by Diana Palmer
14
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, you can’t get her on the phone?” Carson raged at Cash Grier. “Get somebody over there, for God’s sake! Lanette has my cell phone. It has Carlie’s number and Rourke’s real number on it!”
“Will you slow down and calm down?” Cash asked softly. “I’ve got people watching Carlie’s house. Believe me, nobody’s touching her.”
“Okay. How about her father?”
“At a church meeting. We have someone outside.”
“Rourke?”
Cash laughed. “I arrested Rourke two hours ago in the act of placing cocaine in the glove compartment of Calhoun Ballenger’s son’s truck.”
“Arrested?”
“You’ve been out of the loop,” Cash told him. “Blake Kemp, our district attorney, was on the scene, along with agents from the DEA, ICE and several other agencies. We had to make it look good, in case Helm slips through our fingers and Rourke has to go undercover again.”
“All right.” Carson’s head was throbbing. His wound hurt. “Carlie said she came because nobody else was available to sit with me—”
“Really? You should talk to the staff. She sat in the corridor outside the E.R. and refused to budge. When they got you to ICU, she did the same thing. They even called security. She sat where she was and cried. Finally, the neurosurgeon on your case took pity on her and let her in.”
“Dr. Beaulieu?” he asked.
“No, it was a man. Anyway, she smelled garlic on your breath. She connected you with the Wyoming case, told Dr. Beaulieu, and the rest is history. Saved your life, son,” he added. “You were dying and they didn’t know why. I assume your blonde friend hit you on the head and shot you so that they wouldn’t think of looking for poison until it was too late.”
“I don’t remember any of this.”
“I guess not. I had Carlie call you at your apartment because Rourke couldn’t risk having his number show up on your phone, assuming that it was bugged by Helm’s men. Lanette answered it. She told Carlie that you’d be a long time dying and she’d have to watch you suffer. Almost came true.”
“Almost.” His heart lifted like a bird. Carlie had lied. She’d been with him all the way, all the time. She did care. Cared a lot.
“So just get well, will you? We’ve got everything covered down here.”
“Okay.” He drew in a breath. “Thanks, Cash.”
“You’d do it for me.”
“In a heartbeat.”
He hung up the phone and closed his eyes. He should call Carlie. He wanted to. But that was when the pain meds they’d been shoveling into him took effect. He went to sleep.
* * *
CARLIE OPENED THE DOOR. Just as she did it, she realized that she shouldn’t have done it. She had no weapon, her phone was in her coat, she was vulnerable. Just like when she’d answered the door and Fred Baldwin had carried her off.
Her father stared back at her with set lips. “How many times do I have to tell you to make sure who’s at the door before you answer it?” he asked.
She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Dad.” She stared at him. “Why did you knock?”
He grimaced. “Forgot my keys.”
“See? It’s genetic,” she told him. “You lose your keys, I lose my phone. It’s catching, and I got it from you!”
He chuckled. “Heard from Carson?”
“He’s sitting up in bed yelling at people,” she said.
He let out a relieved whistle. “I wouldn’t have given a nickel for his chances when I saw him,” he replied. He smiled. “I wouldn’t have told you that. You still had hope. I guess they’ve got some super neurosurgeons in that hospital.”
“It wasn’t the head injury,” she said. “Or the gunshot wound. It was poison. She put malathion in his coffee.”
“Good Lord!” he exclaimed. “That’s diabolical!”
“Yes. I hope they catch her,” she said doggedly. “I hope they lock her up for a hundred years!”
He hugged Carlie. “I can appreciate how you must feel.”
She hugged him back. “Carson sent me home,” she said, giving way to tears. “I think I made him mad by just going up there.”
He grimaced. “Maybe he’s trying to be kind, in his way, Carlie. You know he’s probably never going to be able to settle in some small town.”
“I know. It doesn’t help.”
She drew back and wiped her eyes. “How about some coffee and cake?”
“That sounds nice.”
“Did you just try to call me?” she added on the way.
“Me? No. Why?”
“Just a wrong number, I guess. Somebody phoned and hung up.” She laughed. “I’m probably just getting paranoid, is all. I’ll make a pot of coffee.”
* * *
TWO DAYS LATER, Carson was out of the hospital. He was a little weak, but he felt well enough to drive. He went to his apartment first, looking for the missing cell phone. He knew he wouldn’t find it. He hoped they could catch Lanette before she managed to get out of the country. She probably had several aliases that she could refer to if she was as competent at her job as he now believed she was.
A contract killer, and he’d been dating her. All the while she’d been hell-bent on killing Carlie’s father. He felt like an idiot.
He drove down to Jacobsville to Cash Grier’s office. As soon as he opened the door, he looked for Carlie, but she wasn’t at her desk. He went on in and knocked at Cash’s door.
“Come in.”
He opened the door, expecting Carlie to be taking dictation or discussing the mail. She wasn’t there, either.
“You look like hell,” Cash said. “But at least you’re still alive. Welcome back.”
“Thanks. Where’s Carlie?” he asked.
