Explosive Attraction (5 page)

After lifting Darby up into the ceiling, Rafe pulled himself up after her and settled on top of a crossbeam. A noise sounded from below, a whisper
of sound.

Rafe hurried to secure the tile back in the ceiling. “Come on,” he whispered against Darby’s ear. “This way.” The tiny gaps between the ceiling tiles and the railings allowed enough light in for him to plan their escape route. He could see the end of the hallway thirty feet away. If he could get Darby to that wall, they could drop down into the stairwell.

Halfway to his goal,
he glanced back and realized Darby hadn’t followed him. She was still crouched on her hands and knees exactly where she’d been when he’d lifted her into the ceiling. He motioned for her to join him, but she didn’t react. Her eyes were open but even though she was staring at him, she didn’t seem to see him.

Carefully turning around on the beam, he went back to her. There wasn’t any sound from
the room below. Was the gunman still there? If Darby had followed him across the beam, they’d already be over another room by now, and it wouldn’t matter.

Rafe leaned down close to Darby’s face. Her eyes were glassy and she was motionless, like a statue. Pressuring her to climb into the ceiling had been a mistake. Her fears were far more serious than he’d realized. Somehow he had to get through
to her, to bring her back.

He gently brushed her hair out of her eyes, ran his fingers across her warm, soft skin. No reaction, just that scary, glassy stare. He couldn’t even risk whispering to her with the gunman below.

Come on, Darby. Look at me. See me. You can do this.

Her body started to shake. She let go of the beam beneath her and wrapped her arms around her waist. Rafe
grabbed for her, barely catching her before she could fall. If he let her go now, she’d fall sideways right through the ceiling tiles, right into the shooter’s line of sight.

A noise sounded below. The creak of the bathroom door opening.

Darby’s eyes widened, and she let out a low moan.

Rafe did the only thing he could do. He clamped his mouth down on hers to stifle the sound.

The response was intense, immediate.

But not from Darby.

Rafe’s pulse kicked into high gear. Blood pumped away from his brain to another part of his anatomy. As if his hand had a life of its own, it spanned down her back, cupping her bottom.

It had been a long time since he’d held a woman. That was the reason he suddenly wanted to tear off Darby’s ridiculous and completely adorable
hospital gowns. That was the reason he wanted to trace his tongue down the curve of her neck, taste the salty sweetness of her skin.

But that wasn’t going to happen. Not with a gunman below. And certainly not when the woman whose lips were pressed against his didn’t even know he was there.

He started to pull back, but Darby followed. She leaned forward, her lips parted as she reached
her hands up and pulled him back toward her. That was all the encouragement he needed. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, delighted when she moved against him in response. She sucked lightly on his tongue, and his body throbbed against her softness.

She jerked back, and Rafe had to grab her arms to keep her from falling off the beam. Her wide eyes stared at him in horror, as if being held
by him was the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

That horrified look was like a bucket of ice water, and suddenly he was just as horrified as she was. How could he have gotten so wrapped up in her that he’d completely forgotten about the gunman?

Her eyes flashed at him and she pushed him away, holding on to the beam again. She looked as if she was ready to give him a furious
lecture.

He clamped his hand over her mouth. He looked down toward the room below, then back at her, until her eyes widened with understanding. He slowly eased the pressure of his hand against her mouth, then held a finger in front of his lips, letting her know to be quiet.

When she nodded, he half turned on the beam and pointed to the far end, waving for her to follow him.

She
blinked as if only just then realizing where they were. When she didn’t move, he grabbed hold of the beam above his head, and maneuvered himself until he was sitting on the beam behind her. He reached down and caressed her bottom. The moment his hand touched her, she jerked and began to crawl across the beam toward the far wall. He gritted his teeth, not at all flattered that she found his touch so
distasteful.

Her fears froze her in place twice again, and each time, he ran his hand lightly across her bottom, shocking her into moving forward. By the time they reached the wall, he was hard and aching. This was a heck of a place and time for him to realize that Dr. Darby Steele had a smoking-hot rear end.

