Embattled Home (2 page)

Damn it.

He needed to call Duncan and let him know what was going on.

Chad began reading the book. It only took a few minutes for the little girl to slip back into sleep. Covering her a little tighter with the comforter, Chad replaced the book on the shelf and left the room.

In the other bedroom, Lora was arguing with the ambulance workers.

“I’m not going to the hospital. I can’t.”

“Ma’am, you probably have a concussion. I also believe you have cracked bones in your face. Judging by the swelling in your wrist, it could be broken too.” The gray haired technician was obviously going over the same argument again. “You have to be seen by somebody.”

Lora shook her head obstinately, even though it looked like it hurt. “I can’t leave. I can’t leave my daughter.”

Chad fought with his sickening guilt. If he had been just a few seconds quicker, she never would have been hurt at all.

“I’ll stay with her.”

He didn’t even realize he had spoken until she whipped a venomous glare on him.

“Oh, really? And snoop through my house and gather evidence on me? I heard what you guys said to each other.”

“Then you heard me quit, too…” he told her quietly.

She frowned, trying to make sense of his actions. Chad gave her a hard look.

“You need to go to the hospital. If for no other reason than to have documentation when you take him to court.”

Raising a bloody hand to her head, she shielded her eyes for several long moments, obviously weighing her options. When she eventually looked up at Chad, determination lined her face. “I’ll call a neighbor to come over and sit with her. You don’t need to. I’ll go to the hospital in a bit, after the neighbor gets here.”

The gray haired paramedic immediately started shaking his head. “Ma’am, you need to go now. With the swelling on your face, you probably have a concussion under there, which can lead to swelling and bleeding and eventually death. You need to be checked out by the doctors as soon as possible.”

She seemed to understand the medic’s warnings, because her shoulders slumped in defeat. “Okay, but not until she gets here.”

Chad crossed behind the medic and picked up the cordless phone from the floor. One-handed, he pushed a button to silence the ‘disconnected line’ beeping and handed the receiver to her. “Call her now. I’ll wait until she gets here so you can go.”

The ex-Mrs. Malone was normally a beautiful woman. He had seen the professional photos and candid family shots the Malones had supplied, but right now she was a mess. Her blond hair was bedraggled and dirty, blood was streaked across her face, and her left eye was so swollen it would be days before it was back to normal. But she had a bearing to her that was indomitable. Her t-shirt was ripped at the collar and hanging down over one breast, but she sat on the edge of the bed as if she were wearing an evening gown. It was impressive, her courage.

Holding the cordless in front of her face awkwardly, she punched in several numbers. Whoever she called answered quickly and asked very few questions, because she clicked the off button within less than a minute.

“Heather will be here in about twenty minutes.” Pointing a chipped-nailed finger at the nightstand, she motioned to a tablet and pen on one corner. “Write your name, cell phone number and who you work for on that paper, please. And your boss’s contact number so I can call to confirm who you are.”

Chad bent over the nightstand and wrote the requested information down. Then he wrote Duncan’s cell phone number. What a cluster this night had turned out to be, and he still had to talk to his partner and explain what had gone down.

Even though it was after midnight Duncan apparently answered on the first ring, because the woman asked him questions like she was an attorney, one right after another. His partner seemed to answer everything to her satisfaction, because she handed the receiver to him. “Okay, you check out. He wants to talk to you.”

Chad took the handset from her and motioned to the paramedic to get her on the gurney, because she looked ready to fall over on the bed.

“Yeah, Dunc?”

“What the fuck is going on over there? It was a simple surveillance op, gather info and that’s it. No contact. What the hell happened?”

Stepping out of the room to give the medics room to carry her out, Chad leaned against a wall in the hallway. Lowering his voice so he wouldn’t be overheard, he filled his partner in on the details. Duncan was quiet until he finished.

“Okay, Chad. I should have known you wouldn’t go off like that without a reason. Is she going to be all right?”

