“Becca, I need a favor.” Heather approached her charge nurse and best friend in the nurses’ lounge.
“Sure, hon. You’re here awful early this morning. What do you need?”
“I need you to watch for anyone suspicious on the hall today. Anyone hanging around without ever actually visiting someone’s room.”
“You got it. But what happened? Why are you so spooked?”
“Someone followed me home from here last night. I lost him before I reached my house, but I watched him drive around my neighborhood looking for me.”
“I’m alerting security right now. We need someone stationed up here until we figure out what’s going on.” Becca quickly moved to the desk and called security. She turned back to Heather when she hung up the phone. “Their shift changes when ours does, so they’ll send someone up when the new crew gets in. We still have about forty-five minutes before shift change, though.”
“Thanks, Becca. I’m going to go ahead and meet with Renee for briefing on what happened with my patients last night. The sooner I can finish the first round of pulling medications, the faster I can get out of the open hall and into my patients’ rooms. With the door closed. So no one can see in.”
“Don’t worry, I know where to find you if I need you,” Becca chuckled. “You can only hide from me for so long. If some strange guy shows up looking for you, I’ll take care of him. We have plenty of shit around here that’ll knock him on his ass.”
“I love having you as my best friend. You are the best…and you’re a little frightening when you’re mad.”
After he’d lost her the previous night, he drove for hours along every street in the enormous subdivision, determined to find her. He had to give her credit for being one of the few people he’d ever underestimated. The morning’s mission was to get her work schedule so he could better track her movements. Tracing her comings and goings was becoming more cumbersome and time-consuming for him. He’d walked the halls of the hospital on more than one occasion, just to confirm she was still in the building. She’d left at different times every day she’d worked, and some days she didn’t show up at all.
He was angry with himself because the night before had been the best opportunity he’d had to follow the gorgeous nurse with the short black hair back to her house. His brother, Turan, had been the computer genius, able to find anything with just a few clicks, but computers weren’t his forte. Rashad had taken a more conventional preference to learning what their uncle had to teach them. He had perfected his intimidation tactics and all but eradicated any kind of feeling, but it was his proficiency with high-yield explosives that set him apart from the others. He hated to admit the moment of nostalgia that hit him when the memory of his brother snuck up on him. That moment of weakness was dangerous.
Rashad chose a spot in the parking garage and waited for Heather to show up. Cars and trucks rushed by in a mad dash to make it to work on time. When the influx of traffic slowed to a trickle and she still hadn’t shown up, he muttered a curse under his breath and jerked his car door open. He moved quickly through the garage to the covered breezeway that connected to the hospital, determined not to be bested by that woman, or any woman, ever again.
Once inside, Rashad walked casually through the hospital as if he didn’t have a care in the world. When others smiled or spoke to him, he replied with a feigned warmth to avoid raising any alarms or giving anyone reason to remember him. When he stepped off the elevator on her floor, he moved more carefully so his target didn’t see him. Not that he was hiding from her, but when they officially met for the first time, he didn’t want a flicker of recognition to light in her eyes.
With the recent shift change, the nurses were extra busy preparing for their first round to check on their patients, giving him ample opportunity to fade into the background. Patients were just waking up, call lights were going off all up and down the hall, and the breakfast trays had just arrived. While everyone scurried from one room to another, Rashad slipped into the nurses’ break room to look for any information he could find on her.
One wall had a row of gray metal lockers for the nurses to store their belongings, but they all had combination locks securely fastened. There was no way he could find hers, break in to it, and leave undetected. A computer sat on a desk against the opposite wall with an uncomfortable, plastic chair. He quickly sat and tapped on a couple of keys, and the screen lit up, requesting a secure login ID.
“Damn computers,” he muttered under his breath as he rose from the chair. As he walked around the table in the center of the room, the corner of a paper sticking out from under a legal pad caught his eye. He slid the paper out and smiled to himself. “Thank you for leaving me a printed copy of the floor’s six-week schedule.”
As he folded the paper into quarters, the break room door opened and a nurse stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him. “Can I help you, sir?”
While slipping the paper into his back pocket, he flashed his most charming smile before he replied. “I’m trying to find the break room for the family to use. You know, the one with snack machines, coffee dispenser, and bottled drinks. I’m afraid I may be lost.”
“I can show you the way,” she offered. “This room is only for the nurses to use.”
“Ah, well, that would explain a few things,” he replied, pouring on the false charm. “Lead the way.”
The nurse turned and led him back to the main corridor. “Take the next hall on the right, and the vending area will be about halfway down on the left. There’s a sign hanging from the ceiling just over the doorway.”
“Thank you so much for your help,” he replied.
“No problem,” she answered. “Have a good day.”
Rashad made the trek to the break room, taking the opportunity to look around nonchalantly for Heather as he walked. Not seeing her on his initial pass, he waited in the break room and bought a few snack items for appearance’s sake before making the return trip. When he turned the corner back into the main hall, the first person he noticed was the security guard at the nurses’ station. His first thought was he’d been made, but he released his held breath when the guard leaned over the counter and kissed the nurse.
