Winds of Fortune (10 page)

“Allie and Smith have things under control.” Reese hooked one hand around her gun belt. Her face was grim. “Is Nelson going to make it?”

“I don’t know,” Tory admitted. “He wouldn’t have any chance at all if you hadn’t been there. If you hadn’t—”

“Damn it, Tory. This must have been coming on for a while. He’s been complaining of stomach problems for months and I never gave it a thought. He wasn’t having indigestion, he was having chest pain.”

“Reese, you’re not a doctor. I see him practically as much as you do and I never paid any attention either.”

Reese’s jaw clenched and she looked away. She appreciated Tory trying to make her feel better, but she couldn’t help thinking that she was partly responsible. She’d been preoccupied ever since the war started, knowing that she’d be called up to serve in Iraq. And since she’d been back, she’d lost her focus and couldn’t concentrate. She saw Nelson every single day, and she should have known something was wrong.

“Nelson could have said something,” Tory said gently. “I’m not blaming him, but it’s certainly not your fault. You saved his life.”

“If he’s able to come back to work, how long do you think it will be?”

“God.” Tory brushed a hand through her hair, frustrated by Reese’s stubborn insistence on taking responsibility for things that couldn’t possibly be her fault. “At least six weeks, possibly more. Once he’s stabilized, the cardiologist will need to evaluate the extent of the cardiac damage.”

“I’ve talked to the mayor and the district commander. I’ll be acting chief until Nelson comes back to work.”

Tory took a slow breath. “Of course.” She chose her next words as carefully as she could. “Are you okay with that?”

Reese shrugged and smiled ruefully. “Paperwork. I hate it. I’d rather be in a patrol car, but there’s no one else with the experience to do it and bringing in someone new would disrupt the entire department during the busiest time of the year. It’s my responsibility. I’m fine.”

It wasn’t the boredom of administrative work that concerned Tory. Reese would be in a command position—not that she wasn’t already, every day of her working life. But this would be slightly different, and she couldn’t imagine Reese being content sitting behind a desk. What it meant, she imagined, was that Reese would simply be doing two jobs when she was barely recovered enough to do one.

“I know you’re the only one for the job.” Tory skimmed her fingertips across the ridge of Reese’s collarbone. The irregularity from the healing fracture was still palpable. “You’re not quite a hundred percent yet, darling. You’ll be careful, won’t you?”

“Sure,” Reese said automatically. “We should get back upstairs, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” Tory said with a sigh, aware that Reese was naturally most comfortable
doing
something. Anything. Now more than ever, Reese used work as a panacea, or an escape. And once again, it wasn’t the time to deal with it. Certainly not today, not when Nelson was fighting for his life. “We should get back.”

When Reese took her hand, Tory laced her fingers through Reese’s, grateful for the brief connection. It wasn’t enough, but it was everything.

*

Bri jumped up when the cardiologist, still wearing rumpled scrubs, walked into the family waiting room. Other than the four of them—Reese, Tory, Bri, and Carre—only one elderly man occupied the space, sitting off in one corner with a distant expression on his face.

Caroline scooted her arm around Bri’s waist and Tory slid close to her other side. Reese stood a few feet away, her expression impassive and her body emanating tightly coiled energy.

“Dr. King,” the cardiologist said, looking from Tory to Bri and then back to Tory. “Sheriff Parker is stable. We stented both the anterior descending and the left main.”

“That’s great,” Tory said.

Bri’s legs started to shake and she gripped Carre’s shoulders tightly, embarrassed to let anyone see how scared she was. She swallowed before speaking. Her throat felt so dry she was afraid her voice would crack. “Does that mean he’s going to be okay?”

“The most important thing right now,” the cardiologist said kindly, “is that the blockage has been relieved and his heart muscle is getting the oxygen it needs to heal.”

“Does that mean you don’t know if he’s going to be okay?” Bri persisted.