“Yeah, I think so. She’s pretty beat up. I’m glad I got here when I did though, because he was about to remind her of his conjugal rights.”

“Shit,” Duncan said softly.

“Yep.” Chad stepped to the living room to watch as they hoisted Lora O’Neil into the waiting ambulance. Her eyes were closed and her head was tipped back against the cushion as if she were asleep. Chad would almost bet she would not allow herself to pass out. That was one strong woman.

Duncan was still speaking on the other end of the line and Chad had to look away from Lora. “What? Oh, yeah, I’m going to stay with the little girl until her friend gets here to watch her.”

Leaning past the doorjamb, he peeked inside the girl’s room. She was a lump under the covers, sleeping deeply. Chad nodded into the phone, following his boss’s conversation even though he studied the child. “I will. I know. I know. Okay, see you tomorrow.”

He stood in that doorway and watched the little one breathe. Twenty minutes later, a woman knocked softly on the front door before letting herself in. She showed him her identification. It matched up with what Lora had said to expect, so he let himself out the door.

Lora was in
a haze of pain. There was nothing on her that didn’t hurt. And it seemed like the doctors were prodding every single injury just to grade her pain. ‘So looking at this pain scale, how would you rate your discomfort?’ She’d finally gone off on them. “It fucking hurts,” she screamed.

The doctor had looked at her as if
she
were the one being unreasonable. After that, everything floated away on a cloud of pain medication. She didn’t feel her sprained wrist being wrapped, and she didn’t feel the needle in her scalp as they sewed in stitches. The light over the bed was a blinding source of aggravation, and it was a relief when they draped her face in the blue cloth in preparation of fixing her head. It shielded her eyes, and allowed her to rest for just a few minutes.

One of the nurses came in with a clipboard, asking if she had been the victim of sexual assault. Then didn’t seem to believe her when she told her no. When she asked the same question for the third time, Lora finally just rolled over on her side and ignored the woman. She seemed to get the hint.

Sometime later, a Denver Police officer arrived to question her about the assault. Lora went through every detail she remembered, then told the woman about the voicemails she had been receiving on her phone. Mostly just hang-ups, but Derek had called yesterday to wish her happy anniversary, even though they had been divorced for two years. Lora had known then he would be coming after her.

No, he hadn’t raped her this time.

The officer kept referring to the notes in her notepad, as if she already had a statement from somebody. Oh, yeah, the tall guy. Duh. He stayed until the squad had taken her away. He had apparently talked to the cops and told them what he had seen, too.

She didn’t know what to think about him. Relief and appreciation that he had gotten Derek off her, but she was still royally pissed too. He’d been following her for weeks. Her paranoia had served her well when she’d spotted him at her work parking lot one day, and recognized him later on sitting down from the house when she went home. Had he actually thought she wouldn’t see him? He followed her everywhere. Sometimes in different vehicles, but always about the same distance away.

What was up with that arm? It stuck out. Even in the midst of her own crises, she remembered cringing in shared pain for him. It looked like he had been burned or something. The flesh was eaten away, and the bones looked kind of warped, like the healing skin was pulling them into unnatural shapes. It looked painful. The scars spread all the way up his neck to his hairline behind his ear. There were a few scars on his face too, but they were just pale white lines, like they had happened several years ago.

It wasn’t any business of hers though. She certainly had no reason to be worrying about his pain when she had plenty of her own.

The doctor, too young to have very much experience, admitted her. Lora had expected that and called the sitter to let her know. Truth be known, she dreaded letting her daughter see her this way. Mercy remembered hearing loud voices during the divorce, after Derek had found her, but Lora had carefully made up her face to cover any bruising she incurred. Between the shiner and the cut on her head and the bulky wrap on her arm, she was going to have a lot of explaining to do to her little girl.

They moved her to a quiet room on the fifth floor and finally dimmed the lights before leaving her alone. Lora tried to sleep, but the scene from her house kept replaying in her head. When she did doze off, she would snap awake at the slightest noise from outside in the hallway.