At the far wall, she clung to one of the crossbeams, her eyes closed, her entire
body shaking.

Sympathy curled inside him. Something terrible must have happened to give her such a deep-seated fear of dark, enclosed places. He pressed his lips next to her ear. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you to climb into this ceiling. But it’s almost over now. All we have to do is drop down onto the stairwell landing and we’re home free. Okay?”

And just like that, she was
gone again. She’d retreated back inside herself, her mind blocking out her fears, taking her to a place where she was safe.

Rafe listened intently. He hadn’t heard any sounds from below, or any creaking doors opening again, as he and Darby had worked their way across the beam. He hated going down into the stairwell blind, but he wasn’t about to sit and wait for gunfire to come strafing up
from below, either. They were far too vulnerable and exposed up here.

Curling his fingers around the ceiling tile directly beneath the beam he was sitting on, he quietly lifted it. The landing below was all clear. But there wasn’t anything for him to use to climb down. He would have to lower Darby down first, then drop down after her.

He pulled her onto his lap. She didn’t react. She
just gave him that same glassy stare she’d had before. He scooted forward and braced his legs on two crossbeams, with the opening in the ceiling centered between his thighs.

“I’m going to lower you down into the light,” he whispered. “No more dark, tight places, okay?”

She didn’t even blink.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, he cradled her in his arms and held her over the hole.
He gently released her legs, then held her under her arms, carefully lowering her. He bent down as far as he could, sliding his hands to her biceps, then her forearms, until her feet were dangling just a few inches off the floor. Still, she didn’t move. Her breath came in short, choppy pants.

He hated to just let her go, but he had no choice. He released her hands, grimacing when she crumpled
onto the concrete landing. He swung out over the opening and dropped down beside her, praying he hadn’t hurt her by letting go.

He started to pick her up when the door to the landing flew open. He shoved Darby behind him as a man stepped through the opening, gun in hand, pointed straight at him.

Jake.

Rafe sagged with relief. Had he and Darby been running from a fellow police officer
this entire time?

“I’m sure glad it’s you.” Rafe grinned, but his smile faded when Jake remained silent and continued to point the gun at him.

“Jake?”

The sound of booted feet clomping up the stairs sounded from below. Jake and Rafe both looked over the railing. The SWAT team had finally arrived.

Jake gave Rafe an odd look, then holstered his gun. “Detectives Jake Young and
Rafe Morgan are up here,” he called out. “This floor is clear.”

The SWAT team stopped on the landing. “We’ll do a sweep, just to be sure. We’ve cleared the lower floors.” He looked at Darby. “Is she okay? Does she need a medic, sir?”

Rafe scooped Darby into his arms. “I’ll take her to the E.R. and have her checked out.”

“Officer Terry will escort you to the elevator on the next
level down, sir, while we sweep this floor.”

Jake and the SWAT officer led the way down the stairs to the next landing.

The SWAT leader held the door open.

Jake’s mouth tightened as Rafe approached him with Darby cradled to his chest. Jake glanced at Darby, then jerked to the side to allow Rafe to pass.

Rafe wasn’t sure what to make of his brother-in-law’s reaction, but he
didn’t have time to think about it now. He needed to get Darby help. The SWAT officer led him down the long hallway, through the double doors to the bank of elevators. Rafe stepped inside the nearest one and punched the button for the first floor.

As the doors began to close, Jake stepped in front of the elevator, his eyes intent, his hands clenched into fists. Rafe didn’t bother holding
the door for him.

Chapter Five

Dawn was still a few hours away, which had Rafe itching to leave the hospital. He wanted to get Darby out of here, into hiding, before the bomber came looking for her. But he couldn’t do that until the doctors cleared her to leave.

She wasn’t critical, and wouldn’t even be in the intensive care unit except that Rafe had insisted. She’d woken up from that trance
almost as soon as he got her to the E.R., which was a huge relief. But a psychiatrist was in with her now. And since the walls in the ICU patient rooms were all glass, this was the perfect place to watch over her, even though Rafe was currently standing in another patient’s room directly across the hall—Captain Buresh’s room. Buresh had proved to be harder to kill than Rafe had given him credit
for.

