Once she got him dosed and as comfortable as he was going to be for the remainder of the drive, she put the SUV in gear and pulled back onto the two-lane road that would take them up the mountain.
Isaac wanted to kick himself for overreacting to her touch. The truth was, just like he’d told her, he’d been sleeping with one eye open since Lansing had started running his mouth. And two nights ago, he’d awakened to three guys in his bedroom wearing masks and carrying baseball bats.
Only the fact that he’d had his weapon on the floor next to his bed had saved him from a beating. Or maybe even death, now that he thought about it. He’d rolled out of bed, grabbed the gun, and aimed it. “You’ve got five seconds to get out before I start shooting. You’re in my home, in masks, with bats. Who do you think is going to be in trouble for this one?”
They’d run. And he’d installed a home security system.
Isaac had also continued to do his job, taking the heat from the other officers and letting it roll off his back. He’d done the right thing in turning Lansing in. He knew it and they did, too, but getting back in their good graces would be next to impossible until he had irrefutable evidence.
And now someone was mad enough to try to kill him in the hospital?
Truly, wanting him dead really didn’t make sense. Sure, he expected the shunning and the refusal to partner with him, but to flat-out want him dead? It didn’t jive.
And frankly, he just wanted to find a bed and sleep rather than worry about it.
“Brady’s coming to help,” his pretty doctor said.
Isaac whipped his head to look at her. Dizziness hit him. Whoa. Moving fast wasn’t good. He swallowed against the surge of nausea. “Where?”
“At the cabin. We need help. You need help.”
“Wait a minute. Cabin? No, I need to get to Sally Peterson’s house.”
“I can get us there, but what are you going to do? Catch Howard with your web slinger? Come on. You’re not a superhero. You can barely stand.”
She was right, of course. He just had to pray his call from the hospital had been warning enough for Sally to get away from her brother and into hiding.
Her words penetrated. “Brady St. John? Your brother? A cop who probably hates my guts like all the rest of them?”
“Not a chance. I have a feeling you two are actually a lot alike.”
“I’ll reserve judgment on whether or not to take that as a compliment.”
She shot him the first real smile he’d seen since he’d met her. “It’s a compliment. He’s big on doing the right thing no matter the cost.”
That simple statement brought an unusual lump to his throat. He decided it was better than the nausea. “You believe me?”
“The guy who tried to kill you in your hospital room was a big influencer in swaying me to your side.” She paused. “I believe you.”
“Thanks.” His husky voice earned him a quick glance and a short nod. “I need to call and have someone go out to Sally’s house and make sure she’s okay.” With effort, he made the call and received assurances someone would go check on her and call him back. Silence settled in the SUV and Isaac closed his eyes, desperately needing healing sleep.
The next thing he knew, they were stopped and Ruthie was rubbing his bicep. “Isaac? Can you wake up?”
“Working on it,” he grunted.
“Good. Let’s get inside and you can have the nearest bedroom.”
Sounded good to him. He opened the door, then immediately slammed it shut. “Turn the overhead light off, please.”
“Of course.”
He liked she didn’t have to ask him why.
Once he was sure he could open the door without making himself a target, he shoved it open. Cold air blasted him, dispelling the lingering drowsiness and bringing him to full alertness.
“Go easy,” she said. “Wait for me to help you.”
“You do realize that if I fall, you’d better just let me hit the ground rather than try to catch me.”
She snorted. “I’m stronger than I look.”
He took a look around while she made her way over to him. “Nice place.”
“I thought so.”
“Lots of places to hide, though. Good places for a sniper.”
“Yep. You are definitely a cop.” She paused. “But the good thing is, it’s dark right now. A sniper’s going to have to wait until it gets a little lighter to get a good shot, right?”
“Maybe. Unless he’s got special equipment.”
“I give up. Can you get my gun out of the glove compartment?”
He stilled. “You have a weapon?”
“Yep. And it’s legal.”
“God bless you,” he breathed and opened the glove compartment. He checked the weapon and found it perfect in every way.
“Let’s go.” She held out a hand, and he grabbed it to let her help pull him to his feet. Weakness invaded him, and he wrapped his good arm around her shoulders while she gripped his waist. “You realize this is doing severe damage to my ego, right?”
“You were shot. You get a pass this time. When we get inside, I want to check the stitches.”
All he could do was offer a low grunt.
Once inside the cabin, he absently took in the simple yet lovely decor while he let her lead him to the ground-floor bedroom.
Sinking into the mattress, he closed his eyes.
That was the first time Ruthie had ever seen anyone literally asleep before his head hit the pillow. She arranged the covers over him and went to get the stuff from her car. Back in the cabin, she grabbed her stethoscope and headed into the bedroom to find her patient still sound asleep.
Maybe. Remembering his lightning-quick reflexes, she gave him a light poke in the arm, then stepped back.
He didn’t move.
She slipped the ends of the stethoscope into her ears and placed the disc over his heart. Then his lungs. She wished she could flip him over and listen to his lungs from the back, but she would have to be satisfied that all seemed well in spite of their crazy flight from the hospital. Since he had on a V-neck scrubs top, she was able to get a clear look at the bandage. No blood had seeped through yet, so maybe they were all right.
