But there was Sean with that look on his face.
Which one, Erin? Lust or admiration?
Each one was scary in its own right.
The sharp edges on the bottom of the bucket dug into her palms. Erin stood, shaking her tingling hands as she paced the tiny, musty space. “Jesus. Can I do this?”
The door swung open, and there stood Tess, one hand propped on her hip.
“How the—”
Tess’s cocked eyebrow shut Erin up. She hated that judgmental eyebrow.
“Seriously? You’re going to ask me that question after three years? I’m insulted.” Tess grabbed her wrist, dragging her out of the smelly hiding spot. “I need coffee, and you need to talk.”
“So aside from being the possible target of a serial rapist, what else is this about?” Tess asked once they were seated in the cafeteria.
Erin sipped her tepid coffee, grimacing because it was still too strong despite the addition of six packets of sugar and four creams. It had to be mighty powerful to keep the night shift staff awake and alert. It was a wonder her spoon didn’t disintegrate.
“Jeez, that’s not enough? What’s a person got to do to get some sympathy around this place?”
Tess sighed, not at all amused. “I’ll be the first person to help you pack a suitcase. I will drive you to the airport and see your ass on a plane if that’s what you want to do. Just say the word, and I’m there.”
Erin worked at folding an empty sugar packet into a tiny fan, stalling. “It’s Sean too.”
“You had sex with him, didn’t you?”
“It’s your fault, putting me in that fucking dress and holding my feet to the fire over that stupid bet,” Erin grumbled.
“Ooh, I know girlfriend’s irritable when she starts dropping the f-bombs.” Tess shrugged. “Fine, blame me.”
“Okay, I will.”
“At least it got you laid.”
Erin pulled a wry face.
“And the sex was great,” Tess surmised.
“It was incredible. But it’s not just the amazing sex. He’s… He’s sweet and thoughtful and sexy as hell. He likes bad reality television and makes the
perfect
peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He even picks the entire crust off, just like I do. I barely know him, but he makes me feel safe and cared for. And wouldn’t you know, he doesn’t do anything to get on my nerves.”
Tess’s eyebrows shot up into her bangs. “That is a miracle. You’ve figured all this out in less than twenty-four hours?”
“He hasn’t left my apartment, remember?”
“Oh, right. What
is
the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich, exactly?” Tess asked, pursing her lips. Erin knew it was her attempt at making light of a heavy situation.
“You know, just the right amount of jelly where it doesn’t squish out when you bite into it. Not so much peanut butter that you get all goopy-mouthed. Making the perfect PBJ is an art form. And it has to be fresh white bread, and the best grape jelly and creamy peanut butter on the market. No exceptions.”
Tess bobbed her head. “Ah, yes. The dreaded goopy mouth.”
“He calls me on my shit,” Erin said, stirring her coffee.
Tess rubbed her palms together. “
Now
we’re getting somewhere.”
“I tried using the reasoning that after intense emotional experiences, sometimes people crave sex.” Even now, she couldn’t repeat that without wincing at the justification.
“Oh, damn. I bet that pissed him off. What did he say?”
“He guessed that I was trying to medically explain away the attraction between us so it made sense to me.”
“Wow.” Tess slumped back in her chair, shaking her head. “He is good.”
“Scary good, and I mean at
everything
.”
“Yeah, you can stop mentioning the great sex now,” Tess said drily.
“He also said I wouldn’t have told him I was a doctor if that guy hadn’t collapsed.”
“Which is also true, but for good reason. It’s cock-blocked you in the past.” Tess paused, then met Erin’s gaze. “Well, I like him, for what it’s worth. I like that he’s got you figured out already,
and
he can protect your butt too. That’s a pretty potent package.”
Erin swallowed hard, trying to force the intrusive lump in her throat back down. “I’m not sure I can handle all this. Working on the domestic abuse victim messed with my head. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking afterward. I thought work might provide a distraction. How am I supposed to care for my patients when I can’t control my own emotions?”
Tess straightened in her chair, eyes going a little round as she peered around Erin. “Speaking of work, Dr. Arrington is headed this way, and she looks upset.”
