A Woman to Die For

by Erin Wade

  “I should be there by five thirty,” Shay said. “If that changes, I’ll call you.”

  “Can’t wait to see you,” Katie replied and was gone.

  Chapter 35

  Katie opened the door and hugged Shay. “Bear and I are on the patio grilling steaks. Why don’t you open the vino and bring it out?” Katie gestured toward the wine opener and two glasses on the kitchen island.

  The smell of the sizzling ribeyes reminded the doctor how hungry she was. She followed Katie through the sliding glass doors. The brunette wore tight-fitting jeans and was barefoot. The sunlight reflected off her long, dark hair. She thought Katie had never looked more beautiful.

  Katie’s eyes sparkled—no, more than sparkled—the gleam in Katie’s black eyes shimmered. The unwelcome thought that she looked possessed flashed through Shay’s mind, only to be replaced with the joy of Katie tiptoeing to kiss her cheek.

  “I’m so glad you could come,” Katie murmured.

  Katie’s warm breath against Shay’s ear made the blonde’s knees weak.

  “So am I,” Shay croaked. She cleared her throat before attempting to speak again. “I brought wine.”

  Katie reached for the glass Shay offered, her soft fingers lingering against the doctor’s hand.

  When Shay pulled away, Katie laughed and took a long drink of her wine. “I’m betting you’re a medium-well steak eater.” Katie laughed then took another sip of her wine.

  “Bingo.” Shay joined in her laughter. “You must be clairvoyant.”

  Bear rubbed against Shay’s leg, and she leaned down to pet him. “Hey, big guy. Is there a piece of that steak for you?”

  “Of course there is,” Katie said, giggling.

  “You’re in a celebratory mood,” Shay noted. “Do you know something I don’t know?”

  “Not really,” Katie replied. “I’m just thrilled to be out of court for a while. It was beginning to wear on my nerves. How do you think things are going?”

  “I thought for sure Judge Wainwright would rule in your favor,” Shay answered. “But David seems to think he’ll walk away with a good settlement. He said judges rarely award everything to one spouse.”

  “Hmm. We’ll just have to wait and see. I think the judge’s team of forensic auditors will shut down Glencove and file fraud charges against Sandifer. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sandifer doesn’t turn state’s evidence against David to save his own hide. But let’s forget about all this unpleasantness and enjoy our evening together.”

  “Works for me,” Shay said. “I’ll refill our glasses.”

  “Check this steak first,” Katie said. She held a fork to Shay’s lips, feeding her the piece of meat.

  Shay slid the steak from the fork with her teeth and chewed it. “Mmm. Perfect,” she declared. “It’s so tender, and the seasoning is out of this world.”

  “I’m glad you like it.” Katie smiled sweetly.

  Shay made a mental note not to drink too much wine. Katie is in a frisky mood tonight, she thought.

  “I must go to Washington tomorrow,” Katie informed Shay as they carried their plates into the apartment. “Want to go with me?”

  Shay sighed. “I’d like that more than anything, but I really should work with my patients tomorrow. How long will you be gone?”

  “I’ll be back midweek unless the judge instructs otherwise,” Katie said. “I just need to buy some time on signing government contracts. I don’t want the new company to get caught up in this mess. As it stands right now, if something happened to me, David would get everything. Of course, the reverse is true as well.”

  “Are you considering a hitman?” Shay said with a chuckle.

  The glint in Katie’s eyes made Shay back away from her. “I was teasing,” she said.

  “I know,” Katie scoffed. “I’d never do anything to hurt David . . . although sometimes I wish he were dead. It’s just a fantasy I’d never act on.

  “You promised to refill the wine glasses, Dr. Shay.” Katie smiled as she changed the subject.

  They talked over dinner, and Shay queried Katie about the progress of the new manufacturing facility.

  “Everything’s on the drawing board and ready to spring into action,” Katie exclaimed. “I can’t wait to get started.”

  The cleaned up everything and Katie suggested a movie.

