Secrets of the Sapphires

by T. Sue VerSteeg

  “She’s in ICU and even spoke a few words. I guess you must mean a lot to this woman, because all she said was, ‘Where’s Garrett’ before passing out again.”

  Garrett popped out of the seat, planted a big kiss on the shocked nurse’s mouth, and rushed out of the sanctuary. He skidded to a stop, turning back toward her. She knew what he wanted without a spoken word.

  “ICU is back on the first floor. Follow the signs.” She stood there smiling, shaking her head.

  The elevator moved slower than molasses in wintertime. He paced the small area, mentally beating himself up for not taking the stairs. When the doors finally opened, he darted down the hall, following the green signs and line on the floor that led him to the ICU. The nurse behind the desk escorted him back to Nia’s room. The pungent smell of bleach, bodily fluids, and desperation accosted his senses.

  Her pale form was dwarfed as she lay sprawled in the middle of the bed. Tubes, wires, and hoses snaked out from under the stark white blanket that covered her. The beeping on the heart monitor was strong now, there was no machine breathing for her, both of which comforted him. He slid an old, faded blue chair next to her bed and slipped her fingers into his hand. With no one watching, he kissed the tip of each before curling them around his hand.

  He leaned forward placing his lips against her ear whispering, “You scared the hell out of me, Brooks.”

  Garrett sat contentedly in the ratty blue chair holding her hand. He watched nurses drift in periodically to take vitals and check wound dressings. Each one asked him to leave. He politely told them he’d be no problem and stay quiet if they would look the other way. They all smiled, shaking their heads as they left the room.

  A ring of sunshine around the pulled window shade brought the realization that he’d sat there holding her hand for over twelve hours. He might have nodded off once or twice. His soul remained weary while he watched the gentle rise and fall of Nia’s chest. He draped the top part of his body on her bed, laying his head next to hers on the pillow. After he kissed her bruised yet sweet, peaceful face, the gentle beeping reassurance of her heart monitor relaxed him. Sleep quickly claimed him.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Nia stared around the hospital room. Panic flooded her body, along with sharp pains in her gut and residual anger. It took her mind a few seconds to register what had happened and her heart monitor to slow down to a normal beep. She turned her head, and found Garrett’s sleeping face next to hers on the pillow. A smile crept onto her features as she kissed his forehead, causing his eyes to flutter open.

  “Hey you,” she whispered.

  Garrett pulled her face to his, kissing her lips. “You came back to me.”

  Nia drew upon her strength when awful memories attempted to overwhelm her. “You have no idea how difficult that really was. Gregor knew a thing or two about mind manipulation.”

  “‘Knew’ would be the operative word in that sentence. He’s minus one very vital organ now.”

  She feigned a worried look, complete with wide eyes and gaping mouth. “You realize that vampires can live without their penis, right?”

  Garrett buried his face in her pillow to stifle a laugh. “You’re going to be just fine.”

  “As long as I have you for a partner, I’m not going anywhere.” She watched his face grow somber and changed the subject. “What happened after I zoned out? Did Levinson and Brandon make it out okay?”

  “Well, Levinson is fine.” Garrett stood and stretched.

  “And Brandon…?” Nia tried to adjust herself into a sitting position, but searing hot pain shot through her abdomen. She dropped back against the bed. Her thoughts raced back to Gregor’s reign of terror while she stared up at the water spotted ceiling tiles. She saw it all in her mind again. Gregor used the guards well after they were dead to destroy everything he could in an attempt to get the sapphire out of the department, back to where he had control over things with his body as well as his mind. Nia stood fast, not allowing him to use her as an escape mechanism, infuriating him further. He tossed those poor guards around even more. Nia vaguely recalled that Lexie and Brandon left during the ruckus. Garrett brushed Nia’s bangs from her eyes bringing her attention back to him.

  “Levinson said that Lexie used Brandon as a hostage to get out of the building. No one knows for sure where she took him or if…”

  “That little bitch had better not lay one hand on Brandon, or I swear I’ll tear her apart myself.” Tears welled in Nia’s eyes. She quickly swiped them away. “Stupid drugs are making me soft.” Her hand shot to her cleavage. “The sapphire!”

