Chapter 21
21
Morse
I T TOOK ME and Amelia about eight and a half hours to get back to Seattle, and I was clenching my ass cheeks together the entire ride, anticipating an attack that thankfully never came. It had been a long, hard ride, and I wanted to take her directly to the fire station and put her ass to bed, but she’d have none of it, insisting we go directly to the hospital instead. The stubborn woman was bound and determined to get in the door before visiting hours ended.
Parking in the garage, I called Tap and gave him my location. He hacked into the cameras and promised to keep an eye on the bike. There was still a price on Amelia’s head, after all, and cutting a brake line was a quick and easy way to fuck up someone’s day.
“Rabbit is on the way to provide backup,” Tap said before I could hang up. “He left as soon as you crossed into city limits and should be there shortly.”
Providing backup was a solid excuse, and I was grateful he was on the way, but Rabbit couldn’t hide his true motivation. Not with the handful of texts he’d already sent me, demanding updates I refused to give. His nosey ass wanted to know what was going on between me and Amelia. I thanked Tap for the warning and disconnected.
Amelia hadn’t complained about the ride, but I caught the gasp she didn’t quite stifle when she climbed off the bike. Stashing my gun in a locked, hidden compartment, I joined her. She removed her helmet, and the dark smudges beneath her eyes and the nervous way her gaze flitted around the garage made me want to throw her over my shoulder and carry her to the safety of the club. We were so exposed in this garage, and anyone could be hiding between the vehicles. Determined to get to safety, we grabbed our helmets and headed in.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said as we walked. “I mean, thank you for your concern, but I know my limits. I haven’t reached them yet.”
“Got it. But it would still be safer if you let me and my brothers make a plan to get you here tomorrow. I’m only asking for a day. Less than twenty-four hours.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d pitched that particular path, so it didn’t surprise me when she shook her head.
“What if Carol doesn’t have twenty-four hours? Look, I don’t want to put you in danger even more than I already have, so you should go back to the club. I know what I’m doing is stupid, but I have to do it. She’s dying, Morse, and she’s all alone. I promised her I would never let that happen.”
“I’m not leaving you alone.” Even if her life wasn’t in danger, I would be by her side. Not because of the promise I’d made Ted but because I understood Amelia and admired her loyalty. In her place, I’d make the same choice.
Well, with better preparations….
We passed through the metal detector, and the main desk receptionist directed us to the fifth floor. We took the elevators up and followed the signs to the correct wing at the back of the building. Once there, we checked in at the nurses’ station. A doctor was in with Carol, but the nurse assured us we’d be able to see her soon. Pushing away from the desk, Amelia eyed the flattened upholstered chairs of the small waiting room and wandered over to stand in the corner. I followed, keeping both the entrance and the middle-aged man across the room in my peripheral.
“How you holding up?” I asked.
She folded her arms, running her hands up and down them, her attention fixed on the patient room doors as if willing them to open. “I’ll feel better after I see her.”
I set my hands on top of hers and squeezed. “How’s your leg? Can I get you anything?”
Her big hazel eyes flickered to me, and the affection staring back at me snatched the breath from my lungs. “You’re wonderful, you know that?” she asked.
Guilt kicked me in the teeth. I did not deserve this woman’s affection and needed to come clean about why. Not now, and definitely not here, but soon.
Boots thudded down the hall, coming closer, then Rabbit rounded the corner with a shit-eating grin stretched across his face. My self-appointed backup had arrived.
“There you two are,” he said as he approached. “And don’t you look chummy? See? Told you you had nothing to worry about, brother. I knew she’d forgive you for the cameras. It’s not weird. He just likes to watch you garden.”
Amelia’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. “What cameras?”
“You didn’t tell her?”
She looked from Rabbit to me, growing increasingly anxious. “Is this about the break-in at my house?”
Realization darkened Rabbit’s carefree mood. He stabbed an accusatory finger in my direction. “You fuckin’ promised, man.”
Irritated that he would walk up and throw me under the bus like that, I swatted his hand away. “I tried, okay? A lot of shit has gone down since we left.”
“What’s going on?” Amelia asked.
Rabbit opened his mouth to verbally back the bus over me a few times, but I shot him a glare that threatened his life.
He threw his hands in the air and took a seat nearby. “I’m just sayin’, you gotta be on the same team, brother. Share the damn playbook.”
“What’s he talking about?” Amelia asked.
The stranger across the room was paying us entirely too much attention, as was the nurse behind the desk. Rabbit leaned against the chair’s arm, listening in. I didn’t want to have this fucking conversation here, but now I had no choice. Resigned, I lowered my voice.
