by Sybil Bartel
Ambulance? Hospital? “My head hurts.” Bad. “Why was I pushed?”
Sawyer’s nostrils flared as he inhaled. “We were carjacked.”
Alarm spread. “My car is gone?” Oh my God, I needed my car. I couldn’t run my business without it.
“No, mine was.”
If I hadn’t been strapped down, I would’ve stepped back. “Why was I in your car?” I wasn’t in his car. I was at a client’s party. I had to break down the tables and clean up the outside bar, and…. “Oh God. I can’t remember. Why can’t I remember?”
His stark, blue-eyed gaze, intense and serious, didn’t waver. “You hit your head.”
“I hit my head?” What was going on?
“Calm down. It’s going to be okay.”
Calm down? “I’m not going to calm down. I’m in an ambulance, and you won’t tell me what happened, and—”
The ambulance jerked to a stop, and the paramedic started to get up.
“Wait!” I screeched, panicked, trying to hold the hand that was holding mine. “Wait, wait, wait, you need to call him!”
Sawyer frowned. “Call who?”
“Brian,” I blurted.
The ambulance doors opened, and my body lurched forward as the paramedic pulled the gurney out.
“Who’s Brian?” Sawyer demanded, stepping out with me.
“My husband.”
HUSBAND?
She was married?
The paramedic practically shoved me out of the way. “You’ll have to step aside, sir.”
Her face twisted with anxiety, Genevieve looked pleadingly at me. “Please, please, call him,” she begged. “He’ll know what to do.”
Every ounce of self-control I’d learned in the Marines came in to play. My expression locked down, my voice calm, I fucking asked for his number as if she just hadn’t insulted the hell out of me after making me the fool. “What’s his number?”
She rattled it off. Easily.
She couldn’t be bothered to tell me she was married, but she could recite ten numbers from heart like it was nothing.
Unbelievable.
The paramedic pushed her gurney toward the hospital entrance. Pulling my cell out, I followed as I dialed the number she’d given me.
After four rings, a man answered, his voice groggy. “Hello?”
“Brian?” I snapped.
“Um, yeah. Who’s this?”
“Genevieve Jenkins was in an accident.” I couldn’t bring myself to say his wife. “She’s stable, but she’s in the hospital.”
“Jesus. And she asked for me?”
What the fuck? “Yes, she asked for you.” Who was this asshole?
“And you are?” he asked indignantly, picking up on my tone.
“I’m with Luna and Associates. We were hired to do security for one of her clients’ events,” I evaded.
He paused. “And she’s okay?”
“She’s concussed.”
“And she asked for me?”
My irritation hit a new level. “Yes. I’m out of time. If you—”
“What hospital?” he asked on a sigh.
I told him.
“I’m on my way.” He hung up.
The paramedic wheeled her into one of the emergency exam rooms as the second paramedic walked in. They lifted her onto the hospital bed and a nurse came in, helping them slide the backboard out from under Genevieve.
Genevieve looked nervously at me as the nurse turned to speak with the paramedics. “Did you call him?”
I couldn’t believe she’d lied to me, and not about something insignificant. “He’s on his way.”
She exhaled, and her gaze drifted to the ceiling. “Thank you.”
“Welcome,” I ground out.
“I hit my head?” she asked again.
“Yes.” Where the fuck was Ty?
“Where?”
I couldn’t figure out if I was more pissed that she was married or that she’d lied to me about it. “What?”
“Where did I hit my head?”
I fought for patience. “The back side.” I’d stupidly thought she was different. I never pegged her as one of the conniving women in my parents’ social circles who’d do anything to get my attention. Women like Talia. I hated those women. Always had.
Genevieve rolled her eyes at me. “I know where I hit my head. It hurts really stinking bad, but I’m asking where I was geographically when I hit my head.”
I tried to think of a single other woman who’d ever rolled her eyes at me. I couldn’t. “The parking lot of Mel’s diner.”
She frowned. “I went to Mel’s diner?”
