Justified

by Jay Crownover

  She was pretty in a wholesome, natural kind of way. She had a head full of wild, tawny curls, wide green eyes, and a cupid bow mouth that seemed quick to grin. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, so the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose and fanned across her cheeks stood out against her peaches-and-cream complexion. If she hadn’t mentioned being Case’s sister, I never would have guessed she was a Lawton. She didn’t look like her brothers or her nephew in the slightest, but she had that Lawton take-no-prisoners attitude practically oozing out of her pores.

  “W-he-re…” I tried to ask where I was and what happened, but I barely got the first few syllables out before my throat closed up and fireballs of pain shot down through my lungs. Immediately tears filled my eyes, and my entire body tensed up.

  “Wow, take it easy. You’ve been unconscious for nearly two days. You gave yourself a solid knock on the head when you jumped off the roof. You also sprained your ankle, gave yourself first- and second-degree burns on one of your hands, dislocated an elbow, and your lungs and throat are all jacked up from smoke inhalation. You’re going to be hooked up to an oxygen tank for a least a week, and you probably won’t be able to talk much for the next day or two.”

  I wanted to ask how she knew so much about my condition when she was a stranger, but I couldn’t do more than blink against the tears pooling in my eyes.

  “Let me call the nurse, now that you’re awake. She’s really nice. We went to high school together. I told her you and I were friends, so she may have filled me in on all your bumps and bruises when I asked why you weren’t waking up. Don’t be too mad at her. She was only trying to help. Is there anyone you want me to call for you? Your husband has been here every day to check up on you. He wanted to move you to a private room and pay some specialist to come in and evaluate you. He was really scared when you didn’t wake up after the first night. He seems pretty worried. He’ll be happy to hear you’re awake.”

  This woman talked a mile a minute, and I was struggling to put a single thought together before she jumped onto the next subject.

  “Case doesn’t seem to like David very much, and man, you should’ve heard the two of them go at it when my brother pulled the sheriff card and asked David if he had a key to your house. I thought his head was going to explode. Your husband doesn’t like answering to anyone.”

  “Ex.” I coughed as soon as I wheezed out the word. “Ex-husband.” I once again hated that he wouldn’t just sign the damn paperwork. I didn’t want David to be hovering in the hospital, making any kind of call on my behalf. Until the divorce was final, he still had too much hold over my life.

  The pretty, talkative woman cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at me. “Doesn’t act like an ex. Lemme go let everyone know you’re awake.”

  She dashed out of the room, leaving nothing but the sound of monitors beeping and the harsh sound of my labored breathing. Slowly, I cataloged the list of injuries she had tossed at me.

  The lungs and throat were impossible to miss. Every breath in burned, every breath out felt raw. My head hurt. It was throbbing with a low, steady thrum. My ankle ached. I could feel it throb in time with my heartbeat, which was annoying and uncomfortable. My arm was immobilized, so I couldn’t really feel my elbow, but looking down at the limb, I could see how bruised and swollen it was. The hand on the same arm was swaddled in white gauze, but I could see red, irritated skin around the edges. Of all my bumps and bruises, it was the burn on my palm that hurt the worst. I could feel my palm aching, and my fingers were overly sensitive and tender. Vaguely I recalled reaching for the brass doorknob on my bedroom door when I first realized the house was on fire. It looked like the T-shirt hadn’t been enough protection against the hot metal.

  The door to the room swung open and a flurry of scrubs-clad medical personnel suddenly surrounded my bed. I was poked and prodded. I answered questions with either a nod or shake of my head and tried not to move too much, since it sent spikes of agony through my brain. I begged as effectively as I could for a glass of water and was rewarded with a cup of ice chips instead. They helped the fire in my throat some, but I knew there was no way I was making words work for a while. Eventually, I was left alone with a doctor who gave me a more detailed rundown of everything I’d injured. Case’s sister had left out the fact that the back of my head was stapled shut. Apparently, I had an appointment with a neurologist later that day, and the results from a CAT scan would determine how long I had to stay in the hospital. Without question, I was looking at a minimum of another forty hours for observation.

