Protected by Shadows (5 page)

“No, ma’am. Drive carefully.” Black gloves tipped the hat and he strode away.

“Just fuckin’ great.” She buckled herself back in, used her blinker and got back on the interstate after shutting off her hazards. Not wishing to be stopped for speeding, she held back. It took her longer to get home and her eyes burned furiously as she made her way up the steps of her antebellum house.

“Crap, I’ve not been this tired since vet school.”

She walked to her bedroom, where she leaned against one of the pillars of her four-poster bed and reached down to remove her stilettos. Flexing her toes, she groaned in relief.

Lord, my bed looks so good.
Eyes half lidded, she stumbled to the master bath and turned on the shower. A bath sounded divine. Truly.

“I’d probably drown.”

She stripped and stepped beneath the showerhead. Palms on tiles, she exposed her neck to the pounding spray. As much as she wished to linger, she
had
to get some rest before she went to visit her brother.

Once finished, she wrapped a towel around her body and did the same to her hair. Then she flopped across her bed, set her alarm and gave into the demands of the Sandman. Hard to keep ignoring him, given how he’d pretty much been beating her over the head with a sleep stick.

* * * *

Every inch of her was sore when she flailed about trying to shut off the loud, ear-splitting beeps which pierced the air. Two hours of sleep was not enough.

“I need more,” she muttered to no one in particular.

With a grunt, she pushed up, her hand going to her head and encountering the towel that now sat haphazardly and precariously where she’d placed it. Fighting another yawn, she blinkingly made her way to the bathroom.

“Shit. I look like I went ten rounds with the devil.” She frowned at her raccoon eyes. “And I lost.”

After her shower, she dressed and got on her way, opting to swing through a drive-thru for a coffee instead of making one. In the hospital parking lot, she headed in after locking her car. Sipping on the elixir, she walked up to the admin desk.

“Can I help you?”

“Hope so. My brother Eugene Camden was admitted yesterday. I need his room number, please.”

Thankfully the nurse was quick and got her the information. Armed with the destination, Lexy strode to the elevator bay, her tennis shoes making very little noise on the floor. Muzak played in the lift and she rode up leaning in the corner, her hat pulled low over her eyes. Exiting once the doors opened, she followed the signs to her brother’s room.

She knocked before entering. The room was mostly dark, though the lights from the machines hooked to him cast his bed in an eerie glow. Tears pricked her eyes as she saw the battered face of her elder brother.

“Oh, Eugene,” she said.

His head had been bandaged with white gauze, one eye as well. There were cuts and abrasions all over his exposed skin. One leg had a cast on it, as did one of his arms. The part of his face not covered in bandages also had large bruises.

She turned on a lamp, placed her coffee down and winced even more when the light illuminated better the damage done. With the tips of her fingers, she tenderly touched his cheek.

“Who did this to you?”

The door opened and she hastened into Hector’s arms once he had fully entered the room.

“What the hell happened, Hector?” Her voice trembled.

“Something went wrong with his car and he ran it off the road.” Hector held her tight.

“Has he told you anything?” She drew back when he didn’t respond. “Hector?”

“Remember, Lexy, I told you he’s in a coma.”

Bile rushed up as her legs buckled. Hector assisted her to a chair and knelt before her as he wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Did the cops find
anything?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Eugene is a cautious driver and he takes care of his vehicles. This doesn’t make any sense, Hector.”

“Accidents happen, Lexy.”

The call flashed through her mind. “I’m not so sure it was an accident.”

He gripped her arms. “What do you mean?”

She told him about the call and watched his expression darken thunderously.

“Did you tell the cops?”

“No. I thought I imagined it—hoped I had. There’s no recording of it and the number was blocked.” As if on cue her cell rang. Hector didn’t move away until he saw the name on the screen. Jaydee.

“Hey, Jay.”

“How’s Eugene? And how are you?”

“I’m okay. Eugene’s in a coma, Jay.” More tears spilled and she didn’t even bother wiping them away. “He’s just lying there covered by cuts, bruises and gauze.”

“Lexy, I’m so sorry. I’ll be on the first plane out I can get.”

“No,” she mumbled. “You have a family.”

“And my sister needs me. I will be there today.” She hung up.

Lexy stared distractedly at the phone until she realized Hector was attempting to talk to her.

“What did you say, Hector?”

“I want you to go to the cops.”

“And say what? Help me, a computer voice told me that what happened to my brother wasn’t an accident. I didn’t record the call and the number was blocked.” She shook her head. “What good will that do? Make them think I’m insane.”

“You’re staying with me.”

“No. For all we know it’s a prank.”

He scowled and jerked her chin so she stared at their brother. “Does that look like a fucking accident to you, Alexsa? Or a prank?”

She gulped. “I meant the call, Hector. Not Eugene. Never Eugene.” How could he ever think she could feel that way?

“I’m sorry, Lexy. This”—he gestured—“has me all messed up.”

She hugged him. “I know. Go home and sleep, Hector. I’ll stay here with Eugene. The clinic is covered.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Promise. I’ll call if there’s
any
change.”

“Be careful, sis. If that call was real…”

“I’ll be right here, Hector. I think I’ll be safe in the hospital room.”

“Love you,” he murmured, giving her another hug.

“Ditto.”

Hector left and Lexy opened the curtains, allowing the morning Southern sun to enter the room. She stood over her brother and wished she could take away all his pain.

