Song of the Blackbird (Albatross Prison #1) (8 page)

“It’s policy. One of us has to go with you.” His eyes blazed at her. “And how could you worry about my suit? That bastard almost killed you. I’ll follow in my car.” With that, he abruptly left and the paramedics loaded her into the ambulance.

After a short ride, they finally arrived at the emergency room. Some techs wheeled her to the trauma suite, a huge freezing room with monitors everywhere. Emma was fishing for a pen in her massive purse to fill out the paperwork when Chambers entered.

“Has anyone seen you yet?” He loomed over her.

“No.”
Damn.
The pen was nowhere in sight and her hand was hurting again.

“Here, use mine.” Chambers handed her a fancy engraved fountain pen and kept looking at her with his strange eyes.

Why didn’t he say anything?
Maybe he wasn’t in a chatting mood. Come to think of it, she wouldn’t be either if she’d been vomited on and forced to go to the ER for an employee who wasn’t even that sick. She tried to concentrate on the paperwork.

“Ow.” Emma dropped the pen. Her hand hurt like hell.

“Give it to me.” Chambers grabbed the paperwork and sat down next to the gurney. “I’ll fill it out for you. Emma Eve Edwards, right?”

“Yeah.”
How the heck did he know her middle name?
Right, he had access to her personnel papers. He must’ve looked her up to make sure Regionals hadn’t committed some grave mistake in hiring her.

“Age?”

“Twenty-nine.”

“Marital status?”

“Single.”

“Phone number?”

And so it went. On and on. The guy did it without complaining, recording everything precisely in his bold, distinctive handwriting. When they were done, he flagged down the nurse and handed over the paperwork as well as her insurance card and driver’s license. He stayed by her side the whole time except for when the doctor stepped in to examine her. It was strange having him in the room. He worked on his laptop but checked on her once in a while to make sure she didn’t need anything.

Thank goodness the ER doctor, a man named Dr. Aikins, cleared her for discharge after a few hours of endless waiting. Her head CT turned out fine, just as Emma had predicted. Her wrist was sprained, but not broken. Dr. Aikins applied a tight ACE bandage around it and told her to take it easy for a few days.

“I can still work, right?” Emma asked. Her nausea and headache were gone now that they had given her some morphine and Compazine.

“I’d take the next couple of days off if I were you. You won’t be able to use that hand for a while.”

“It’s not broken. I’ll be fine.” And besides, Sam would be worried to death if she didn’t show up tomorrow.

“Let’s see how you feel tomorrow,” Chambers suddenly said out of the blue. She hadn’t known he was paying attention to the conversation, so absorbed did he seem with his laptop.

“Your boyfriend’s right. You should take it easy.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“No, definitely not,” Chambers said, all too readily in Emma’s opinion. “I’m her boss.”

“Oh, sorry.” Dr. Aikins cleared his throat. “You were so involved with her care, I’d just assumed.”

“Wrong assumption.” Chambers snapped his laptop shut. “Can we go now?”

“Sure.” The doctor gave him a wary glance before leaving the room. They were about to follow when a familiar sight greeted Emma’s eyes. She silently cursed her luck.

“Emma.” Her ex, John, hurried to her side. “Are you okay? Why didn’t you call me? You know I work here.”

Damn.
She’d completely forgotten. John looked as dapper and handsome as ever with his wavy brown hair, light-blue eyes, and easy smile. The long white coat only added to his appeal. She turned away to gather her things.

“Emma?” John reached for her arm.

“Who the hell are you?” Chambers’s face was as grim as ever.                             

Emma hastily stepped between them. “John, this is Mr. Chambers. Mr. Chambers, Dr. John Carmichael, an old friend of mine.”

“Are you dating him? Is that why you haven’t returned my calls?” John asked.

“What? No. He’s my boss.”

“From UCLA?”

“No, from Albatross.”

“That godforsaken prison?” John cursed and threw her an accusing look. “I can’t believe you went through with it. Why are you in the ER?”

“I sprained my wrist.”

John glanced at the tape on her arm. “Then why did you need an IV?”

“I had a headache. You know, my migraines.”

“Are you getting enough sleep? You know that always sets you off.”

