Acceptable Risk

by Lynette Eason

  Clients he’d put on hold so he could be with her.

  She bit her lip, unsure how she felt about that—a bit guilty or very glad.

  Mostly . . . both.

  Gavin hung up with the general and joined Caden and Sarah in the small living area where he found Caden on his phone and Sarah looking through a picture album and swiping tears. He grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table and handed it to her.

  “Thanks,” she whispered and sniffed. “Sorry. Everything okay with you?”

  “Yes. Just a client seeking some reassurance.” All true.

  She shut the book. “So many good memories with my mom and brothers. I don’t look back often because . . .” She shrugged. “I just don’t, but we had some good times.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him. “I can’t believe he’s gone. I know I keep saying that, but it just hits me over and over. I stop thinking about it for thirty seconds and then it’s back like I’m just learning about his death for the first time.”

  “That’ll ease, Sarah. It’ll take time.”

  “I know.”

  “I know you know.”

  Caden turned and tucked his phone in the back pocket of his pants. He raised a brow at the two of them and their coziness, but Gavin didn’t care.

  “That was one of the detectives who’s allowing me access to all of the information on the shootings,” Caden said. “Wilmont is waking up and so is Mrs. Nelson, Brianne’s friend. I’m going to head to the hospital and see what I can find out.”

  Sarah jumped up with a slight wince. “I want to come too.”

  “Maybe we should sit this one out,” Gavin said. She turned with a raised brow. He held up a hand. “Or not.”

  “Thank you.”

  Caden hesitated, then with a glance at Gavin that swung back to Sarah, he shrugged. “Keep your investigative instincts under control and that’s fine, but just know that if you get in the way, they’ll remove you.”

  Sarah shot her brother a dark look. “I’m not an idiot.”

  “Didn’t mean to imply you were.” He blew out a breath. “And that’s my cue to exit. See y’all there.”

  He left and Gavin led Sarah to his truck. “When are you going to get Herbie fixed?” she asked.

  “Her—what? Who?”

  “I’ve named your truck Herbie.”

  He blinked. “You can’t name my truck Herbie.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because.”

  “Because . . . why?”

  He huffed a laugh. “Because . . . well . . . because it’s my truck and Sheila isn’t a Herbie.”

  “It’s Herbie to me.”

  He thought he heard her mutter something about temperamental and high maintenance under her breath and smothered a smile. “Well, at least if you’re going to give it a guy name, give it something a little more masculine. Wasn’t Herbie something like a . . . a . . . Volkswagen bug? This is a truck. I’m sure there’s a law somewhere that says trucks can’t be Herbies.”

  “I like Herbie. I don’t like Sheila.”

  “Why not? Because it’s a female name?”

  “No.” She scowled at him. “Because it’s too close to Sarah.” She slammed the truck’s passenger door.

  Trying not to laugh, Gavin climbed into the passenger seat and cranked Herbie. No, Sheila. He glanced at the woman beside him, arms crossed, jaw jutted, eyes narrowed. His heart thundered at the unexpected rush of feeling . . . affection? . . . that swept through him. She cut him a look from the corner of her eye and her expression softened. He paused for a moment, then slid a hand under her ponytail, pulled her to the middle of the console, and pressed a kiss to her lips. A light one that demanded nothing, but hopefully expressed a fraction of his current emotions. He ended it almost before it began—and definitely before he was ready. She blinked at him, wide-eyed.

  He couldn’t help the smile that spread. “I like you, Sarah Denning. A lot.”

  She swallowed and cleared her throat. “I like you too, Gavin. A lot.”

  “I’m not like your father, I promise.”

  “I know.”

  “And baggage doesn’t scare me.”

  “You don’t know mine.”

  “But I feel like I know you. And the truth is, I don’t mind temperamental and high maintenance when it comes to you.”

  “What!” She punched him in the arm and he laughed.

  She fought it, but finally gave in and joined him in the mirth. For a few seconds, they shared some much-needed relief from the constant tension that had plagued them for the past few weeks.

