Secret Seduction (19 page)

He followed her. “Talk to me, Vanessa.”

“I have nothing to say to you if you’re not willing to tell me who hired you.”

Tanner grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to face him. “I can’t, dammit.”

“It was Carlo Vega, wasn’t it? He wanted you to keep tabs on me.”

“No! How could you even think I would work for a man like Vega?”

“Because,” Vanessa said, wrenching her arm from his grasp, “I don’t even know who the hell you are.”

He didn’t understand why she was so angry. Yes, he’d kept the truth from her, but it was a requirement of his job. He’d never meant to hurt her, and he wasn’t going to let her walk away without knowing how he felt.

“I love you, Vanessa.”

“That’s pretty low of you to throw that out there now,” she said.

“I love you, dammit. I don’t want to lose you. Let’s talk this thing through.”

“How do you expect me to trust you now?”

She was killing him inside, shredding him up like a wood chipper. “You’ve gotta believe in me.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just can’t.”

Tanner watched her go, his heart ripping into two pieces. He’d hoped telling her he loved her would change her mind. It hadn’t. In fact, it had seemed to agitate her all the more.

There was only one way he knew to make things right. Find Robert Garcia and force the man to tell Vanessa that he was her biological father. He whirled around, headed back to his Jeep, fishing for his cell phone with one hand, then punching in Robert’s number with his thumb.

His mind was in such turmoil he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. His guard was down, his pulse pounding so hard he could scarcely hear. He put the phone to his ear. It rang, and rang, then finally went to Robert’s voice mail.

“This is Tanner. It’s extremely urgent,” he said. “We have to talk. Call me as soon as you get this message.” He hung up, stuck the phone in his pocket, then moved to open the door of his Jeep.

“Hello, Tanner.”

He looked up, saw Chloe step from the shadows of the forest surrounding the hospital grounds. She had an odd smile on her face. “Chloe,” he said, “What do you want?”

And that’s when he saw the gun.

VANESSA FLED back to her office to lick her wounds. As quickly as it had washed over her, the anger vanished.

She thought of Tanner. How wretched he’d looked standing in the parking lot, telling her he loved her.

How she wanted to believe him.

You did the right thing, she tried to convince herself. How could they have a relationship if she couldn’t trust him?

He was only doing what he’d been told, whispered the voice in the back of her mind. Following orders. Trying to do the right thing. Trying to keep you safe.

She shook her head. It wasn’t that he hadn’t told her he’d been hired as her bodyguard that bothered her. It was that she’d trusted him and he had lied to her about everything. She’d been falling in love with him and now she had no way of knowing if those feelings were real. Those emotions were based on who she thought Tanner was.

That’s a cop-out. You’re just scared of taking a chance on love. Tanner is a damn good man and you know it.

In fact, he was unlike any man she’d ever met.

He was honest. He’d just been put in a position where he had to choose loyalty over honesty. It must have been very difficult for him to keep the truth from her considering his high standards. He was dependable and practical and down-to-earth. He was strong and protective and tender. The kind of man she’d always needed and had never been able to find.

She thought of all they’d shared. Of the way they’d given their bodies to each other. Tanner had accepted her for who she was. He never judged her for the tough decisions she’d made in her life. He had understood in a way she’d never thought anyone could. He’d been there for her when she needed him most, never mind that he’d been hired to guard her. He’d gone above and beyond the call of duty.

Vanessa had told him they were through just because his loyalty wouldn’t allow him to betray a confidence. Didn’t that prove right there he was a trustworthy guy?

She’d been looking at things the wrong way, assuming everyone was as devious and underhanded as the people she’d grown up around. She’d done him an injustice.

She thought about last night. How she’d broken down and finally confessed her past. She thought about how tender he’d been with her. How kind and forgiving. How his lovemaking had been so gentle, so different than what they’d shared before.

Her chest ached and her groin tightened with need. Her body didn’t seem to realize that she would never make love to Tanner again. Haphazard mental pictures of him zipped through her mind—Tanner dancing with her at Emilio’s. Tanner wrestling her to the ground when she’d tried to attack him with the scalpel. Tanner standing beside her as she’d been interviewed by the cops. Tanner lovingly shampooing her hair.

