by Tina Beckett
And then she—and the other nurse—would wonder why he’d left without seeing her. Better to just go through with it.
He knocked.
“Yes? Come in.” The soft voice from two nights ago was now infused with a crispness that Kaleb definitely recognized from other chance meetings, where she’d given him a clipped “hello” that had been anything but friendly.
Even then, though, their interactions had intrigued him. She’d been indifferent to his presence, no sign of the half invitations he’d got from a few of the other single women in the hospital. Curiosity had had him trying to break through that reserve whenever he saw her. But he’d never glimpsed the slightest chink in her armor.
Until her asthma attack.
He opened the door and stepped through it. She wasn’t with a patient. Instead she sat at a desk with two simple chairs in front of it. The work surface was surprisingly devoid of any clutter, as was the room itself, giving off an almost austere vibe. Her fingers rested on the keyboard of a laptop, and a framed picture, its back turned to him, sat on the right-hand corner.
If he were smart, he’d toss a quick question about her health and leave. But he didn’t. And the slight widening of her eyes as she looked up told him that he was the last person she’d expected to see that morning.
They were even, then. Because she’d been the last person he’d expected to see beneath that cat costume at the convention.
“Did your sister make it to your place okay the other night?”
Her eyes shifted from his before coming back again. “Oh...um, yes, thank you. I appreciated your help at the hotel.”
“Just doing my job.”
And had he just been doing his job when he’d driven her home and installed himself on her couch with her cat? Hell, no. He’d wanted to be there.
He’d wanted to stay, actually. Which was crazy.
“Of course you were. But I’m still glad you happened to be there.”
Damn. He’d sounded like an ass without meaning to. “I came by to make sure you’re okay. No lasting problems from the asthma attack?”
“None.” She smiled, and a slight warmth infused it. “I’m a pulmonologist. I’ve given myself the all clear to return to work.”
He smiled back. “Is that why you went into pulmonary medicine? Your asthma?”
“No.” She hesitated. “That was because of my younger sister. She had cystic fibrosis. She died two years ago.”
His insides tightened at the sadness in her eyes.
Kaleb wasn’t the only one who’d known loss—who’d had someone special succumb to disease. No one ever expected it to happen to them, though. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. We miss her terribly, but we were so lucky to have had her with us as long as we did. Patricia was sweet and funny, and we loved her very much.” Her hands clasped on her desk. “Roxy and I were both tested to see if we’re carriers of the disease. Thank God we’re not.”
Carriers. Pain wrenched through his gut.
At least she and Roxy had lucked out.
Maddy reached for the picture and angled it a little more toward her. A photo of her dead sister?
Trying to erase the whole subject of genetic testing from his head, he threw out the first question that came to mind. “Are your parents still living?”
She motioned to one of the chairs. “My mom is. My dad died in a tractor accident on their farm in Nebraska a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry again. Is your mom still working the farm?”
“She has people who do that for her.” She turned around and retrieved a carafe on the credenza behind her desk. “I can finally offer you that cup of coffee, if you still want one?”
If she was offering, she must not be in too much of a hurry to get rid of him. He rounded one of the chairs and settled into it, not quite sure why he was in such a hurry to stay. “Only if you’re having a cup as well.”
“I am.” Standing, she poured coffee into two plain white mugs and handed him one. “It should still be hot. As for the sweet...” She pushed a sugar bowl across the desk.
So she remembered his words. He hadn’t been himself that night. Then again, he hadn’t been in a beautiful woman’s home in quite a while either. His encounters tended to happen at hotels or at his place. The leaving was too awkward otherwise. His instinct was to make his exit as soon as the act was over. And that didn’t pose as much of a problem when it was at his apartment. Maybe because it was his territory and there was no need to try to choose a time frame. He left that up to the woman. As long as she left. So far, it hadn’t been an issue. The women he chose to spend time with were just as anxious to keep things simple and fluid. It was easier that way for both of them.
He spooned a teaspoon of sugar into his cup and stirred it, ignoring the familiar pang that occurred whenever he thought too much about the past. About his part in the failure of his marriage.
“What about you?” she asked. “Any siblings?”
“Nope. I’m an only child.” He smiled. “And my parents are both alive and live here in Seattle.” No need to tell her about Grace. Or Janice. Or the divorce. Theirs had been a fairy-tale wedding—without the fairy-tale ending.
Madeleine touched the picture frame again. Maybe it was just a nervous habit. Or a way to ease the discomfort of having him in her office.
But why would it make her uncomfortable?
She hadn’t completely gone back to the stiff demeanor she’d adopted every time he’d seen her in the past. She still seemed incredibly warm, including the deep red curls, which were now very much loose and free around her head and neck. He remembered twining one around his finger two nights ago in her kitchen, just as his eyes had dropped to her lips. Thank goodness she’d read her text or he would have kissed her right then and there. To hell with knowing who she was. She’d been affected as well. He’d seen it in the dilation of her pupils as he’d stepped closer. If not for her sister, the night might have ended very differently.