“I thought you were here to see me, but I guess I was wrong.” Buresh’s voice sounded weak but amused.

Rafe dragged his gaze back to Buresh. “About time you woke up. You look like hell.”

“You don’t look so great yourself. The way you’re frowning, I expect you still have a devil of a headache. And you look like you’re ready to fall down from exhaustion.”

“I’m fine.”

Buresh snorted. “I bet the doctors disagree with you.”

Rafe didn’t bother to respond. Buresh knew him well enough to know he wasn’t one to follow doctor’s orders. He grabbed a plastic chair from across the room and dragged it over to the bed. He straddled the chair and rested his arms across the back. “I’ve heard a few of the details, but I want your version. What happened after you left my
room last night?”

Buresh’s hands fisted against the sheets. “You heard about Daniels?”

“I heard he was killed, yes.”

A look of pain flashed across Buresh’s face. “It’s my fault. I didn’t post enough officers here at the hospital. I figured the bomber would go to ground, that he wouldn’t risk showing himself again so soon with half the police force searching for him.”

Having
gone through his own blame game for the past year, Rafe understood his boss’s guilt all too well. Nothing Rafe could say would make him feel better. Only time would do that. And even then, there would still be moments when the past would slam into him so hard it would steal his breath. He’d relive every agonizing moment of what had happened. Fear would twist his gut, make him wake up in a cold sweat.
Rage would pulse through him, making him clench his fists so hard his nails cut into his hands and made him bleed. But no matter how many times he replayed the past in his mind, the result was still the same.

Because no one can change the past.

No matter how desperately they wished they could.

“You want me to come back later?” Rafe asked.

Buresh shook his head and let out a
deep sigh. “Waiting won’t change anything. Might as well tell you the details while they’re still fresh.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Apparently the bomber stole a lab coat from a doctor’s car in the parking lot. When a couple of ambulances pulled up to the E.R., he walked right in. In the confusion, no one noticed an extra doctor walking around.”

He absently toyed with the IV tubing
by his hand. “After I left your room, I headed to the elevator. As soon as I stepped through the double doors at the end of the hall, he grabbed me from behind, held a knife to my throat. He dragged me into a storage closet, handcuffed me and gagged me. He left for about five minutes. I figure that’s when he got Daniels and the nurse, poor woman.”

A cold, sick feeling twisted Rafe’s stomach.
“He killed a woman?”

“No, no, he didn’t hurt her. He grabbed her when she left the desk to go to the bathroom. Gagged her, tied her up and left her in one of the patient’s rooms near the elevator. No one knows for sure what happened to Daniels. Maybe he left his station outside your door to check on the nurse when she didn’t return. Or maybe the killer used his disguise as a doctor to lure
Daniels down the hall. Regardless, a few minutes after the nurse was tied up, the killer put Daniels in with her. He was unconscious when the killer dragged him into the room. He finished the job, stabbed him, right in front of the nurse.”

Rafe replayed Buresh’s words in his mind, trying to piece everything together. Something was missing, because the pieces didn’t fit. He shook his head.
“I don’t get the timeline.”

Buresh dropped the tubing and gave Rafe his full attention. “What do you mean?”

“When you left my room, Daniels was still outside?”

“Right.”

“And the nurse? Was she at the desk?”

Buresh frowned and thought for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t remember seeing anyone there when I walked by. Maybe that’s when she stepped out to go to the
restroom.”

“It all had to happen fast,” Rafe said, “because there was only about a six minute lag after you left to when the transformer blew. And another couple of minutes before you called my room.”

“Right,” Buresh said. “The nurse must have been first. Then the killer tied me up, left to get Daniels. He obviously used a timer for the bomb, because the transformer blew while I was
in the closet. The killer came back and made me call you. Then he stabbed me, for no reason. I wasn’t resisting.” He cursed and shook his head. “You did get my SOP reference, right? You got that I was trying to tell you to get out of there?”