  Garrett pulled it from his pocket, dangling it in front of her. “Found it in your usual hiding spot.”

  “You groped me while I was unconscious?” Her sleepy eyes flew wide in mock astonishment.

  He dropped the gem back into his pocket. “Hey, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. Trust me, the paramedic would have put his foot down if I’d done anything more than dig for this.”

  Nia closed her eyes for a second then smiled up at him. “Thanks. Keep it safe.”

  Garrett opened his mouth to speak as a nurse came into her room, so he leaned back in his seat.

  “Well, look who’s finally awake,” the petite blonde said while stuffing a thermometer into Nia’s mouth.

  “I know,” Garrett muttered as he stretched, draping his arms over the side of the chair, “I tried to stay awake. I was just so tired.” He tossed a wink to the nurse, which was reciprocated by a blank stare.

  Nia groaned and rolled her eyes.

  “Sorry,” Garrett cleared his throat and sat up straight, “I was only trying to lighten the mood.”

  “The mood is just fine now that she’s opened her eyes,” the nurse answered. She plucked the thermometer from Nia’s lips, smiling when she looked at it. “Perfect temp,” she peered up at the heart monitor, “strong rhythm,” she pulled the blanket off Nia on her side of the bed, “your stitches look good. Now if we could get some quality entertainment in here, I think you’d be set for the day. This morphine drip ought to make him bearable though.” The nurse winked at Nia as she added the drug to her IV, handed her the plunger, then left the room.

  “Wow,” Nia stated, “she got you good.” Her eyelids fluttered, medicated warmth permeating her body. “I think you could probably take this opportunity to go get some sleep. I’m going to take a little…” The black hole of drug oblivion claimed her before she could finish her sentence.

  ****

  Garrett slipped from Nia’s hospital room, patting the security guard on the shoulder as he walked by. He had every intention of going home, showering, and catching a quick nap in his own bed. Curiosity and vengeance got the best of him. He pushed his way through the mess at headquarters, finding Levinson exactly where he figured he would: sitting at his now up-righted desk with his laptop from home.

  “Did you get anything on Lexie?” Garrett stood at the doorway, unwilling to venture too far into the mess.

  “We have some leads, nothing concrete though. No one has gone through her personal affects at her house. Do you feel up to the task?”

  “Of course, why do you ask?”

  Levinson looked Garrett up and down. “You look a little bit like death warmed over, son.”

  After Garrett smoothed his blood stained clothes, he chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I could stand to run by my place and change before I go digging around.”

  “Well, that might help. I doubt it will do anything for those bags under your eyes. Have you slept any at all?” His boss leaned forward on his elbows.

  “I, uh, napped a few times. I’m fine.” Garrett turned to leave.

  “Hang on!” Levinson yelled.

  Garrett stopped in his tracks, backing up to the office door.

  “I’ve got some surveillance photos here that show Shrek alive and extremely pissed off while being shoved into her car. The fact she didn’t off him once she got into the parking garage is a good sign. There
’re a few other things in this file you might find handy, too.” He climbed over the rubble and handed them to Garrett.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Garrett jogged back to his car and sped off toward Lexie’s place. After he jimmied the lock and shook off the pink assault, he scoured her apartment for clues. Lexie had obviously come by her place to get her things. Her bathroom cabinet had been cleaned out; aside from one rogue lipstick behind the toilet, all items had been taken. Her closet looked like she had grabbed random items, leaving it as though a teenaged girl lived there. Other than those areas, her house seemed as it had the night before. Garrett became disheartened. He flopped on one of the ugly couches, giving in to defeat. In the quietness, Garrett heard a moan. Hope rushed through his veins. He popped to a standing position, following the noise to a closet in a spare bedroom. Nothing was there when he flipped on the light. When he stepped inside the small space, the moaning became louder.

  A weak voiced called out, “He’p…eeee.”

