The Ninth Floor (15 page)

“Jack,” I
whispered and pointed down. An open padlock lay at our feet.

Jack picked up the lock.

“Do you think
that was the first click? It opening?”

He shook his
head. “Not possible. It must’ve been open, which explains the light on the
floor last night. Someone’s been going in.”

I looked at
the door. “But there are still two other locks.”

“They must
have keys and forgot to latch this one.”

I frowned. “How
did it fall off the door?”

Jack gave me a
half amused look. “I think it’s safe to assume that was our fault.”

What he said
made sense, but I wasn’t buying it this time. Something was fishy about this
whole hospital, and I was letting him distract me from my investigation. I made
a silent oath to figure out what was going on or to move Bee, regardless of
Jack’s opinion.

“You okay?” he
asked.

Tearing my
eyes from the ninth floor’s door, I gazed up at him. “I think this was sign.” I
patted him on the chest. “The universe wants us to go slow.”

A grin spread
across his face. “You jumped me, remember?”

I rebuttoned
the top of my shirt. “True. That doesn’t mean it was right though.”

Jack caught my
wrist and pulled me close. “We’re both consenting, unattached adults. It isn’t
wrong to let things happen.”

“I just don’t
want to be hurt again, and I don’t want to hurt you either. We haven’t known each
other very long.” He started to object, but I kept going. “I know I kissed you
and started all of this—but I need to know I want you for the right reasons.
Wanting you because Briggs is here and punching holes in my self-esteem isn’t
the right reason. He was the only boyfriend I ever had. I need to take this
slow and be sure.”

“Are you going
to talk to him?”

I licked my
lips, and though I didn’t want to, I knew I would. I clenched my jaw and gave a
sharp nod.

“Are we
working on your apartment tonight?”

“No, I don’t
think so. I think I need tonight off.”

“Would you
like to have dinner?” Jack placed his glasses back on his face, slightly
crooked.

I reached up
to straighten them before answering. “Actually, I was thinking about getting
Blair to have dinner with me. He’s going back to school soon, and I haven’t
gotten to spend much time with him … since he was twelve.” I made a face “I
sort of ruined the dinner he planned, so I owe him for that too. Maybe if I
reacquaint myself with my family one person at a time, when I do the big
dinner, it will be easier.”

Jack pecked a
kiss against my cheek. “That sounds like a very reasonable plan.”

“We’ll see.
The Sterlings aren’t known for being reasonable.” I smoothed my hair, using my
reflection in Jack’s glasses. I twirled slightly for him. “Do I look
presentable?”

“Lovely.”

“Oh, I forgot
to ask if you got in touch with the nurse?”

“That’s who I
was paged to speak with.”

“What did she
say?”

“Everything
was normal last night.”

“Hmph. So
weird.” Another piece of an increasingly impossible puzzle. “Are you headed my
way?”

He looked up
the stairs then back at me. “It’s probably safer if I head the other way. We’ll
talk later.”

We kissed one
last time, hands lingering together as I moved away. I climbed the stairs,
smiling. However, when I walked into the waiting room and saw Briggs was still
there, looking surly, my good mood evaporated.

“Why are you
here, Briggs?” I asked, sitting down across from him and crossing my legs.

“I want to
talk to you.”

“You had
opportunity after opportunity to talk to me at home. Why now?”

“Because I
made a mistake. I know that now.”

“And when did
you have this epiphany? Was it when Jack answered my phone and you knew I wasn’t
just going to pine away, waiting for you to come back to me?”

“Do we have to
talk about this here? Have dinner with me tonight. We can talk about
everything. I mean it. Absolutely
everything
. I want to explain—like I
should’ve done to begin with.”

Briggs’s offer
was tempting, but I meant what I’d told Jack. I wanted to have dinner with
Blair, and I wanted to look through the scrapbook without Bee since it seemed
to upset her. I didn’t want to deal with guy troubles tonight. “I can’t
tonight.”

“Then I’ll
stay in town until you can.” The determination written across his face was one
of the things that made me fall in love with Briggs. When he set his mind to
something, there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. My fingers itched to trace the
little crease he got between his eyebrows when he was like this, but I looked
away instead.