“I’m headed home now, babe. Have a good day,” the guard said. “Love you.”
“Drive carefully, honey. I love you. See you tonight,” the nurse cooed back.
The guard left without a backward glance, making Rashad feel more secure in his quest. As he strode down the hall, he cut his eyes to each open door, blatantly disregarding the person’s privacy as he looked for Heather. When the last door came into view, his pace slowed while he considered his next move.
“I see you found the vending machines,” Becca called from behind him.
“Yes, I’m afraid I found a few too many treats,” he replied with his charming smile intact.
“Who are you visiting?”
He hesitated for a heartbeat, knowing he couldn’t lie about a patient name. “A family friend. I’m just giving them some privacy for a few minutes.”
“What’s the name? I’ll check to see how long it’ll be before you can go in.”
As luck would have it, a nurse exited from a room a few doors down just as she asked for the name. “Looks like I’m good to go in now,” he inclined his head toward the open door. “Thank you for the offer, though.”
She smiled and nodded her head, but he recognized the suspicion in her eyes. She wasn’t moving on to continue doing her job. She was waiting him out, testing him, and calling his bluff. He had no choice but to walk into the room and at least try to stay long enough to make her believe he was actually visiting a patient. He only hoped in doing so, Heather would finally make an appearance.
Rashad walked into the room apprehensively and watched the lady lying in the bed. She appeared to be in her later sixties and was obviously once very beautiful. But the pallor of her skin expressed the severity of her condition. He took a seat in the chair beside her bed and wa
tched her sleep for several minutes, keeping up his ruse. When she stirred and opened her eyes, she started at seeing him in her room.
“Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Greg. Would you care for a snack today?” He lied, trying to use her confusion to his advantage.
“No, I don’t want anything. I’m too sick to eat.”
“Okay, I’ll let you get some rest and check back with you later today.” He rose, snacks in hand, and left the hospital by taking the same route he’d followed in. The suspicious nurse was back at the nurses’ station as he passed, but she was too busy to notice him walking out.
2
CHAPTER TWO
June 2001
Braxton tried to sleep with the rhythmic rocking of the bus as it continued eastward, but it was no use even to try. He could’ve taken the option to fly to the South Carolina base for his basic training, but he wasn’t required to be there for several more days. He decided to take his time on the trip and hopefully clear his head before the intensive two-month training program began.
He would be several hours into the fifteen-hour trip before Heather woke and found his letter. She would have no way to contact him and no indication of where he was headed. He’d planned it that way intentionally so she would be forced to move on with her life. Even at eighteen, he knew when she looked at him, all she saw was a constant reminder of the worst day of their lives. After all their years spent side by side, it killed him when he saw the regret in her eyes that left no doubt in his mind she wished she’d never fallen in love with him.
He had to face the fact he had become no more than an expensive growing pain, a lesson that life had to teach them, but they were both stubborn and had to learn the hard way. For the sake of her sanity and her happiness, he had to be the one to leave. That took all the strength, drive, and courage he could muster. She’d have to be the one to file for a divorce, though. That’s where he drew the line. Regardless of what the future held for him, another marriage was nowhere in the cards.
She would be his one and only love until he died.
“Where are you headed?” the older man across the aisle asked aloud.
Braxton cut his eyes toward the man to see to whom he was speaking. Most everyone on the bus was asleep since it was still dark outside. When their eyes met, the man smiled at him and waited for a reply.
“Army basic training in South Carolina. You?”
“Visiting my daughter and her family in Georgia. My son-in-law is in the Army and stationed there,” the man replied. “Name’s Larry, by the way.”
“Braxton,” he replied and accepted the offer to shake hands. “Good to meet you.”
“Good to meet you, son. You’re awful young to join the Army, aren’t you?”
“I’m eighteen. Legal to sign my name on the dotted line and give away the next four years of my life to them.”
“So you’re not making it a career?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet,” Braxton admitted. A career in the Army may not be such a bad idea. Travel the world. Associate with the best men and women, serve his country, and leave Texas behind him for as long as possible.
“What does your wife think about that?” Larry asked.
The corners of Braxton’s eyes squeezed together, and his head slightly tilted in question. “What?”
Larry pointed at Braxton’s left hand where his wedding ring was still prominently displayed. “You’re married, right?”
“For now,” he shrugged. “It didn’t work out. She made a mistake marrying me.”
“Marriage is hard, there’s no doubt about that. My wife and I married young, too. Everyone told us not to, said we should wait until we were older. But we were headstrong, and we knew better than they did,” Larry laughed in reply. His gaze drifted to another time and place as his mind’s eye relived the events of the past. “After the first month of living together, we were both ready to call it quits.
“But we stuck it out. You see, we had too many people to prove wrong. More than that, we meant it when we said those vows. For better or for worse is what we’ve lived by all these years. Don’t give up on her just yet, son. There may still be hope.”
