Hardball (33 page)

Nate felt like punching the locker. But he had enough self-control not to give himself a broken hand to go along with the wrecked shoulder. Jake had done him a favor by filling him in on what Holly had said to his wife the previous day. And he’d made it clear that Maddie would murder them both if he ever said a word to Holly about it. “What the hell am I supposed to do now? I can’t get the woman out of my mind. Not even for a damn hour.”

“It is what it is, man.” Jake shook his head as he yanked off his soaked gym clothes. “And you need to get your head together before you even think about taking the mound again. The guys are depending on you.”

“I already tried that. Actually, I went out last night with a girl I dated a couple of times in the off season.” Nate shook his head as he thought about the ridiculously awkward evening with Carla Chiarelli. “All I could think about was how much I wished she was Holly. How’s that for stupid?”

Instead of heading into the shower, Jake sat down at his locker. “But you’re still not ready to do the commitment thing, right?”

Nate grabbed another towel from the stack. His hair was matted and his body still dripped after the tough, hour-long workout in the clubhouse weight room. He flexed and stretched the muscles in his left arm and shoulder. The pain was gone now. A little more strengthening and he’d be the old Nate Carter again. He hoped.

If only he didn’t miss Holly so much. “Jesus, I can’t. I care about her too much. I’m not going to end up breaking her heart. And you know it’ll probably come to that somewhere down the line. I just don’t trust myself not to screw things up.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Yeah, asshole. I get it. You don’t want to be like your sister. So you’d rather let Holly break
your
heart.”

Nate grimaced. “I can take it better.”

“Then deal with it, man,” Jake glared at him. “You can’t have it both ways. Holly’s proud, and she’s not going to go running back to you. If you won’t make the change, then you gotta move on.”

“Tomorrow. They’re sending me up to Ottawa. I’ll pitch there Thursday, and if everything goes okay, I’ll be activated on Monday.” The Ottawa Cougars were the Patriots’ Triple-A team. Players rehabbing from injuries were usually sent there to play a few games before returning to the major league team.

“Can’t come too soon,” Jake said, getting back up. “We need you bad. And speaking of needing you bad, you hear anything about the Dodgers yet? Do they want you or not?”

Nate snorted. “I asked Dembinski again yesterday. He said nothing’s going on. Buddy Baker’s got his ear to the ground in L.A., but he hasn’t heard anything more, either.” And that pissed him off. He didn’t need the uncertainty of his status with the Patriots on top of everything else going wrong in his life. “But I’m sure the Dodgers are waiting until I’ve got a few games under my belt and look completely recovered. I don’t blame them. Nobody’s going to want a sore-armed pitcher.”

“Good,” Jake said. “Sorry, man, but I hope the bastards leave you right where you are.”

“I know. The whole thing’s really messing with my head. Maybe it’s all just smoke, but I wish I knew one way or the other.”

His friend gave him a disbelieving look. “Yeah, not knowing if something you care about is a sure thing or not—a real bitch, isn’t it?”

Holly trudged wearily up her front walk, worn out by her day of shopping with Maddie. Well, actually it was the conversation about Nate that had worn her out more than anything else. She truly looked forward to the day when he wasn’t the first thing that popped into her head in the morning and the last thing before she fell asleep at night.

And everything else in between, too.

Stepping inside, she dumped her bags on the floor and flipped shut the new deadbolt. She’d already hired a locksmith to replace all the locks in her house with top of the line models. The only thing not crossed off her to-do list of beefed-up security measures was the installation of the alarm system. The company she’d hired to do that had a great reputation, but they were too busy to schedule her installation until the following week. Still, the new locks gave her comfort, and she’d almost convinced herself that she had nothing to worry about, anyway.

Maybe it was even true, since Lance Arnold seemed to have disappeared. Holly hadn’t heard a word from him since she left for Florida. Not since the police had met with him. Perhaps the jerk had finally realized that he was skating on thin ice, and had decided to pull back on the intimidation factor.

Tomorrow would tell the tale, though, since she
might
be in front of a judge. The hospital’s motion for a court order compelling Tyler’s surgery was on the docket. Arnold had been served, and would have a lawyer in court. The hospital’s lawyer had told her she probably wouldn’t have to testify because he’d filed comprehensive affidavits from Rosen, Morris and her. Holly had been praying really hard for that to be the case. She knew she’d do a credible job on the witness stand, but the thought of facing Arnold in open court sickened her.

She wandered into her living room and gazed out at the stately sycamores that lined her lovely street. She thought back to how warm and secure she’d felt when Nate had been there with her. Her cute house had felt so cozy then. Now the place seemed cold and empty as she rattled around it by herself.

