Ready

by Lucy Monroe

  He ran back to his car and popped the trunk, grabbing the kit he kept with him at all times. The slim-jim worked in seconds, but they felt like hours as prickles of cold sweat chilled his back and underarms and his gut clenched in genuine fear.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been afraid.

  It was an ugly feeling.

  He yanked the door open, feeling like he was going to pull it from its hinges, and the faint odor of exhaust met him.

  Shit.

  He unbuckled her seat belt and lifted her out of the car.

  She was breathing. Thank you, God!

  He took her to his car and laid her on the hood. He couldn’t administer mouth-to-mouth. The last thing she needed was his carbon dioxide in her lungs mixed with a little oxygen, and she was still breathing. Right, so no mouth-to-mouth, but he hated the feeling of helplessness that overwhelmed him.

  He could administer an I.V., cauterize a wound, and even dig a bullet out with a sharp knife and do little additional damage, but he didn’t carry oxygen in his kit. Damn it.

  He started chafing her hands. “Come on, sweetheart, wake up. Let me see those pretty hazel eyes open.”

  But she continued to lie there as if asleep. Only it was a sleep he was terrified she would not wake up from. Then her body bowed and she heaved in air, doing a good measure toward clearing her lungs of the carbon monoxide.

  “That’s right, baby. Breathe.”

  She sucked in another breath and then started coughing, but she didn’t wake up. He started praying as he picked her up and put her in the passenger seat of his car, then kept it up the whole way to the hospital.

  It was the most he’d talked to the Man Upstairs in years.

  Lise came to as he was carrying her into the Emergency Room. Her eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, like she’d been on an all-night bender.

  “What’s happening?” Her voice was scratchy and still a little slurred.

  “Carbon monoxide poisoning.”

  She blinked at him, her face a blank. “What?”

  “Exhaust fumes were getting into your car somehow. You breathed in too much CO.”

  “I felt tired, thought it was making love instead of sleeping,” she slurred, as her head lolled against his chest.

  “No.”

  “Glad.”

  “You’re glad you’ve been poisoned?” he asked incredulously.

  “Didn’t want to give up making love.”

  He squeezed her tight, making her cough. “My chest hurts.”

  “I’m sorry, baby.”

  He stopped in front of the nurse’s station, ignoring the admitting desk entirely. “She needs to be put on oxygen immediately.”

  The duty nurse looked up, her expression harried. “Is she breathing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you’ll have to take her to the admitting desk.”

  “Like hell. She’s suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning and we’ve got to get it out of her body right now.”

  Joshua was used to being obeyed and whether it was the tone of voice he used in the field or the look in his eye that promised retribution if she denied him, the duty nurse did not argue again. She called for a gurney and oxygen, stat.

  “Joshua…”

  “What?”

  “I’m going to be sick.”

  He looked at the nurse. She pointed to a doorway across the hall and he sprinted. He made it just in time.

  “How is she?”

  Joshua turned his head at the sound of Nitro’s voice. “Better.”

  She’d been on oxygen for a couple of hours now, and he was finally starting to breathe easier himself. A lot of people did not realize the brain damage that exposure to carbon monoxide could cause, but he did and he’d been worried spitless for her.

  Lise went to take the mask from her face and he grabbed her hand. “No.”

  She kept trying to talk and he’d told her to keep quiet or he was going to leave and wait in the hall outside so she wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. She needed to concentrate on breathing only, clearing her body of the CO.

  She glared at him now, still mad about the threat.

  He wasn’t the most diplomatic man around, but she’d get over her irritation.

  “I feel fine,” she said through the muffled cup of the oxygen mask.

  Right. She looked like she’d fall flat on her face if she tried to stand.

  “You’re keeping the mask on.” And he put his hand on her cheek, his finger pressed gently against the elastic band that held the mask in place to make sure.

  “You’re worse than a mother hen,” she grumbled.

  “And you’re too damned complacent about your own well-being. Now stop talking or I’ll have this conversation with Nitro in the hall.”

  Just as it had before, the threat worked.

  Her mouth snapped shut and formed a thin line while golden sparks let him know she would exact retribution for his high-handed behavior later.

  He almost smiled at the prospect, but he was a stubborn man, not a stupid one.

  He turned to Nitro, who stood at the foot of Lise’s bed, eyeing Joshua and Lise with a knowing look.

  He chose to ignore it. “Did you have the car towed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Nemesis didn’t make a play for the transmitter?”

  “No.”

  Hotwire had kept her apartment under surveillance from the inside and would stay there, but Joshua had little hope of Nemesis falling neatly into the trap.

  “Find the source of the exhaust leak.”

  Nitro nodded. “Watch over her,” he said with a nod toward Lise, and then left.

  “Do you think it was Nemesis?” she asked.

  His thumb rubbed along her jawline and he was struck anew by the delicacy of her. “Yes.”

  It might be too soon to be making assumptions, but he knew what his gut was telling him. And it was telling him that she wasn’t going back to her apartment again.