She set up the nightstand with the rest of the supplies so she could change his bandage when he woke. For now, he just needed to sleep.
Back in the den, she grabbed her bag, hauled it to the other bedroom, and set it on the bed. Since she’d planned to be away for a week, she’d brought everything and more.
A low buzzing caught her attention and she hurried into Isaac’s room to grab his phone from the end table. A swipe across the screen connected her. “Hello?” She slipped out of the room.
“This is Officer Clark. I’m looking for Isaac Martinez.”
“He’s unavailable at the moment. Could I take a message?”
“Let him know that I went to see Mrs. Peterson. She answered the door with a crying baby on her hip and said everything was fine at her house. I thought she looked a little harried and asked to come inside, but she said I’d woken the baby and she needed to get the little guy back to sleep. I insisted and she agreed to let me in. I walked around the home and all looked quiet to me.”
“All right, I’ll pass the word on to Isaac.” She paused. “Could you just sit outside for a little while and make sure? We’re worried about her.”
“I can do that. At least until I get another call.”
“Thank you.”
She hung up and then remembered Derek and Elaine. With a sigh, she grabbed the landline phone and dialed his number.
His sleepy voice answered on the second ring. “What?”
“You can’t bring Elaine here to ask her to marry you.”
Silence. The rustle of bedsheets. “Ruthie?”
“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you can’t come up here tomorrow. I’ve got a patient here recuperating, and I can’t move him for the next few days.”
“Have you been d
rinking?”
“Derek!”
“But, Ruthie, I had it all planned.”
She ignored the whine in his voice and explained the situation, as well as the fact that Brady was on the way.
A heavy sigh greeted her. “You need me to come help?”
A smile curved her lips. She knew she could count on him, no matter what. “Nope.”
“Because I will, you know.”
“I know, but I don’t think that’s necessary.” She paused. “However, there might be one thing you can do.”
“Sure. What’s that?”
“I want to know what happened with the domestic disturbance where Isaac ended up getting shot. I want to know what the story is there and if there was more to it than meets the eye.”
“What did he tell you about it?”
“Nothing yet. But someone tried to kill him in the hospital. If they’d succeeded, I have a suspicion that even with an autopsy it might have looked like a death caused by the gunshot wound. Even though it wasn’t the most serious one I’ve ever seen, it still did damage, and it wouldn’t be unheard of for him to die from it.” He still wasn’t completely out of the woods. There was still the risk of infection, a missed bone fragment, a blown stitch . . .
The list could go on. She could only pray none of those things happened and he would heal just fine. “I haven’t heard what was in the syringe, but that might be a good place to start.”
“I’ll look into it. I know Isaac, and he’s a good man.”
“Even though everyone seems to think he’s lying?”
Derek fell silent. “I’ll be honest. I wasn’t sure what to believe at first, but why would he lie about it? He had no beef with Lansing. As far as anyone else knew, they were friends. No, if he really saw what he said he saw, then he had no choice.”
“I knew you’d see it that way. His partner, Cole Guthrie, was at the hospital along with another man by the name of Paul Sullivan. Do you know them?”
“Yes. Guthrie is a piece of work. Sullivan’s not much better. But I’ll talk to them.”
“Isaac didn’t want them to find him. I think he suspects they’re involved in whatever—and whoever—he’s trying to bring down. Don’t trust them.”
“I understand. I’ll be in touch.”
“Thanks. Oh, and I had to ditch my phone, so call this number or Brady if you get something.”
“Will do.”
She hung up with only a twinge of guilt at ruining her brother’s engagement plans, but it couldn’t be helped. Isaac needed a safe place to recover and right now, this was it.
Back in the kitchen, she opened the refrigerator and a sigh of relief slipped out. She’d paid the extra money to have it stocked. Thank you, Lord. Her patient needed protein and veggies. But nothing that would upset his stomach. Soup. Crackers. Tea or ginger ale.
She also pulled out grilled chicken, broccoli and carrots, and a baked potato with butter, sour cream, and bacon bits. He might not eat much depending on how he felt, but at least it would be there. She’d recommend the soup and crackers first, then he could move on to the other stuff, as long as his stomach behaved. And they could do leftovers, because while she didn’t mind working in the kitchen, she had no plans to do it day in and day out.
While he slept, she cooked. And while she cooked, her mind spun, trying to process everything that had happened in the last few hours.
Just as she finished with the chicken, the phone rang. She grabbed the handset mid-ring and tucked it under her chin. “Hello.”
“It’s Derek. I found out what happened on that DD.”
“Tell me.”
“The call came in around six o’clock last night. A woman screamed that she needed help, that her husband was threatening to kill her and her kids. She rattled off the address and the phone went dead.”
“Was anyone else hurt?”
“Yeah. The wife. She grabbed a gun, shot her husband, and kept firing. One of the bullets got Isaac before she passed out from loss of blood. The wife was also shot and brought in around the same time as your guy.”