  “I downloaded that video you wanted to see.” Katie tilted her head and looked up at Shay. “The three of us can share the sofa and watch it.”

  “You let Bear get on the furniture?” Shay asked.

  “Of course,” Katie giggled. “I even let him sleep with me.”

  “Lucky dog.” Shay laughed. “I think I’m jealous.”

  “You could sleep with me,” Katie cooed.

  “I . . . um . . . I don’t think—”

  “I’m teasing,” Katie said. “You should see how red your face is. Come on. Let’s watch the movie.”

  The three snuggled on the sofa as they watched the chick flick Katie had downloaded. Shay was surprised at how naturally Katie snuggled into her side and she slipped her arm around the woman’s shoulders.

  Holding Katie this way feels so right, Shay thought.

  The movie ended and Shay reluctantly moved away from Katie. “I should be going,” she murmured.

  “You don’t have to go,” Katie whispered.

  “Yes, I do,” Shay mumbled.

  “I’m leaving in the morning.”

  “What time? I’ll take you to the airport.”

  “Go with me, Shay. You’ll love my jet, and I’d love your company.”

  “Katie, I can’t do this,” Shay said. “Not while you’re still married to David. It . . . it doesn’t feel right.”

  “You’re right.” Katie straightened her shoulders, drawing herself up to her full height. “I’m set to take off at ten in the morning. I’d love to ride to the airport with you.”

  “I’ll be here at nine.”

  As Shay walked to the door, Katie caught her arm. “Shay, what if I weren’t married?”

  “But you are,” Shay exclaimed. “I know you’re getting a divorce and will be a free woman. Things are complicated enough. I don’t want to make it worse for you.”

  “It won’t be long until David is out of the picture,” Katie promised as she opened the door and bid Shay good night.

  Chapter 36

  The next day, Shay drove Katie and Bear to the airport and then went to the hospital. Her patients were doing well, and she released all but one.

  “Well, that made your patients happy,” Maudine noted as she filled out the paperwork for their dismissal.

  Shay worked late, catching up on her paperwork and making notations on her patients’ charts. It was almost midnight when she finally got home.

  She found a cold Dr. Pepper in the fridge and turned on her computer. Several private messages popped up when she logged onto Face2Face. The most recent one from Katie said, “Chat when you get in? Or are you with David tonight?”

  Anger flashed through Shay at Katie’s accusation. How could she think I would be with him?

  “Katie, I just got in from work,” Shay typed. “You’re probably asleep. Just wanted to say good night.”

  Katie answered immediately. “I’m awake. I’ve been thinking of you and how our life together will be once David is out of the way.”

  Shay couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. “And how would our lives be?” she asked. She settled back in her chair, reading as Katie typed:

  We’ve been together for several years, and I have become accustomed to sleeping with you beside me. I reach for you first thing every morning and snuggle into you, loving the feel of you. We discuss our plans for the day. You have a difficult surgery tomorrow, but today is ours to do as we wish.

  We wander to the bathroom and brush our teeth as we decide where to go for breakfast. I do something impish to you and sprint from the room. Of course, you catch me and pull me onto the bed. We kiss. A slow
, mmm-you-taste-so-minty kiss, our tongues dancing a slow tango together.

  I roll onto my back, pulling you on top of me. You kiss me so passionately, making my blood boil. ‘I want you, baby,’ I whisper, moving my hands up and down your back, loving the softness of you, pulling you tighter against me. I cup your buttocks and pull you into my core. I want you so much. You drive me mad. I fight to maintain control, when what I really want to do is crush you to me and ravish you. But I try not to act like a caveman.

  You tease me, because you know how you affect me, how you drive me insane. And you really do like the caveman side of me. The side that loses control, forgets the rest of the world, and only wants to love you.

  “Shay, are you going to play, or should I go to sleep?”

