The Unexpected Hero

by Rachel Lee

  “Yeah.” She thought about that. “I wonder if there are different degrees of being under cover?”

  “Probably. But Gage would be the one to ask about that. But DEA…” He shook his head. “I hear they’re more likely to get killed on the job than any other area of law enforcement.”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me.” What did surprise her was that she suddenly yawned.

  David’s eyes creased with a smile. “Maybe you can sleep through your interrogation.”

  “It’s beginning to feel possible. Except that now I’m hungry.” She eyed the trays. “I should have a sandwich.”

  “You’re more likely to sleep if you eat a Danish. Carbs make you sleepy.”

  She started to shake her head, but she couldn’t deny that a raspberry Danish was looking very attractive right now.

  “Go on,” David said. “I’ll join you. Moderation will never kill you. You know that.”

  So they peeled back the plastic from the pastry tray. They used napkins from the coffee bar as plates, and moments later, Krissie was savoring the incredible flavor and richness.

  “This,” she said, “has to be five mortal sins at least.”

  David grinned. “This kind of sin is meant to be enjoyed.”

  “I wonder if Sara or Gage would like some?”

  “You want me to ask? Maybe throw a short party?”

  “I feel as if I should ask.”

  At that, his grinned broadened. “Tell me why you should feel like acting hostess when you’re being held unwillingly in an interrogation room?”

  She had to smile too. “I guess you can blame my mother. For her, food means socializing. You can’t go into her house without being fed.”

  “But this is different.”

  “I know. But somehow the imperative is working in reverse.”

  He outright laughed. “Okay, I’ll see if anyone wants anything.”

  Which was how the four of them came to have a party. They made coffee, enjoyed the food platters, and wiled away the wee hours telling old, bad jokes and listening to Sara reminisce about the county’s good old days.

  Or at least she indulged them with the notion, because as she finally said, “The good old days really weren’t all that different. Oh, we had fewer people. You remember, Krissie. Time was, our total population was around five thousand. Now it’s creeping close to eight. Still small enough to know most everyone, though.”

  “If you’re a cop,” David replied.

  “Or a doctor,” Gage retorted.

  “Regardless,” Krissie interjected, “my dad’s been saying this place is going to hell in a handbasket ever since I can remember.”

  “Probably,” Sara answered, “because he remembers an even earlier time than we do. Back when this town basically had one main street, a drive-in theater and enough bars to give the cowpokes plenty of fuel to get in trouble on payday.”

  “They were still doing that when I was little,” Krissie told David. “Just not in town.”

  “Nope,” Sara agreed. “Your dad had a lot to do with moving most of the bars out of the city. We still have Mahoney’s of course, but most of the dancing and drinking business happens at the roadhouses.” She smiled faintly. “That’s where I met Gideon, you know.”

  Krissie’s eyebrows lifted. “Really? At a roadhouse?”

  “Well, some of the patrons objected to his heritage. Seems they didn’t want to drink with a Native American. When I got there, he was standing in the middle of a crowd of men who were hell bent on beating him half to death.” She shook her head. “First time I fired my shotgun on duty.”

  “I’ll bet that got their attention.”

  “That it did.” Sara smiled. “I sure did like the look of that guy. He was ready to take on the world.”

  Krissie propped her chin in her hand. “So what did you do?”

  “I got his butt the hell out of there. What else was I going to do? One of me wasn’t enough to arrest all of them, and there was no way I was going to leave him there, even if he wanted the brawl almost as much as they did. Gideon’s always been a fighter. And I don’t mean in the sense of beating people up. He’ll work harder than ten men to prove himself, and he won’t take any crap. Those idiots picked the wrong man to mess with.”

  Then Sara laughed and reached for another sandwich. “I would never have guessed from that first meeting that he can gentle the wildest horse with a murmur and a touch.”

  “Sometimes,” Gage remarked, “people can surprise you in the best ways.”

  Krissie looked at David, thinking that yes, maybe people could. Because David was not at all what she had expected from their first meeting.

  Who would have thought it?

  Chapter 12

  Gage insisted on taking her back to her apartment in a patrol car, so as to gain maximum attention. He picked the right time, too, though, given his job, Krissie supposed she shouldn’t be surprised.

  Just before eight o’clock, the car pulled up at the apartment house. It seemed like even more people were in the parking lot than last night, getting ready to leave for work, and Jake Lancaster’s judicious use of flashers brought even more to the windows. She had even seen people in their cars craning their necks to look at her as they passed.

  Juicy gossip indeed: the former sheriff’s daughter taken in for questioning and held all night. Most people wouldn’t know about the murders, but that didn’t matter. According to Gage, there was only one person who needed to put things together.

  “Be careful tonight,” he had warned her before she left. “Get plenty of rest. I’m going to need you to be on high alert.”

  She gave him a humorless smile. “That’s what I usually am on the job.”

  He touched her arm, expression deeply serious. “I need even more than that tonight, Krissie. Watch everything, everyone. I’m going to have people there.”

  “They’ll stand out like sore thumbs. Everyone knows everyone, Gage!”

