Little Bird (The Tangled Series) (25 page)

Ginny laughed and shook her head. “Let the poor girl eat. She’ll be back soon enough.”

Lee snorted and let his eyes drift closed, trying to soothe the throbbing ache in his head.

“Love you, Lee.” It was Ginny again, her voice small and quiet. Those were words they didn’t say much but they both knew were true, nonetheless.

“Love you, Gin.” Lee didn’t open his eyes, thinking he might fall back asleep after all.

Lee wasn’t sure if he’d actually gone to sleep or not, the concussion or the drugs or maybe both were making him fuzzy, but when he heard Joni’s voice in the hall he did open his eyes. Looking toward the door expectantly he held his breath as she and Savannah walked into the room.

When their eyes met Savannah stopped, standing in the doorway, staring at him. Lee offered her a tired smile and was surprised to see tears welling in her eyes. Lifting his left arm he bent his fingers, beckoning her to him, and she rushed to his side. Ginny quickly got up, moving out of the way and Savannah took her place. But instead of sitting on the edge of the bed, as Ginny had been, Savannah crawled in, nestling herself against his left side, her head on his shoulder.

Lee gritted his teeth and winced. Savannah was on his good side, but she jostled him as she positioned herself, and the searing pain in his shoulder made him groan.

Joni noticed Lee’s pained expression and followed her to the bed, putting her hand on Savannah’s back. “Honey, I don’t think you should…”

Lee interrupted, wrapping his arm around Savannah, as he looked up. “She’s fine.” Savannah sobbed against his chest, so he added softly “Shh, Sweetheart, it’s okay. I’m right here.”

Mike sighed and ran one hand through his hair. “No, Joni’s right. You’re obviously in pain. I know Savannah’s upset, but you need your rest right now. She should come home with us and get cleaned up and get some sleep.”

“She stays.” Lee shook his head, daring Mike to argue with him. He knew his friend was right and he should send Savannah with them, but he couldn’t make himself do it. He needed her right now just as much as she needed him.

Mike sighed, frustrated but knowing it was useless to argue any further. “Come on, Ginny. We should get some sleep ourselves. We’ll come back tomorrow. You want a ride, Joni?”

“That would be great. I took a cab down here.” Joni leaned over and kissed Savannah’s cheek. “You call me if you need me.”

Savannah nodded weakly as Lee said, “Thanks, guys. For coming and for sitting with her and…” His voice trailed off as he realized he wasn’t exactly sure how to tell them he was grateful to have such good friends, so he finished lamely, “Well, just thanks.”

Ginny leaned over Savannah to kiss Lee’s forehead. “Anytime, Lee. You may be a bastard, but you’re our bastard.”

As they all filed out of the room, Lee looked down at Savannah. She had stopped crying but her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks still damp with tears.

“You okay, Little Bird?”

Savannah nodded and looked up at him, her voice quivering. “Yes. I was just so scared you were going to die.”

“I’m not going to die anytime soon. Promise.” Lee ran his thumb over her cheek, wiping away the tears.

“You better not. How are you feeling?” Savannah offered him a smile and he knew she was trying to put a brave face on for him, which was mildly amusing after the way she’d been bawling a few minutes ago.

“All things considered, all right, I guess. I have a splitting headache and I feel like my shoulder is on fire.”

“Can I get you anything?”

“A beer and a blowjob would be fucking great.” Lee grinned at her when he saw the shocked expression on her face.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure neither of those things is allowed here.”

Lee chuckled and rubbed her back. “Well, you can’t blame a guy for trying. You’re probably right though. The way my head feels, I’d probably have an aneurysm if I had an orgasm right now. So do you feel up to talking about what happened this morning?”

Savannah snuggled closer to him and told him in as much detail as she could remember everything that had happened that morning before he arrived.

Lee frowned and closed his eyes. “It’s not safe for you to go back to your apartment now. Or my place either. You should stay with Mike or Joni until I get out of here. Mike preferably.”

“No, I’ll stay with you.”

“I appreciate that, sweetheart, but I don’t know how long they’re going to keep me here. You’re going to have to get a good night’s sleep and a shower at some point.” He paused to kiss the top of her head before asking, “So, what did you tell the cops, exactly?”

