Leena’s Dream (4 page)

T
urner and Kendrick
scanned the hospital lobby looking for Leena. She had snuck off without either of her guards, and while Matt waited back at the hotel in case she returned, they searched the only other place they thought to look for her. What the hell was she thinking going off on her own? His anger was only outshined by his concern for her safety. She had just come back into his life and while he didn’t think there was any chance for them to pick up where they left off years ago, he wasn’t about to see her get herself killed.

“She’s not here.” Kendrick’s gaze still traveled over the people milling about. “We’ve gone through the list of patients Nora gave us and searched each floor. Where could she have gone?”

“There’s one last place.” It came out more like a whisper than Turner had expected as he jogged toward the elevator. There was only one other place she could have been.
Labor and Delivery.
She used to visit that area when she was having a hard time dealing with Meredith’s health or her parents. She’d watch the babies through the observation glass.

“Where?”

“Downstairs with the newborns.” They stepped into the empty elevator and Turner pressed floor zero.

“There’s Labor and Delivery here?”

“We’re not just a hospital for oncology children.” Turner let out a deep sigh and made a mental note to talk to Annabel about expanding their image. They were one of the best children’s oncology hospitals but there was more happening within this building than just treating cancer. “We treat more high risk pregnancies and babies each year than anywhere else in the state.”

“Guess I never thought about places like this.” Kendrick shook his head. “Who wants to think about sick children?”

“That’s the problem.” The elevator doors slid open, he stepped out, and there was Leena standing in front of the nursery glass window. Her hair was pulled back in a twist, holding it up and off her back. Her light blue jeans and blouse made her look like a normal visitor to the hospital, not like someone who’d climbed the charts and stepped on stage to entertain thousands of people. Lust flared within him, but as he neared her he noticed the way her shoulders sank and her eyes narrowed in deep thought.

“What the hell were you thinking, Leena?” Kendrick demanded before Turner could find out what was wrong.

“I…um…” Her words trailed off as she continued to stare at the infants.

“Kendrick, give us a minute.” Turner tipped his head toward the elevator. The guard looked over the top of Leena’s head at him and opened his mouth to protest but then nodded and strolled away. He wasn’t sure if the distant look in Leena’s eyes did it or Turner’s heated gaze. Either way it worked and Kendrick stood near the elevator. It wasn’t complete privacy but it would do for the moment.

Turner touched the back of her shoulder, gently rubbing before working along the curve of her back. “Are you okay? Have you heard from
him
?” He stressed the last word so that she would know what he meant.

“No, I’m fine.” She paused and finally looked up at him. “It’s not that, I was just thinking.”

“You don’t seem fine.” When he saw the distant look in her eyes again, he squeezed her shoulder. “I’d better get a doctor to look at you.”

“No really, I’m fine. I need…” She paused as if trying to determine what she truly needed. “I need a drink, a stiff one.”

“Come on.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tugged her against his body. “Let’s go up to my office and you can tell me why you’re worked up. Push the elevator button, Kendrick, we’re going upstairs.”

With a soft ding the elevator doors opened and the three of them stepped inside, when Kendrick pushed the floor number and turned to Leena. “Did he contact you directly?”

“No.” She leaned into Turner’s embrace, pressing the length of her body against his side. “Nothing like that.”

“What the hell were you thinking leaving without guards? I gave you direct orders to contact me when you wanted to leave the bus.”

“I know.” She didn’t even bother to defend her actions which sparked additional alarm bells for Turner.

“You put yourself in a dangerous position.” The elevator doors opened again and Kendrick stepped out, checking the hallway before she emerged.

The administration floor was quiet this early in the day. Most employees wouldn’t be in until nine, but there were a few going about their daily activities. Unconcerned about anyone else, Turner kept his arm tight around her and strolled toward his office. He’d get her inside, sitting down, and then he’d question her.

“I…shouldn’t be here.” She glanced around the area before her gaze fell on Grace, Annabell’s secretary, who was already behind her desk hard at work. “Everyone’s working.”

“You’re fine here. We’re going to get you a drink and if you want, I’ll take you back to your hotel.” He had never seen her this dazed before. She shivered under his touch and seemed ready to cry. It was so unlike the strong Leena he had always known.

“I’m going to call Matt and let him know she’s been located.” Kendrick tugged his cell phone off the clip of his jeans.

