Chapter 4 Boyfriend Duty #2
“Yeah, maybe that’s all it is.” He seemed to be weighing his next words. “It won’t be easy keeping him in the dark, you know. Tiptoeing around all the confidentiality agreements between you, Diamondback, and our customers.”
“I’m not sure why we do so much tiptoeing around in the first place,” she retorted witheringly.
“It’s overkill, if you ask me. I get why we protect names, financial information, and other jazz; but we’re not the CIA.
I’m done with living like some off-the-grid black ops unit.
Doner than done! That’s for the movies, not real life. ”
“Doner than done?” Aaron sent a crooked smile over his shoulder that lifted her spirits tremendously. The fact that he was teasing her was a good sign that they were going to be okay.
“Aren’t you?” Hopping to her feet, she moved across the room to stand beside him at the windows. “I can’t be the only one feeling the weight of Uncle Cary’s paranoia.”
“It’s not just paranoia,” he reminded. “He lost his brother, his sister-in-law, and his silent-partner status all in one afternoon.”
“He’s still a pain in the rear end,” she grumbled.
“Yeah, well…” He grimaced as he stared through the glass. “He’s also still family, warts and all.”
“I’m having a hard time seeing past the warts.” Her words drew a chuckle from him. “And I’m really hoping you’ll back me up when I inform him about the changes I intend to make with my career.”
“I will.” There was a bleakness in her brother’s voice that she’d never heard before.
“Thank you.” She watched as he unconsciously ran his thumb over the bandage on his left wrist. He’d come home with the injury after investigating the pawnshop break-in.
“So, um…” She watched his thumb circle the bandage again.
“Now that I’ve bared my soul to you about a bunch of stuff, don’t you think it’s time to tell me how you hurt your wrist? ”
“If you insist.” He swung his head her way, frowning. “I lost my balance and scraped my arm on the fence behind the pawnshop.”
Scraped, huh? The number of times he’d changed the red-stained bandage told her it was more than a scrape. “I wish you’d go to the doctor and get checked out.” He’d always been a physical fitness guru. If he’d lost his balance, there had to be a reason.
His jaw tightened. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? What if you need a tetanus shot?”
“Chill, Aurora. I’m up-to-date on all my shots.”
“You might need stitches.” She eyed the redness seeping through his fresh bandage.
“And document an injury that would place me and my DNA at the crime scene?” Beads of perspiration formed on his forehead. “No, thank you!” He coughed and bent over double like his stomach was hurting him.
She eyed him worriedly, not feeling so great herself. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m sure,” he panted. “Listen, Aurora.” The color seeped from his face.
“I documented everything with photographs before and after I wiped my blood off the fence and ground. Regardless, my actions could be construed as tampering with evidence. It’s possible A.J.
already figured out what I did. You should’ve seen his face,” he lamented.
“He knew the details at the crime scene weren’t adding up. ”
Alarm prickled through her. “You should tell him the truth.” Way down deep, she believed A.J. was capable of compassion—far more than Aaron was giving him credit for. A.J. would likely give Aaron the benefit of the doubt for her sake alone.
“You’re right. I should,” he agreed, not sounding too happy about it, “but coming clean after the fact could cost me my job at the police department. Is that what you want?”
“Of course not!” Then again, it might compel him to pick up the reins of leadership at Diamondback.
Would that be a bad thing? Uncle Cary could go back to being a silent partner, while Aaron finally stepped into his rightful role.
“But that’s beside the point. We didn’t get where we are by compromising our integrity.
” She couldn’t believe he was even suggesting it, much less trying to make her an accomplice in the matter.
It wasn’t like him. “Just admit you made a mistake, and—” Her words ended with a yelp of alarm as he toppled over in a dead faint.
She dove his way in time to keep his head from slamming into the tile. They crumpled to the floor together, painfully bruising her knees. She stared at him aghast. Then she lurched into motion, patting his cheeks and calling his name. “Talk to me, Aaron. Say something, please!”
He didn’t move. He was out cold. No, cold wasn’t the right word. She cupped her hand over his forehead and was horrified to discover his skin was burning up. She fumbled for her cell phone and dialed 9-1-1 with trembling fingers.
“9-1-1,” a woman answered crisply. “What’s your emergency?”
“My b-brother collapsed.” Aurora’s heart thudded with genuine terror.
