Bound by Danger

by Terry Spear

  Deidre tried to smile. Her lips curved up, but the tears rolled down her cheeks again. The glass scratching her eyes made her cry. It wasn’t the raccoon man. He didn’t get her this time, but she was sure he would try again. She’d be better prepared next time.

  ***

  By the time Dave reached Deidre’s hospital room, her eyelids were shut tightly, her breathing whisper soft.

  Bill nodded to him in greeting as he rose from the chair. “Doc said she’d be all right. Just wanted to keep her overnight for observation. Gave her some painkiller for the whiplash to her back and shoulders. She was suffering from mild shock when they brought her in, disoriented, kept asking for you. I think her brother was a bit miffed.”

  Torn between being happy she’d ask for him and angry he hadn’t protected her better, Dave felt his stomach churned with mixed emotions. He crossed the room to her bed and touched her cheek. She licked her lips, and he instantly wished it was his tongue moistening them instead.

  He glanced over at Bill, who cocked an eyebrow. “I guess you’re my relief.”

  “See you later, Bill. Thanks.”

  “Charlie’s with Marilyn in the coffee shop. He thinks I’m an undercover policeman.”

  “Good. I’ll take it from here.”

  “There’s a pot of coffee.” He pointed to the plastic container sitting near the door. “I didn’t drink any or it would have kept me awake. I’m going to get a bit of shuteye.”

  Bill walked out the door as Dave pulled a chair up next to the bed. He reached over and touched Deidre’s hand gripping the thin white blanket for dear life. She whimpered and he squeezed her hand. “Shhh, I’m here, Deidre,” he whispered. She sighed deeply.

  Headquarters still didn’t want to move Deidre and her brother to a safe house. Whatever were they thinking?

  After another twenty minutes while she slept, Dave spoke to Charlie in the waiting area, then Charlie headed to Marilyn’s place for some much needed rest. Dave sat down on the chair next to Deidre’s hospital bed and sipped a fresh cup of coffee. He ran his hand over Deidre’s arm. Suddenly, his stomach cramped severely. He headed for the restroom before he upchucked on the floor.

  ***

  Deidre stirred, then stared at the unfamiliar surroundings. She glanced at the clock, 4 A.M. Thinking she’d heard a strange noise, she tried to sit, but pain radiated across her back. No collar though, and no truss or anything. She was going to be just fine, once she returned home.

  Rolling over onto her side, she managed to slip out of bed. If she didn’t turn her head, and she moved slowly, she could ignore the pain. Her senses fuzzed a bit, and she assumed she’d been given some medicine. She pulled her clothes out of a wall locker.

  Reaching down to slip the straps of her sandals onto the back of her heels was the hardest thing she’d ever done. Well that and trying to fasten her bra in back. After dressing, she walked into the hallway, and then made her way to the back stairs.

  For a second, she rubbed her temple, trying to figure a way to get home. A taxi.

  She called for one right away.

  It seemed like an eternity before she finally reached her home. She stared at the dark apartment. Nobody would bother her here tonight. If anyone was looking for her…anyone with blackened eyes, he would believe she slept at the hospital.

  Taking each step at a snail’s pace, she finally made it to her second floor landing and fumbled with the key in the lock. Smiling, she turned the key right side up.

  She locked the door behind her and threw her purse on the couch. Home sure looked better than a hospital room. There was no sign of Charlie though. She shook her head, which was a total mistake as soon as the pain shot through her neck, making her groan.

  She passed his empty room. Reaching her own, she kicked off her sandals and slipped between her satin covers, still fully clothed.

  Her eyes closed, but were soon filled with the vision of the black-eyed man again. She knew he’d come for her once more. And it would be soon. She tried to roll over on her side and the effort made her groan in pain.

  Neither her Army hand-to-hand combat maneuvers nor martial art skills could save her now. A touch to her shoulder would have sent her off the edge—into the canyon of her nightmares—all the way down to the death she knew awaited her.