With a nod, Turner added, “Give us a few minutes.” If she didn’t seem more herself after that time, he’d have one of the doctors check her over. He slid his key into the lock as the guard took up his post. “Come on.”

“I’m fine.” She protested as he led her toward the chairs.

“I know.”

“She’s so young…so alone.” She sank down onto the chair and buried her face in her hands. “Some people don’t understand how precious children are.”

He grabbed the bottle of whiskey that one of his co-workers gave him for his birthday the month before, and two glasses. It was early and he rarely drank but if a sip of the hard stuff would pull her from this shock, he’d do it. He strolled over to her. “You had all of us concerned about you.”
Hell, you still do.

“I didn’t mean to.” Her reply was muffled by her hands.

Just like when he had to interview someone as a lawyer, he decided to take it slow and work his way to what had her upset. It would help her calm down. That and the two fingers of whiskey he’d just poured in the glasses. “What was so important that you had to come without alerting Kendrick?”

“I just didn’t think about them. I grabbed the keys to the rental I had delivered to the hotel and drove over here. I couldn’t sleep and I remembered Meredith saying that some of the parents who left during the night wouldn’t come in until late. I figured it was a good time to visit.” She took the glass he held out to her but didn’t take a drink. “Brandy…”

“Who?” He set the bottle and his glass aside without bothering to pour himself any.

“I don’t know her last name. I’m not sure she does either.” She tilted the glass back and forth, watching the warm brown liquid slosh about. “She’s a young girl I visited with this morning.”

“So that’s what has you upset?” He laid his hand over hers. “Visiting with one of the children has made you think about Meredith. Leena, that’s only natural. I had been here nearly a year before I could stop by and visit with the patients, or be any assistance to Hope’s Toy Chest besides buying or wrapping the gifts. It took time for me, and it will take time before the children no longer remind you of Meredith.”

“Meredith?” She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I’ve accepted what happened…that’s a lie, but I was prepared for it. This is different.”

“Then tell me.” He squeezed her hand. “You can tell me whatever it is.”

She brought the glass to her lips and paused before finally taking a sip. “Oh, shit.” She winced as the liquid burned its way down her throat. “That’s awful.”

“Not much on hard liquors, are you?” he teased. “This is aged until perfection, until it’s woody and smooth enough to slide down your throat with ease.” Good whiskey was one of his only indulgences.

She set the glass on the edge of his desk. “I needed that. It burned its way down my throat and into my stomach and made me accept things. I’ve opened my eyes and there’s no going back.”

“Opened them to what?”

“What I really want.” She twirled the ring on her finger, back and forth a few times before finally looking up at him. “There’s a young girl downstairs. She’s sick and the people who were supposed to protect her and be by her side through this terrible ordeal have abandoned her.”

“Brandy.” Even if he hadn’t known the girl himself, he connected her to earlier comments she’d made. “She’s a sweet child who’s been given a crummy hand.”

“How can a parent just walk away from their child?” Her voice broke before she took a deep breath. “To leave a child alone to go through what she’s going through…damn it, if I ever get my hands on them they’ll wish they were dead.”

“Leena.” He squeezed her hand.

“I’m sorry.” She pulled her hand out of his and rose from the chair to pace his office. “It tears something apart inside of me to see her down there all alone and scared. But I shouldn’t be talking to you about this.”

“Why?” He stayed where he was and gave her the space she obviously needed at the moment. “Because my parents did the same thing?”

“Yes.”

He remained silent for a moment and tried to figure out the best way to approach the subject. Did he want to tell her everything? Brandy had gotten into his heart, too. So deeply that he put in an application to adopt her. He’d had an extensive meeting with her social worker to go over the details. Her biggest concern was how he would care for her, since his job was so demanding and he didn’t have a spouse or a family.

“It’s just like what your parents did to you.” Leena’s words cut through his thoughts.

“I was older,” he reminded her.

“It doesn’t matter. They still left you to fight for your life all alone.” She stopped just a few feet in front of him. “Can you honestly say that you don’t have any hatred for them? That you’re fine with their decision? That what they did is okay?”

“Leena.” He rose from the chair and went to stand before her.

“You can’t because you know what they did was wrong.”

He took hold of her hand before she could move away from him again. “I won’t condone what they did because you are right. It was wrong. Maybe I can understand why they did it, though. They had no insurance, no money. What were they going to do? Maybe leaving me on my own saved my life. I can’t say for sure that I would’ve lived through it. I didn’t give up and when I thought I would die from loneliness you came into my life and brightened it up.”