  When the doctor left, all I wanted to do was go back to sleep, but the door didn’t even shut behind him before Case was waltzing into the room like he owned the place. I looked past him, expecting to see his whirlwind of a sister following him. I found her assertive, honest personality and dry humor oddly comforting. She was a nice distraction from the pain that was consuming me.

  I watched warily as Case lowered his large frame into a chair he pulled up next to the bed. He set a silver Thermos on the rolling table nearby and said, “My neighbor, Mrs. Clooney, made some potato soup and ordered me to bring it to you after lecturing me for an hour for not being home the last two days. She’s a good cook and the only grandparent Hayes has ever really had.” His gaze skimmed over me and darted over all the monitors giving away the fact my heart rate increased notably the closer he got.

  “Your house isn’t a total loss. You’ll have to rebuild the entire top floor and do some extensive repairs on the main level, but less than thirty percent of it was damaged. It’s a mess, and I’m sure dealing with insurance is going to be a nightmare, but you’re still here, and the structure is salvageable, so I think it’s a win.” He turned his eyes back toward mine, and I swore I could practically feel the blue gaze burning my skin. “I asked my sister to bring you some stuff, since your bedroom was where the damage was concentrated. For once in her life, Kody decided to be agreeable. My brother’s girlfriend also offered to pitch in when she heard what was going on. Not sure how you feel about hand-me-downs, but you’ve got enough to get you through a couple of days when the doctors spring you.”

  I nodded and tried to blink the fresh rush of tears out of my eyes. It was hard to get my head around the fact that this man who despised me had gone out of his way to be so thoughtful and considerate. I’d known Case Lawton was a good guy all along, and here he was proving it when I was at my most vulnerable and weak.

  “I know you’re tired and in pain, but I need to ask you some questions about the break-in and the fire, okay?” His bright gaze drilled into me, and it took a lot of concentrated effort not to squirm under the intensity of it.

  I pointed to my throat with my good hand and winced as the small movement made my whole body throb. I gave my head a barely discernable shake, letting him know I couldn’t speak.

  “You don’t have to talk to me. Just use thumbs-up and thumbs-down for yes or no. I’m going to keep the questions as simple as I can. We’ll talk more when you get your voice back, and when you’re not beat up and exhausted. Does that work?”

  I flicked the thumb of my good hand up and watched as Case gave a responding grin. He took off his Stetson so I could see his face clearly. I took a moment to note he really did look as tired and worn-out as his sister mentioned. There were dark circles under his pale blue eyes, his stubble had bloomed into something closer to a light beard and the fine lines fanning out from the corners of his eyes seemed more pronounced than normal. I guessed there was a lot of pressure on him to figure out who was terrorizing his town. At the end of the day, the safety of all of the residents of Loveless fell on him, which explained why he was paying so much attention to what was happening to me. Not because he cared.

  “Okay, good. I think this will work.” He pulled the chair closer to the side of the bed and reached out to wrap his hand around the top rail. “Did you have a spare set of house keys in your office?”

  I started to nod and hissed when I forgo
t that was a bad idea. I gulped and slowly lifted my thump up. I kept both a spare house and car key in my desk just in case. I also kept a spare key to my office at home. I liked to be prepared.

  “Did you tell anyone about the spare keys? Your paralegal? Your secretary? A friend? Your husband?” Case was trying to keep his tone even and calm, but I could hear the bite in it when he asked the question.

  I turned my thumb upright once again. My secretary and paralegal both had access to my office and desk. I’d willingly handed over the keys to both of them a time or two when I needed an errand handled. Which meant anyone who was in my office at the time I passed them off might know about their existence as well. And I was sure David probably knew about my backup keys. I’d kept a similar set in my desk when I worked at his firm.

