Recipe for Love (Entangled Select Suspense) (24 page)

She held her stomach with one hand and sidled closer to her bag until it was hidden from their view. Her fingers worked the rolling pin out inch by inch. “You’re the bitch, not me.” She had to get Miranda closer. Baiting her was the only way to get her within arm’s reach. “A hateful toad of a bitch. I would’ve had Hirschberg fire you a lot sooner if I’d known it would be this easy. What kind of woman pushes someone down the stairs? You’re as bad as Kenslo.”

“Don’t say that.” Miranda paced in front of her, each step getting a little closer. “Just be quiet.”

“Shut her up,” Kenslo shouted as he trained the gun on Jordan. “I’ve got to think.”

Just a little closer.
“You know Ethridge didn’t love you.”

Miranda took two steps and brought one leg back to kick her again. It was now or never. The straps gave as the rolling pin finally came through the last loop. She got a good grip on the end, brought the rolling pin up, and slammed it hard against Miranda’s ankle bone.

A loud shriek filled the air.

Pain took her breath away as the stitches in her hand tore.

The sound of a table crashing jerked her attention away from the foul-mouthed, sobbing woman. Her heart stammered in her chest at the sight of Jordan grappling with Kenslo for the gun.

Miranda staggered and tried to keep her balance. This time she grabbed the rolling pin with both hands and swung with all her might. The next strike hit the woman’s knee with a satisfying crack, the third made contact with the back of her red-heeled shoes. The heel snapped. Miranda collapsed onto the floor in a heap. She grabbed at her knee and moaned in pain. Tilly held on to her rolling pin tightly, ready to trounce her again if she so much as breathed the wrong way. The sounds of the men fighting tore her attention away from Miranda. She bit her lip between her teeth for a second, debating whether her help would do more harm than good. Her thoughts were cut short. Miranda’s hand grab her ankle.

“You’re going to pay for this, you c—”

She cut Miranda off before she uttered another word with a swat against Miranda’s wrist. The woman let out a string of curses. “Don’t go there. Right now you have one good knee. It would be a shame if something happened to it.” She waved the end of the rolling pin in Miranda’s face. “Think long and hard before you open your mouth again.”

In spite of the throbbing pain in her hand, she held the rolling pin at the ready and watched the two men stumble around the room in a deadly waltz. One step, two steps, until Jordan tripped and fell backward on the armchair, taking Kenslo with him. The gun went off.

She screamed as the men collapsed on the floor.

Chapter Twenty-One

The thunder in Jordan’s ears echoed with each heartbeat, the smell of gunpowder burned in his nostrils, but he still had the gun gripped tight in his hand. He glanced over at Tilly. His brave, wonderful Tilly, who knelt over Miranda with her rolling pin clutched in her hands. Tears ran down her cheeks, even as she smiled at him.

Kenslo jumped to his feet. He ran for the door, clutching his shoulder and screaming. “Go ahead. Shoot me again. I’ll tell everyone you tried to blame the murder on me. That you did it.”

He never made his escape.

The door opened and Jericho stood there poised and ready, gun in hand, like a superhero from the latest blockbuster action film. For once, Jordan didn’t care. Several officers followed him into the room.

Kenslo gripped the top of his arm. “He shot me. Kelly tried to kill me.” He pointed at Jordan, his face twisted in pain and blood ruining the sleeve of his Armani suit.

Jericho’s eyes zeroed in on Tilly and nodded to the officers to take Kenslo into custody. “Are you all right?”

“No,” she wheezed out. “But I think I’m in better shape than she is.” She pointed her rolling pin at Miranda.

“She assaulted me.” Miranda’s face turned an ugly shade of red. “I want to press charges.”

“You’re telling me that she gave herself a shiner and a bloody lip?” The detective crouched beside Miranda’s writhing body. She took her hands away to show the fast-swelling flesh around her knee. Her ankle was already a puffy blue.

“See. It was self-defense. She came at me with the rolling pin.”

“I’ll have to admit that she did a number on you.” Jericho took out his phone and snapped a few pictures. “Evidence. CSI will take more at the hospital.”

“The bitch broke my knee and ankle,” she sobbed. “Oh my God, it hurts. I’ll never be able to wear heels again.”

“Not a problem. You’ll be wearing slip-ons in prison.”

“What? No, no, you don’t understand.” She looked around wild-eyed and moaned. Her face paled with real pain and the sudden reality that she would go to jail for her crimes. “I didn’t kill Max. Austin did it. He forced me to help him with the body. Please, you have to believe me.” Tears followed her mournful plea. She batted her lids in a well-practiced move that let some trickle down her cheeks while a few remained, glittering like dew on her lashes.

“Shut your mouth.” Kenslo struggled with the men holding him. “She’s lying. Don’t believe anything she says.”

Jericho rose and went over to inspect the wound on the man’s arm. “Get him out of here. Take him to the security office until the ambulance arrives. The shot did more damage to his suit than his shoulder.”

“I can’t go to jail. I just can’t.” Miranda wept.

