A Little Harmless Ride (27 page)

“
Anything to save Eli.”

He nodded and kicked open the door.

* * * *

Rose was about to land her third lash on his back, when the door exploded.

“
Ah, I see that you have friends here, Eli. Who is this naughty boy?” Rose asked. He was almost feeling better that he only saw Sean. He knew that Crysta had been smart enough to stay back at the ranch.

“
Sean Kaheaku.”

“
Ah, and you decided to come see your friend. You can see that your stepbrother is dead.” She glanced in the direction of Sam’s body. “He really didn’t like you.”

“
No, he didn’t. He hated me. No worries because the feeling was mutual.”

Then, she raised the gun. “And while I do like a good plaything, you can see I have one.”

She pulled the trigger. Sean dove away but not before she nicked him in the shoulder.

“
I think you need to drop the gun.”

The moment he heard Crysta’s voice, Eli’s heart stopped. Rose would kill her. She would make her hurt, torture her, then Rose would kill her slowly. And the bitch would do it in front of him, just like she said she would.

Rose looked at Crysta, anger and then pleasure moving over her features. “Is that so? Look Eli, the woman I hate has come to save you. Too bad she didn’t do as you instructed.”

Crysta’s gun didn’t waver. “One thing you need to know about me is that I don’t take orders from men outside of the bedroom.”

“
Don’t tell me that you like when he ties you up?” Rose asked. “How every stereotypical.”

She sounded bored and Eli knew that made her dangerous. He finally worked his binding loose enough he could get up out of his chair. Seeing the way she was eyeing Crysta, it was just a matter of time before Rose struck out at her. He rose up out of the chair and ran toward Rose. He rammed into her. The gun fell from her hand as they hit the ground hard. His hands were still bound, so she got away from him easily. She grabbed the gun and pointed it behind him. He knew without looking that it was Crysta. He turned, trying to think of something to save her, but he didn’t need to.

Crysta fired her gun, hitting Rose in the chest. Rose staggered back, falling, and dropping the gun.

Crysta rushed forward to him. Cupping his face, she kissed him gently.

“
Are you okay?” she asked.

“
Somewhat.”

She kissed him again and helped him up. His vision wasn’t that good and the room was starting to spin. Aftereffects of the adrenaline and drugs they had used on him.

“
Where’s Sean?” she asked. She spotted him and ran over to him.

She listened to his chest for a few seconds. “He’s still breathing.”

“
Of course I am, but damn woman, stop yelling,” Sean said.

She smiled down at Sean as Eli made his way over to him. “Aren’t you glad you had me come along now?” she asked.

He laughed as Eli helped him up.

“
Just nicked me, but I’ll take a kiss to make it better.”

Before Eli could tell him to fuck off, there was a snick of a gun behind him. Eli felt the bullet hit him in the shoulder, throwing him forward into Crysta. She screamed as they stumbled to the ground. Another loud report of a gun filled the small room. Eli struggled to lift his head and he saw Sean, a gun in his hand as he walked forward. There on the ground was the woman from his nightmares, her eyes open…but there was no life in her.

He looked at Crysta who had pulled his head into her lap. He wanted to say so much but as he felt his grip on reality fading, he had only one thing to say to her.

“
I love you.”

Then, for the second time that day, his world dissolved around him.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dillon came striding down the hall, his face a grim expression as he ignored the looks of others there. He didn’t stop until he was standing in front of Crysta. Then, he pulled her up out of the chair and hugged her.

“
Are you okay?” he asked when he finally let her go. She didn’t know what to say for a few seconds. She barely knew the man and he was giving her comfort.

“
I’m fine. Sean got hit, but it was a flesh wound.”

He nodded. “Eli?”

“
He’s stable. They are going to put in a room soon and they said they’d come get me when they do. He didn’t loose much blood.”

“
So, I did some check on Rose. She bribed her way out of prison.”

She sat down and he took the seat next to her. “She was an international criminal.”

“
And she had money to spare.”

“
But why come after Eli? That just seems stupid.”

“
He was the one person who got away. And truthfully, they aren’t sure she was right in the mind. She was raised by a grandfather who constructed bombs for the IRA then for whoever would pay him the most. When they took her into custody, she disappeared for a couple of months.”

She sighed. “So, they probably tortured her.”

He nodded. “Not that she was completely sane to begin with but that seemed to push her over the edge. She apparently focused on Eli. It took her awhile to find him, but when she did, it wasn’t too hard to get Sam, Jr to help her.”

“
Mr. Kaheaku, the doctor said you need to be admitted,” a nurse said loudly down the hall. She looked up and found Sean ignoring the nurse as he walked down to her.

“
Eli?”

“
He’s stable and out of surgery. He’s going to be fine.”

He sat down on the other side of her. “That was one crazy bitch.”

