Hot Water

by Maggie Toussaint

  “Thanks for the blood. I’ll be there for your party.”

  Virginia grabbed hold of Wyatt’s right hand and bawled.

  His brother Morgan clapped him on the left shoulder. “Clanton and dad are still in Alaska or they’d be here, too. They said to quit scaring the bejesus out of the family.”

  “You’re a national hero,” Aunt Barbara said. “I’m making sure your boss knows just how brave you are.”

  Wyatt’s boss wouldn’t like that one bit. He’d already lost a few skirmishes with Aunt Barbara. “I was doing my job. Please don’t say anything to Granger.”

  “You need a different job,” his aunt said tartly. “One that doesn’t put you in harm’s way.”

  A warm glow spread through him. The meds were kicking in. Finally.

  He made eye contact with his family members. “I love you all. But my head hurts.”

  “Time to go,” Virg said, prying Virigina off Wyatt’s hand. “You can see him again later this afternoon.”

  Blessed silence descended on the room. Between the pain meds and the thought of hearing Laurie Ann’s voice, Wyatt felt all jittery inside. “Phone call.”

  “Maybe you should wait a bit. Wouldn’t want the gal to think you’re zoned out on drugs.”

  He grinned. “I am feeling no pain, and it feels good.”

  Virgil reached into the plastic bag near the bed and held up a bit of tarnished silver on a chain. “This was in your pocket.”

  Laurie Ann’s lucky medallion. Her most precious possession. His breath caught in his throat. “Give it to me.”

  “What is it?”

  His fingers closed around the necklace. “My lifeline.”

  Chapter 54

  An orderly wheeled Laurie Ann out of Radiology. She’d been up all night with the GBI, Chief Tyler, Sheriff Parnell, and her dad. When they’d wrung every bit of information out of her, she’d stood up to leave and fell flat on her face.

  That prompted a trip to the nearest ER, which was south of Mossy Bog. Not north to Savannah where Wyatt was. She wanted to see him. Needed to see him. Status reports on him throughout the night assured her his stable condition was unchanged, but a report wasn’t the same thing as seeing him in person.

  Had Wyatt even heard her declare her love? He’d been so still, and she’d been upset about his injury. She’d wanted to reassure him, to encourage him to stay conscious. She wanted him to know how she felt about him.

  Josh Calucci strode toward her. “There you are. Thought they’d hold you hostage in X-ray forever.”

  She blinked at the phone in his outstretched hand. “What’s that?”

  “Phone call for you.”

  She took his phone. “Hello?”

  “You don’t know me, Laurie Ann,” a man with a deep voice said. “I’m Virgil, Wyatt’s brother.”

  “How is he?”

  “Very tired and heavily medicated, but he won’t go back to sleep without talking to you. Here he is.”

  “Heyyyy. You okay?”

  The sterile corridor and the soft-soled shoes of the people hurrying by faded into whiteness. “Fine.” Laurie Ann warmed at the sound of his voice. “Wyatt. I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you to Savannah. Are you all right?”

  “Swimming. No, not swimming. Resting. That’s it. Resting up...to face my...family again. They’re all...freaked out.”

  They weren’t the only ones. He’d been on her mind nonstop. “I’ve been getting updates on you all night. You talk to the GBI?”

  “I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too. But I’m in a hospital an hour and a half away. My boss made me get my ankle checked out. Just a sprain, like I thought. I’ve got to get some sleep, but I can drive up there to see you this afternoon.”

  His voice deepened. “You know my bed’s always open.”

  Laurie Ann felt heat steam off her cheeks. She couldn’t talk about beds, not with Josh and the orderly soaking in her every word. Nor could she bring herself to say “I love you” in front of an audience. Drat. “We did it. We caught your serial arsonist.”

  “We did.”

  His words slurred, and her heart panged. Poor guy. “It’s good to hear your voice.”

  “I...got the thing.”

  “The thing?”

  “Med...med...medallion. I have it. Yours.”

  She glowed inside. “You needed it.”

  “Yours,” he repeated.

