Deadly Lies

by Mary Stone

  “Good news, Mr. Coulter. Your blood work and EKG are all normal, and there are no signs of any other distress. After learning about the situation that was occurring just prior to your admission, I feel safe in saying that you experienced a panic attack.”

  Linc gave Kylie a sideways glance, then glared at the doctor. Wasn’t this a HIPPA violation or something?

  The harried doctor didn’t even notice his unease, just studied Linc’s records closer. “You’ve been in search and rescue for some time, though. You ever had one before?”

  “No,” Linc grumbled. “And I won’t have one again. Like I said, I’m fine. Didn’t get much sleep last night. Didn’t eat. I know you have other patients to deal with. Can I go?”

  The doctor gave Linc a stern look. “In a moment. I’m having the nurses finish up your discharge paperwork now, but it says you’re a veteran. I want to make sure that you’re fully aware there are resources for dealing with any stress you might be experiencing.”

  Kylie straightened beside him, but Linc just wanted the doctor gone.

  “I know of them, thanks,” he said dismissively, pulling at the edges of the tape holding the IV in his arm. He was itching to get out, like worms were crawling all over his body.

  The doctor looked ready to dig in his heels, but a nurse opened the door, telling him he was needed in the next room, “Stat.”

  Linc exhaled a breath of relief at the reprieve and instantly felt like an ass for doing so. The person next door was in bad shape, probably fighting for his or her life, and Linc and his fucking panic attacks were taking up much needed space.

  Kylie blinked at Linc curiously and slapped his hand away when he started pulling at the tape again. “Talk to me, Linc.”

  He looked her dead in the eye. “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The end.”

  For a second, he thought she might seriously punch him in the face, then the corners of her mouth quirked into a smile. “Ha ha, you’re hilarious.”

  He started pulling the tape again, and Kylie looked ready to tackle him when a nurse came in and started doing it herself. As she pulled the needle out, he felt a little bit freer.

  After what felt like an hour, he’d signed the millions of pages of paperwork and retrieved his clothes so that he could get out of the damn gown after the nurse pulled every hair out of his body removing the electrodes that were evidence to what a pussy he was.

  “Where’s Storm?” Kylie asked.

  “With one of my SAR buddies.”

  “Can I drive you home?”

  Linc shook his head. “My truck’s down here. I’ll drive myself.”

  “You should have your buddies bring it up later. You shouldn’t drive yourself.”

  He raised an eyebrow. Shouldn’t drive himself, really? What was he, an invalid?

  “I can drive myself just fine,” he said through gritted teeth.

  The second his boots were back on, he strode to the door, but Kylie stopped him, one hand on his chest, the other holding his discharge papers.

  “Ah-ha!” Kylie said triumphantly. “I told you that you shouldn’t drive yourself.”

  “What?”

  She pointed at the discharge paper. Sure enough, number twelve on the list said he should be careful when operating heavy machinery since they’d given him a sedative when he arrived.

  “I feel fine. But whatever.” Truth be told, Linc was a little relieved. “We have to get Storm, though. I’ll have some of the SAR guys drive my truck up tomorrow.”

  Kylie smiled, looking relieved herself. “I’ll drive you to Storm.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and began texting.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I…” she held up the phone for him to see, practically waving it in his face, “am communicating, namely with your mother.”

  He groaned. “My mother. How—”

  “Don’t worry, I’m relieving her mind, letting her know that you’re really okay so she doesn’t have to worry herself sick like you were most likely going to let her do.”

  Linc grunted. She wasn’t entirely wrong.

  It wasn’t that he wanted to hurt his mother. It was more that he didn’t know what to say or how to respond when she mothered him so intensely.

  Linc threw on his jacket, checked around the room to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything behind, and stepped into the hall, ripping the plastic identification bracelet off his wrist. A number of emergency personnel began running toward the doors, and he wondered if it was another victim of the collapse that he hadn’t been able to save.

  His heart squeezed in his chest for a split-second. He took a calming breath, but the feeling only drained away a little.

  Vader was waiting in her car. His tail wagged happily, and he barked as Linc approached. Linc calmed him down and nudged him into the back seat.

  When Kylie slid in and closed the door, she fixed him with a stare. “So, let’s get this over with. You’re not happy to see me.”

  Linc stared straight ahead. “I am happy to see you.” His voice was low, controlled.

  “But?”

  “But I don’t know if it’s good that I see you.” He shook his head. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

  “Is that what caused the panic attack?”

  “It wasn’t a panic attack.”

  “But the doc—”

  “I don’t care what the doctor said,” he growled. “It wasn’t. I’m fine. It was too little sleep and not enough food and water. Plus, I just need people to leave me alone.”

  Her voice was so soft. “Me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Because you don’t want to hurt me again.”

  He nodded slowly, not meeting her eyes. “Right. I don’t want to hurt you again.”

  “I missed you, Linc.” Her voice sounded softer, fragile. “What if I’d rather be hurt than not be with you?”

  Linc almost laughed. “No. That won’t work.”

  She didn’t respond. He ventured a look at her. She looked fragile too.