“Haven’t you
hurt me enough? What do you want from me? Blood? I’m trying to move on. Let me
go, Briggs.”

“I don’t want
to hurt you, Ryan. I love you more than anyone or anything in the world.”

“Then why?”

“Have dinner
with me.”

“Not tonight.”

“Fine. Another
night then.”

I sighed. “Where
are you staying?”

“With your
parents.”

I shook my
head, but Blair and Dad returned before I could comment. Dad put his hand on my
shoulder. “Bee’s sleeping now. Why don’t you come have lunch with us?”

“I have too
much to do. I need to run by her house and water. Then I have to check on the
store and walk the dogs. By the time I get back, she’ll probably be awake.”

Dad looked
hurt, but he didn’t push me.

“You want
company?” Blair asked.

“Sure.” I
looked at Dad and took a deep breath. “We’ll have lunch soon. Catch up.”

He raised an
eyebrow and nodded.

“Just give me
a moment, Blair. I need to pop in and get my purse.”

I walked
quietly into Bee’s room and could hear her soft snores. I packed the scrapbooks
and was bending over to feel for my purse under the chair when I felt a hand on
my shoulder. I snapped around, but nothing was there. I put my hand over the
spot, heart paused in my chest, and my shirt felt like ice. I wanted to run,
but I couldn’t leave Bee alone with a ghost, could I? My legs were planted, and
I was caught between a scream and a sick sort of fascination. Just as quickly
the sensation was gone.

I shook myself
and tried for my purse again, but it was gone too.

*

“So, little brother, want to have
dinner with me tonight?” I asked Blair once we were safely in his car driving
toward Bee’s house after I called and cancelled my credit cards. I couldn’t
believe I’d lost my purse. At least I had my phone in my pocket and was able to
call Vivian to have her make another key to the apartment for me.

“The girl with
more guys tuning in than Sports Center wants to have dinner with her brother?
What’s the catch?”

I gave an
unladylike snort and shook my head. “No catch. I messed up our dinner, and we
haven’t had much time to hang out. Besides, I lost my purse, so you’re buying.”

Blair narrowed
his eyes and stared at me until I frowned at him. “Should I take this as a hint
you’re leaving soon? It’s this Briggs person, isn’t it? I don’t know what he
did, but it must’ve been bad to make you that angry. Don’t go back with him.”

“It isn’t
Briggs, and I’m not going anywhere with him or anyone.”

“So you’re
staying in Goodson Hollow?”

“Would I be
fixing the apartment if I wasn’t?”

“That’s not an
answer, Ryan.”

I sighed. “You
understand Bee’s condition, right?”

He shrugged. “She
needs a transplant, but what will you do after that?”

“Even if she
gets a transplant and survives the surgery, she’ll still need me here. Her
recovery will be slow, and after that she’ll be on anti-rejection medications
which will compromise her immune system. If we get five or ten more years with
her, we’ll be lucky. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’m here to stay.”

Blair chewed
his lip in a manner that reminded me of myself. “I didn’t realize …That’s why
you’re always at the hospital, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “And
there’s no guarantee she’ll get the transplant in time or that it will take.”

“What will you
do if she dies?”

I frowned, not
wanting to think about that. “I don’t know. She loves the store and I’d hate to
get rid of it, but I have to live my own life, and Blueberry isn’t my dream, it’s
hers.” No matter how true my words were though, the idea of selling Bee’s store
made me want to throw up. “Who knows what I’ll do.”

“What do you
want
to do?”

That was an
excellent question. What did I want to do? I’d liked my job, but it wasn’t hard
to give it up to come here. Maybe I’d have been happier as a journalist, but
maybe not. The newspaper didn’t define who I was in any way. I thought about
the things I liked and wanted to do. It wasn’t out of the question that I could
break open the trust and buy the newspaper here, but what if that wasn’t what I
really wanted? Maybe I wanted to travel and write. “I don’t know, but if it
makes you feel better, I have no plans to leave in the immediate future, no
matter what the outcome is.”

“I guess
Briggs is wasting his time then?”

I shrugged,
trying to seem cool, but my hands tightened into fists until my knuckles were
white.

