Uncensored Passion (Men of Passion) (24 page)

“Let me have the phone, Lee,” Kayla said grimly.

Reluctantly he handed her the receiver and she asked curtly, “What do you want, Trey?”

“I just wanted to warn you that Dr. Romero might send someone to hurt you, Kayla.” Trey’s voice was hoarse.

“What makes you think that?”

“Because that’s what he did to me.”

“What do you mean?” A feeling of dread seeped through her.

“He sent some thugs to beat me up. I can’t prove he did it, but I’m pretty sure he’s the one who paid them.”

Kayla bit her lip as she asked anxiously, “Are you all right?”

“I will be.”

“Good thing you can take care of yourself.”

“Yeah—but it’s hard to take on three guys.”

“Trey—tell me the truth. How bad are you hurt?” she asked softly.

“I’ll live.”

Kayla heard someone paging a doctor over the hospital intercom in the background and she gasped.

“You’re in the hospital!”

“I’ll probably be going home tomorrow.”

“When did this happen?”

“About one this morning. I was doing some late-night shopping.”

“At one in the morning?”

“It’s an all-night market.”

“Are you going to be all right?”

“Sure. It taught me a good lesson. Keep your guard up at all times. I just wanted to warn you to be extra careful, Kayla.”

Seeing her frown, Harm asked, “What’s happened, Kayla?”

She said to Trey, “Just a second,” and covered the mouthpiece long enough to tell the guys Trey had been attacked and was in the hospital, that he believed it was Dr. Romero who had paid the men to beat him up.

“Let me talk to him,” Harm demanded and she handed him the phone.

“Trey, this is Harm. Are you sure it was that Romero guy who had you beaten up?”

“Can’t prove it, but yes, I’m sure. The man’s out for blood. Keep a watch on Kayla.”

“We damned sure will.”

“I’m sorry about J.J.”

“We all are. It shouldn’t have happened.”

Harm hoped his meaning, implied but not said, had come across—that if Trey hadn’t come to Nashville and unprofessionally interfered in their lives, J.J. would probably still be there and happy. He knew it had when Trey said, “Wish I’d never taken that assignment or gone to Nashville. Worse, come out to the house and blown my cover. The way things came down spooked the kid. It was a mistake, and one I’ll have to live with.”

“A big one you shouldn’t make again,” Harm warned.

Trey hung up and Harm replaced the receiver on the hook, catching and holding Kayla’s eyes.

“What else did he say?” Luke asked.

“Just what he told Kayla, that he believes J.J.’s father had him beaten up. He thinks he might send someone to harm Kayla, too.”

“The hell you say!” Lee said.

“Maybe we should pay that damned doctor a little visit,” Luke gritted.

“No, just let it drop, Luke,” Kayla admonished. “He’s just grieving and wants to lash out at someone.”

“Well, it damn sure isn’t going to be you!” Harm said tersely. “Kayla, you are
not
going to be out of our sight for a while. One of us will be with you at all times. Understood?”

Kayla managed a smile as she reached out to touch his cheek. “Thank you. I love you all.”

“And we love you, Kayla,” Lee said, “and nobody is going to hurt you, I can assure you of that. Like Harm said, one of us will be with you wherever you go, even at the office.”

“Well, I’ve decided to take some time off, so that won’t be necessary. I’d already decided that before Trey’s call. I’ll contact Dr. Avery and get him to take my patients for the next couple of weeks. I don’t think I’m capable of helping anyone right now, and it wouldn’t be fair to them. So I intend to just stay home and get myself together.”

“That’s good. For damned sure. We’ll make sure the security system is on day and night, and that you’re never alone. Nobody will get to you here,” Luke declared.

“I think I’ll just go lie down awhile. Guys, I’m sorry our schedule has been screwed up. Maybe after this week, we can….”

“Hey,” Lee interrupted, “don’t you worry about that. We just want you to feel better.”

Kayla fought back the tears as she nodded at them, slipped off the stool, and headed for her suite. She almost didn’t make it to her bathroom before throwing up. She sank down beside the toilet bowl moaning, feeling dizzy and weak. She attributed it to nerves, a reaction to knowing Trey had been injured, knowing J.J. might die.

After emptying what little breakfast she had eaten, Kayla pushed up, washed her face, rinsed out her mouth, brushed her teeth and lay down, realizing it had all finally caught up to her. She felt drained and empty and heartsick.