Even though it wasn’t her fault, the fact that she couldn’t remember made me even more pissed off. “Yes.”
“Why?”
I glanced at my watch. “I invited you.” I needed her husband to get the fuck over here so I could walk the hell away from her.
“And I said yes? To you?” Looking at me like I had two heads, she said you like it was a four-letter word.
“Yes.” Fuck this. I needed to find the Escalade. I pulled my phone out and shot off a text to Luna asking him if Preston had found anything in northwest Miami, then I texted Ty and asked if he was here.
“Wow,” she mouthed, glancing at my phone.
Yeah, fucking wow.
Ty texted back that he was two minutes out, and Luna said they had nothing yet.
The nurse turned toward Genevieve. “Hi, Mrs. Jenkins. I’m Mandy. We’re going to get a CT scan of your head. Then we’ll take it from there, okay? Your husband can wait while the technician takes you for the scan. Any questions?”
A tall, lanky, brown-haired fuck stepped up to me.
Genevieve smiled with relief. “You came.”
The nurse looked from me to the guy. “And you are?”
“My husband,” Genevieve said the same time the prick said, “Brian.”
A young guy in scrubs came into the already crowded room and spoke to the nurse. “They’re all ready for her.”
The nurse glanced between me and the computer-geek-looking fuck. “She’ll be back soon. One of you can stay here. The other can wait in the waiting room.”
Brain nodded at the nurse. “Of course.” He glanced at Genevieve as the technician put the rails up on her bed. “They’ll take good care of you.”
“Okay,” she said softly, sounding like a child.
“Here we go.” The technician smiled at Genevieve. “I’m going to take you for a ride.” He wheeled her out as the nurse told us she’d be back when Genevieve returned.
Brian watched Genevieve go, then looked at me. “You’re the one who called?”
Trying to gage his lack of reaction to seeing her injured, I tipped my chin.
“Well,” he sighed. “Sounds like you got it from here.” He turned to go.
My anger ramped up to a new level. “You’re leaving?”
The prick paused. “What else am I supposed to do? I’m not a doctor.”
I stared at him, incredulous. “Be her husband.”
He snorted out a fake laugh. “I haven’t been that in a long time. In fact, I’m not sure I ever was.”
What the actual fuck? “You’re either married to her or you’re not.” Fucking blue button-down prick.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s legal.” He looked up at me. “But that’s all it is.”
“Explain,” I demanded, having no right to ask.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he frowned. “So, who are you again?”
“Sawyer,” I clipped, offering nothing more.
“Yeah, and”—his gaze cut to my suit before he looked at me again—“you were with her when she….” He took his hands out of his pockets and held them out. “What exactly happened?”
“She fell.”
This time he laughed for real. “Why am I not surprised?” Smiling ironically, he crossed his arms.
I wanted to pound his face in. “Nothing to laugh about.”
He had the sense to school his expression. “Yes, sorry. True.”
“Your marriage?” I demanded, reminding him I’d asked the question.
“Yeah, that.” His gaze darted around the emergency room, then came back to me. “We’re only still married because she won’t sign the divorce papers.” He had the decency to look almost sheepish. “Now you know more than I probably should’ve told you. Good luck. Hope she gets better soon.” He pivoted.
“She asked for you.”
He looked over his shoulder. “She shouldn’t have. She knows why.”
I put two and two together. “Because you’re not together.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered it anyway. “Not in the slightest.”
He wasn’t only an asshole, he was an idiot. She was out of his league. He should’ve done what he could to hold on to her.
Ty burst through the doors from the waiting area. Scanning the beds and staff, he took in the prick Brian before his eyes landed on me. His hand went to his gun, and he tipped his chin back toward the waiting area.
I barked out an order at her asshole husband. “Wait here until she gets back.” I strode toward Ty. “What’s up?”
“Some dick in the waiting room is saying he’s her husband.” He looked over my shoulder. “Who the fuck is that?”
