Drawing The Line (3 page)

“No. About the knitting circle he’s starting on Tuesday n
ights.” As hard as Jason tried, keeping a straight face was a total no-go. He shifted against the driver’s seat, leaning back as far as his six-foot-one frame would let him. “Yes, about the task force. What do you think? You’re in, right?”

Okay, so Jason had
been jacked up about the all-call for interested detectives ever since the thing had pinged its way into his inbox last week, but he hadn’t wanted to say anything about it until Noah was back on active duty. You had to be a little bit crazy and a whole lot devoted to throw yourself into something like an inter-divisional task force geared toward taking down the city’s biggest drug ring. And while Jason knew Noah’s heart was always in it, it wouldn’t have been fair to ask the guy before his body could comply, too. But now that he was back, they could jump in with both feet.

Noah hesitated, aiming his gaze out the tinted window to the blur of the city streets beyond. “Actually, I think I’
m going to pass.”

Jason laughed in a hard burst. “
Right. And I’m Lebron James. You should see my lay-up.”

“I’m serious, Jay. I’m out this time.”

Jason’s grip tightened over the steering wheel, the leather creaking beneath his fingers as the shock of Noah’s words elbowed their way through his consciousness. “Are you okay?” Jason asked, concern jangling around in his gut like bullet casings over concrete. “I mean, if you want to ease back into things, I’m sure Lieu could—”

“My arm’
s fine,” Noah interrupted without heat. “And so is the rest of me. I’m just re-thinking the extras, you know? Taking a little more time for personal stuff.”

Jason fought his groan, but it snuck out anyway. “You’re doing this for Violet?”

“Absolutely,” Noah said, and damn it, how could Jason argue with logic that made his twin sister, who was his only living relative, blissfully happy? Even if it did seem crazy at best.

“
You are the last person I’d ever expect to go this route.” It was as close to a concession as Jason was going to get. He might be happy for the two of them, but that didn’t mean he was going to forego giving both Noah and Violet a hard time.

“Uh-huh. I’ll remind you of that when some woman comes flying out of the blue and knocks you on your ass.”
A smile poked at the corners of Noah’s mouth, but Jason was quick to temper the words.

“You might be hanging onto that one for a while. I’
m definitely not the head-over-heels type.”

Despite the words, Noah’s smile took root and grew. “
Okay.”

Jason opened his mouth
to flip back a smart reply, but he bit down on it at the last second. Digging into the love thing was sticky territory for several reasons, and not just because the object of his partner’s affection was Jason’s sister. The job wasn’t really conducive to successful relationships— not ones that lasted outside the confines of a calendar page, anyway. If Noah and Violet wanted to give it a go on their own terms, that was one thing. But Jason?

Not going there. The job was too important to pull back on. He owed his father that much.

The conversation swung back to the case, where it thankfully stayed until they arrived at the hospital. Jason checked the Glock at his hip with a subtle slide of his hand as he and Noah got out of the Tahoe and walked through the parking lot.

“
You want me to take the owner?” Noah asked, the muted hiss of the automatic doors greeting them as they walked past the entrance and through the glass-walled atrium of the main lobby.

The image of Se
renity Gallagher’s pixie-like face and sparkling black-coffee eyes sprang into Jason’s head again as if it had been pre-loaded and ready to go. “Nah. I can do it. She might be more comfortable with a familiar face.”

While he’d never conducted a victim interview with someone he knew, Jason had do
ne enough of them to know putting the person at ease was crucial, not to mention the decent thing to do. Plus, all the other angles in this case looked like they were going to pan out to nil. The very least they could hope for at this point was some reliable information from Serenity.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries with the nurse manning the check-in desk, Jason and Noah buzzed past a set of double-wide security doors and into triage. Dr. Blake Fisher, who’d taken care of Noah a couple of months ago, nodded a hello in their direction as he looped a stethoscope around his neck from his spot behind the cluttered nurse’s station.

“Detectives.
” His smile was genuine despite the work-weary lines around his eyes. “Good to see you’re both in one piece. I heard you were on your way for the two assault victims brought in a little while ago?”

Jason
nodded, resting his elbow on the stretch of countertop between them in an easy lean. “That we are. What can you give us?”

Dr. Fisher’
s brow tugged downward, and he reached across the desk to rifle through a stack of electronic tablets with a methodical clack, pulling two of them from the pile. “Mr. Worth sustained a stab wound to the upper left chest. Paramedics were able to stabilize him somewhat, but the injury resulted in a pneumothorax en route. He’s in surgery to repair the damage right now.”

Shit. A collapsed lung was bad news even on
a good case. “What’s the prognosis?”

“You’ll have to check with the surgeon. A lot depends on what they find once they get in there
, so it’s hard to say. But it’s likely he’ll be up there for a while.”

Noah shook his head, the same seriousness on his face that Jason felt churning through his gut. “What about Ms. Gallagher?”

Dr. Fisher’s expression eased up, but just a little. “Head injury from blunt force trauma, resulting in a concussion. She’s stable and resting in one of the curtain areas.”

“Was she
hit with an object? Some kind of weapon?” Jason asked, and the thought of it sent a hard shot of anger through his chest. While Serenity didn’t seem weak by any stretch, the idea of some punk cracking her across the head made him twitchy as hell. 

Thankfully,
Dr. Fisher shook his head to the negative. “Hard to tell. The injury is to the back of the head, so it’s possible. But we see results like this from injuries caused by falls, too. So it’s just as likely she was pushed and hit her head on the way down.”

“But she’s
okay to make a full statement?”