“What is this? The Inquisition?” Emma said, sick of all the questions. Her wrist throbbed and all she wanted to do was go home and go to bed. “Good-bye, John. I have to go.”

“Wait, Em.” He grabbed her arm. “Can we talk? Please?”

Emma pulled back.
Couldn’t the guy take a hint?
Her day had been tough enough. She didn’t need this right now.

“Please.” John reached for her again.

“She said no.” Chambers’s big paw shoved John’s hand away. “Leave her alone.” He ushered her out. John’s eyes seemed to bore into her back all the way to the exit.

“What a mess.” Emma shook her head when they reached the parking lot. “This is definitely the worst day of my life.”

“Tell me about it.” Chambers’s big body seemed to vibrate with tension. “Come on. My car’s this way.”

Emma hesitated. She didn’t want to intrude on him more than she already had. “Can you call me a cab? They can drive me to my car, and I can take it from there.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t drive. You just got morphine.”

“Oh. I forgot.” The man’s silver eyes bored into hers, sending a shiver up Emma’s spine. It wasn’t quite fear she felt, but something else. A sense of danger. Excitement even.
Was the morphine getting to her?
“The cab can take me home.”
Now why was she feeling a little breathless? It must have been the medicine. Or was it because of those silver eyes? They were downright striking.

“Where do you live?”

“In Corona.”

“That’s right on my way. Hop in.”

They’d reached his car by now, a sleek black Porsche. He held the door open. It’d be silly to insist on waiting for a cab. Emma slid into the car and gave him her address, which he plugged into his cell’s navigation system. Chambers’s huge body dominated the entire front of the car as soon as he sat. His massive arms seemed strong enough to rip the steering wheel off its stem. Strangely enough, Emma no longer found his size intimidating.

Chapter 9

What a day
. For a moment there, she could have been toast. Emma sighed and leaned back against her seat. Off went the hairclip…her head was hurting enough already and she didn’t need the clip’s hard edge digging into the headrest. The enormous sky stretched above them like black velvet. Thousands of brilliant diamonds twinkled down on them. She’d always loved looking at the sky at night. Even with all the ugliness in the world—the violence, the poverty, the misery—there was still so much beauty out there.

Emma took in a deep breath and settled back in her seat. She’d spent many nights star-gazing with Sam in the San Bernardino Mountains before he went to live with his father. Before he slipped off the straight and narrow path and became who he was today. She shook her head at the memories and tried to find Orion, Sam’s favorite constellation.

“I can’t believe how clear the sky is tonight,” she said, half to herself.

Chambers’s arm twitched next to her but he didn’t say anything. Somehow Emma didn’t mind. She felt more relaxed and carefree than she’d been in a long time. The morphine must definitely be kicking in.

“Do you like star-gazing?” she asked, knowing she shouldn’t but she couldn’t help herself. The silence was getting to be too much, and she didn’t mind starting a conversation, even if it turned out to be one-sided. “I love it. I find it so mind-boggling. Can you imagine? There may be life out there, people just like you or me. Wouldn’t that be strange, meeting your other half in another galaxy?”

“Another galaxy?” Chambers shook his head. “I doubt it. There’s probably no life out there.”

“How do you know for sure?” Emma asked, surprised he’d finally spoken.

“I need to see it to believe it.” He sounded relaxed and calm for the first time since she’d known him. “But you’re right. The stars are beautiful.”

“I love looking at the constellations. I never can find the chair in Cassiopeia. But I can see the
M
sometimes.” She pointed to the
M
as the sky was especially clear tonight. “I like the Canis ones, Major more than Minor. Draco the Dragon is nice. But my favorite is Andromeda. I think it’s so romantic that Perseus rescued her, don’t you? And they got married and had children and are now forever in the sky together.”

“How’s your head feeling?”

“Fine.”
Had he heard anything she’d said? But it didn’t matter, did it?
Just hearing his deep, masculine voice was enough. It was definitely better than his gruff tone at work. “Thank you for coming with me today, Mr. Chambers.”

“No problem. And you can call me Maxim. Chambers sounds so formal.”

