by Livia Quinn
“Huns?” Del asked.
“Our sisters,” Samantha Larue said in voice that spoke of a gulf between her and Luc, and their sisters. “Now, can you fill me in on what happened to my baby brother?”
Thinking of the muscled hunk in the other room as a baby seemed ludicrous but it was obvious Dr. Larue saw no humor in it. “Coffee?”
“Black, thanks.”
Samantha handed Del her cup and leaned back against the desk. “Now…” She expelled another breath, her shoulders relaxing. “What’s going on? I looked at my brother’s chart. Concussion, possible fracture of the clavicle, etc.”
“Luc was closing up at the gym after a basketball game and was hit by a flying cement planter.”
Samantha just sat there staring at her. “You’re not joking. Where did it come from?”
“It apparently… fell off the roof above the door when he was locking up.”
There went that eyebrow again. The doctor sat across from Del, her narrowed eyes taking Delilah’s measure.
“We’re investigating. I’m, um, not here in an official capacity.”
Samantha grinned and those eyes lit with happiness. “Really! Tell me more.”
Suddenly hesitant, Del said, ‘There’s not much to tell. We’ve only known each other a week.”
“And yet you park it in his room overnight because you’re concerned? Is that a cop’s concern?” Del squirmed. “Tell Dr. Sam everything.”
“What kind of doctor are you?” Del asked.
“I’m a behavioral scientist, actually. I just opened my practice. Which is how I found out about my brother. One of the girls who works in this ward is coming to work for me next month when I retire officially from the service. So, has Luc told you about the picnic this weekend?”
“He mentioned something about it,” Delilah hedged, but Samantha’s eyes were infused with cunning.
“Is that so?”
“Look, don’t go reading into anything, okay.”
“How did you guys meet?”
Del could see she didn’t have a chance of holding anything back from Dr. Samantha Larue. Luc’s Navy doctor sister had her matchmaking missiles locked onto Delilah.
“Dish,” she said.
“He was dressed as a mercenary when my partner and I responded to a robbery in progress. I had him in handcuffs until the clerk said he was the hero. He saved her life, apprehended the robber and made a fan, my partner.”
“That’s baby brother,” she grinned. “Always the hero.” She leaned forward. “So you know about his… job?”
“I didn’t know at first. Jed, my partner, thought he was a stunt double—”
“He’s done that, too,” Samantha said. “Go on.”
“And I thought he worked in security for the studio. But when I went by the studio and saw him in nothing but a kilt, sword and boots, he had to own up to the whole truth.”
“Oh, my God. I wish I’d been there.” Samantha sprawled in the winged chair, her smile a wide duplicate of Luc’s. Samantha sobered. “Much as I hate it, I must call the family and see if I can keep them from swooping.”
“Swooping?” Del frowned.
“Oh, yeah. The women in this family can descend on an event like a horde, thus our affectionate nickname.”
CHAPTER 18
L uc was just dragging his IV Pole back to the bed from the bathroom when Del opened the door to his room. Looking over his shoulder at her, he said, “I hope I’m flashing you.”
“You are,” she said and gave him a pinch on one firm cheek. “Need some help?”
His left shoulder had been immobilized with a sling so she took the pole from him while he settled onto the bed. “I knew you couldn’t resist copping a feel? Pun intended.”
“Hm. I think you’re going to live.”
Luc looked at her soberly. “Were you worried about me?”
She laid her hand across his cheek. “A little bit. Could we not do that again?”
“Allright by me.” He rubbed his forehead. “Do me a favor. See if you can find my pants.”
“Not thinking of leaving are you? ‘Cause you’ll have to fight me and Ridge and a few others if you try before the specialist gets here.”
“Ridge was here?”
“Last night. He said he needed to get home, Buffy was concerned and she wanted to know how you were doing before she left on business.” Delilah searched the room for his clothes.
“When I got out of the service, Buffy called me—”
“That’s not her real name is it?” She handed Luc his pants.
