Night Moves (28 page)

"Adam!" Bryn cried out, forgetting about her head. "I have to see him!"

"Oh, don't worry. Lee usually gets his way! Now let me get that doctor, before I get myself fired!"

Bryn closed her eyes again when Gayle smiled reassuringly,then ducked outside the room. What had happened, she asked herself. She could remember the horrible jolt and the crunching sound, and then Andrew... Andrew with that ridiculous wig.... She'd had an accident with the van, but apparently it wasn't
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that bad. Her head hurt because she had cracked it against the steering wheel. She'd had an accident....

Because a dark sedan had purposely run into her...."Ah, Miss Keller!" A doctor walked into the room.

He was a gray-haired man with warm blue eyes that instantly inspired trust. He walked with the quick efficiency that belonged to a doctor, too, Bryn thought with a slight smile.

"Good, good," he said, reaching for her hand and patting it feeling for her pulse. "Let me just take a look deep into your eyes now__"

She flinched reflexively as he sent the ray from a pencil-thin flashlight beaming first into her right eye, and then into her left. "Good!" he said again, switching off the light. "I'm DoctorKelten ," he informed her, sliding a chilly stethoscope against her chest and smiling once more, satisfied with the results. "How do you feel?"

"Not terrible," Bryn told him. "It only hurts when I laugh or look around too quickly."

"That's to be expected. You're a lucky young lady. You've got a bit of a concussion, but a very minor one. We want to keep you overnight for observation, but we'll let you go home tomorrow. How's that sound?"

"I could probably go home now--" "But it wouldn't be wise." He tucked the sheets back around her and began to make atsking sound of irritation. "These hit and run things! How anyone could cause an accident and then drive off-- Well, it's just beyond me! The police are going to want to talk to you, but I've fended them off for the day. You justlie quietly, young lady and tomorrow, everything will look a whole lot better!"

"Thankyou," Bryn murmured, lowering her lashes. Hit and run? No, it hadn't been a regular hit and run.

And she knew how Lee had felt all along; she couldn't believe he hadn't decided that enough was enough and told the police the entire story from the beginning.

"I'll see you again in a couple of hours," Dr.Kelten said, walking briskly toward the door.

"Wait!" Bryn begged, calling him back. She kept her lashes halfway over her eyes. "I understand there's a problem with my nephews coming in. Doctor, they've been through a lot. It's important that they get to see that I'm all right, especially the little one...."

Dr.Kelten interrupted her with a friendly laugh. "You can see the little boys, Miss Keller. Mr. Condor has managed to get my entire staff eating out of his hands.But only for a few minutes. If you want me to release you tomorrow, you have to toe the line!"

Bryn smiled. "Only for a few minutes!" she promised. The doctor left the room. Bryn made a grab for the wheeled tray, searching for a flip-up mirror in the slender drawer beneath it. She found it and anxiously scanned her features.

She was very pale, but otherwise she looked remarkably well for a woman with a concussion. Her forehead was bruised, but she could brush tendrils of her hair over it with her fingers.... There was a tap at her door, and then it opened slowly. Lee was there. Tall, commanding, his eyes a golden shimmer of anxiety. He smiled at her slowly, ruefully.

But he never had a chance to say anything. Adam was pushing past him.Adam, with his blond curls, cherubic cheeks, and tear-filled green eyes. "AuntBwyn !"

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She didn't feel a bit of pain as she sat up and caught him to her, sweeping his little form into her arms.

"Adam, oh, Adam!Precious! I've missed you so! I love you; oh, Adam, I love you--"

"Are you going to get well, AuntBwyn ? Are you? Do you promise?" He crushed himself to her. She hugged him ferociously.

"Yes, Adam, yes!I'm going to get well. I promise. Your silly aunt just let another car get too close, that's all.Oh, Adam!"

She started to cry, just clutching him, unable to let him go. Then she opened her eyes and looked over his shoulder, and saw Lee standing there. Then she knew that he had understood that the greatest medication she could receive was this time with Adam....

"Thankyou," she whispered to him. She might have whispered, "I love you."Because she did. She had never known how completely until that moment.