“Alright. Thanks.”
Maxim
. She liked the sound of it. It suited him, strong and tough. “Please call me Emma.”

“Okay.” They continued on in silence for a while until he flicked on a CD. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony floated over the audio.

“You listen to this stuff?”

“Yes. It’s my favorite. What? Why the strange look?”

“It’s just...” Emma bit her lip. “Classical is so refined.”

“And?” His voice had become steely again.

“You’re in charge of inmates. You run a prison. You’re so…”

“What? Crass? Crude?”

Emma squirmed in her seat, not knowing how to apologize. Luckily his cell rang, saving her from a response.

“Chambers,” he said over the Bluetooth speaker.

A man’s friendly voice sounded from the other end. “It’s me. Can you talk?”

“Sure. Hold on a minute.” Chambers looked at her, his eyes somber. “Sorry, do you mind? This shouldn’t take long.”

“Go ahead. I don’t mind.”
Not at all.

“What’s up?” Maxim asked.

“I know it’s last minute but we had to move Kyle’s birthday party to tomorrow evening. Lani’s mom can’t make it on Saturday. Can you come?”

“Pleeeaaase. Uncle Max. You have to come,” a boy’s eager voice chimed in.

“Sure, Big Boy.”
How indulgent he sounded
.
Definitely different from the tone at work.
“You’re turning three, right?”

“Yup. You and me play airplane.”

“You got it.”

“And me want rocket for present.”

“A rocket? I can manage that. Anything else?”

A woman’s laughing voice suddenly interrupted. “Come on, Maxim. Don’t spoil him so much. He has a million things from you already.”

“I can’t help it. He’s my only godson, you know.”

“Are you going to the charity gala next weekend?”

“Which one is that?” Maxim frowned. “It’s hard to keep track of all of them.”

“The CVU. It’s your favorite.”

“Oh. Of course. Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been really busy lately.”

“I know. You work too hard.” The woman’s tone softened. “We never see you anymore. Come by for dinner sometime.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

“Bye, Uncle Max. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Big Boy.”

Maxim clicked off the Bluetooth and turned toward her. “Sorry about that.”

“No worries.”
What a surprise. He’d sounded so gentle.
The man clearly loved his godson. And he did charity work, too. Emma felt even more awful about that Beethoven remark. “What’s the CVU?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“It’s an organization that supports victims of crime.”

“That’s nice of you.”
And noble, too
. “How did you get involved?”

“It’s kind of personal,” he said after a short silence.

“Oh.” He sounded terse again. She looked out the window and tried vainly to think of a different topic.

“Is your head okay?” Maxim suddenly asked.

“Yes. I think so.”

“Good. You could have been really hurt.” His huge hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I wish I’d beaten the crap out of Ransom. An eye for an eye. We should do that to all the criminals.”

“Not all of them are bad, you know.”
Definitely not Sam.

“Of course they are. Ransom almost killed you today.”

“Yeah. Ransom was bad. But he doesn’t represent all of them.”

Maxim scoffed. “You’re too naïve.”

“And you’re too prejudiced.” Emma sighed. Here they were, back to their old disagreements again.

Maxim’s face closed up. “This is your exit, right?”

They finished the rest of the ride in uncomfortable silence. He walked her to the door without saying much when they finally arrived at her place.

“Thanks for the ride.” Emma touched her pendant.

“No problem. Get some sleep. You look exhausted. Take the day off tomorrow.”

“My car.” She suddenly realized her predicament. “It’s still at the prison.”

“I’ll have someone bring it back for you. Give me your key. You have a spare, right?”

She handed him the key and told him where her car was parked.

“Good night.” Maxim’s face was as expressionless and formidable as ever.

“Thanks for all your help.” He’d done so much for her today.
Too bad there was  this tension still festering between them.

“No problem.” He glanced at the door. “You have a deadbolt? Make sure you use it, okay?”

“Sure.”
What an odd thing to say.
She waved good-bye and stepped over the threshold. He was full of surprises, the warden. One minute gruff and overbearing, and the next protective and even considerate. It’d been a horrible day but being with Maxim had surprisingly made it more tolerable. She fell asleep dreaming of the stars and of his deep voice.