Monroe, Melody S. - Verdict (Siren Publishing Classic) (37 page)

“Let me through,” a male shouted from behind.

Stunned, Stone moved aside. His gaze shot to Susan. She was rubbing her throat. Her face blotchy and her breaths rapid, she shook all over. He wanted to comfort her, rush to her, but the man’s grip held tight.

“Get her some help.” Stone nodded toward Susan.

The next few minutes were a blur. Two nurses insisted he come with them. A young woman wheeled in a gurney.

“I need to stay with Susan.”

The nurses didn’t seem to care what he wanted. “You’re bleeding, sir. We need to patch you up.”

Had he been shot?

A wheelchair appeared under his butt a moment later. Whoever pushed him must have driven at the Indy 500. He arrived at a small room where the nurse instructed him to wait until the doctor arrived. So he waited. And waited. The air-conditioning clicked on and chills crawled up and down his spine. Blood trickled down his arm where his previous injury had reopened.

He debated racing out of there to check on Susan, but the warden outside the door would probably object. He used some gauze pads on one of the counters to stem the flow of blood.

Needing to find out how she was doing, he was halfway to the door when he staggered and saw white. This can’t be happening. Not now. He leaned against the padded examination table as the door opened.

“Please lie down, Agent Watson.” A doctor, dressed in a green surgical uniform, frowned.

The kid didn’t look older than twenty, but Stone obliged. He let the man clean and suture his wound again. Even though the doc had given him a topical anesthetic, the pricking irritated him.

Stone tapped the fingers of the uninjured arm. “Do you know how Ms. Chapman is?”

“No. Don’t move.”

Instead of issuing a complaint, he followed orders. The man took forever.

“All done. Don’t get in any more fights.”

Stone sat up and winced. “I don’t plan on taking up wrestling any time soon.”

“The nurse will be in shortly to give you instructions.”

He’d been through this routine once already. As soon as the doctor left the room, he snuck out. He had to find the woman he loved.

First stop, the registration desk. The attendant sent him to the wrong place, but after a few more inquiries he found Susan. The policeman who’d abandoned his position at Susan’s room was back.

The guard stopped him as Stone tried to get past. “You can’t go in. Only doctors and nurses allowed.”

“Then how did that killer get to her before? He wasn’t any doctor.”

The man’s eyes widened.” I’m sorry about that, but I checked his ID and all seemed in order.”

“Well, check this ID.” Stone pulled his badge from his pocket.

He didn’t wait for the man to answer and strode in. Susan looked up and smiled. His heart beat fast against his chest. He loved her, pure and simple.

“Stone.”

The sweetest sound he could imagine. He stepped toward her. The nurses attending her blocked his path. She turned around. “Sir, can you come back later?”

From the way her upper lip rose, Susan didn’t need him to watch. “Sure. I’ll be in room 304.”

“I’ll call you,” Susan said.

As he stepped outside, he faced the cop. “Don’t let anyone but Dr. Dalton in there. Okay? Especially an Italian man with gray hair, in his early sixties. He’ll be dressed in a very expensive suit. He wants to kill her.”

The cop’s mouth dropped open. “Yes, sir.”

Stone went to his room to retrieve his phone. He dialed Harrison’s number.

“Lowry.”

“It’s Stone. Anything on Maria?”

“Tom identified Francisco’s real estate holdings as well as those owned by Caravello. I’ve sent my men to all three locations. I’ll let you know what we find.”

“Thanks.” Stone clipped the phone on his waistband and headed to Peter’s room.

His friend was still asleep when he arrived. Needles and tubes were attached to his arms and nose, and the monitors showed his vitals were stable.

As he turned to leave, he came face-to-face with Joseph Francisco.

Chapter Thirty

His pulse shot up. Stone had no gun, no mace, and a bum arm. Francisco would have come armed. All Stone had was surprise on his side. The glint of a knife clutched in Francisco’s hand caught his attention. He wouldn’t get in the way of the blade this time.

Go.

Attack.

Now.

With his shoulder, Stone plowed into the man, sending both of them sprawling onto the hallway floor. Francisco’s head slammed against the tile floor, and he let out a curse.

Fury unleashed every pound of Stone’s energy. He pummeled his fist into the man’s face for Susan, for Peter, for orchestrating the jurors’ deaths.

Blood spurted from Francisco’s nose. The old man didn’t fight back, couldn’t fight back. One arm was pinned beneath his body, the other flaying against Stone’s good arm. Stone wouldn’t let up until Francisco passed out.

Two sets of strong arms dragged him off the killer.

“Stop fighting us.”

When Stone saw the old man wasn’t going to get up and do battle, he relaxed. “Okay. I’m good.” He shrugged off their hold and stepped back.

Francisco’s eyes went wild, darting right, then left. Stone expected the old man to jump up and come at him again, but he lay there, still as death. Stone hadn’t hit him that hard.

The two orderlies called for a gurney. In his humble opinion, the bastard didn’t deserve to be patched up.

Stone faced one of the men. “Don’t let him out of your sight. He’s wanted by the FBI for the murder of at least five people.”

Joseph grunted something about not killing anyone. Right. Instructing his son to do the actual deed was the same as putting the knife in an innocent man’s chest himself.

Stone fumbled in his pocket for his phone. It wasn’t there. He must have lost it in the fight. He didn’t have time to search for it, so he stumbled over to the nurses’ station. All eyes were on him.

“Need a phone.”

The nurse’s wide eyes told him he must look bad. He didn’t remember getting hurt.

“Here you go, sir.” She handed him the phone.

He called Harrison.

“Yeah?”