This can’t be happening! Aaron had always been the rock-solid member of their brother-sister team.
Over the years, she’d done most of the leaning while he’d done most of the holding up—patiently allowing her to grieve even when he could not.
She stumbled her way through the ensuing questions about his condition, then gave the attendant the address where they were staying.
“An ambulance is on the way,” the woman intoned. “Do you want me to remain on the phone with you?”
“I, er…” A wail of sirens outside the sunroom windows made Aurora jolt. “No, that’s okay. I can already hear the ambulance.”
“It’s one of the perks of living in a small town.” The 9-1-1 operator sounded pleased.
The next minute or so passed in a blur of screaming sirens and flashing lights that flickered around the walls and ceiling. Then a fist pounded on the front door.
She carefully set her brother’s head on the floor, then jogged to the entrance of the lake home. Or tried to. Her feet felt like lead, so it was more of a sluggish shuffle.
She opened the door and beckoned the EMTs forward with their stretcher, then escorted them to her brother at the same sluggish pace.
He remained pale and unconscious on the floor.
“I’m Jake, this is Pete, and we’re going to take care of your brother,” one of the EMTs assured her calmly. He and his partner were bundled up in insulated jumpsuits, hats, and rubber gloves. They hovered over Aaron, checking his vitals. “What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Aurora.” Her voice came out slurred. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Aurora Cannon.”
“Can you describe what happened to your brother, Aurora?”
“We were talking,” she choked, pointing at the windows. “Over there, and he just…fell.” Talking about it brought on another round of dizziness and nausea.
Jake gave a countdown. Then he and Pete lifted in unison to hoist her brother onto the stretcher.
“Do you know if he hit his head on the way down?” He looked young, barely old enough to be out of high school.
Either that, or Aurora was feeling all of her twenty-nine years extra heavily this evening.
“No, I caught him. Sort of.” Her knees were going to be black and blue by tomorrow.
“Enough to break his fall.” Everything that was happening felt surreal, like she was wandering around in a very bad dream.
If that was the case, she hoped she would wake up soon.
She and her brother had shouldered their fair share of heartache already.
They didn’t deserve this, whatever this was.
She followed the stretcher as they wheeled her brother across the living room.
“Can I ride along?” She mechanically reached for her coat and pulled it on, wondering where Bandit was.
He was normally super friendly to strangers, acting like everyone who came to the house came to see him.
Then again, maybe the sirens had scared him.
“Of course.” Jake gave her a boyish smile. “The more, the merrier.”
“Or I can drive you.” A.J.’s voice boomed through the open front door. For a moment, his shoulders filled the doorway. Then he stepped aside to make room for the stretcher to exit the house.
“Thanks, buddy,” Jake said cheerfully.
Aurora stumbled as she approached A.J.
He quickly reached for her. “What happened?” Concern lined his forehead.
“We’re still trying to figure that out.” She shuddered as she recounted the moments leading up to Aaron’s collapse.
“He’s running a fever. I’m not sure if it’s from his bullet wound or the cut on his wrist.” She bit her lower lip, realizing what she’d let slip.
She just as quickly released her lip, reminding herself that A.J.
could be trusted. He’d never given her the negative vibes her brother had described.
His arm curled around her shoulders, hugging her against his side as he led her outside. “Where’s your key?”
“In my purse.” She felt like a dummy for needing to be reminded to lock up.
Her hands shook so badly while she fished out her key that he took over the task, locking the front door and dropping the key back into her purse. “Would you like me to take you to the medical center?”
She cast an anxious glance in Aaron’s direction. “Thanks for offering, but I should stay with my brother.”
He nodded in approval. “Want me to follow behind the ambulance?”
She nodded shakily. “Yes, please.”
“All right then.” He kissed her cheek before lifting her into the back of the ambulance. “I’ll meet you there.”
Jake helped tug her the rest of the way aboard and nudged her toward a bench against the wall. “Buckle up,” he ordered briskly.
It took her a few tries to get the buckle clasped. What’s wrong with me? Her shivering was getting worse, probably because the doors of the ambulance were still open.
The world started to spin, making her gasp. She wasn’t simply cold. Something was wrong. Her head suddenly felt too heavy, dipping forward until her chin touched her chest.
Jake called her name frantically.
It was the last thing she heard.