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“Grady was run off the road. He suffered a blow to the head, a gash to his temple, and a couple of bruised ribs, but he’s okay enough to argue about staying in bed. Ken and Dean were shot. They’ll make it, but they both have long recoveries ahead of them.”
“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“It is not. I know you tried.”
“And I love you for trying.”
That snippet from last night looped in her brain. He shouldn’t love her. She’d failed. “I’m so sorry I didn’t find Malgor a long time ago.” Two years later, she’d not only failed to find her father’s killer, but she’d also failed Julia and Cannon, and everybody else Malgor had terrorized since she’d come to town. Her father must be so disappointed in her.
“Listen to me, Snow Angel. It’s not your?—”
“Yes, it is.” She took a deep breath. Last night, she’d been bested. That wouldn’t happen again. “I need you to know that Malgor won’t kill her. He took her and left me for a reason.”
“I know.” He grazed a tender spot on her temple with his fingertip. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine.” Every bump and bruise she’d sustained in the past few days disagreed, but she managed not to groan as she sat up straighter. “Any communication from Malgor?”
“No. Can you tell me what happened last night? By the time I got there, the ambulance was in a ditch and so was Grady’s car.”
Cannon rose from the bed and examined his reddened knuckles. The hard set of his jaw could cut stone.
She wondered how many times he’d beaten the bag in his office between then and now. “How long have I been out?”
“All night. It’s almost dawn.” He handed her a plastic cup.
She sighed as cool water slid down her throat. “I need to know what happened first. How did you know we were in danger?”
“Malgor sent a message.” He told her about the exploding balloons. “What happened before I got to you?”
She recapped the events. “Your sister saved my life.” She pushed the sheet off her torso. The movement only made her sway a little. “I need to save hers. Get me some clothes. And get Paul and Jimmy in here.”
Cannon pulled the sheet back up. “They’re already working on finding her. Devon is here too.” He handed her another cup, this one smaller. “Give yourself a minute to get your bearings and take this. I’d rather you stay in bed another day, but I know that’s not going to happen.”
“No, it’s not.” She looked at the pill sitting on the bottom of the cup. “What is this? I’m no help if I’m drugged.” Then again, she hadn’t been much help last night, and now Julia had been kidnapped.
How had she let Malgor put her in this situation?
“It’s a megadose of ibuprofen. Take it.”
“If I do, will you get out of my way so I can get Julia back?” It wasn’t the doctor she challenged, but the man she’d broken a promise to.
He crossed his arms in an equally challenging stance. “You mean sowecan get her back? I’m going with you and the team to get my sister.”
She shook her head. The effort hurt. “No, you’re not. I won’t allow it.”
“That’s not how this relationship works.”
“I never asked to be in a relationship with an overprotective Neanderthal.”
“Too late, Snow Angel; you’re in deep, and so am I.”
And it was all her fault that he’d gotten so deeply involved in this mess that his sister’s life was on the line. Hell, he looked like he should be holding a badge instead of a stethoscope. The doctor and CEO, who wore a white coat and scrubs in the ER and a suit in the boardroom, was gone. The only accessory missing from his new look of boots, black cargo pants, a black T-shirt, and an even blacker scowl was a gun. If she were the type of woman who needed protection, he’d be first on her list for the job.
He rubbed his bruised jaw. “I know you can take care of yourself. I find it incredibly sexy and infuriating, but if you think I’ll stay back when you and my sister are in danger, then you don’t know me at all.”
She did know him. She saw past the man who swore to save lives to the cop, the agent, or maybe the Texas Ranger he should have been. Instead of feeling the satisfaction of taking criminals down, he fought a battle against a microscopic bitch of an enemy he could never beat. Hell if she didn’t admire him for trying and for his choices.
He sat next to her. “Stop thinking about all the reasons I shouldn’t help rescue my sister. The stress will only make your headache worse.”
