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But while Dr. Brannigan may have earned my respect, her accusations still stung. Just who the hell did she think she was, coming at us like that? What had we ever done to her? There seemed more to this than simply a doctor being overprotective of their patient. In fact, it almost felt like we had met before. Something about her was vaguely familiar. The turn of her mouth, the little crease that formed between those fiery green eyes when she disapproved…
“Is there a problem, here?” A paper-pushing suit had come up behind us with another white-coated doctor in tow. Great. We were starting to attract attention. The suit held out his hand, his smile all perfectly capped teeth. “Darren Winters, ED floor supervisor.”
Dr. Brannigan crossed her arms. “I was just briefing the patient’s…familyon his care, Winters.”
“It’sMr. Winters, and Dr. Barajas will finish up here. I need a word with you.”
I didn’t miss Dr. Brannigan’s sarcastic emphasis on the wordfamily, or the way she was obviously struggling to keep her emotions in check. With a final, blistering glare at Alfie and me, she turned and followed the administrator, leaving us at the mercy of Dr. Barajas, who, as it turned out, didn’t have a fraction of the backbone Brannigan had.
It was pretty cut and dry. Johnny wouldn’t be able to have visitors for a few more hours yet, but a little bribery got us able to post a guard at the door, at least. I left the situation in Alfie’s capable hands. I had phone calls to make.
***
Alfie was waiting for me just outside the ED’s entrance. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and started tapping down the tobacco. “Johnny’s locked down tighter than a tick. I’ve got Finn posted outside the room.”
“Finn? Are you sure he’s up to it?”
“He wanted something to do.”
“He’s an idiot.”
“He’ll do fine, all he has to do is sit there.” Alfie ripped a cigarette out of the pack, shoved it between his lips, and reached for his lighter. I pointed at the no smoking sign behind him, and he let out an irritated huff. He started walking towards the parking garage where the Town Car was parked. “He just wants to prove himself.” I folded my arms over my chest, unconvinced, but Alfie stood his ground. “I trust him.”
And I trusted Alfie, more than I trusted anyone else. Still, the situation left me uneasy, something niggling in the back of my brain, unsubstantial and too slippery to grasp. “Fine,” I relented. “But the sooner we’re out of here, the better. We’re too exposed.”
“Amen, brother. I’ve already got Grady working on transport, and as soon as Johnny’s awake and stable enough, we’ll move him.” Alfie’s face suddenly brightened. “Hey—how about thatDr. Brannigan, anyway?”
I blew out a breath. I wasn’t in the mood to be reminded of the pissy little firecracker, even if she did save Johnny’s life. “What about her?”
“She sure grew up to be a looker. Who would’ve thought that little string bean would turn out to have a body like that? I mean, the scrubs hid most of it, but still—”
I snorted. “Roll your tongue back up in your gob. That woman would sooner light you on fire than sleep with you."
“Yeah, but still. Talk about a blast from the past.”
“What the hell are you on about?”
“You don’t…” he blinked. “C’mon, you really don’t know who she is?”
“I’m not in the mood for twenty questions.”
Alfie lowered his voice. “That was little Cassidy Quinn. Tommy’s sister.”
“Her name was Brannigan—”
“She changed her name and left Boston a few years back. Moved out to the Midwest, last I’d heard. Hasn’t spoken to Tommy or Michael in almost a decade. She might be trying to put on airs, butDr. Brannigan, or whatever it is she’s calling herself now, is Tommy Quinn’s kid sister. Cassidy is a Southie through and through.”
I frowned. “How can you be so sure?”
“She looks just like her mother. Same eyes, same hair…same temper.” His smile dimmed. “And you can’t miss the scars. She tried to hide them, but they were there.”
Actually, I had been so focused on Johnny that I hadn’t noticed the scars. But I did remember the way she had brushed her hair forward as if she wanted to hide the right side of her face, a seemingly unconscious gesture from someone throwing up defensive walls.
CassidyQuinn. That…made a lot of sense. I’d been eighteen and still wet behind the ears when that whole, awful mess with Tommy’s ma went down. The word was, Cassidy blamed her father for what had happened that day, but it was all rumors. Nobody dared to speak of either Rosaleen or Cassidy when Michael was around.
The pieces clicked into place.Thatwas how she knew we were connected, andthatwas why she was so openly hostile to us earlier. I scrubbed a hand down my face. Brilliant. This was exactly the kind of attention we didn’t need.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Alfie said, reading my mood. “It looked like she was in hot water with her boss, so she’ll probably get pulled from the case. I can keep an eye on her, if you want.”