  The man was pure evil. He lifted his blade to her this time. She’d never give his description to a cop again. But the fight wasn’t out of her.

  Give it all you’ve got, Mister Raccoon. I’m not giving up just yet.

  The air conditioner rattled on and her front door creaked open. She moaned. Maybe she wasn’t quite ready to fight him just yet. She rolled onto her side all the way this time and slid her feet to the floor. Before she could stand, a shadow filled her room.

  “Deidre!”

  Dave’s voice hit her like a warm cloak of solace, and she wept for joy.

  “What in the hell are you doing back here! Jeez, I leave your side for two minutes and—”

  “He tried to kill me.” Deidre reached for his hand, and he pulled her close. She groaned.

  “I’m sorry.” He kissed her wet cheek and held her tightly like he never wanted to let go. “But they want to keep you overnight in the hospital for observation. You have to return there at once.”

  “They don’t believe he wanted to kill me. I felt safer here.”

  “They have an all-points bulletin out on the bastard. He’s armed and dangerous.”

  Dave helped her outside to his truck and lifted her as gently as he could into the seat. “I’ve got to get you back to the hospital before the Military Police come after you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Hey, at Fort Bliss we had an officer riding a bicycle who was hit by a car. He got scratched up a bit, not even as badly injured as you, but they wanted to keep him overnight for observation. Like you, he didn’t stay put. The MPs hauled him back to the hospital. Told him they’d handcuff him to the bed if he didn’t stay there this time.”

  “Ouch. So where’s Charlie? I thought he’d be at my place.”

  “He’d been with me at the hospital.”

  “And Marilyn?”

  He patted her hand. “Keeping him company at her place now.”

  “But visiting hours must be over for you to be still at the hospital with me.”

  “They’ve made an exception for me.”

  She closed her eyes. “Because you have a concealed weapon’s license.”

  He chuckled. “They said whatever pain medication they’d given you would have pretty well knocked you out. For a second there, I’d thought you were walking in your sleep.”

  Deidre turned to look at Dave too suddenly and moaned in pain. If Charlie told Dave she sleepwalked, she’d kill him. “Whatever gave you a crazy notion like that? Just because I whimper in my sleep a little when I’m having nightmares—”

  “Charlie said you sleepwalk sometimes when you’re overly tired. He even told me you tried to leave your barracks in the middle of the night at your officer training summer camp.”

  “I’m going to kill him.”

  Dave smiled and ran his hand along Deidre’s arm. “Whatever made you leave there like you did, anyway?”

  “I don’t like cold drafty hospitals. And their designer gowns are kind of like my BDUs. Awful.”

  “Well, you’re not going anywhere any further without my say so.”

  “My boss—”

  “He’s been told you have the rest of the week off. Want to go water-skiing?”

  “Oh, it makes my neck hurt just thinking about it.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t see you at the hospital.”

  Dave rubbed his stomach. “I became indisposed over a cup of coffee.”

  “Oh.” She wrinkled her brow at him. “Tampered with?”

  “Tests are being run on it. A nurse gave me medicine for it.”

  She didn’t like the sound of that. Barely able to stay awake because the medicine made her so dr
owsy, she attempted to lean back into the seat, but her neck hurt too much. She relaxed slightly as Dave ran his fingers over her back. His gentle touch warmed her. With the slowest maneuver she could make, she turned to look at him.

  His jaw was set and he furrowed his brows. She assumed her leaving the hospital like she had angered him.

  He turned to face her and kissed her cheek. “I was worried about you.” His eyes focused on the road ahead of them. “You shouldn’t have left the hospital.”

  “I’m really all right. But I’m glad you were the one who came for me.”

  He kissed her fingers. “I kind of liked spending the night with you again.”

  No matter what she did, he always seemed to take care of her. “You probably wouldn’t know, but they didn’t catch the guy who crashed into me, did they?”

  He sighed deeply as he shook his head. “No, I’m sorry to say he just vanished.”

