Redwood

by Janie Crouch

  “It’s racing. That’s why I called. I thought maybe it was exhaustion, but this doesn’t seem right.”

  “Okay, we’ll be right over. Just stick with her. If she’s having trouble breathing, call 911.”

  Gavin checked Lexi’s pulse at least a dozen times before Zac and Anne arrived. It was stronger, and slower, but she still wouldn’t wake up no matter how many times he tried to rouse her.

  He took off his gross shirt and looked around for a washing machine. She didn’t have one, so he thew his shirt in the sink.

  She didn’t have as much vomit on her, but he wiped off the little bit, then decided to slide her shoes off too. If she was going to be unconscious, she might as well be comfortable.

  He rushed down the stairs a few minutes later to let Zac and Anne in.

  “Any change?” Anne asked, bag in hand.

  “She’s still unconscious. Heart rate seems to be a little more normal.” He led them back up the stairs.

  “I’m not going to ask why you don’t have a shirt on. I always figured you guys would eventually need me to help hide a body, but I never thought it would be straight-and-narrow Redwood first.”

  “Please.” He forced a smile at Anne over his shoulder. “If we needed to hide a body, we could do that on our own. Your medical expertise would not be needed.”

  And they would never put Anne in that position anyway. She was too kind and gentle and it would weigh on her. Zac wouldn’t allow that to happen.

  As soon as they got upstairs, Anne walked to Lexi’s bedside. Gavin took guard on the other side. Zac stayed near the door.

  “She hasn’t moved so much as a muscle since she passed out trying to get in the door and I carried her up here.”

  Anne listened to Lexi’s heart with her stethoscope, then took her blood pressure. She pulled out a digital thermometer and took Lexi’s temperature, then held her eyes open and shined a light in them.

  “Is there any particular reason you think this is drug induced? When you talked to her last, did she show any signs of being high? She certainly seemed coherent at the bar earlier.”

  “I was waiting for her when she closed up the Eagle’s Nest. When she came out, she seemed almost drunk. Then she vomited all over me.”

  Anne sat down on the edge of the bed. “I don’t think she’s high. Nothing about her resting state suggests that. Her pupils are responsive. Her blood pressure is normal. Her heart rate was elevated but it’s lowered into normal range now.”

  “Then why won’t she wake up?”

  “I don’t know her health history, so I can’t say definitively, but she’s young, and from what I’ve seen, relatively healthy. So unless I run some tests and they say differently, my first guess would be exhaustion.”

  “But if she’s just tired, shouldn’t she wake up if only to tell us to leave her alone?”

  Anne shrugged. “Her body shut down. It’s protecting itself. Did she give any indication that she knew what was coming?”

  “She just kept saying that she needed to get home.”

  Anne gave him a gentle smile. “We don’t know much about her, which Zac tells me causes you a great deal of irritation. But this could be somewhat normal for her. Or maybe not normal, but probably not due to illegal substances.”

  “So what should we do?”

  Anne let out a little sigh. “I could admit her into the hospital, but even with insurance, that would be an expensive bill for her, especially if there’s nothing wrong.”

  “You know for a fact she doesn’t have a lot of money,” Zac said from the doorway. Gavin nodded. She definitely wouldn’t like spending the money.

  But Gavin definitely didn’t like this. Did not like how still Lexi was. It seemed so unnatural. He’d been watching her for a month, and she was always running in high gear. She never sat around, never wasted time. She worked hard.

  She’d handled the unexpected crowd tonight without complaint. And of course, there was no way she had been able to stop and take a break. Maybe it was exhaustion and nothing illegal. Exhaustion could certainly incapacitate someone, he knew that for a fact.

  Part of the SERE—survival, evasion, resistance, escape—training they’d gone through to become Green Berets had included some sleep-deprivation exercises. They’d spent weeks out in the cold without full meals and taken turns being held “prisoner” by enemy combatants. Uncle Sam had wanted them to have a taste of what imprisonment might feel like. And it had been hell.