I glanced at Brian. “Her actual husband.” No one would make up an apathetic story like his.
Ty gave me a look. “You sure?”
“Yeah, she confirmed it.”
“Then the dick in the waiting room—”
“Is one of them,” I finished for him as my hand went to my gun. “Let’s go.”
“TWO O’CLOCK, BROWN HAIR, JEANS,” Ty clipped under his breath.
I strode toward the guy arguing with the security guard at the front desk.
“I’m telling you,” he protested, “I’m Genevieve Jenkins’s husband. I got a call and rushed out before I could grab my wallet. I don’t have my ID. I need to see my wife.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but without ID, we can’t let you in to see anyone. I suggest you go home and get your identification,” the security guard said with a bored expression.
Ty flanked me as I stepped up behind the asshole. “Mr. Jenkins.” I pressed the barrel of my gun against his kidney so he would know I meant business. “We need to speak to you about Mrs. Jenkins’s accident.”
The prick went ramrod straight as the color drained from his face. “Ye-ah, okay.”
The guard behind the desk took in my suit and Ty’s Luna and Associates uniform of a black polo and black cargo pants. “I wasn’t notified there was an issue with this patient.”
Ty answered him before I could. “The detective can’t discuss an ongoing investigation,” he lied before glaring at the asshole impersonating Genevieve’s husband. “Take a walk with us, Mr. Jenkins.”
I didn’t give the prick a chance to say no. Still holding my gun against his kidney, I put my hand on his shoulder and walked him out of the sliding front doors of the ER just as Luna pulled up in a company SUV.
Hopping out of the Escalade, André Luna didn’t even blink at the situation as he walked around the front of the SUV.
Ty smirked. “Impressive timing.”
“Seconds matter.” Luna opened the rear passenger door for me.
I shoved the prick inside, and he panicked. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”
Getting in after him, no longer concerned about the reach of the hospital’s security cameras, I aimed my gun at his head. “You don’t have a choice.” Without taking my eyes off him, I issued Ty an order. “Go back inside and stay with her. Make sure no one else gets near her.”
Ty chuckled. “Including her actual husband?”
“Husband?” Luna asked.
“Why would I want to go inside and miss all the fun?” Standing in the open passenger door, Ty pulled his gun out and casually checked the magazine. “I’ve got at least half a dozen bullets I can waste on this fuck.”
“Okay, okay, I lied!” The prick impersonating Genevieve’s husband threw his hands up and vomited words. “I’m not her husband. I don’t even know her. They told me to do this. I’ve never even met her. You can let me go. I won’t say anything. I promise. I promise!”
Ty holstered his gun. “Fucking pussy.”
Luna swore in Spanish, then told Ty to get his ass back inside the hospital.
I ignored them both. Putting the barrel of my gun against the prick’s forehead, I dropped my voice to a lethal warning. “You have two choices. Tell me who put you up to this, or you die.”
The asshole shook. “I-I swear. I don’t know!”
“Start talking,” I demanded.
“For real, I don’t know. I’m just a barback. I was leaving work and these guys approached me. They showed me a picture of a redhead and offered me five hundred bucks to walk into the emergency room, say I was this chick’s husband, and ask to see her.”
My jaw ticked. “And then what?”
Looking guilty as fuck, his voice got quiet. “I was supposed to tell her not to talk to the cops.” He swallowed and shrugged. “But you know.”
“No, I don’t know.”
“Well… like, follow it up with an or else.”
My nostrils flared. “That’s it?”
He raised his hands higher. “Yeah, yeah, I swear.”
Luna’s hand landed on my shoulder. “What’d they look like?”
“I don’t know, man. I really don’t. It was dark behind the club where I work, and they were wearing sweatshirts with the hoods up.” He glanced at Luna. “I swear I don’t know who they were. They gave me the money and followed me to the hospital. They said they would know if I did what I was supposed to, and I better not burn them and chicken out because they knew where I worked. After they watched me walk in and go to the front desk, they slowly pulled away. That was the last I saw of them.”