“Bahamas,” he replied easily.
He frowned. “What’s she doing in the Bahamas?”
“Haven’t a clue,” Cash said heavily. “She and Robin took off early yesterday on a red-eye flight out of San Antonio. She asked off for a couple of days and I told her to go ahead. She’s had a rough time of it.”
“I tried to call her. I didn’t get an answer.”
“Same here. I don’t think her cell phone is working. Her father’s still looking for it. She said she left it in her coat pocket, but then they noticed there’s a hole in the pocket. Probably fell out somewhere and she didn’t notice. She was pretty upset over you.”
“I heard.” He was feeling insecure. He thought Carlie cared. But she’d gone to the Bahamas with another man. He’d heard her speak of Robin with affection. Had he chased her into the arms of another man with his belligerent attitude? He should have called her father when he couldn’t reach her, called the house phone. The damned drugs had kept him under for the better part of two days!
“Why did she go to the Bahamas with a man?” he asked shortly.
Cash frowned. “I don’t know. She and Robin have always been close, from what I’ve heard. And he took her to the Valentine’s Day dance.” He hesitated. “It didn’t seem like a love match to me. But...”
“Yes. But.”
Cash could see the pain in the other man’s face. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” He managed a smile. “I’m leaving.”
“Today?”
He nodded. “I’m going home. I have some ghosts to lay.”
Cash got up, went around the desk and extended his hand. “If you ever need help, you’ve got my number,” he told the younger man.
Carson returned the pressure. He smiled. “Thanks.”
“Keep in touch.”
“I’ll do that, too.” He glanced out at the empty desk where Carlie usually sat.
“What do you want me to tell her?” Cash asked.
&n
bsp; Carson’s face set into hard lines. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
* * *
CARLIE STOOD UP with Robin and his fiancée, Lucy Tims, at their secret wedding in Nassau.
“I hope you’ll be very happy,” she told them, kissing both radiant faces.
“We will until we have to go home and face the music,” Robin chuckled. “But that’s not for a few days. We’re going to live in paradise until then. Thanks so much for coming with us, Carlie.”
“It was my pleasure. Thanks for my plane ticket,” she added gently. “I sort of needed to get away for a little while.”
“Stay for a couple of days anyway,” Robin coaxed.
She shook her head. “Overnight was all I can manage. The chief won’t even be able to deal with the mail without me,” she joked. “I’m going back tonight. You two be happy, okay?”
“Okay.” They kissed her again.
She didn’t want to say, but she was hoping that Carson might come to see her when he was out of the hospital. It was a long shot, after his antagonistic behavior, but hope died hard. She went home and wished for the best.
* * *
SHE MISSED HER cell phone. She knew it had probably fallen through the hole in her pocket and it was gone forever. It was no great loss. It was a cheap phone and it only had a couple of numbers in it, one was her father and the other was Cash Grier.
But it was like losing a friend, because Carson had carried it around with him before he brought it to her. It had echoes of his touch. Pathetic, she told herself, cherishing objects because they’d been held.
It had been several days. She was getting used to the idea that Carson was gone for good. Chief Grier had told her that Carson had come by the office on his way out of town. But he hadn’t had a message for Carlie. That was all right. She hadn’t really expected one.
She disguised the hurt on the job, but she went home and cried herself to sleep. Wolves couldn’t be tamed, she reminded herself. It was useless to hope for a future that included Carson. Just useless.
* * *
ROURKE WAS BAILED out by Jake Blair. They had a good laugh about his imminent prosecution for breaking and entering, possession of narcotics and possible conspiracy.
They laughed because Rick Marquez and the San Antonio assistant D.A. working the case finally had enough evidence to arrest Matthew Helm. It made headlines all over the country, especially when Rourke gave a statement to the effect that Mr. Helm had ordered him to plant narcotics on Calhoun Ballenger’s son Terry and that Charro Mendez had supplied them.
There was an attempt to extradite Mendez to stand trial in the U.S. on drug charges, but he mysteriously vanished.
Helm wasn’t so fortunate. He, his senior campaign staff and at least one San Antonio police officer were arrested and charged with crimes ranging from attempted murder to theft of police evidence and narcotics distribution.
It came as a shock when Marquez released a statement heralding Fred Baldwin as a material witness in the case. Fred, who was turning state’s evidence, was being given a pardon by the governor of the state in return for his cooperation.
That news was pleasing to Eb Scott, whose kids had become great playmates of the big, gentle man who lived with them while Helm was under investigation. Eb wanted to give Fred a job, in fact, but Cash Grier beat him to it. Fred was wearing a uniform again, having been cleared of all charges against him in Chicago, his record restored, his reputation unstained, his former partner now under investigation for police corruption.
He was Jacobsville’s newest patrol officer, and his first assignment was speaking to children in grammar school about the dangers of drugs. He was in his element. Children seemed to love him.