“Time to wake up, Eugene.” She touched one of the few spots on his head not showing an injury. The only sounds were coming from the numerous machines keeping him alive.

Moving a chair to the sun, she stared out of the window before sitting and closing her eyes.

* * * *

The chime of her cell woke her.

“Hello?” Her greeting came out in a mumble.

“You will not go to the police and you
will
give us what we want. You can’t hide from us, The Watchers are everywhere.”

She bolted up in her chair, heart thundering. “You! What do you want?”

“Your attention…for now. We will summon you and you had better answer.”

Her brain scrambled. “Who are The Watchers?”

“Just know
all
your activities are being monitored. Do not test us on this, for you will not like the repercussions.”

“Wait, monitored?”

“Need an example? Very well. Your brother, Hector, is driving his Chevy Tahoe. And your Spyder is very nice. Although you do like to drive fast, wouldn’t it be a shame if something happened while you were cruising over eighty.” It came out as a statement. A cold-blooded one.

Lexy wasn’t concerned until they told her Hector’s license plate and color of his vehicle. It was one thing to know what he drove but to give such specifics was scary.
Who is this person? Or people?

“What do you want?” Her emotions were out of control and her voice reflected it with the cracking.

“Don’t forget. No cops. We’ll talk soon.”

Just like that, the computer voice was gone and she had a dial tone in her ear. Dropping her phone in her lap, she pinched her nose and groaned. It made even less sense now.

Watchers.

Never heard of them. Summons. Totally missed that.

The door opened to admit two nurses. One approached her. “You okay, dearie? You’re a bit pale.”

Her name tag read ‘Mary’ and Lexy shook her head. She was far from okay. “Not used to seeing my brother like this. I’ll be fine, thanks.”

“We have to run some tests, why don’t you head to the cafeteria and get something to eat?”

“I’ll be fine, I have some coffee.” There was no way she wanted to leave him. She settled back in the chair.

“Very well.” They left her alone and did their thing.

Chapter Three

Valentino walked down the steps to congregate with the rest of his family. Jaydee was ready to leave and most of the others were as well, himself included. He kissed his mother only to pause at the expression on Jaydee’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Gio asked his wife.

“Lexy said not to come.”

“She probably has no wish for you to go all the way over there when all she’s doing is sitting at his bedside.” Gio kissed her.

“No. Something’s wrong. She called me from a payphone.”

Valentino felt a sliver of uncertainty skate up his spine. What had Lexy got herself into now?

“Perhaps she forgot her phone,” he offered, truly not liking the fear on Jaydee’s face.

Jaydee met his gaze squarely. “She’s a vet. It’s always with her.
Always.
”

Valentino could attest to that—she even brought it in the bathroom when she showered. It was an extension of herself.

“What did she say, Jaydee? All of it?” Valentino put all his attention on her. Jaydee was one who could repeat verbatim what she heard.

“She said she didn’t want me to come down. Things were hectic. Eugene has been in a coma since the accident.” A shake of her head. “She said she was being watched.” Jaydee gripped Gio’s arm. “She isn’t paranoid. Something is—”

Her phone rang and she answered, “Lexy?”

Jaydee became rigid and went off in Russian. He fought the urge to smack the phone from her hand to get her focus back on him and have her finish the story.

“What do you mean, watched?” he interrupted.

Jaydee pulled the phone from her mouth. “I don’t know. She mentioned a group who called themselves The Watchers.”

Valentino had been to hell and back a few times. There wasn’t much evil he hadn’t faced. Or fear. It was child’s play compared to this moment when he realized The Watchers had Lexy in their sights.

“What?” God, his voice sounded graveled. She continued talking so he reached out and removed the phone from her hand.

“Valentino!” Gio snapped.

Jaydee stared at him, shock evident on her face.

“I need you to tell me exact, Jaydee. Gio, give me a fucking second.”

His brother frowned but stopped his forward progress.

She arched an eyebrow. “I just told you.”

Reining hard on his swiftly eroding control, he held her gaze, allowing the emotion he typically kept hidden to leak free.

“Anything else?” The words were bit off in a failing attempt to master his temper.

“Give me my phone.”

“Was. There. Anything. Else?”

“Valentino, what is your problem?”

He growled low in his throat and glanced around. His parents, brothers and Jaydee watched him. Shock and confusion were on each of their faces. Halyn had walked off with the kids.

“Son?” His mother reached out to touch his arm.

He knew he didn’t have a choice.
Damn it, I wanted to keep them from this.

“I know this group,” he said, exhaling heavily.

“How would you know?”

He speared Enzo with a look. “Because we’ve been hunting their leader for a long time.”

Jaydee crossed her arms. “You aren’t a banker.”

“No.” He glanced at his watch, tossed Jaydee her phone back then put his hands in his pockets. “What I’m about to tell you, you need to forget the moment I’m done saying it.” They all looked skeptical, but each one nodded. “I work for a group that protects the country. This other group, The Watchers, is a radical group who wants to change the government and if they are after Lexy…” His stomach curdled with the thought.

His family began firing questions at him and he sighed before trying to figure out how to answer them. Jaydee placed her hand on his arm. The act had everything else fading into the background. He gave her all his attention.

“Keep her safe.”

He had every intention of doing so. His phone rang and he glanced at the screen. His boss. “I will,” he vowed.

“Tell us more, Valentino,” Enzo said.

It rang again and he ignored it. “No.”