Erin tensed, afraid her boss had somehow heard about her unfortunate bout of nerves. Dr. Arrington pulled out a chair and sat down. Not bothering with formalities, she delivered the bad news. “Courtney Meldon died twenty minutes ago.”
Erin felt the blood drain from her face. “Jesus. Now he’s a murderer too.”
“I am
urging
you to take some time off. Leave town. Tonight. Take a well-deserved vacation. Go visit your brother in New Orleans.”
“Will’s staying with a buddy while his house is being remodeled,” Erin mumbled, her mind spinning, then realized how stupid the excuse sounded after she said it. House finished or not, Will would welcome her with open arms if he knew what was going on. She hadn’t told him yet. Since he was a busy pilot, she didn’t want to cause him any added anxiety.
Dr. Arrington covered Erin’s hand with hers. “I know you agreed to help JPD with this case, but I wish you’d reconsider. With Courtney’s death, circumstances just went from bad to worse. Please consider what I said. Your personal safety is much more important than this hospital. Keep us posted and be safe.” With one last pat on the hand, she left.
Erin felt as if the room was spinning, and she couldn’t make it stop.
For the first time in her career, she’d been told to take time off for personal reasons. Christ, how embarrassing.
* * * *
Thirty minutes later Erin walked out of the hospital under the watchful eye of Pete Morris, an undercover detective on Sean’s team, and a steady drizzling rain. She ran to the section of the parking garage reserved for doctors only. Just as she stuck her key in the door of her car, the sudden close sound of feet scuffling over concrete made her start. She turned her head sharply, brushing damp strands of hair and rain out of her eyes.
There was a person standing near the front of her car—a man, she guessed by his build—in a dark hoodie and jeans. Gooseflesh rose on her arms. Panic flooded through her in such a rush she felt light-headed. Her hand curled around her keys in one of those self-defense measures ingrained in girls since high school gym class.
Go for the eyes, the nose, the balls.
“Can I help you?” she said loudly enough it echoed off the surrounding concrete. Dammit, where was Pete?
The man stepped closer, his face partially shielded by the hood of his sweatshirt, hands shoved inside its pockets. “I was wondering if I could borrow a pair of jumper cables.”
“I don’t have any,” she lied. “And this parking area is for doctors only. You sh—”
He grabbed her arm and yanked her toward him, forcing her to drop her backpack. “Hey!” Erin screeched, trying to free herself from his tight grip. Her sneakers skidded across the concrete as he dragged her away from the safety of her car. She still held her keys in her hand, and she jabbed blindly at him, hoping she’d hit something that would force him to release her.
A black car slid to a stop behind hers, and Pete jumped out, drawing his weapon. Her attacker wrapped his arm around her neck, turning her to face Pete, using her like a shield. Pete approached them slowly, but for every forward step he made, her attacker took another one backward.
“Stop right there,” Pete said. The gun pointed her direction was worrisome too. Surely he wouldn’t shoot at the guy with Erin between them. “Let her go, man, and no one gets hurt.”
The arm around her throat pressed hard against her windpipe, making it difficult to breathe. She clawed at his forearm, but the sweatshirt he wore prevented any direct contact with skin. Her keys hit the ground in the process.
Pete kept advancing while they kept retreating, farther into the darkened recesses of the garage. Erin continued to struggle, but keeping her feet under her took some concentration. Then suddenly she was free and stumbling off balance toward Pete as her attacker ran away.
Pete’s big body kept her from falling. The second she was steady on her feet, he took off after the guy, their footfalls heavy and loud inside the concrete structure. Erin quickly scoured the ground for her keys. When she found them, she ran back to her car, scooping up her backpack. Once inside the car, she locked the doors, cranked the engine, and took a few deep breaths. Her mind raced as hard as her heart. Should she be doing something? Calling Sean or 911?
She fumbled through her backpack for her phone, but just as she started to dial Sean’s number, Pete appeared through the forest of concrete pillars. As he neared her car, she could tell by his dejected posture and the scowl on his face that her attacker had gotten away. He holstered his weapon when he reached the front bumper.
Erin rolled down the window.
“Are you okay?” he asked her as he tried to get his breathing under control.
Mentally, no, but physically…maybe
. “Yeah,” she said. “He got away?”