  “You’re something else,” she said. “Thank you for helping me find laughter when I sometimes think I won’t ever laugh again.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Time will help.”

  “I know.”

  Levity faded as he drove, keeping an eye on the mirrors. He noticed Sarah doing the same thing and knew she was remembering their brush with death on the way to the mountains. He couldn’t blame her. He was still considering her observation that the bullets could have been meant for him. He didn’t think so, but he wasn’t as quick to dismiss the idea as he’d led her to believe. If someone was after Sarah because of her father, then it made sense they’d want Gavin out of the way to gain access to her. Then again, if they’d both been killed, it wouldn’t have mattered to the shooters. They would have achieved their goal of getting rid of Sarah.

  Ten minutes into the silent drive, he glanced at her. “Hey.”

  “Yeah?” She looked at him and he focused back at the road.

  “So, this is pretty random, but would you be interested in eating dinner with me at my parents’ house?” When she didn’t answer, he looked out of the corner of his eye. “Sarah?”

  “Um . . . that’s really nice, but . . . why?”

  He laughed. “Because I’d love for them to meet you. And . . . I promised my dad I’d talk to my sister. She’s got some issues going on, and I . . . could use a buffer.”

  “A buffer?”

  He wanted to smack himself. “I mean, I’d love for you to come regardless, but yeah . . . I’m being a huge chicken in a sense. I’m literally scared to death to talk to my sister and hope that if you’re there, you’ll give me courage and keep me from saying something completely stupid.”

  She gaped. He shrugged.

  “Well, when you put it that way,” she said, “I’d almost feel guilty if I didn’t come.”

  “Great. I’ll let them know you’ll be there tonight.”

  “Tonight!”

  “What? Does it matter when we go?”

  She huffed a slight laugh. “No, I guess it doesn’t.”

  Gavin spun the wheel to the right into the hospital parking lot. Once parked, he kept an eye on their surroundings, a little worried that things had been quite calm. He wasn’t sure about the reason for the attempts on his life and Sarah’s unless the general’s speculation was correct, but the efforts to get rid of Sarah—or him—had failed, so no doubt another attack was imminent. He just didn’t know from where. Or how.

  And it made him antsy.

  Once out of the truck, he stayed close to Sarah, placing a hand on the small of her back. Her warmth seeped into his palm, and he realized how much he was coming to care about this woman. He’d liked her right off when he’d met her in Kabul. Now that he was actually getting to spend time with her, he knew he’d do anything to protect her.

  Including keeping his mouth shut about her father’s involvement in his presence.

  While he knew it was the right thing to do, he still struggled with the guilt. He didn’t want to keep anything from her, but he didn’t want her to die, either.

  Because if the threats were valid—and he had no reason to believe they weren’t—it was only a matter of time before someone would strike again.

  CHAPTER

  SEVENTEEN

  Sarah studied Gavin out of the corner of her eye. He’d been quiet since entering the hospital
. As well as watchful, all at the same time. Once on Michelle Nelson’s floor, he pulled his phone from his pocket. “I need to make a quick phone call.”

  “Sure. I’m just going to head on over to the waiting room.”

  He hesitated, then nodded. She noted that he followed her to the room but didn’t enter as he pressed the phone to his ear. He was sticking awfully close. She supposed she should be grateful since it appeared someone might be trying to harm—kill?—her, but she found it kind of unnerving, if she was honest.

  She shook off the observation, instead focusing on the two detectives and Caden huddled with Mrs. Nelson’s family in the corner next to the coffeemaker.

  She scooted closer, hoping to be able to eavesdrop. Gavin lifted the phone to his ear, then snagged her gaze. The knowing look there sent heat into her cheeks. But it didn’t stop her. She snitched a cup from the stack and filled it, moving slowly, adding cream and sugar. Stirring.

  “. . . can’t believe this happened,” the girl to the right of Caden said.

  “Is she able to talk?” Detective Attwood asked.

