It was a perfect plan for a woman teetering on the edge of a broken heart, grieving the loss of a sister and mourning the additional loss of a little girl she’d already grown to love.
Night had fallen completely by the time she pulled back into her parking space. As she turned off the ignition, she realized that, during the trip from the convenience store back to the condo, she’d made the unconscious decision to remain in Cotter Creek for a while longer.
Lainie’s voice would not be silent until her killer had been found and Melody still felt that somehow she was the one who needed to solve the case.
She opened her car door and grabbed her packages. She still believed that James was the likely suspect. All she had to do was convince Zack to dig a little deeper into the man’s life. What kind of a man stalked a woman who didn’t want anything to do with him?
A monster.
Juggling her bags she got out of the car, the hot night air slapping her in the face and building a ravenous hunger for her ice cream. She wished she’d bought a bottle of chocolate syrup to pour over the top. She was in the mood for a double shot of chocolate comfort.
She’d gone only a few steps from the car when she was slammed from behind. Her body flew forward. She dropped her bags and purse as she threw out her arms in an attempt to break her fall.
As she crashed down, the asphalt ripped into her knees and the palms of her hands. Before the pain fully penetrated, before she could even process what had happened, a heavy boot landed a kick to her side.
Her face was smashed against the concrete with each blow. Pain crashed through her, a pain so intense she couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. All she could do was curl up in a fetal ball as kick after kick smashed into her ribs.
Grunts accompanied each kick. “You were warned,” a deep voice growled as she closed her eyes and begged for unconsciousness. “Get out of town. Go back where you came from.”
When she opened her eyes again, all she heard was the sound of crickets in the grass nearby and a dog barking in the distance.
No grunts, no threats…just crickets and pain.
She was afraid to move but equally afraid that if she remained where she was, somebody would find her dead in the morning.
Tentatively she rolled onto her back, nearly screaming from the pain. Her cheek was wet and warm and she raised a hand to touch it, knowing without looking that she was bleeding.
Help. She needed help. For a moment she remained unmoving, hoping that somebody would pull into the parking lot and see her, that somebody would come to her aid.
After several agonizing minutes, she realized that if she was going to get help, she needed to move. With a groan she managed to sit up, her ribs feeling as if they were broken in a hundred places.
Tears oozed down her cheeks as she tried to get to her feet. Using the side of her car as support, she eased up, the pain so intense that darkness skirted the edges of her vision.
Sucking in a breath that shot more pain through her, she began to put one foot in front of the other, focused on the door of the building in the distance.
Lainie, help me, her brain screamed. Night has fallen and I’m scared of the dark. Someone evil found me and I’m afraid he’ll find me again.
Her mind emptied as she concentrated on getting inside the building. Each breath ripped through her, tearing her apart. Each footstep jarred her, and she had to stop after each step and fight to remain conscious.
She had to get to Hank. He’d help her. His name became a litany, a prayer in her mind as she slowly, painfully, made her way inside the building.
It felt as if it took her an eternity to make it to Hank’s door. She knocked once, then slid to the floor as darkness overwhelmed her.
Hank stared at the television but his thoughts were on Melody. He’d never felt as alone as he did right now. Maddie was spending the night with his mother, and all he could think about was that he should have called Melody. She should be with him right now.
He was just about to shuck his jeans and call it an early night when he heard a knock. A glance at the clock indicated it was just after nine.
He opened the door to find nobody there. Maybe he’d just imagined the soft knock. He started to close the door when he saw her, slumped on the ground as if dead.
“Melody!” Fear rocketed through him when she didn’t respond. He crouched down next to her, his gaze riveted to her bloody face as he grabbed her wrist to check for a pulse.
He nearly wept as he felt it, a faint beating that let him know that she was alive. In an instant he assessed her condition. Hands and face bloody, the knees of her jeans ripped and her complexion deadly pale.
He left her only long enough to grab his car keys and gun, then returned for her. She moaned, but didn’t seem to regain consciousness as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to his car.
Her car was parked near his and he saw her purse and a plastic shopping bag lying next to it. As gently as he could, he placed her in the backseat, sprinted over to grab her purse, then raced back to his car and slid behind the steering wheel.
Driving like a bat out of hell, he tried to stay in control, but his heart raced wildly as he all too easily imagined what had happened to her. And along with fear for her came a killing rage.
He crunched his fingers around the steering wheel, wishing he were crunching the neck of whoever had done this to her.
“It’s all right, honey. You’re going to be fine. We’ll get you to the hospital and we’ll get you fixed up.” Although he had no idea if she could hear him, he babbled like a fool, hoping that on some level she’d be comforted by the sound of his voice.
Why had she gone out at night by herself? Why in the hell hadn’t she called him if she needed to go out? Yet even as the question came to mind, the answer filtered through his head along with a boatload of guilt.
He could guess why she hadn’t called him. For the past two days he’d been giving her all kinds of mixed signals, getting close to her then implying with a cool distance that he was tired of having her around.
Cotter Creek Memorial Hospital was a small facility, but the minute Hank pulled up in front of the emergency entrance and yelled for help, two orderlies came running out with a stretcher.
