by Joya Fields
Chapter Seven
Brooke knew firsthand how careless people could be about voicing sympathy. Over and over again, people had told her that her parents “were in a better place,” or “were happy now.” At the time, she’d wanted to scream at them—tell them that no place was better than being here with her! She believed in Heaven, but she wanted her parents here.
Garrett’s knitted brows and lowered lids reflected the pain of Tessa’s disappearance. The worst of it surfaced in his deep brown eyes—hurt, disbelief…and guilt. She laid her hand on his bicep and his muscle flexed in reaction.
“How old is she?”
He kicked a pebble with his tennis shoe and dropped his gaze to the ground. “Twenty.”
She tried to focus on his tanned, muscular legs, the way the breeze blew his soft cotton shorts against his body. Anything but the fact that the smiling red head from the picture could be the girl at the bottom of the ocean in the box.
Did he want to talk about it, or did he want to bury the pain? She hesitated for a moment, then took his hand. “How long has she been missing?”
“Two months.” He turned, gave her a long, sad stare, then squeezed her hand and walked. She couldn’t fathom responding to his warm touch when they were discussing such an awful thing. Obviously her heart didn’t know any better. It kicked hard against her ribs like a palm tree in a hurricane when his rough hand held hers.
“You’re close to your family, aren’t you?” she asked. They crossed the gravel to his truck.
“My aunt and uncle live next door to my parents. My sisters and I grew up with Tessa. She’s like a sister.”
She didn’t want to press him further, so she let the conversation lag. When she scooted into the passenger-side of the pickup, he draped an arm over her open door and leaned in. She glanced from his tanned biceps to his smooth-shaven face and realized he was close enough to kiss. She swallowed hard and braced herself.
In the dim parking lot lights, the crease between his brows deepened. “Do you feel okay?” he asked.
For a split second, she wondered if he was asking if it would be okay to kiss her. But the frown meant he must be worried about something. Suddenly she understood. He wanted to know about her health. “Oh. The drugs?”
He nodded and held her gaze prisoner with his. She took a deep breath to calm her hammering pulse. Could the drug she’d been given make her hyper-aware of this man and his sexiness?
No. With or without the drug, Garrett was like a magnet pulling her into his force field.
A swirling breeze cut through the open truck door and blew a short strand of hair across her eyes. Before she could lift her hand, Garrett reached out, brushed her hair to the side. His fingers stroked her cheek and her face. Her entire body flushed with heat.
She wanted to pull him closer but fisted her hands to control the urge. She couldn’t do this right now with him. Her self-control was short-lived. He stared deep into her eyes with a passion that traveled to her soul. Then he cupped her chin so gently that she wanted to sigh.
“I’m worried about you.” His husky voice distracted her common sense and she wanted to lean toward him, rest against him and feel his strong body. It would be so easy to fall for him, but she couldn’t take the chance her heart would break again.
But her body—her traitorous body—responded so intensely to his touch that she licked her lips. She wished she had the nerve to shorten the distance between them, pull him closer. She swallowed and then whispered, “I’m fine.” Because the words came out so hoarse, she cleared her throat and repeated. “Really. I’m fine.”
He lifted her chin higher, lessening the gap between them. Passion sparked in his eyes.
He bent, closing the distance separating them and rested his forehead against hers. “I’m—”
Brooke’s cell phone rang and broke the hypnotic spell.
He stepped back and she dug in her purse for her phone.
“Hello?” Her heart still beat hard against her ribs and her mind flustered from the almost-kiss. She hadn’t bothered to look at the caller ID.
“The police…” Linda’s sobbing voice pierced through the phone. Brooke bolted upright and glanced at Garrett.
“Linda?” Brooke couldn’t believe Linda felt well enough to make a phone call. “Linda, it’s so great to hear your—”
Linda choked on a sob, then panted for air.
“Linda…what’s wrong?” Brooke pleaded. Garrett stepped closer. She tried not to think about the way his nearness made her feel less frightened. More choked sobs echoed from the phone. “Linda. I’m on my way. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” She raised her brows in question at Garrett and he nodded to verify they could be at the hospital that quickly.