Savannah shrugged. “I told them the guy came in and tried to kidnap me and you came back just in time to save the day. I didn’t tell them the part about trading me for Cara or any of the stuff about Cara. I wasn’t sure if I should or not. The cops said they’d be back to talk to you after you woke up, so I just figured you could tell them if you wanted. But we need to warn Cara. I’ve tried to call Paul but he isn’t answering and I don’t know what else to do.”

As she finished, Lee could hear the panic rising in her voice so he gave her a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out. The most important thing is keeping you safe. Try and get some sleep and we’ll talk about this more in the morning.”

He could feel Savannah nod against his chest, and as he lay listening to her breathe, he was surprised by how quickly she fell asleep. He’d meant to spend some time trying to sort out the situation in his own mind and figure out what to do next, but the soothing sound of her slow, even breathing and the relaxing effect of the pain killers lulled him to sleep before he was able to concentrate his thoughts on the problems at hand.

The next morning, Joni stopped by with coffee and donuts for Savannah, which the girls greedily inhaled while Lee jealously poked at the bland food the nurse brought for his breakfast. He claimed to be starving, but only managed to choke down half of a piece of toast before giving up and trying to convince the girls to share the donuts. Joni almost gave in, but the arrival of the police provided the distraction she needed and she left, promising to return the next day with more donuts she would gladly share if his nurse approved.

Savannah was seated in the chair next to Lee’s bed and both police officers moved to stand at the foot of the bed, the older of the two speaking first.

“My name is Detective Harris and this is my partner, Detective Baker. Glad to see you’re feeling better this morning.”

Lee smiled politely at both officers. “Thanks, I am. Is there any news?”

Detective Baker shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. We were hoping you might be able to help us with that. Did you recognize either of the men involved?”

Lee sighed and pushed the tray of hospital food away. “No. I’ve never seen either of them before. Do you know who the dead guy was?”

Harris nodded. “His name was Frank Porter. Well known around town for running numbers and other unsavory activities. He had a slip of paper in his pocket with both Ms. Alderton’s address and your address on it. Your doctor tells us you’re real fortunate he stepped in front of that bullet. Any idea what they wanted with you two?”

“No.” Lee didn’t hesitate for even a second before answering. Savannah had thought him paranoid for not calling the police after his house had been broken into. But now, knowing a Senator was involved, she was relieved he’d followed his instinct. Who knew what connections a man like Hartwell had which he could exploit?

Baker glanced at Savannah and then said, “I was sort of thinking, Mr. Jackson, you’re a pretty wealthy guy. Maybe they got the idea they could ransom your girlfriend or something.”

Lee shrugged and then winced as the pain in his shoulder flared. “Maybe so. Any ideas who the shooter was?”

Baker frowned. “Not yet. Porter had several known associates but none of them match the descriptions given by Ms. Alderton or her neighbors and they all seem to be going about business as usual today. One of the bystanders got his plate numbers, but that wasn’t much help. The car had been stolen from a little old lady in Waldorf, Maryland earlier that morning.” Baker stepped around the corner of the bed and handed his business card to Savannah. “If either of you thinks of anything else, please give me a call right away. We’ll let you alone to get your rest now.”

Savannah pocketed the card and offered the officers a friendly smile as they left. When they were gone, she turned back to speak to Lee but his eyes were closed. She was pretty sure he was awake but she didn’t want to take any chances, so she settled back in her chair and started leafing through a magazine Joni had brought her.

When she heard someone at the door again, she looked up, expecting the nurse or maybe the doctor. Instead she was surprised to see Paul, Geoff, Mindy, and another man Savannah had never met before. Geoff closed the door behind them.

Savannah held her finger to her lips and nodded toward the bed but Lee opened his eyes. “It’s okay, Little Bird, I’m awake.”

Lee nodded at Paul and glanced at Geoff and Mindy, who was almost unrecognizable in normal street clothes, before his eyes slid to the man Savannah didn’t know. Lee shook his head with a chuckle. “I didn’t expect y’all to visit.”

The stranger shrugged, leaning against the wall near Savannah’s chair. “Well, when I heard you got yourself shot trying to protect the little…” pausing, he let his eyes rake over Savannah and he smirked, “…lady, I decided I’d come see what this was all about instead of waiting around for you to bring her up to Baltimore. Jen wanted to come but I thought that was a bad idea, so she made me promise to give you her most sincere well wishes.”