  “Yes,” an older woman answered, “more so in the last twenty minutes. She keeps asking about Brianne. We don’t have the heart to tell her the truth, but I think she suspects she’s . . . gone.”

  Detective Bancroft settled a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. “Do you think she’d be up to talking to us? It would help a lot if she could.”

  “If she’s awake, I’m sure she’d like to try.”

  Sarah caught Caden’s eye and he narrowed his. She sipped her coffee and fell into step behind them as they made their way to Michelle’s room.

  Caden dropped back. “What are you doing?” He kept his voice low.

  “Not investigating—just waiting, like you said I could do.”

  He scowled, then sighed. “By the way, Annie tracked down the Max we’ve—they’ve—been looking for. She got some security footage off the main door of the VA hospital and ran some of the faces through the recognition software. One came up Mark Anthony Xia.”

  “Max.”

  “It’s kind of a long shot, but worth checking out. And one other thing. He’s not an employee, but in the footage, he was wearing scrubs and an ID badge.”

  She frowned. “What’s that all about?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m getting ready to pass on the information to Elliott and Caroline after they finish talking to Mrs. Nelson. I’ll let them run with it unless they want my help.”

  She hugged him. “Thank you, Caden, for keeping me in the loop and trusting me.”

  He patted her head just like he used to do when she was a teen and slipped into the room. The action used to infuriate her. Now she just smiled.

  As the door swung shut, Sarah stuck her foot inside to stop it from closing all the way, hoping she’d be able to hear the conversation.

  “Mrs. Nelson?” Detective Bancroft asked. Clear as a bell. “Mrs. Nelson?”

  “Mom? Can you wake up?” Probably the teenage girl.

  “What?” The weak voice must belong to Michelle.

  “Mom?”

  “Hey, baby. How are you?”

  “So glad you’re awake.” Sobs erupted just as Gavin joined her at the door.

  “Eavesdropping?” he murmured.

  “No, of course not.” She paused. “Well, yes, technically, I guess,” she whispered, “but I don’t look at it that way. I’m just saving Caden from having to go to all the trouble to fill us in on what’s said.”

  Gavin smirked. “Move over a little.”

  A soft giggle slipped from her before the seriousness of the situation sobered her. “You guys go on down to get a snack while I talk to the officers,” Michelle said.

  “Mom—”

  “Please, honey, we’ll talk later, I promise.”

  Footsteps headed for the door and Sarah pulled Gavin to the side. The children and the teen stepped out of the room and headed for the elevator. Sarah and Gavin moved back to hear.

  “Ma’am, can you tell us what happened?” Detective Bancroft asked. “How did you get shot?”

  “Brianne did it.”

  Sarah gasped and Gavin squeezed her bicep.

  “Um . . . she didn’t mean to,” Mrs. Nelson said, “it was an accident.”

  “Can you share the details?” Detective Bancroft’s voice again.

  “Brianne was agitated, sliding into a depression, and getting worse by the minute,” Michelle said, sounding stronger and more awake. “She’d been doing so well that it was incredibly shocking to see her go downhill so quickly. Like within hours.”

  Sarah frowned at Gavin. “Weird.”

  “What triggered it? Do you know?” Detective Attwood’s voice this time.

  “No. She was fine. We’d been talking about taking a trip to Hawaii and making plans. She seemed all in. Even got her laptop and started looking up things she wanted to see while we were there. I ran out to grab some burgers, and when I got back, she was distraught, pacing the floors, crying—almost wailing . . . I don’t know, but it was awful.”

  Sarah drew in a shallow breath.

  “I tried to get her to tell me what was wrong and she said she couldn’t take it anymore. She was so . . . sad. But that word doesn’t really come close to describing it.” A pause. “I’ve never seen sadness like that before,” she finally said. “It was incredibly unnerving.”

  “Couldn’t take what anymore?” Detective Bancroft asked.