“No!” Linda’s voice gained a little strength and she sniffed several times before adding in a shaky voice. “Brooke…find him…find Jeff.”
“Jeff is still missing?” Brooke frowned at the phone, wishing she could be there in person to comfort Linda.
Linda’s sobs got louder and then Mrs. Yi came on the line. “Brooke?” she asked in her slow, deliberate voice that often fooled people into underestimating her. A major mistake on their part, because Mrs. Yi, a stockbroker and financial whiz, always knew how to play her cards.
“Mrs. Yi? What’s wrong?” Brooke squeezed the bridge of her nose to ward away a sudden headache.
“The police can’t find Jeff. They consider him a suspect in the explosion.” Her tight voice conveyed the fact that she agreed with the police. Brooke realized with a start that the Yis—and the police—might think Jeff married Linda for her money. She stood to inherit quite a lot.
Brooke needed to move. She couldn’t sit still and take it all in. She slipped out of the truck and started pacing next to it. “Mrs. Yi, do you think Jeff fell asleep somewhere?”
Garrett glanced at his watch and was probably thinking the same as Brooke—the nap theory might have held water a few hours ago, but now that more time had elapsed, Jeff would have surfaced by now if he had been asleep.
Linda cried in the background. Mrs. Yi spoke in Japanese to someone, probably her husband. Then Brooke heard Linda’s muffled, frantic voice.
“…he didn’t do it…he’d never hurt me…”
Mrs. Yi came back on the line. “It would help calm Linda down if you could find out what is happening to Jeff.” Mrs. Yi sighed. “Linda wants you to find him a lawyer.” Mrs. Yi didn’t sound convinced of Jeff’s innocence.
Mrs. Yi lowered her voice and from the muffled sound, Brooke figured she was trying to keep Linda from hearing her words. “Turns out that Jeff and Linda got married last week. When the police found out how much money he would inherit if she di—” Mrs. Yi’s voice broke. “They want to question Jeff about the explosion. But he’s disappeared.”
Mr. Yi barked an order in Japanese, then Linda started to cry again.
“You’ll find him a lawyer Brooke? I can tell Linda you’ll take care of it?” Mrs. Yi asked, her voice pleading.
“Yes,” Brooke said. The line went dead. She met Garrett’s gaze. “The police want to question Jeff but nobody can find him.”
“We always investigate spouses in this type of case. It doesn’t mean anything,” Garrett took a step toward her.
She nodded several times and peered up at him. “I was afraid the police would jump to the wrong conclusion.”
He raised a brow and tilted his head.
“The Yis—including Linda—have a lot of money from her grandfather’s trust fund. The fact that Linda and Jeff eloped last week could make it look like he married her for her money. And then wanted the money for himself.” She’d thought about it earlier—even in the hospital waiting room. Jeff wouldn’t hurt Linda. Would he?
Garrett’s face remained emotionless. His cop face.
“Do you mind driving me to the hospital so I can help Linda?”
“Gladly.”
She slid back into the passenger seat. “And I guess I nee
d to find Jeff a lawyer.” The night air felt suddenly chilly. Brooke shivered as Garrett took his seat behind the wheel. “You could just give me a ride to my motel if that’s easier and I’ll get my car.”
She hoped he didn’t take her up on the offer. She hated to admit it, but being around him made the calamity around her more bearable. She wouldn’t allow herself to lean on him. Just share the burden.
“No problem.” He steered out of the lot. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll drive you. Diego is on duty tonight. I’ll see what he knows about Jeff.”
“Thanks, Garrett.” She turned to glance out the window to think about where Jeff might be. Asleep in an empty hospital room? On a bench outside the hospital?
“Hey Diego, can you get me some info on Jeff—Brooke’s friend from the boat explosion? Uh-huh,” Garrett said. Again, “Uh-huh.”
Brooke strained to hear the other end of the conversation over the truck’s motor. She realized she was holding her breath and blew it out a little louder than she’d planned.
“Is that right?” Garrett threw Brooke a worried glance.
“What?” Brooke asked, grabbing his arm.
