The Last Execution (38 page)

For the third time, his cell buzzed. No way to ignore three calls in rapid succession. J.T. snatched the cell from his pocket and flipped it over to read the caller ID. Time stopped. His appetite vanished. He hit the receive button.

“Nana?”

“It’s Elva.” Her voice cracked and trembled. “I didn’t leave a message ’cause I need to talk directly—”

“What’s wrong,” J.T. interrupted. The hair on his arms stood.

“Your grandmother’s on her way to Fairmont.”

J.T. shoved his chair back and raced to the bedroom. He could talk and dress at the same time. “Her heart?”

“No. EMT said her hip’s probably broken.”

“Broken? How?” His mind raced in different directions. He couldn’t locate his shoes.

“Don’t know. I found her unconscious in the driveway.”

“Jesus Christ.” The top of his head would detonate if he didn’t find his shoes. He knelt down and checked under the bed. Where the hell had he thrown them? “Where’s my mother?”

The pause lasted too long. Ice crystals locked around his chest wall.

“Elva, where’s my mother?”

“I can’t rightly say. Wasn’t anybody around when I arrived, ’cept your grandmother.”

His heart shattered. Splintered into a million pieces. “I’m on my way.”

Of course, his mother was gone. Hadn’t she always been missing when something important happened? A nightmarish image of Nana’s small, crumpled body lying alone in the dark in need of help flashed through his mind. The chill in his heart melted. Molten lava replaced the cold.

He hadn’t noticed Leigh enter the room fully dressed until she set his shoes on the floor next to where he stood. He slammed his feet into them while she slid her pistol in her purse.

“Let’s go,” she said.

J.T. didn’t argue. Didn’t point out she’d all but drawn a line in the sand seconds ago. Twice in as many days, he’d failed to speak his heart. Later he’d express his gratitude. He sprinted to his car with Leigh at his side. The engine sprang to life and soon telephone poles flashed by like tumbling toothpicks.

“I heard you say broken. Did Nana fall?” Leigh reached across and stroked his neck, startling him.

“Huh? Yeah.” He retold his conversation with his grandmother’s housekeeper. He tried to keep his emotions under control while his mind vacillated between worry, fear, and anger. His fury targeted his missing mother.

He slid the Corvette into a no-parking zone, slammed on the brakes, and was out of the car in a blink of the eye. A security guard stepped toward them. J.T. jerked his ID from his hip pocket.

“Nobody touches that car,” he growled without slowing down.

Leigh held up her hand to silence the guard. “Give me your keys.”

“Nobody drives my car.” He spit the words over his shoulder. He stormed toward the hospital entrance then abruptly turned on his heel and walked back to Leigh. “Except you.”

Her gaze locked onto his. His insides softened, and he placed the keys in her hand.

“Go,” she whispered. “I’ll find you.

He jogged through the entrance unsure if he wanted her to find him. She’d never bought into how dysfunctional his family was, and he feared today might tip the scales.

****

Thursday, May 20, 11:30 a.m.

If the doctor didn’t bring news soon, Leigh worried J.T.’s nerves would snap. He’d stalked the halls, paced the waiting room, and jumped each time doors to the ER opened. He’d pestered nurses and threatened an intern or two. Telling him x-rays, MRIs, and blood work had to be completed before they had a definitive answer hadn’t soothed his anxiety. Fear for his grandmother’s life and fury at his mother made the situation highly combustible.

Leigh bought two coffees from the vending machine and joined J.T. in the waiting room. She hadn’t returned his car keys. Instead, she held them tightly. The cool metal warmed in her hand while she remembered his expression when he’d handed them over. She’d seen love in his eyes. Maybe he didn’t know it, but Leigh not only saw the love buried behind the façade, she’d felt it in his touch.

He dropped into the chair next to hers and picked up the paper cup she’d set on the table. “I’ll find my mother if I have to turn Atlanta upside down.”

“What then?”

His head swiveled in her direction. Eyes narrowed, nostrils flared, he didn’t hesitate. “My mother’s going to tell me exactly what she did to my grandmother.”

Leigh’s stomach roiled at the venom in his voice. “You don’t believe she’d hurt her own mother. You can’t.”

