“Huh?” Aiden said, shooting me a brief look over his shoulder before he stared back at the road ahead.
“Yeah, they should have one… a Pharmacy I mean, most hospitals do,” I stammered.
Aiden nodded. I was quietly relieved that both he and Trinity had accepted my statement without question .
“I don’t know if they have parking, can you wait until we find a department store?” Aiden asked a few minutes later, not bothering to turn in my direction.
Fear squeezed my stomach in its fist. After I had been handed the opportunity the last thing I wanted to do was to have it tugged away again. Anxiety coursed through me like a live wire, but I shoved my feelings away. Any sign of agitation would have had Trinity’s radar firing on all cylinders.
“You don’t have to park, you can just drop me off and I’ll run in and pick up what I need. I should be out in a few minutes,” I said as calmly as I could manage.
Aiden shrugged. “Fine,” he said.
He turned into the lane that led to the hospital entrance. Moments later we were parked alongside the curb of the main door. Trinity exited the car painfully slow, as if she was trying to make me wait a little longer. I lurched forward and out of the car as soon as she had flipped her seat ahead. Before I could leave she caught my hand in hers, indicating that she planned to join me.
“Where are you going?” I snapped. My voice was razor thin with tension.
“Shit Lexie, don’t have a canary, I thought I’d get a few snacks for the road is all.” She seemed more hurt by my retort than suspicious.
My breath came out in a rush. “Sorry for being so bitchy, my headache is really bad and…” I gave her a tentative grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll get some snacks.”
Once again Trinity did the unexpected. She nodded then returned to the passengers seat. I hoped that my utter shock wasn’t evident on my face. Not willing to screw up the gift I had just been given, I spun on my heel. I sprang forward so fast, that I was just short of running.
Today the foyer was devoid of reporters and press. Most of the people that milled around were either patients, staff, or visitors. The business as usual atmosphere meant that the chances of getting a lock on where Gabriel was, were better this time around.
The staff at the information desk had changed from the night before which in my opinion was another bonus. I straightened my spine, donning a persona that said I actually had the right to know where Gabriel Sander’s room was.
The man that I approached had a head shaped like a bowling ball. Most of his hair was gone except for a cap of grey that looked like a beanie atop his head. His cheeks were rosy, his nose bulbous with spidering blue veins. I was pleased to see there was nothing but warmth in his brown eyes. With my target in sight I moved purposefully in his direction until I was standing at the edge of the counter.
“May I help you young lady?” he said.
I leaned in closer.
“I’m here to see Gabriel Sanders,” I whispered as if divulging a secret.
I rested my arms on the counter, attempting to appear relaxed. It was a difficult feat with the impossibly fast beat of my over anxious heart, that was actually making swishing sounds in my ears.
The man’s smile dropped away. He leaned forward.
“Sorry dear, but I’m not allowed to give that information out,” he said.
His smile returned and was just as cheery as it had been before, but I noticed that it was now tainted with apprehension.
“But he’s a good friend of mine and I…” I said with as much indignation as I could work up. The man’s face flushed brilliant rouge. He pressed his thick purplish lips together in what looked like regret, then shook his head. Before he could say another word his eye caught something behind me. An expression of relief raced across his face.
“There’s his brother now, he can tell you the room number,” he said, motioning with a hand at the space behind me.
“Mr. Sanders, could you come here for a moment?”
My breath caught and I suddenly felt like a caged animal. I didn’t want to turn around and face Gabriel’s brother and be outed as a bold-faced liar. But since there was no secret hatch below my feet that could shuttle me away, there was only one thing to do, face the music, then get out of there as quickly as possible. It was funny how as soon as I needed it the most, whatever twist of fate that had helped me so far had decided to go on a coffee break.
I turned in what felt like slow motion, wishing with all my heart that it would all just fade away.
“You.”
We said the same word in unison, and were probably wearing identical stunned expressions. It took me a few minutes to put it all together. It seemed impossible that Ransom was Gabriel Sanders brother. I squinted at him, trying to glean any similarity between the two. From the photos and videos I had seen of Gabriel, he was petite, almost albino looking and didn’t look even remotely like Ransom.
From his un-showered and bleary-eyed appearance, Ransom had come directly to the hospital as soon as he had left the hotel. His panic-stricken expression and the way he was panting as if he had been running, said things were not going well in his world. I opened my mouth to ask him what was going on, just as the man at the information desk chimed in.
“This young lady wants to know…” I twirled around to face him as fast as was humanly possible.
“I’ve got this,” I said in one breath.
He froze mid-sentence, shrugged, then went back to the papers that he had been sorting when I had first approached him. I turned back to face Ransom. Searing heat traveled up the length of my neck, then to my face. I hadn’t expected to see him again and now that I had, I felt embarrassed as if I was reliving the moment when he had rejected me all over again. It didn’t help that I was just discovering that he was the older brother of the kid I was trying to stalk. I didn’t think there was any way to get out of there without some sort of an explanation. I decided to give it a shot anyway.
Ransom opened his mouth to speak, but before he said anything I skirted around him, then made my way toward the sliding glass doors. All thoughts of the Pharmacy and Tylenol were gone, getting away, fast, was the new flavor of the moment.
