Look Before You Jump (24 page)

“I think that’s a safe bet,” Grady
responded.

I sighed. “Okay then. How about you guys go
away now and let me get some well-deserved sleep?”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” the
female paramedic said as she climbed into the ambulance. “With the
head trauma, we need to get you fully checked out at the hospital
to ensure there’s not a concussion. That means you’ve gotta stay
awake.”

Damn. Why couldn’t I have stayed unconscious
a little longer? Say ‘til the cows came home – the longhorn
variety.

***

Hours later, after plenty of poking,
prodding, and a trip through the tube, peaceful sleep came at last.
When Mom and Dad arrived at the emergency room, she insisted I be
kept overnight for observation, even though scans showed no sign of
a concussion. Talk about overkill – but I was glad I was still
among the land of the living, and this cub was happy to acquiesce
to the momma bear’s demands. At least this time.

By that point,
overnight
was rather a
misnomer too since the sky had lightened by the time I was ushered
into a private room. When I opened my eyes some hours later, the
early evening sun had shifted right into my eyes and sent my
headache into overdrive again.

Figures.

The scent of food woke my brain – and my
stomach – up further. Mom sat at a nearby table with Janine,
daintily eating dinner from styrofoam containers. If I’d have had a
camera, the scene would’ve been worthy of a Kodak moment – or
fodder to tease my mom with when I felt better. Unless I still
suffered from rattled brain syndrome, I couldn’t remember ever
seeing my mother eat from anything but the finest china. And a
plastic fork?

My chuckles must’ve drawn their attention.
The plastic forks took a dive into the styrofoam and they hovered
by the bed in two seconds flat.

“How’re you feeling?” Mom and Janine asked at
the same time.

“Like I almost got tossed off a building,” I
mumbled.

Janine’s blue eyes widened while Mom’s green
narrowed. “
Almost
being the key word in this situation,” Mom
said. “Let’s stay focused on the positive.”

“What happened?” Janine asked.

“Long story,” I offered. “Let’s just say I no
longer have to worry about a certain co-worker pawing at me
again.”

Mom released a sharp humph before addressing
me. “Your boss…I believe his name was Grady?”

I nodded then closed my eyes to keep the room
from spinning like I was riding the tilt-a-whirl at the fair.

Mom continued, “He asked me to inform you
that you have the remainder of the week off – with combat pay,
whatever that means.”

“Good ol’ Grady.”

Now that I knew he had not just one but two
income streams, I wasn’t ashamed to accept the time off with pay,
though I knew it meant more work for my remaining cohorts at the
bar. Considering my injuries came at someone else’s expense, I
hoped they wouldn’t hold it against me. After I finished
convalescing though, I’d have to check in with Grady to see what I
could and couldn’t say about the night’s activities. He had a
secret identity to protect, you know.

Janine piped up. “Bobby should be by anytime
to check in on you again.”

That opened my eyes again right quick. “Was
he here earlier?”

My best friend nodded. “He wanted to let you
know Detective Duncan contacted him this morning to inform him that
he could expect charges to be dropped once the DA’s office filed
the formal paperwork.”

“Yes!” I shot my bandaged arm up into the air
and almost caught Janine’s chin with my right hook. My headache
lessened about the time I almost gave my best friend one.

Mom interrupted our celebration. “I still
don’t understand why Bobby asked you to get involved in the first
place.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” I said. “Just a friend
helping a friend. You know, because of my connection with
Zeke?”

I hoped the simple explanation would placate
her so momma bear would let her cub off the hook without any
further questions. And really, it was only a friend helping a
friend. Mostly. Sort of. Truth be told, I’d found the little
adventure rather exciting – ‘cept the part about almost taking a
swan dive from my rooftop.

“Speaking of Zeke,” Mom continued, “he said
to let him know as soon as the hospital released you.”

“He said you could have the bed tonight too,”
Janine said.

I doubt if she realized the implications of
the sentence until it was out of her mouth. The blush brightened
Janine’s face so fast, a bystander flying past the window might’ve
mistaken it for a hot flash.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I returned with a
smile.

