Wink of an Eye (20 page)

Just as I was about to call for the nurse to see if my phone was even in the hospital, Rodney poked his head in the room. “So you are alive?” He was grinning ear to ear. He came in and went around to the chair Mom had sat in earlier. “Saw Mom in the hallway and she told me you were finally awake.”

“No offense, but next time you and I go anywhere together, I'm going to go ahead and file workmen's comp.”

He laughed. I was halfway serious.

“How's Rhonda?” I asked as he sat down.

He bobbed his head up and down. “Doing better. When they removed the ventilator yesterday and you didn't croak, I think she was finally convinced you were going to be okay. Enough about Rhonda … boy, that Sophia Ortez … that is
one hot mama.
” He waved his hand like he was fanning a flame.

I stared at him, wondering what I had missed in my three-day coma. “And just how did you meet Sophia?”

“I remembered you said she was going to have someone in Odessa run a comparison on the tire tracks for you. I found her number in your phone and called her to let her know what happened. After a pretty chilly reception, she warmed up a little and did ask if you survived.”

Ahh … so she was concerned. I couldn't help but grin. “Still doesn't explain how you met her,” I said, all the more curious.

“I took your camera over to Odessa so she could pull the pictures off. She's not the friendliest woman in the world, but by God, she just might be the best looking.”

Thoughts of Sophia in her low-cut blouses and that gorgeous bronze-colored skin suddenly took a backseat to a more urgent thought. “Where's my camera? That's a three-thousand-dollar camera, Rodney.”

“She's got it. She said she'd run the comparison then bring the camera back when you were out of CCU.”

I had no reason not to trust her, but I still wasn't comfortable with my camera in the hands of someone I knew so little about. I didn't need a complete background check but I would at least like to know where she lived. That little desire probably wasn't totally business related but I had a headache from hell creeping up the back of my neck so I pushed those thoughts to the side.

“What did you do with the rope?” I asked, remembering what got me into this mess in the first place.

“Well, that's kind of interesting.”

“Where's the rope, Rodney?” I almost died for that damn rope. It better be in his possession.

“Well, actually, we got more than we thought we did. Remember how you said one end was frayed and looked like it had been cut? Well, it had. And the second piece was coiled up in the bigger piece.”

My heart skipped a beat and I don't think it had anything to do with the snake bite. “The noose?”

He nodded and smiled. “We think. Sophia's having the lab in Odessa run some tests on it. I haven't heard back from her yet.”

“And if they find skin on it, we can do a DNA comparison.…”

“We'll need to get a hairbrush, a toothbrush. Anything we can pull a DNA sample from.”

I sighed and laid my head back against the pillow. “If Denny's not in control, I'd like to know what they've got on him.”

“In due time. You just concentrate on getting out of here.” He stood up to leave. “And oh … Claire called. She called your cell about ten times so Rhonda finally called her back.”

The creeping headache found its way into my brain and exploded into a giant throb. I hit the nurse call button in dire need of a pain pill.

“Rhonda was actually very nice to her. She told her she'd keep her updated. I think she called her last night to tell her you were off the ventilator. She said it'd be awhile before you were up to visitors, though.”

I'd die of old age before Rhonda would tell Claire I felt up to visitors.

 

CHAPTER 17

The next morning I was moved to a regular room. My barbaric mother checked in on me before her shift. She ripped every hair on my chest out by the root when she tore off the little sticky pads the CCU nurse had left on, just in case. Just in case
what
? I wasn't planning on flatlining again and I sure wasn't interested in keeping them as a souvenir.

Rhonda had brought my cell phone, along with a pair of cargo shorts and a T-shirt. The lovely little hospital gowns with the open back weren't exactly my style.

“I don't think you're allowed to wear regular clothes,” she said, turning her head while I slipped the shorts on.

“What are they going to do? Throw me out?”

My foot was still the size of a deflated basketball and it hurt like a bitch to put any weight on it. I unsnapped the shoulders of the hospital gown and dropped it to the floor. I stared at the IV tube still connected to the back of my left hand. Putting the T-shirt on was going to require some thought.