“What the hell
did he do to you, Ryan?”

“He broke my
heart.”

Blair shook
his head. “I can’t believe he’s staying at the house.”

“It doesn’t
surprise me at all. I knew Mom and Dad, Mom especially, would be over the moon
about him.”

“Then why did
you date him?”

“Because we
were young, he understood me and the world I came from, and he was like me
then. I was completely enamored with him. I thought Briggs was it.”

“What do you
mean ‘it’?”

“The one I was
going to spend the rest of my life with. I never questioned it.”

“He doesn’t
look that tough. I could probably kick his ass for you. Just sayin’.”

I laughed. “Thank
you, but no. If anyone gets to kick his ass, it’ll be me.”

“How about
Jack? The two of you seem…close.”

“I like him.”

“Just like?”

“I have a lot
to figure out.”

Blair’s brow
furrowed.

“What?”

“Jack will
definitely keep you here. Mom doesn’t like him at all, so that has to work in
his favor. And he seems to care about you, not the money—another point for him.”

“I take it you’re
rooting for Jack?”

Blair rolled
his eyes. “The less I know about your love life, the better. I’m rooting for
Ryan staying in Goodson Hollow. If that means you choose Jack, then I don’t
object to him. He’s cool. But if you decide Briggs is the guy for you, and he’s
willing to move back, that’s cool too.”

“You’re no
help.” Blair shrugged, not looking sorry at all. I pulled into Bee’s driveway “How
about you? Any girls back at school have your attention?”

Blair shrugged
noncommittally. “None as hot as Vivian.”

“She’s too old
for you.”

“She’s your
age. That’s not old.”

“I didn’t say
she was old. I said she’s too old for you. You should date someone your own
age.”

“Because that
worked out so well for you?”

I scowled.
That was a low blow.

“And how much
older is Jack?”

“That’s
completely different.”

“What was
that? How much older?”

I climbed out
of the car, doing some quick math and rough estimates in my head. I figured he
couldn’t be younger than thirty-three but was probably closer to thirty-five. “I
don’t know …Probably seven to ten years.”

Blair smiled. “Vivian’s
only six years older than me. She’s fun, she’s smokin’ hot, she’s got her own
money, and you like her enough to let her move in with you.”

I didn’t make
any further comment. I’d seen this coming and Vivian knew my feelings about it.
Maybe I was wrong, but I wanted my brother to wait to get all attached to
someone. After all, as he’d pointed out himself, young love hadn’t worked out
so well for me.

“Are you
having dinner with me tonight or not?” I asked after we finished watering the
plants.

Blair flung
his arm around my shoulder. “How could I say no to my favorite sister?”

“I’m your only
sister.”

“That’s why
you’re my favorite.”

Blair hung out at the hospital
the rest of the afternoon. The two of us chatted with Bee, who seemed much more
like her normal herself after lunch. We laughed and talked about everything,
and by the time we left, she could hardly keep her eyes open. I had the notion
I should bring Ashley next time. If it made Bee this happy that Blair and I
were friends, what would including Ashley do? We’d started for the elevator
when I remembered I forgot my cell phone on Bee’s bedside table. I ran back to
her room and grabbed it. Sitting next to my chair was my purse.

The unsettling
knowledge that there was no way I’d overlooked my bag earlier sent chills down
my back, but I didn’t want to ruin yet another evening with my brother. I
started back out, nearly plowing over a nurse.

“I’m so sorry,”
I said, catching her shoulder.

“No problem.”
She smiled kindly. “You must be Ryan. Bee speaks of you often when she can’t
sleep.”

“Yes, I am
Ryan. It’s nice to meet you—”

“Paula.”

“Paula.” I
shook her hand. “Were you here last night?”

She nodded and
frowned. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Like what?”

“Didn’t you
hear? Your aunt was found sleepwalking. For someone in her condition to move
that easily must be some sort of medical miracle.”

“Where was she
found?”

“In the
stairwell.” Paula shook her head. “I don’t even want to know what would’ve
happened had she fallen. Or how on earth we missed her leaving her room. But no
harm done, and I’ll be extra vigilant tonight, even if I have to station myself
outside her door. You have my word.”