  But the torture of sleep deprivation had caught them all a little off-guard. The way it tore at their minds, their emotions. Their sense of hope. Sleep was a necessity for the human body and mind.

  He couldn’t stand the thought of Lexi going through something like that.

  “I’ll stay with her.”

  “That will probably be good in case anything changes. And get her some food and fluids as soon as she wakes up.”

  “When will that be?”

  “I’d be surprised if it’s any shorter than eight hours, to be honest. Sometimes I sleep twelve or more hours after a long shift in the ER,” Anne began packing up her bag. “I’ll run a toxicology report to be sure, investigate a couple of medical possibilities. I can’t share any of her private medical results, but we can at least know if we’re dealing with something outside of the norm. I’ll run it myself, so it will only take a couple hours. I can do it from her saliva.”

  Gavin reached over and took her hand. “Thank you, Annie.”

  The quiet doctor smiled. “I’m glad you’re looking out for her. I was telling Zac on the way over that I’ve never once seen her outside of the Eagle’s Nest. I know we’re all happy for Mac to have the help, but it seems like Lexi deserves some time to rest too. This is probably her body making sure she has that.”

  That couldn’t be right, could it? “I’m sure she’s had some time off. Just because she doesn’t hang out with any of our crowd doesn’t mean she doesn’t have friends.”

  “You would know,” Zac said. “You’ve been keeping pretty close tabs on her, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  Yeah, he had. And Anne was right. How had he missed that? In a month of watching her, he’d never thought about how damned easy she’d made it for him. She was almost always here at her apartment or at the bar. He’d only seen her go to the grocery store once, and her car rarely moved from its parking spot at the side of the building.

  She’d never made friends with anyone, never gone out to eat, never gone shopping at the handful of stores they had in town. And he’d missed that because he’d been too busy watching for iniquitous actions.

  He’d been too damned suspicious.

  “I know you ran her in the system and nothing questionable came up,” Zac said.

  Gavin held out his hand toward Lexi, who was lying completely helpless on the bed. “But this proves secrets, doesn’t it?”

  Anne handed her bag to Zac, walked over, and touched Gavin on the arm. “Yes, she has secrets. We all do. I know you and she got off to a rough start, but maybe she’s not trouble. Maybe she’s in trouble. Maybe she needs your protection as much as everyone else around here does.”

  “Maybe.” Gavin gave her a hug. “Thank you, Anne. I know this goes outside your job description.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad you called. And I’m glad you’re willing to take care of her, even if you don’t trust her.”

  He shook Zac’s hand, and they left. Lexi still hadn’t moved from her place on the bed, so he finished washing out his shirt and hung it over one of the hard plastic chairs before settling himself into the other one.

  As he sat watching Lexi still lying there still as death, it occurred to him that maybe both he and Anne were right.

  Maybe Lexi was both trouble and in trouble.

  9

  Lexi let out a soft gasp. She was awake. And Gavin could finally—finally—actually breathe again.

  About damned time.

  She’d been asleep for thirteen hours. He�
��d talked to Anne twice during that time: once for her to let him know that the toxicology report had come back clean, and once more a couple hours later when he’d felt sure Lexi should’ve already been awake. Anne had told him to trust that her body knew what it needed.

  Gavin had gotten much less than thirteen hours of sleep. He didn’t feel guilty that he had spent the past few hours going through her apartment. Not that there was much of it go through.

  He hadn’t found a damned thing. Nothing to suggest Lexi had any sort of hidden agenda of any kind. She had a few outfits in the closet. A bunch of makeup in the bathroom. But nothing unusual.

  And not a single personal item in the whole damned place. No pictures. No knickknacks. No cell phone. Nothing.

  “Why are you here?”

  Her voice was hoarse. It sounded painful. He went and got her a glass of water and brought it over to her. “Drink first.”