  She heard a skirmish, then a man’s voice came on the line. “That’s it for now. He can’t keep his eyes open. He’ll call again later.”

  Virgil. “Thank you.”

  She handed the phone back to Calucci. “Thanks.” She endured another hour of waiting and red tape before they let her leave the ER. She sank into the seat of Calucci’s squad car, her thoughts heavy, her weariness bone-deep.

  “Take me home,” she said.

  Wait. She didn’t have a home. Her breath hitched. Lester had burned it to the ground. Her beautiful home. All her grandmother’s pretty things, gone. Her lovely garden, incinerated.

  “Take me to my dad’s,” she amended in a shaky voice.

  Lester had nearly erased her entire existence. Nearly. She clung to that word. She was still here. Still kicking. Still doing what she loved best. Catching bad guys. Helping people.

  God, she was so tired.

  Tears blurred her vision, fracturing the approaching headlights into myriad starbursts of light. She gripped the armrest, determined not to lose it in front of Calucci. She was a cop. She was tough.

  So tough she wanted to go home and curl up in bed and cry her eyes out.

  ****

  The sun was low in the western sky when she awakened. After a moment of disorientation, she recognized the utilitarian furniture of her father’s guest room. She grabbed the crutches and limped outside to where her dad sat reading on the patio, her pets at his feet.

  “There you are.” Her father set the book aside. Gabby bounded over on his three short legs, wriggling and yapping with joy. Pumpkin meowed and curled her furry tail around Laurie Ann’s legs. She bent to greet them, arose, and melted into her father’s arms.

  “Here I am.” Darn. There were those tears again. She clung to her dad for a bit and felt like a little girl all over again. Safe. Protected. She stood there, holding on for all she was worth, until her breathing evened out, then hobbled to the adjacent chair, sat, and dashed the moisture from her cheeks. “Sorry. I woke up weepy.”

  “It’s okay. You haven’t done that since you were a kid. You went through a lot these past few days. More death and destruction than I ever saw on the beat. It’ll take awhile to get your head back in the game.”

  She nodded, but his sympathetic expression and compassionate voice brought a sob to her throat. Horrified, she stuffed her fist in her mouth.

  “Let it out, hon,” her dad said. “I taught you to shake off an injury, to not let it get the best of you, but this is the exception to that rule. You need time to process what happened.”

  “I’m fine, Dad.”

  He shook his head. “I knew a cop in Richmond Hill who ate his gun.” He raised a hand to forestall her reply. “I’m not saying you would ever do that, but this guy was always Mr. Tough Guy. Sam rolled with every punch. If there was a horrific accident or a shooting, he was right there in the thick of it, and then back at work bright and early the next day. His marriage washed out, and he still rolled with it. After his wife moved to California with the kids, he changed, started making bad decisions on the job. He let a speeder off with a warning and ten minutes later, the speeder crashed into a school bus, killing five kids. Sam didn’t say a word to anybody. Just went home and pulled the trigger.”

  Laurie Ann sniffed back her tears. “That’s awful.”

  “It was. For everyone. And it didn’t have to happen.”

  “Lucky me, I don’t own a gun anymore. And your shotgun is in the sound somewhere. I’m really sorry about your boat, Dad.”

  “The guns, th
e boat, they don’t matter to me. You do. I’ve never been more proud of you in my life. Your chief and the sheriff stopped by earlier this afternoon. They think the world of you.”

  Her dad’s gaze faltered, tipping her off.

  “What?”

  “They want you to take some time off.”

  Her raw emotions took another death-defying plunge. “I can’t. We’re shorthanded. And I want to work.”

  “Two weeks off. Mandatory. That’s the deal. Two weeks of absolutely no cop stuff, and then you report back to work.”

  Two weeks was a lifetime. Worse, that detective test she’d signed up for was in that timeframe.

  “You can take the test next time around,” her dad said, as if he’d read her mind. “Now isn’t the time to be studying and worrying about that promotion. Chief Tyler and Sheriff Parnell understand what’s at stake. They want you to be rock solid, to be a cop in Mossy Bog for as long as you want to be a cop. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say how concerned they are. How concerned the entire community is. Hell, I ran out of space in the refrigerator hours ago. Food’s been coming in here like nobody’s business. Speaking of which, are you hungry?”

