Renegade (14 page)

The door opened and she looked up, the frightening memories put at once to the back of her mind. Earlier, Cash had brought her insurance card and clothes, then she'd said goodbye to a tearful Rory and Cash had taken him to the airport to put him on a plane for Maryland. She'd lost track of time while he'd been away.

“I came back earlier, but you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you,” he said quietly. “I've been in the cafeteria.”

“I've been asleep for a long time,” she said slowly. “I feel a little better.”

“Good. I just talked to the commandant,” Cash said as he
neared the bed. “He picked Rory up at the airport and drove him back to the school. They won't let any one take him out except you or me. He's going to be safe.”

She let out a long breath. “Thank God they didn't hurt him. I was so afraid of what Sam might do.”

“So you traded yourself for him.” His breath was audible. “He could have killed you.”

“It wouldn't have mattered, as long as Rory was safe.”

Cash slid his hands into his pockets and stared at her with his lips compressed while he fought back rage at his own in adequacy. She wouldn't meet his eyes. “You know you can't stay alone, don't you? Not with that other lunatic on the loose. Stanton is sure to have told him where you live.”

She swallowed, hard. “I can get a room in a hotel somewhere…”

“I'm taking you back to Jacobsville with me.”

“No!”
she said harshly. “Not after what's been in the tabloids!”

“I'm going to have a live-in nurse until you're back on your feet,” he continued, as if she hadn't spoken. “There won't be any gossip.”

“You…would do that?” she asked, surprised.

He nodded. “Rory pointed out that you couldn't stay alone with me,” he said, tongue in cheek. “I'm the police chief. We have to think about my reputation.”

“Obviously we don't have to worry about mine,” she said drowsily. “I don't have one anymore.”

“Stop that,” he said curtly. “Nobody believes what they read in tabloids!”

“Nobody except you,” she agreed and she looked straight at him.

He couldn't argue with that, but it hurt to hear it. He
jingled the change in his pocket. “I told the staff we were engaged.”

“What for?” she asked coldly, trying not to let a helpless flutter of excitement show.

“They wouldn't let me into ICU any other way. You were there until they ran twenty tests and patched you up, when they first brought you in,” he replied. “I wasn't going to be kept out. So we can tell people we're engaged when we get to Jacobsville, too.” He studied her flushed face. “That would shut up any gossip.”

“You don't need to sacrifice yourself on my behalf,” she said with a hint of her old spirit. “I won't be around long, anyway, if these cuts can be covered up with makeup when my ribs heal and the bruises fade. I'll have a movie to finish when Joel Harper gets back in the country.”

He moved closer. “I did a stupid thing,” he said through his teeth. “Two stupid things. I gave in to temptation and then I believed what I read in the tabloids. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. You called to ask me to get Rory back, didn't you?”

She nodded without looking at him.

He jingled the change in his pocket again. He hadn't apologized in years.

“You told me how you felt, in the beginning,” she said heavily. “I didn't listen. I pushed you into what happened, Cash. I don't even know why I did it, but if there's anybody to blame, it's me.”

He scowled. “Rory said you were going to keep the baby.”

She turned her face away, wary of letting him see the wetness in her eyes. “None of that matters anymore.”

But it did. He could feel the pain that radiated from her. “The only thing that does matter is getting you back on your
feet,” he agreed. “And keeping you safe until we have to testify at Stanton's trial.”

“I've been expecting a call from my mother,” she said coldly. “I guess Sam hasn't gotten in touch with her yet. She'll blame me for his being in jail.”

“No doubt,” he agreed. “The FBI is looking into the possibility that she conspired with him to do it. If they find enough evidence, they'll charge her with conspiracy, and she'll go to trial, too. Kidnapping is a federal offense.”

“I didn't think of that,” she said abruptly. “There's still a man at large, too.”

“Yes. That's why you have to go to Texas with me. Judd will be around, or I will, all the time. You won't be vulnerable.”