  Shay swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and began to type:

  I tangle my hands in your glorious hair and kiss you harder, wanting more of you. I rise above you, staring into eyes dark with desire. Eyes that reflect the craving in my soul. I move my hand to your stomach and trail it up to your breasts, caressing one, then the other. I turn you on your side, so we’re facing. I kiss my way down to your breasts. I tease one of them with my tongue and caress the other. I run my tongue around your nipple, careful not to touch it. Moving closer with each circle until you’re moaning uncontrollably.

  I catch your nipple between my teeth and pull a little, then suddenly suck as much of you as I can into my mouth. Loving you, needing all of you.

  “I want you too,” Katie typed, assuming the narrative.

  I touch you, wanting to please you. You cry out as I move my hand to your core. I cup you, placing the heel of my hand against the spot that is aching for me, wanting me in you. I don’t go in. Instead, I make you ride my hand. You are so wet, baby. So ready for me. I slip my middle finger into you. You buck against my hand, wanting more, and I slip my index finger into you. You whimper, calling my name. I ease a third finger into you, and you gasp as I begin to move in and out, going deeper with each thrust.

  I move between your legs and put my core against my hand as I move in and out of you. Our bodies join in a rhythm, rocking together as we both ride my hand. Faster, harder, deeper. So wet. So good, baby. I slide my arm under you and pull you tighter against me. I capture your lips and kiss you deeply, my tongue dueling with yours as I move in and out of you. I move my lips to your breast and begin to suck you hard. I suck you and love you so good, baby.

  Shay took over the fantasy.

  It feels so good, Katie. Everything about you feels so good. You fit me perfectly. Faster, harder, deeper. Loving you, baby, until we cry out each other’s name and the world explodes in bright colors of red and gold and yellow. Blinding colors as our juices mingle and we become one. I roll over, pulling you on top of me, your fingers still in me as tremors rack our bodies. You let the full weight of your body collapse onto me, crying my name over and over as I whisper my love into your ear.

  I love you so much, Katie. So, so much. We lay in each other’s arms, whispering our love. I move a strand of your hair from you face and look into your eyes. Your cell phone rings. It’s your mom. She really wants you to come see her. She needs help with your dad. I hold you and stroke your back as you talk to her. You console her and assure her you’ll get there as fast as you can.

  You hang up the phone, and I encourage you to fly out as soon as possible. I have surgeries scheduled. I can’t come with you. My insides are already beginning to twist because I’ve never spent a night away from you, and I’m so addicted to you. The thought of sleeping without you rips my heart out.

  We shower, gently lathering each other’s body. We dress and you call Will to get the jet ready, but he tells you it takes longer than you want to wait to get your flight plan approved, so you call the airlines as I make our coffee. Both of us are strangely quiet. Neither of us wants to think about sleeping alone tonight.

  I help you pack and drive you to the airport. I walk as far as I can with you, loath to let you go. You beg me to come with you, but you know I can’t. You board the plane, and my world becomes a darker place. I watch from the window as your aircraft takes off. Already your absence is killing me. The thought of how cold our bed will be is tearing me apart.

  I go to the ticket counter and get a ticket for the next flight out. Then I call my trusted surgeon friend and ask her to take my place in the operating room. She’s happy to do it because she needs the money. I catch the next plane, and already my heart is lighter. I’ll sleep in your arms tonight. I love you, Katie.

  “I love you too, Shay.”

  The green light went out, and Shay knew Katie was gone. She sat for a long time. “What have I done?” she mumbled. I should not have participated in that. I should not have declared my love for her.

  Katie Brandt was like no woman Shay had ever met. She was brilliant, funny, gorgeous, exciting, sexy as hell, and she made Shay’s blood boil. She made Shay feel things she’d never felt before.

  A woman like Katie is a woman to die for, Shay thought. Then came the chilling afterthought: or to kill for.

  Chapter 37

  “Incoming,” someone screamed. “Heavy bleeder. Alert the trauma team!”

  Shay washed her hands and pulled on surgical gloves as she headed toward the person being wheeled in by the paramedics. Blood was everywhere.