“She’s
been cleared of other injuries and should be able to talk briefly, yes. I’d like to keep her a little while longer for observation, but if all goes well, she should be released fairly soon. We’ve contacted family for both of them.” Dr. Fisher stood, tucking both charts beneath the arm of his rumpled white doctor’s coat. “Ms. Gallagher might be a little groggy or disoriented from the injuries. She got damned lucky. Head injuries like that are usually a lot worse, but overall, she’s fine to make a statement. Right this way, detectives.”

They moved down the corridor in a unit, their various footsteps sending soft echoes over the gray and white l
inoleum. Dr. Fisher directed Jason to a room toward the back of the emergency department before offering to take Noah upstairs to surgery, and they parted ways with a pair of tight, reciprocal nods.

Jason
eyed the geometric pattern on the tightly-drawn curtain blocking his view into the room, cueing up his most relaxed expression. With a deep breath, he rapped his knuckles over the glass door, just hard enough to feel the impact across the back of his hand and make sure his presence was clear before he pushed it open.

“Ms. Gallagher?
Jason Morgan, Brentsville PD.”

A sharp intake of breath so
unded off from behind the fabric, followed by a feminine voice curling around a decidedly
un
feminine swear. Jason froze to his spot, but the loud crash that capped off the exchange had him whipping back the curtain in one swift yank.

“Serenity?”
His pulse clattered through his veins, individual images registering in rapid-fire succession. The creased white sheets framing the empty hospital bed, the overturned rolling stand and attached blood pressure monitor sprawled out across the narrow expanse of linoleum like a downed oak tree.

And Serenity Gallaghe
r, looking both utterly stunned and utterly irritated as she stood in front of him in nothing but her bra and underwear.

“Oh!” she chirped, her gasp of surprise colliding with Jason’s words.

“Whoa! I’m sorry.” He jumped back and averted his eyes, but the image of pale blue lace and smooth, creamy skin burned a path all the way through him and refused to dissipate. “Are you hurt?” That equipment had come down pretty hard. Undressed or not, she might need help.

Holy hell. She was very. Very. Undressed.

“Most people wait for a
come in
after knocking,” Serenity said crisply, her words punctuated by a smaller crash and a huff of irritation that slapped him back to the hospital room without pause.

“I’ll
take that as a no.” Jason cocked his ear toward her, eyes still purposely trained away even though a deeper, baser part of him was sorely tempted to look. “Can I help you, ah, find your hospital gown? Or would you like me to get a nurse?”

“No thank you to both.”
Fabric rustled in a series of quick movements, followed by the sound of a zipper being tugged into place. “It’s safe to look now.”

He
blinked, his confusion quickly clicking into realization at the sight of her in a navy blue T-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. No way was he going to let her jump the scene without giving a statement, and anyway, she’d just taken a pretty serious whack to the head. Jason might not be a doctor, but he was fairly certain all the up-and-about wasn’t in the game plan.

He needed to slow her down, and he needed to do it now.
“What’s the hurry?” Jason asked with a manufactured smile, but before Serenity could answer, a nurse rushed past the curtain, her gaze locked onto her patient with laser-like attention.

“Is everything okay in here? I heard a crash from the nurse’s station.”
The woman looked down at the still-overturned blood pressure monitor, then narrowed her eyes on Serenity’s wardrobe change. “You shouldn’t be out of bed. And where’s your gown?”

Serenity’s dark eyes went as round as her mouth
, and she took a step back, bumping to a halt against the edge of the bed rail. “I, um…I…”

“It’
s actually my fault,” Jason said, stepping in to give the nurse a sheepish smile while he blocked Serenity from the woman’s view. “I knocked right into this thing while I was helping Ms. Gallagher back to her bed so she could rest while she waits for her release papers. I’m so sorry, I didn’t even see it.” He tossed up his hands in a
whoops
-like approximation, cranking up his most winning smile as he reached down to set the rolling stand back to rights, and God bless her, the nurse bit hook, line and stethoscope.

“
Oh.” The nurse blushed, her attention diverted. “I apologize, detective. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay down here.”

“Everything’s great,” Jason said, choosing as much genuine truth as possible
while still cultivating an advantage. “Sorry to alarm you.”

The woman
’s glance flickered over Jason’s shoulder, where Serenity must’ve given some sign of acknowledgment, because the woman headed toward the door without wasting so much as a step. “Just use the call button if you need anything. And please stay in bed, Ms. Gallagher. Just because your MRI came back clear doesn’t mean you should be running around. It’s easy to get dizzy with a head injury, even if you think you feel fine.”

He waited until the door bumped shut against its frame before tur
ning to lift his brows at Serenity, who perched on the edge of the bed even though every inch of her body language had her poised for the door.

Nope. No chance. Jason angled himself directly in
to her exit path, smiling to temper the move. “Now where were we? Ah, right. I was helping you get back into bed,” he said, stepping in to pull back the thin cotton blanket and offer up his hand.

Her expression was wary, but she balanced it out with a firm grip of her fingers over his as she replaced herself against the mattress. “Why did you cover for me?” Serenity asked, and Lord, he was a sucker for a woman who got right to business. Her eyes flicked to the spot on his shoulder that blocked her view of the door, and okay, yeah. She meant a
lot
of business.

“
I didn’t think you getting on the nurse’s bad side would help either of our causes,” Jason said, shocking himself at the straight answer.

Her brow popped high enough to disappear
under the dark fringe of her bangs, and even though she made a good effort to cover the resulting wince, he caught it. “And what causes would those be?”

“You want to get out of here against medical advice pretty badly, Ms. Gallaghe
r. And I don’t want to let you.”