“She may not have physically hurt Nana, but my mother is responsible. Count on it.”

“Mr. Noble?”

J.T. sprang to his feet, and Leigh stood with him. She rested her hand on his back for morale support. She recognized the nurse walking toward them. They’d met a couple of times. Ellen, the woman’s name popped into Leigh’s mind. After her mother’s trip to the emergency room, she’d commented on Ellen’s soft, kind eyes and gentle hands.

“How’s my grandmother?” J.T. towered over the diminutive woman.

“Her vital signs are strong. She’s stabilized. The doctor will be along to discuss the particulars.”

“Thank you.” His bunched shoulders relaxed. “Is she awake?”

“Not yet. I’m sorry.”

“I appreciate you telling me.”

“You’re welcome. I understand how hard it is to wait for news. My fiancé had a heart attack this past Tuesday. For the first time, I truly understood how it felt to be on the other side of the ER door.”

“How is he?” The lines around J.T.’s mouth softened.

“He’ll be fine. With my help, he’ll start taking better care of himself.”

“We’ve met before.” J.T. smiled for the first time. “Haven’t we?”

“We have. You asked me questions about a patient who’d been abused. Her husband had been murdered.”

“Right.” He nodded. “I’m caught up. How much longer before I can see my grandmother?”

“I can’t say. The doctor will make that call.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “I’d better go. It’s my lunch time, and I want to check on Don.”

She paused in the doorway and spoke to Leigh. “How’s your mother?”

“Doing great. Thanks.”

“Hell of a memory.” J.T. shook his head. “Better than mine.”

“Mine, too. She’s a nice lady.” Leigh’s heart did its usual cartwheel when he turned and brushed his fingers across her cheek.

Then he resumed his pacing, scowling deeper with each step.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Thursday, May 20, 5:30 p.m.

Leigh sat in the familiar waiting room with her mom while Ethan played with the racecar he’d brought to the hospital. J.T. was in the intensive care unit checking on his grandmother.

“J.T.,” Ethan squealed.

Leigh grabbed for the back of his shirt, her hand closing around an empty space. He’d forgotten she’d asked him to use his inside voice while they were in the hospital. The sight of J.T. entering the room had proved too much for her six-year-old bullet train.

“Hey, little man.” J.T. dropped to one knee and gathered Ethan close.

J.T.’s gaze lifted and met hers. Dark circles under his eyes and deep lines around his mouth spoke a silent tale. He’d been waiting since eight-thirty that morning. Leigh hoped the visit with his grandmother would give him peace of mind. Judging from the signs of exhaustion on his face, he was still worried. The sadness in his eyes ripped at Leigh’s heart.

Her son spoke quiet words Leigh couldn’t hear while he rubbed small circles over the scar on J.T.’s cheek. Her heart clenched when he didn’t pull away. The expression of tenderness in his eyes made Leigh swallow tears pushing their way to the surface.

He moved the holster from his hip to rest on his right kidney. He ruffled Ethan’s curly hair, stood as if the child didn’t weigh fifty pounds, and then plopped him down sidesaddle.

“Sarah.” J.T. turned his attention to her mother. “Thank you for coming. You sure you’re up to getting out?”

“Oh, sure. We were in town to pick up Ethan at Dede’s. You saw your grandmother?”

“Finally.”

He put Ethan down next to his toy. He’d lost all interest in playing. Instead, he caught J.T. by two fingers and stared up as if Superman had flown in from Metropolis to save the day.

Leigh’s mother alarms went off. Shrieking sirens in her head warned of an impending crisis. Her selfishness had left her son vulnerable for a huge disappointment and heartbreak. If J.T. didn’t love her, didn’t love Ethan, she’d set him up for a terrible fall.

J.T. trusted her. He’d proven it when he handed over his car keys. Yet last night he’d been painfully clear. His system had shutdown at what she’d intended to be a flirty wisecrack. Geesh, she’d asked if she was his girl. He reacted as if she’d proposed marriage. What if she’d been stupid enough to tell him how she really felt? He sent too many mixed signals and going forward their relationship would be tricky. The fact remained, she’d fallen in love with him. Hopelessly and forever.