Each snapshot nibbled at her desire, mocked her foolishness. It was as if her whole life was on video, a heartrending rerun of how she’d ruined things.

She knew why she’d overreacted to the news that Tanner had deceived her. Why she’d felt so betrayed. Why she’d always had a tough time trusting others. It was because she’d been deceiving herself about what she wanted and needed from life. She’d projected her fears onto Tanner.

Was she going to let him slip through her fingers because he’d been put in a no-win situation? Could she let go of her suspicious nature and just trust her instincts? Just trust that he did love her and wanted only what was best for her?

Such a tempting dream. How she wanted it.

Go find him, hear him out. It’s worth a chance. He’s worth the risk.

She got up, rushed from her office, hurried back outside in search of Tanner. She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted his Jeep in the parking lot. He was still here.

In fact, he was sitting in the front seat.

“Oh, Tanner,” she whispered. “I’m so very sorry.”

She hurried across the asphalt, bent on begging him for his forgiveness.

When she got closer, she saw that he was in the front seat. Slumped over. She put a hand on the door, wrenched it open. “Tanner, I—”

The sight of his blood seeping from the gaping wound in his side and oozing down the seat tore the rest of the words from her throat.

He was vaguely aware of Vanessa opening the door of his Jeep, calling his name and pressing her smooth, cool fingertips to the thready pulse barely beating at his throat. He heard her screaming for a gurney, smelled her womanly scent.

Arms went around him, easing him from the vehicle. The sunlight rapidly faded and he felt himself falling fast down a darkened tunnel.

No. He couldn’t go down that tunnel. He had to get back. Had to save Vanessa from Chloe.

He wanted to speak, but his mouth was dry. So damned dry. He tried to lick his lips but he couldn’t find his tongue. Where was his tongue?

“GSW to the abdomen,” Vanessa told someone he couldn’t see. Tanner heard the squeak of wheels, felt his body being lifted.

Dammit, no. He had to get up.

With a tremendous effort of will, he struggled to sit up, jacking himself forward on his elbows. His head spun and fresh pain shot through his body. He snorted in air, clenched his teeth.

“Tanner, no. Lie back, be still,” Vanessa commanded.

So strong. His woman.

No, not his woman. She’d broken up with him.

He’d screwed it all up. Made a huge mess of things when all he’d wanted to do was protect her. Love her.

And he’d gone and gotten himself shot, leaving her vulnerable, open to attack.

Her hand was on his shoulder, pressing him down against the gurney. He felt someone secure him with straps. He didn’t like that. He tried to fight back, tried to make a fist with his hands.

“Tanner, can you hear me?” Vanessa rasped.

He nodded, or tried to nod. He didn’t know if he was successful or not.

“You’re losing a lot of blood fast.”

He felt his life force ebb, his vision was almost gone. All he could see was a blur of human forms gathered around him, hustling him into the hospital, into the operating room.

The pungent odor of anesthesia curled in his nostrils. The room was icy. So cold. He shivered violently and tried again to sit up.

“Tanner,” Vanessa said sharply. “Lie still. For once in your damned life, give up control. You don’t always have to be the strong one. Please, just let us save your life.”

The operating room lights were hot and bright, but Tanner’s vision remained weak. He blinked, trying hard to see her dear face one last time. He didn’t want to leave the world without looking into her eyes.

She came into focus, leaning over him, her eyes dark with concern.

“I love you,” he whispered, finding his voice at last.

“I love you, too.” Her smile wavered. “Don’t you dare leave me.”

He fumbled his hand into his pocket, found the good conduct medal he’d stuffed into it the night before. He pulled it out and pressed it into her hand.

“Trust me,” he croaked. His voice was fading fast and he wasn’t sure she heard him.

The surgical staff gathered around him, stripping off his clothes, starting an IV in his forearm.

“They’re going to prep you now, Tanner,” she said. “Dr. Covey will be doing the surgery, but I’m going to scrub in and be right there with you throughout the entire thing.”

Then looming behind Vanessa, he saw Chloe, the scrub nurse, lurking, waiting.

“Chloe…” He tried to grab for Vanessa’s arm, but his hand simply quivered against the gurney.

“Yes,” Vanessa said. “Chloe will be scrubbing in on your surgery.”