Thank goodness for small miracles. He took a bracing sip of his coffee, watching her. “Are you going to the staff meeting?”
She glanced at her watch and then blinked. “I didn’t realize it was almost that time. Yes, I’m going. They’re discussing budgets and I want to make sure my department is covered.” She took a drink of her own brew. He noticed she took it black. The coffee was dark and strong, just how he liked it.
“Mind if I go down with you? My budget doesn’t work quite the same way as the other departments, but I still like to make sure I know what’s going on.”
“That’s right. You do concierge medicine.”
Surely she already knew that. Because he sure as hell had already known what department she worked in the second that cat head had come off.
Why would he think she knew anything about him? Was it a hit to his ego that someone might not know who he was? Maybe he should find out.
“Did you know it was me in that hotel lobby, Madeleine?” He took another deep pull on his coffee.
“It’s Maddy.” Her glance flitted away, her cheeks turning pink. “And, yes, of course I recognized you.”
Maddy. It fit her. Then again, so did her full name. It was as if she had more than one personality wrapped up in that cute little body. He sat back and crossed his foot over his knee. He also liked that she wanted him to use the shortened version of her name, although he had no idea why.
And why had she blushed? Maybe she hadn’t liked being caught in a vulnerable moment, like during her asthma attack. Who could blame her? He wouldn’t have cared for being in that position either. “Does Roxy have asthma as well?”
“No. She’s as strong as an ox. Healthwise, anyway.” Madeleine said it with a twist to her mouth that made him wonder. Did she consider herself lacking in that area?
; There were still things about her that intrigued him.
Just then there was some kind of commotion in the hallway. A patient emergency?
He set his coffee down and started to get up when something hit the door to Maddy’s office, causing it to shudder.
“Hey, wait! You can’t go in there.”
Kaleb was on his feet in an instant, heading to the door. Someone—a man—stood right outside, looking behind him at whoever had yelled. Kaleb flipped the lock, just as the doorknob twisted from the outside. His senses went on high alert.
“I said stop!”
“What is it?” Maddy stood, gripping the wooden surface of her desk with both hands.
“Call Security. Now.”
Her face turned white, but she picked up her cell phone and pressed the keys.
Kaleb turned back to the door, just as the man planted a hand on either side of the small rectangular window. Something glinted in one of those hands.
Things moved in slow motion. Maddy’s voice asking someone to send help. The man staring into the office. Crazed eyes zeroing in on Kaleb and then something behind him. Kaleb’s head swiveled to look and found Maddy. The phone fell from her fingers onto the desk, her face filled with fear.
And recognition.
* * *
“Oh, my God! Matthew!”
Maddy couldn’t believe what she was seeing, even as her ex-husband’s mouth tightened into a straight line.
“Open this goddamn door, Madeleine!” The rage in his voice made her take a quick step back. Her calf caught the chair behind her and she stumbled, falling into the seat.
Matthew raised his hand, pointing something—oh, God, a gun!—and then she was hit with a force that felt like a truck, knocking her sideways out of the chair. Every bit of breath left her body as she slammed to the ground. The glass in Chloe’s picture frame shattered into a thousand pieces as it landed beside her.
Pressure against her chest made it hard to breathe and impossible to move. It took her a second to realize it wasn’t from taking a hit from a bullet, but from the man who was on top of her, his body over hers as he kept her pinned down behind her desk.
Matthew was here. In the hospital. And he had a gun.
Chloe! Where was Chloe?
She struggled against Kaleb’s weight, needing to get up.
Her phone! It was about ten feet away from the desk. She scrabbled for it, trying to turn sideways so she could drag herself toward it.
“Kaleb, oh, God, please, get off me!” The need to get to her daughter and make sure her ex-husband hadn’t somehow found her gave her almost superhuman strength.
“Wait. Just wait.” He pinned her wrists and held her down, even as she wrenched against him with all her strength.
A loud bang sounded and the glass in her office door sprayed everywhere, stinging her cheek, the noise a thousand times louder than the glass in the picture frame had been.
The muted shouts she’d heard earlier amplified, becoming horrifyingly real.
Matthew was trying to get into her office. Screaming obscenities, demanding she open the door.
A second or two later, a sharp report reverberated the air around her, the echo seeming to go on forever.
Kaleb stiffened.
Had he been hit?
Then it stopped. All of it. Matthew’s voice was silent, although she heard screaming and crying in the distance. She lay there, still struggling to breathe, a familiar band tightening across her lungs. She tried to say something to Kaleb, to ask him if he was okay, but the words came out as a strangled cough.
She tried again. Another hoarse cough.
Not now. Oh, please, not now.
Kaleb lifted off her—very much alive—but she was too involved in her current struggle to breathe to let him know how glad she was.
“Stay here.”
No. She had to get to Chloe. As Kaleb went to the door, she crawled toward her phone, sucking down what little air she could as she went.