  Her temple tingled and she wondered for an instant if it was in response to the accident or the medication she’d been given. And then the vision of the raccoon man returned with a vengeance. His superficially white teeth glistened as he toyed with his knife. She gripped the seat, and Dave patted her hand. “Lot of pain?”

  “He’s coming for me, Dave.”

  “I have my handy blaster right here.” He patted his hip.

  Deidre turned her head slowly this time and studied the safety fastener. “Good, you can shoot the creep.”

  Then her gaze riveted to the rearview mirror. The bright lights bore down on them. It was him. She just knew it. But the truck sped on past.

  She was becoming paranoid. Maybe the drugs they had given her had affected her. She rubbed her temple.

  Dave slammed his brakes on. “Hold on tight!”

  Looming before them, the truck sat, turned broadside in their path. At the rate they traveled, Dave couldn’t avoid it.

  Deidre closed her eyes. She couldn’t look. Two accidents in one night was just too—

  Bang! They rolled once, she thought, she couldn’t be sure, but when they landed they were right side up. The roof hovered low over their heads. A spider web of glass hung precariously in the window frame. The air bags had broken through the windshield just like on her car and now hung limp from the dashboard.

  Airbags save lives, she remembered the emergency room doctor saying. Fewer head injuries, more broken bones, but they save lives.

  “Dave.” Deidre shook his hand. He was dazed like she had been earlier. She fiddled with his holster loop. “Dave!”

  The raccoon man was coming for her, and her cowboy wasn’t going to rescue her. Was it all right to shoot the man if he threatened her with a knife? With the lateness of the hour, the road was nearly clear. She could see the headlights from maybe a mile away, approaching them in the dark. But no one else would get to them in time.

  Her door jerked open. It was him.

  Pulling the ten-inch blade from its sheath, he grinned. Green and yellow bands colored the black and burgundy circles around his eyes. But the brazenly white teeth caught her attention.

  Nothing to grin about. She aimed the gun.

  For an instant, fear registered in his eyes. But only for an instant. A woman wouldn’t know how to use a gun, he was thinking.

  Think again. She qualified as a sharp shooter with a .45 caliber. Piece of cake.

  He lifted the blade shimmering slightly in the moonlight.

  She fired a shot—once, twice, three times. She wasn’t even certain if he still stood when the third shot rang out.

  ***

  Dave lay on the examining table while the x-ray machine zeroed in on his ribs. Now what? If his ribs were broken, he’d be taken off the case. He cursed the man who had attempted to kill them. Then he chided himself. He should have taken further precautions.

  Now would the chief pack them off to a safe house? He couldn’t understand headquarters’ reluctance. Were Deidre and her brother being used as bait?

  He rubbed his temple as a technician rolled him back into the examining room. Bill hurried to greet him. “Hey, Dave, how are you doing?”

  “Been better. Have you checked on Deidre?”

  “She’s sound asleep. Three of our men are keeping watch on the room now.”

  The doctor walked into the room. “No breaks. Just some bruising.”

  “And Deidre?”

  “We gave her some heavier medicine. She’ll be sleeping soundly. No further injuries though.”

  Dave took a ragged breath. “Thanks, Doctor.”

  When the doctor left, Bill assisted Dave from the bed. “What are you going to do now?”

  “Stay with her. It’s my job.”

  Bill shook his head. “You’d do better getting a good night’s sleep.”

  “I will. Later.”

  There was no way Dave would be anywhere but Deidre’s room the rest of the night.

  ***

  Deidre sighed deeply as fingers grasped her hand in warmth. It was six in the morning when she opened her eyes and saw her brother sitting beside the hospital bed. “Charlie.” She touched his fuzzy cheek. She tried to sit and groaned with the effort.

  “Take it easy, Sis. Doctor said to just rest your back until—”

  “Dave…and the man—”

  “Dave’s over there.”

  Deidre studied Dave sleeping in a chair wrapped in a blanket with his head snuggled into a pillow. He looked like an angel…her guardian angel, still trying to earn his wings. She took in a deep breath, much relieved he was safe.

  “Was he okay after the accident?”