The cardiologist shot a glance at Tory, who said, “Go ahead, Steve, you don’t need to soft-pedal it.”

“The first twenty-four hours following a myocardial incident are tricky,” Steve Olson said. “The heart muscle is irritable because it’s been damaged, so arrhythmias—that’s an irregular heartbeat—are common, and can be dangerous. Your father’s being monitored carefully and we’re giving him medication to control cardiac irritability. This time tomorrow, I’ll be able to give you a much better assessment.”

“When can I see him?”

“The nurses have a few things to do and then you can visit. He’s sedated and won’t be responsive.”

“Okay. I understand,” Bri said. “Thanks.”

When the cardiologist turned to Tory and began explaining something Bri couldn’t understand, Bri whispered to Carre, “I need to talk to Reese.”

“Okay, baby.” Carre kissed her cheek and let her go.

Bri joined Reese. “I want to thank you for what you did today, for my dad.”

“No need,” Reese said gently.

“I’m sorry I didn’t handle it so well. I—”

Reese shook her head, slung an arm around Bri’s slender frame, and pulled her close. She cupped the back of her head as Bri trembled against her. “It’s okay. You did fine. I’m proud of you.”

Bri’s eyes stung and she blinked back tears. It wasn’t that she was ashamed to cry in front of Reese. Hell, Reese had seen her when she was messed up and pissed off at everybody. Crying wasn’t so bad, although she’d rather only Carre knew that she did it sometimes. Just now, though, she wanted to be as together as Reese was when things got tough. She wanted to be the one everyone believed in. She raised her head and grinned a little crookedly. “I forgot my training.”

“Understandable,” Reese said gruffly. She loosened her hold and let Bri ease away. “That’s the reason there’s a chain of command, Bri. It takes practice. Your time will come.”

“I want to be ready.”

Reese skimmed her knuckles along the edge of Bri’s jaw. “You will be.”

*

From across the room, Tory recognized Bri’s look of hero worship and was both warmed and worried by it. She knew that Bri could have no better role model than Reese, but she was just coming to understand what a burden that must be for Reese. Not just with Bri, but with the other officers in the department and the young marines she had commanded. What was it like living up to that kind of faith while you were trying to keep death away?

Thinking of the tremendous responsibility of making life and death decisions while faced with the imminent possibility of annihilation, she was reminded of KT and the swaggering self-confidence she always displayed in the trauma unit. When they’d been together, she had allowed herself to forget that KT was not invulnerable or invincible, but rather a woman who suffered every death that she could not prevent and agonized over every decision that might have been made differently.

Tory knew some of that soul-shattering responsibility herself when she made decisions, as she had earlier that day regarding Nelson’s treatment. Usually, though, she had a moment or two to collect her thoughts and weigh pros and cons, unlike a soldier in battle or a surgeon faced with exsanguinating hemorrhage. KT had relieved the inexorable stress by reaffirming her prowess in the arms of other women. Reese would never devastate her that way, but Tory did not intend to let her destroy herself, either.

“Sweetheart,” Tory said quietly to Reese. “I’m going to stay here for a few more hours. Do you need to get back?”

Reese waited until Bri rejoined Caroline. “I should check in at the station. I need to rearrange the shifts and get some idea of what Nelson had pending.” She looked over at Bri. “One of us should be here in case there’s a problem, don’t you think?”

“I don’t want her to be alone if anything should happen,” Tory agreed.

“Then I’ll come back up tonight in the Jeep and you can take it home. I’ll get an officer to take me back in the morning.”

“I may stay the night. Call me later and I’ll let you know if you should come back out tonight.”

Reese frowned and stroked Tory’s arm. “You sure you’ll be okay? You look beat.”

Tory covered Reese’s hand with hers. “I’m all right. Tell Reggie I said hi when you see her.”

“I will. I’ll be back soon.” Reese kissed her quickly. “I love you.”

“I love you. Be careful.”