“Well, you see, that’s the problem. You’re an accomplice, and Nick finally regained consciousness. He stated that you pushed him down the stairs.”

“No, no, no, no.” She shook her head and repeated her mantra as if it would make all the bad things go away. “No, no, no, no, no.”

“Reality bites. The EMTs will be here shortly to take you to the hospital, and then you’ll be transferred to the county jail.”

Jordan stumbled to his feet and scrambled over to Tilly’s side. He crouched beside her, half afraid to touch her. He saw the way the bitch had kicked her in the side. His first reaction was to tear Miranda apart, piece by pretty piece. His gut churned with frustration and the need to make sure she wasn’t badly injured. It was a good thing that Jericho was between him and Miranda. “Matilda, you swing a mean rolling pin.” He draped his arm over her shoulder and felt her trembling under his light touch. “You’re shaking. Tell me the truth, how badly are you hurt?”

“I think I took a good hit in the ribs with those shoes of hers.” She grimaced when she pulled in a deep breath and reached up to touch the back of her head where it hit the couch
.
“Ouch. There’s a lump the size of a goose egg.”

“I think you’d better let the doctors take a look.”

“Okay.”

For once, Tilly didn’t argue with him. Jordan wasn’t sure if he should be thankful, or more concerned that she didn’t put up a fight.

He was impotent, unable to ease her physical pain, unable to exact revenge for the damage Miranda had inflicted on the woman he loved. Instead, Jordan planted a chaste kiss on top of Tilly’s head. “Tell you what, I’ll call for a limo. A big white one with a bright red cross on top.”

Jericho nodded and told one of his fellow officers to call in for a couple of ambulances. He turned to him and held out his hand. “Give me the gun.”

It was a relief to hand over the weapon. He hadn’t realized he still held the damn thing in a death grip. “The bastard planned to kill us. I managed to grab it just as she whacked Miranda’s foot with her rolling pin. Kenslo and I were struggling when it went off.”

“That’s a lie. He’s the killer,” the man bellowed as one of the officers cuffed him. “Kelly planned to kill Tilly and then me. He wanted it to look like a lovers’ quarrel.”

Jericho turned to Kenslo, his eyes no longer flat and gray but full of fire. He gripped the front of Kenslo’s suit jacket in both hands and brought the man to his toes. “Your DNA was found at the crime scene, and I know for a fact that Tilly only has eyes for Jordan.”

“Impossible. How could my DNA have been anywhere near the body? Sure, I was in the suite, I’m his agent.” Kenslo’s face twisted in pain. “This is police brutality. I’m injured.”

The wail of sirens outside the building sounded all the way to the top floor of the hotel.

Miranda cried louder. “He made me do it. He made me do it.”

The EMTs showed up in record time and took Kenslo and Miranda downstairs with a police escort. Jordan held Tilly’s hand the whole time they put her on the gurney and into the waiting ambulance. Time stretched until the ride to the hospital seemed to last forever, even if it was only a few miles away. They pulled up to the emergency room and transferred her to an exam room. It took the doctor a few expert palpations to diagnose the cracked ribs. A bunch of x-rays and one MRI later, they wheeled her back into the exam room while they awaited the results of the tests.

“I’m gettin’ an odd sense of déjà vu.” She lay there, so pale that her soft brown freckles looked unnaturally dark against her skin. ’“My insurance company is gonna scream bloody murder.” She looked up at him, her blue eyes large in her white face. “How are you doin’?”

He managed a smile. “The hearing’s almost back in my left ear. I still hear a buzzing noise, a lot like crickets, but they assure me that will go away—one of these days.” He gripped her hand tighter. “You concentrate on getting better.” He couldn’t help it. He stooped over the side of the gurney and planted a soft kiss on her mouth.

The nurse’s aide pulled the curtain aside. “There’s a Detective Jericho here. He asked if you would be up to talking to him.”

He rolled his eyes heavenward. “The man has impeccable timing.”

“Be nice.”

“I’m always nice.”

“Maybe I should’ve said be good.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I’m very good.”

“You’re hopeless.”

“No, hopeful.”

Jericho entered, his face hidden behind a bushel of roses of every color. “I know, it’s overkill.”

“Those will have to go in her room once she’s transferred.” The nurse’s aide took them and gave them an appreciative sniff. Her short blond ponytail bounced as she looked up. “Aren’t you
the
Tyler Jericho?”

“Yes.”

“You’re the man who donated bone marrow to that little kid last year. I worked on the transplant team, well not exactly worked, but I took care of the girl during her recovery.”

“Her mother set up a meeting for us right after Christmas.”

“That’s so sweet.” The nurse gave him a sugary smile and escorted him into the hall.

Dr. Skellengard came into the exam room. “Why don’t you give us some privacy?”

“Jordan can stay.”

“I want to keep you for a day or two, just as a precaution.” The doctor checked over her chart. “You have one broken rib, two bruised ribs, and a concussion. That’s quite a lump on the back of your head.”

“Okay.” She gave a slight nod of her head and winced.

Jordan wanted to be sure he heard right. “No arguments?”