  Case nodded sharply. “Okay. The keys weren’t a secret. I’ll need a list of anyone you know for sure knew about them. I think the break-in was a way for whoever set your house on fire to get the keys so they could get inside your home undetected.”

  I felt my eyes widen, and I sucked in a breath. The action hurt, and I immediately started coughing and wheezing, which set my lungs on fire and turned my aching head inside out. Case pushed out of his chair and reached for the cup of ice chips. I watched with huge eyes as he started to gently press the cold relief against my lips.

  “You didn’t hear anyone in the house?” He asked the question as the melting water slid across my lips and tongue.

  I turned my thumb downward. The house was quiet before I went to bed. I remembered my glass of wine and the list of possible suspects I’d been working on for him. I winced when I thought about the contents of my room, which was now a pile of ash. It was going to take forever to replace everything.

  “The neighbor said they didn’t hear anything. No smoke detectors going off. No screaming when you realized the house was on fire. Did you have working detectors in the house?”

  I nodded, which surprised him and pushed his fingers against my lips. We both stilled for a moment at the contact. His fingertips were rough, but I liked the slight abrasion. Case cleared his throat and took his hand away.

  “Had you checked them recently? You’re sure they were working, and the batteries weren’t dead?”

  I pushed my thumb up. I checked the smoke detectors once a month like clockwork. The Craftsman was an older home, so I tried to be diligent with all the maintenance on it. I bought it because it spoke to me as a metaphor for where my life was right now. I was going to breathe new life into both.

  Case lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “That means someone was in your house. They disabled the smoke detectors and then set the fire. I haven’t talked to the investigator working the case yet, but I know an accelerant was used. If I had to wager a guess, I bet they’re going to find your bedroom door was tampered with or barricaded shut. Someone wanted you trapped in that room when the house went up. No one would’ve guessed you were going to jump off the roof. The more I think about it, the clearer it becomes someone might want you dead, Counselor.”

  I recoiled from his words and started to shake all over. My foggy brain was having a hard time keeping up with what he was saying, and immediate denial flooded through me.

  How could someone be trying to kill me? Why would anyone want me dead?

  I wasn’t that important or that special. Sure, I dealt with a variety of challenging clients and cases, but none of that equaled murder in my mind.

  The heart monitor went erratic somewhere above my head, and Case looked panicked for a second. A nurse immediately entered the room and started fiddling around on the other side of my bed. She gave Case the stink eye and told him I was in no condition for anything stressful or strenuous. However, hearing someone might want me dead was both of those things.

  Case grabbed his cowboy hat and gave me an unwavering look. “I think you’re in serious danger, Aspen. I need to know where you’re going and who you’re going to be with once you get discharged. It’s my job to keep you safe.”

  Right. His job. I needed to remember that.

  Squeezing my eyes closed I offered him one last thumbs-up and hoped it would be enough to send him on his way, at least for a little while. It must have been sufficient because Case walked out of the room leaving his warning and the homemade soup behind.

  The nurse didn’t leave me alone until my heart rate was back to normal. By the time she was satisfied I wasn’t going into arrhythmia or having a heart attack, the neurologist came in and did another examination. He ran down the list of what I should be aware of moving forward after suffering such a severe concussion and asked if I had anyone I wanted the information passed along to. Maybe I should’ve filled my mother in, and I knew David was going to be pissed to be kept out of the loop, but I needed time to process what was happening before someone else came in and tried to take over while I was laid up.

  After that, I quickly fell asleep after a potent cocktail of painkillers and a warning to expect a nurse to be checking on me several times throughout the rest of the day and night. It was a relief to drift away from the pain pounding along every nerve and to escape the multitude of questions swirling around my mind after Case’s blunt revelation.

  I got the hazy impression of people coming in and out of the room at random intervals. I guessed David was one of them because I felt a kiss on my forehead at one point and heard the familiar promise that things would be all right. I decided it was too much effort to open my eyes for him and let sleep suck me back under so I didn’t have to deal with my stubborn ex.