"I was hit on purpose, wasn't I?" Bryn asked Lee. He was standing at the window, staring out, though at what she wasn't sure. All that could be seen was part of the roof and a lot of power lines. And it was dusk, so not even that dubious view was a good one.

It was the first chance they had had to be alone. Brian and Keith had followed Adam in to assure themselves that she was all right. At last a pristine nurse had arrived to sternly say that the boys had to leave. They had set up a minor howl, but Lee had promised them that they could play with the drums and the piano, and in a matter of moments Barbara and Gayle had been able to take them away. Lee had promised Bryn that Andrew would stay at his house that night along with Barbara, and that Gayle and her husband, Phil, would also be there. Andrew had spent the afternoon combing the place with an agent from a security company, and all doors and windows were now wired with traps that blared loudly and instantly set off an alarm at the police department. Lee, it seemed, intended to stay with her at the hospital through the night, and neither hell nor high water would move him.

"Lee?" Bryn persisted quietly when he didn't move.

He moved away from the wall where he had been leaning and came to sit at the side of the bed, idly taking her hand in his.

"Yes," he told her, his eyes following his fingers as he traced the pale blue lines of her veins. His eyes met hers. "Our whisperer called right before the Highway Patrol did. It was a warning so we wouldn't call the police now that Adam is back."

Bryn laughed bitterly. "He doesn't want the police involved, but the police do become involved in a hit
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and run accident!"

Lee shrugged, and Bryn was surprised to realize that he seemed uncertain. He always knew exactly what he wanted, and how he wanted to go about getting it. "I admit,Bryn, that I wanted to convince you to call the police the minute you walked back in the door. But now...now I don't think it would be such a great idea."

"You think that we should just forget the whole thing?" She wasn't sure if she was hopeful or furious.

"No," Lee said, his eyes meeting hers. "Don't you see, Bryn? No matter what, you'd find yourself living in fear for years and years to come. This person has to be caught and stopped."

"You just said you didn't think we should tell the police!"

"At the moment.Because we don't know what we're up against.And I don't think the police will know, either. We have to find out what's in the pictures."

"Oh," Brynmurmured, a chill rippling along her spine. But he was right. Adam hadn't been able to tell them anything.

"I'll start as soon as I get out of here," she said, keeping her eyes downcast so that he wouldn't know what the words had cost her.

"Good. And I think I know where you should start."

"The Sweet Dreams motel?"

"Um-hmm."

"I really can't believe thatHammerfield could...could--"

Lee interrupted her with a sigh. "Bryn, there are a lot of things in life that aren't easy to believe. A lot of ugliness we'd rather not see. I don't want to condemn the man without a trial, but he's our most likely suspect."

Bryn grimaced. She didn't feel much like arguing. She smiled at him, determined to change the subject since she couldn't do a thing from her hospital bed. "I didn't know that you had a sister."

"Two of them, actually.Sally is a few years older than I am; she's the earth mother of the brood. She moved back to theBlack Hillsright after she got out of law school, and she spends half her life defending the underdog, half of it raising apassel of kids." Bryn laughed. It was easy now. Adam was back. "How many are apassel ?''

"Five."

"That is apassel ." Bryn hesitated for a moment, wondering why she was getting strange feelings about the pretty blonde she had met earlier. "Does your sister Gayle live here in Tahoe?" "No," Lee replied a little uneasily, and Bryn was sure that she was right; Gayle was there for a reason--a reason that she might not like.

"Gayle lives inNew York," Lee said. He bit his lower lip with an idle shrug,then gripped Bryn's hand
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warmly in his as he met her eyes again with a serious intent. "Bryn, I called Gayle last week, the morning after you broke into my place. I asked her if she and Phil could come out here, then go for a little vacation up to my grandfather's place."

Brynfrowned her confusion. "I don't understand...."' 'Bryn , I want you to let me talk, and I want you to listen to what I'm saying. Having to protect someone else is like having an Achilles' heel. I didn't want to talk to you about this until tomorrow, but...Bryn, I asked Gayle and Phil to come here because I wanted you to meet them and feel comfortable with them. And I want you to let them take the boys up to my grandfather's place in the Hills." "What!" Bryn cried out.