“Hey, Lexie, hold up for a minute will you,” he said from behind me.
Even without looking back at him, I could hear the tension in his voice. The last thing I wanted to do was to stop, but I couldn’t so easily forget what he had done for me in the alleyway. I turned back toward him. He raked a hand through his hair a few times until it stood on end. The absolute desperation in his expression touched something inside of me. I knew that look, I had worn it every day since Mom had been killed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He took a few steps closer to me. I didn’t want to admire the way his shirt stretched over his broad shoulders or appreciate the dark stubble that graced his sculpted jaw, but I did. Without trying, there was something so intensely sexual about Ransom that it was difficult to look away. It didn’t help matters that I had the benefit of knowing exactly what he looked like beneath his clothes, all buff and hard muscle.
“Do you have a car?” he asked.
I snapped back to the present, ashamed that I had been imagining Ransom naked when he was clearly upset. We hadn’t left on the best terms, but now that I had a birds eye view of what he was dealing with, I pitied him. I didn’t know what exactly was wrong with Gabriel, only that the radio had said that he was in pretty bad shape.
I shook my head. “I don’t, but my friends do, do you need a ride somewhere?”
“Yeah,” he said, breathlessly.
He hooked his arm around my waist as if we were a couple, guiding me to the main door. I was too stunned by the move to protest. Only when we were back outside did I stop him.
“What’s going on?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.
He drew in a huge breath. “I saved you last night, I’m calling in the favor, can you help me out?” he asked.
&nb
sp; His face was stony, giving nothing away. I nodded my ascent because he truly had saved my butt. I could spare him a drive, then we would be even.
“The car is over here,” I said, pointing toward the bug, parked about fifty feet away. He grabbed my hand, practically tugging me behind him. I had to jog to catch up. His erratic behavior had me wary. The only thing that put me at ease was knowing that both Aiden and Trinity were with me. But if I was being truthful, I wasn’t really scared of Ransom. I had no reason to believe that he was going to hurt me.
Trinity and Aiden were staring out at us as we approached the car. I didn’t blame them for their guarded expressions. They had no idea who Ransom was, and for sure couldn’t understand why we were holding hands, a concept that even I was wondering about. I was prepared for an extremely awkward introduction. Before we reached the car Trinity was out. Aiden followed her lead, and was by her side waiting. I smiled innocently, as if dragging a stranger back to the car with me after a snack run was an everyday occurrence. It did little to wipe away their twin expressions of concern.
“Are you okay Lexie?” Trinity asked, taking a step closer to Ransom and me. I nodded.
“This is Ransom, I met him yesterday…” I felt a blush work up my cheeks because met didn’t quite describe what had occurred between us. Trinity eyed Ransom. It was obvious that she knew there was more to the story than the tiny nugget I had provided.
I decided to use the one new piece of information that I was still working to absorb to my advantage.
“Ransom is Gabriel Sanders’ older brother. He just needs to get away from the hospital for a while, you know.”
I smiled sweetly. Trinity’s eyes widened, then she appeared to accept my explanation. The stiffness that had marked her stance, released. She curved her lips into a sympathetic grin.
“I heard about the accident on the radio. I’m so sorry about your brother. Is he going to be okay?”
A storm seemed to race across Ransom’s face at the mention of his brother. It appeared as if he was about to say something rude, but instead deflated, releasing a huge sigh.
“He’s in surgery and I…”
His voice trailed off. He threw a glance over his shoulder as if expecting to see someone.
“I just need a break away from it all, hospitals aren’t my thing.”
He shrugged stiffly. It was all Trinity needed.
She motioned for Aiden to get back into the car. Trinity released the latch for her seat and it popped forward. I gave Ransom a little shove, signaling for him to get in. Even as I slipped into the space beside him I wondered what I was doing. I didn’t know Ransom in the least, but I had offered to drive him to hell knew where. Trinity made herself comfortable in the passenger seat, then slammed the door shut. Instead of relaxing at being in the car, Ransom seemed even more strung out and jittery. I couldn’t help but question what was up with him.
Without comment, Aiden pulled out onto the main street. Soon the hospital was well behind us. I chanced one final look back. Before the hospital was completely out of sight, I noticed two police cars had taken up the spot where we had just been parked.
“Where are you going?” Aiden said.
He shot Ransom a brief glance back in the rearview mirror, before he returned his focus to the road.
“With Lexie,” Ransom said.
I sucked in a huge mouthful of air, stunned by his words. I had no idea what he was talking about. It sounded as if we’d had a conversation about where he was going, only I hadn’t been privy to it. My mouth opened and closed a few times, but I decided keeping quiet was my best course of action.
Ransom elbowed me lightly in the ribs and winked as if he had it all worked out. I stared at him blankly. He shot me a plastic smile, and it made me curious about what he was playing at. Even without him saying it, I was sure something more than Gabriel’s surgery was eating at him, but I had no idea what it could be. All I knew was that whatever it was, had started with the phone call he had received at the hotel room.
“So you’re going to Lexie’s house?” Trinity said.