“The cameras I spotted the intruders on… the night they broke into your house… they’ve been up for a while.”
Her brow furrowed in thought, then comprehension dawned on her beautiful face. Plump lips fashioned into an “o” that gave me hope this whole thing might blow over until she asked, “How long’s a while?”
I’d been hoping she wouldn’t go there, but I had to answer honestly. “Since Ted died.”
Her jaw dropped. It closed and opened a handful of times before she finally formed her response. “You installed cameras on my house four years ago?”
“Only on the outside.”
“Only on the—” She scoffed, and her hands flew to her head. Better than wrapping them around my neck, which she had every right to do. “Oh, that’s okay then. Right? No violation of privacy there. You’ve only been… what? Watching me garden? Do you hear how creepy that sounds?”
“Yes. And watching you garden wasn’t my intention. I put the cameras up because you were… alone. And vulnerable. I needed to know that you were okay. I owed that to you for all you’d done for me.”
“Then why not pick up the phone and freaking call me? You should have spoken with me before installing cameras on my house.”
I could only give one answer, and she wouldn’t like it. “I couldn’t.”
She refolded her arms. “You… couldn’t?”
“No.”
“Was that why you avoided me at his funeral?”
I winced at her tone, but it was the pain in her voice that was going to do me in.
“You didn’t even stick around to say hi. Just gave your phone number to Morgan.”
I’d also given it to Theo, but now doesn’t seem like an appropriate time to mention that.
“Why?”
She didn’t have to elaborate.
“You think I wanted to stay away?” My voice sounded too raw, too needy. “Let me assure you, I didn’t. To be honest, it was fucking torture. Do you know how many times I planned out what I’d say to you when the time finally came? I’d convince you to join me for coffee. Then maybe we’d grab dinner and catch a movie. All the stars would align, and I’d convince you to come back to the fire station. We’d go up to my room and live out the millions of fantasies I’d conjured up starring you.”
She sucked in a breath and looked away.
I hooked a finger under her chin and pulled her attention back to me. “I couldn’t come see you, Angel, because one of the greatest men I’d ever known had just fucking died, and I couldn’t stop fucking his wife in my head. So, yeah, I stayed the fuck away. Ted deserved that much.”
“You were… fantasizing. About me?”
My jaw ticked, and I let my gaze gobble up her body. “Why’s that’s so damn hard for you to believe?”
She blinked. Then she shook out her arms and straightened her spine. “Okay. You’ve had cameras up on the outside of my house for four years. Is there anything else I should know?”
Fuck.
I swallowed. Hadn’t she had enough? It would have been better to save my other revelation for later, but I wouldn’t lie to Amelia. I’d already sinned enough against her without adding that in. Blowing out a breath, I let the last of my confession fly. “Ted’s brother is a selfish dick. He’s never sent shit to your kids.”
She stumbled back as if she’d been struck. “You’re Joe?”
“Yes.”
“Of course you are.” She opened and closed her mouth a few times before shaking her head, her expression too mixed with emotion to interpret. “You know what? I can’t deal with this right now. I need a minute.”
Understandable. In her shoes, I’d need a minute, too. In fact, I don’t know if I’d ever speak to me again. My intentions didn’t matter when I’d fucked up and broken her trust.
When she moved, I panicked and grabbed her arm. “Wait.”
Her gaze shot to my hand like I’d branded her, so I released my grip. “It’s not safe.”
“Yeah? Well, I have to pee. I’m going to the bathroom. Without you.” She glanced beyond me to where Rabbit was still watching us as if we were his personal reality show. “Will you please come with?”
Ignoring my murderous glare, Rabbit nodded enthusiastically, springing to his feet. “It’d be my pleasure, ma’am.”
That could’ve gone better.
If I could, I’d kick my own ass for being so stupid. I should have made her listen in Boise. But she’d been naked. I couldn’t be expected to reason with a bare-ass Amelia. Why the fuck would I even want that level of self-control? I loved that she fought me for the reins. Last night, she’d shredded my resolve, and that had been fuckin exhilarating. She was the first woman to make me lose control, and if I had my say about it, she’d be the last.
My stomach sank as I watched them round the corner and disappear. But Amelia would come around. She had to.
Of course, she’d have to return to her everyday life, eventually. I didn’t know what that meant for us. Now that I’d tasted her, there was no going back to watching her….
“Excuse me, sir,” the nurse said, interrupting my pity party. “You’re here for Mrs. Landry, right?”
“Yes.”
“She’s ready for visitors now.”