  It must’ve been much later when I gained awareness again. The lights in the room were dim, and I was hungry. My body still felt like one giant exposed nerve ending, but the headache had dulled, and my brain no longer felt like it was stuffed with cotton candy. My burned hand was still making itself known, and my injured ankle decided it would like to be acknowledged, but overall, I was feeling marginally less like I was going to die.

  It took a minute for me to register I was also not alone in the room.

  Hushed voices lifted out of the darkness. I instantly recognized Case’s raspy growl, but it took longer to realize the woman he was speaking to was his sister.

  “She doesn’t seem so bad. The way you described her all these years, I was expecting a monster. She’s a tiny little thing, isn’t she?”

  Case snorted. “Don’t let her size fool you.”

  “You know that she’s going to be okay. Go home, Case. Sleep in your own bed. Spend time with your son. She’s not going anywhere for a few days, and I seriously doubt anything is going to happen to her while she’s in the hospital. You can’t stand guard over her twenty-four hours a day. You have other responsibilities, and I don’t think her rich husband likes it.” Kody Lawton’s tone and attitude softened noticeably when she spoke to her brother. There was an unmistakable gentleness there, and I kind of wished I could see the two of them together to see if Case reciprocated the sentiment. I’d never witnessed him being docile. He was always all hard edges and unbreakable stone when we dealt with each other. I wanted to witness Case being someone other than my sworn enemy.

  “Something feels really off with this whole situation. And she left Barlow.” Case bit out the last part of the sentence begrudgingly.

  A feminine sigh filled the dark space. “She left him, but he obviously hasn’t left her. Don’t get yourself tangled in that mess. The Barlows have more money than God, and you’re an elected official. This entire town needs you because lord only knows who the rich and entitled would buy to replace you if you piss them off badly enough. What if it was someone worse than Dad? Where would we be then?”

  “The only thing I’m tangled in is trying to figure out who might have it in for her and to make sure she doesn’t get hurt again on my watch. That’s my job, Kody.”

  Another sigh. “Fine. It’s your job, so do it and go home. You aren’t going to do anyone any good if you fall flat on your face. If it makes you feel bette
r and gets you out of here, I’ll stay with her. I can call Crew and ask him to watch the bar for me until they release her.”

  These Lawtons were something else. First, Case rallied the troops when he heard I lost all my personal belongings, and now his sister was offering to sit with me so I didn’t have to be alone. I swallowed back against the rush of emotion that clogged my ravaged throat. There was something about support coming from an unexpected place that really got to me. I was an emotional mess.

  I moved on the bed, which made the siblings aware I was awake. Kody’s face and messy hair came into view first. She offered a lopsided smile.

  “How you doing, Superwoman? Do you need anything?” I rolled my head to the side in a half “no” and pointed at the call button near my head. I could call the evening nurse in to help me. I was not the Lawtons’ responsibility, and the last thing I wanted was to be indebted to a man who had held a grudge against me for so long.

  I made a writing gesture in the air. I needed a way to communicate beyond yes and no.

  After a few minutes of looking around, Kody came back with a shrug and her cell phone. She opened the note writing app before putting the device in my good hand.

  “Can’t find a pen or paper. Just type what you need.” Case ambled over and stood by her shoulder, watching me with slightly narrowed eyes.

  As quickly as I could with one hand, I thanked Kody for the provisions and assured her I would be fine on my own. She didn’t need to stand vigil next to my bedside. I told Case to go home. I promised to keep him updated about my whereabouts but, again, maintained there was no point in keeping watch over me. I wasn’t convinced he was accurate in his assessment of how serious my situation was. How could anyone want me dead? It just didn’t make any sense.

  The siblings exchanged a look, and finally, Kody shrugged in defeat. “All righty. I’m out if you don’t need me. I’m going to leave my number though. Call me if you need me to get you any toiletries and whatnot. I’m sure you usually use expensive French products like Della, but I can get you stuff to get by in a pinch.” She poked Case in the shoulder, which made him frown. “Listen to the woman and go home.”