  She took the glass and gulped the water down. Watching her, something inside of him eased further. She was back. She was able to talk, so obviously she had a fully functioning brain.

  Those green eyes spit fire at him again. Like he was the one who’d done something crazy.

  “You scared the shit out of me,” he told her. He shouldn’t be so gruff but couldn’t seem to avoid it.

  “How long have I been out?”

  So this was something that happened regularly enough for her to know to ask that question. “Since you got off work last night. Almost thirteen hours.”

  Again, no surprise on her features.

  But then she froze, hand flying up to her face. She stared at him like she was expecting him to pounce on her.

  “What?” he finally asked.

  She threw her other hand up in front of her face. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  She shot out of bed, ran to the tiny bathroom, and slammed the door behind her. Evidently her large muscle groups were working fine too. And after thirteen hours, he wasn’t surprised the bathroom was a necessity.

  He heard the shower running and decided to make them both something to eat. Because while he hadn’t been upset by anything he’d found in the apartment, he’d been fucking pissed at the state of her pantry and fridge. There wasn’t a fresh fruit or vegetable or piece of meat in this entire place. Ramen noodles—yes. Discounted canned soup—yes. Bread and peanut butter—yes. But that was it.

  It didn’t take a genius to realize she was so broke she couldn’t afford to buy decent food.

  What the hell was that all about? Tonight alone she had to have made more than a hundred dollars in tips. Oak Creek wasn’t the cheapest place in the world to live, but it definitely wasn’t outrageous or close to living expenses in most big cities.

  Definitely not so expensive that she couldn’t afford a pack of chicken and some vegetables after a month living and working here.

  The lack of fresh food had led him back to the drug-use theory. But he hadn’t found anything in here that suggested drug use. No paraphernalia. No discards. And he’d searched pretty damned thoroughly.

  So where was her money going? Hell, he’d even looked under the mattress to see if she was hoarding it away there. Or maybe she was saving for something and had it all in a bank account. There was nothing wrong with that. In fact, it was admirable.

  He scrubbed a hand down his face. The way his brain jumped from one extreme to the other with this woman was driving him crazy. Did he expect the best from her or the worst? He needed to fucking decide.

  As soon as the town grocery store had opened up this morning, he’d placed an order and had it delivered. He hadn’t gotten as much as he’d wanted to, but at least there was now enough food here for him to make her an omelet with fresh ingredients.

  She was still in the bathroom when he’d finished making their food fifteen minutes later. He could hear her putzing around in there so knew she was still conscious.

  She finally came out of the bathroom, makeup flawless. Was that what she had been doing in there all this time? Did she really think he cared if her mascara was perfect? He’d bet she was every bit as gorgeous without any of that stuff on her face.

  He slid a plate with the omelet across the table toward her. She stared at it, obviously aware that she hadn’t had the food here for him to make it.

  She cleared her throat. “You probably have questions.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty much made of questions at this point. But eat first. Anne said to feed you when you woke up.”

  “Dr. Anne was here?”

  “It was either call her or take you to the emergency room. You were unconscious and unresponsive.”

  She flinched. “I—”

  He pointed at the plate. “Eat first.”

  She closed her eyes in pleasure as her lips closed around the first bite.

  Gavin bit back a curse. First, because he very definitely should not be finding that sight so sexy. But also because this confirmed what he’d already known to be true. She’d been surviving off the crap in her cabinet and tiny fridge for too long. She was halfway through the omelet in under a minute, and he stood back up. He slid his plate over toward her. “Eat this one. I’ll make myself another one.”

  “But—”

  He turned away before she could say anything else. She was damned well going to eat until she was too stuffed to eat any more.

  She’d finished hers and most of his by the time he’d cooked his second omelet. She got up to make them both coffee in a tiny four-cup pot as he sat down to eat.

  “I guess I owe you a thank-you. Seems like you’re going to have to start a tab for stuff I owe you.”

  He didn’t want thanks. He wanted answers. “What exactly happened to you last night?”