I thought about trying to stop Amelia, but she’d asked for time, and I could give her that. I only hoped Rabbit kept any other incriminating information to himself. “What’s her room number?”
The nurse smiled, leading me toward the patient doors. “Five-thirty-one.”
“The woman who was with me….”
“I’ll send her back as soon as she returns.”
The nurse swiped her badge, and the door buzzed open. As I headed down the hall, a tall man in a suit caught my attention. Eric Landry did a double-take when he saw me. He met my gaze and then glanced away. Since I was wearing my club colors, I didn’t take it personally. Rich, judgmental assholes had a problem with bikers. His fucking loss. I only hoped Amelia didn’t see him and lay into the bastard. I kept an eye on him until he left through the double doors, and then I slipped into Carol’s room. The patient was awake and propped up by a small mountain of pillows, with a nurse standing nearby, staring at a laptop screen. A multitude of machines beeped and hummed, their tubes running all over her body. She wore a scarf instead of a wig, and her eyes were dark and sunken.
When she saw me, the old woman sighed in disappointment. “You’re not my Amelia.” Her voice sounded funny through the oxygen mask.
“Good to see you, too, Mrs. Landry. She’s in the bathroom, but she’ll be along shortly.”
She harrumphed. “Color me surprised you let her come to see me at all.”
“Like I had a choice. You still think she’d choose her life over yours?”
“No, I don’t.” Carol frowned. “She’s still in danger, then?”
My foot went right in my mouth. The woman was dying. She didn’t need more worries, and I shouldn’t have said shit. Fuck, people were complicated.
“They got you in your own room, huh? How’d you pull that off?” I asked in a lame-ass attempt to change the subject.
She narrowed her eyes at me, which failed to intimidate me thanks to her current state. “By being a crotchety old biddy nobody wants to be around.” With less gusto, she added, “And I made a donation. I’ll make another when I get out of here.” She looked pointedly at the nurse, who was changing her IV bag. “Assuming the nurses are flexible with the visiting hours.”
“We’re more than happy to accommodate your guests.” The nurse stopped beside the bed. “Can I get you anything else before I head out?”
Carol scooped up the remote with the nurse call button. “I’ll call you if I need you.”
Once the nurse left, Carol waved me over. “I’m glad you’re here first. I need you to do something for me. My purse is in that cupboard with the mirror.” She pointed across the room. “Grab it for me.”
“You want me to grab your purse?”
“Do I look like I can get it myself?”
She didn’t even look like she could breathe without machines, so I did what I was told, but she barked out another order before I could carry the handbag back to her.
“Grab the envelope inside it.”
Retrieving this rich woman’s purse was at least a mile outside my comfort zone, and this was well beyond that.
“If you’re thinking about robbing me, I wouldn’t.”
“No. I’m thinking about reaching into your purse to do what you want me to, only to have you scream for the nurses. This feels like a setup.”
She let out a huff. “I’m too exhausted for such theatrics. It’s a letter for my Amelia. I need you to promise you’ll give it to her after I’m gone. She’ll likely have some questions.”
Now, she’d piqued my curiosity. I opened the purse wide and plucked out the envelope before returning the bag to the closet. Folding the envelope, I stuffed it into my pocket. “I’ll see that she gets it.”
Get-well bouquets covered the shelf and windowsill. Stopping beside one, I asked, “These come with your donation, too?”
“No. Those are all from Eric. He’s all but forgotten about me for years, and now that I’m dying, he’s playing doting son. Too little, too late, but he’ll learn.” Her hand flopped on the bed, almost like she’d tried to gesture but lacked the energy. “Where’s Amelia been? I’ve been waiting in this bed all day.”
I hesitated, not wanting to air the dirty laundry of the woman I’d already pissed off enough for the day. “Maybe you should ask Amelia.”
“She won’t tell me anything because she doesn’t want me to worry. But she doesn’t get to be in control of how those around her feel. I get to be concerned for her if I want.”
“We were in Boise.”
The words were out before I gave them a second thought. I might have won our one and only chess game, but this woman could kick my ass at life. She knew what she was doing.
Carol frowned. “She went to see her parents?”
I nodded. “Yes. They want her to move back. They’re holding Morgan’s tuition over her head.”
I expected Carol to be every bit as irate about the ultimatum as I was, but to my surprise, her face lit up. The woman laughed. It was weak and more wheezing than anything, but the noise seemed happy.
Until it wasn’t.
The laugh turned into a cough that looked and sounded painful. Her oxygen mask fogged up. A nurse rushed in and gave me the evil eye. She helped Carol through the fit and then cleaned the blood splattered on her mask before offering her a sip of water.
