by A. M. Mahler
“Yeah, I was thinking that too,” Eric admitted. “DiCarlo doesn’t usually carry a gun and he didn’t have one on him. I think maybe your guy shot you from one of the windows in the alley. But why? Was he just randomly shooting? He’d almost had to have known that we were coming by.”
“I’m wondering if DiCarlo might have been paid to lead us down there.”
“Listen, bro, I know there’s plenty of people on the inside that don’t consider us friends of theirs, but what would the point of shooting you be? Which lowlife would actually have the motivation to come at either one of us for revenge?”
“I don’t know,” Danny shrugged. “It’s just something I was chewing on. Why don’t you check it out and see if there were any other similar incidents recently, where cops got shot while chasing down a different suspect? Maybe it’s some sort of pushback against cops from the underworld.”
“Well, this conversation has really brightened my day,” Eric said, rising.
“Then my work here is done.” Danny paused for a minute, then continued, “Listen, there’s something else I want you to check out on the down-low.”
“Could it get me in trouble?” Eric asked hopefully.
“Probably not, but I don’t want people to know there’s someone asking, if you know what I mean.”
“I’m your guy.”
“I’m counting on it.”
And he was. Danny knew that Eric was moonlighting. He took high-paying jobs here and there doing whatever was asked of him—investigations, hostage recovery, the occasional assassination.
Danny didn’t judge. He and Eric were different people. Eric had a sister, but their parents were gone. His second job, as he liked to call it, was highly technical and paid extremely well.
“Who’s the mark?”
“I want everything you can find on Toby Willis and Jimmy Reilly.”
Eric raised his eyebrows. “The stock car drivers?”
“Yeah. And while you’re at it, also check on Ryan Willis, Toby’s kid. I went to school with him at Trent. Willis Senior and Reilly are going to have a woman in common. When you find out who she is, I want everything you can get on her, right down to her favorite color nail polish. When you have it, come see me in Grayson Falls, New Hampshire.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Eric laughed.
“That’s where Jackie’s going, so that’s where I’m going.”
“You’ll go crazy in a week.”
Danny thought about what was waiting for him in New Hampshire versus what was not waiting for him in New York. Was it that simple, though? Had it always just been a matter of having Jackie near?
He smirked and looked at his partner and oldest friend. “Not this time.”
Twelve
JACKIE SLAMMED THE Aston Martin into a higher gear and took off like a shot up the New York State Thruway. It was a beautiful, cloudless day. Danny was reclined in the passenger seat. The IV he needed for the ride hung from the coat hook. He hadn’t wanted a medical transport if he didn’t absolutely need it, so she’d arranged pillows and blankets around him to help make him as comfortable as possible.
“Jacks,” he said softly, looking over at her with a drowsy expression on his face.
She’d also given him a sleep aid for the trip to make the ride easier, and it was starting to kick in.
She reached over and squeezed his hand. “Do you need something?”
“It’s going to be real embarrassing if you get a speeding ticket with me in the car,” he replied.
She laughed despite his look of frustration. “In the interest of full disclosure, my father was a legendary stock car driver. Driving fast is sort of in my blood.”
“Is Ryan this bad?”
“I don’t want to talk about Ryan’s driving,” she scowled, changing lanes and racing past a car.
Danny chuckled lightly. “Faster than you, huh?”
“Don’t worry,” she smiled. “You’ll sleep through most of the ride. Besides, I seem to remember a time when I had to rein you in.”
“Well, I’m an upstanding citizen now,” he said with a yawn.
“You’ll always be my badass,” she said, squeezing his hand.
He didn’t let her pull it away, but kept a firm grip on it. “It’s a nice ride though.”
“You can drive it anytime you want when you’re up and moving again.”
“Jacks?” he said again as his eyes closed.
“Yeah?”
“I’m faster than you, too.”
She scowled at him, but it didn’t last long. After a few minutes, he drifted off to sleep with a slight smile on his face. His hand went slack in hers, and he was out like a light. A nuclear explosion probably wouldn’t wake him now.
She felt a little bad about slipping him a drug, but she wanted him to be as comfortable as possible during the trip. She hadn’t liked the idea of taking him in her car, but he was so against an ambulance that she’d relented. He was also opposed to staying in the Grayson Falls Hospital for a short time when they arrived. He’d told Jackie that if he was only going to New Hampshire to be stuck in some other hospital, then he would stay right where he was in New York.
Jackie had held firm, but Danny had held firmer, so in the end, she’d ordered a hospital bed to be set up in the first-floor guest room of her New Hampshire home. She didn’t like the idea of treating him in her house, but he didn’t like hospitals. He’d also somehow convinced her that it would be good for his morale if he wasn’t stuck in a sterile and depressing environment all day.
Since he’d been shot before and said he spoke from experience, eventually she’d caved. The hospital’s property backed onto her own, so she had ordered a path cut and paved between the two buildings so she could easily get back and forth to check on him during the day. One thing she hated to admit was that he still had the power to win her over easily.