Pete nodded, his mouth a grim line of frustration. “Lost him in that maze of office buildings behind the hospital.”
“I’m sorry, Pete.”
“Not your fault,” he said. “You good to drive?”
“I think so.” Even though she knew her hands were shaking and her mind wasn’t where it needed to be.
He patted the door twice. “Buckle up and take your time. I’ll phone Sean on the way back and tell him what happened.”
Pete followed closely as she drove home. Keeping her hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel was imperative. It was the only way they wouldn’t tremble.
She wanted to call Sean, but didn’t for three reasons.
First, Pete had called him the instant his ass hit the car seat, if not sooner, so why did she need to bother other than to hear his calming voice. But that was tempting.
Second, the closer she got to her apartment, the harder it rained. She’d seen too many sad results of mixing cell phones and driving. She didn’t want to become a statistic. And wouldn’t that just add insult to injury, so to speak, winding up in her ER as a patient.
Third—and this was by far the strongest reason—if he was even the slightest bit sweet to her, she would lose it. All it would take was one caring word, and she’d shatter into a thousand jagged pieces. Besides, the size of the lump in her throat might make speaking impossible.
Her second-floor apartment was dark when she pulled into her parking spot, but then Sean wouldn’t turn on any additional lights other than the lamp she normally left on in the living room. They’d gone over things like her routines before she’d left him earlier. He’d stay away from the windows, anything to keep from drawing attention to his presence.
Rain pounded the roof of the car, sheeting down the windshield almost faster than the wipers could clear it away, distorting shapes and shadows and fueling the fear the encounter in the garage had spawned. Intermittent thunder rumbled across the sky and lightning flashed, illuminating the thick gray clouds, chasing away the blackness for a few seconds.
Erin sat staring at the darkened areas around the front of the building while the leather of her steering wheel bit into her sweaty palms. It was just a few steps from her car to the bottom of the stairs, then twenty treads up to her front door, tucked beneath a little shadowy alcove. Less than a minute, and she’d be inside the safety of her apartment.
She glanced in the rearview mirror for what felt like the hundredth time since she’d left the hospital. Pete was parked nearby. Luke was too, somewhere. Sean was inside. There was no reason for her to be afraid now that she was home, safe, and away from what had happened back at the hospital, was there?
Despite the mental pep talk, when her phone vibrated from the pocket of her scrub top, she almost jumped out of her skin.
“HI, SEAN,” ERIN murmured into the phone.
He watched her through a crack in the curtains over the dining room window. He’d been waiting there since Pete called, anxious with worry and frustrated that he hadn’t been there to protect her.
“Hey, you coming inside?” Sure, it was raining pretty hard, but he would’ve thought she’d make a mad dash to the door as soon as she parked.
She made a small squeak into the phone, blew out a ragged breath. “Yeah, I, um…I was…” He heard her sniff and realized she was crying. Between swipes of her windshield wipers, he saw her brush her hand across her cheeks. He gripped his phone tighter, wanting to tear apart the fucker responsible for all this.
“I’m right here. Luke is a few spots down, watching you from an old carpet van that smells like glue and formaldehyde.”
She laughed tremulously. “Okay.”
“Come inside.”
“’Kay,” she repeated.
The car’s headlights died when she switched off the engine. Sean watched her exit her car and rush toward the stairs. He was at the door, unlocking it, then pulling it open. He closed it behind her and flipped the bolt before resetting the silent alarm he’d rigged up earlier.
Erin dropped her backpack to the floor, burying her face in her hands. Sean pulled her close, letting her cry softly against his chest. It was killing him, seeing her so upset and frightened this way, but there was nothing he could do except reassure her with his presence and his words. Promise he wouldn’t leave her alone, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
He scooped her up and carried her to the couch before gently placing her on the cushions. In the kitchen, he rummaged through cabinets until he found a bottle of bourbon and a tumbler. Sean poured a generous splash over a few cubes of ice and sat down beside her.
“Here, honey.” He pushed the glass into her hand. “Drink.”
She sat back and sipped, wiping at her wet cheeks while he picked up each foot to slide off her sneakers and socks. He gave each sole a firm massage before drawing her legs across his lap.