Mom just shook her head and headed for the
hall. “I’m going to step out and call your father to let him know
you’re awake.”

“Where is the old so-and-so?” I asked after
the door clicked shut. “I could’ve sworn he was here last night,
acting like a concerned parent. So unlike him.”

“He stayed until I left to get dinner from
the cafeteria,” Janine said.

“That long? Probably waiting to see if he
could take me out of the will permanently this time.”

“Vicki,” Janine admonished. “Maybe this was a
wake-up call for him. He really did seem quite concerned about
you.”

“Okay, sorry,” I muttered.

The sperm donor concerned about me? There’s a
new one. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about the emotion that
thought churned up in my gut, so I decided to file it away under
rainy day contemplations for the New Year. Like sometime around
2050. Maybe by then I’d be mature enough to handle it.

Or not.

Further consideration at present was cut
short by Bobby’s entrance with an enormous basket plant. “Vic?” His
eyes widened. “Dear God.”

In my experience, such a reaction isn’t a
good sign. “Do I look worse than earlier?” I asked, searching for a
mirror or any reflective surface.

“Your Mom wouldn’t let anyone else in earlier
to avoid disturbing your rest,” Bobby admitted. “Sorry, you
look…fine.”

“Okay Pinocchio. Don’t start lying to me
now.” My gaze shifted between Janine biting her lip and Bobby’s
concerned stare. “How bad do I look?”

He hesitated. “Remember that little
altercation you had with Lorraine Padget the summer before you
started high school?”

“Ye-ea-ah-h?” I said drawing it out to stall
the inevitable.

Bobby smiled and shrugged. “At least this
time you only have one black eye.”

I groaned – then proceeded to share with
Bobby the circumstances about the death of Amy’s killer. The only
question I still couldn’t answer was the one we all wanted to know.
Why?

Okay, so I was a little beat-up, bruised, and
burned, but I wasn’t about to miss the governor’s dinner. I just
did what any resourceful Texas woman would do – improvised.

“Your mom bought that for you, didn’t she?”
Zeke asked when I stepped from his bathroom in the black dress.

“Maybe,” I replied.

He chuckled and stuck out his elbow for me to
slip my arm through. “In all my years of knowing you, Vic, I’ve
never seen you with that much skin um...covered.”

I smacked his arm and looked again at the
dress in the elevator door’s reflection before we walked outside to
his truck. The clingy modal and spandex fabric fell well below the
knee to hide most of the assorted scuffs and scrapes on my legs.
The long lace sleeves helped break up the appearance of asphalt and
rubber-induced burn marks along my elbows and arms, though the
sleeves held in the heat and served to exacerbate the itching.
There wasn’t a whole lot I could do about the gun muzzle burn on my
neck and the bruises on my face, but the thick cover-up Mom had
provided did a fairly decent job of toning it down somewhat.
Wearing my hair cascading down helped a bit too – which probably
also made the Ranger sit up and take notice.

If Zeke was embarrassed to be seen with me in
public, he did a pretty good job of masking it when we walked into
the sparsely-populated ballroom and he introduced me to his fellow
Rangers. Since he was technically on duty tonight, we’d had to
arrive a bit ahead of the crowd. But while he left to confer with
the others in preparation for the governor’s arrival, I found it
quite enjoyable to sit by and watch the parade of tuxes and
assorted frippery as guests entered.

The parents eventually came strolling in with
Mr. and Mrs. De’Laruse beside them, my mother targeting in on me
like a laser beam where I sat near the bar. After the required
greetings all around, Mom made a beeline in my direction as I
wobbled to stand.

“Do you think it’s wise to be drinking
alcohol after a head injury? You’re still taking the pain killers
the doctor prescribed, aren’t you?” she asked.

I smiled. “Ginger ale won’t kill me,
Mom.”

“Oh. Well maybe that blow to the head knocked
a little sense into you after all,” she quipped with a gentle hug.
Mom then held me at arm’s length. “What did I tell you about that
dress? And the make-up covers those bruises quite well. If not for
the swelling, you’d look stunning, dear.”

I held my ginger ale to hers with a soft
plink. “As usual you did good, Mom, though Zeke thinks the dress
covers too much skin.”

