Jordan, Olivia - Taletha's Salsa Sweethearts [Studio Seductions 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (16 page)

“It would still be in your best interest to maintain a more deferential attitude. I still haven’t decided whether I’m going to make your death quick and painless, or slow and agonizing.”

Matt’s menacing words were interrupted by the sound of a police siren blaring up behind them.

“Shit, they’re on to me,” he snapped, and hit the accelerator. “I thought I had longer before they’d notice the cab was stolen.”

“World-class dancer and a car thief. A man of many talents.”

“Would you shut up?” Matt snapped as two more cars appeared behind them, picking up speed.

“You’re caught, man. Give it up. You’re not going to kill me. The police are going to haul your ass to prison, and if you’re lucky, maybe you can set up some conjugal visits with Emily. But we’re done here. I’m going to live.”

“We’ll see about that!” Matt screamed. He hit the accelerator, made a hard right, and drove through the guardrails, toward the traffic two hundred feet below.

* * * *

“Okay, I know you’re worried about Adam, but we have to concentrate,” Morris snapped. “Our next competition is only a month away, and quite frankly, we need to win. The prize money would definitely help with the extra expenses we’ve incurred this week.”

“I know, I know, but something is wrong. I can feel it in my gut. There’s no reason he’d still be at the auto shop, and no reason why he wouldn’t have figured out a way to contact one of us if his cell phone was dead. We need to figure out what’s wrong and go help him.”

Morris sighed. “You’re going to be a wreck the rest of the afternoon, aren’t you?”

“What if something happened to him?”

“Taletha, I’m sure he’s fine. People get distracted. They forget to call. Their cell phone batteries go dead. Have you gotten this worried about me every time I was a little late to practice?”

“Maybe.”

Morris raised his eyebrows. “Maybe?”

Taletha sighed. “I’m usually more level-headed than this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Morris said. “Let’s just get back to practicing this time.”

Just as Morris was about to turn on the music, a commotion of voices burst out in the staff lounge. Glancing at each other in confusion, Taletha and Morris went running toward the noise.

“What’s wrong?” they asked in unison as they came through the door.

Nobody answered. Everyone was clustered around the tiny television set in the corner. They had the news on, and the screen was showing images of a shattered taxicab that had driven through the interstate guardrails and crashed to the traffic below.

“At present, the police have not released the identities of the victims, and they have also not given a statement as to their conditions,” the news anchor said, concluding her report.

Taletha shuddered. “How terrible. I hope everyone is okay.”

“So do I,” Morris said. “Can you imagine? You think you’re going somewhere, you think you’re going to have a nice, relaxing cab ride, and then all of a sudden, you’re flying off the freeway.”

“Hey, Adam hasn’t called anyone’s cell phone, has he?” Lynne asked as she walked into the room. Her hands were shaking.

Taletha frowned. “No, why?”

“The shop just called. Adam was supposed to pick up his car three hours ago, and, as you can probably guess, he never showed up. They’ve been trying to reach his cell all afternoon, but he hasn’t picked up. The last time they tried, it went straight to voice mail.”

Taletha felt the blood drain from her face. “Do you think…” She trailed off for a moment, unwilling to complete the thought. “Do you think there might be a connection to him not showing up in the shop and this accident here?”

 
Lynne opened her mouth to reply, but before she had a chance to answer, the studio phone rang, and she rushed off to answer it.

Taletha turned to Adam, trying to keep her composure. “What do you think?”

“I think that worrying isn’t going to do any good.”

Just then, Lynne ran back in. “St. Vincent’s Hospital is on the phone.”

Taletha saw Morris’s face go white. She took a deep breath.

“What did they have to say?”

“That Adam has been admitted. And that the cab he was riding in crashed.”

Taletha ran into her office, grabbed her car keys, and tossed them to Morris. “You drive. I don’t trust myself to stay in control right now.”

They were silent on the way to the hospital. Taletha was too nervous to be angry at Morris for not listening, and her mind was consumed with all of the possible things that might have happened. Morris sped the entire way there, and they arrived in record time, but Taletha was practically in tears when they parked ten minutes later. She barreled out of the door the second Morris turned off the ignition, and she raced toward the doors so quickly that Morris had to chase her.

“Slow down, love,” he said, grabbing her by the wrist. “Running won’t save him.”

“Walking won’t get us to him any faster. Come on.” She sped up again, pulling him through the ER doors.

“Hi,” she said to the receptionist, trying to catch her breath. “My name is Taletha Hendricks. I received a call a few minutes ago informing me that Adam Prachett has been admitted.”

“Yes, the doctors are with him right now.”

“How long until I can see him?”

“Are you family?”

“I’m his girlfriend.”