  “Yes, just a bit dazed at first. And luckily, you hadn’t sustained any more injuries.”

  Then she thought of the attempted murderer again. Her mind spun in so many directions, she had difficulty concentrating. “The man, Charlie. What happened to the man?”

  “Full of bullet holes. He’s in the morgue. The police want to question you later this morning. Dave didn’t remember anything about it. Said he might have shot the man. He couldn’t remember.”

  “The raccoon had a blade—”

  Charlie raised his brows. “Raccoon?”

  Deidre rubbed his hand. The raccoon was dead. Good. Some of the bitterness that had coiled in her stomach dissolved with the notion.

  Her brother nodded. “The blade was at least ten inches. I’m sorry, Sis. No one ever said anything like this would happen.”

  Deidre considered Dave further. He appeared to still be sleeping, and she whispered to Charlie, “What is this all about, Charlie?” She just had to know what they were up against.

  “It wasn’t my fault. You know how I wrote two books about the martial arts and got them published?”

  “Yes. I remember. We were all very proud of your accomplishment.”

  “Yes, well, between the income from the books, and teaching self-defense classes, the money drizzled in. So when this fellow approached me on the Internet through my website for my books, I thought this might be the career break I was looking for.

  “An agent wanted me to be one of his senior editors because I was a published author. He promised good pay for every manuscript I discovered that was publishable. I was still teaching martial arts classes and was in the middle of writing a third book, so I figured, what the hell. I’d give it a go.”

  “Sounds plausible.”

  “Only the guy turned out to be a shyster. Took five-and-a-half-million dollars from authors to edit their work at two-thousand dollars or more a pop. Only I didn’t know it. Here I figured everything was legit, busting my butt, editing people’s work—”

  “Even a couple of romances?”

  Charlie grinned, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Some of those were the best.”

  This was a side of Charlie she’d never known. Despite how sore she was, she chuckled.

  “Anyway, the Feds got involved. He’s up on charges. His business was shut down. I was questioned, but realizing I had never received any money for the enter
prise and that I really was editing writers’ work—”

  “They let you go.” She knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just naïve enough to get caught up in some kind of a scandal through no fault of his own. Now somehow she was drawn into the whole nasty business.

  “Yeah. I felt like such a fool though. On the one hand, I was pretty angry he’d used me in this huge scam of his to rake in innocent writers’ money. On the other, he’d made me really mad knowing he’d conned me just like the wannabe authors.”

  Deidre patted his hand. “You’re the sweetest guy I know, Charlie.” And if she could, she would make the guy pay for what he’d done to her brother.

  “Except maybe for him.” Charlie motioned at the figure sleeping soundly.

  “He’s not bad.” She tried to move in bed a little and groaned as the pain radiated through her shoulders. Charlie squeezed her hand, and she smiled. Clearing her throat, she grew serious. “So the man who raided my apartment…what had he to do with your past work experience?”

  “Haven’t a clue, Deidre.”

  “Gosh, Charlie, surely you have some idea.” She knew Charlie wasn’t hiding anything on purpose. He just didn’t have a bad-guy mindset.

  “No, not really. The sham literary agent is in lots of trouble with the Internal Revenue Service, New York State Police, even the FBI wants a chunk of him. But I was totally cleared.”

  “Really, you’ve got to be more careful.” He was a good person, and she wanted the best for him. She only hoped he’d settle down, have a nice family, decent job, and not get into any more trouble.

  “Yeah, well the bum actually even advertised in some prominent writing books. I thought he owned a legitimate enterprise. Then I discovered the real agents don’t need to advertise.”

  Deidre nodded, then winced. She was glad he’d checked into it somewhat. And she realized he wasn’t the only one duped by the lying thief. “Still, if you’ve been totally cleared, I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  Charlie scratched his head. “I considered it was some author who wanted his manuscript back or some such thing. Probably some guy who forgot to make a back-up copy, then found out my boss was a sham artist and wanted his work back. But I can’t imagine he’d be so desperate as to kill for it.”