AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Two
“You missed all the fun.” Cammie’s voice wafted into Zane’s ears like an ocean breeze.
He slit his eyes open enough to see her sitting next to him. He was no longer on a musty floor, and his head pain had subsided from the beat of a full marching band to a low-key acoustic version. “What happened?”
“We stopped the bad guys.” Cammie squeezed his hand. “We closed your case.”
“We?” As far as Zane could remember, he’d done nothing more than get himself beaten up, so if that’s what had cracked the case, he should thank Elm. “I’m pretty sure I face-planted on the floor and didn’t accomplish shit.”
“Your swan dive into the hallway outside of Sherri’s cabin alerted security to a problem,” Cammie said. “They sent medics, and Chief Ross himself sought Sherri out to question why a semi-conscious man had stumbled from her cabin.”
“I bet she couldn’t explain that.” Given how high-strung Sherri seemed to be in general, Zane guessed she didn’t really have a poker face when it came down to it.
“Nope, she cracked immediately, spewing a confession before they could even clear her from the event she was managing. She made quite the scene, apparently. Drama galore. She implicated Elm and Ben—”
“Ben, your steward?” He tried to push himself up but was still too dizzy to do much more than nod his head.
“Here… Let me help.” Cammie adjusted his bed so he wasn’t lying flat on his back. She slid another pillow behind his head to prop him up more. “And yes, Ben was the one who put Frankie’s body in my room, then removed it to store in the ship’s freezer.”
“Wow, he wasn’t even on my radar.” And really, Elm hadn’t been either, which made Zane wonder if he was really cut out for this kind of investigative work after all. He should probably stick to debt collection and leave the detective work to someone without a head injury.
“Nope, I’d never have believed Ben was involved. He’d put on a good innocent act, Oscar-worthy for sure, but he confessed, too.” She was back to holding his hand, and he had to admit, he liked the comfort of having someone with him when he was injured.
All the time he’d spent in hospital after his coma, he’d had no visitors. No one besides the nurses and his doctor seemed to give a shit about him at all. It was his first real taste of loneliness, something he’d never left behind him but something that seemed safter than letting another person into his dark world of self-pity and trauma responses.
“And Elm? Tell me security got him before he could jump overboard.” He laughed but regretted it immediately when fireworks exploded across the front of his brain. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed he wouldn’t barf all over himself in front of Cammie.
“Oh, Zane, you can’t do that. No sudden movements.” Cammie put something in his hand. “Press the button for pain meds.”
He pressed the button three times, hoping that it meant triple the dose of whatever was in the IV. The effect was almost instantaneous. Relief came in ebbing waves, soothing over the fire of his headache but also nudging him toward the darkness where there was no Cammie and no comfort.
He fought to keep his eyes open but only managed to crack them. “Thank you,” he croaked.
Cammie didn’t seem to need an explanation. She caressed his hand and smiled. “Get some sleep, Zane.”
“I don’t want… I want to…” His words jumbled in his mouth.
“I’ll be here when you wake up.” Her words floated through his awareness.
“I couldn’t…do this…without you.” Even though he had no idea how he closed the case at all. There were still too many holes to fill. Missing pieces that were hovering somewhere just out of his reach. “I’m sorry…your vacation…ruined.” His mouth was full of cotton balls.
“Are you kidding? This was the best vacation I’ve had in like…forever! Mystery, intrigue, sex and kink all rolled up in almost five days.” She winked just before his eyes slid closed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He felt her lips on his cheek. “Okay, I could probably do without the dead body, frostbite and you suffering from a concussion.”
Frostbite? His brain grew fuzzier by the second, rolling fog seeped into his thoughts and made it harder to focus on her words. He wanted to ask her to explain but instead he said, “I like you.” And hoped that she understood that this wasn’t just a fling to him anymore.
* * * *
“How are the patients doing?” Captain Evans swept into the infirmary with a cheery wave at the nurse.
Cammie bristled. While he’d taken action when confronted with the proof that Cammie wasn’t out of her mind, he still hadn’t apologized for not believing her in the first place.
“Both are stable, Captain,” the nurse drawled from her desk.
“Good to hear!” He walked to Zane’s bed, actively avoiding Cammie’s death glare. “We’ve arranged for paramedics to be on site when we dock, so Mr. Roberts will not experience a huge disruption in care.”
Cammie clenched the hand on her lap, ignoring the pain from the frostbite to her fingers. She’d been treated and the damage wasn’t too severe, according to the nurse, but she’d need some follow-up care at the hospital as well.
“And you, Miss Sheppard? How are your fingers?” He finally looked over at her then recoiled from the expression on her face.