Lee snorted and looked at Savannah, who was completely confused. “This is my friend Todd. Turns out he’s Mindy’s brother, although I didn’t know that when we first met her the other night.”

“Oh.” Savannah turned sideways in her chair to look at Todd, her brows furrowed. He was a good looking guy, with short-cropped brown hair, dark brown eyes and a clean shaven jaw, but the way he looked at her left her feeling unsettled. Todd wasn’t looking at her the way a man was supposed to look at a buddy’s girlfriend. He looked at her, appraising her with undisguised appreciation. With a shiver, she looked back at Lee as she asked, “Who’s Jen?”

Mindy started coughing and Geoff patted her back as he tried to suppress a smile. “Jen is one of Todd’s slaves.”

Savannah noticed Lee had a vaguely uncomfortable expression on his face. She raised a brow curiously and asked, “One of?”

Todd pushed off the wall and moved to stand next to Savannah, looking down at her with amusement. “Jen is one of three and she’d leave me in a heartbeat if she thought Lee would take her.”

Savannah swung back to look at Lee again, her cheeks pink. He didn’t look at her though, instead staring over her head at Todd as he grumbled, “Asshole.”

Todd laughed and moved behind Savannah’s chair, bending over, his hands on the arms of the chair and his mouth close to her ear. “Jen’s going to be heartbroken to hear he hasn’t even mentioned her.”

Savannah made a small squeaking noise and Todd chuckled, his breath warm on her neck. “She was always one of his favorites, you know. You couldn’t imagine the things we’ve done to that girl together. And other times he’d borrow her for a few hours and…”

“Todd!” It was Mindy, smacking the back of her brother’s head and glaring at him. “Stop being a dick.”

Todd grinned and straightened, his fingers brushing Savannah’s shoulders as he stepped away to lean against the wall behind her again. “Sorry, sometimes I just can’t help myself.”

Savannah looked over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed. Todd gave her a satisfied smirk, clearly enjoying the little bit of chaos he’d caused. She would have to ask Lee about the things he’d said later. Then again, maybe she’d rather not know.

“Come here, Little Bird.”

She turned back to Lee at the sound of his voice, his hand extended toward her. Rising and stepping close to the bed, Savannah smiled uncertainly at him. Lee circled her wrist with his fingers, pulling her down next to him and tucking her against his side.

Lee gave Todd an annoyed scowl. “Are you done causing trouble?”

“For now. I’d love to be a fly on the wall after we leave though.” Todd moved around to take the chair Savannah had vacated, stretching his legs out in front of him. “But we have bigger things to talk about now.”

Paul interrupted then, turning to Savannah. “I got your message and Cara is fine. They still haven’t been able to track her down. I was about to call you back when Geoff called, and then I thought it might just be best if we all came down here together.”

Geoff cleared his throat. “I wasn’t aware of the situation with Cara. I wish she’d have trusted me enough to tell me. We might have been able to prevent some of this. Paul filled Min, Todd, and I in this morning over coffee and I think we might be able to help.”

Savannah looked confused. “What? How?”

“During the summer and fall, Geoff hosts several kinky camping trips. Usually about once a month and it’s tons of fun.” Mindy sat down on the edge of Lee’s bed as she spoke. “The next one is this weekend. Usually we hold them on some property out in Warren County that Geoff owns. It’s very secluded and private, perfect for that sort of thing but nothing fancy. Anyway, Senator Hartwell’s birthday is tomorrow. He never goes on our camping trips. I don’t think he’s into roughing it. But this is his sixty-fifth birthday and he wanted to do something special to celebrate the occasion. So, he’s hosting the camping trip this time on some property owned by one of his friends in Loudoun County. There’s a lodge where he and his close friends will stay and then tons of acreage for the campers. There are even real restrooms with showers. Apparently the place used to be a real campground that went out of business before the Senator’s friend bought it. It’s a perfect location for us. Everyone hates the port-a-potties when we use Geoff’s property.”

Savannah laughed and nodded. “I can understand that. But what does this have to do with us or Cara?”