“Then, just like everything else, I was yanked out of it.” Unable to meet his gaze, she looked down at their feet. “You were alone again because of me.”

No, because of your mother.
“My sweet Leena, you never truly left me.” He brought her hand up to his chest and laid it over his heart. “You were always here.”

“I was in love with you,” she whispered. “And when I thought you wanted nothing to do with me any longer it broke something inside of me. I didn’t know how to repair it, so I focused on my music. I thought that would be enough but it’s not…”

“What do you want?”

“What every girl wants…a family. I want a husband and children. I love my career and I don’t think I want to give it up completely, but I need more than just getting up on stage every night.”

Children?
His heart skipped a beat before he forced himself to focus on the rest of her statement. “Many people balance a career and family. You see it with musicians, too. So why can’t you?”

“Because I never opened myself up to anyone but you.” She looked back up at him and let their gazes meet. “All those years ago you stole my heart and I never wanted it back. I fell in love with you then and even after I thought you were gone from my life altogether, I never felt that way about anyone else.”

“Young love has a way of sticking with you. I loved you then and even as I watched you move up in your career, further and further out of reach, I never stopped loving you.” But now more than ever, he couldn’t allow himself to get involved with her. No matter what he felt for her, she deserved better.
Fuck.

D
eclarations of love
should have been something to celebrate. Instead, Leena stood in his office with her stomach in knots. Even as he told her that he loved her then, and still cared for her now, she watched as he closed himself off from her. He had thrown up walls that hadn’t been there before. What had changed? One second they were having a tender moment and the next he was pushing her away. Had he been lying?

Before the walls were erected she had wanted to tell him about her dreams. She wanted to tell him of her desire for a husband and a family. That as much as she loved her music career, it wasn’t enough. She needed more. She wasn’t sure she could have it with him, but she was open to exploring what had started between them years before.
Is there someone else?

“Leena.”

She glanced back toward the door and noticed that Kendrick had stepped into the office and Turner was pushing the door shut. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve asked Kendrick to join us for a moment.”

“Why?” Her voice hitched as he came around the chairs to lean against the edge of his desk. His jeans stretched tight across his hips, while the top buttons of his dress shirt were undone showing off his tanned skin. The picture sparked her imagination and heated her body.

“I have a friend on the police force, Detective Mason Hazelwood—”

“I don’t think I like where this is going—” she cut him off.

“I doubt you will, but I did it because I’m concerned for your safety.” He clasped his hands in front of him. “I told him about your stalker.”

“You what?” Her eyes where wide as she swallowed his news. “They’ll cancel…”

“Doing the concert is dangerous not only for you but for this hospital.”

She squeezed the back of the chair, her rage burning within her. “The hospital…you betrayed me to protect the hospital.” Just like that she realized that she meant less to him than his job. He couldn’t even come to her before he threw everything she’d worked for down the drain in order to protect the hospital. Nora and Chelsea had put so much work into this event and were counting on the donations and ticket sales in order to bring joy to the patients. Now it was over before it could even start. “How could you?” It came out softer than she expected as her sorrow rushed forward.

“If you’d hear me out…”

“Screw you.” She grabbed the rental car keys that sat on the arm of the chair and stalked toward the door. “You made it clear where your loyalties are.”

He was around the chair and his hand wrapped around her bicep before she could open the door. “That must be why I’m risking my career, this hospital, and my license in order to keep this concert on schedule.”

She tugged her arm from his grasp before his words sank in. “What?”

“Maybe we should hear him out,” Kendrick suggested.

“You contacted the police.” If they knew about this, they’d have to alert hospital administration and it would be shut down.

“I did…and I didn’t.” He pushed a strand of her hair away from her face and looked at her. “I didn’t do anything to jeopardize the concert tomorrow, but I did speak with Mason. He’s a detective and a good enough friend that he’s willing to risk more than I should have asked him to risk. He’s going to meet us at my house tonight at five. We’re going to put together a plan to keep you safe and keep all of those attending safe.”

“We’re not cancelling the event?”

He shook his head. “Kendrick and Matt are good but they’re not enough.” He glanced at the guard. “Not enough for the crowd that’s expected. I’m a lawyer, not a cop or security guard, but I’ll do what I can. Even with the three of us, we’re not enough to keep you safe. Mason and a few of his men can pick up the slack. Nora and Chelsea already doubled the security and the Cedar Grove Police Department has every officer on duty for the event, but they are going to be missing key details, since you’re determined to keep this stalker a secret.”