Braxton’s only reply was a lopsided smile that didn’t reach his eyes. There was no point in telling the man that all hope was lost and had been dead for months. Three months, to be exact. Three months since he failed Heather in a way she could never forgive him, and he could never forgive himself. In a way he knew he didn’t deserve forgiveness.
“It’s none of my business, and I’m just a nosy old man, I know,” Larry said warmly. “But I know the look of a tormented young man. I saw it too many times in my own mirror when I wasn’t much older than you are now. You’ll come out of basic training a different man, Braxton. You’ll be harder, more focused, and more disciplined. Use that discipline to help your marriage, son. Not hurt it.”
“I will,” Braxton promised. Though he didn’t elaborate on how. The only way he could help his marriage was to be disciplined enough to give Heather a real chance at happiness, far away from him. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”
“Then you’re a good man, Braxton,” Larry replied. “Never forget that.”
Larry settled into his seat and was asleep within minutes. His words played over and over in Braxton’s mind. More times than he could count, he considered telling the bus driver to stop and let him off. He’d find a way back home on his own. He’d find a way to work things out, regardless of what had happened. But every time he started to rise from his seat, the weight of his failure held him down. With a heavy heart, Braxton closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.
The bus shuddered to a halt, waking Braxton from the most sleep he’d had at one time in the last several months. “We’ll take a thirty-minute break here, folks. Grab a bite to eat, stretch your legs, and be back on the bus at half past the hour.”
Braxton’s eyes surveyed the area after he exited the bus, trying to determine where they were and how much longer they had to go. The roadside diner had obviously been built first from the age of it. The truck stop next door was newer, bigger, and had a full range of facilities to cater to truck drivers. He felt someone move up beside him and knew who it was without looking.
“Want to grab a chicken sandwich and fries at four in the morning?” Larry asked with a chuckle.
“Sounds like the ultimate breakfast to me,” he joked in return. “Maybe we can have apple pie for dessert. Breakfast dessert.”
“That’s the spirit.”
The two men walked together into the diner and sat in a booth along the front windows. After the waitress took their orders, an uncomfortable silence crept into the booth, and Larry fidgeted nervously. Braxton sensed the older man wanted to resume their earlier conversation but wasn’t sure how to broach it.
“It’s a long, sad story.” Braxton decided to save Larry the hassle. “We started out as best friends when we were kids. We finally became an official couple when we started high school. A lot of things went wrong. I’m not getting into all of the nitty-gritty details right now, though.
“In a nutshell, every day of my life that I can actually remember, I’ve loved her in one way or another. We were neighbors for a long time, but then her dad got one promotion after another at work. With his newfound wealth, he bought a bigger, nicer house in a ritzier neighborhood. Suddenly, I wasn’t good enough for his daughter anymore.
“That didn’t stop her, though. She loved me, so we stayed together despite his protests and threats and bellowing.” Braxton paused and stared at a droplet of water as it slid down his glass. “As soon as we were old enough and didn’t need anyone’s permission, we got married. We had a go at it for a little while, tried to make it work. This is where I leave out the private details, but it all boils down to the fact that she’s estranged from her entire family because of me. Especially her dad. He won’t have anything to do with her as long as I’m still around.
&n
bsp; “The stress of everything is killing her. She’s torn between being with me and being with her family. I just can’t stand by and watch the beautiful woman I love wither away to nothing. So, I left and made it easier for her to move on with her life.”
“Did you ask her if that’s what she wanted?”
The waitress returned with their orders, momentarily saving Braxton from answering what should’ve been an easy question. When the waitress left, Larry took a bite of his sandwich and waited for Braxton to answer.
In between bites of his food, Braxton continued recounting his story. “She’s not the kind of person who would say she wanted me to leave. She can’t stand hurting anyone else, so she’d take all the pain just to avoid inflicting any on someone else. Her dad or her mom called every day, pressuring her to come home, keeping her on the phone for hours at a time. She became more and more withdrawn from me. Selfishly, I hung around longer than I should have, but I just couldn’t let her suffer anymore.”
“Did you file for a divorce before you left?”
Braxton shook his head from side to side. “No. I won’t be the one to do that.”
“You really do love her, don’t you?”
“It’s always been her. It’ll always be her.”
“You know, other guys your age don’t think like that.”
“Those guys haven’t met Heather.”
Larry leaned back and studied Braxton, taking in his words and his overall demeanor. Braxton felt the appraising gaze, knew he was being sized up and measured, but he didn’t care. The talk with Larry brought all the memories flooding back, tormenting him with mental pictures of the best and worst times of his life. His guts churned, the chicken sandwich and fries turned to lead in his stomach, and he had to work to swallow past the ball of emotions stuck in his throat.
“For the record, I think you’re making a big mistake by leaving like this. She sounds like a great girl.”
Wicked Intentions (Steele Secrurity Book 4) Page 2