She turned around in her seat, casting an appraising gaze over Ransom. From her rapt expression, Ransom’s hotness hadn’t gone unnoticed. It wasn’t like she was flirting per se, more like admiring the window dressing without buying anything.
Ransom shot me a nervous look, evidently wanting me to take control of the situation.
“Sure, yeah, he’s coming to my place for a while…” I said. “Dad and Carla are gone to the Virgin Islands for three weeks. A last trip before the baby comes,” I said. As soon as I had said the word virgin I went beat red. The reference hadn’t been lost on Ransom either, who looked more distressed than before, if that was even possible.
I gave him a meaningful stare, his already solemn face tightened. I didn’t want to be satisfied that he was struggling with the concept that he had stripped me of my virginity, but I was. The fact that he was exceedingly uncomfortable with even the word virgin, as benign as it had been, meant that like me, he thought it was a big deal.
Ransom scrubbed his hands over his face, blew out a breath of air, and gazed out the window at the passing scenery. In the time since I had discovered that Ransom was Gabriel Sanders’ brother, a plan had worked it’s way into my mind, one that had me getting exactly what I had wanted from the day we had left to see the show. I was beginning to think that coincidences didn’t exist, and that everything in our life was orchestrated by some divine plan. How else could I explain what had happened in the last day in a half. Ransom Sanders hadn’t walked into my life by chance. He had been sent to me, so I could get what I had longed for since the night Mom had left that cryptic message on my phone.
Now that I knew what was going on, all sense of worry and hesitation about bringing Ransom with me, dissolved. I grabbed on with both hands to the idea that Ransom would be my pathway to Gabriel. I knew I probably should have had crazy obsessed stalker stamped across my forehead for how very deep I was digging in, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice. A part of me felt guilty for planning to use him to get what I wanted, but I didn’t let it take hold. Ransom had practically forced me to take him in the car with him, a little payback seemed in order.
Without knowing it, Ransom was on the same page as I was, making it up as he went. It lessened my guilt knowing that he was right there with me, spinning lies. I still had no idea what he was trying to escape, only that he was running from something or someone.
I knew I probably should have had crazy obsessed stalker stamped across my forehead for how very deep I was digging in, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice. Even if I didn’t want to admit it, my obsession had a very dark side and made me willing to do things that I would never have imagined before. In my heart I knew that it was a recipe for disaster, but I couldn’t put much thought into it. Because if things worked out like I wanted, there was a good chance that soon I would finally connect with Mom, and get the answers I had been searching for.
21. RANSOM
Seeing Lexie in the foyer of the hospital had left me conflicted. Despite going over in my mind what I would have said to her if I’d had the chance, I was also okay with avoiding the conflict. It was beyond weird that she had just happened to show up in the hospital right when the bottom had fallen out of my world, but the fact that she had, certainly had to mean something. I wasn’t a believer in fate, but I also couldn’t ignore that things happened all the time that couldn’t be explained. Being around Gabriel had shown me that more times than not.
My heart lurched at the thought of Gab fighting for his life while I was out drinking and screwing around. Maybe Pa had been right after all, maybe I was responsible for Gab’s accident. If I had been where I was supposed to be, I would have been the one laid out on an operating table, not Gab. Somehow that scenario seemed so much simpler.
The rapid exit that Lexie had attempted when she had spotted me, showed me that I was definitely not on her list of favorite people. If I ha
d been any kind of man I would have let her just leave and dealt with my own shit, rapidly piling up around me, but I couldn’t. I knew Pa, and that he always went good on his promises. I was positive that the police were already on their way, which meant that I had no time to dick around.
I raced to catch up with Lexie, grabbing her arm before she disappeared. I made up the rest as I went.
Now sitting in the car with her friends, I had to admit that I hadn’t expected her to agree to give me a drive. I appraised Trinity. She was tall and willowy and in my opinion the complete opposite of Lexie. Her eyes were clear blue, her hair the color of spun gold. Where Lexie was dressed in loose jeans and a fitted tee, Trinity was wearing an outfit that she could have gone clubbing in.
I smiled when Aiden checked me out in the rearview mirror for the tenth time. Though his face was friendly, his narrowed eyes said he wasn’t ready to trust me. When he had been standing outside of the car I had noticed that he was probably a foot shorter than me. He wore a t-shirt that was too tight and should have been a size larger, much like how Dave’s shirt fit me, though Aiden’s choice had been deliberate. His defined muscles and body builder’s physique said he lifted weights regularly.
I heard approaching sirens as we moved away from the hospital. I wasn’t able to hide the rush of air from my lungs as the distance between the hospital and us lengthened. I reclined against the backseat, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. I was still surprised at how quickly Aiden and Trinity had accepted Lexie’s explanation, and had surprisingly agreed to give me a lift. I was certain the mention of Gab’s name had helped oil the wheels. It never ceased to amaze me that even without him being around, Gabriel managed to open doors that would normally be closed for me.
The back seat was cramped, forcing Lexie and I close enough that the smell of the citrus shampoo she must have washed her hair with, wafted toward me. It made my lack of hygiene all the more apparent.
Ransom (Holding Ransom # 1) Page 21