“Joseph Caravello came to Peter’s room with a knife. I happen to be there instead.”

“You shitting me?”

“I wish I were. I gave him a bloody nose though. That’s all. Come pick up the scum.”

“On my way. And Stone?”

He leaned against the counter. The adrenaline rush was losing steam and the aches and pains were getting to him. “What?”

“Burroughs just called. They found Maria.”

Stone’s knees almost gave way. “How is she?”

“Dehydrated, but otherwise fine.”

“Thank God.” Peter would need Maria to help him heal.

He handed the phone back to the nurse and headed to Susan’s room, his head swimming. Was this nightmare really over? Could she get on with her life now?

He stopped in the hall and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. She could get on with her life. Would she thank him for saving her life, then go back to work as if nothing had happened? Would she even think about how they’d been together? The amazing lovemaking, the sharing of intimate details of their lives? Their narrow escapes?

An ache, more severe than any bullet or blow, nearly crushed his body. What did he really want? Was he ready to trust again? He’d never had anyone who believed in him. He’d built a shell around his heart so thick, he wasn’t sure even he liked himself.

Only one way to find out how she felt. Ask her. Tell her the truth about how he felt.

Wow. Love. Was that what this desperation and need coursing through every cell in his body was called?

Yes.

He rushed down the hall to the elevator. This time when he got to her room, the cop on duty didn’t give Stone any grief when he went in. He’d been about to tell the cop his services weren’t needed, that all of the threats to Susan’s life were over, but given he hadn’t eaten in who knows how long, he wasn’t about to trust any of his decisions.

Could there be anyone else out there? With James in surgery, Dominick and Richard dead, and Papa Francisco in custody, had all the pieces fallen?

At the moment, he’d leave that piece of the puzzle to Harrison and the gang.

Susan’s eyes were closed when he walked in. From the even rise and fall of her chest, she was asleep. He slid into the chair next to her bed and took hold of her hand. Her skin was porcelain white. The stitches in her cheek were gone, leaving a long, red welt. He thought she looked beautiful, all relaxed and peaceful. The bruises that covered her neck would heal, but the fact they even existed jacked up his temperature once again.

His fists stung from ramming into Francisco’s face, but the pain was the good kind of pain, all full of satisfaction and built-up disgust. The throbbing reminded him he’d hurt the bastard who had started this mess.

Her lids fluttered.

“Stone?” Her brows pinched, as did her pretty mouth.

“It’s okay. It’s over.”

“Over?”

“Yeah.”

He told her about Joseph Francisco and how he was now in custody, or would be soon.

“And James?”

“I haven’t heard if he’s out of surgery. I don’t think the staff is willing to tell me much of anything, given my recent outburst.” He held up a finger. “I almost forgot. Harrison called.”

She squeezed his hand. “Did something bad happen?”

He chuckled. “No. He’s not always the messenger of bad news. They found Maria. She’s fine.”

She let go of his hand and relaxed back into the bed. “And Peter? How’s he?”

“He’ll mend.”

Now came for the hard conversation. “I guess you’ll be getting out of here soon and getting your life back, huh?” His mouth turned dry.

“And Craig?”

She didn’t answer his question. “Fine, and home with your mom.”

“Thank God.”

He leaned forward, expecting her to be excited at the prospect of getting back to practicing law. Instead, she turned her head to the side. Her eyes glistened.

“What’s wrong?”

She turned back to him. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. When I was a little girl, I always wanted to please my father. He was my world. My dad was an attorney, as I’ve mentioned before. Ergo, I wanted to be an attorney.”

“I think many kids want to do what their parents do.” Not him. He had no idea who his father was.

She wet her lips and his mind darted off in a different direction.

“I always liked getting up in front of people and trying to persuade them my ideas were right. I hadn’t planned, however, on doing criminal law. When my father was shot by someone he’d put in prison, my world changed. Then Craig had his car accident. Some drunk driver plowed into him. His life was nearly ruined, and I wanted justice. I decided to keep on being a criminal attorney.” Her eyes turned all dreamy.

“And now?”

Her lips pulled back. “I have to do what I really wanted to do, not what would please others.”

 
“I need to buy a clue here.”

“I want to teach. Get away from the criminals, from the threats.”

A smile tugged on his lips. “That’s the first sensible thing I think you’ve said.”

Her mouth dropped. “First sensible thing?”

He laughed. The sensation of joy creeping up his body was foreign, but a damn good one. “I mean about being safe.”

Now she smiled. “What do you know about safety? You put your life in danger every day, protecting people.”

He leaned back in his chair. “About that. I’m thinking of giving up the bodyguard business.”

“You?”

“If the Bureau still wants me, I’d like to do homicide or something that would keep me in one place. No more staying close to a single person.”

Her skin lost all color. “What are you saying?”

Damn. He’d blown it. His heart thudded in his chest. He’d never told anyone he loved her before. At least not after he’d turned six and Cheryl Lynn moved away.
Spit it out.

“That I love you and want to be by your side, not some stranger’s.”

Her mouth opened. Susan pushed up from the bed and surprised the hell out of him by throwing her arms around his neck. She leaned back and kissed him. “You do? You really, really do? Love me, that is?”

Isn’t that what he’d said? Repeating those words might be hard. At first. “Yes.”

“Me, too.”

He hadn’t expected her to return his feelings. “You do?”

She ran a hand over his head. “Yes, silly. You are an incredible person. One that is principled, driven, caring, and loving.”

Before he had a chance to absorb everything she said, someone cleared a throat. Susan glanced up. The light in her eyes didn’t dim, but the smile evaporated. She pulled her hand away, and he twisted around.