  “Trust me. I’ll tell you about it later. Now get some rest. I need to talk with David for a few before he follows you home.”

  She went. Jake went inside with her, drawing even more attention, and refused to leave until David returned. His strong face framed an apologetic smile. “Orders,” he said.

  Fatigued beyond belief, she simply nodded and went to her bedroom, where she collapsed on the air mattress and fell into a dreamless, exhausted sleep.

  When she awoke mid afternoon, David was lying on the floor beside her air mattress, sound asleep. The instant she tried to rise, however, the mattress made that awful, hollow sound, like fingers being dragged roughly over a balloon, and his eyes popped open.

  “Let me make coffee,” he said. “We’ve got to talk.”

  Her answer was hesitant and a bit drowsy. “Okay.”

  “Go take a shower. Gage filled me in.”

  But she still hesitated. “You look awful. Didn’t you sleep?”

  “I had some stuff to do. Now go shower while I make coffee.” He yawned and offered a smile. “We’ve been busy. Don’t you want to know?”

  That was enough to galvanize her. She hopped into the shower, scrubbing, rinsing, washing her hair in record time. She even resented the time it took to towel off and dress. Finally, she was going to know the plan.

  With a towel wrapped around her head, she emerged from the bedroom just as David was putting two mugs of coffee on the table. Apparently they’d sent the extra sandwiches and Danish home with him, because there they sat on one of her plates.

  The first thing he did was open his arms. She walked into them, drew a deep breath of contentment, and lifted her mouth for his kiss. He spared nothing, kissing her like a starved man. But finally he drew back, sighing heavily. “Not now, honey. We’ve got to talk first.”

  She sat at the table, feeling curiosity rise again, apparently only partially damped by his touch and kiss. “So what’s going on?”

  He took the chair facing her. “The hospital is going to be l
oaded with cops tonight.”

  “But I already told Gage they’ll stick out like sore thumbs! Everyone will notice them.”

  He shook his head. “Gage isn’t dumb. These won’t be local people. He’s asked for some help from other agencies. They’re going to be sifting into the hospital all day. What’s more, you’re going to find a big change on your floor.”

  “How so?”

  “None of your patients will be alone in their rooms by the time your shift begins.”

  “Are you moving people?”

  He shook his head. “I spent the morning and early afternoon admitting a whole bunch of people at Gage’s request. There’s a whole gamut of ailments, as you’ll see. But most are going to be in the rooms with your other patients, and they’re all cops.”

  Krissie brightened. “That’ll keep my patients safe.” But then a thought made her frown. “But what if the guy is afraid to move when there are two patients in a room.”

  “Thought of that, too. One or two of the cops will be solo in their rooms. A man and a woman, I think Gage said. Two easy potential victims, and they can’t be roomed together.”

  Krissie nodded. “Good thinking. But how are we treating them?”

  David smiled. “I’m brilliant.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. They all have the requisite saline IVs, but other than that, every one of them has been prescribed oral medication, which they know not to swallow.”

  She started to smile too. “Absolutely no reason to pump anything in the IVs.”

  “Exactly. As for the real patients, I sent two to another wing because they need ongoing treatment. But for the rest, I’ve ordered treatments withdrawn for tonight. Not one of them is getting anything by IV or injection.”

  “Is it safe?”

  “Most of them are ready to go home. Word on the floor is they’re just being observed prior to release.”

  “It’ll work,” she said with sudden certainty.

  David nodded but said, “It better, because I don’t know if I can arrange this for another night. God, I had no idea how difficult it could be to play chess with hospital patients.”

  She gave a small silent laugh. “Well, I don’t think that’s how we’re expected to operate.”

  He reached out and touched her cheek gently with his fingertips. “God willing, we’ll finish this tonight. Then everything can go back to normal.”

  Normal? Yes, it would be nice not to have this threat hanging over her head and the heads of her patients, but what did David mean by normal? He could go back to his place and she to hers, and follow their separate lives. Her stomach sank at the mere thought. All the things they had talked about doing together, what if those went away too? What if last night had simply been passion born of adrenaline and nothing else?

  Then, even as she was sinking, she had a sudden thought. “You were supposed to see that contractor today!”

  “No worries. I am good.” He winked. “I called and postponed for a couple of days. We’ll probably talk to him on Friday.”

  We’ll probably talk to him. At least that held out some ray of hope.

  But then she shook herself with annoyance. For a person who had once owned a sunny temperament, she had certainly become a Gloomy Gus.

  “If you don’t want to eat leftovers,” he said, “I can make a meal.”

  “I honestly don’t know that I could eat. My stomach is currently full of butterflies.” And lead weights, but she didn’t want to mention those.

  “Maybe later,” he said. “But I’m not letting you go to work without some food in you. You’re going to need all your energy.”

  “Look, I can take care of my own diet!” The flare-up seemed to come out of nowhere, even to her. He looked taken aback, but before she could find a way to apologize, he was already making excuses.

  “Sorry,” he said. “It’s the doctor thing. I just get so used to giving people directions.”

  “No,” she said swiftly. “No. My fault. I was reacting from nerves. Reacting to something else.”