  “Come here,” he said, sliding a hand around the nape of her neck, pulling her across the console and meeting her halfway. He felt her trembling as he brought her to him, forehead to forehead, nose to nose. He inhaled her scent, wanting to dive into it. “I missed you too.”

  Linc kissed her lightly, and she sighed. “Don’t shut me out, Linc. If you don’t want me to stay the night with you, I don’t have to. But I want to be in your life.”

  “All right.”

  She drove him to his friend’s house, where they picked up Storm, and then with the two dogs in tow, they headed back home. Linc held her hand the whole way up. It was the best apology he knew how to offer, and probably the most inadequate thank you he could give.

  24

  With each mile they got closer to home, Linc seemed to relax a little. To her immense relief, he actually smiled once. Almost twice, but the movement faded before it could actually curve his lips.

  “I’m curious. How did you happen to be at my parents’ house?”

  Kylie shrugged, her fingers tight around the steering wheel. “I brought your mom some flowers to thank her for dinner. I thought it was only right.”

  He snorted. “And, you were also apologizing for what you said to my father, huh? Admit it.”

  With an embarrassed grin, she nodded. It was actually nice to hide behind the fib. It was far better than telling him the real reason she’d gone over there. Kylie wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him, ever, that she suspected his dad of theft and embezzlement. She might have to, eventually, but he’d had a hard enough day as it was.

  “You don’t have to, Lee,” he said, and she glanced over at him, smiling at the use of the nickname. She’d never had a nickname before. She kind of liked it. “You have nothing to feel bad about. He deserved it.”

  She slowed for a sharp curve. “Your mom said the same. I like her.”

  “Yeah. Well. I like her too. I actually love her, even though she can be more than a littl
e overbearing.” He scrubbed his hands down his face. “My father, on the other hand…”

  He didn’t need to finish because she understood. Well, kind of.

  “Well, my dad was a douche too. So, I feel you. It’s a sad thing when you get more fatherly advice from your boss than you ever did from your dad.”

  “Yeah? Speaking of bosses, how is your new case going?”

  Kylie nearly bit her tongue. “Slow. Unearthing details bit by bit. It’s dull, but not as dull as sitting behind a desk all day. So, it’s fine. Which reminds me. I owe you for some lessons, and Vader hasn’t had a good one in a while. He pretty much ate my thank-you gift to your mom before I could give it to her.”

  “Oh, yeah?” He turned around in the seat and gave Vader a stern look. “What did I teach you, boy?”

  Vader immediately gave him a “rar-ee” whimper. It made Kylie smile.

  “I actually came up to pay earlier today, but a girl from the vet was there and told me you’d left for Spartanburg.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Caryn?”

  “Is that her name? I don’t know…blonde. Gorgeous. Very earthy.” Kylie glanced over, trying to gauge his expression. She waited for a lovesick look to appear on his face.

  But his mouth was twisted in amusement. “Are you jealous?”

  She blew out a breath so hard her lips fluttered. “No. Not me. Of course not.”

  “Caryn’s a friend. Just a friend. The vet’s office takes care of the animals when I’m out of town. Well, them or Jacob.”

  “Hmm.”

  “What? You don’t believe me?”

  She narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything, unsure if it was worse to be jealous or not care at all.

  She was still pondering on that thought when she pulled into his driveway. As soon as she turned off the car, she hopped out of the door, shouting, “Stay there,” to Link.

  He was giving her a confused look as she opened the door for him. Then she reached in to help him out. “Come on, old man,” she said. “Up you go.”

  “Old man?” Without warning, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. She shrieked as he started to tickle her. “Take that back.”

  “Okay. Ancient man?” Kylie suggested, and he tickled her harder. When she winced, he stopped immediately, turning serious.

  “Sorry, I forgot about your shoulder.”

  “It’s okay. I forget about it all the time. One minute it feels completely healed, then the next it reminds me that it still has a little ways to go.”

  Which pissed her off because the twinge of pain had wiped all the amusement from his face.

  The sour Linc was back.

  But he seemed steady on his feet as he got out of the car and walked up the steps to the porch.

  She scurried inside and fluffed the pillows on the couch, lifting up one of the comfy afghans for him to snuggle underneath. He watched her with a look on his face that was borderline predatory. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.

  “I’m getting you all set up. You should rest here until you’re ready for bed. Or did you want to go to bed now?”

  He wrapped a hand around her wrist. “I don’t want to rest.”

  A thrill raced through her, but the discharge papers said that he needed to rest.

  Sex was not resting.

  “You have to.” She pointed to the crumpled square of pink discharge papers in his front pocket. “It says so. For your old ticker.”

  His lips twisted up in amusement. “My…old ticker?”

  Kylie nodded, shaking the blanket a little to get him to climb under it. “I’ll make you dinner. Please tell me you have canned soup.”

  He moved forward, spanning the distance between them, and at first, she thought he was going to sit down like she’d asked, but instead he reached for her hand and placed it on his chest. “Does this feel like an old ticker to you?”

  Her own heart rate kicked up at how close to him she was. No sex. No sex. No sex. The two words played like a mantra in her head.