“Her grandfather named her that when she was little, and it stuck.” He dropped his pants squinting. “She’s like my third cousin but I can’t remember her real name. Far as I know the studio is listed under Ridge and Buffy Romano.”
“But you say she called you, not Ridge,” Del said.
“She’d gotten my name from someone, heard I was going to open a martial arts studio and wanted to know how open-minded I was. Would I be interested in supplementing my income by taking advantage of my physical conditioning? She needed “a few good men”. He laughed and then winced, rubbing his temple. He leaned back suddenly. “Whew.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m a little nauseated. It’ll pass.” He withdrew something from the pocket of his pants and held them out to her.
The door opened and his nurse entered with a bouquet of flowers. “How’s our favorite cover model doing today?”
He groaned and the nurse winked at Del. “Flowers were left on the desk with a note, but there’s no card.” She set them on the windowsill. “Has the medicine worn off already? Any nausea?”
“Yes, and yes,” Luc said as the nurse handed him a plastic cup with three pills in it.
“Take these and I’ll be right back with your breakfast. It will be very light until after the doctor sees you, just some cereal. That sound okay?”
“Fine.” The nurse left.
Del shook her head. Mr. Charm had turned into a grumpy lion with a thorn in his paw. She couldn’t blame him.
“Does your shoulder hurt?”
“Like a son of a b—” He closed his eyes. “Sorry.”
She smoothed his hair back on the good side of his head. “It’s okay. You must be feeling like you had a wreck without the car, or the seat belt.”
“That’s pretty accurate.” He frowned. “So Ridge knows I won’t be in today.”
“Or tomorrow. Or Friday most likely.”
“I guess you don’t see many cover models with slings.”
The nurse came back with his cereal. “Mary mentioned you had a special request but this was all I could find. It’s bran.”
Luc grinned. “It’s perfect. Thanks.”
Delilah looked at the bran muffin the nurse had put on the side of Luc’s tray. “You requested a muffin?”
“Actually…I requested a cupcake.”
“Okaaay?” Del said.
Luc brought his hand from beneath the covers and placed a tiny candle into the center of the bran muffin.
“I’m sorry I can’t light it. It would probably set off sprinklers and fire alarms and everyone would be evacuated, and I wouldn’t get a chance to say…” his smile got a little lopsided and his green eyes softened, “Happy Anniversary, Delilah.”
*
Del opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The meaning of what he’d just said penetrated slowly and she thought back to the day she’d met him. One week ago today.
“Oh, Luc.” Del’s heart tumbled like a tree pushed over by a bulldozer. The guy was just too much. She twined her fingers with his and leaned forward to kiss the smile off his face.
Then she watched him, lying there with his eyes closed as the meds took affect, the smile returning, his hand gripping hers. His voice was slurred, “I asked for chocolate with a rose.”
Her lips curved up in a smile. “Bran is my favorite.”
It was now.
*
; While Luc was sleeping, she called Jed and Ridge. Jed said he’d picked up the tires and dropped them off to the lab. Ridge asked if the specialist had been in yet. Del looked at her watch. It was early but she’d been up most of the night so it didn’t seem like it.
When she returned to the room, she heard female voices. The site that met her eyes when she opened the door was fantastical, like nothing she’d ever seen. Dr. Samantha Larue was back, accompanied by five of the most stunning women she’d ever seen in one place. She added tall to that description. The only person in the room under six feet was herself. She suddenly felt very small, and a little ordinary.
Samantha waved at Del and mouthed, I warned you. “Luc, I tried to tell them you were fine but you know how they are. If there’s a good excuse to swoop, there’s no stopping them.”
The oldest in the group came around the bed and towered over Del. Standing a bit straighter didn’t really help. The white haired woman’s military bearing added to the intimidation factor.
“You must be Del. Samantha told us how you came to Luc’s aid.” She leaned down and gave Del a fierce hug. Her arms were like iron. “I don’t know how we can thank you.”
