Deadly Lover (20 page)

“Lily? Are you hurt?” Timothy Perry appeared at her side.

“Not me. The Law Keeper. The big dumb jerk, here. We need to stop this bleeding.”

Timothy held up a tube of liquid healant. “This will staunch it until we can do a thorough exam. Help me get his shirt up.”

Lily edged in front of Jolaj and tugged at his tunic, sliding her hands up his torso. He lifted his arms and together they got the material over his head.

She pulled his long auburn braid forward and out of the way, then used the shredded tunic to hold pressure against a gash on his left shoulder. He breathed evenly, a steady rise and fall of his chest while Timothy sprayed the healant across his back. No sign of pain or discomfort. She looked up to find his gaze making a slow, relentless scan of the room. Like a panther with his catlike eyes watching, observing, waiting for his prey to make a telling move.

When Timothy worked his way around to Jolaj’s shoulder she left him to it, then crouched down to gage the seriousness of the wounds on Jolaj’s thighs. Not as much blood there. His hand settled and tightened on her shoulder. She looked up the line of his body.

He grimaced as he met her eyes. “I’m fine. See to the woman.”

“But—”

“Not now, Agent. See to the woman. Help Sean.” His voice lowered and his eyes pleaded with her. “Step away from me. Please.”

She realized then how her position would look. At his feet. Her hands wrapped around his thighs.
He could be watching,
he’d warned. The one responsible for all this could be watching.

All around her, people were in motion. Working. Not paying any attention to them. But somewhere in the room, one pair of eyes might be fixed on them.

She moved her hands, slipping them up his thighs to settle at his hip bones. That left her face even with a part of his anatomy that was perfectly happy with her position, despite his injuries. She pushed to her feet, keeping her body close. Slipping her hands up the sleek muscles of his chest. “Let the bastard come.”

He watched Lily Rowan put her hands all over the filthy animal and his blood boiled. He’d brought her into this. Made her what she was. Bitch. Had the animal made her his whore?

He’d wanted his hands on her. Wanted to stroke her. Reward her for her role in his little public service activities. Now he’d have to use his hands to punish her. Bring her pain. Make her realize her humiliation.

Not only did she touch the animal. The Law Keeper. She’d helped him save the other animal. She should have pressed her pulse pistol to both their foul
stringer
heads.

He’d heard her words to her cousin. She’d as much as told him to protect the animal and his little silver-suited slut. Protective custody. Well, that road block left his evening free.

Free to punish Lily Rowan for her betrayal.

“Hey, babe.” Bradley’s casual endearment grated across her nerves. She was close enough to Jolaj to feel the rumble stifled in his chest. No, Jolaj did not like the Ormney Affairs Liaison.

Lily faced Bradley. “Why are you here?”

He frowned, looking her up and down. “Damage control. Third day in a row. All holy hell is going to break out when it gets out and it will. You okay?”

Lily slipped an arm around Jolaj, ostensibly to help him support his weight, but he wouldn’t lean on her. Wouldn’t shove her away either. Lily used that ruthlessly to drag out her play to rile the bad guy. “I’m fine. Jolaj is the injured one.”

“Quite the hero. I need to ask for your help, Law Keeper.”

There was something cruel under the slick polish in Bradley’s voice. The kind of double speak Lily had come to associate with corrupt officials around the world. As angry as she’d been with him through the years, she’d never before doubted his belief in his work and doubting him in this, now, undermined another small wedge of the solid ground she’d been left to stand on. Lily let her newly heated anger show. “Jolaj needs medical attention.”

“I’m all right, Agent Rowan. I’ll do what I can to help.”

“You need to be patched up,” she insisted.

“Actually,” Bradley said, “the injuries could work to our advantage. Media’s on the way. We’re going to make a statement before the security vids leak to the press. If you’re okay to stand on your own, the injuries will look good on camera. The heroic Law Keeper, willing to put himself in danger to keep the rest of us out of harm’s way.”

Bradley turned to Timothy Perry who’d just finished applying healant to Jolaj’s shoulder. “Will he be okay for twenty minutes?”