“Of course. That was quick thinking, probably saved Darby’s life.”

“Maybe, maybe not. I imagine you would have figured out something was up pretty
soon and would have gotten her out of there anyhow.” Buresh waved his hand in the air. “As for the timeline, seems straightforward to me. What’s the problem?”

“I called 9-1-1 right after I talked to you,” Rafe said. “Immediately after that call, I got Darby out of the room. We were in the hall about five seconds before I heard someone pushing open the double doors. I pulled Darby into one
of the patient rooms, and we hid there while a gunman crept through the hallway, searching every room.” He tightened his hands against the top of the chair. “I thought he was the bomber, which is why Darby and I ended up in the ceiling to get away. But it wasn’t the bomber. It was Jake.”

Buresh blinked in confusion. “That doesn’t make sense. How could Jake have gotten up there so fast? You’d
just called 9-1-1. And where did the bomber go after stabbing me?”

“Exactly my point. That’s the problem with the timeline.”

Buresh swore. “Are you trying to imply Jake’s the bomber? If that’s the case, just show a picture of Jake to Dr. Steele and we can settle this right now.” He snorted and shook his head. “You and I both know there are holes all over that theory. He was with me in
the warehouse when the bomber kidnapped Dr. Steele. And even if he wasn’t, he’s a cop. Hell, you grew up together. He’s your best friend.”

“Was,” Rafe said. “
Was
my best friend. Not anymore. You know he blames me for Shelby’s death.”

“I’m sure that’s just grief talking.”

“That might explain his actions right after Shelby died. But a year? No, there’s something else going on. Regardless,
I’m not making any assumptions. And I’m not ruling anyone out. We don’t know that Jake
isn’t
the bomber. All we know for sure is that he’s not the man who kidnapped Darby. The bomber and the kidnapper could be two different people.”

Buresh’s eyes widened and he started coughing violently. Rafe grabbed the cup of ice chips sitting on the table next to the bed and handed them to his boss.

After swallowing a mouthful of ice, Buresh glared at Rafe. “Detective Jake Young,” he said, “is one of us. No way is he involved in this mess. As soon as Dr. Steele is discharged, you get her out of here. I don’t want any arguments. You’re both banged up and need the rest, so you might as well keep her close so you can protect her. Leave the investigating to someone else. When you’re all rested
up, get your butt back into the station to work with a sketch artist. And after that, I want you—and Jake—in my office. We’ll get to the bottom of this timeline problem. And I guaran-freaking-tee he’s not involved.”

“You don’t really believe you’ll be back in the office anytime soon, do you?”

“I may look like hell, and feel like hell, but other than losing some blood, I’m fine. The bomber
didn’t cut anything vital. Whether the doctors want to let me go tomorrow or not, I’m going.” His mouth flattened into a hard line. “I need to be a part of this investigation. I have to look at Daniels’s widow and tell her I did everything I could to find her husband’s killer.”

* * *

“W
AKE
UP
,
SLEEPYHEAD
.”

Darby frowned at the deep voice intruding into her sleep. She mumbled a protest
and threw her arm over her eyes to block out the bright light that flickered on overhead.

“I let you sleep as long as I could.” A hand gently shook her.

She slapped the hand off her shoulder and blinked her eyes open.

When she saw who was bothering her, she groaned and closed her eyes again. Detective Rafe Morgan. She hadn’t seen him since waking up from her so-called trance in
an examining room in the E.R. He’d insisted on a psychiatric consult, in spite of her embarrassed pleading with him to just let it go. She didn’t need another mental health professional to tell her what she already knew.

Dark, tight places terrified her.

“Nap time is over.” Rafe shook her shoulder, his touch gentle in spite of the way he’d barked out his order.

Darby let out an
exasperated breath and opened her eyes again. The clock on the wall behind him showed her how late, or rather early, it was. “Good grief. It’s five in the morning.”