“Mom,” Luc said. “Don’t squeeze her to death. Del’s not an Amazon warrior like the rest of you.”
Luc’s mother held Delilah at arms length by her shoulders and said, “She might not be tall, but I think there’s a warrior behind those blue eyes.” She smiled at Del, but reached for Luc’s hand as if linking them both with her body. “I’m Victoria, this constant source of pride and agony’s mother.”
Luc said, “Del, you’ve met Samantha. She’s the youngest and most beautiful next to me. That’s Briget in the leotards. I hope she’s getting ready to leave for class.” An athletic brunette with a thick braid reached across her brother’s legs and shook Del’s hand.
“The one who resembles a white headed witch is Stevie.”
The description wasn’t too far off actually. As Stevie offered her hand, Del decided she had a kind of otherworldly beauty that transcended any of her individual traits. White shoulder length hair, red lips, the lightest icy green eyes surrounded by lush black lashes. “Baby boy, when you’re better I’m going to take you over my knee.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Luc said.
“I could take you, even if I didn’t have at least three siblings I could count on to help.”
So Samantha did take sides, Delilah thought.
“I’m Chaz,” said the lush dark headed woman next to her, who would have looked right at home in a sleek gown on the red carpet alongside famous actresses and models. “And the ancient one over there is Rachel.”
“Speak for yourself, Twit.” Rachel waved from the other side of the bed. “If you don’t go screaming from the room now, you’re sunk, Del.” She looked at her brother. “Baby boy, how did you ever get the interest of such an intelligent woman as this?”
Luc just scratched the back of his head and looked at the ceiling, then at Del. “Help.”
Del burst out laughing. Seeing him with this strong group of…overwhelming women, she figured it was why he’d ended up so humble. She said, “I see now how you ended up so…” she winked at the women… “spoiled.” He gawked and they all laughed. All but Samantha. Del wondered if there was some friction or unresolved tension between her and the rest of her sisters. Or her and Luc.
As if reading Del’s mind, Samantha said, “Okay, he’s fine. Huns—depart! Luc’s specialist said he’d be back in thirty minutes, and Luc needs to rest his poor head.”
Stevie said, “Thank goodness it’s a hard head.” She bent to kiss him on the cheek, “Love ya, baby boy.”
Each sister bent to kiss him then Victoria bent to whisper something in his ear, and he smiled. She held her cheek to his for one long moment then released him. “I’m already white headed, son, don’t make me bald. Your father will be by to see you tonight.” Turning she said, “It was lovely meeting you Delilah. Keep an eye on him for us, okay?”
Del accepted another quick hard hug and the door swooshed shut. Samantha breathed a sigh of relief and dropped into the nearest chair.
Luc groaned. “They’re predictable if nothing else.”
“Is that a good thing?” asked Samantha.
Del could tell by the banter between them that they had taken on the sisters together many times, forging a tight bond.
The specialist entered quickly with an assistant. “Would you ladies excuse us?”
Samantha said, “I’d like to stay if you don’t mind.” She held out her hand. “I’m Dr. Samantha Larue, the patient’s sister.”
He must have consented because Samantha didn’t follow Del to the hall.
CHAPTER 19
“Got the results on the tires,” Jed said. Delilah leaned against the glass window of the hospital lobby rubbing her eyes tiredly.
“They were slashed?” she asked.
“Not just slashed. Our man showed me where chunks of rubber were missing from the tires. Apparently whoever slashed them wasn’t all that strong and didn’t accomplish it very easily. The perp, or perps, may have even had wounds much like in stabbing a human. No blood trace of course.”
“So, it could have been kids, or a woman, or just someone who was really, really mad.”
“That’s about the size of it. There were too many prints on the car to run them all. Maybe if we come up with a suspect we can run based on that.”
“Did you sweep the roof?” Delilah sat in one of the overstuffed chairs and closed her eyes briefly. She could use a power nap.
“Now, there we might have gotten lucky. I told you that area’s been used by teens and probably vagrants for various activities—necking, sleeping, spying, whatever. But it hasn’t been cleaned in years. And no one’s planted flowers in a decade.”