Carlie went about her business, working diligently, keeping up with correspondence for the chief. But the sadness in her was visible. She’d lost that impish spark that had made her so much fun to be around. Her father grieved for her, with her. He understood what she was going through as she tried to adjust to life without Carson, without even the occasional glimpse of him in town. He was long gone, now.
* * *
AUTUMN CAME TO Jacobs County. The maples were beautiful and bright, and Carlie was filling her bird feeders for the second time, as the migrating birds came from the north on their way to warmer climates. Cardinals and blue jays were everywhere. The male goldfinches were losing their bright gold color and turning a dull green, donning their winter coats.
Carlie was still wearing her threadbare one with the hole in the pocket sewn up. Her phone had miraculously reappeared, brought in by a street person who found it and traded it to a soup kitchen worker for a sandwich. The worker had turned it in to police, who returned it to Carlie. She had the phone in her pocket even now. It was safe enough with the hole mended.
The birds usually stayed nearby while she filled the feeders, but they suddenly took off as if a predator was approaching. It was an odd thing, but she’d observed it over the years many times. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, birds just did that. Flew up all together into the trees, when Carlie saw nothing threatening.
This time, however, there was a threat. It was standing just behind her.
She turned, slowly, and there he was.
She tried valiantly not to let her joy show. But tears stung her eyes. It had been months. A lifetime. She stood very still, the container of birdseed held tight in her hands, her eyes misting as she looked at him.
He seemed taller than ever. His hair wasn’t in a ponytail. It was loose around his shoulders, long and thick and as black as a grackle’s wing. He had something in a bag under one arm. He was wearing that exquisite beaded jacket that was so familiar to her.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hello,” she said back.
He gave her coat a speaking look. “Same coat.”
She managed a smile. “I was going to say the same thing.”
He moved closer. He took the seed canister out of her hands and placed it on the ground. He handed her the bag and nodded.
She opened it. Inside was the most exquisite coat she’d ever seen in her life, white buckskin with beading, Oglala Lakota colors of the four directions, in yellow, red, white and black patterns on it. She gasped as she pulled it out of the bag and just stared at it.
He held out his hand. She took off her ratty coat and gave it to him to hold while she tried on the new jacket. It was a perfect fit.
“It’s the most beautiful thing in the world,” she whispered, tears running down her cheeks.
“No, Carlie,” he replied, dropping her old coat on top of the birdseed canister. “You’re the most beautiful thing in the world. And I’ve missed you like hell! Come here...!”
He wrapped her up against him, half lifting her so that he could find her lips with his hard, cold mouth. He kissed her without a thought for whoever might see them. He didn’t care.
He was home.
She held on for dear life and kissed him back with all the fear and sorrow and grief she’d felt in the months between when she thought she’d never see him again. Everything she felt was in that long, slow, sweet kiss.
“I love you,” she choked.
“I know,” he whispered into her mouth, the words almost a groan. “I’ve always known.”
She gave up trying to talk. It was so sweet, to be in his arms. She was probably hallucinating and it wasn’t real. She didn’t care. If her mind had snapped, it could stay snapped. She’d never been so happy.
Eventually, he stood her back on her feet and held her away from him. “You’ve lost weight.”
She nodded. She studied him. “You look...different.”
He smiled slowly. “At peace,” he explained. “I had to go home and face my demons. It wasn’t easy.”
She touched his hard face. “There was noth
ing you could have done to stop it,” she said softly.
“That’s what his own brother said. I made peace with his family, with her family.”
“I’m glad.”
“I had my cousin make the jacket. I’m glad it fits.”
She smiled. “It’s beautiful. I’ll never take it off.”
He pursed his lips. “Oh, I think you might want to do that in a week or so.”
“I will? Why?”
He framed her face in his big, warm hands. “I’m not wearing clothes on my honeymoon. And neither are you.”
“How do you know what I’ll be wearing?” she asked, brightening.
“Because we’ll be together.” The smile faded. “Always. As long as we live. As long as the grass grows, and the wind blows, and the sun sets.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “For so long?” she whispered brokenly.
“Longer.” He bent and kissed away the tears. “I would have been here sooner, but I stopped by to talk to Micah Steele.”
“Micah?”
He nodded. “I still have to do an internship. I’m arranging to do it here. Afterward, a year or two of residency in internal medicine, here if possible, San Antonio if not. Then I’ll move into practice with Lou and Micah.”
She was standing very still. She didn’t understand. “You’re going to medical school?”
He laughed softly. “I’ve already been to medical school. I got my medical license. But I never did an internship so I couldn’t, technically, practice medicine.” He smoothed her hand over his chest. “I did keep my medical license current. I guess I realized that I’d go back to it one day. I have some catching up to do, and I’ll have to work late hours, but—”
“But you want to live here?” she asked, aghast.
“Of course,” he said simply. “This is where your tribe lives, isn’t it?” he teased.
Tears were falling hot and heavy now. “We’re going to get married?”
He nodded. “I’m not asking, by the way,” he said with pursed lips. “We’re just doing it.”
“Oh.”
“And I don’t have a ring yet. I thought we’d go together to pick them out. A set for you, and a band for me.”