As soon as Reese disappeared, Tory immediately felt uneasy. It wasn’t just that she missed her, which she did, but whenever Reese was out of sight, she was plagued by a pervasive expectation of danger. At moments like this she was forced to admit that Reese’s tour of duty in Iraq had made casualties of them both.

*

“So what do you think of the Doc?”

Deo’s eyes narrowed as she regarded her cousin over her beer. “Looks like she did a good job on your hand.”

The Squealing Pig was packed as it was every night, but they’d managed to snag a table in the corner near the wide front windows. People brushed against the glass as they passed by on Commercial Street and sounds of the melee outside added to the general din of people crowded around the bar and jostling at tables inside. Considering it was a holiday, Deo had told her crews to knock off early, and she and Joey had come into town for a burger.

“I’m not talking about her medical skills,” Joey scoffed, waving to a local who came through the door. “I was thinking of asking her out.”

“Come on,” Deo said dismissively, hoping to hide her concern. “She’s got to have at least ten years on you.”

Joey grinned. “You know what they say about older women. I ought to have the stuff to keep up with her.”

Deo wanted to smack him and he wasn’t even out of line. It’s not like they hadn’t talked about girls before. She tried to keep it decent, not only because he was her cousin, but because she didn’t want him to think that women meant nothing to her. Joey, for his part, was a lot more respectful than most of the guys. Still, hearing him talk about Nita as if she were a potential sex partner made her crazy. She leaned across the table into his face. “She’s a lesbian, you nitwit. Forget it.”

“So? Maybe she likes tuna on Friday and steak on Saturday.”

Deo swatted him in the head. “Asshole.”

“Still, you don’t know right?” Joey persisted teasingly. “Unless maybe you’ve already been there?”

“No,” Deo grated.

“How come? Did she turn you down?”

Deo clenched her jaws.

“Ho ho!” Joey crowed. “You mean there’s finally one woman in town who can resist you?” He punched her arm. “You must be slipping, babe.”

“Knock it off,” Deo snapped.

Joey’s face fell. “Hey. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Deo let her breath out slowly and tried to rein in her temper. Jesus, what the hell was the matter with her. Joey was a good kid, and he hadn’t said or done anything he hadn’t said or done a hundred times before. So Nita obviously thought she was callous and shallow and only interested in a quick lay. So what. Nita wasn’t the first person to think she was a fuck-off. Her own parents thought the same thing and worse, and she’d learned to live with that. Yeah, it still hurt, but she kept that to herself.

“Forget it.” Deo sipped her beer and feigned interest in the activity outside.

Joey stretched his legs out beside the table and smiled with satisfaction. “So you don’t mind if I find out for myself if she’s interested in some prime salam—”

“Joey,” Deo growled.

Laughing, Joey tilted back in his chair. “She’s got you bugged, doesn’t she?”

“I never said that,” Deo said, but she knew she didn’t have to. She
was
bugged. Nita was a beautiful, intelligent, sexy woman who thought Deo wasn’t worth the time of day. And for the first time in longer than she could remember, Deo was unhappy with that perception. Sure, it was hard to disappoint anyone or be hurt by them when she asked for nothing and nothing was expected of her. It was also lonely.

“Well, good luck, Cuz,” Joey said good-naturedly.

It would take more than luck, Deo knew, and she wasn’t certain that she wanted to take the risk. Still, something about Nita almost made her want to try.

“Hey,” Deo said, working her way through the crowd up to Allie, who stood at the juncture of Standish and Commercial Streets, the busiest intersection in town. “What are you still doing at work? You had the day shift.”

“Pulling a double,” Allie said, watching an SUV edge its way through the pedestrian-filled street that more resembled a wide sidewalk at nine-thirty at night. She diverted her attention long enough to give Deo an appreciative once over. “You’re looking good.”

Grinning, Deo returned the look. “I think I might like you in the silky stuff a little better than the leather, but it works.”

“You’d be surprised how many girls want me because of the uniform.”