“Okay. Keep me posted. We’re heading to the hospital.” He disconnected, gazed straight ahead, and pressed down on the gas pedal.
“So?” Brooke said.
“You were right. Linda’s worth millions.” He hesitated, then glanced sideways at her, the lights of passing cars illuminating his face as Garrett sped past them all. “And if Linda dies, Jeff stands to inherit it all.”
Brooke shook her head. “I know about the trust fund but Jeff would never—”
“There’s something else.” Garrett tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Jeff went missing the same time somebody drugged you—”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
He didn’t answer.
“Are you implying that Jeff might have slipped off to drug me? He had no reason to.” It didn’t make sense. The person who drugged her wanted to keep them from finding the metal box. And Jeff had no reason to keep the container from being found. “Jeff would never hurt me. It was an old m—”
Garrett’s phone rang, cutting her off. He glanced at the screen. “Damn. This can’t be good.” He flipped it open. “What happened?”
****
Garrett squealed wheels around the corner.
“They found Jeff,” Diego said.
“Where is he?” Garrett shrugged his shoulders when Brooke shot him a questioning look. She’d gone from flushed with anger to pale with worry about Jeff in a matter of twenty seconds.
“A janitor found him by the hospital dumpster,” Diego said.
“We’re almost there now,” Garrett said. “Is he okay?” He glanced at Brooke and punched the gas pedal down to the floor. Sirens approached from all directions.
“Yeah, he’s alive. Might have been drugged,” Diego said. “Gotta go.”
Garrett shut his phone and steered the truck into the parking lot. “Jeff’s alive,” he said, his gaze on the mass of flashing red and blue lights next to the hospital.
“Alive? What happened?”
Before he could answer her, he screeched to a stop behind the marked sheriff’s car. Its headlights illuminated Jeff’s prone form.
As soon as the truck halted, she opened her door and ran toward Jeff’s slumped and unconscious body on the ground, past a surprised Deputy Cooper who unrolled crime scene tape to block off the area.
“Ma’am you can’t—” she dropped the yellow tape and grabbed Brooke’s arm, barely catching her elbow.
Cooper detained Brooke, but Brooke’s gaze stayed on Jeff’s prone form as two men in scrubs leaned over him and checked for vitals.
Brooke took quick, short breaths and Garrett worried that she would hyperventilate.
He moved beside her and draped an arm around her shoulders. When she glanced up, the tears in her blue-gray eyes made him feel like he’d been punched in the gut.
“Is he…” her voice caught on a choke.
Deputy Cooper did a double-take when she spotted Garrett’s arm around Brooke. “Brooke?” She stepped closer to examine Brooke’s face as recognition dawned.
Brooke’s gaze stayed glued on Jeff as the doctors and nurses raised the gurney and wheeled it toward the hospital doors.
Deputy Cooper sighed. “He’s alive.” Again she glanced at Garrett. “We need to get him inside to assess his condition, though.”
“What happened?” Brooke asked.
Garrett squinted at Brooke while Cooper talked with her. Brooke’s eyes glazed over. The drugs again?
The medics wheeled Jeff’’s gurney through the doors. “Wait. I have to go with him.” Brooke shrugged away from Garrett and raced toward the doors.
Cooper caught up with Brooke and stood in front of her. She laid her hands on Brooke’s shoulders. “Brooke, I want you to take a couple of deep breaths.”
Garrett stepped back, hoping a woman’s touch would help Brooke.
Brooke breathed in and out twice, keeping her eyes on the deputy the whole time.
“Good.” Cooper sighed and glanced inside the double doors. “We think Jeff tried to kill himself. A drug overdose.”
“No. No!” Brooke shook her head. “Not possible. Jeff would never try to kill himself.” She shook her head several more times. She turned and escaped Cooper’s grasp, then ran for the hospital entrance.
“Should I stop her?” Garrett asked Cooper.
“Hal’s by the door,” Cooper said.
Garrett jogged behind Brooke.
Brooke opened the door.
Hal Fisher’s short but sturdy body blocked the way. “Sorry, Brooke. You can’t go any further.”