She curled into a fetal position and cried herself to sleep.

When she woke up and glanced at the clock, Kayla was shocked to see that she had slept until almost noon. She slid off the bed and went to the bathroom to splash water on her face, mad at herself for being so out of it. “What’s the matter with you?” she demanded of her reflection.

Running a brush through her hair, she squared her shoulders and wandered out into the kitchen, following the smell of homemade chicken soup Lee was preparing. The nourishing odors made her empty stomach rumble as she seated herself at the kitchen island.

“Hey there, sleepyhead,” Lee said cheerfully as he added spices to the pot. “I thought before I headed out I’d make some of my famous homemade chicken soup for you. It’ll do you good. You didn’t eat but a bite of breakfast, so I know you’re bound to be hungry.”

“Where are the guys?”

“Luke’s gone to work and Harm is at his computer making some client lots of money probably. Lee came around the island and kissed her, asking, “Feeling better, beautiful?”

“Beautiful? I look like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

“You sure don’t see yourself the way we see you.”

“Oh, Lee, you are all so good to me. I’m sorry I’ve been such a drag lately.”

“Hon, we love you and want you to feel better. That’s what’s important right now. Don’t worry about all that other stuff with Dr. Romano.”

“I feel like I’ve let you all down.”

“What is that part of the marriage vows that talks about in ‘sickness and in health’? I know we didn’t recite those exact words in our vows, but it was implied and understood. And we all took it to heart, Kayla. And speaking of heart, you have ours, you know?”

Kayla fought back another deluge of tears as she nodded. “I know. And you all have mine.”

Lee turned his attention back to cooking and Kayla leaned on her elbows on the counter, watching him, thinking about how good and kind he was, thinking about all the men in her life. She did love them and couldn’t visualize her life without them. But the memory she didn’t want to surface rose up, looming above the others.

Trey Cameron.

A man she would always love and never have. Was he in pain? She hated the thought of his lying in a hospital room alone. She longed to go to him.

She glanced at the wall clock. It was just after noon. She wondered what Trey was doing at that moment. His image swam behind her closed eyes, nearly submerged in the damned river of tears she struggled to contain.

* * *

Trey had eaten a sparse liquid lunch. His bruised stomach was too sore and raw to allow more. He ached from head to toe. He had lost the argument to leave the hospital today. He’d been told they wouldn’t release him since he had suffered a concussion and lived alone and had no one to monitor him. Now he lay in bed, impatient and mad at himself for being so careless.

You’re definitely losing your touch!

Before the assignment he wished he had never taken, before Kayla, he would never have been that inattentive and brainless.

He lifted his gaze to the door on hearing a knock.

“Permission to come in, Captain.” A sandy-haired, freckle-faced man smiled at him from the doorway.

Trey grinned and was instantly sorry because it pulled at the stitches in his mouth and sent a shard of pain shooting to his brain. “Permission granted, Corporal.” Though he knew his friend was now a Major, Trey used the old rank, and Jerry Finley recognized its use as a fond remembrance of their time of camaraderie.

He came to stand beside Trey’s bed, shaking his head as he surveyed the damage to his friend’s face. He let out a low whistle. “Damn, they did a number on you, didn’t they? How many were there?”

“I hate to admit there were only three. Matter of fact, I was just thinking how stupid I was to let them get the jump on me. What’re you doing here, man?”

“I’ve just mustered out, well, a few weeks ago, so you’re looking at a civilian. I talked with your secretary, Sarah, and she told me what happened.”

“Sarah? Wonder how she even knew. I don’t work for the firm anymore, so actually she’s my ex-secretary, but a damned good friend.”

“As for how she knew, well, it seems Sarah has a police scanner and she heard the call, so she told me. She said she checked with the owner of the market because she knew that was your favorite place to shop, and she knew you were in the habit of shopping late. And she also said that she was afraid something like this might happen to you because of this last case you were on. She told me she felt sure it was some Dr. Romero who had hired those guys to ‘beat the living hell out of you.’ And I am quoting there.”

Trey chuckled. “That Sarah is something. I’ve corrupted her. She didn’t used to curse at all.”

“She’s really worried about you. We had a long talk. She told me what you’ve been going through with Lieutenant Haines’s uncle, that Gavin Johnson. I wanted to talk to you about that. I think it’s time he knew the truth.”