“Sure.” Timothy’s answer was sharp and short. “The bleeding’s stopped. The damage is mostly superficial.”

Bradley focused on Jolaj, hands buried in his pockets. A gesture Lily knew meant he was uncomfortable with the situation, she just didn’t know why.

“We need to put a trustworthy Ormney face on this incident,” said Bradley. “Standing side-by-side with Sean. Law Keeper and Metro working together to address the problem.”

“We need to keep everyone together,” said Lily. “Law Keeper Jolaj will want to keep an eye on the Ormney victim.”

Sean walked up. “He’s secure and with the medical team. I’ve put two men on the door. I don’t much like talking to press either, but Bradley’s right. We need to keep the public calm.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Jolaj shrugged his massive shoulders, drawing her notice to the broad expanse of bare, muscled chest and to the fist-sized tattoo over his heart. A tattoo identical to the one she’d seen on Lanyak’s autopsy hologram.

“We need to find you a shirt.”

“No,” said Bradley. “We need him in the uniform and the blood can only help.”

The degree of callous calculation behind his words disgusted her, but she knew what he suggested was the best thing under the circumstances.

Lily acknowledged Timothy’s help with a simple thank you. He nodded and turned away, looking annoyed at the implied dismissal. She would have to try to soothe that over later. Timothy had been nothing but helpful.

“We’re setting up in the lobby.” With a hitch of his head, Bradley indicated the direction. “I’ll wait for you at the elevator banks down the hall.”

Lily waited as Jolaj pulled the blood stained tunic over his head. The stretch and play of muscle tempted her to touch and stroke, but the blood served to douse that need. When Jolaj had the tunic on they all headed down the hall together. She let Jolaj put a little distance between them, since he hadn’t tried to exclude her completely. He seemed to want her close, if not as close as she’d been playing it.

Lily watched him walk, his movement stiff. He needed a better exam. There could be internal injuries. And she was being stupidly protective, when moments earlier, she’d made them both a target.

She was torn in two by the knowledge that she wasn’t only putting herself on the line. Ten minutes earlier she’d been concerned that he was putting himself at risk and now she’d put him there herself.

Lily hung back out of the circus as the press briefing got started. It had been set up in the hospital’s sixth floor lobby. Sean was doing his best to protect the crime scene and slow down the hackers that would be looking for internal security vid showing the incident.

The army of reporters fanned out in a colorful array facing the microphone where Sean, Bradley, and Jolaj stood ready to take questions. After Bradley made a short statement, the press took turns shouting questions. They started simple and safe, but all it took was one difficult question and they all started in, like sharks scenting blood in the water. “Law Keeper, how were you able to subdue the attacker?” The reporter’s tone relayed suspicion even as he smiled, showing shiny white teeth.

Jolaj spoke calmly and clearly. “The man was a med tech working in the technology exchange program. Not a trained fighter.”

“Are there many trained Ormney fighters?”

“We’re always told the Ormney are a peaceful race.” Another reporter mocked. “Do you consider yourself a trained fighter?”

“I’m a Law Keeper. Trained to serve and to protect, much like the human Metro Law Enforcement Officers.”

A short, pixyish woman shouted out the next question. “Why is it that what we seem to need protection from lately is you Ormney?”

“All Ormney are saddened by these incidents.”

Bradley stepped forward. “It’s important to remember the Ormney men involved are as much victims as the women who’ve been injured.”

“Injured? Two women have been murdered, Liaison Rubiero. Are you discounting those who’ve lost their lives?”

Bradley took on a grave, funeral parlor expression. “An Ormney life has also been lost and another Ormney citizen has been hospitalized as a result of today’s incident.”

“Was the Ormney involved today drugged, like the one who attacked a woman in The Mixer two days ago?”

Sean leaned over to the microphone. “The details of today’s incident are being investigated as we speak. We can’t say more until we have all the facts.”

Lily’s com signaled. Her mother’s name glowed on the display. Leaving the crowded area behind, she found a room down the hall, stepped inside. She tapped her com-link. “Mom? Is everything okay?”

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard from her mother.