“Sorry, immediate family only.”

“His immediate family is out in California. I don’t think they’ll be able to make the 1,500 mile trip this afternoon.”

“And you’re definitely his girlfriend?”

“Yes. My name is Taletha.”

The nurse turned to Morris. “And what about you?”

“Coworker.”

“Both of you, have a seat. I’ll see what I can do once the doctors are finished taking care of him.”

“Can you tell us how bad it is?”

“I’m afraid I can’t, I’m sorry. You’ll just have to wait until the doctors are done.”

Taletha and Morris settled themselves onto an uncomfortable couch and descended into silence. Morris snaked his fingers through hers, and she squeezed his hand, willing Adam to live. She didn’t want to admit how scared she was, and she didn’t want to hear how scared Morris was, so she simply started at the television mounted to the wall, which was still covering the accident, but not saying anything new.

After nearly an hour, the nurse approached them. “You can go see him now. He’s in room seventeen.” They both stood up, but the nurse stopped Morris. “Girlfriend only, I’m sorry.”

“I understand.” He sat back down and picked up an outdated magazine.

“He’s not quite awake yet,” the nurse said as she escorted Taletha through the triage area. “But he should come to in short order. Of course, the impact was pretty severe. You might want to prepare yourself. He’s in pretty bad shape.”

“How bad?”

“He broke his nose, his tailbone, his left wrist, and several ribs. He also had to have stitches for a number of wounds.”

“But he’ll be able to dance again?”

“Yes. He’s going to hurt for a while, but he’ll heal.”

“And the driver?”

“Due to confidentiality laws, I can’t give you the specifics of Mr. Fairbanks’s condition, but his injuries are comparable.”

Taletha stopped in her tracks. “Fairbanks? As in Matt Fairbanks?”

“You know him?”

“I fired him. I thought he moved to Europe.”

The nurse shrugged. “I guess not. Well, here we are.” She gestured inside the room, where Adam was hooked up to a number of needles and tubes. “Don’t worry, those are all IV painkillers and fluids.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“The police will probably be coming by soon. Once Mr. Prachett wakes up, they’ll have some questions for him.”

“Good. I’ll have plenty to tell them as well.”

* * * *

As Adam returned to consciousness, the first thing he noticed was Taletha’s hand on his. Every muscle in his body ached, but he managed to roll over enough to see her teary smile.

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” she whispered as the tears started falling.

He saw the cast covering his arm, but rather than ask about the obvious injury, his mind turned to a terrifying hypothetical. “I’m not paralyzed, am I?” Not waiting for her to answer the question, he tried to move them, and was relieved to find that his ankles rolled and his knees bent. But he wasn’t anticipating the pain that shot through his lower back as he fidgeted.

“Fuck!” he cried, trying to hold back his own tears.

“Be gentle with yourself. Your body is going to need a lot of time to rest and recover.”

“You mean the wrist that Matt Fairbanks broke.”

“And he’s going to pay.”

“He’s also going to pay for my apartment and your studio.”

Taletha looked shocked. “That wasn’t Emily?”

“She was his coconspirator, but he was definitely the mastermind.”

“What a mess. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. None of this was your fault. And let’s look on the bright side. I’m not in good shape, but I’m going to dance again.”

“That you are. I’m so grateful for that.”

“Yeah, you didn’t want to have to hire two new teachers.”

A small giggle escaped from Taletha’s lips. “It’s nice to see that your sense of humor is still intact.”

The nurse stepped back in. “Mr. Prachett, I’m glad to see that you’re awake. Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine for now, thanks.”

“In that case, the police would like to ask you some questions about the cab theft and the crash. Do you think you’d be up for that right now?”

“Of course. I don’t quite remember what happened after we went over the guardrail, but I can speak to everything that happened beforehand.”

The nurse turned to Taletha. “You can stay a little while longer. But after that I’m going to have to ask you to go home and let Mr. Prachett rest. If everything goes well tonight, you can come pick him up tomorrow.”

“Understood. I appreciate you letting me see him at all.”

As the police entered the room, Taletha noticed Matt being wheeled past.

“Excuse me,” she said, and dashed out.

 
Taletha lingered in the hallway as the orderlies set Matt up in his bed. She slipped in as soon as they had walked back down the hall. Pausing in the doorway, she took inventory. Both of his legs were in casts, as was his right arm, and there was a line of stitches across his forehead.

Matt was awake, and he froze when he noticed her staring at him. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for Adam, mostly, but I thought I’d pay you a little visit as well. I just wanted to congratulate you on being so crafty for so long. You really had me fooled. But justice has prevailed. You’ll be lucky if you dance again, and I’m not talking about those two broken legs.”