That was what he thought. “Christabel won't…mind…having me around after all that business with Judd?” she worried.

“Christabel and Judd are like two little kids in a candy shop since they married—especially since the twins came,” he said. “They won't mind. Nobody's jealous of you anymore.”

She sighed, wincing when it pulled her ribs. “How do you like living in such a small town?” she asked. “You were like a duck out of water when I was there.”

He hesitated. “I'm not sure. At first, I did it for a joke. My cousin Chet needed help and talked me into it. I was sure I'd hate every minute. But I was tired of cybercrime and sick of my life.” He sighed. “I've been an outsider in Jacobsville ever since. But the job is…interesting. Varied. Never boring. And I feel as if I'm really doing some good. I've cornered the market on drug violations. Apparently Chet didn't want to make any waves, so he turned a blind eye to some of the higher level dealings. I called in the DEA and started staking out bars.”

“You'll make enemies.”

“I've got plenty already, thanks. We've got an acting mayor
and at least two city council members who'd bring firewood if they offered to burn me at the stake.” He pulled up a chair and sat down. “But if I can keep a secretary, I might give it another year.”

“You need to look for a woman who isn't afraid of snakes and doesn't throw things back at you,” she pointed out.

“That would be a change.”

She rubbed her fingers over her mouth. “I'm so dry.”

He got up and poured water in a glass, lifting her head so that she could sip it.

“I never knew how good water was until today,” she said with a husky, broken laugh.

He eased her head back down and put the water glass on her side table. “You've got guts. Trading yourself for Rory was the stuff of legends.”

“You'd have done the same thing I did,” she replied, closing her eyes.

“Sure, but I'd have had a K-bar in my boot and a hide gun in an ankle holster,” he retorted.

“My ankles are too thin for a holster.”

“I noticed.”

She drifted for a few seconds. “I had to ask for some thing else for pain,” she explained. “I'm afraid to go to sleep, but I think I'm going to.”

He moved his chair closer and caught her slender fingers into his. “I'll be right here,” he said, his deep voice comforting. “Go to sleep.”

She tried to smile, but she couldn't quite remember how. She sighed and drifted off.

 

T
HE SMELL OF POTATOES
and chicken brought her wide-awake. Cash was removing metal covers on a tray that he'd positioned on the sliding table.

“For hospital food this doesn't look half bad,” he mused, glancing at her. “You have ice cream for dessert, too.”

She struggled to reach the button that would raise the head of her bed. He did it for her and moved the sliding tray over her legs.

“You need to go and get something to eat, too,” she told him.

“I just did, while you were sleeping. You're going to have to be in here for several days,” he said. “The doctor said we'd take it one day at a time, and see how you do. Then I'm taking you to Texas. Those stitches come out before you leave the hospital, but you'll still need a checkup down the line. He's referring you to a friend of his in San Antonio, and he's going to consult with him on your progress.”

She gaped at him. “How did you arrange that?”

“I just asked.”

She shook her head. “You're amazing.”

“I hated the idea of flying you back up here for your two-week checkup. It's too risky right now.”

““Okay.”

“No argument?” he mused.

“I'm too tired.”

“Eat your supper.”

He handed her a fork. She drew in a long, slow breath and began to eat. She wasn't really hungry, but it was good food.

“I got in touch with Joel Harper,” he added, not telling her that it had taken several international phone calls and even a couple of threats to chase the man down. “He's run into a hitch in the film he's working on, so it will be at least three months before he's back in the country. He said not to worry about your insurance. He'll pay what it doesn't, as an advance against your salary,” he added.

She almost cried with relief. “Thank God,” she whispered. “I was so worried…”

“Don't let that chicken go to waste,” he said. “I had it down in the cafeteria. It's good.”

She lifted another forkful to her mouth. “It's an Italian dish. I can make it myself, when I have time.”

“Rory can make barbecue.”

She lifted her eyes to his face. “Yes, he can. How did you know?”