  The corner of the carpet was pulled loose. He yanked it back, revealing a trap door. When he pulled it open, exposing the crawl space under the house, the closet light flooded the area. There lay Brandon, face down, bound, gagged, bleeding, obviously left for dead.

  Garrett dropped down into the small space, the pungent smell of fresh blood and mildew assaulting his senses, and assessed Brandon’s wounds. From the blood spatter, Garrett assumed he’d been shoved down into the area first then shot in the back. Fortunately for Brandon, the bullet only hit a lung.

  After his gag was untied, Brandon spit out a mouthful of bright red blood. “Thank you,” he sputtered.

  “No. I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner, my friend.” Garrett climbed back up into the house, grabbed towels from the bathroom, and returned to Brandon’s side. He helped his injured colleague roll onto his back, placing pressure on the wounds. “Now lay still.” He flipped open his cell phone and dialed 911.

  Brandon smiled up at him when Garrett sat back down. “I thought I was…” His words trailed off as his eyes rolled up in his head.

  Garrett grabbed his shoulder and patted his face. “Don’t you dare give up on me now, Brandon!”

  Blood trickled from the corner of Brandon’s mouth. Garrett rolled him onto his side. Sputtering, Brandon coughed, inhaling a choppy breath before power puking blood. Garrett found himself very thankful he’d rolled Brandon away from him.

  He turned huge, scared eyes toward Garrett. “This means I’m gonna die, right?”

  “No,” Garrett assured him, “that just means you ingested your own blood. I’m going to guess that you’re lung has collapsed, and you inhaled a bunch that way. You concentrate on breathing and leave the worrying to me, okay?”

  After another bout of puking for distance, Brandon muttered, “Deal.”

  The sirens grew closer followed by a frantic knock at the door. Garrett jumped out of the crawl space and looked down at his battered friend. “You stay with me. I’ll be right back.”

  Brandon wearily nodded his reply.

  Garrett flew to the door, whipping it open. The same balding paramedic stood on the steps, doing little to keep the shock from his face.

  “Didn’t we…?” The man’s confused gaze scanned Garrett up and down.

  “Yes, we did,” Garrett motioned the man to follow him down the hall. He ran into the bedroom, shining the light into the dark area. Brandon pulled a hand up to shield his eyes.

  As the paramedic hopped down through the hole, he turned toward Garrett. “Are you going to be around for all of my calls this week?”

  Garrett slid down the closet wall into a sitting position and watched while they stabilized his friend. “God, I hope not.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Wake up.” A familiar yet annoying voice trickled into Nia’s drug induced happy place. “Wake up, you stupid whore,” Lexie seethed as she slapped Nia’s face.

  Nia bolted to a sitting position, immediately regretting it. Red-hot pain tore through her gut. After she flopped back onto the bed, the pain paralyzed her for several seconds before she could even open her eyes again. Unfortunately, when she did, she found Lexie hovering entirely too close, invading her personal space.

  Nia’s hand shot up between them. “Please back up. I don’t want whatever you’re selling anyway.”

  “No, but you want my man. Garrett’s mine. You could even say that we’re destined to be together.”

  Laughter sputtered from Nia’s lips followed by a groan as she held her abdomen. “Garrett will have to make that decision, not you. He’s a big boy. I’m sure he’ll choose wisely.”

  “I’m here to make sure he doesn’t have to choose.” Malice consumed every feature of Lexie’s face.

  “I don’t know how you got past the guard. He was given a picture of you. Guard!”

  Lexie slipped her hand around Nia’s neck and tightened her fingers. “He won’t hear you.” She giggled, “He won’t hear anyone, for that matter.”

  Nia fought for breath, clawing at Lexie’s hands. The drugs in her system impaired her strength; the lack of oxygen didn’t help her situation, either. She felt blood trickle from her neck; speckles appeared before her eyes. Gathering all of her strength, Nia forced one of Lexie’s fingers back, prying the entire nail off, the fake part along with the real stuff.

  Lexie let go, cradling her injured hand in the other, blood dripping to the floor. Her eyes went wild with anger. Lexie lunged toward her with super human strength. Nia frantically pressed the button on her bed to call the nurse as she pushed past the pain, scooting toward the head of the bed, nothing happened.