Brooke’s body tensed. Fire flared in her eyes. Garrett wondered if she was deciding whether or not she could rush past Hal to get to her friend. For a split second, Garrett envied Jeff. To have Brooke feel so protective and loving would be a good feeling.
He shook his head, dismissed the thought, and re-focused on getting answers and helping Brooke.
She stood on the entry rug inside the doors and stared at the gurney as it disappeared around a corner. Her pale face made him want to wrap her in a blanket and carry her home to bed. No matter how inappropriate the timing was—and he knew it was—his jeans got a little tighter at the thought of laying her on his bed.
Garrett had no idea what she needed right now. More than anything, she probably needed answers. But before they got those, he’d see if he could take away some of her pain.
He stepped forward and closed the distance between them. “Come here,” he whispered and pulled her toward him. She sighed and crushed herself against him, burying her head in his chest.
He rubbed a hand up and down her back. His heart kicked hard and he realized he needed to hold her as much as she needed to be held.
****
Brooke mentally kicked herself. She’d broken the promise she’d made one month ago. Instead of standing on her own, she’d fallen into Garrett’s arms and leaned on him for support.
She glanced across the small waiting room with its brown and tan color scheme, and her gaze met Garrett’s. She blushed and pretended to concentrate on the last sips of hot decaf coffee in her hands.
In one final gulp, she swallowed the remaining hot liquid. She stood and tossed the Styrofoam cup in the trash. “There,” she said. She’d purposely chosen a lone chair as far away from Garrett as possible. No use tempting fate. “I finished a cup of coffee, my hands aren’t shaking. I’m ready to see Linda.” She held out two steady hands for proof.
Garrett smiled, flashing white teeth, and stood. “I’ll walk you to her floor.”
She bit her tongue, because she knew it would seem childish to refuse him. He was trying to be helpful.
“Let’s take the stairs. We need to talk,” Brooke said.
They walked the empty corridor to a green metal door. He opened it and stood
aside.
“There’s no way Jeff tried to kill himself,” Brooke said.
“So you’ve already said. About fifty times.” Garrett followed her into the stairwell.
Brooke rolled her eyes and started up the steps. “He has everything to live for and he’d never purposely leave Linda when she needed him. I trust my gut.”
“The police have to check every possible scenario.”
She pushed open the door to the third floor and turned to him. “You believe me, though, right?”
His gaze met hers and she knew whatever his answer was, she’d believe him. “Yes, I believe you. I would never question a woman’s gut.”
She snorted, not sure if he was teasing her or not, but decided to take him for his word.
Brooke rang the bell outside of the automatic doors.
“Yes?” a nurse inside the unit asked via the intercom.
“We’re here to visit patient Linda Yi,” Brooke said.
After a pause, the nurse said, “I’m sorry, visiting hours were over at eight.”
Brooke blinked several times. She’d waited so long to see Linda today. She glanced at the bland black and white clock on the wall. Ten o’clock. Way later than she’d thought.
“Want me to flash my badge?” Garrett whispered against her ear.
Brooke’s pulse kicked into high gear. She turned to see if he was serious. His raised brow told her he was.
She nodded with her head toward a sign on the wall. “Visiting hours start up again at ten in the morning. If I barge in now, I might wake her. I think I’ll check on Jeff. Even if they don’t let me visit him, at least I’ll get an update.”
She turned and headed for the steps. Garrett stayed with her. She could still smell the scent of his soap, even smell the clean laundry detergent scent of his black t-shirt. If she was going to be any help to Linda and Jeff, she needed to put some distance between herself and Garrett. She couldn’t concentrate when he was around. “I can catch a cab back to my motel.”
“I can wait. I’ll give you a ri—”
She anticipated his offer and raised her palm to cut him off. “I’m going to find Mr. and Mrs. Yi, too. I know they’re around here somewhere, probably the cafeteria.” She smiled and started down the steps. “Don’t worry, I’ll have the night guard walk me to the cab.” When they reached the lobby, she turned to face him. “Okay…well, good night.” She pulled out her cell in an effort to keep from looking at his face.