When there finally was a knock at her door, it was almost a relief to have a reason to sit up and be aware. “Come in.”

The private investigator stuck his head inside and gave her a slight smile. “Mind if I step in for a minute, ma’am?”

All the anger of the night came rushing back. “Why? Do you need more pictures? Does he want proof of what he did?”

The man shook his head and held out both hands as he stepped into the room. “No camera, I promise. And your ex didn’t send me here. I came on my own.”

“Why?” she snapped.

“I just wanted to check on you. I feel sick for letting you get hurt.”

Lora took a moment to scan his somber face, and all she could see was truth in his vivid blue eyes. At least she thought he was being truthful. She wasn’t a great judge of character recently. “I’m fine. It wasn’t your fault.”

He scrubbed a long hand over his short, walnut colored hair. “It was, though. I’d been there for hours, long past when I should have been off-duty, but something didn’t feel right. I could tell you were nervous by the way you were acting and I should have been more aware.”

Lora was torn. He seemed like a decent guy, just hired to do a job, but she was royally pissed he’d been watching her like that. “Well, I’m fine. I appreciate your stepping in when you did. Don’t feel guilty about it. We’re done.”

For several long seconds he stared at her before glancing at the floor. When he looked back up, there was a determined look on his face. “Don’t worry about our investigation. We are officially off the case. I talked to my partner and if there’s anything you need us to do, please let us know.” He fished a business card out of his wallet and stepped close enough to the bed to set it on the rolling table. “I called the jail. Derek will at least be kept for the night because they smelled alcohol on his breath, but it’s up to the judge what happens in the morning.”

Lora’s insides tensed up when he stepped close, but she didn’t let him see that. She stared at him as hard as she could with her good eye and left the card where it lay. “I don’t believe I’ll need your services.”

Frowning, he turned away and crossed to the door. “That’s fine, ma’am, but if he bothers you, let us know.”

Lora didn’t respond to his slow drawl and he walked out the door. She had a glimpse of scuffed gray cowboy boots before he disappeared.

Panic raced through her and she suddenly felt all vulnerable again. Her stomach shivered with fear, and she felt very alone sitting on the big bed. Slipping down off the mattress, she tried to drag the big recliner they kept for visitors over to the door with her good hand. It took her a while, but she eventually got it wedged underneath the handle. The nurses wouldn’t appreciate it, but she would hear a person coming for several seconds. It would give her some time if she needed it.

After tugging on the locked window and crawling into bed, Lora finally allowed herself to relax. Emotions started to swamp her. Unfortunately, that also allowed the tears to come
. Five minutes, damn it, to cry. Then you’re done
.

Chad’s heart ached in his chest when he heard the woman crying softly in the room. It tugged at his emotions, getting him choked up. He wanted to go back in and pull her into his arms and rock her until she stopped being fearful. The door was blockaded though. And even if he made it in, she certainly wouldn’t want his attention.

He gritted his teeth in frustration as he leaned against the wall. Lora O’Neil seemed to be a woman with heart, willing to fight for her child. Over the weeks he’d been watching her, Chad had found himself admiring her for her vigilance with their safety. The girl wasn’t out of her sight at all, and the people that watched her seemed just as devoted. Lora worked at the local high school as a secretary, never missing a day or breaking her routine. It was why she’d been so easy to follow. He knew where she was going to be at all times. The only aberration was on Wednesdays, when she went to the big white house in Arvada. She would stay a few hours, then head home. Saturday mornings she took the girl to one of the parks in the city and then went grocery shopping.

The little girl would be worried when her mother wasn’t there to cook her breakfast in the morning.

Walking down the hall, he talked to the nurse on duty. He was granted a little leeway with information when he flashed his investigator’s badge. Lora would be released the next day at 11 o’clock, as long as the doctor thought she was able. Chad promised to be back then and headed out the door.