Carol had coughed up blood.
Lots of it.
She had only days.
When the nurse left, Carol gestured me closer like nothing had happened. “Want to know a secret?”
I was still accepting the fact that she was dying.
Right now.
I nodded.
“Those fools think they hold all the cards, but they’re in for a rude awakening. She doesn’t need them or their scraps anymore. Soon, she’ll have more money than she can ever spend.”
I was so fucking lost. “What do you mean?”
“You’re not some gold digger, are you, Morse?”
Was she having a stroke?
“No, ma’am.”
“Swear you won’t tell Amelia.”
“I swear. My lips are sealed.”
She was so pale I could see the blood on her lips through her oxygen mask. Her emaciated frame expanded and collapsed with a heavy breath. “Good. She’ll find out in the letter.”
“Find out what, exactly?”
“I changed my will. Everything I own will be hers.”
“What?” I asked.
Carol’s eyelids grew heavy while pieces of the puzzle I’d been beating my head against the wall to solve clicked into place.
Fuck.
The image developing shot ice through my veins, and I pressed closer to the bed. “When did you change your will?”
Her eyes fluttered open. “Beginning of the month.”
That would have been a few weeks ago. The timing lined up. “And your son…? What does Eric think about it?”
This time, anger shot her eyelids open. “It’s none of his business what I do with my money. He inherited plenty already.”
The phone calls during our breakfast, why he was pretending to give a fuck about his mother, the look he’d given me in the hallway…
Holy shit. Eric is here!
I yanked my phone out of my pocket and called Rabbit.
No answer.
Carol’s eyelids drifted closed.
I headed for the door. “We’ll be right back.”
I dialed Tap as I rushed down the hall.
“What’s up, brother?” he asked.
“Carol Landry recently changed her will, making Amelia her sole beneficiary.”
Like I had, Tap connected the dots instantly. “Oh shit. It’s her son.”
“Has to be. Amelia’s with Rabbit, but he’s not answering his phone. I saw Eric just a few minutes ago and—” I rounded the corner and looked past the elevators.
The hallway in front of the women’s room was empty.
My blood turned to ice. “Rabbit and Amelia are missing.”
“What do you need?” Tap asked.
I shoved open the bathroom door and shouted, “Amelia!”
No answer.
The elderly lady standing at the sink turned and scowled at me.
“Please. Is there anyone else in here?” I asked.
Her expression softened, and she glanced at the stalls. “No. It’s just me.”
“Have you seen a brunette wearing a leather vest like this one?” I asked, hooking a thumb under my cut.
Her brow furrowed. “She was leaving when I walked in.”
“Was there a man in a vest by the door?”
She shook her head. “Not that I recall.”
I thanked her and stepped back out.
“I’m checking the cameras,” Tap said in my ear.
A spot of crimson on the floor in the doorway caught my attention. I crouched to examine it. Wet blood. Not too outlandish considering where we were, but more scattered droplets and a smear led to a door with a glowing red EXIT sign above it. The stairwell. Careful not to disturb any potential evidence, I hurriedly made my way to the door and elbowed it open. It swung halfway and slammed into something solid.
Are those legs? And boots?
“What the fuck?”
“Talk to me, Morse,” Tap said. “Details, not emotions.”
Hoping like hell I was wrong, I slid through the opening. Rabbit was lying on his side in the stairwell. A pancake-sized pool of blood stained the concrete around his head. Dropping to my knees, I put my fingers on his carotid.
“Rabbit’s unconscious in the fifth-floor stairwell on the east side of the building. Next to the women’s room. He’s bleeding from the back of his head, but it doesn’t look life-threatening. His pulse is steady. Rabbit.” I gave him a gentle slap on the cheek. “Brother, wake up. Fuck. He’s unresponsive.” I stood and looked around. “No sign of Amelia.”
“Hound’s calling the hospital,” Tap said. “Find her. We’ll make sure Rabbit’s taken care of.”
I headed down the stairs. “If Eric took her, he might still be in the parking garage.”
We had to catch them in time. Eric Landry needed Amelia dead, and I might as well dig her grave now if he gets away. No. That was unacceptable. Panic flooded my veins, spurring my steps. Phone to my ear, I raced down the stairs.
I’d just hit the ground floor and turned toward the front of the building when Tap said, “Backside. They’re waiting on the curb.”
I spun around. The back exit was just across the hall.
“Get out there, Morse. A car’s pulling up.”
I sprinted for the door, shoving it open just in time to hear Amelia scream.