“We should have left an hour ago.” He plopped a small suitcase on the foot of the bed and pitched a tan plastic bag next to it, one of those disposable bags with the name of a local grocery store written across it.

Realizing
her tormentor wasn’t going to leave her alone, she sat up, grabbed the plastic bag and looked inside. White cotton slacks, a dark button-up blouse...a bra and panties. Her face flushed hot. “What’s this?”

“I had your assistant go to your house and pack you some things. She said the grocery bag has what you need to change here in the hospital. Everything else is in the suitcase. You’ve got
five minutes.”

He turned to go, and she realized he’d already changed his clothes. His hospital gown was gone. In its place was a pair of faded jeans and a muscle-hugging forest-green T-shirt. And he was sporting another ominous-looking gun again, holstered against his hip.

“Wait,” she called out as he pulled the door open.

He paused and looked at her expectantly.

She pressed
the buttons on the bed, raising herself into a sitting position. “What’s going on?” She glanced toward the door, her body tensing. “Is...is there someone out there? Is that why we have to leave right now?”

The look on his face softened. He let the door close and strode back to her bed. “You’re safe. Plenty of cops this time. But I want you out of here before the sun comes up, just in case
the bomber’s watching the hospital. I’m betting he might be asleep right now, so this is the best time to go.”

Hearing the bomber might be watching the hospital had her pulse leaping in her throat. The selfish part of her wanted to jump up right now and get as far away as she could. But that wasn’t right, not when she could tell Rafe wasn’t anywhere near recovered from their ordeal in the
marsh.

The corners of his eyes were tight with strain, and his face seemed pale beneath his tan. Even though the stubborn man was obviously trying to hide that he was in pain, his head must be throbbing. Because every now and then he winced.

“You have a concussion. You can’t leave. You should be lying in bed, being monitored by a doctor. And I’m sure you need some pain medication.”

He tilted her chin up. “I can handle a little headache. What I can’t handle is you getting hurt. You’re far too intelligent not to realize it makes sense to get out of here. Now.”

Intelligent or not, all the arguments in her head fled the moment his warm hand touched her. “All right, give me a few minutes.”

He nodded and headed out the door.

Determined not to dwell on why Rafe
Morgan, of all people, could send shivers of delight shooting through her just by touching her chin, she grabbed the grocery bag and went into the bathroom. After taking care of her needs and using the toiletries Mindy had—bless her heart—included in the bag, she hurriedly changed out of the hospital gown into the slacks and shirt. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, slipping on her shoes when
Rafe came back into the room.

“Let’s go.” He grabbed her suitcase and her hand and towed her toward the door.

That inexplicable tingle of pleasure shot through Darby again. Irritated both with herself for reacting to his touch, and with him for constantly trying to haul her around everywhere, she tugged her hand out of his grasp.

He stopped and looked at her in question.

“I’ll
walk beside you, or in front of you, but I refuse to be pulled behind you like a toy on a string.”

He rolled his eyes but didn’t try to take her hand again. He opened the door, spoke to the officer visible through the glass wall and motioned for her to join him.

They hurried down the long hallway toward the brightly lit entrance. He stopped beside one of the two police officers standing
near the double sliding glass doors. They spoke in low tones, before Rafe put his hand on the small of Darby’s back, guiding her through the doors out to the parking lot. She could feel the tension radiating off him. He continually glanced around. The policemen stood at the doors, watching them, but Darby still felt uneasy.

When they reached the driver’s side of a black, four-wheel drive
pickup, Rafe tossed her suitcase in the back and pulled a set of keys out of his jeans pocket. He used the clicker to unlock his door and yanked it open.

Darby wasn’t sure how she was going to climb into the massive truck. There was no way her short legs could reach that high. Rafe must have realized the same thing, because he suddenly put his hands around her waist. She let out a surprised
squeal when he lifted her up into the driver’s seat. It was a bench seat, and she had to quickly scoot over to avoid him sitting on her lap when he climbed inside.