“I have to,” she reminded him.

“And we have to keep you safe. I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”

“It’s not just you, Leena, who’s in danger.” Kendrick’s gaze traveled from Turner to her. “If something goes wrong, you’re putting everyone who came to see you at risk. The hospital would suffer as well but none of that compares to the guilt you’d feel. I’ve known you long enough to know that you’d take it personally if anything happened to one of your fans.”

She nodded because he was right. If anyone got hurt because of her it would be her fault. Her fans, the event staff, her own crew, any one of them would hurt her more than if the bastard came after her directly. She had never liked having security guards put themselves in danger because of her. Another downside of her career.

“An erotomania stalker normally only focuses on the target. Unless he believes someone is getting in his way, he’ll focus on her. Which will work in our benefit and will keep those in attendance safe.”

“Kendrick, could you excuse us?” She waited for her guard to step back into the hall and close the door before she turned back to Turner. “Don’t even think about it.”

“What?” He stepped back from her and went to the coffee maker.

“Turner.” She followed after him and stepped to the side of the buffet so she could look at his face. “You told me that if he believes I’m dating someone he could become violent. I won’t put you in danger.”

“What would give you that idea?” He tipped the jug of water he kept next to the coffee pot into the water reservoir and didn’t meet her gaze.

“Damn it, Turner.”

“There is an Italian restaurant downtown. It’s a small place, family owned, and the food is delicious. Will you join me for an early lunch?”

She wanted to scream. One minute he was building walls to keep her away and the next he was inviting her to lunch. The twists and turns he sent her on were becoming too much. “You want to be seen in public with me because you hope he’ll see it. Well, I’m playing no part in you putting yourself at risk. He’s interested in me and I’m not going to let anyone else put themselves at risk.”

“What would you rather do?” He slammed the jug down with such force that some of the water sloshed out. “Sit around and wait for him to come after you?”

“It’s what I’ve been doing and it’s better than putting you at risk.”

“Really? Because I’m not so sure.” His hands curled into fists. “When I showed up at the hotel to tell you I spoke with Mason, I found Kendrick coming out of your bus looking as if he was ready to flatten someone. The only thing I could think was the stalker managed to get to you in the middle of the night.”

“But he didn’t. I’m here and I’m fine.” She reached out to him but he stepped back.

“For how long? How long until this bastard catches up with you? Damn it, Leena, he warned you that he’d be here and you’re staying in the fucking tour bus alone. Well, no more.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” She let her anger in because it was better than seeing the fear in his eyes. “I’ve lived my life on my terms, and occasionally I’m willing to be flexible. Just as I’m being right now with having Kendrick and Matt follow my every move. But that’s the extent of it. I won’t have you or anyone else telling me what I can or can’t do. That tour bus is my home away from Nashville. Hell, I even feel more at home in it than my house. I’m not going to stay in some hotel room because some asshole has decided that I’m to be his.”

“Do you not realize how much danger you’re in?”

“This isn’t the first asshole who’s tried to come at me, and if I stay in the business he won’t be the last.”
If…am I really considering giving it up?
It was too much. She had to get out of there. Without another word, she marched toward the door and pulled it open. “Kendrick, let’s go.”

“Leena…”

Turner called after her but she couldn’t stop. She needed to think. Music had been her life and now it didn’t seem worth it anymore. She wanted something more, but first she had to deal with this stalker.
Come after me, you asshole!

“
W
ell
, that could have gone better,” Turner bitched to himself as he heard Leena make her way down the hall. What he thought was the right thing had managed to piss her off royally. She didn’t want him protecting her and he wasn’t about to step out of the way now. If she wanted to walk away from him when this was over, that would be fine, but she wouldn’t push him away until this bastard was in custody. He wouldn’t see her hurt because he failed to do everything in his power to protect her.

Their time together might have passed, and he knew for certain he couldn’t give her what she wanted, but he wouldn’t stand by and do nothing.
One last thing to prove my love to you, my sweet Leena.

He went to his desk and picked up his office phone to call Chelsea. It was time to request another favor, and hopefully this one would give him the opportunity he needed. He had to be seen in public with her. One photograph might be all it took for the stalker to catch a glimpse of them together and for him to change his direction.
You might hate me for it, Leena, but I want that bastard to come after me.