Army Ranger Redemption (13 page)

Stepping toward her, he put his hands on either side of her waist. “I’d never do that to you, Scarlett. It’s bad enough that you experience snatches of it whenever I touch you.”

He dropped his hands as if he was in danger of having his mind read right then and there.

“It’s not whenever you touch me.” She laced her fingers through his and put his hand back on her hip. “I can assure you, when you touch me I’m not thinking about prisoner of war camps and torture.”

“What are you thinking of?” He drew her into the circle of his arm, so close that strands of her hair caught on the stubble of his beard.

She whispered, “Sometimes I can’t think at all.”

When he kissed her, she melted against him, her knees weakening and her bones turning to jelly. She curled her hands around the leather of his jacket to keep from sliding to the ground while returning his kiss.

He murmured against her mouth, “Let’s go back to your place.”

She nodded once, and they practically ran to her car.

He stopped her at the driver’s side and held out his hand. “I’ll drive.”

“It was just one beer.”

He snapped his fingers and she dropped the keys into his palm. He followed her to the other side of the car and opened the door for her.

She’d never been with such a take-charge guy before. When Jim had landed on her porch a few days ago, she’d actually had the thought that he’d be just another man for her to prop up and nurture.

He couldn’t have proved her more wrong.

Yeah, he still had those demons, but he seemed completely capable of battling them without any help from her.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t offer.

As he turned off the main road, he said, “I’m going to swing by my place first, if that’s okay. I want to make sure Dax locked up the garage when he finished working on his bike.”

“Okay, but you don’t need to bring your toothbrush. I have extras.”

“Is that a dig at me because I didn’t have any extras when you stayed here?”

“Actually, I was happy to see that you weren’t prepared for overnight...guests.”

He pulled into his drive and leaned over and pinched her chin. “I wish I had been more prepared for you—in every way.”

“If you’d been prepared, that would’ve ruined all the excitement.”

“You like excitement? I think we’ve had more than enough of that around here.”

“Isn’t that what you signed up for when you decided to come back and find out what happened to you twenty-five years ago?”

“I didn’t realize there would be people today hell-bent on keeping that truth from me.”

“Makes you wonder what they’re hiding.”

He tapped on the windshield. “Good thing we swung by here. I can see already that Dax left that garage door wide open...unless he’s still working out there.”

“Let’s find out.” She hopped out of the car, which rocked as Jim slammed his door.

“Dax?” Jim strode toward the garage, while she hung back.

Drops of rain started hitting the ground and pinging the top of her head. Head down, she jogged toward the covered porch. As she reached the top step, the wind gusted and rattled the screen door.

She jerked her head to the side, noticing the open front door. Taking one step down on the porch, she yelled, “Jim! I think he’s inside.”

She studied the entrance to the garage, but Jim didn’t answer or appear.

She returned to the front door, made a half turn and grabbed the screen door handle, her hand closing around a sticky substance. She snatched her hand back and spread her fingers in front of her face.

The sight of the blood smeared across her palm made her gag. She ignored the faint voice in her head urging her to turn and run.

As if on autopilot, she reached for the screen door again with the same hand. She yanked it open and almost tripped over the booted feet of Jim’s brother—lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Chapter Thirteen

For the second time that week, a bloodcurdling scream from Scarlett made the hair on the back of his neck stand at attention.

Jim dropped the shredded tire he’d been inspecting and spun around, keeping his bum leg stiff so he wouldn’t trip over it.

He ran toward the house, where he could see Scarlett’s back at the door. With his heart pounding out of his chest, he raced up the drive and took both steps in a single bound.

He grabbed Scarlett’s shoulders and yanked her back against his chest.

His gut heaved when he saw Dax laid out on the floor, blood meandering in a slick trail leading from his body. He shoved his phone into Scarlett’s hand.

“Call 911.”

He crouched beside his brother and felt for his pulse, weak but ticking. “He’s still alive.”

He rolled Dax onto his back and ripped off his shirt, already slashed open with a knife.