“What happened?” one of them asked as they loaded the still unconscious Melody onto the stretcher.
“I don’t know. I found her like this,” Hank said and hurried after them as they pushed her into the hospital. Once inside, they disappeared through a double door but a stern-faced nurse who pointed him to the waiting room stopped Hank from following them.
He walked past the waiting room and back outside where he grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and punched in the number for Zack West.
It took Zack only fifteen minutes to arrive at the hospital. He took a statement from Hank, then disappeared to find the doctor and Melody.
Hank remained in the waiting room, praying that she was okay. The hospital scent brought back bad memories. In the last weeks of Rebecca’s life he’d practically lived at the hospital.
Rebecca. He was surprised that thoughts of her no longer evoked the killing grief they once had. He felt only a normal sadness for a loved one long gone.
A tall young man in a white coat came into the waiting room and Hank stood to greet him. “I’m Dr. Fedor,” he said and held out a hand. “She’s conscious and talking to Zack right now. But she wants to see you.”
“How is she?”
“The cuts on her face and hands were superficial and she has a couple of bruised ribs, but the X-ray showed that nothing was broken. She’s going to be black-and-blue for a while.”
Hank clenched his hands at his sides, once again feeling a rage sweep over him. He wanted to punch somebody, he wanted someone to pay for what they’d done to Melody.
“Can I go back now?” he asked.
Dr. Fedor nodded. “She’s in room three.”
Hank’s heart pounded as he thanked the doctor then
went to see Melody. There were three examining rooms. The first two that Hank passed were empty and a murmur of voices came from the third.
“I didn’t see anyone anywhere around when I got out of my car.” Melody’s voice sounded weak, but thank God she was talking.
Hank entered the room and his chest squeezed tight at the sight of her. Although the doctor had told him the cut on her cheek was superficial and the blood had been cleaned off, her skin looked like it had been chewed up by grit and gravel.
Her face was unnaturally pale and her eyes, huge midnight pools, looked haunted. But as soon as she saw him, her lips curved up in a wan smile. She held out a bandaged hand to him and he quickly moved to her side and gently took it in his.
“What happened?” he asked, emotion welling up thick in his chest.
“Somebody tried to punt me over the county line,” she replied.
“She was attacked,” Zack said. “He hit her from behind then kicked her repeatedly.”
“Who was it?” Hank asked. He tightened his grip on her hand, then quickly released it as she winced.
“I don’t know. I didn’t see who it was,” she said, then looked back at Zack. “But if I had to make a guess, it was James O’Donnell. I think he’s crazy, Zack. I think he was obsessed with Lainie and now maybe he’s become obsessed with me.”
Hank took several steps away from the bed and looked at Zack with narrowed eyes. “I want you to find out where James O’Donnell was tonight when this happened. If that bastard is responsible for this then you’re going to have to arrest me before the night is through.”
“Calm down and let me do my job,” Zack said, his frustration obvious by the tautness of his features. “I’ll let you know what I find out and in the meantime you keep a cool head.”
Yeah, right, Hank thought angrily. Let Zack keep a cool head if his wife was beaten and left in a parking lot alone. At that moment the doctor returned and Zack left.
“I wouldn’t mind keeping you overnight,” he began.
Melody shook her head, that familiar stubborn glint in her eyes. “You told me nothing was broken. There’s no reason for me to stay here. I want to go home.”
“You’re going to need some help for the next couple of days,” Dr. Fedor said. “I can give you something for your pain, but you’re in for a tough week or so.”
“I’ll take care of things,” Hank said.
Dr. Fedor nodded reluctantly. “Then I’ll get her discharge paperwork finished up and you can take her home.”
When he once again left the room, Hank moved back to Melody’s side. “Maddie didn’t see me, did she?” Melody’s eyes darkened with worry. “Please tell me I didn’t scare her.”
“No, she’s at my mom’s. And for the next couple of days you’re going to be my houseguest.”
“Oh, I couldn’t do that…”
“Don’t even think about declining my kind offer,” he said, forcing a teasing smile to his lips.
“You have a distinct advantage over me. I’m too weak to protest,” she replied.
He pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “I’m so sorry this happened.” Once again thick emotion crawled up the back of his throat. “This isn’t exactly a great testament to my work as a bodyguard.”
“Don’t be silly. This has nothing to do with your capability as a bodyguard. You didn’t know I was going out. It was stupid of me. I thought I could go just up the street without any problems. I just wanted some ice cream.” Tears clung to her long dark lashes.
“Shh, don’t cry. Crying will make your ribs hurt.”
She laughed, then gasped with pain. “Everything makes my ribs hurt.”
“I’ll take you home, put you to bed and dope you up,” he said.
“That’s the best proposition I’ve heard in days.” Once again she attempted a smile.
It was almost midnight by the time they left the hospital. Melody walked with slow measured steps, a gasp of pain escaping her lips with each stride. Hank wanted to pick her up in his arms and carry her, but he was afraid of hurting her even more.
“You could have been killed,” he said once they were in the car and headed home.
“Yeah, I’m wondering why I wasn’t,” she replied.