“It’s doesn’t matter now. I’m no longer with his firm.”

“Yes, but he’s still determined to ruin your life. Sarah told me what he’s doing, that he’s calling other firms and spreading lies about you. I’m here to put a stop to it. Want you to know that I’ve got your back, Captain.”

Trey met his wartime friend’s eyes. They had seen a lot of action together, had always had each other’s back. He suddenly felt overwhelmed that Finley would come all the way to San Antonio, to have his back one more time.

Like he’d read his mind, Jerry shrugged. “Hey, you’d do the same for me. Hell, you’ve saved my hide more than once. Special Forces guys stick together, remember, so don’t tell me it doesn’t matter because it does. I’m going to set that SOB straight and then, when you’re up and on your feet again, we are going to find the sons-of-bitches who did this to you and show them what a big mistake they made messing with a Special Forces guy.”

“Sounds like you’re planning on sticking around for a while.”

“I am. Got a room in a motel not far from here.”

“You don’t need a room. Stay at my place. The keys to my apartment and my car are in the drawer. Use them both. I guess my car is probably in the police impound lot. I forgot to ask if it had been towed or what but I assume it has.”

Jerry pulled up a chair and plopped down.

“You wanta clue me in on what happened, Captain?”

“Not unless you start calling me Trey.”

Jerry chuckled. “Deal, but only if you call me Jerry. Now tell me how this happened.”

“I went to an all-night market to shop. Oh, that reminds me, there’s nothing at the apartment to eat so you’d better grab whatever you want before you settle in.

“Anyway, I was jumped when I came out, probably around 0130. I still can’t believe I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even hear the bastards coming until it was too late. They pulled the van up beside me. Three jumped out and slammed me against my car before I could even turn around. I was lying here thinking that I seem to have lost my edge. Guess I’m getting old.”

“Hell, no. That’s what happens when your mind is too cluttered. Sounds like you’ve had more than your share of things weighing you down lately, pal.”

They stared at each other. Trey managed a half smile. “Guess so.”

“Maybe later we can both catch up on everything.”

“For sure. So what is going on with you? You aren’t going back to Georgia?”

“Naw. I like San Antonio. At least what I’ve seen of it so far. There’s no reason to go back to Georgia. Parents are gone, sister just got married and moved away to Louisiana. There’s no one special there anymore.”

“Wasn’t there a girl? Someone named LouAnn?”

Jerry shrugged. “She didn’t even have the decency to write me a ‘Dear John’ before hooking up with another guy, who is now her husband. By the way, what does this Sarah look like? She sounds really nice and sexy.”

“She is, nice and I guess sexy, too, in a settled kind of way. She’s a little older than me. But hey, since you’re about five years older than me, she isn’t that much older than you. Maybe five or so years. But don’t tell her I said that. Don’t think I could tolerate another beating right now,” he said with a chuckle that caused a shaft of pain to shoot through his side.

Wincing, he said, “Seriously, though, you couldn’t find a better woman than Sarah. But I warn you, if you hurt her, you’ll have to deal with me. She’s been a great friend.”

Jerry laughed. “Well I love mature women who really have it together. And I’d better make my seductive move while you’re still stove up.”

They chatted for another hour then Jerry accepted Trey’s offer of his car and apartment. He got his keys, jotted down his cell number for Trey to call when he was released so he could pick him up, then left.

Seeing Jerry again stirred up a lot of old memories. Alone again, Trey relived them, beginning with the battles, the near escapes, the moments of exhilarated joy, and the valleys of depression a soldier slugs through in a never-ending war, right up to that fatal day when Dorri Haines had died.

Trey suddenly remembered what Kayla had said, about the domino effect. If it hadn’t made sense to him before, it did now.

One thing does fall into another, toppling it, right down the line, shaping who we are, where we’re going, and how we get there. God, if only we could foresee the future. How different our choices would be.

Trey fell asleep thinking that. His subconscious mind took him through the chain of incidents that had led him to San Antonio, to Nashville, to having Kayla and losing her. From the depths of his drug-enhanced sleep, Trey saw himself standing alone, feeling desolate and defeated, wanting to walk away and forget the mistakes he’d made, but unable to. Rooted in despair, his dream persona stood staring at the wrecked debris of his life, all the toppled dominoes lying at his feet, all face down.