“Get me a towel.”

Still speaking into the phone, Scarlett stepped over Dax’s inert form and returned seconds later with several towels.

She thrust one toward Jim. “An ambulance is on the way.”

Jim folded the towel and pressed it against the wound that zigzagged from his brother’s chest to his belly. If the knife had hit an artery, Dax didn’t stand a chance.

Jim applied as much pressure as he safely could while whispering to his brother, “Hang on, man. You’ve come too far to let go.”

“Can I do anything? He has some cuts on his hands. Should I put pressure on those?”

Sirens called from down the road and Jim said, “Go out and direct the ambulance into the driveway.”

She sprang to her feet and stumbled outside.

A minute later, two EMTs bustled through the front door and nudged Jim away from Dax. “Good job. We’ll take it from here.”

Jim backed up, leaving the towel in place. He gazed at his hands, stained with Dax’s blood.

“Any other wounds? Any allergies? Preexisting conditions?” The EMT in charge rattled off the series of questions in staccato.

“Some cuts on his hands. No allergies. No preexisting conditions, unless you count drug and alcohol addictions.”

“Current?”

“Recovering—about a year sober.”

More sirens followed and Jim staggered out the front door and down the steps, his bloody hands in front of him.

Scarlett left the deputy’s side to rush to his. “Is he still...?”

“He’s still alive but unconscious.”

One of the EMTs blew past him on his way to the ambulance and Jim watched as he rolled a gurney out the back doors.

Just like for Rusty, but Jim prayed for a different outcome this time.

The deputy was mouthing words at him, but Jim couldn’t make sense out of anything he was saying.

As the EMTs loaded Dax into the ambulance, Jim broke away from Scarlett.

“I’m coming with.”

“We need to work on him in the back. Follow us to the emergency room.”

Scarlett joined him and pressed a fresh towel into his hands. “You take my car. I’ll finish talking to the deputy and we’ll meet you at the hospital.”

Wiping his hands on the towel, he nodded and returned to the car where he and Scarlett had just shared some moments of closeness.

He gulped as he threw the car into Reverse. She had to get out of here, away from Timberline. She had to demonstrate to the perpetrator of this mayhem that she had no interest in the Timberline Trio case. But for him?

This had just gotten personal, and he’d go to hell and back to find out who’d tried to murder Dax. He’d already been to hell and back once. What was one more trip?

He followed the revolving lights of the ambulance, mumbling the same prayers he’d recited each time his captors had dragged another prisoner from the cells, prayers that hadn’t done a lot of good back then. He couldn’t do anything else for Dax at this point, but the attack on his brother had just amped up his resolve to get to the bottom of this mystery.

The ambulance pulled up to the entrance of the emergency room, and Jim swung around it to find a parking space in the lot to the left of the hospital.

By the time he had parked and returned to the entrance, the EMTs had already unloaded Dax and wheeled him into the building.

He hunched over the reception desk. “That ambulance just brought my brother in—Dax Kennedy. Can you tell the doctor in charge I’m here and will be waiting for news?”

The nurse took down his info and went back to her computer.

Jim wandered around the waiting room, studying the vending machine, getting a cup of water and shuffling through a few golf and hunting magazines.

He tapped on the counter. “Any news yet?”

“No, sir.” This time she didn’t even look up from her computer.

Heaving out a breath, he slumped in a plastic chair next to a woman flipping through a fishing magazine, her face tight and her knuckles white.

The door of the emergency room burst open and Scarlett rushed through with Deputy Stevens on her heels. She flung herself into the chair next to him, bringing the damp, cold air in with her.

“Have you heard anything? Is Dax okay?”

“Nope, and I haven’t talked to anyone yet, either.”

She tipped her head toward the deputy talking to the nurse at the front desk. “Maybe he’ll have better luck. He wants to talk to the doctor.”

“Did Dax say anything to you, or was he already unconscious?”

“He was already unconscious.”

“You didn’t see or notice anything?”

“No. Was there anything in the garage?”