She snorted but it came out as a half sob. The last two days had been hell on her nerves and now…she felt as if she couldn’t keep it together anymore.

“
Oh, God,” she said as tears started to pour out her eyes.

A look of panic moved over Sean’s face but apparently, Conner Dillon knew what to do. He put his arm around her and said, “Go ahead, honey. Cry.”

And she did. Although, not loudly and not for long. He handed her a tissue when she had quieted.

“
How did you get so good at handling women, Dillon?” she asked with a smile.

“
I helped raise my sister, and I am married.”

“
Ms. Miller,” someone said. She looked up and found a nurse standing in front of her. “The doctor gave you permission to be with Mr. St John.”

She nodded and stood. “Thanks, both of you.”

Then, she followed the nurse down the corridor. When they got to his room, she stopped the nurse. “Is he awake?”

“
If he is, he will make no sense. He’s drugged to the gills for pain.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. When she stepped into the room, she almost started crying again. He looked so pale, so still.

“
I’m not dead you know,” he mumbled without opening his eyes.

“
I know.”

She walked to the side of his bed. She pulled the bedside chair closer and sat down. He reached out for her and she took his hand.

“
Sleep, Eli. I’m here.”

And then she sat there, holding his hand, thanking God that he was safe and sound.

* * * *

“
I’m not in the mood.”

Crysta heard Eli yell the order as she walked down the corridor to his room. She closed her eyes and prayed for patience. It hadn’t been easy dealing with him, the paperwork, and the investigation, not to mention running the ranch. With both he and Jerry out of commission, she’d been overwhelmed. But, like Joe had told her before, the Hawaiian people took care of their own. People from all the surrounding ranches had pitched in to help. If it hadn’t been for them, she wasn’t sure what she would have done.

“
I think I should get out of here today.”

Now Eli sounded like a five-year-old. He’d been a pain since they’d arrived at the hospital three days ago. She walked down the hall and gave the nursing station an apologetic smile. When she reached the door, she drew in a deep breath and pushed it open.

Sean was sitting by the bed, his booted feet stacked on the mattress. Eli was giving him a look while Sean ignored him by playing on his tablet.

“
I said you can go.”

Neither man had apparently realized she was there.

“
Is that the kind of welcome I get?” she asked.

Eli looked over at her and his scowl softened. “Hey, babe.”

Just like that, like nothing had happened, like less than seventy-two hours earlier he hadn’t almost died.

She wanted to scream at him. Sean was more perceptive than Eli.

“
Hey, Crysta, you’re looking rested.”

She smiled at her step-cousin. “I am. I’m feeling much better after a long night’s sleep.”

“
I was surprised you weren’t here when I woke up,” Eli said. Again, he was back to sounding like a little boy.

She turned to Eli, who was scowling at her now. He looked better, if a little pale for her liking. Of course, he was ridiculously sexy for a man who had been clinging to life just a day earlier—not to mention dressed in a fugly hospital gown.

“
I thought maybe after her being here for almost twenty-four hours straight, she needed some rest. As did the doctors.”

Sean’s calm voice—tinged with humor—seemed to irritate Eli more, but Eli just gave his new friend a nasty look. It had been funny to see the way Sean had acted after the shooting. He had stayed at the hospital, only going home to change and stop by the ranch to bring her clothes. It was as if he had adopted her as his cousin and he thought of it as his sworn duty to make sure she was taken care of until Eli recovered.

“
I think you can go back home. You look tired,” she said.

“
I guess I will if Eli will promise to behave while I’m gone.” The look the man in question shot Sean had her laughing.

“
Go on, Sean. I’ll make sure he behaves.”

As soon as he left them alone, she wandered around the room then settled in the chair Sean had vacated when he left. She knew if she engaged Eli, he would start a fight with her. She said nothing, but turned on the TV.

“
So, are you going to tell me how everything is?” he asked after a few moments.

“
Everything is back to normal. Not much going on, other than cleaning up.”

She played with the remote control…waiting. She knew he was still mad at her for following him, for getting “in the way” as he called it. Of course, he wouldn’t admit that he’d be dead if she hadn’t gone against his wishes.

“
Are you going to pick a channel, or just go through them over and over?”

“
I dunno. Might just keep checking the channels.”

He grunted.

“
Dad’s going to be here today. He’s anxious to see you.”

“
Your father? Anxious to see me?” he snorted. “I doubt that.”

“
I think it has to do with the fact that I told him I loved you. So, seeing that you were almost killed he’s worried about you.”

There was silence in the room and she dared not look at him. She wasn’t sure she could handle his rejection right now, even if she knew what was behind it.

“
You told him you loved me?” he asked.

She looked at him and had to fight showing any kind of emotion. He was still pissed at her, pissed at himself at what he saw as a failure. Right now, he looked so dumbfounded that she would admit to her relationship.