Double Down (14 page)

He chuckled. “I guess it was good thing Brian made me go home and clean up.”

I opened my eyes. I wanted to see that smile, to make sure he really was there leaning over me. The hand he was holding was radiating warm throughout my whole body. How could any one man look and feel that good? The smile disappeared. Instead, he frowned, his eyes searching my face. I realized I must look terrible.

“
How bad is it?” I asked, raising the head of the bed so I could sit up.

“
What . . .?”

“
You’re frowning at me. I must look pretty bad.”

He chuckled again. “Well, you have looked better.”

Great, honesty. Didn’t the man know how to lie? However, he was smiling, so I forgave him instantly. I felt like a heroin addict just given a fix, dizzy and euphoric. My heart did a flip and I forgot how to breathe. When he leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Too soon, he leaned back. I reached up to hold on to his shirt, but I was too weak. He easily slipped out of my grasp.

He grinned, that crooked little grin that I instantly loved. “I’m afraid that’s all you can handle for right now. I don’t want a horde of doctors and nurses in here wondering what I’m doing to you.”

He was probably right. My heart was pounding, but I looked in his eyes and said, “I’m willing to take that risk.” It was the drugs. Everything I was thinking just popped out. I could feel myself blushing.

He threw back his head and laughed. He looked at me still smiling. “You don’t know what a relief this is to see you awake and alive.” Then the smile was gone, and the intensity was back. “There for awhile I was afraid I’d lost you.”

“
I didn’t think you wanted me,” I blurted out

“
I’ve never stopped wanting you.” His voice was soft like a caress.

“
You had a funny way of showing it.” Again, I blame the drugs, but I couldn’t seem to stop. “You kiss me and then you disappear. Now I’m supposed to believe you care.”

He looked like I’d slapped him. His eyebrows drew together. “I lost my cool interviewing Waters. Brian thought my feelings for you were getting in the way of the investigation. The captain said either I stay away from you, or he’d take me off the case. What was I supposed to do?”

Feelings for me? I must still be dreaming. The aching in my body assured me I was awake. “You could have called and told me.”

He got up and walked to the window. With his back to me he said, “I was given strict orders not to contact you.”

Something at the back of my mind was picking at me. “Mom said you pulled me out of the wreckage.”

Still looking out the window, he nodded.

“
How did you get to me so quickly?”

“
I was following you.” He said it quietly, almost too low for me to hear.

“
Why?”

He turned back to face me, his hands in his pockets. “Because I couldn’t stay away. I had to at least see you, know that you were all right. We had just finished interviewing Martin Sanders. That man is insane and he hates you. I hung around, waiting for you to leave. I had to make sure you got home safely.” He took a deep breath. “I was two cars back when that car rammed into you. I turned on the siren and stopped the traffic. By the time I got to you, I was almost afraid to look. I was sure you were dead. There was blood everywhere. Then you moaned. I reached through the window and found the wound. But your pulse was so weak.” He closed his eyes.

When he opened them, I held out my hand to him. He came and sat on the side of the bed. “I heard you talking to me. I held on to hear your voice.”

Very gently, he put his arms around me and held me. I hugged him back with my one free arm. After a moment I said, “So are you off the case now?”

He sat back still holding my hand. “Yes.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
It doesn’t matter. The important thing is you’re alive, and getting well, and now I can be with you. That is if you want me.”

I smiled and parroted, “I’ve never stopped wanting you.” He leaned forward and gave me another quick kiss, just enough to ratchet up my blood pressure and send warmth down to my toes, but not enough to set off any alarms. When my heartbeat slowed back to normal, I said, “I’m surprised that Mom has left us alone for so long.”

“
Brian took her to dinner.”

“
Brian and my Mom?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“
I am not double dating with my Mom.”

“
Good because I see all I want of Brian during work hours.”

Detective Long and Mom walked in a few minutes later. I studied them both. They weren’t holding hands, and she didn’t look flushed, so maybe it was just two hungry people sharing dinner. I sincerely hoped so. Delgado stood up, but he kept hold of my hand.

Mom came around the other side and hugged me. “How are you feeling?”

I said, “Terrific.” and then I felt my face turn red.

She smiled and winked at Delgado. He managed to look a little smug and innocent all at the same time.

Detective Long asked, “Do you feel up to answering a few questions?”

I said, “Sure.”

Delgado glared at him. “Can’t this wait?”

Brian ignored him. “Maybe it would be better if I spoke to you alone.”

Delgado said, “I’m not leaving.”

Mom, ever the peacemaker, said she wanted to ask the nurses about my medication, and slipped out.

Detective Long took out a notebook. “Do you remember the accident?”

“
Yes, at least part of it.”

“
What do you remember?”

“
The brakes failed. I couldn’t stop, so I turned right trying to merge with the traffic entering the on-ramp to the freeway. The guy behind me hit me. My car spun around, hitting the guardrail. I think I hit another car. I don’t remember much after that. Was anyone else hurt?”

“
A few bumps and bruises. You were the only one seriously injured. We checked out your car. Someone had sliced through your brake lines. There was a puddle of brake fluid where you normally park in the garage.”

“
You’re saying it wasn’t an accident? Someone deliberately tried to kill me?” I looked at Delgado. He squeezed my hand, keeping his face turned away from me, the muscle in his jaw clinched. This wasn’t new information for him.