"Would youhush! " Lee demanded, smiling crookedly. "I had to fight all the red tape in the hospital to get to stay here; if you scream like that a second time, they'll come up here and kick me out for sure."

Bryn lowered her voice. She was unaware that she clutched his arm and spoke beseechingly. "Lee, I can't send the kids away! They've only just become secure with me. Adam won't go! He'll think he's being taken away again!"

"No, he won't, Bryn. Not if you convince him it's all right."

"But, Lee, I can't let him go. Not now."

"Bryn, I know that the thought is painful to you. But I've thought this over until it's given me headaches.

No one gets near my grandfather's land undetected. And I have a lot of friends nearby. Blackfoot and half-breeds likemyself who are deeply into their heritage. I'm telling you, nothing could move against those kids in the Hills. And it would be great for them." He shrugged, trying to take a humorous approach to the situation. "Who knows? Maybe Grandfather can convince Adam that throwing food is poor etiquette."

"Lee!"

"Come on, Bryn! I'm serious. You're a great parent, but you're a girl. Playing Indian will be great for the boys. They can fish, ride, swim and have a wonderful time. And we can search through those pictures without having the terrible worry about what might be happening to them. We act normal--finish our video during the day and comb the pictures at night. And I promise you that as soon as we finish the video, whether we've discovered anything or not, we'll head on up toSouth Dakotaourselves and meet them there."

Bryn stared at him, both fear and a thrilling curiosity taking hold of her. He kept using the words "we"

and "our." He wanted her with him. For more than a night, more than a brief affair...

"Brief could be defined in many ways, she warned herself sagely. And he wanted her to let the children go away....

She bit her lip, lowering her lashes. He placed a finger beneath her chin, lifting it. There was tenderness gleaming in his golden eyes when he spoke softly to her. "Bryn, I'm not trying to send the boys away because they might be in the way. I like kids, even ones who throw food. I'm thinking of their safety."

She could feel her lip quivering. "I believe you," she said softly.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Good," he whispered huskily. "You don't have to decide right now. Tomorrow, when you get to know Gayle a little better, you can make up your mind."

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Bryn nodded, feeling pain enshroud her heart. But Lee was probably right. If the boys stayed now, she wouldn't ever want to open the front door; she would be afraid to take them to school.

Lee drew away from her suddenly, idly picking up the little gizmo that called the nurse and controlled the TV He flicked the channels, then stopped at a scene of a dark and spooky castle rising above jagged cliffs.

"Ah, great!One of those old Vincent Price horror spoofs. Do you like these?"

"Yes...fine," Bryn murmured politely. He wanted the serious conversation to drop. Bryn wasn't sure that she did. She didn't feel too bad. Her "minor concussion" wasn't even causing her a headache now. She wanted to grab his arm and pull him back, and tell him that she was scared and angry...and confused.

About the pictures.About him. She wanted to demand to know why he had gotten so furious over the piece of music she had picked up, and she wanted him to talk to her. She wanted to know why he could blaze hotter than a raging fire,then turn around with a gentle wisdom and empathy that was rare in any man....

What happened to your wife?she wanted to shout. Why was it that he never mentioned her name, never referred to his years of marriage? It would seem natural for him to talk about it sometimes....

She thought again about the song she had found.Beautiful lyrics, haunting lyrics that he had never sung.

Lyrics...that had something to do with his wife?Lyrics that Bryn had discovered and thereby made Lee furious.

She closed her eyes for a minute, wondering about the song, about his wife and about Lee. Had he loved his wife so deeply that he wouldn't ever give his heart to anyone else? Perhaps he had decided to keep moving. He was very independent, affluent and famous. Why would he ever want to be tied down?

She had to be ready to let go if--or when--the time came. Events had swept her along, and now she was with him, in love with him. She couldn't let go now; she had to take the moments that were offered her, and the man. But she had to be ready. She had to accept the fact that the day would come when he would leave and move on. No man wanted to be saddled with an instant family, no matter how tolerant he was.