  Lexie pinned Nia’s head to the wall with one hand, holding the unplugged cord in her other. “Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

  Nia sucked a deep breath in past her crushed windpipe, hissing out, “Yeeeesssss.”

  Shock momentarily replaced the hatred on Lexie’s perfect features, but the scowl quickly returned. She banged Nia’s head against the wall several times before she pulled out a syringe. “This is all going to look like a bad overdose on your part. No one will ever know I was even here.” She poked the needle into one of the extra IV ports, poising her thumb over the plunger. “Any last words?”

  Garrett appeared behind Lexie. One hand held a bouquet of brilliantly colored Gerbera Daisies, the other plucked the syringe from Nia’s IV line. “I don’t know about Nia, but I’ve got all kinds of things to say to you.”

  Lexie’s fingers relaxed on Nia’s neck, her other hand dropped to her side. “Garrett, this isn’t what it looks like.”

  Nia shoved Lexie’s arm away, sliding back down onto her bed, coughing, holding her stomach. “Don’t listen to that bitch. This is exactly what it looks like.”

  Lexie turned around to Garrett, ran her hands across his broad chest, and dropped to her knees in front of him.

  Garrett yanked her back to her feet.

  “What? I can make you forget all about that redheaded whore.”

  “Or you can kill Nia off like you did the other women in my life. Isn’t that what you were trying to do?”

  “You know about that?” Lexie’s face brightened. “See how much I love you? I’m willing to make all of the bad things in your life disappear so we can be together.”

  Nia watched Garrett’s jaw drop, his face morphing into pained shock as he stared at the monster before him. “You think you were doing me a favor by killing those women? You’re one sick, twisted individual.” He laid the flowers on Nia’s bedside table, holding fast to Lexie’s arm. He used his free hand to pull his gun from the back waistband of his pants.

  Lexie knocked his gun to the floor with her elbow before he had a chance to grip it tightly, pulled a small .22 pistol from her purse, shoving the barrel to his temple. “Please don’t make me kill you.” Tears poured from her eyes, forming black streaks down her face. “I love you. I really do love you. In time, you’ll understand and see how much.”

  Garret
t raised his hands, fingers splayed. “We’ve been friends for a long time, Lexie. Just friends. But if you care so much about me, why did you try to trap me back in Medieval England?”

  “They promised to bring you back later when they had all of their plans laid out. I knew you would be safe until then. I hoped that she would die in the meantime.” Lexie turned toward Nia, flashing an angry, raccoon eyed glare.

  Garrett took the opportunity to lock gazes with Nia, nodding toward his gun on the floor near the bathroom door.

  “Put the gun down.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, calling her attention back to him. “We can go to your place and talk about this.”

  Lexie’s head whipped around, her face still scrunched in anger. “We both know that won’t happen.”

  Nia slid from her bed when Garrett maneuvered Lexie’s back toward her. The pain nearly blinded her. She pushed through it and scooted silently toward Garrett’s gun. As she touched the cold steel of the firearm, Lexie cocked the gun in her hand.

  “If I can’t have you, no one else can. Goodbye Garrett.” She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

  “Hey Lexie,” Nia muttered.

  When the blonde turned toward her, Garrett pivoted out of the way, and Nia pulled the trigger. A shot ripped through Lexie’s chest. With her face contorted in shock and pain, she slid to the ground snorting, slobbering as the life drained from her body. Bright crimson blood pooled around her torso seeping into her blonde hair. A vacant stare replaced all emotion as she exhaled her final breath.

  The gun Nia held suddenly felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. She dropped the .45 to the floor, staring up at Garrett, shaking her head. Killing someone was never easy, even when you kill that person to save another’s life—even when you hate that person with nearly every fiber of your being. Nia leaned against the door, glancing back at Lexie’s lifeless body.

  A large, bald security officer burst through the door, gun drawn, screaming, “Hands up!”

  Nia held her trembling arms in the air as far as her limp form would allow.