One Lucky Lady (6 page)

“I asked the nurse to call a cab as I was signing out. It picked me up and took me back to my truck. I had been at the corner grocery. I was talking to Pedro on the phone when I saw that girl getting dragged into the alley. I tossed my phone through the open window of my truck and started after her. I think you were walking into the store as I was walking out.” Mac waited for her to get to her point. When she was still hesitant, Mac said, “Alex, I don’t think you were asking about my truck just to make conversation. What is it that you want?”

“I need to go back to the store for a few things.” She could feel herself blushing again.

“Just make me a list and I’ll go get it.” Mac didn’t understand why her cheeks were pink again. Unless…
Oh, no
.

“Alex, it’s okay. I just need to know the specifics. Please, just write it down and I’ll go.” Now, Mac was the one blushing
. Hell.
He had two younger sisters, and he never blushed when either of them needed him to pick something up for them.

Alex thought for a minute, nodded and said, “Thank you.” Alex went back to putting breakfast on plates for each of them. She knew he knew what she needed. What she didn’t know was how he knew without her spelling it out.

Chapter Seven

He sat there for a long time just watching Pedro’s house. He knew the nurse left with him after he killed her husband. He should have followed them then and taken care of them both, but he would fix that soon enough. He didn’t know the lawyer was married. The guys who came to see him left that part out. When he called them after the job was done, they didn’t sound surprised. He was only told to kill the lawyer, and get that little computer thing and leave it at the drop. He didn’t know why they didn’t tell him about the nurse. Surely they knew she had to die too.

Two days ago he found out that it was a private ceremony. The only witness was Pedro Rodriguez. He knew Rodriguez was the lawyers PI. A real pain in the ass, but not a problem. He would just follow the PI to the nurse and kill them both.

He had talked to the PI before. The guy wasn’t very smart. He asked him a few questions, picked up some of his wife’s clothes, looked around some and left.

Pedro pulled up into his driveway. He noticed the old, grey Olds about halfway down the block. There was a guy sitting inside. He looked familiar. Then again, a lot of people looked familiar to Pedro. It came with the territory. So did memorizing the guy’s plates. He would call them in later. As long as this guy was out there, Pedro knew Alex was safe. They wouldn’t be watching his house if they knew where she was.

Pedro went about his daily business. He went to Tom and Alex’s house, picked up the last of the files Tom had been working on. It seemed like one was missing, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. He met with Jarred and handed over the files so Jarred could find Tom’s clients other counsel.

Pedro told him he thought something was missing, but hadn’t figured it out yet. Jarred locked the files in a drawer and walked Pedro out of the courthouse.

“I gave my notice. They have some great people here. They really don’t need me. I would like to talk to Alex about taking over Tom’s firm. I want the name to stay the same. Would you ask her about it the next time you see her? “

“Of course. Before I go, I need you to look down the street. Do you see a grey Oldsmobile?”

“Yes. Is he following you?” Jarred was looking at Pedro again. He knew better than to let on that they knew anything.

“He’s been sitting outside my house all morning. Then he followed me here. Has anybody been asking about Alex?”

“I don’t think so, but I’ll do some checking. Have you run his plates?”

“Stolen about a week ago. Don’t call the cops. I have a feeling someone in the PD is talking too much. “

“What are you going to do? Do you think he’s after Alex?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’d rather wait him out. I want to see what he’s going to do. If he’s just assigned to follow me, I need to know who is calling the shots.”

“Okay. Give me a call later. I’ll see what I can find out. Keep your head down.” Jarred reached out to shake Pedro’s hand.

“Thanks. Be Careful.” Pedro shook Jarred’s hand and walked straight ahead. He didn’t look back.

The guy in the car looked into his rearview mirror and pulled into traffic.
This is going to be easier than I thought.

Mac was standing in an isle full of feminine products. Alex had written down specifically what she needed after they cleaned up the kitchen, thanked him, and went to her bedroom and closed the door. Mac knew she didn’t want him to do this, but he couldn’t let her out of the house in the daylight. So here he was up to his eyeballs, well actually higher than that, in tampons and maxi-pads.
Why are there so many?

Mac found the correct item and headed for the checkout. This wasn’t that bad. Well, until the teenager behind the counter started giggling.
Never again
.

Alex heard Mac come back in. He had only been gone about fifteen minutes. Alex was sure her ears were about to catch fire. She was over thirty and she was a nurse. Wasn’t she getting too old to be blushing about this kind of stuff? She opened her bedroom door, head down, and ran right into Mac. Her head bumped his left shoulder. She jumped back right into the door jam, lost her balance and landed on her butt.

Mac felt like he had been stabbed all over again. He helped Alex back to her feet with his good arm, and then he felt his shoulder. He was sure there was going to be more blood. Luckily, it was still dry. Alex looked like she was ready to cry. Mac’s pain disappeared in an instant.

“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” Alex reached out to touch his wound.

“It’s fine.” Mac raised her chin with his fingers. “It’s okay to cry, you know. You’ve had one hell of a week.” Mac removed her hand from his shoulder and used it to pull her into his arms. Alex leaned into him and he could feel her whole body shaking. Mac picked her up using his good arm to support her weight, and carried her to the chair in the living room. She couldn’t weight more than one ten. He just sat there with her in his lap and let her cry.