  “She didn’t say, just kept going on and on and finally started saying the world would be better off without her. She apologized for hurting her family and said she needed to let them move on from her.” Michelle coughed and her voice thickened. “She went into the kitchen, and I thought I had finally talked her down, then I remembered she kept the gun in the cabinet above the sink. When I went in there, she had it and was holding it to her head.” A sob sounded and Sarah’s eyes teared up in sympathy.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Nelson, I know this is really hard,” Detective Attwood’s soothing voice broke in.

  “I screamed at her to put it down and she wouldn’t. She just kept crying and saying she was tired of all the pain. She was frustrated that she wanted to make a difference in the world and couldn’t. She said she was worth nothing and didn’t deserve to live.” She coughed.

  “Here, take a sip of this, ma’am.”

  After a brief pause, she cleared her throat. “I lunged at her and grabbed the gun. It surprised her so much, she jerked. I remember the gunshot, the pain. Someone holding my hand? Then waking up here.” Another pause. “Where’s Brianne? Please tell me I stopped her.”

  Silence.

  A sob. “No, oh no.”

  Wetness on her cheeks startled Sarah and she raised a hand to swipe away the tears. Gavin rubbed her arm and she realized how grateful she was for his presence. He was sticking close because he cared. He’d always cared.

  Her phone vibrated and she snatched it from her pocket. Her father? Calling her? A quick rage swept through her and she disconnected the call. Hesitated a fraction of a second, then blocked his number.

  She tuned back in to hear Michelle say, “. . . she really did it?”

  “I’m so sorry,” Detective Bancroft said.

  “This is so unreal.”

  “Mrs. Nelson,” Detective Attwood said, “do you know a man by the name of Sam Wilmont?”

  “No.” Sniff. “Why?”

  “He was in Brianne’s house,” Caden said, “when my sister and a friend went to see her. He said he was there to deliver some medicine Brianne had left at the hospital.”

  “I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of him and I don’t remember him being there before everything happened.” She sighed. “I’m sorry . . .”

  “Looks like she’s dropped off back to sleep.” Sarah thought it was the older woman’s voice. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right,” Detective Attwood said, “we got a lot of what we needed to know.”

  Like it was hig
hly likely that Wilmont was telling the truth and he didn’t shoot the women.

  An alarm shattered the muted atmosphere and Sarah jumped away from the door. Gavin’s hand gripped hers.

  “That’s the fire alarm,” he shouted in her ear.

  She pointed to the vent in the hallway. “And there’s the smoke!”

  A panicked yell ripped past Sarah’s ear over the wail of the alarm, and she turned to see a young woman on the floor and people stepping over her in their rush to get to the exit. A security guard burst onto the scene from the stairwell. He held a cloth to his face and nose. “Everyone calm down! We’ve got a fire in the air-conditioning and heating room, so some floors are going to get a little smoky,” he said. “We need to evacuate this floor, but we’ll do it calmly. The last thing we need is more patients. Everyone who can do the stairs, head that way. And walk, please!”

  Patients and visitors flooded the hallways as smoke continued to pour from the vents.

  Sarah hesitated, checked that someone had helped the fallen woman up, turned back to the room that held Caden.

  Gavin gripped her hand and leaned close to her ear. “Caden will get out. He’d want me to make sure you’re okay. I’m no firefighter, but I’ve worked with a lot of them. If the fire is in the heating and air-conditioning room, the whole hospital is going to fill up with smoke and have to be evacuated.”

  Someone bumped into her with a hurried “Excuse me.” She stepped to the side and found herself next to the nurses’ station. “Then why say it’s just these floors?”

  “To keep people from panicking.”

  “Doesn’t look like it’s working.” People crowded together in a mad rush to get to the exit.

  “They’re trained for this kind of thing. I want to get you out of here.”

  Sarah pulled away from Gavin. “Not until I check on Caden.”

  She headed toward the room when Caden’s head popped out and his gaze homed in on her. Gavin waved that he was with her and Caden disappeared back into the room.

  “Come on,” Gavin said, steering her toward the exit. “Can we go now?”

  “We can help people,” Sarah said.

  “We’ll help whoever needs it on the way down.” His eyes scanned the chaos.