  “Hmm,” she said, very clinically and professionally. “I’d have to do some more research.”

  Okay, maybe a little sex. But just a little.

  Kylie unbuttoned his waffle-knit Henley and reached inside, her fingers touching warm skin, his strong heart beating underneath. He peered down at her, as if waiting for her assessment.

  “Maybe only semi-old,” Kylie said.

  “Semi?”

  Before she could say anything in response, he was crushing her to him, his mouth on hers.

  “God, you feel good,” he growled into her mouth. “Show me how much you missed me.”

  “I don’t know if I should,” Kylie countered. “Are you just going to show Caryn?”

  He snorted out a laugh. “Touché.”

  He went to kiss her again, but she pressed her hand to his chest. “We shouldn’t be doing this. You’re sick.”

  It was the exact wrong word to say.

  “Sick? I’ll show you sick.”

  Bending down, he hauled her up and over his shoulder, and began carrying her up the steps.

  In the bedroom, he was like a man possessed, on a definite mission.

  A mission to make sure no one—especially her—ever called him sick again.

  “You’re not sleeping with me,” he said as she lay sated in his arms.

  Kylie played with the hair on his chest. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

  He didn’t say anything in response, but she felt him stiffen. He did worry, she knew. He worried so much that he’d landed himself in the hospital.

  “Was it terrible?” she asked.

  It took him a moment to answer. “What?”

  It was telling that he needed for her to clarify which terrible situation she was talking about. How many terrible situations had he faced?

  Since meeting him at the vet that day, she knew of several…mostly because of her.

  “The parking garage collapse,” she clarified. She wanted to talk about them all, but they’d start there, she reasoned.

  He was quiet for so long that she thought he might have fallen asleep. Then he sighed, a long exhalation of breath. “Yeah. It was bad.”

  Goose bumps raised on her arms and she tried not to imagine what he’d seen. The news footage had been terrible from afar, the concrete sections of the parking garage collapsed onto each other.

  As she’d been going through Emma Jennings’s files that afternoon, the Friends re-runs she’d had playing in the background had been interrupted each time a new body had been discovered.

  She sat bolt upright.

  “Shit.”

  Linc sat up beside her. “What’s wrong?”

  She’d forgotten.

  She’d made an appointment with Nate Jennings for a late-night meeting. There was something he’d had to tell her. Something monumentally important. Crap. Crap. Crap.

  “I forgot a meeting.” She sprang from the bed. “I’ve got to go!”

  Linc picked up his phone. “It’s nearly ten at night? You have a meeting this late?”

  “Yes! I made an appointment to meet with someone about the embezzlement case tonight. He told me he had something important to tell me, but he couldn’t get with me any earlier.”

  She stuffed her legs into her pants, wishing she had time to shower, but she was already going to be terribly late as it was.

  Running into the bathroom, she washed her hands, ran a finger over her teeth, and splashed water on her face. Threading her fingers through her tangled hair, she curled it into a messy bun on the very top of her head.

  Not very professional, but it would have to do. Besides, they were meeting at a coffee shop. How professional did she need to be?

  Linc was holding her shoes out when she ran back into the bedroom. She tucked them under her arm, not even taking the time to slip them on.

  At the bottom of the stairs, she stopped in her tracks. Vader was curled up next to Storm, eyeing
her with one open eye.

  “Crap. Vader.” She cursed some more. “Come on, boy. We need to go.”

  Vader just yawned and laid his head back down on top of Storm’s chest.

  “He can stay with me,” Linc said from midway up the stairs. “Go and be careful. You’re already late, so killing yourself on the mountain won’t make a difference.”

  Kylie checked that she had her phone, grabbed her keys from the table, and sprinted for the door.

  “Thank you,” she called over her shoulder.

  Kylie tried calling Nate as soon as she had her car running. No answer.

  She tried calling him again once she was at the base of the mountain. Still, no answer.

  Kylie pulled into the parking lot behind the Perky Coffee Shop a half hour late, then rushed inside, praying that Nate hadn’t given up and left.

  Even at that late hour, the little shop was busy, mostly with college students on their laptops. Smooth jazz music played overhead, barely audible over the laughter of some drunk girls in the corner. Were they trying to sober up?

  Shaking her head, Kylie scanned all the tables. Being vertically challenged, it took her three trips around the room to see over all the high-top tables and giant stools.

  Nate wasn’t there.

  She tried calling him again. Nothing.

  She ordered a latte, thinking he simply might be late as well.

  Kylie was clearly not the most punctual person on earth, but she couldn’t stand being kept waiting. Her mind filled up with all the things she could be doing, only one of which was canoodling in bed with Linc. She tapped her foot on the footrest of the stool, wondering where Nate could be.

  After another fifteen minutes passed, she watched one of the drunk girls hook up with one of the laptop guys. Hmm…if things with Linc really fell apart, she’d have to remember that coffee shops instead of bars were apparently now the dating scene.

  Her stomach curdled at the thought of dating, and she pushed her lukewarm latte away and contemplated purchasing a cinnamon bun. Only the reminder of how her squishy body met Linc’s rock-hard one stopped her from doing just that.