Alex should have stopped, she should have felt bad for getting his shirt all wet with tears, and instead she just felt relief. It felt good to have his arms around her. She had not had someone who tried to comfort her in a long time. Surely, Tom had comforted her. No, he just patted her on the head like a child and told her it would be okay. He never really held her when she was upset.

She remembered coming home from work one morning. She had been called in to work because of a bus accident. There were several injuries and a few fatalities. She worked through the night on an eight year old little boy. She stayed with him while they did his CT scan and kept the curtain to his bay open so he could see her. He told her he was scared, and begged her not to leave him alone. When they got the call from the radiologist that the child had internal bleeding, he was immediately taken to the OR. She held his hand until the radiologist had given him something in Holding to help him relax. Then, about ten minutes after she had gotten back down to the ER, she heard the Code Blue call come over the speakers. The little boy didn’t make it. She got home and Tom asked her what happened. She told him they had lost a child, and he just patted her on the head and said, “It will be okay.” She can remember wanting to scream at him, but she just went up and crawled into bed, still wearing her scrubs and cried until she finally fell asleep from exhaustion. She knew she had done everything right, but some things were out of her hands. Somehow, that knowledge didn’t take away the pain or the sense of loss.

“I brought you some more chocolate, too.” His voice sounded hoarse. “Everything is in the kitchen. Are you going to be okay?” He was rubbing a hand over her back. He felt her nod ‘yes’ into his good shoulder. She was still sniffling and still shaking some.

“I’m sorry.” Alex was speaking into his shoulder. “I usually handle things a little better than this. Did you say chocolate?” She pulled away and began wiping the tears from her face.

“Uh-huh.” Mac stood with her still in his arms and carried her to a chair in the kitchen. He knew she was fully capable of walking, but he really liked how she felt against his chest and abdomen.
No sense of self-preservation.
He was mentally shaking his head at himself when he sat her down at the table and went to get the candy bars. He opened one and handed it to her, then opened himself one. Mac noticed her smiling. Not a big smile, just one side of her mouth tilted up. It was the first time he had seen her smile.
Did women always look at chocolate like that?

Alex noticed Mac staring at her. Talk about beautiful eyes. They were a very strange shade of blue, maybe gray, surrounded by dark, thick lashes.

His mouth was open and his hand was frozen with the candy bar almost to his mouth. She started laughing. So did Mac.

“You don’t normally eat chocolate, do you, Mac?” She took a bite of her candy bar.

Mac realized he was staring at her.
Oh, to be a chocolate bar.

He cleared his throat. “Not often, no. I like it when you smile.” That had Alex blushing again.

“I also like it when you’re flushed. I’ve known very few women who are so easily embarrassed.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Why
do
you blush so easily?”

“I don’t know.” Alex shrugged. “You’d think by now, I’d be able to control it. In my line of work I see and hear a lot. I’ve seen more naked men than I care to discuss, but for some reason, the work related stuff doesn’t bother me. I discuss things all day that would make most people blush, but usually I’m asking them about their personal life. I guess it’s just different when I’m talking about mine. Strange, huh?”

Mac felt a twinge of jealousy over the naked men part, but answered, “Nope. Makes perfect sense to me. You don’t talk about your personal life much, do you?”

Alex shook her head. “Never really had a reason to.”

“Why not?” Mac took a bit of his candy bar and waited for her to answer.

Alex swallowed and shrugged. “My life has been pretty simple. I don’t have any ghosts in my closet. My parents aren’t around anymore. I used to tell my mom everything, but when she died… Well, it just didn’t seem like my life was important to anyone else.” Alex looked sad again.

“A mom is not someone who can ever be replaced. Pedro said they died in a car accident just after you graduated from college.”

Alex looked up. Mac looked concerned. Alex tried to smile. “They were hit by a drunk driver. The officer who came to talk to me said they probably never saw it coming. They were both gone before the ambulance even got to the scene. The drunk driver died a few days later.”

Mac walked over and sat down at the table. He looked at Alex. He knew she was around thirty, but she looked so young. He thought she was going to cry, but instead she smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Mac wasn’t sure what she was thanking him for, but said “You’re welcome.” He took her hand, the one that didn’t hold the candy bar. He could feel her shaking. Maybe he was shaking.

His cell phone rang. They both jumped.

He flipped the phone open, put it to his ear, and said, “Pedro?”

“Okay just a second.” Mac pulled the phone away from his face and hit the speaker button and put the phone on the table between them.

Alex was confused. “What is not good? He hasn’t tried to kill you. Isn’t that a good thing?” Her voice shook with fear and she knew they both heard it.

“I’ll let Mac explain. Take care. I have to go.” The line went dead.

Alex looked at Mac. She was visibly shaking now. “What’s not good?”

Mac took her hand again. “Honey, if they haven’t tried anything with Pedro, it’s because he’s not who they’re looking for.” He stopped and let that sink in. “They’re probably following him to get to you.”

“Oh.” She could feel the blood rush from her face.

“As soon as he knows who it is then we can turn the tables, but until then we have to stay out of sight. Got it?” He was rubbing her knuckles with his thumb and Alex found the gesture more comforting than she would have thought.

Alex nodded. She had been here four days and was already going stir crazy. She was used to being out around people. Now, she was trapped in a house with a man she barely knew. A very attractive man she barely knew who was stirring up all kinds of emotions in her that she really wasn’t prepared to handle.