  Dark circles marked the skin beneath her eyes and she looked a lot more fragile than she would admit to being. He still couldn’t believe she’d balked at staying overnight, but he’d insisted and she’d given in. She hadn’t thought she needed oxygen all night, but he’d known better.

  So had the ER doctor who had examined her.

  Her eyes drooped.

  “Why don’t you get some sleep, honey?” Rest and oxygen were the best things for her right now.

  “Will you stay?” she asked.

  “Of course.” He couldn’t believe she thought she needed to ask. Maybe she was still confused from the carbon monoxide poisoning.

  Chapter 12

  Lise’s head hurt. She lifted her hand to her temple without opening her eyes. She was so tired, she didn’t want to wake up, but nature called. She’d been telling a whopper of a fib earlier when she’d said she felt fine. The very idea of going to the bathroom on her own was daunting.

  She felt like she’d had the flu for a solid week.

  Her eyes slid open and she winced at even the subdued night lighting in her room. She hated being incapacitated, but she was grateful to be alive. Joshua had saved her, and true to his word, he sat dozing in a chair beside her bed, his strong fingers clasping one of her hands even in sleep.

  It felt nice.

  If he hadn’t called her and told her to pull over, she would have run head-on into another car or a telephone pole, or maybe flipped her car over the guardrail and down the steep cliff.

  She shivered from the thought, dropping her hand from her temple. Her fingers involuntarily squeezed Joshua’s with a primal need for the reassurance of touch.

  His eyes snapped open and he was instantly alert, making her wonder if he ever slept deeply.

  “How are you feeling?”

  She shifted slightly and urgent need made itself known in her bladder. “Like I need to use the bathroom.”

  “Okay.” He stood up and stretched, then lowered her bedrail.


  He even helped her take the oxygen mask off. She must have worn it long enough that he thought she could be without it for a few minutes at least. She was glad she didn’t have to drag the oxygen machine after her on the way into the bathroom.

  He pulled the covers away and she immediately realized her hospital gown had ridden up. It was an inch away from being indecent.

  He gently tugged it down, his Hershey-dark eyes warm on her. “You are so beautiful.”

  Despite her headache and the pain in her bladder, she laughed huskily. Love was supposed to be blind, but apparently desire was, too. As nice as his words made her feel, emotional pleasure was not high on her list of priorities at the moment.

  Making it to the commode before she wet herself was.

  He guided her from the bed, making sure she was steady on her feet before allowing her to walk on her own toward the bathroom. He followed behind, pushing the I.V. stand.

  When she got inside the bathroom, she went to close the door, but Joshua’s body was in the way.

  “Do you need something?” And couldn’t it wait? She was getting desperate.

  “You might faint again.”

  “I don’t think that’ll happen. I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck, but I’m not dizzy.”

  “I’m not willing to risk it.”

  He really was bossy sometimes. “That’s unfortunate because I’m certainly not using the facilities with you in the room.”

  “Why not? We’ve done things a lot more intimate in the bathroom of your apartment.”

  “It’s not the same thing.”

  He just looked at her with that expression that said she could argue until she was blue in the face, but he wasn’t moving. She might be willing to go for blue if she wasn’t so close to losing control of her bladder.

  It hurt.

  She frowned, wishing she could wait him out, knowing she could not. “At least come in and shut the door.”

  He did.

  “Now, turn your back.”

  He did that, too, and she took advantage of the pseudo privacy.

  “Nitro found a kink in the exhaust pipe.”

  “In my car?” she asked, feeling strange having a conversation on the commode.

  “Yes. It was pressed up against the floor and there was a small hole that made it possible for the exhaust fumes to be sucked into the vacuum system. You had the heat on high, which increased the rate at which it came into the interior of your car.”

  “I was getting gassed by my heater?”

  “Yes.”

  She finished, so she washed her hands and dried them. She didn’t know if she could get used to talking while doing something so private, but she supposed that other couples did it all the time.

  “I remember I couldn’t breathe very well, so I turned it up.”

  He was facing her again. “You would have done better to open a window,” he lectured.

  “I was confused.” She remembered that, too. “I couldn’t seem to control the car.”

  “You were disoriented from the poison.”

  Yes, she had been, very. Another thing to lay at Nemesis’s door. The sick jerk.

  She scooted around Joshua and opened the door. “I assume it was something highly unlikely the police would detect in the case of an accident.”

  He ushered her back to bed and tucked her in, but when he tried to put the mask back on her, she stopped him.

  “I’ll put it back on when we’re done talking.”

  “Okay.” He sat on the edge of her bed, beside her thigh. “You’re right, the exhaust leak would have been hard to discover and if it had been, it looks enough like normal wear and tear to be mistaken for it.”

  She shivered. “No evidence to take to the police, to convince them I’m not delusional or trying some publicity stunt.” Again.

  Joshua tugged her blankets up, tucking them more closely around her. “Right.”

  Nemesis had been very careful about not leaving footprints behind, except the bugs in her house.

  “Is that why we haven’t contacted the FBI?” She knew Joshua wanted to handle things on his own, but she wasn’t sure she completely understood why. “Can’t we tell them about the bugs and the camera? They’ll believe that kind of evidence, surely.”