“What make and model vehicle?” Luna asked.
“I don’t know,” the prick whined. “A big black SUV, one that looked like this one.”
Luna’s hand squeezed my shoulder, wordlessly telling me to stand down.
I didn’t. I was thinking.
The asshole kept talking. “Five hundred bucks is a lot, man. I have to work a week to make that.”
Luna muttered grow a pair in Spanish before dropping his hand from my shoulder and using the key fob to unlock the Escalade’s doors. “Get the fuck out of here.”
The guy scrambled for the door and shoved it open, practically falling out. Once on his feet, he slammed the door shut and took off.
Luna crossed his arms as he watched the prick run toward the parking lot. “I don’t fucking like that they knew which hospital and that they’ve got a picture of her.”
No shit. I holstered my gun and got out of the SUV. “She pulled the mask off one of the carjackers, and her purse was in the SUV. They’ve got her ID.”
“Madre de Dios.” Luna sighed as he scanned the hospital parking lot. “If they figure out who you are, we’ll have an even bigger problem.” He looked at me. “They won’t just try to kill her, they’ll come after her for a K and R first just because she was seen with you. Then they’ll kill her.”
“She’s married, and her husband sure as hell doesn’t have a flush bank account.” He looked like he barely had a pot to piss in.
Luna’s expression shifted in a nanosecond. “Ty wasn’t bullshitting?”
“No. Didn’t find that in your background check?” Luna had run her background for the job we were on last night with her client.
Luna frowned. “Actually, no, not that I recall.”
Fucking great. “Anything pertinent you want to share with me about her before I go back inside?”
Luna studied me a beat, then he nodded slowly, as if everything suddenly made sense. “She didn’t tell you she was hitched.”
“Nope.”
“Damn.” He drew the word out. “Well, as far as her b
ackground, she’s an event planner. We’re not talking high-profile clients, but we’re not talking kids’ birthday parties either. Art openings like the one last night, fundraisers, an occasional wedding, personal milestone parties, shit like that. There was nothing else in her profile that stood out except that she was a foster kid, came up in the system, and never got adopted. She aged out at eighteen.”
She didn’t have a family? “Jesus.” Despite her lying to me, I felt like even more of an asshole for taking her out and letting her get fucking injured.
“Yeah, rough life. All right, walk me through what happened at Mel’s.”
“It started out as a single carjacker with a triangle tattoo on his inner wrist.”
“Fucking Tres Angulos gang.” Luna muttered a curse in Spanish. “This isn’t their usual MO.”
No, it wasn’t. “I’m surprised they didn’t just shoot us and take the SUV.”
“There was a lot of foot traffic in that parking lot when I got there, and even more witnesses in the diner. It was dark, but there was a clear sight line from the booths at the window to where you’d parked. Maybe the Tres Angulos have graduated to smart crime.” His gaze drifting across the parking lot, Luna watched two hospital employees walk toward their cars. “At any rate, I’ll ask around. I have a few connections in that world. Tell me the rest of it.”
“I took down the original carjacker and three more showed up. Before I could get her safely inside the vehicle, the original perp made a play and threw her down. I took my eyes off the perp at my back for half a second as she went down, and he used the in. Pistol whipped me.” I should’ve shot them all.
Luna frowned. “You okay?”
“Fine,” I clipped.
“Gracias a Dios.”
I didn’t say shit. I’d left faith behind a long time ago. Tonight only reaffirmed that decision.
As if sensing my mood, Luna clapped me on the shoulder. “Four armed unpredictable gangbangers at close range isn’t good odds, amigo. You kept yourself and the chica from getting shot. You did good.”
Bullshit. “No, I didn’t.” I could’ve taken them all.
Marine to Marine, he read my thoughts. “I know what you’re thinking, and maybe you could’ve gotten four kill shots off before one hit her. But I also know you’re smart as fuck and those odds were never in your favor. There’s valor in protecting a life, not your ego.”