  No detective exam. Where was her disappointment? Why did she feel better? Shouldn’t she feel worse? Nothing made sense any more. What the heck would she do with herself for two weeks?

  Check on Wyatt, for starters. She nodded at her dad and reached for her crutches. “Something quick to eat would be great. I want to get on the road to Savannah as soon as possible.”

  “About that.” Her father waved her back into her chair and took a deep breath. “Wyatt’s been moved to north Georgia. His brother called to say he’d been airlifted again.”

  The calm she’d begun to feel vaporized. A cackling marsh hen pierced the air, the harsh sound drumming in Laurie Ann’s head. Her hand tried to slow her racing heart. Failed. “Why? Is he worse? Is there a brain bleed? What happened?”

  “He’s fine. They released him to his family’s care, and his aunt had that chopper at her disposal so there was no medical urgency. Head injuries are tricky though. They’ll need to watch him closely.”

  “Does he have a concussion?”

  “Not to my knowledge.” Her dad flashed a smile. “When I heard what happened to you two, it shaved fifteen years off my life, and I don’t have that many to spare.”

  Laurie Ann glanced around the yard and over at the marsh. Seemed like any old day. But without the lure of seeing Wyatt, she didn’t want to do anything or see anybody. A great weariness settled on her shoulders. She yawned. “I think I’d like to go back to bed, Dad.”

  “Eat first. I have more news.”

  “What now?” she snapped, annoyed. What was wrong with her?

  He smiled and his face looked less pinched. “This is good news. You’re going to Key West.”

  “What?”

  Her dad beamed. “The mayor offered his place down there, and the department chipped in to help with the fuel cost. My pilot friend Neve will meet us at the Brunswick airport tomorrow at noon and fly you down there. Donna cruised through the island boutiques and bought you some clothes and a sack of books to take along.”

  Laurie Ann didn’t know what to say. That her friends, her community, would do so much for her, stole her breath away.

  “Oh, God.” She tried to blink away the tears but they came in a fresh torrent.

  Her dad moved over to stand behind her chair, his hands resting on her shoulders. She rubbed her cheek against his hand. When she finally could speak again, she said, “It’s too much.”

  “They love you, hon. Same as I do. You’re a vital member of our community. Accept it as the love offering it is.”

  Overwhelmed, she could only nod her acceptance.

  “Good girl. I’ll be right back with your dinner. Got all your favorites, too. Noreen’s fried chicken. Jeanie’s macaroni and cheese. Glennis’ butterbeans. Rudell’s Waldorf salad. Some of Miss Mary’s cola cake. Enough food here to feed a small army.”

  With that, he hurried inside. Moss swayed in the oaks overhead as the breeze stirred. Laurie Ann stared at her empty hands. Time away. She hadn’t had a real vacation since her senior year of high school when she and Donna spent a week in Daytona.

  Would she even know what to do with herself?

  She’d rather spend the time with Wyatt. But he was with his family. Seeing how shaken her father was, she understood how his family felt. How much they needed the physical reassurance he was still there.

  He’d gotten his serial arsonist. She’d solved her homicide.

  Win-win for both of them.

  So why did she feel empty?

  Chapter 55

  Neve landed at Key West International, bought Laurie Ann groceries, and settled her into the mayor’s vacation home before he took off again.

  Laurie Ann set her bag on the floor and checked her new cell phone for messages. Nothing. No voice mails either.

  She couldn’t wait any longer. She punched up Wyatt’s number with trembling fingers. Voice mail. Rats.

  “Wyatt, hi. Laurie Ann. Listen. I had to take two weeks off. The town sent me to—get this—Key West. If you can get away, I’d love to have you join me. The house where I’m staying is nice, and there’s a pool. Call me.”

  Sinking into the butter yellow sofa, she listened to the quiet. Nobody here but her. No killers. No arsonists or cousins run amuck. What better time to curl up with a book?