  Nurses quickly cut the clothes away from the body and inserted the IV necessary to carry the drugs needed to ease the patient’s pain. The paramedic moved aside, as a nurse took over operation of the respirator bag over the patient’s nose and mouth and began gently pumping the bulb.

  “It’s a gunshot wound,” Shay barked, locating the origin of the blood flow. “Blood transfusion. Take him to the operating room. I’ll scrub and be right behind you. Intubate immediately. Where’s the anesthesiologist?”

  “On his way,” someone answered. “He was on his lunch break.”

  Shay turned to the nurse practitioner on their team. “Can you handle the intubation? We can’t wait. He’s already having difficulty breathing.”

  The NP nodded and went to work.

  Within fifteen minutes of the patient’s arrival in Shay’s emergency room, he was prepped and waiting for her to save his life. The anesthesiologist had him on a ventilator, and the surgical nurses had the instruments laid out and ready for Shay.

  “Looks like you made someone angry,” Shay said to her unresponsive patient as she located the bullet in his chest.

  She removed the bullet and sutured the damaged arteries, muscles, tendons, and veins. After two hours of tedious, meticulous work, Shay stepped back and asked the assisting surgeon to close the incision.

  “Wow, he was one lucky patient,” the NP said with a sigh as she removed her surgical paraphernalia. “If he’d arrived twenty minutes later, you would have been off duty and that new surgeon would have been on call. I’m not sure the surgery would have been successful. The bullet was dangerously close to his heart.”

  Her patient’s face had been covered with a ventilator mask, so Shay had no idea who the man was. She walked to a nurse’s desk and searched the computer for his name. He was pre-registered with the designation: Trauma Alpha Male. The gunshot victim would have the designation until his credentials could be input into the database.

  Shay was exhausted. It had been a long day, and she missed Katie. I’ll call her when I get home, she thought as she settled in front of a computer at the nurses’ stations to input the details of the surgery.

  As Shay finished the report, she was summoned to the ER waiting room. She walked in, expecting to speak with someone from the shooting victim’s family. Instead, Beverly Wyatt greeted her.

  “Detective Wyatt,” Shay greeted her. Of course you’d be notified about a gunshot wound, she thought.

  “How is he?” Beverly asked.

  “In stable condition,” Shay informed her. “Another inch and he’d be on a slab in the morgue instead of in a hospital bed. The bullet just missed his heart.�
�

  “I must say you’re taking this calmly,” Beverly snorted.

  “I would expect you to be upset over Dr. Brandt being shot.”

  “David?” Shay gasped. “I didn’t look at his face. Who shot him?”

  “Who do you think?” Beverly snarled. “His crazy wife.”

  “Have you arrested her?” Shay asked.

  “I can’t find her . . . but I will.”

  “She isn’t even in town,” Shay argued. “She’s in Washington. I’d be careful with my accusations, if I were you.”

  “She is in town,” Beverly insisted. “Her private jet landed this morning.”

  Shay flinched as if Beverly had slapped her in the face. “Are you certain?”

  “Yes,” Beverly barked. “I need the bullet you took out of Dr. Brandt. I know Katie Brandt recently purchased a thirty-eight. I’d bet my grandmother’s silver that ballistics will match the bullet you removed from him to her gun.

  Shay overcame the urge to run into the operating room and flush the bullet down the commode. “I’ll get it for you,” she mumbled. “Fill out your paperwork to maintain the chain of evidence and I’ll sign it.”

  Chapter 38

  Shay picked up Chinese takeout and drove home in the drizzling rain. She called Katie’s number but reached her voicemail for the third time.

  She left another message. “Please call me. It’s important that I speak with you.”

  Shay flipped on the gas fireplace to take the chill off the house, but it did nothing to take the chill off her heart. She changed into a sweater and jeans and carried her dinner to the coffee table in front of the fireplace.

  She really wasn’t hungry, but she ate anyway, fighting the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Mixed messages battled inside her head. While her heart told her there was no way Katie would shoot someone, her gut instinct said otherwise.