“I'm going to need a little help,” I said as I took the IV bag down from the hanger.

Rhonda turned around and stared at me with a scowl on her face. “Gypsy … why can't you just once follow the rules?”

“I'm supposed to start walking down the hall today with crutches and I'm not wearing a gown that shows my ass. Hold the bag.”

“You show your ass all the time.”

I smiled sarcastically, then fed the bag through the sleeve of the shirt.

“What happened to your chest? You've got little red blotches all over it.” She poked at one of the round blotches.

“Remember how mom used to rip off Band-Aids?”

“Ouch.”

I had my left arm with the IV line through the sleeve and was fighting to get the shirt over my head when Rhonda stopped helping and said, “Oh. Hello.”

“Hi.”

I recognized that voice. I hurriedly pushed my head through the shirt, then smiled sheepishly at Sophia.

“Well, damn. Looks like you're going to make it,” she said. “I thought I was going to inherit myself a pretty nice camera.”

I pulled the shirt down over my red, blotchy chest, then introduced Rhonda to Sophia.

“Oh. So you're Sophia,” Rhonda said. I detected a slight bit of uneasiness in her voice. “My husband's told me a lot about you.”

Like what? The only thing Rodney knew about her was how damn good-looking she was and if he had at least one brain cell in his head, he'd keep that opinion to himself.

“Speaking of my camera…”

Sophia patted a leather book bag slung over her shoulder and smiled. “Haven't let it out of my sight.”

Now that my mind could rest a little easier, I could bask in her glorious glow. I took a minute to soak up every ounce of her before getting down to business. “Feel up to working a little?” I got up, hobbled over to the bed tray, and pulled it over to the bed, my portable desk.

“You're asking me if I feel up to it? What about you? You're the one who was snakebit.”

I laughed. My foot was killing me but in Sophia's presence, I was going to man up. “He may have got me but there isn't much DNA left of him.” Then the pain from hobbling got to me. It was time for a pain pill. I wanted to cry. Maybe Sophia wouldn't stay too long. Male pride wouldn't let me even grimace in front of her.

Rhonda sat down on the side of the bed and scooted over to my portable desk. Sophia and I both glanced at her, then at each other. I shrugged. Sometimes it was just easier to not put up a fight against the Moran women. Sophia grinned, then pulled up the guest chair. She unloaded the camera, which I was overjoyed to see, and several eight-and-a-half-by-eleven color photos.

“First off,” she said. “They're a perfect match.”

I knew they would be but it was still nice to hear it. We examined the pictures closely as Sophia pointed out something that the naked eye missed. “The rear passenger tire has a screw or maybe a nail embedded, which is causing a slow leak. With each rotation, you can see where the tread skips.”

“Like a hiccup,” Rhonda said. She pointed out the “hiccup” in the pictures.

“Exactly. Did you notice the tire needing air?” Sophia asked, glancing up at me.

I slowly shook my head. “No, but it's been several weeks since Ryce was killed. McCoy's probably had it patched since then. What about the rope?”

Sophia smiled. “Rodney told you about it?”

“He said you were having the lab in Odessa analyze it.”

“There was definitely epidermis on the smaller portion. And even a trace of blood.”

“Was that the noose?” Rhonda asked.

Sophia and I looked at one another. “Yeah,” I said. I pushed my hand through my hair, wondering how I was going to tell Tatum the rope he saw in the back of Averitt McCoy's truck was the rope that killed his father. Truth was, the kid probably already knew it.

“So what's next?” Rhonda asked.

“What I do best … surveillance work. I want to find out who's pulling Gaylord Denny's strings, and why. Would you like to join me?” I asked Sophia. It beat the hell out of spending several hours in the van with Rodney.

“How soon do you think you'll be ready to get back to work?” Sophia asked.

“As soon as they turn me loose. Probably another day or two.”