  She turned back to fiddle with the coffee pot. Was she going to answer him at all? She poured some coffee into a mug and handed it to him, then sat down across from him clutching her own mug. Still she didn’t speak.

  “Listen,” he said finally. “Are you on something? Drugs? Honestly, I thought you’d overdosed and might be about to die last night. You scared the shit out of me. Nothing I could do would wake you up.”

  He could see her weighing what to tell him. How much of it would be the truth? “I suffer from chronic insomnia.”

  “Insomnia?” That didn’t make sense. “Last night seemed like the opposite of not being able to sleep.”

  “Last night was what happens when I go too long without any real sleep. I can push through for a pretty long time, but then my body eventually completely shuts down.”

  He had to admit that lined up with what Anne had said. “How long has this been going on? Should you see a doctor or something?”

  Once again she looked like she was trying to figure out how much to tell him. “I’ve seen a doctor, more than one actually, although it has been a while now. My insomnia originated because of some drug use. I’m no longer using the drugs, but my body is conditioned not to sleep well, so sleep and I have a very complex love/hate relationship.”

  That was perhaps the most honest sentence he’d ever gotten out of her. “Okay.” It was time for him to be honest too. “Do you need me to help you find a doctor or counselor of some sort? Your drug use didn’t show up when I ran your name, so I know you weren’t arrested or in court-ordered rehab for it.”

  “You did a background check on me?”

  “Yep, and found out Lexi Johnson has no criminal record or outstanding warrants.”

  She didn’t look as mad as he’d expected. As a matter fact she looked quite pleased with herself. “There you go.”

  “You’re not mad that I ran your name through the system?”

  That perfectly made up face didn’t flinch as she took a sip of coffee and studied him.

  It was hard to believe this cool, composed woman was the same woman who had collapsed outside the door so helplessly last night.

  “I’m less mad at that than at your seduction-for-information technique a few weeks ago. Does that usual
ly work for you? Quinn told me you were suspicious of her too. Did you try to sleep with her to get information since she’s also new in town?”

  He’d been an ass. He couldn’t deny it. “Actually, I think Baby volunteered for that duty.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Well, thank God there are good soldiers like you guys willing to take one for the team and sleep with all the suspicious newcomers.”

  She got up from the table and walked over to the fridge. She pulled out some of the orange juice he’d ordered and poured it into a tiny juice glass.

  She didn’t offer him any. He wasn’t surprised.

  “That kiss wasn’t planned. I didn’t mean for it to turn into an interrogation. But I did think you were trouble. I thought you might be here to take advantage of Mac. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. I still don’t know why you’re here.”

  “Maybe it’s not any of your business why I’m here, Sheriff. Maybe you’re going to have to accept that I’m not here to steal the Eagle’s Nest or hurt Mac in any way. Maybe you’re going to have to accept that I’m not going to spill my guts to you just because you’ve got a pretty face.”

  Damn it, he didn’t want to fight with her. The time watching her last night had made him realize he wanted to help her. Protect her. Stand between her and whatever it was that sometimes put that terrified look in her eyes.

  He didn’t want to fight. Didn’t want to add to whatever burden she was already carrying.

  “You really think I’m pretty?” He batted his eyelashes at her.

  She broke out in a huge grin, and for a split-second, she looked familiar. Like what everyone else kept saying.

  “What?” she asked.

  But then it was gone.

  “I like it when you smile.” He picked up his plate and walked it over to the sink, rinsing it.

  “If you just let me live here in peace, Sheriff, then I will walk around smiling all the time.”

  She got up and walked her juice cup over to the sink, raising an eyebrow at him. Suddenly, this tiny kitchen in this tiny apartment seemed even smaller. He reached out and trailed his fingers down her arm. He couldn’t help it, he had to touch her. He’d been very careful not to touch her all night as she slept except for medical concerns. Touching her while she was unconscious went against every personal code he had.