She and Ethan could always back out of J.T.’s life before he ran and hid. The pain in her chest took her breath away. She forced her attention back to the subject of his grandmother. Her mother had asked about Nana’s hip, and he said something about surgery.

“Is she awake?” Leigh had to speak, had to force her thoughts to something other than her breaking heart.

“In and out. They have her lightly sedated. The bump on her head from the fall wasn’t serious. Surgery is scheduled in the morning.”

“In the morning?” she said, not hiding her surprise.

“That’s what the doctor said. She’s scheduled for six-thirty.”

“Rehab next.” Leigh’s father spoke from behind them.

J.T. turned and shook her dad’s hand. “You’re exactly right. Doc said they would get her up and moving as soon as possible to avoid pneumonia and blood clots.” His broad shoulders shuddered.

Movement in the hall caught Leigh’s attention. A thin woman wearing baggy gray slacks and a lacey white blouse rushed into the room. She stopped. Her hair was brown, not black like J.T.’s, but her hunter green eyes matched the man standing in front of Leigh. The woman’s gaze swept the room and came to rest on his back. Leigh’s breath caught. This was his mother, and she headed straight for him.

“J.T.” Leigh grasped him by the arm, interrupting him. She nodded toward the figure walking up behind him.

He whirled, following the direction of her gaze. His body stature changed. His back straightened to the point he grew taller. The lines of his face turned to cement, his jaw clenched, and the scowl appeared to be permanent.

The woman took a hesitant step toward him. “Where’s Mama?”

“Get out.” Venom dripped from his words.

Leigh almost felt the blow when he fired the two words. He struck his target with the accuracy of the sniper he hunted. The woman blinked rapidly, the color drained from her face, and a trembling hand slapped her chest, covering her heart.

“No. I won’t leave.”

The woman opened and closed her mouth as if to say more. Not a sound came out.

“You’re not welcome here.” His words were low and menacing.

Roxanne Noble wobbled on her feet, and tears spilled from red-rimmed eyes. The woman teetered on the verge of collapse. Leigh had to intervene.

She grabbed his arm. “You can’t mean that.”

He cocked his head sideways. Eyes narrowed to slits, his gaze slid from her hand up her arm and stopped when their eyes met. A dark storm brewed. One of epic proportions. Leigh doubted he saw her through the anger boiling up.

“This is none of your business.” His lips barely moved. His voice sounded like it came from a stranger.

She understood his mother’s previous reaction. Laser sharp words burned through Leigh’s outer layer of flesh and ripped open a hole in her chest.

“You’re my business,” she whispered. “You and Ethan are my only business.”

She sucked in a breath at the anger in his eyes. Had fear and frustration for his grandmother pushed him past the point of reasoning?

“Stay out of things you don’t understand.”

The blow to her heart hit with the force of a runaway train. Who was this man? This wasn’t the person she’d fallen in love with. She turned to Ethan, who’d crawled up on a chair, observing with the eyes of a frightened deer. She released J.T. and held her hand out to her son.

“Let’s go home.” She motioned her parents to follow. Leigh literally tugged Ethan down the hall. Unwilling to leave, he argued. Confused, he wanted to know why J.T was mad. She didn’t try to explain what she didn’t understand herself. She loved the man who’d listened to her innermost secrets with an open, nonjudgmental mind. She didn’t know the stranger who’d passed judgment on his mother without hearing a word she had to say.

“Leigh.” J.T.’s voice came from behind them.

Thank God. He’d come to his senses.

“Go ahead,” she said, passing control of Ethan to her father. “I’ll catch up.” She stopped and waited.

The person walking toward her bore no resemblance to the man she knew and loved. Hate filled his face, his stride, and his bearing. He extended his hand to her.

“My car keys.”

Damn him. Blood coursed through her veins, heating to a rolling boil. She wanted to knock a super-sized dose of understanding, compassion, and forgiveness into his stubborn head. She wanted to believe he wasn’t this cold and unforgiving stranger standing before her. Instead, she dropped the keys on his open palm, turned, and hurried toward the exit. Gulping air, swallowing hard, and fighting back tears, she prayed he’d snap out of the fog.