“None.”

“Wow, will wonders never cease!”

Her chuckle turned into a grimace of pain. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. In the meantime, I might be your biggest fan, but I don’t want to see you in my hospital after this stay.”

The nurse’s aide came in, and Jordan went up to Tilly’s assigned room to wait. He spied her gurney coming down the hallway and breathed a sigh of relief. His woman was going to be all right. They were going to all right. However, there was one last thing he had to do.

He pulled out his phone and Googled several places before he found what he wanted. He’d do whatever it took to keep her by his side.

…

Her head still throbbed and her ribs ached out a tune to beat the band, but the sight of Jordan marching through the door with a big smile on his face made everything fade away. He held a single white rose in his hand.

“Whoa, did you open up a florist shop in here?” His eyebrow went up at the sight of every square inch of available space filled with flowers and plants.

She gave him a weak smile. “I keep sending them to different floors as fast as they come in.”

“What’s this thing?” He eyed a large plant on the windowsill with suspicion. “Will it bite?”

She agreed. It was frighteningly ugly and beautiful at the same time. The darn thing gave her the willies.

He moved the chair by the window closer to the bed and away from the mystery plant. “I think I saw something like it in,
Space Cadets on Mars
when I was kid. Devoured the entire mission except for the hero. Poor schmuck didn’t realize one had stowed away on board. Took off for Earth with this meaty tentacle creeping over the back of his seat.” He gave a dramatic shudder.

“I don’t know, but I have a sneakin’ suspicion that it ate the last nurse’s aide who came in to take my vitals. She hasn’t been back.” She adjusted the head of the bed higher and smoothed down the rumpled sheets. “Where were you last night and today?” It was hard to stay lighthearted. His absence had hurt.

“Oh, you know how it is, errands to run, a hundred things to see to . I had to make up a lot of work.” He sidled up and sat on the edge of bed. “Here. Truce.” He handed her the rose. “It seems lost in this jungle.”

“This is one that I’ll keep by my bedside.” She sniffed the rose, inhaling the spicy fragrance and enjoyed the feel of his body next to hers. He slid his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer. That made up for some of her worries.

“I have a surprise for you.” His murmured words stirred her hair and sent little chills of delight zipping along her nerve endings. No matter how battered and bruised she was, he set her off like a bottle rocket.

“What’s that?” She gazed up at him, noticing the signs of weariness for the first time. “When did you get to sleep?”

He shrugged and stood. “I caught a two or three hour nap. Besides, this isn’t about me, it’s about you.” He went to the door and motioned with his finger for someone to come in.

The missing nurse’s aide rolled in a table set with candles and silver domes hiding the dishes underneath. Several other medical personnel peeked around the corner at the production he made of lifting the lids.

Her eyes rounded in amazement. The most delicious aromas wafted toward her, and her stomach growled with the ferocity of a grizzly bear at mating season. There on the plates were chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and country seasoned green beans. Dessert consisted of New York cheesecake with fresh strawberry coulis.

“Made it with my own two hands.” He beamed down at her. “Do you know how hard it was to make milk gravy with my eyes closed? At least it didn’t come out looking like library paste.”

She knew how much he hated milk gravy. The fact he’d gone to the trouble pleased her to no end.

“The recipes are from your new cookbook. Except for the cheesecake. That’s my contribution.” He pointed at everything with the enthusiasm of a six-year-old showing off a necklace made of macaroni.

“Wow.” She held her hand over her heart and fanned the tears that threatened to come. “I mean, wow.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet.” He walked over to the door. “Excuse me ladies, but this is a private moment.”

For one terrifying moment, she was afraid he was going to propose. What to say? Was she ready? She was drugged and not in her right mind. No, that was a lie. They hadn’t given her anything because of the concussion. What was she going to do?

He stood before her, eyes glowing, with an even brighter smile on his gorgeous face. “Matilda Jane Danes, I’ve considered long and hard how to win your love. When I thought we were going to die, I had to tell you. You said you loved me, too. I know you’re still not sure, but I wanted to prove to you that I’m willing to work together.”

“The meal is, well, it’s a good beginnin’.”
Not a ring. I don’t want a ring, do I?

“I wanted to show you how much I love you with more than a meal.” He reached down to his pants. She expected his hand to delve into his pocket to pull out a ring box. Instead, Jordan’s hands stopped at the button to his fly. His fingers worked it loose and went on to the zipper.

“What are you doin’?” She didn’t know whether to laugh or be scandalized by his strange behavior.

“Showing you my undying love.” His matter-of-fact tone puzzled her.

She waved at him to stop and looked toward the door for fear someone might come through to take her vitals. “I’ve seen your undyin’ love, and as impressive as it is, I don’t think you want to be flashin’ the hospital staff.”

“Tilly, Tilly, get your mind out of the gutter and have a little faith.” He turned around and pulled his jeans down over his hip. There, over his left butt cheek, were the words tattooed in beautiful calligraphy—
Yes, I am a horse’s ass.
Below the archway of words was an illustration of a horse’s patootie.