“Dax had left his tools and a motorcycle part on the floor, sort of like he’d been called away suddenly. I figured he’d gone in the house to get something to drink or answer the phone. Thought you’d find him inside.”

“I did.” Her jaw tightened.

“Scarlett, you need to—”

“Mr. Kennedy?”

Jim jerked his head around and answered the doctor who’d stepped into the waiting room. “Yeah, that’s me.”

He crossed the room with Scarlett beside him and the deputy tagging along behind them.

“I’m Dr. Verona.” He pushed up his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “It’s bad. Your brother lost a lot of blood.”

“Is he going to make it?”

“Can’t say right now. He’s in a coma. We’re going to transfer him to a bed in the intensive care unit in the hospital next door.”

“Can you tell me his chances at this point?”

“Fifty-fifty, maybe less. I’ve seen worse survive, and I’ve seen better succumb.”

“So, you’re telling me it’s pretty much a crapshoot at this point.”

“I’m afraid so. No major organs involved, so that’s a plus.”

The doc went on to explain Dax’s condition in greater detail, but all Jim heard was fifty-fifty. His brother had beaten those odds before, and Jim had faith that he could do it again.

Although he hadn’t seen Dax in years, he wasn’t ready to lose him now. “His girlfriend. He has a girlfriend who’s in Seattle right now. I should call her. Do you have his personal effects?”

“The nurse can help you with that. I’ll transition your brother to the ICU tomorrow morning and have his doctor there give you a call.”

“I appreciate it, Dr. Verona. Can I look in on him here?”

“Of course. I’ll have the nurse bring you back.”

As the doctor turned, Deputy Stevens held up his hand. “Can I ask you a few questions, Dr. Verona? We’re treating this as an attempted homicide.”

The doctor pointed to the left. “We can go in that office, but I just have a few minutes.”

When they disappeared into the office, Jim leaned against the counter and addressed the nurse. “Dr. Verona said I could go back and see my brother.”

She held up her finger, and then picked up the phone. “Tell Tiana the brother wants to see five twenty-eight.”

Jim lifted his eyebrows and Scarlett said, “His name is Dax.”

“Sorry.” The nurse spread her hands. “It’s just a shortcut. He received excellent care. Dr. Verona’s the best trauma doc around.”

The door to the exam and operating rooms swung open and a nurse in pink scrubs poked her head out. “Are you Dax’s brother? This way.”

Jim grabbed Scarlett’s hand. “She’s my wife, and she’s coming with me.”

The nurse rolled her eyes. “No, she’s not. She’s Scarlett Easton, and I know for a fact she’s not married, but she can come, anyway.”

“Tiana...” Scarlett snapped her fingers. “Your grandmother and mine were friends for years.”

“That’s right—Gokey. Tiana Gokey. I didn’t grow up here because my parents left the reservation, but I moved back here when my grandmother was ill and I stayed.”

“Thanks for letting me check in on Jim’s brother. I—I’m the one who found him.”

“It’s a good thing you two acted quickly. If he lives, it’s because you stanched that flow of blood.” Tiana pulled aside a curtain and Jim’s eye twitched at the sight of his brother with tubes running in and out of him, hooked up to machines.

“The doc said Dax had a fifty-fifty chance.”

“If that’s what Dr. Verona said, it’s probably close. He’s the best.” She stuck a chart in a holder at the foot of the bed. “We’ll be moving him out of the emergency wing to the main hospital in the morning. Take your time.”

“Thanks, Tiana.” Jim dragged a plastic chair next to his brother’s bed, his gaze tracking along the tubes and monitors crisscrossing Dax’s body. “He looks bad.”

Scarlett stood beside him and squeezed his shoulder. “Shh. He may be able to hear us. Be positive.”

Jim leaned close to his brother’s pale face and murmured a few words of encouragement, talked to him the way he might talk to one of the vets he worked with.

“God, I hope he pulls out of this.”

“We just have to have some faith and think positive thoughts.” Scarlett reached past him and twitched Dax’s sheet into place, her hand skimming his arm.