“Chloe’s the one,” he whispered. “She did—”

But that was as far as he got. Tanner’s consciousness winked out.

CHLOE’S THE ONE.

Tanner’s last words circled Vanessa’s head as she stood in the scrub room, roughly buffing her hands with a plastic bristle scrub brush and a yellowish-brown solution of Prepodyne. Chloe stood at the sink beside her, intent on her own scrub. Dr. Covey was at the sink next to Chloe.

Chloe’s the one.

What had Tanner meant by that? Had he been suggesting that Chloe shot him? But why? Vanessa cast a glance at the scrub nurse who raised her head and stared at her above her blue surgical mask with wide, disarming eyes.

Chloe’s the one.

Had the scrub nurse heard what Tanner had said?

“Do you think you can save Tanner, Dr. Covey?” Chloe asked. “He’s shot up pretty bad.”

“You’re damned right we’re going to save him,” Dr. Covey said.

Was she jumping to conclusions? Should Vanessa suggest to Dr. Covey that Chloe be taken off the scrub team?

But there was no time for someone else to scrub in. Tanner’s life was slipping away with every passing second. Why would Chloe shoot Tanner? It made no sense.

Maybe she’s the one who’s been sabotaging the hospital and he found out about it.

Still, shooting someone over a few misdemeanor offenses was illogical. Tanner’s good conduct medal weighted Vanessa’s pocket. It was a symbol of trust. When he’d given it to her, had he been trying to tell her to trust him? Trust him about Chloe? But what about Chloe?

Vanessa’s head throbbed. What to do?

Chloe had already finished her scrub and with raised arms, she stepped into the OR to let the circulating nurse gown her up.

Tanner had been drugged and in pain. He had no idea what he was saying. She might have even misunderstood him. One thing was for sure, they had no time to dither. Vanessa stepped away from the automatic sink and it cut off. She held her arms up and away from her body and followed Chloe into the operating room to allow Lisa to gown and glove her.

Everything went smoothly for the first thirty minutes. Vanessa watched as Dr. Covey went in, found the bullet and stopped the bleeding. Chloe worked the sterile field across from him, handing him whatever instruments he needed before he even had to ask. They worked as a well-oiled machine, and Vanessa began to feel sheepish for believing Tanner had been trying to finger Chloe as his attacker.

And then, as Dr. Covey was getting ready to close up, the steady blipping noise from the computerized module monitoring Tanner’s heartbeat sped up.

“He’s in V-tach,” Dr. Brad Mertz said from the head of the table, indicating Tanner’s heart had started beating at a deadly fast and erratic pace.

Vanessa jerked her gaze from the surgery site to the monitor. Her own heartbeat quickened. Immediately she shifted her gaze to Chloe, who was holding an empty syringe poised above the rubber injection stopper in Tanner’s IV. A single drop of fluid glistened on the tip of the needle.

“What did you give him?” Vanessa demanded, rage seizing her. It was all she could do to keep from moving across the operating table after her.

Chloe’s eyes smiled at her over the top of her mask. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“You’re the one who shot him,” Vanessa accused, a thousand knives of guilt stabbing into her. She should never have let the bitch into the OR.

Chloe made a noise of satisfaction.

Vanessa came at her then, whipping around the operating table. But by the time she got to her, Chloe had dropped the syringe and picked up a scalpel. She waved it at Vanessa. “Stay back or I’ll cut his lifelines.”

From the corner of her eye, Vanessa saw the circulating nurse edging for the emergency panic button.

“Don’t do it, Lisa,” Chloe said, “Sit down on the floor right now, or I’ll kill Tanner.”

Lisa obediently plunked down on the floor.

“Why are you doing this?” Vanessa cried, completely nonplussed. She was trying to keep one eye on Chloe and one eye on the monitor. Dr. Covey and the anesthesiologist stood stunned, apparently not quite knowing what to do, watching it all play out.

“He loves you more,” Chloe shouted.

“What are you talking about? How can he love you, Chloe? Tanner doesn’t even know you.”

“Not him.” Chloe snorted and waved the scalpel at Tanner’s inert body with an impatient hand. “Daddy.”

Vanessa was confused. What was the nutty scrub nurse talking about? “Daddy?”