That got me a humph. “Where is that young man
anyway? He should’ve never left you alone here. That’s no way to
treat a proper date.”

“It’s not a date, Mom,” I admonished.
“Besides, Zeke’s working security detail tonight. I doubt if I’ll
see him much.”

“Well I still don’t think…”

Mom’s comment was interrupted by the start-up
of the band and the entrance of the governor and his entourage.
With a quick peck, she excused herself and went in search of my dad
in the press of the crowd. Her concern over my being left alone was
touching. I didn’t think I could handle anymore bodily injury at
that stage, so I avoided the jostling and jockeying for position
and started on my second ginger ale. What I wouldn’t give for a
big, tall, frothy mug of beer.

About a half hour into the cocktail hour, I
was whirled around and swept onto the dance floor. When my head
stopped spinning, I looked up into Zeke’s brown eyes.

“You might want to take it easy on the
twirling,” I admonished, “or you might be wearing dinner
before
I eat it.”

“Sorry. It’s just been a long time since I’ve
had the opportunity to share a dance with you,” Zeke admitted.
“I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“I thought tonight was all business.”

“I’ve learned to multi-task.”

“And to dance,” I observed.

“Well I had to have something to do with all
that spare time after you left.”

“You calling me a time sucker?”

“Hmm…,” Zeke growled.

Uh-oh. I knew that growl – and it wasn’t from
anger. It didn’t take too much stretch to imagine how he took my
proposed moniker.

“So,” I said in attempt to change the
subject. “Why did you ask me to your little Ranger soiree? You
can’t be that hard up for a date.”

The poor choice of words hit me again with a
heated and devilish grin this time. Maybe I
had
suffered a
concussion or something the other night. Yeah, I hear you. Or
something is right. Blame it on the pain pills.

Zeke pressed the earwig against his ear and
spoke into his sleeve, then glanced over his shoulder and pulled me
off the dance floor.

“I asked you,” Zeke said as he pressed me to
his side and wove through the adulating throng, “because there’s
someone here I think you’d like to meet.”

“I’ll give you a kiss here and now if you say
Sam Adams
.”

“A beer is the last thing you need right now,
but I think you’ll appreciate the substitution.”

Now understand please – when you’ve been
around the political wheel so many times since you got out of
training pants, a meeting with the governor is not that big of a
deal. Besides, I was tired of feeling dizzy the last couple of days
anyway. So when the governor had entered the room, I’d paid less
attention to him than I had studying the beer line-up.

So when the Hispanic gentleman standing near
Texas’ leader came into focus, my heart skipped a beat. The rather
petite and slender frame appeared even smaller next to the
governor’s towering height. The full lips smiled, but the dark eyes
turned down at the corners in – was that sadness? Something seemed
vaguely familiar.

Zeke made introductions. “Victoria Bohanan,
may I present Mr. Julio Benito Juarez, Mexican Ambassador to the
United States.”

The sad dark eyes perked up at the
introduction. My heart skipped a beat. I glanced from Zeke to the
ambassador before I remembered my manners and stuck out my
hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ambassador
Juarez,” I said.

He also quickly looked back and forth between
me and Zeke for a beat before grasping my hand in both of his and
placing a delicate kiss across my knuckles. “
Seniorita
Bohanan, the pleasure is all mine. It is truly an honor.”

“An honor, sir?”

Before I realized what was happening, Zeke
spoke into his cuff and the three of us stepped behind the double
doors into a back hallway. I was so stunned when Ranger Taylor then
walked to the jog in the hall and stayed there, I didn’t even think
to ask why he’d not only introduced me to a suspected drug lord but
left me alone with him. But fear and anger dissipated with the
tears glistening in the ambassador’s eyes.

“I have so much to thank you for,” Juarez
said, “and so little time in which to do so.”

“Thank me?” I stuttered.

“For clearing my son-in-law’s name. For
befriending my daughter, and placing yourself in harm’s way to
catch her killer.” I didn’t even flinch when he drew my hair to the
side to touch my neck near the muzzle burn. “And my grandson’s as
well.”