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When Jim pushed open the door, he froze and Scarlett bumped into him.
Jim asked, “Who are you?”
Scarlett peered around Jim’s large frame and met the heated gaze of a redhead sitting next to Dax’s bed.
“Who the hell are you? If you take one more step into this room, I’m going to scream bloody murder for the nurse.”
“Whoa.” Jim held up one hand. “I’m Dax’s brother, Jim Kennedy.”
The redhead gave Jim the once-over and the deep lines around her mouth softened. “You’re J.T. I see it now. You look just like my man—maybe a little softer around the edges.”
“You’re Belinda?”
“I drove here as soon as I got the call from that Deputy Stevens.” She jerked her head toward Scarlett.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Scarlett Easton, a friend of Jim’s.”
“You’re the one who found him.” Belinda tossed her mane of hair over her shoulder. “I’m grateful to you.”
Scarlett brushed past Jim and approached the bed. “How’s he doing?”
“Not great, but he’s a fighter. He’ll pull through, but then he’s got another problem.”
Jim edged into the small room and took a spot at the foot of Dax’s bed. “What would that be?”
“Didn’t you get my text? If you don’t find those drugs and stop the kidnappers, they’re going to come after Dax again—and this time they’ll kill him.”
Chapter Fifteen
Jim gripped the metal bar at the end of Dax’s hospital bed. “You sent the text?”
“Dax told me to send it to you if anything happened to him.” She flung her hand out toward Dax’s still form. “Something happened to him.”
Jim hunched forward, bracing his hands on the bed. “What do you know, Belinda? What did Dax tell you?”
She raised one eyebrow. “I’m not telling you anything here.”
“Have you had breakfast yet?”
“A cup of coffee and a candy bar.”
“Scarlett and I will buy you breakfast.”
Pushing to her feet, she slung her leather jacket over one shoulder. “Dax said you were a hotshot sniper. You packing heat?”
Jim’s hand moved to his pocket.
“Good, because I’m not going anywhere in this hick town without protection.”
Scarlett put her hand on his arm. “Let’s go to one of the restaurants in the new shopping center. Nobody needs to see us with Belinda at Sutter’s.”
“I like the way this girl thinks.” Belinda shrugged into her jacket, covering the sleeve of tattoos that decorated her left arm.
Jim raised one finger and then leaned over his brother. “Hang in there, Dax. We’re going to figure this out.”
On their way to the elevator, Belinda stopped at the reception desk and rapped her knuckles on the surface as she hunched forward. “You’re going to call me if there’s any change, right?”
The nurse scooted her chair back an inch. “Yes, ma’am.”
They stepped into the elevator, and Jim leaned toward Belinda, the smell of her heavy perfume tickling his nose. “Are they afraid of you?”
“They’d better be.”
Belinda wanted to leave her car at the hospital, so Scarlett drove the three of them to the new shopping center, not far from the hotel where they’d stayed last night.
Jim swallowed. That hotel would always bring a smile to his face—wherever Scarlett wound up in the world. She only thought she wanted something more with him, but she was the same bright girl she’d been in high school and she’d made good on the promise of her youth.
He still had a long way to go, and she didn’t need to be along for his journey.
“This place is open for breakfast.” Scarlett pulled into a parking space and cut the engine. “Hopefully, we won’t see anyone we know here.”
“And if we do?” Belinda took the gum out of her mouth and stuck it in a wrapper.
“Why lie?” Jim shrugged. “You’re Dax’s girlfriend. You’re here because he’s injured and we’re having breakfast with you.”
Jim scanned the mostly empty restaurant and blew out a breath when he didn’t recognize one person.