“He loves you more.”

“I don’t have a father.”

Chloe suddenly looked confused and sucked in air so forcefully her mask stuck to her mouth. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” Vanessa heard her own voice fly high and reedy from her throat.

“My adopted father is your biological dad.”

“What?” She couldn’t process this information. “What are you babbling about?”

“He paid your way through medical school. But he told me I wasn’t smart enough. That I had to settle for being a nurse.” Chloe’s face twisted with rage. “He loves you more because you’re his real daughter.”

Vanessa’s knees went weak. Was it true? Was Senator Garcia her anonymous benefactor? Her biological father? “But why are you doing this to Tanner?”

“He found out about me.” Chloe’s laugh was harsh. “He knew I sent you the e-mail. Vandalized your condo.”

“You’ve been sabotaging the hospital, as well, haven’t you? Doing it as a way to get back at your father.”

She shook her head. “That wasn’t me. You’re the one I want to get rid of. You’re the one I want to hurt. That’s why I’m going to kill Tanner. I know you’re in love with him. How does it feel knowing you’re about to lose the man you love?”

“Chloe, stop this. Just tell me what you put in Tanner’s IV. This can all be fixed.” It seemed like hours had passed but it was barely a minute.

“He’s in V-fib!” Brad cried out. “We’ve gotta do something now!”

Tanner was going to die if she didn’t so something. Instinct took over, and Vanessa turned back to the operating table. “Charge the defibrillator. Three hundred joules.” She turned her head to look at Chloe. “What did you give him?”

“Potassium chloride,” Chloe crowed triumphantly.

Dear God, Chloe had induced a heart attack in Tanner. They had to shock him now or he would die. She reached for the defibrillator positioned at the head of the operating table beside the anesthesiologist’s cart.

Chloe went to cut through the ventilator tubing with the scalpel at the same time Lisa jumped up off the floor and hit the panic button.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Vanessa said. Then without hesitation, she slapped the defibrillator pads against Chloe’s chest and discharged the electricity into her body.

“Holy shit,” Brad said as Chloe fell stiff-legged to the floor.

Vanessa knew she’d stopped Chloe’s heart with the electrical jolt, but she’d done what she had to do. Dr. Covey had started CPR on Tanner and he shouted at her, “Recharge the paddles!”

She did as he directed and seconds later, after the defibrillator had recharged, she shocked Tanner back to life.

“Normal sinus rhythm,” Brad confirmed while Dr. Covey and Lisa rushed to start CPR on Chloe, but Vanessa had eyes only for Tanner.

VANESSA PACED the waiting room outside the postanesthesia care unit. She would have remained inside, but the nurses had thrown her out, saying she was making them nervous. She thought about pulling rank, but realized they were right. She just needed to get out of the way and let them do their jobs.

“Vanessa?”

Hands clasped behind her back, she paused in midstride at the sound of the masculine voice calling her name. Slowly she glanced up to see Senator Garcia standing in the doorway.

He looked haggard, as if he’d just battled through twelve levels of hell and back. Tentatively he entered the room as if he expected Vanessa to hurl something at him.

A wash of emotions splashed over her—anger, fear, regret, sadness, guilt and strangely, oddly, joy.

“Senator Garcia,” she said.

He scrubbed a hand down his weary face darkened with beard stubble. “I was hoping you might call me Robert.”

She’d seen the senator many times at hospital functions. He’d been associated with the hospital in one capacity or another since it had opened its doors fifteen years earlier. She’s seen him attending board meetings when he was still a board member, back before he’d been elected senator.

Thinking back on it, she remembered him looking at her with wistful eyes. A lump formed in her throat and she was having trouble drawing in air.

“May I…” He hesitated.

“Sit down,” she invited, surprised by her desire to welcome him, to make this easier for him.

He sat on the plush leather love seat. She perched on the edge of the Queen Anne chair across from it. They looked at each other, father and daughter who’d never really known each other, both terrified to make the first move.

He cleared his throat. “How’s Tanner?”

“He’s going to make it.”

“It was my gun she used….” He ran out of words again. Shook his head.

“How’s Chloe?” she made herself ask.

“In lockdown in the psychiatric ward.”

“She needs help.”