“Now, wait just a minute,” Rhonda said. “You've been through a major trauma. The doctor said you'd need physical therapy. Plus, you're supposed to have blood drawn every few days to check for organ damage—”

“The physical therapy is getting used to walking on crutches, which I've done before. And the blood work is outpatient. Besides, there's not a lot of physical work required in putting a tail on someone. All that's required is a lot of sitting and a lot of coffee.”

“Gypsy, I'm not so sure—” Rhonda started, then stopped. “Ooh … hi, Claire.”

I looked up at the door and thought I was going to need the ventilator again. Her smile nearly took my breath away. Her smile turned into more of a smirk as she eyed Sophia.

Sophia turned to get a look at my other visitor. Her brows raised with surprise. She stood and offered Claire her hand. “Mrs. Sellars. It's a pleasure to see you again.”

Claire ignored Sophia's outstretched hand but did smile. “Ms.… I'm sorry … I don't remember your name.”

“Ortez,” I said before Sophia had the chance.

“Ah, yes. I didn't realize you two knew each other.” She waved her hand in our direction like she was shooing away a fly.

I gathered the pictures that were spread on the bed table and handed them to Sophia. “Sophia's helping me with an investigation.”

“Oh. How nice of her.”

The tension in the room was growing at a very uncomfortable rate. Claire was showing her true colors and it wasn't a pretty sight. I was within seconds of pressing the nurse-call button for a little something to knock me out.

“Well, I think I'll run down and see Mom, then grab something to eat,” Rhonda said, anxious to get the hell out of there.

“I need to be going, too. I'll walk down with you,” Sophia said. She put the pictures back in the book bag, then smiled at me. “Call me.” She smiled at Claire, then waltzed out of the room with Rhonda in tow.

Claire watched them leave, waited a moment, then pushed the bed table out of the way, leaned in, and kissed me hard on the mouth. After she pulled away, she stood gazing at me. “I was worried I wouldn't ever be able to do that again. Rhonda said it was touch and go for a while.”

I grinned. “You know Rhonda. She tends to be a little dramatic.”

She sat down in the chair Sophia had sat in. “Last rites and a ventilator
is
a little dramatic.”

My mind was bouncing like a Ping-Pong ball. I wanted to grab her and love her. I wanted to know how she knew Sophia. I wanted a pain pill.

“Are you going to tell me how you got snakebit?” She was smiling again and the Ping-Pong ball was bouncing toward option number one.

“Oh … I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

She leaned forward and examined my foot. The scent of her jasmine shampoo seduced my olfactory nerves. “It actually looks pretty good, considering.”

“So, how do you know Sophia Ortez?” I finally asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

She threw her head back and laughed. “I was going to ask
you
the same thing.”

“I asked first.”

Her laugh settled into the infamous Claire smirk. “She covered Steven's campaign. She was determined to find a skeleton in his closet, but always came up short.” She shrugged.

I wondered if the shrug meant her husband was clean or if Sophia just didn't dig deep enough. I wondered if it involved hiring illegals?

“Your turn. How do you know her?”

Now I shrugged. “Like I said earlier, she's helping me with an investigation.”

She lowered her brows and crinkled her perfect nose. “I didn't realize your trip home was a working visit.”

“It didn't start that way. I'm just doing a favor for a friend.”

She smiled devilishly. “And I'm sure the fact your working partner is absolutely beautiful doesn't hinder this investigation at all.”

I fought back a grin. “Oh … Sophia? I hadn't noticed.”

“Don't make me stomp on your bad foot.”

We both laughed until I started wondering what was wrong with this picture. Claire was the one who was married. I hadn't asked Sophia if
she
was seeing anyone, but to my knowledge, we were both free agents.

Claire got up out of the chair and sat close beside me on the bed, nuzzling my neck. I hadn't shaved in five days. I didn't want to imagine what her porcelain skin was going to look like. “I'm glad you're okay,” she whispered, and I believed her.

Still, it irritated me that here was the wife of a state senator, recognizable to some in the general public, sidling up to me in my hospital bed like she was ready to see how okay I really was. I turned my head only slightly, but it was enough to cause her to pull back and glare at me.