  She dumped out the bag of books. The mysteries looked interesting. Maybe a romance later in the week. She opened a paperback and started reading.

  By dinner time, she couldn’t stand the solitude. Gathering her crutches, she made her way down to the Captain’s Roost and gorged on fish and chips. She checked the phone again after dinner. No calls.

  Wyatt’s number went to voicemail again. She gritted her teeth until she heard the beep. “Hey, Wyatt. Hope you’re feeling better and hope you don’t have much of a headache. I wanted to let you know that I’m thinking of you and I miss you. Please call me as soon as you can. I-I-I need to hear your voice.”

  She stared at the phone after she hung up, her stomach knotted. Why was Wyatt ducking her calls? Now that they’d caught his arsonist, had she fallen off his priority list?

  ****

  By noon the next day, Laurie Ann couldn’t sit still. All attempts at quieting her mind failed. She threw two romance books in the trash because she couldn’t stand to read about anyone’s happy ending right now.

  Why didn’t Wyatt call?

  For the kazillionth time she kicked herself for not getting another phone number for his family. She could go through police channels and request their cells or unlisted numbers, but she didn’t want to seem desperate.

  What was the deal?

  Scenarios circled viciously in her head. Health crisis. Work. Family. Change of heart. What was it?

  Not knowing was killing her.

  She needed information to make a good decision.

  She could call him again.

  Would that be considered stalking? He’d ignored two messages already. Could she let it go? Forget about him and get on with her life?

  No way. He was worth fighting for. They were worth fighting for.

  She called him. The phone went to voicemail. She swiped away tears of frustration. As she waited for the beep, an incoming call signalled. Wyatt’s number.

  Her heart thundered. “Hello.”

  “Hey, Laurie Ann, this is Virgil. I heard the phone ringing and picked up. How are you? How’s Key West?”

  “Key West is great.” Small talk. She couldn’t do it. Where was Wyatt? “Is everything all right up there?”

  “Sure, sure. Everything’s fine. Give me a minute to find Wyatt. He’s in another room.”

  Everything was fine? Then why hadn’t he called? Why hadn’t he responded to her invitation to join her in Key West? As the seconds ticked by, she felt less sure of herself, of them. Her interest level hadn’t
changed. If anything, being away from Wyatt made her yearn for him.

  Finally, Wyatt came on the line. “Hey.”

  His voice. She rejoiced to hear it. “Hey, yourself. How’s the head?”

  “Better.”

  One-word answers. What did that mean? “Are you taking some time off?”

  “I am. I need it. These last few years… I focused on finding the arsonist. Some things got away.”

  She chewed her lip, wishing she could see him, wishing she could hold him in her arms. “I understand. Family is important.”

  “It is.”

  His voice sounded off. Less like the Wyatt she knew. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I have a headache. It hurts.”

  Her pulse jumped. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “No. Thanks.” His pause felt like forever. “I’ve been thinking…”

  She held her breath. “Yes?”

  “About us. Things moved quick.”

  Oh, no. She didn’t like the way this was going. He was dumping her. The bright sunshine outside her window paled. “Yeah, they did.” She scowled, unsure of his intent. Was this a full rejection or a maybe? Damn. No way could she blurt out her feelings if he was dumping her. She had her pride.

  “I need a few days. To get things straight, you know? Is that okay?”

  He wanted to try on his old life. The life without her. “Sure. Fine.”

  “Good.”

  She wouldn’t beg. She wouldn’t call again. She dug deep to sound normal. “Take care of yourself, Wyatt.”

  The call ended. She braced her hands on the kitchen counter, blinked back tears. He needed time. And space. She understood that.

  But his intentions… Obviously, he didn’t have any.

  She wanted everything with him—a future, marriage, babies. He’d seemed like The One. She rubbed her face, her fingers catching in her snarled hair. The sharp pain mirrored the ache in her heart.

  If only she could separate her emotions out of the picture. Her street smarts and cop instincts couldn’t make sense of him. Her feelings were all over the place.

  She wanted him so much she couldn’t breathe.