You felt something, didn’t you?”

  Scarlett stared at her fingers, which trembled in front of her face. “I flashed on something.”

  “Hopefully, the face of my brother’s assailant.”

  “Not quite. Just...something.” She wiggled her fingers. “I could try again.”

  “Not if it’s going to upset you.” He held his breath, torn between wanting any information Scarlett could glean and wanting to protect her from harm.

  Scarlett nudged the sheet aside and curled her fingers around Dax’s hand, over the tubes stuck in his flesh. Closing her eyes, she exhaled a long breath. Her chin dropped to her chest and her breath quickened. Her lashes fluttered.

  The curtain across the doorway whipped back, and Scarlett yanked her hand back.

  “I’m sorry.” Tiana smiled brightly as she grasped the curtain. “We have to run a few tests on Dax before we send him over tomorrow morning.”

  Jim scooted his chair back, blocking Tiana’s view of the bed. “Sure, sure. Thanks for letting me see him.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Scarlett, blinking and pushing her hair back from her damp forehead.

  She patted Dax’s hand and straightened the sheet. “Hang in there, Dax.”

  They walked silently out to the reception area where Deputy Stevens was waiting for them.

  “Do you need anything else from us, Quentin?”

  “Kennedy, can you come into the station tomorrow? I just want to ask you a few more questions about your brother. Another Lord was spotted around town—Charles Swanson—Chewy. You know him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He and your brother on good terms?”

  “I have no idea, Stevens. Can we leave this for tomorrow like you said?”

  “Yeah. You two going to be okay? It’s like a mini crime wave between your properties out there.”

  “You’re telling me. I’m assuming my cabin is an active crime scene right now?”

  “That’s right.”

  Scarlett tugged on the sleeve of his jacket. “You can stay at my place tonight.”

  That had been their original plan, and it sounded even better now. If Stevens was surprised at Scarlett’s easy invitation, his stoic face didn’t show it.

  “That’s probably a good idea, since we still don’t have a lead on the arsonist, and he might very well be the same person who threatened you the other night and then stabbed Dax today.”

  Jim scratched his chin. “Busy...busy and desperate.”

  “For what? I can’t believe a twenty-five-year-old cold case is still causing this much havoc.” Stevens clapped his hat on his head.

  “If the perpetrators of the kidnapping are still here and have something to lose, they’re going to want to shut up everyone involved.”

  “Are you saying your brother was involved? Scarlett? She was just a kid, and so were you.”

  “Yeah, well, kids sometimes know more than adults give them credit for.”

  “All right. I’ll let you go. I notified Sheriff Musgrove, so check in with us tomorrow, Kennedy.”

  “Will do.” Jim propelled Scarlett out the main entrance and toward her car. When they were both ensconced inside, he turned to her. “Did you see anything when you touched Dax?”

  “Nothing. I was just getting started when Tiana interrupted me.” She drummed her fingers against her chin. “Hadn’t she just told you to take your time?”

  “You know how hospitals are.” He paused. “What are you saying? Do you think Tiana stopped you on purpose?”

  “She’s Quileute. She knows what I am.”

  “So, she might be trying to protect someone.”

  “Like I told you before, there’s something about this case that always had my people on edge.”

  “Doesn’t seem to have your uncle Danny on edge.”

  “I’m going to have to pay a visit to Jason tomorrow to find out what Danny was up to tonight.”

  “Do you think he’ll tell you?”

  “I have my ways.” Scarlett cracked her knuckles and winked. “Now, let’s get going. You must be exhausted.”

  “I’m still doing better than Dax.”

  * * *

  AS JIM CRANKED on the engine and then pulled out of the hospital’s driveway, Scarlett tipped her head back against the headrest. How ha
d their evening gone from delicious to deadly?

  And how could she get it back to delicious?

  She sighed, and Jim bumped her shoulder with his. “Would you rather I stay at a hotel tonight and leave you in peace?”

  “Peace? What’s that?”

  “I’d do it, except I don’t think you should be alone in that cabin—not with everything that’s going on right now.”