When she’d agreed to take the job as Grayson Falls’ only doctor, she hadn’t anticipated having anyone with her. But with Danny at her side now, she felt like things were finally falling into place. She only hoped that he’d find something that interested him there enough to stay. He’d never made a secret of how much he hated New Hampshire. She suspected it wasn’t the place so much as that he’d hated being stuck at Trent. If the prestigious boarding school had been in Aruba, he’d hate Aruba.
Danny woke up with about twenty minutes left to the trip. She knew immediately when he did because he reached for her hand, linked his fingers with hers, and squeezed gently.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, glancing over to find him staring intently at her. She resisted the urge to squirm.
“Like I’ve been drugged.” His voice was soft and gravelly but firm in the accusation.
“I may have drugged you,” she confessed. “I wanted you to sleep during the trip so you wouldn’t spend the whole time being uncomfortable. I don’t like transporting you in my personal car when you should really be in an ambulance. You have no idea how freaked out I am by all this commando doctoring.”
“Jackie, I was shot in the mountains of Afghanistan. There was no doctor around, and we were pinned down for two days. I was the medic, so no one knew what to do. Guys took turns tossing me over their shoulders when we had to move fast. It was cold, muddy, rainy, and miserable. I think I can handle a seven-hour ride to the Great North Woods.”
She brought their joined hands up to her heart and looked over at him with tears in her eyes.
“I wish I could have been there for you,” she said mournfully.
“In Afghanistan? No way.” Just the thought of her in a war zone made Danny’s heart race. That life wasn’t for Jackie. She was too sweet. As Ryan had said, she still held a certain naïveté that had to be protected. He would never want it torn away by the horrors of war.
“No. After.”
“Oh. Me, too.”
And he did. All he’d been able to think about during his recovery in the military hospital was her. He
’d just wished she were there by his side. It was after that trauma that he’d decided to seriously find her. At the very least, he’d wanted to explain about prom night. Her thinking that he’d bailed on her had made him ache for the pain he must have caused.
“You must have felt so scared and alone.”
“Please, don’t cry.”
“I can cry if I want to.”
“I don’t want you to cry over me ever again, Jacks.”
“You’re worth some tears, Danny.”
“It kills me to see you cry. If you were my girl, I’d spend my life making sure you cried as little as possible.”
“Oh, Danny,” she sighed. “I’ve always been your girl.”
He squeezed her fingers again, then turned his head to look out the window. It was a pretty drive. When he was young, he’d likened it to the Highway to Hell, but now with Jackie, it was just the opposite. Returning to New Hampshire with her didn’t make him squirm.
When she suddenly left the highway for a local road, there was nothing but trees. No businesses lined the road and there were no houses for miles.
“Do you still hate horror movies, Doc?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“This is the way they usually start, you know,” he grinned mischievously. “On a drive along a windy, deserted road. There’s nowhere to run for help. Nobody’s around to hear you scream. Are you sure you have enough gas? Did you check the air pressure in your tires before we left New York?”
Jackie untwined her fingers from his hand and shoved his good shoulder. “You can’t freak me out anymore. I’m not some doe-eyed girl afraid of the world around me, I’ll have you now. Besides, there’s a gun in the glove box.”
“I’m sorry, there’s a what?” Danny asked, surprised. He grunted as he sat up and opened the glove compartment. Sure enough, there was a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver. “Nice choice,” he said, as he turned it over in his hand. “Now, tell me, what the hell are you doing with it?”
“Ryan and I learned to shoot at Trent. After you left, he got super-protective. It was weird, but I really didn’t care. Truthfully, I didn’t really care about much after you were gone. He thought it would be fun, and I didn’t think it would be a bad skill to have, so we bought guns and started taking lessons. We have permits, of course. I have a license to carry that, Officer, so don’t worry.”
It was a small comfort to him that she’d been able to protect herself when he wasn’t there. But it concerned him that Ryan thought she needed to know how to shoot.
“Whatever happened to that creepy guy Cooper? Remember him?”
“I actually still see him from time to time. He reconnected with my brother again briefly after we graduated. He’s asked me out a few times.”
“Tell me you didn’t go out with him.”
There were things he’d have to get used to and accept, things that she’d done in their time apart. She was sure to have slept with other men in that time. But if there was any fairness in the universe, he hoped that she’d never given herself to Cooper.
“Of course not! First of all, he’s just as creepy as ever. Secondly, I’m a doctor. I don’t have time to date. You’re lucky you weren’t around for my residency. I was a zombie.”
Danny sighed in relief, but something bugged him about her explanation. “What do you mean, Cooper reconnected with Danny?”
“I’m not sure what happened exactly, to tell you the truth. Ryan never wanted to talk about it. But he and Cooper weren’t really friends anymore after prom night. Ryan came back alone that night, and after that, he just seemed to stay away from him. I saw Cooper try and talk to him a few times, but Ryan pretty much ignored him. He just said they’d had a falling out.”
That was interesting information. Jackie seemed confused by his line of questioning, but a few things had just fallen into place. He remembered how Cooper had come really close to the definition of a stalker at Trent.
