Grayce closed her eyes, trying to use meditation to block the overwhelming pain that consumed her. The firefighters’ conversation came in and out of her consciousness.
Chris was talking about Davis and how he’d want all the details.
But the other blue uniform was telling Chris that she might be confused from the accident and not to alarm Davis. Davis and he could get all the information from the police.
She wanted to correct the medic’s wrong conclusion, but she couldn’t summon the energy to argue. She was convinced that either Hunter Hines or Gator had messed with her brakes as Aunt Aideen had predicted. But the medics would definitely think she had a serious brain injury if she mentioned the tarot card reading.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Davis couldn’t breathe. Every time he thought of Grayce careening down Third Avenue, his chest tightened, refusing to move air. He’d been in some sticky situations on mountain climbs, and overcome the deadly reaction. But when it came to Grayce, he couldn’t control the panic that made him breathless, air hungry.
He drove well over the speed limit on 99 to get to Grayce’s house. He had hoped to arrive in time to be with Grayce in the hospital, but the red-eye flight had been delayed. She’d been discharged.
Without James’ phone call, he wouldn’t have known about Grayce’s accident or hospitalization. Grayce was doing it again. Keeping secrets to protect him. He could already hear her reasoning that she hadn’t wanted him to worry, leave his new position.
Twenty minutes max and he’d be at Grayce’s house. He’d texted James for updates. Grayce had been diagnosed with a mild concussion. Her CAT scan had been clear. She had two shiners and looked like she had come out of a boxing match.
Thank God James had his back and was texting him with updates. Grayce hadn’t told her parents or him about her little accident.
He looked down at the stuffed bear he’d picked up during his layover in Chicago. There were no flowers at O’Hare.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Wrapped in a down duvet, Grayce sat on the couch with Napoleon, her Maine Coon cat, settled in the folds. Her head throbbed, her eyes burned and she had the headache from hell. She should place a few acupuncture needles, but she was too exhausted to care. She couldn’t get warm even though the day was sunny and mild—likely delayed shock from the accident.
“Now that you’re home you have to call your parents and Davis.” James sat across from her. He didn’t look his usual, perfectly coiffed self. His hair was unkempt; his pressed shirt and pants were wrinkled. He had been with her in the ER during the entire 10-hour ordeal. Because of her brief loss of consciousness, she had to stay in the observation unit for eight hours.
A depressing lethargy had enveloped her since she got home. She couldn’t face her parents or Davis’ worries. She just wanted to sink into a sleeping oblivion like Napoleon.
“Do you have any idea what the news of my car accident is going to do to my parents?” She found her chest tightening. “Tear them apart.”
James reached over and patted her hand. “You need to call them and tell them you’re not seriously injured. Imagine if they saw the news that you had been in an accident.”
“My parents never watch TV. They haven’t seen it, or they would’ve called. My accident will dredge up all their memories of Cassie’s accident.”
“They’re your parents. Let them take care of you. You don’t need to shield them any longer.”
She really didn’t want to dissect her traumatic adolescence when her head felt as if screws had been drilled into her forehead. More than anything, she wanted to go to bed and delay dealing with everyone’s emotions until tomorrow.
“James, don’t say anything else. I know I need to call my parents and Davis, but I’m too tired and overwhelmed to present the accident in a way that won’t upset them. When Davis finds out, he’ll want to leave his new job and fly here immediately. And when he finds out that the brakes were sabotaged, he’ll never leave Seattle again. I don’t want him to give up this opportunity. I have to downplay the whole episode to keep him in DC and right now I don’t have the strength. My head feels as if it’s caught in a vise, and every time I move the vise tightens.”
“You’ve been hurt. You need to let the people who love you take care of you.”
“You’re right, but can you imagine my parent’s reaction if they see the bruises and black eyes?” She gently touched the five inch contusion on her forehead. “I don’t want to think about Davis’ reaction if he saw me right now.” She shuddered.
“I’m sure Davis loves raccoons.”
“That’s supportive.”
“Of course they’re going to be upset to see you hurt, but more so if you don’t notify them. You don’t have to handle everything alone anymore. You’ve got Davis.”
“I want to tell Davis when Mitzi’s with me.”
“You’re stalling, Grayce. Davis will not be worried about Mitzi’s whereabouts. She’s with one of his best friends. And about Davis…” James gave a tiny cough behind his hand. “There is something I’ve been waiting to tell you until you were safe at home.”
James stood and walked to the window at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.
She heard keys jangling. There was only one person beside James who had a key to her house.
“Davis knows?” Her heart tattooed an irregular rhythm against her chest.
James nodded. “I was about to tell you.”
“You called him?” She was incredulous.
“When you were having your CAT scan.”
In the ten seconds it took Davis to open the door, every emotion went through her in a flash. She hadn’t washed her face or combed her hair, and she wore her ratty jammies. She didn’t want Davis to see her injuries. She didn’t want to upset him. She needed rest before she could present a cheerful and normal facade when he walked through the door.