  “I don’t want to be alone, Jim.” She turned to him and traced a finger along the seam of his jeans running along his thigh. “I have an idea.”

  She’d lowered her voice to almost a whisper, and he dipped his head to the side to catch her words. “Tell me.”

  “There’s a nice, shiny hotel in the new area of town near Evergreen. It has a hot tub, a bar—for me—king-size beds, and the best thing of all? No dead bodies outside and no fire circling the building.”

  He paused at the intersection, the tick-tick of the turn signal breaking the silence. “Would you feel safe at this hotel?”

  “With you, yes.”

  He bumped the indicator down with his fist and made the left turn instead of the right. “Take me there.”

  She called out directions to the hotel until he pulled into the parking lot.

  “Looks nice.”

  “It’s a little pricey, but much better than the dumps near the center of town.”

  Jim used his credit card to check in and, after Scarlett made sure the hot tub was still open and the bar was still serving, they made their way to their room on the third floor.

  Jim shrugged out of his jacket and hooked his thumb through his belt loop. “You keep mentioning this hot tub, but as far as I can tell neither one of us has a swim suit.”

  “Shh.” She put her finger to her lips. “I think we can sneak down there and wear our underwear. There won’t be anyone there at this time of night.”

  “I always knew you were a rebel.” He sat on the edge of the bed and wasted no time pulling off his boots.

  Scarlett grabbed two thick towels from the bathroom, slung one over her shoulder and tossed the other to Jim. “Just in case there aren’t any at the pool.”

  Barefoot, in their jeans and T-shirts, they made their way to the lobby on the first floor and turned the corner for the gym and indoor pool, and for the first time in a long time, Scarlett really did feel like a rebel.

  She cupped her hand above her eyes and pressed her nose to the glass, peering into the pool area. “Empty—just the way I like it.”

  Jim swiped his card key at the door and pushed it open when the green light blinked at them.

  The moist air settled on Scarlett’s skin, and she dipped a toe in the pool as she walked along its edge. “The water’s warm.”

  “That water’s warmer.” Jim pointed to the hot tub, in the corner, steam rising from its surface.

  Scarlett rested her hand on the tile and poked her head inside the hot tub enclosure. “Nice and private, too.”

  “Let’s keep the towels close by, just in case.” He dropped his towel on the edge of the hot tub and glanced over his shoulder before peeling off his T-shirt.

  The steam from the hot tub warmed her cheeks, or maybe it was just the sight of Jim’s muscled torso—battered and scarred, but still beautiful.

  “Let’s get this party started.” He twisted a dial on the wall and the jets churned the water in the tub.

  Jim yanked off his jeans and slid onto the top step in one fluid motion, his boxers floating above his thighs.

  “You’re fast.” She slipped her arms from the sleeves of her T-shirt and then tugged it over her head. Her bra, nothing fancy, actually covered more than a bikini top would. So why did she feel so bare beneath Jim’s hungry gaze?

  “Here goes nothin’.” She pulled off her jeans and stepped into the hot tub, the thin material of her underwear clinging and molding to her body as she submerged herself in the water.

  Her knees bobbed against his, and he reached for her hands. “Join me on this side. This way we can both keep an eye on the door.”

  Her body floated in the bubbling water as he pulled her to the other side. She settled on the step beside him, resting the back of her head against the edge of the hot tub.

  The jets pummeled her lower back and she stretched her legs and wiggled her toes against the bubbles across the tub.

  “This feels heavenly. I can almost forget everything that’s happened the past few days.”

  “Everything?” He draped an arm across her shoulders, the tips of his fingers dabbling a pattern on her arm. “Even this...electricity between us?”

  “If we give in to this—” she flicked some water at his chest “—thing between us, how’s it going to end?”

  “It’s gonna end with me making mad, passionate love to you.”

  The hot water got hotter and she wriggled in closer to him on the step, her thigh brushing his. “Not that I have any objection at all to making love—especially the mad, passionate kind—but what happens when you get your answers? When you sell your dad’s place? When you go to school somewhere?”

  “When you take off for your next art show?”