“Your sister is hysterical. Heartbroken.” Her mother’s voice hadn’t changed. With a little more thought she remembered that her mother had been scolding her then too. “She says you’re having an affair with her husband. Lily, tell me this isn’t true.”

“Of course it isn’t,” she said automatically.

“Then how is it, she called him and caught the two of you in bed together?”

Lily didn’t need to see her mother’s face to know her jaw was clenched tight. Her elegantly arched eyebrows would be drawn together and her eyes would be flashing with that how-can-you-do-this-to-me look.

“We weren’t in bed together. We’re working together, that’s all.”

Carts and boxes of supplies littered the room around Lily. She paced her way around the obstacles and her mother lectured. “Lily, you can do better than that. Working together doesn’t require you to spend the night together.”

“Mom, have you seen the news lately? We have a crisis going on here. People are dying. No one is working regular hours on this.” Lily kicked a rolling cart, sending it crashing into a stack of boxes. She hated having to cover Bradley’s tracks. Having to make explanations when she’d done nothing wrong.

“You need to talk to your sister,” said her mother. “She’s devastated. She hasn’t answered my calls since before breakfast.”

“I’ve got a lot going on, but I’ll try to get in touch with her.”

“You do better than try. Rose and Bradley are working through some difficulties. This is not the time for you to be intentionally hurting your sister over things that should have been forgiven and forgotten long ago. Bradley is her husband now, Lily. That might not mean anything to you, but—”

Lily closed the com-link, leaned against a cart, and let her head fall forward. Marriage, family, it all meant more to Lily than her mother could guess.

It didn’t surprise her when Jolaj walked into the room. She turned her head enough to watch him close the door and move closer. She’d known he’d come looking for her. Yeah, he’d left her on the glide-rail to try to save a life, but he’d hated doing it. That had been clear in his eyes.

He approached her slowly, cautious. He reached for her, like a fascinated boy reaching for a bird that might fly away. His hands settled on her shoulders, the heat of his big body a single step away. She took that step, fisted her hands in his tunic and pressed her forehead against his chest.

“Your mother didn’t believe you?”

She tipped her head back to look up at him. “You heard that from the hall?”

He nodded and she studied his broad face.

“You believed I’d slept with Bradley too.

His nose scrunched then flared. “I smelled him in your bed. I wasn’t thinking clearly in that moment.” His hands squeezed gently. “You are an honorable woman. Your integrity is clear in everything you do.”

She couldn’t stop the grin that tugged across her face. “Thanks. You’re a good man.” He was a goddamned boy scout. Trying to take care of everyone, even her. But his loyalty to his people would always come first. It was part of who he was.

She pressed her cheek against his chest, closed her eyes, and slipped her arms around him. She clung to his strength and solidity for just a moment then stepped back. He let her step out of his arms without protest.

She straightened her spine, stretching a little, standing straighter. “We should get you upstairs. You need med treatment.”

She started to turn to the door but he stopped her. “You need to make Sean understand the danger you’ve opened yourself to. Tell him whatever he needs to know and let him watch out for you, Lily.”

“I wouldn’t break the confidences you’ve shared with me for the sake of my own safety. I can look after myself. But you’re right. I’ll have to give him what he needs to put an end to this before anyone else dies. I’ll try not to drag out any details that won’t help him.”

The strain in his face didn’t ease, but he didn’t argue.

When they stepped out of the room, they found Sean waiting for them in the corridor. She tried to gauge Sean’s reaction to seeing them together, but his cop face was in full effect.

Lily returned her own blank face. “The press conference?”

Sean tipped his head toward the press, now crowded a short way down the corridor where some of Sean’s men were keeping them back. “Broke up a few minutes ago. Got a lot less interesting for them after the Law Keeper ducked out.”

She eyed the crowd of reporters, a blockade between them and the elevators. “Is there another way off this level?”

“Staff elevators,” said Sean. He waved a hand to indicate the direction.

She nodded and headed that way. Jolaj and Sean were at her side before she rounded the corner. “Where’s Bradley?”

“He had to head downtown,” answered Sean. “Some folks are calling for a full lock down. Keep the Ormney in The Zone until everything is resolved.”

“Hell, I guess it was inevitable,” said Lily.