The woman on the gurney, no doubt, the one Hugh had been working on. “Did the husband make it?”
“No, but she did.”
“Okay, thanks, Derek.”
“Welcome.” He paused. “I saw the hospital security footage, Ruthie.”
“Thought Mom was going to try and pull it.”
“She wasn’t fast enough. Someone got to it before Mom or me, because Miranda said something about it being a popular piece of video.” Miranda with hospital security.
“Great.”
“It’s obvious you’re the one who helped Martinez leave the hospital.”
“I figured it would be.”
“Apparently, as soon as you took off, two officers requested to see all footage of anyone leaving the hospital.”
Isaac’s partner and the other man with him flashed into her mind. “I’m sure I can guess who. Cole Guthrie and Paul Sullivan.”
“You got it on the first try. I’m still looking for them so I can have a word. I’ll get back to you when I know anything else.”
“Thanks.”
She hung up and turned to find Isaac standing behind her. She gasped and slapped a hand against her racing heart. “Whoa. That’s mean sneaking up on a girl like that.”
“Sorry.” He held his wounded arm by the elbow, even though it was cradled in the sling. And he sounded anything but sorry. “What was that all about?”
“That was Derek. He was doing some research into your shooting.” She passed on what she’d learned.
“I would have told you that.”
“You were sleeping. Want a pain pill yet?” The white outline of his lips and the flared nostrils said he needed one.
“No.”
“Pretty please with sugar on top?”
His lips relaxed into a small smile for a brief second. “No, but thanks. I need to keep my wits about me.”
“I discovered I have some Toradol. It’s good for the pain, but it won’t knock you out since it’s not a narcotic.”
He hesitated. Then nodded. “Sure, that would be fine. I think I’ve taken that before.”
“I should have suggested it earlier but forgot I’d thrown it in with the other stuff. I found it a bit ago when I started unloading everything.” She found the bottle and dumped one of the pills onto his outstretched hand. “You’re very fortunate, you know.”
“I know.” He swallowed the pill without water.
“Good. You hungry?”
“It smells good in here.”
“That’s because I’m a good cook.”
“I should probably try to eat.”
“Probably.”
They settled at the table with the food Ruthie had prepared. “Will you tell me your side of the domestic disturbance shooting?”
“The call came in, and my partner and I were two of the responding officers.”
“I didn’t think detectives took that kind of call.”
“Not normally, but we were one block over. We couldn’t just sit there.”
“Of course.”
“So, we arrived, went in, and the wife grabbed a gun. She started firing at her husband and didn’t have the best aim.”
“But she managed to hit you.”
“That she did.”
“Are you sure it was her bullet?”
He stilled. Finished chewing a bit of the chicken and swallowed. “Why do you ask that?”
She leaned forward. “It’s obvious someone wants you dead. Could the domestic disturbance have been a setup?”
For a moment he didn’t move. Then he gave a short nod. “I’ve thought of that.”
“I see.”
“Ballistics will tell one way or the other where the bullet came from and which gun it came from. Until then, I’m laying low . . .”
“Wise decision.”
“. . . while I track down Howard.”
She rolled her
eyes.
He finished off the soup and crackers and the rest of his piece of chicken, then leaned back. “I’d better stop there.”
“I’m glad you felt well enough to eat that much, but it’s back to bed for you.”
“I just got up.”
“You’re telling me you’re not ready for more sleep now that you’ve eaten and the pain is under control?”
He hesitated, then sighed. “Fine, but as soon as I wake up, we’ve got to get going. I need to check on Sally, find out if she’s seen Howard.”
“Sounds like she’s okay at the moment.” She told him about the phone call from Officer Clark.
“Good.”
Isaac made it to the couch and stretched out.
By the time she got the blanket over him, he was asleep again.
six
ISAAC BLINKED AND SAT UP. The blanket pooled at his waist, and he realized he was still on the couch and the sun was coming through the east window and spilling across his face.
The room was empty, but his nose detected coffee. He swung his feet over the side and pushed himself into a sitting position. A glass of water and two pills sat on a napkin at the edge of the coffee table.
Take the Toradol when your shoulder wakes you up. The other pill is your antibiotic.
He downed the pills. Taking inventory, he determined that while his shoulder was on fire once more, he could stand without weaving.
In the kitchen, he found two mugs and poured the coffee that had just finished brewing. With one hand, he hooked the handles and carried them to the open back door.
Ruthie sat on the screened-in porch, book in hand, feet propped on the little plastic table in front of her.
Shouldering the door open, he stepped outside.
She looked up and smiled. “You look like you’re feeling a bit better.”
“A bit.”
She took the coffee from him. “How’d you know I like it black?”
“There’s no cream or sugar set out.”
“Hm. Observant.”
“Occasionally.”
“The shoulder?”
“Hurts.”
“The pills?”
“Taken.”
She laughed. “I like you, Isaac Martinez.” Then she sobered. “What are we going to do about the men trying to kill you? I think it’s only a matter of time before they track us here.”
The Cost of Betrayal Page 26