“Maybe a car went by and spooked him or he heard something or somebody that frightened him off.” He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “All I know is that if you were a cat, you just lost one of your nine lives tonight. From here on we’re not going to take a chance of you losing another one. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“Sounds good to me,” she said wearily.
By the time they got to Hank’s place and he led her to his bedroom, she was beyond miserable. He helped her take off her clothes and get into one of his clean T-shirts, then tucked her into bed.
“I’ll get you a couple of pain pills,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
As he walked into the kitchen, he thought about how right she looked in his bed, her dark hair against the white pillowcases and her warm body curled up beneath the sheets.
He got a glass of water and her pills, then carried them back into the bedroom. She swallowed two and then lay back down. “Get a good night’s sleep,” he said, knowing that tomorrow would be a hard day for her.
“Where are you going?” she asked, her voice already groggy.
“I’ll sleep on the sofa so I don’t disturb you.”
“Wait, don’t go.” Her eyes were at half-mast and a dopey smile played on her features. “I don’t want to chase you out of your own bed. Stay here with me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he protested.
“I’m too doped up to worry about that.” Her smile wavered. “But I’m not so doped up that I’m still not just a little bit afraid. Stay here, Hank. Sleep beside me.”
He hesitated. Reluctantly he began to undress. He laid his gun and his cell phone next to the bed and, when he was down to his briefs, he slid in beneath the sheets next to her.
She snuggled closer to him and laid one of her bandaged hands on his heart, and in that moment he knew he was in way over his head.
He was almost asleep when his cell phone rang. He reached out to grab it, grateful that the ring hadn’t awakened Melody.
“Tyler,” he said softly.
“It’s me.” Zack’s deep voice chased any lingering sleepiness from Hank’s head. “I just thought I’d let you know that James O’Donnell was at work at the video store when Melody was attacked. A dozen witnesses can place him there. It couldn’t have been him.”
“Thanks,” Hank said and ended the call. Like Melody, he’d been relatively sure it had been James. If not James, then who?
Chapter Twelve
“We brought you flowers,” Maddie said as she waltzed into Hank’s room where Melody was propped up in the bed. It had been three days since her attack and, although she was starting to feel human once again, she was still stiff and sore.
The day after the attack Melody had called her mother and told her she was going out of town for a couple of days and would call when she got back. She hadn’t wanted her mother to know what had happened, didn’t want to worry her.
Maddie got up on the bed next to her, careful not to jiggle the mattress, and held out a fistful of daisies that looked freshly handpicked. “We saw them along the road and I made Grandma stop so I could pick you some.”
“They’re lovely,” Melody said. “Thank you.”
“Maddie, get off that bed,” Susan said as she appeared in the doorway. “Melody doesn’t need you wrestling around and making her ribs hurt.”
“She’s fine,” Melody protested. “She’s being very careful.”
Maddie nodded. “I’m being very careful. I don’t want to hurt her. She got hurt enough.”
“Come on, dear, let’s put those daisies in some water then we’d better scoot if we’re going to make it to the movie theater on time,” Susan replied.
Maddie got off the bed. “We�
��re going to see the new movie about a little girl who raises a talking horse.”
“Sounds like fun. I wish I were coming with you.”
Maddie leaned over and kissed Melody on the cheek. “When you feel all better we’ll go to the movies and buy popcorn and candy and have a fun time.”
“It’s a deal,” Melody replied and smiled as Susan and Maddie disappeared from the room. She was still smiling a few minutes later when Hank came in carrying a tray with her lunch.
“I feel positively slothful being waited on like this,” she exclaimed.
Hank grinned and placed the tray over her lap. “Yeah, Mom and I were just talking about that. I told her I couldn’t believe what a slothful person you were.”
She smacked him on the arm playfully and he dodged away with a laugh and pulled up a chair next to the bed to keep her company while she ate.
“You know, if you ever decide to get out of the bodyguard business, you’d make a pretty terrific nurse,” she said. In the last two days he’d shown himself to be a patient, gentle man.
The only time she’d seen him lose his temper was when he’d helped her change the bandage around her ribs. When he’d seen the black and blue marks that had been left behind from the kicks it had taken him about two hours to calm down.
“I’m lucky that you haven’t been a demanding patient,” he replied.
She looked down at her lunch, a huge sandwich cut neatly in half and a mound of chips. “You make Texassize sandwiches. I’m never going to be able to eat all this. Why don’t you help me?”
“Are you sure?” She nodded and he scooted his chair closer. “Okay, if you insist.”
Sleeping in the same bed for the past two nights and sharing each other’s company during the days had created an easy intimacy between them.
They’d talked a lot during their confined time together. She’d shared with him the devastation of losing her father so early in life and he’d spoken a little bit about how his world was turned upside down when Rebecca had died.
Rebecca hadn’t told him about the lump she’d found in her breast and she’d neglected to see a doctor. It was as if she’d believed that if she ignored it long enough it would go away. But it hadn’t gone away, and by the time she’d gotten her diagnosis it had been too late. The cancer had spread.
Natural-Born Protector / Saved by the Monarch Page 12