She turned the phone over. Broken. The cracked screen was dark and empty. Panicked tears formed, and she tried to get up, but she still couldn’t catch her breath.
Then Kaleb was back beside her. “Where’s your inhaler?”
She pointed at the bottom drawer of her desk. She couldn’t do this. Not now, when Matthew could be anywhere. She had to get to Chloe.
“Don’t move.” Keeping his eyes on her, Kaleb found her canister and handed it to her. She pumped the medicine into her mouth, pulling it into her aching lungs.
It took a few seconds for the bronchodilator to work its magic.
“Where...where is he? Is—is he gone?”
Oh, God, even now he could be heading to her daughter’s preschool. That gun—
Another knock at the door had Maddy tensing all over again.
“Dr. McBride? Are you and Dr. Grimes okay?”
Kaleb unlocked the door, letting the hospital security guard in. “We’re fine.” He glanced outside. “Oh, hell.”
Maddy forced her feet underneath her, but Kaleb held up a hand.
“Don’t come over here. Not yet.”
The guard glanced her way. “We have the hospital on lockdown, and the police are en route. Do you know the man who did this?”
“Yes. Is he still here?” Something about the look on his face...
An eerie premonition set in. She didn’t want to look. Didn’t want to go over there, but of course she had to. Had to see what had happened.
In the background, Maddy heard sirens. Glass crunched under her feet as she made her way toward the door. The window still held jagged fragments of glass, and blood stained the bottom section. There was more blood along the door as if Matthew had reached through and tried to find the lock.
Maddy shuddered.
With a swallow, she started for the hallway, feeling Kaleb’s hand on her shoulder as she came even with him. He gave a slight squeeze, stopping her from going any farther. It was then that she saw why.
Matthew lay sprawled on the ground, eyes staring upward at the ceiling. Only he wasn’t staring. The gaze was unfocused. Unknowing. A gun was clutched in his hand. A few medical staff were gathered around him, but they weren’t trying to resuscitate him or administer aid.
Because he was dead.
Bile rose to her throat. Even though it was useless, Maddy fell to her knees beside him. Forced herself to reach for his neck to see if there was a pulse, but there was too much blood and her fingers slipped off. The hole in his left temple told her all she needed to know.
Kaleb helped her to her feet. “He’s gone.”
The security guard repeated his question. “Do you know him?”
“He...he’s my husband.”
Kaleb visibly stiffened, and she realized what she’d said. “My ex-husband. He...he...” She stopped and tried to collect her thoughts. “He was in Nebraska. He wasn’t supposed to find out where I was.”
She glanced up at the guard. “Did anyone else get hurt?”
“No.” The older man looked as pale as she felt. “He shot himself just as I drew my weapon. I would have shot him. I had no choice.”
She took a step toward him, shock still muddying her thoughts. “It’s okay. I’m glad he didn’t hurt anyone else.”
Kaleb handed her a paper towel, and she wiped the blood from her hands. Her cheek still stung, but not as much as her heart.
Chloe’s father was dead. She still couldn’t believe what he’d done. He’d hurt her in the past, but he’d never pulled a knife or a gun. He’d always claimed to hate her—to be glad she and Chloe were out of his life. And yet here he was. Dead. A gun on the floor beside him.
The police appeared seconds later, saying something to the security guard. One of the officers
shot her a look and came over. “This man is your ex-husband? Any chance he had someone else with him?”
Maddy shook her head. “I don’t think so. But I don’t know for sure.”
The man gave orders to the rest of the officers and they headed off in different directions. Two of the nurses standing to the side were holding each other, eyes red. One of them had a phone to her ear.
A phone!
“I have to call someone.” The words came out of her throat in a shrill rush.
“Who?” The officer, a big burly guy, narrowed his eyes at her.
Possibilities rolled through her head. She could call the school. No, she didn’t want to scare Chloe. Roxy. She should call her sister. Maddy was pretty sure the police were not going to let her or anyone else out of the hospital until they fully understood what had happened.
“My sister.”
He gave a curt nod. “I’ll be back to ask you some questions in a few minutes.”
Kaleb handed her his phone. Her fingers shook as she tried to remember her sister’s phone number. Everything was programmed into her cell phone, so she didn’t have to dial it under normal circumstances. She finally pulled a string of digits together, and hoping they were the right ones, she pressed the call button.
Pictures were being taken of her ex-husband’s body, although it seemed horrible for him to be immortalized that way. The sourness in her throat rose even higher.
Three rings and her sister answered. “Hello?”
“Roxy, it’s Maddy.”
“Hey, hon, what’s up?”
“Matthew was here.”
“What? Where?”
“At the hospital. He had a gun.” A wobble in her voice made her pause. “He’s dead. He killed himself.”
“Oh, God. Chloe?”
“I don’t know. They won’t let me leave.”
“I’m on my way to the school. I’m sure she’s fine. He wouldn’t know where to find her.”