  She nodded and then wedged her chin on his shoulder, the steam rising from his skin making her blink—it couldn’t be tears.

  “I don’t know. I can only give you the here and now. I don’t even know what’s going to happen in a day or two, but I do know that I want you.” He growled softly in her ear. “I know that I want to be inside you.”

  She gave a little shiver and slipped farther beneath the water, her fingers digging into his thigh for leverage.

  “But I understand if you don’t want to go there with me if I can’t promise you anything more. Hell, maybe that’s the answer you’re looking for. Maybe you don’t want to be saddled with a beat-up vet like me for the long haul, anyway.”

  With a quick glance at the door to the pool area, she swung around to face him, straddling his lap with her legs. She put a finger to his lips and then replaced it with a wet kiss.

  “You couldn’t be more wrong, and it makes me wonder how you can possibly make mad, passionate love to me when you don’t seem to understand the first thing about me or what I want.”

  He cinched her waist with his hands. “So, you’re looking for something long-term, or you don’t care if this is a fling?”

  “For a guy, you’re analyzing this way too much.” She scooted against him and felt his erection swell against her inner thigh. “Or maybe not.”

  Slipping his hands beneath the elastic waistband of her panties, he smoothed his palms across her bottom, his fingers kneading her flesh.

  She dipped her head to his chest and ran the tip of her tongue along the jagged scar that marred his smooth skin, as she rocked her hips against him.

  He groaned and dragged his fingers over her hip to pull aside the skimpy material of her underwear. Sighing, she fell forward and lodged her head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder.

  Closing her eyes, she held her breath as the warm, bubbling water coursed over her sensitive flesh now laid bare. Then he took two fingers and drew them across her skin, leaving a trail of fire that she felt even under the hot water.

  She took a quick peak over her right shoulder. “Do you think it’s safe?”

  “I’ll keep my eyes on the door and my hands on your body. How’s that?” He caressed her again and then slipped his fingers inside her.

  She collapsed against him again, curling her arms around his neck. Jim really was a bad boy. This was exactly the sort of behavior all the girls’ parents had been worried about—and rightly so.

  As his fingers explored her, his thumb swept back and forth across her throbbing flesh, stoking the flame in her belly. She pressed her lips against his throat, where a pulse hammered wildly.
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br />   She dropped her hand between their bodies to where his fingers were toying with her, teasing her, driving her mad.

  He captured her fingers. “Do you want to feel how hot you are?”

  Before she could peel her tongue from the roof of her mouth to answer, he replaced his fingers with hers and she could feel her own burgeoning desire. With his hand driving her own, she stroked herself. Then he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm.

  He continued to wind her up as she trailed her fingers along the length of his erection. He might be a broken-down vet as he liked to call himself, but he had a lot of full-functioning parts.

  Her muscles tensed, she gripped his hips with her thighs and then the wave of passion cresting in her body broke and she fell apart. As she rocked against him, riding out her orgasm, the water lapped between their bodies.

  Cupping her face with his hands, he kissed the tremulous sighs from her lips. When the last spasm of pleasure slipped away and melted in the water, she dragged her fingernails lightly across the tight flesh of his erection.

  He wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Let’s finish this party on the bed, in the room, behind a locked door. Once I start with you, I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop—interruption, or no interruption.”

  With the tip of her tongue, she caught a droplet of water meandering down his chest. “Is what we just did illegal?”

  “If there had been anyone in the pool area, I’m sure it would’ve been, but if you don’t tell, I won’t.” He ran his hands across the silky material of her underwear, smoothing it into place. Then he flicked up the straps of her bra.

  “Don’t bother.” She stilled his hands with her own. “I’m not going to put my nice, dry clothes on over these sopping wet undergarments.”

  He lifted one eyebrow. “You plan to wear those sopping wet undergarments through the lobby, or pull off another Lady Godiva?”

  “We’ll take them off, dry off and put on our dry clothes.” She brushed her thumb across his lower lip. “We’ll wrap up our undies in the towels and nobody will notice a thing.”

  “You’ve done this before?” Lifting his backside from the step, he peeled off his boxers and balled them in his fist.