  “The police and the FBI are limited by procedure as well as strict adherence to laws. Hotwire, Nitro, and I are not.”

  He’d said that before, but it hadn’t sunk in how seriously he did not want the authorities in his way during the investigation, which made her wonder what he planned to do that the FBI might object to.

  “I’m not sure—”

  He put his finger over her lips, gently cutting her off. “Don’t worry, we’ll bring them in eventually.”

  “After you’ve identified Nemesis?”

  “When we’re ready, yes.”

  “What do you mean, when you’re ready?”

  “I want a word with Nemesis before he seeks the sanctuary of jail.” Joshua the nursemaid had taken a dive and the warrior was in full battle mode, his expression chilling.

  The fact that he saw jail as sanctuary for Nemesis…from him, said a lot about Joshua’s mindset. She shivered again, aching from tiredness and unaccountably emotional over his transformation to cold-eyed soldier of fortune.

  It was a stark reminder that their lives might touch briefly, but he would leave her to go off and risk his life in a job few men could do and even fewer did with any integrity.

  Then she considered what he might do in regard to her own situation and the coldness inside her grew. “I don’t want you to do something on my behalf that could get you arrested.”

  He traced a gentle finger over her brow just as if he were any normal lover concerned for the welfare of his woman. “You’ve got a real thing about protecting other people, but I don’t need you watching out for me. As you pointed out the other day, I’m a big boy.”

  Remembering what they’d been doing when she pointed that out made her cheeks heat and her body tense in places. “I can’t help it. It’s the way I’m made. Besides, you’re a fine one to talk. You spend enough time worrying about me.”

  “You’re the one in danger.”

  Yes, she was in danger, but so were the people around her. “You saved me.” She reached out and laced her fingers with his. “Thank you.”

  His hand squeezed hers and his eyes closed. “It took ten years off my life waiting for you to pull over.”

  She wished that look meant something more personal, but he took his responsibilities seriously. She couldn’t build dreams on a strong reaction to her being in danger. Joshua was the type who would feel responsible about what happened to her even if there was nothing he could have done to prevent it.

  “I’m sorry.”

  His eyes opened and his thumb rubbed over the back of her hand. “It’s not your fault.” After a brief but poignant kiss, he slid the oxygen mask back on her face. “Go back to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning about where we go from here.”

  But when morning came, Joshua had plans.

  He surprised Lise by waking her very early and telling her he had to go for a little while. He left Nitro in the room with her, promising he’d be back in about an hour. She wasn’t sure she needed a bodyguard. With the heightened hospital security, she didn’t see how Nemesis could get to her room without revealing himself, but she didn’t mind Nitro’s quiet presence all the same.

  An hour and ten minutes later, Joshua walked back into the room, carrying a suitcase and a bag, his expression grim.

  He handed the bag to Nitro. “All set.”

  “Good.” The other man walked into the bathroom. He came out ten minutes later, his hair tucked under a trucker cap and looking uncannily like Joshua. “Is my Lise ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your Lise?” she asked, staring at Nitro, not quite able to get over how much he looked like Joshua just then.

  “The decoy.”

  “What decoy?” she as
ked Joshua.

  “I’ll explain in the car. We’ve got to move fast if this is going to work.”

  She wasn’t about to argue, but she couldn’t help commenting, “I don’t suppose it matters to either of you that it’s my life we’re dealing with here and I’m the one in the dark.”

  They both stared at her blankly.

  Lord, save her from arrogant men.

  She threw up her hands and flopped back against the bed, regretting the action when her headache, which had been much more low-level this morning, increased. She glared at them both, irritably blaming them for her discomfort.

  Nitro winked at her, shocking her silly. “Where’s the decoy?” he asked Joshua.

  “In a wheelchair in the hall. I explained the situation to the duty nurse and she’s going to have an orderly wheel our decoy to the front with you. My car is parked in the Emergency parking lot.” He handed Nitro a set of keys. “Good luck.”

  “Got it.” Nitro went to the door and stopped, turning his head back so he could look at both Joshua and Lise. “Take care of her. She’s good people.”

  Touched and even more stunned than when he’d winked, Lise gave Nitro a shell-shocked smile before he turned around and disappeared through the door.

  Joshua pushed the call button for the nurse. “We need to get you dressed and out of here.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  “I said—”

  “I know. We’ll talk in the car.” She sighed. “You’re awfully stubborn, not to mention bossy sometimes.”

  “You’ve said that before.”

  “It’s still true.”

  He shook his head, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth, and stepped back as the nurse came into the room to unhook monitors and remove Lise’s I.V. shunt. She left and Lise got up to take a shower so she could dress.

  When she came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later, wearing a fresh pair of jeans and a sweatshirt over her t-shirt, Joshua handed her a set of scrubs. “Take off your sweatshirt for now and put these on. We’re leaving anonymously.”

  She’d gotten that impression with the decoy, but what she still didn’t understand was why. How could it matter if Nemesis followed them back to the apartment? Wouldn’t that be one more chance to catch him? Maybe Joshua was feeling overprotective after yesterday.