“Is that good?”
“Turns out it is. We had some fresh marks from the vicinity of the cornerstones at the top of the roof and by the spot where the planter ‘fell’. We got a cast of a footprint and I found a piece of thread from someone’s clothing. In a shade we should be able to match if we can find it.”
Delilah blew out a breath. “Well, that’s better than nothing. What do you plan to do next?”
“I figured I’d hang around up there or put a man across from the roof to see who frequents it in the next couple days.”
“Good idea. I’m thinking maybe we should talk to some of the teens. I was going to say leave that to me, but I mentioned you when I talked to the kids Saturday. I told them my partner was named “Jed” so if you run across any of them this evening, look for Monette or Tia. They’ll break the ice for you.”
“Where are you going to be?” It wasn’t said with rancor or sarcasm, just partnerly interest.
“I’ll be at Luc’s. The doctor said he needed someone around today and I knew you’d handle the investigation, so I called in some leave time. If you come up with anything else, text me and I’ll go outside and call you back so I don’t wake the patient up.”
“How’s he doing?” asked Jed.
“Concussion, possible fracture of his clavicle, definitely deep bruising and swelling of the muscles around it. He’s got to have—”
“Ice packs, I know. I broke my shoulder once in college. Trying to take down someone about twice my size.”
“Football?”
“Quarterback, ASU. I’d planned to transfer to LSU but that ended my football dreams.”
“Partner, you’re always surprising me.”
“Hey, I’m an open book.” Jed promised to call later and hung up.
Del sat for a minute wondering what other leads they could pursue.
Delilah returned from the restroom as Luc’s door opened and the specialist walked out, giving instructions to his assistant. He nodded as she passed.
In Luc’s room the nurse was fitting him with another ice pack to reduce swelling. His lips were a white grimace. Samantha explained that the doctor had probed t
he area reawakening the nerves and tissues to the trauma they’d endured.
“The good news, though I’m sure Luc doesn’t feel any better for it right now, is that it’s not broken. It’s a severe muscle contusion but because of the hematoma at the sight of impact, he can’t tell if there might have been a crack somewhere on the clavicle or the joint. Luc will have to come back tomorrow or Friday when the swelling goes down for another MRI.”
She looked over at Luc who had his right arm draped over his eyes. “Meantime, it’s rest, alternating ice packs, compression—that’s keeping it wrapped well, and keeping his shoulder elevated like it is now. No lying flat for a while. The doctor said if he has someone to watch him, he can go home this afternoon.”
“I don’t need anyone to watch me.”
Samantha and Del just looked at each other.
“Grumpy lion is back,” said Del. “I can stay with him this afternoon. Then we’ll see.”
“Thanks, Del. If he doesn’t behave let me know, and I’ll call Attila.” A strangled gurgle sounded from the bed.
“I have a 2:00 appointment but if you need me just call,” Samantha said and handed Delilah her card. “I’ll touch base with you later okay?”
Samantha picked up Luc’s arm and stared him down. “Hey, you. Behave. Love you.” She pecked him on the lips.
“Are you scared yet?” Luc asked.
“They’re pretty formidable.” Del sat on the edge of the bed making sure not to jostle Luc. “But in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a meek kitten myself.”
“No.” His eyes opened. “You could give the swarm competition, my protective little lioness.” He licked his lips. “Thank you. For everything. And I’m sorry you’ve been inconvenienced on my account. It’s really not necessary for you to take off this afternoon.”
“Doctor’s orders, Mr. Larue. Just resign yourself to a couple days of R&R. Get out your mental checklist and yours truly will slave to make your requests come true. DVDs? Junk food? Even—yuck—cover model snacks. What’s your pleasure?”
A sly upturn to his lips had her backing up, “Except that.” She waved the doctor’s instructions at him. “The sheet says R.I.C.E. Rest, ice, compression and elevation. I don’t see an “S” on the list.”