Brian‘s voice was calm and matter of fact. “It wasn’t an accident, but I’m not sure the goal was to kill you. Whoever it was probably just wanted to scare you. It’s not like Vegas has any big hills or dangerous curves where you could lose control and drop to your death. The most likely outcome was that you would be involved in a minor fender bender. However, no matter how severe the accident, any examination of the vehicle would turn up the evidence that someone had deliberately tampered with your brakes. I think that’s what he was counting on. It was a warning. We reviewed the surveillance video from the garage, but unfortunately your car was just out of range of the cameras.” Looking up from his notes and fixing me with a steady gaze, he asked, “What have you been doing that would make someone want to send you that kind of a warning?”

I thought back. “Actually I think I’ve made quite a few people nervous lately.”

He waited patiently for me to continue.

“
You already know about Arnie Waters and his threats.”

He nodded.

“
Darryl Collins, the corporate VP of HR, seemed upset when I insinuated that Monica told me he and she were in regular contact. It wasn’t true, but I wanted to see his reaction. If Monica was into blackmail, Darryl would have been a prime candidate.” I looked at Delgado. He closed his eyes and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe I had been that stupid. I wasn’t looking forward to telling him about Jerry.

Detective Long asked, “Why do you say that Darryl was a prime candidate?”

I told him the whole story about what a player Darryl was, and my theory that if he had an affair with Monica, she could’ve used that to blackmail him, since Darryl was married to the Chairman’s sister. He wrote it all down.

“
Anyone else?”

“
I called Jerry McCrea, the teamsters' union rep, to ask why he met with Monica during negotiations. He hedged and said it was something minor. Said he couldn’t remember, but Jerry has a mind like a steel trap. He can recall details of conversations we’ve had six months ago, so I knew he was lying.”

Delgado growled, “He told us he never met with her.”

“
Rose remembers seeing him come in.” I hadn’t meant to mention Rose, but at least I didn’t tell them about the notes. I moved. A stab of pain shot through my rib cage causing me to gasp. Mom must have been watching through the window, because she came rushing in with nurse in tow and threw everyone out. I wanted Delgado to stay, but he kissed me on the forehead and told me to get some rest, saying he needed to talk to Brian.

I welcomed the pain medication, but I guess I had enough sleep because I stayed awake. Mom helped me get out of bed and walk a few steps before I collapsed in a chair. It felt good to get out of bed, to know that all the parts were still working, even if I was weak as a kitten.

Charlene came to visit, delighted to see I was awake and out of bed. Between the two of us, we managed to convince Mom to go home, get some rest, and not come back until morning. After she left, Charlene and I discussed the accident. I shared with her my conversation with Delgado and Brian.

Of course, she wasn‘t surprised that Delgado cared about me, since she’d known that all along. Besides, she’d seen him camped out in ICU for two days. Mom had told her that he was responsible for saving my life. However, the slashed brake lines were news.

“
I don‘t care what Detective Long said, you could have been killed. If you’re in no danger, why is there policeman stationed outside your room?” She wanted to know.

I had no answer for that. Maybe Delgado was just being overprotective. We went over my suspect list.

“
Rose has been keeping notes on Monica and she doesn’t have an alibi for the time Monica was murdered. She thinks her husband, Danny has left the country.”

“
I still can’t believe it’s Rose.” Charlene opened her bag and pulled out a brush to brush my hair.

“
Maybe Danny killed her and then left the country.”

“
Why would he kill Monica?” She pulled out a compact.

“
Jealousy? I don’t know. What’s with the makeup?”

“
Shut up and trust me. It’s part of the recovery process.”

I sighed. We discussed Jerry’s lies and Darryl’s nervousness. “At least I can cross off Arnie Waters, because he couldn’t have killed Monica.”

“
He could have slashed your brakes. He might have wanted to punish you for turning him in to the police. The person who killed Monica doesn’t have to be the same person who tampered with your brakes.”

I thought it was unlikely there were two murderers roaming the property, but I left him on the list.

“
According to Rose, Martin Sanders met with Monica.”

“
Isn’t he that crazy cook, the one who writes all those grievances that sound more like some manifesto against management?”

“
That’s the guy.”

“
It wouldn’t surprise me if he was the one to try and kill you. The man’s a nut and he doesn’t like you much.”

“
Yeah, he’s been pretty vocal about that.” While we had this discussion, Charlene had done her best to make me look presentable. I wasn’t sure why. If Delgado had stationed a policeman outside my room, he probably wasn’t planning to come back, but I was too tired to argue with her. Finally, she helped me back to bed where she draped me in a gorgeous bed jacket. When she handed me a mirror, I was surprised to see that aside from a bruise on my forehead, my face didn’t look bad; in fact, I looked pretty good. There was a large white bandage on my neck, presumably where they sewed up the nicked artery.

The doctor came in and said all my vital signs looked good, and if I promised to take it easy for a couple of days, he would let me go home in the morning. After he left, the phone rang. Charlene answered it, and handed it to me.

Alan said, “Hi beautiful, are you all right? I tried to come back and visit you but the policeman wouldn’t let me in. I was afraid maybe you had taken a turn for the worse.”

“
No, I’m fine. I don’t know why you weren’t on the list of visitors. I’ll check it out, but it really doesn’t matter, because the doctor says I can go home tomorrow.” We chatted for a few more minutes and then he said he’d see me tomorrow. My brother Eddie called and asked if he needed to come home. I reassured him I was fine and since I’d be leaving the hospital tomorrow, he should stay in school.

I must have drifted off to sleep again. When I woke up, Charlene was gone and Delgado stood at the window softly talking on his cell phone. His hair was slightly messy, as if he’d been running his hands through it. Even with dark circles under his eyes, he was still devastatingly handsome. I was thankful for Charlene’s attempts to make me presentable.

When he realized I was awake, he finished the call, crossed the room to sit in the chair next to the bed, and took my hand in his. “I’m sorry did I wake you?”