Danny now suspected that Cooper was the reason Ryan had suggested they learn how to shoot. He decided to add Cooper to Eric’s list of names to check out. It wouldn’t hurt to know where he was nowadays.
After a while, Jackie turned off the main road and drove about a mile down a dirt lane. At the end was a large, two-story log cabin. Danny’s eyes immediately began to scan the property as Jackie pulled up to the house. There was a detached garage in front of them, and about a hundred yards behind the house stood two barns. To the other side of the house was a large and overgrown garden. Behind the barns were what looked like fields, but they were now overgrown. The property was vast, he noted, but also secluded.
“You bought a farm?”
“It used to be a farm,” she said, then reached over and unlocked his seat belt. “Ryan actually wants to set up a garage in one of the barns. He’s an engineer, and he designs stock cars now. The property is fifty acres, so he plans on clearing out about ten in the southwest corner to build a house. He’ll be coming up in a few months to stay with me and start the work. I know you two don’t get along, but I hope you don’t mind. The plans were in place before you came back into my life.”
Danny grabbed her hand and brought her fingers to his lips. He looked her square in the eye. “I don’t mind. I’ll put up with anything to be with you again—even your brother. We actually seem to have an understanding now.”
“I’ll help you out of the car,” she said. But when she came around and opened his door, he refused her assistance. He could admit that he was a little weak, but he could still move around on his own.
He used the door to pull himself out the car, wincing when he stretched to work the kinks out of his muscles. Then he turned to grab the IV bag.
She made quick work of unhooking it so he could get into the house unhindered. She’d remove the port once they were settled.
“There’s a ramp on the side,” she said, sliding her arm around his waist.
“I’ll take the stairs.”
“The ramp would be more—”
“I’ll take the stairs, Jackie,” he snapped.
She jerked back, surprised at his tone of voice. The Danny she knew would never have been bad-tempered with her. She sent him her death glare and pursed her lips.
Two could play his game.
“You’re a terrible patient, McKenzie,” she bit out.
Danny raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“You think you know so much more than me? Go ahead and take the stairs then. See if you aren’t completely exhausted by the time you get to the top of them. If you can even manage that feat. Go ahead, tough guy. Try it.”
She released her arm and spread it wide before her, gesturing for him to go first.
He did, but not quickly. Now he had to prove a point. He’d thought he’d take the stairs with her help, but that was before he’d bit her head off. He hadn’t meant to snap, but he was in some pain from the ride up. He could acknowledge that he’d have been more comfortable in the ambulance, but he hadn’t wanted to take one. He had been in the Army; he should be able to handle some discomfort.
Despite Jackie’s tough talk, she hovered near. He may not have seen her, but she stayed close enough to catch him if it came to that. It was good to get the muscles moving, but walking up the stairs was different than walking up the gradual incline of the ramp. He was a stubborn son of a bitch, but somehow, he made it. Then he shuffled over to a rocking chair on the porch and dropped down with a heavy thud and a grimace.
“Little tired now, huh?”
“Not at all,” he lied. The truth was he was completely exhausted. He could probably fall asleep right there in the chair. He was sweating and panting with the effort, which he was sure she’d seen.
“Taking a break?”
He knew she had him.
“No, it’s just a beautiful view.” Danny waved his hand out toward the trees. There was really no view to speak of—except of the car, the garage, and the front lawn.
She pulled the second rocking chair c
lose to his, sat down, and picked up his hand. “Fresh air will do you good.”
She was giving him time to rest after his exertion before they moved into the house. She knew she’d won the argument, but she handled it with grace. He loved that about her. He loved that she played fair and conducted herself with dignity.
“I told you so.”
Or maybe not.
Thirteen
DANNY ENJOYED THE fresh mountain air. He took deep breaths as he sat in the rocking chair on the front porch. Jackie had gone inside the house to open it up and check on supplies. She’d also hired a cleaning woman and had asked her to come make up all the beds and stock the kitchen.
Eventually, he lifted himself out of the chair and walked the short distance to the front door. Despite the size and the airy open floor plan, the house was cozy. It was the quintessential log home in the mountains—dark cedar logs with stoneface.
The interior was a mix of logs, cedar planks, and drywall painted a soft eggshell. The living area had large white linen couches arranged in a comfortable, conversational arrangement before a fieldstone fireplace. Its chimney was exposed all the way to the top of the cathedral ceiling. Somehow, despite its exterior, the house was anything but rustic. The latest technology merged with the charm of mountain living.
Danny suddenly couldn’t imagine himself anywhere else.
Odd, he thought to himself as he slowly sat down on the plush, white couch. The last place on the earth he’d expected to be happy was New Hampshire. Other than the brief time they’d had together at Trent, the mere name of the state usually made him tense.
Of course, it wasn’t the place itself. It was a beautiful state—but it was what it represented that was the problem. For twelve years of his life, it had been a prison, a stark symbol of everything he’d lacked—a home, a family, a normal childhood, someone that actually loved him and cared about what happened to him. None of that had existed for him in New Hampshire—or anywhere for that matter—until Jackie had come along. And when he was torn away from it, New Hampshire had become a sad reminder of everything he’d lost.