Maybe all the new furniture and the home theater system she’d bought with Maddie would help her feel more relaxed. It would be delivered the next day. The dark chocolate leather sofa and matching love seat would make the living room more inviting and comfortable, for sure.

More comfortable, but still empty in the way that really counted.

The cell phone vibrated against Holly’s hip. She normally avoided talking on the cell when she was driving, but the eastbound traffic was bumper to bumper for miles ahead, and her car was moving at about the same pace as a brisk walk. Talking on the phone didn’t constitute much of a hazard at that speed.

Whenever the phone rang she still got a little jolt, unconsciously thinking it might be Nate. The inevitable letdown never failed to remind her how much she missed him.

She pulled the phone from the pocket of her short leather jacket and flipped it open. “Hello.”

“Ah, the lovely Doctor Bell. Have you missed me as much as I’ve missed you?”

The ugly, gravelly voice sent shock waves through her body. Involuntarily, her foot stabbed at the brake as she snapped the phone closed. She took it off instantly and accelerated, but a loud screech from behind made her cringe. The driver of the pickup truck behind her swung out into the left lane and roared alongside, flipping her the bird. Luckily, she couldn’t hear the obvious string of obscenities he launched at her as he passed.

Holly took a deep breath. She’d almost caused a crash, and was incredibly lucky she hadn’t.
Get a grip, girl
.

The phone rang again. She knew she shouldn’t pick it up. The thought of talking to Arnold made her stomach clench hard. So, she could hardly believe it when she pressed the talk button.

“My senses are the least of your worries, Doc. Anyway, this court thing. We should talk about that. You sure you really want to go ahead with it?”

Holly swerved right and pulled off onto a nearby exit. She’d completely lost her focus and had to get off the highway before she rammed into somebody. There was a Wawa convenience store ahead where she could park until she got this jerk off the phone.

“Still there, Doc?”

“Look, Arnold,” she said. “You know we’re going to get that court order. And I’ll be in the operating room with Tyler as soon as the judge hands it down.”

A derisive snort. “Not if you know what’s good for you, you won’t. This is your last chance to change your mind. If you go to court, you’re done. You won’t be operating on Tyler or anybody else.”

Her stomach cramped again, so hard that she had to gasp.

A direct threat
. She had to call Rich immediately. Had to get Arnold picked up. Surely a threat like this would do it?

She summoned up all her courage. “Like I said before, you can’t intimidate me. Your son’s life is at stake here.”

“Tyler’s all right now and you damn well know it,” he growled. “You could discharge him today if you wanted to. This is all about you, bitch. Not him. You just want to be the goddamn hero.”

Holly shivered at the visceral hatred lacing his voice. But as frightened as she was, she wanted to finally have it out with him. She couldn’t control a lot in her life right now, but she could control what happened to little Tyler.

“You’re not a stupid man, Arnold. The surgery isn’t a perfect solution, but you’re smart enough to know it’ll prolong your son’s life. Maybe even give him a chance at some kind of normality down the road.”

Something inside her snapped, and fury roared to the surface. “You don’t want Tyler to get better, do you, Arnold? God help you, I think you actually want him to die. He’s just too much of a burden for you, isn’t he? And you can’t kill him like—”

“I’m going to save your son’s life. And I’m going to make sure you never get near him again. How’s that for a threat?” She barely held back the quaver in her voice.

An ugly laugh drifted over the line. “An empty one. Remember, stop that court order, or you’re done. It sounds like you know what I’m capable of doing when I have to.”

She thought she might throw up. Her stomach was doing flips and she was sweating like she was in a sauna. “Tell that to Detective Rich. No. Better yet, I’ll tell him,” she said, trying to sound a lot more confident than she felt.

Arnold laughed, and until the day she died, that ugly, unhinged sound would haunt her memory.

“Yeah, Rich got all worked up when he paid me a visit. The way he got on my ass, I really think you two must have something going. Plus, I haven’t seen you hanging with the baseball hero lately.” He laughed again. “Anyway, you can wish your cop pal good luck in finding me. He’ll need it.”

Holly heard a click and the line went dead. She rested her sweating brow against the steering wheel, forcing her erratic breathing under control. How did he know she and Nate were no longer together? God, the psycho must still be watching her.

And he must have gone to ground after the cops put pressure on him. She’d thought he might appear in court this week, but not anymore. He must have known his legal case was hopeless. That’s why he’d called to threaten her again.

Five minutes later she was home. As soon as she got in the door and threw the deadbolt, she fished Rich’s card out of her bag and punched in the numbers. She breathed a quick sigh of thanks when he picked up right away. “Detective Rich? It’s Holly Bell.”