“He told me.” He toyed with his sleeve. “He's quite a boy.”

“I think so, too.”

“I told him he could come out and stay with me, too, as soon as school's out.”

She hesitated. “I don't know. I'll probably be back at work, then.”

“Probably not,” he returned. “It's just barely April. Joel won't be back until July or early August.”

She sighed, finishing her chicken. “I thought you didn't like ties.”

“I'm not wearing one, am I?”

“You know what I mean.”

He crossed one long leg over the other. “You can watch the political process up close,” he said evasively. “Calhoun Ballenger is running against one of our oldest state senators for the Democratic nomination. The primary's the first Tuesday in May. It's shaping up to be a very hot race.”

“I don't know much about politics.”

“You'll have fun learning,” he said with a gentle smile.

“Think so?” She opened her ice cream.

“You didn't eat your sweet peas,” he pointed out.

“I hate sweet peas.”

“Vegetables are good for you.”

“Only vegetables I like are good for me,” she corrected. She spooned ice cream into her mouth. Chewing was uncomfortable, she had some bruises along with the cuts on her face, but the ice cream just melted on her tongue.

“We have an ice-cream parlor in Jacobsville,” he said. “They sell every flavor under the sun. I'm partial to strawberry.”

“That's my favorite, too.” She finished and put the cup and wooden spoon back on the tray, grimacing when she shifted.

“Rib hurt?” he asked.

She nodded, leaning back against the pillows. “I wish I had a gun and five minutes alone with Sam,” she said huskily. “To my credit, I did try one of those roundhouse kicks when he found out he couldn't get any money for me. I even managed to block his first punch. Then he grabbed that bottle and I lost ground. I'd love to show him how it feels to have bruised ribs and concussion.”

“He's got a nice bullet wound,” he told her.

She frowned. “He got shot?”

“Yes, he did. I slipped, or he'd have had more than a bullet wound.”

Her lips parted. She stared at him wide-eyed. “
You
got me out…that's what the FBI agent meant when he said they had some interference. You came after me!”

“Yes,” he confessed. “I didn't have a lot of faith in the agents they assigned to your case. They were sitting in your apartment with Rory waiting for a phone call that might never have come. I tracked Stanton and his cronies down, with a little help from a former colleague.”

“I wondered,” she said softly. “I couldn't get anybody to tell me what happened.”

“They didn't know,” he said simply. “Since there's no evidence to connect me to the shooting, the feds and I have an
arrangement. I cleared my presence with a higher-up who owed me a favor. He ran interference for me with the police and the other government agents. At any rate, I don't want the complications involved in admitting I was the shooter. It could cause a scandal and negatively impact my reputation as a police chief in Jacobsville.”

“Oh.”

“So we're all pretending that Sam shot himself, and he was too drunk to see where the shot came from,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Lucky Sam to still be standing at all after what he did to you.”

“He was very angry,” she recalled, shivering.

“Did he force himself on you?”

“He was too busy hitting me to think about sex,” she sighed heavily. “One of his friends tried to stop him, to his credit, but Sam was out of control. He'd been using something, I don't know what. His eyes were glazed and he was higher than a kite.”

“Which man tried to stop him?” he asked.

“He had blond hair,” she murmured. “That's all I remember.”

“The one who was arrested with him was blond. One got away. The dark-headed one, I think.”

“Maybe.” She blinked. “My mother has a lot to answer for,” she said. “If I were vindictive enough, I'd give the tabloids a story they'd never forget.”

“You'd never get over it, either,” he said. “Don't even be tempted.”

She looked over at him with sad eyes. “They couldn't do much more damage to me than they've already done.”

His face clenched. “I was stupid enough to believe them,” he replied. “Most of this is my fault.”

She shook her head. “Things just happen,” she said heavily.
“My mother was behind this. I know she was. She'd already phoned me and made threats. I didn't believe she'd risk her own son for money. Silly me.”