  He waited for her to continue, but when she didn’t he prodded. “Something else? Or someone else?”

  She bit her lip. God, she hated to even think about it, let alone discuss it, because she always felt so bad about herself when she did. Yet she realized that even though she thought she’d broken some barriers yesterday, there was still a lot of detritus that would keep popping up from the depths for a while. And if she hoped not to drive David away, he deserved an explanation for these moments.

  “I was reacting to Al,” she said finally.

  “The mysterious ex?”

  “The same.” She looked away, not wanting to see his reaction. “Alvin Tyler. Ex, but not soon enough. I get embarrassed by how long I put up with him. He never hit me or anything, he wasn’t the type. But he had other ways. And he was a control freak.” She touched her hair. “See these blond streaks? Not my idea, and they can’t grow out fast enough. I still can’t believe I put up with it.”

  “Maybe,” David said gently, “you were too wounded to put up a fight.”

  She shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe. Blame it on whatever. But the fact is that I stayed far too long, and let him rule far too much, from what I wore to what I ate, to who I could be friends with. Dammit, David, I couldn’t even pick a TV show.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been horrible.”

  “He made me feel as if I couldn’t do those things capably. And then…oh, this is so hard to admit.”

  “What?”

  “When I finally got enough sense together to realize what he’d done to me, and I moved out, I found myself totally paralyzed.”

  “In what ways?”

  She looked at him then, giving him an almost bitter smile. “Bet you never guessed that it could be impossible to choose from a restaurant menu. Or decide to buy a piece of furniture. Or select a CD to listen to.”

  All of a sudden, she saw the light go on in his face as understanding dawned.

  “Oh, God, Krissie,” he said quietly. “Oh, God, that’s awful.”

  “Yeah, it was. And still sometimes is. I’m still uncomfortable in a restaurant. I don’t own a TV. I sleep on the floor. I’m okay on the job, but that’s the only place he didn’t manage to damage my confidence.”

  He reached out, almost cautiously, to take her hand. “Seems to me you’re making big strides.” He pointed to the table, the couch, the chair.

  “Baby steps,” she said.

  “Big baby steps.”

  She released a long breath. “So okay, now you know the whole ugly story. I’m not sure how I got into it, but I know how I got out of it.”

  “How?”

  “I woke up one morning and something told me to run. The first place I ran was to a friend at work. She got me an immediate appointment with the staff psychiatrist, who listened to me, questioned me, and after about two sessions, told me to move out immediately. Then he called my friend in and told her to make sure I did, and that I didn’t tell Al where I was going.”

  “Good shrink, great friend.”

  Krissie nodded. “The best. Both of them. She found the apartment for me, rented it in her name, gave me a few things to get by with, and even dragged me out to get a new cell phone. I never heard from Al again, except once when he accosted me outside work.”

  “What happened then?”

  She managed a smile. “I discovered I had more than one friend. A couple of them were rather big vets who threatened to beat him to death with their crutches if he came near me again. The other one, who was in a wheelchair, vowed he’d leave tire tracks on Al after the other two knocked him down.”

  David suddenly grinned and started clapping his hands. “I’d love to meet all these folks.”

  “I still keep in touch with all of them. I was thinking about inviting them up here after I get more settled.”

  “I think that would be a great idea.” His eyes were warm, and she didn’t see any disapproval or
disgust there. None of the emotions she still sometimes felt for herself.

  “Anyway, another six months in Denver, another six months of therapy, and here I am.”

  At that his smile faded a bit. “You’re sure it’s not Al?”

  She nodded. “He just didn’t think that way. I never saw a hint, not the slightest hint, that he was capable of physical violence.”

  “So you said before.” His gaze grew distant and thoughtful, but only for a few moments. Then he came back to her. “Guess we’ll find out soon, and get this monkey off your back.”

  “I hope so,” she said. “God, I hope so.”

  David needed a nap, so they curled up on her air mattress. It was a tight fit, but neither of them minded it at all. In fact, Krissie enjoyed having her back to him and his arms around her. Eventually, however, when he at last loosened his hold and fell into a deep sleep, she slipped away because she was simply too antsy to hold still.

  The night shift loomed in front of her with all kinds of nerve-wracking possibilities. Much as she wanted to believe that Gage had covered every base, she knew only too well that things could go wrong, things that hadn’t been planned for or even considered possible.

  SNAFU didn’t apply only to the military.

  But even as she busied herself making lunches for them both to take to work, and something for a light supper, she couldn’t stop dreading the hours ahead. They loomed like a dark tunnel that no light could truly penetrate.

  She hated that feeling, and no amount of familiarity would ever make her comfortable with those times when she feared something bad was going to happen but she couldn’t guess where it would come from.

  Tonight was certainly one of those nights. Although, she thought as she started making a tuna and macaroni salad, maybe the worst thing that could happen was nothing at all. The killer had taken no action during her last two shifts. Maybe he’d done whatever he wanted and was gone. Maybe she was only a coincidental victim in his insane plot, not an intended target.

  Perish the thought! They needed to get this guy, and if she was only a peripheral accident to whatever he intended, she couldn’t imagine where they could look next.