She jerked back with a gasp.

“What’s wrong?” Jim narrowed his eyes. “You felt something, didn’t you?”

Scarlett stared at her fingers, which trembled in front of her face. “I flashed on something.”

“Hopefully, the face of my brother’s assailant.”

“Not quite. Just...something.” She wiggled her fingers. “I could try again.”

“Not if it’s going to upset you.” He held his breath, torn between wanting any information Scarlett could glean and wanting to protect her from harm.

Scarlett nudged the sheet aside and curled her fingers around Dax’s hand, over the tubes stuck in his flesh. Closing her eyes, she exhaled a long breath. Her chin dropped to her chest and her breath quickened. Her lashes fluttered.

The curtain across the doorway whipped back, and Scarlett yanked her hand back.

“I’m sorry.” Tiana smiled brightly as she grasped the curtain. “We have to run a few tests on Dax before we send him over tomorrow morning.”

Jim scooted his chair back, blocking Tiana’s view of the bed. “Sure, sure. Thanks for letting me see him.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Scarlett, blinking and pushing her hair back from her damp forehead.

She patted Dax’s hand and straightened the sheet. “Hang in there, Dax.”

They walked silently out to the reception area where Deputy Stevens was waiting for them.

“Do you need anything else from us, Quentin?”

“Kennedy, can you come into the station tomorrow? I just want to ask you a few more questions about your brother. Another Lord was spotted around town—Charles Swanson—Chewy. You know him?”

“Yeah.”

“He and your brother on good terms?”

“I have no idea, Stevens. Can we leave this for tomorrow like you said?”

“Yeah. You two going to be okay? It’s like a mini crime wave between your properties out there.”

“You’re telling me. I’m assuming my cabin is an active crime scene right now?”

“That’s right.”

Scarlett tugged on the sleeve of his jacket. “You can stay at my place tonight.”

That had been their original plan, and it sounded even better now. If Stevens was surprised at Scarlett’s easy invitation, his stoic face didn’t show it.

“That’s probably a good idea, since we still don’t have a lead on the arsonist, and he might very well be the same person who threatened you the other night and then stabbed Dax today.”

Jim scratched his chin. “Busy...busy and desperate.”

“For what? I can’t believe a twenty-five-year-old cold case is still causing this much havoc.” Stevens clapped his hat on his head.

“If the perpetrators of the kidnapping are still here and have something to lose, they’re going to want to shut up everyone involved.”

“Are you saying your brother was involved? Scarlett? She was just a kid, and so were you.”

“Yeah, well, kids sometimes know more than adults give them credit for.”

“All right. I’ll let you go. I notified Sheriff Musgrove, so check in with us tomorrow, Kennedy.”

“Will do.” Jim propelled Scarlett out the main entrance and toward her car. When they were both ensconced inside, he turned to her. “Did you see anything when you touched Dax?”

“Nothing. I was just getting started when Tiana interrupted me.” She drummed her fingers against her chin. “Hadn’t she just told you to take your time?”

“You know how hospitals are.” He paused. “What are you saying? Do you think Tiana stopped you on purpose?”

“She’s Quileute. She knows what I am.”

“So, she might be trying to protect someone.”

“Like I told you before, there’s something about this case that always had my people on edge.”

“Doesn’t seem to have your uncle Danny on edge.”

“I’m going to have to pay a visit to Jason tomorrow to find out what Danny was up to tonight.”

“Do you think he’ll tell you?”

“I have my ways.” Scarlett cracked her knuckles and winked. “Now, let’s get going. You must be exhausted.”

“I’m still doing better than Dax.”

* * *

A
S
J
IM
CRANKED
on the engine and then pulled out of the hospital’s driveway, Scarlett tipped her head back against the headrest. How had their evening gone from delicious to deadly?

And how could she get it back to delicious?

She sighed, and Jim bumped her shoulder with his. “Would you rather I stay at a hotel tonight and leave you in peace?”