“Grayce.” His voice was ragged with emotion. He crossed the room in his powerful strides and stood in front of her.
When she saw the torment in his eyes, she knew that she had made the biggest mistake of her life. The hurt that flashed in his usually bright eyes did something terrible to her stomach.
James tried to ease the dreadful tension. “You made it back to Seattle in record time, Davis.”
Grayce saw the lines of exhaustion under Davis’ eyes, his crumpled clothes, and grasped in his hand, a brown teddy bear wearing a Cubs jersey, and a red, velvet bow tied around its neck. His raw, disheveled masculine appearance and the teddy bear melted all her defenses.
Davis didn’t answer James.
“Now that you’re here, my job is done. Grayce has been impossible since the accident, screaming for more narcotics and whining about the long wait in the ER. Oh wait, that wasn’t Grayce, that was me.”
James walked over to the sofa and gave Grayce a kiss, European style, on both cheeks. “Au revoir. Thank you for a very interesting night at Harborview. Tsk, tsk. Almost as entertaining as the night I planned dancing at Neighbors Nightclub.” James leaned over and whispered close to her ear. “Honey, you’re in trouble. Tarzan looks like he’s going to go all primitive.”
Davis shook James’ hand. “Thank you for everything. I appreciated your texts keeping me apprised.”
Guilt washed over Grayce in tidal wave proportions.
James turned away from Davis and gave her the sign of having her throat slit.
Davis hadn’t moved from the middle of the room. He stared at her as if to reassure himself that she was real. She stood and threw herself into his arms. She hadn’t realized how much she needed his steady presence, his warmth around her. Davis tossed the teddy bear on a chair and wrapped her in his strong arms.
He held her tight against his chest. She could hear his steady heartbeat. They stood together savoring the moment.
She didn’t want to ruin their closeness, but she had to apologize. She should have called him. “You’re upset.”
“Upset?” He dropped his arms. “Of course, I’m upset. Upset that you were in an accident, upset that you didn’t call me.”
Grayce suddenly felt cold and bereft without the warmth and security of Davis’ arms. She had hurt him. She hadn’t meant to.
Davis walked toward the windows and stood with his back to her. “I wanted to share the worst with you, be by your side, take care of you.” He shook his body as if getting rid of all his pent up emotions. “You would’ve called me tomorrow and pretended that you hadn’t suffered.”
“I made a mistake, but it was in the best way of believing I was protecting you. I’m really sorry.”
He turned and stared at her. His words were clipped. “You weren’t protecting me. You were protecting yourself. You wanted to decide when and how you would deal with me. I don’t want to be dealt with.”
She had the overpowering sensation of falling in all directions at once. “If you were in Seattle, I would’ve called you. Don’t you understand, but you were 3000 miles away. What could you have done?” Shaky, she sat back down on the couch.
“What I did—get on a plane, call the hospital, call the police. And if I had met your parents, I could’ve called them. But you don’t want that, do you Grayce? You’re not ready for me to really be part of your life.”
“This is so unfair. And what do my parents have to do with this conversation?”
He walked toward her, his hands fisted at his sides. “You’ve made a commitment to me. Or I thought you had, but I’ve never met your parents? Why is that?”
“Davis, I can’t believe you’re bringing this up now?”
“You told me I was trying to put our relationship on a time table, but that’s exactly what you’ve done. When will be the right time for you to admit you need me? One year? Two years?”
The room started to spin and Grayce didn’t know if it was from Davis’ words or the look on his pained face.
“Davis, I can’t have this conversation right now.” She was too tired to make sense of what was happening.
He stood over her and looked at her, from the swollen, red contusion on her forehead to the purple and blue shiners under her eyes. “My God. You could’ve been killed.” She heard the fear in his voice.
“I’m okay, just some bruises, but I’m tired from my night in the hospital.”
She knew by the way Davis’ neck and shoulders tightened that she had made a mistake by reminding him of her hospitalization. His eyes clouded with an emotion she couldn’t decipher.
He walked toward the door and then turned back, his hand on the door knob. His voice was even and flat, always a sign that he was struggling with his feelings. “You need to rest. I’ve got to check in with the chief since I left DC unexpectedly. I’ll call you later.”
He walked out and carefully closed the door. His considerate behavior was worse than if he had slammed the door.
Chapter Thirty
Davis got into his car and drove away from Grayce and the pain. He couldn’t shake the image of Grayce, dazed and pale.
Didn’t she understand? She could’ve been killed. When he looked at her, really looked, and saw the bruises and swelling, he wanted to take her in his arms and hold her and never let her suffer. But she had rejected his support. When she had been at her lowest, she didn’t allow herself to call him, need him.
His anger and worry were all jumbled together. He couldn’t stand the confusing torment. He had to take a break, get away from the claustrophobic feeling.
He exited I-5 at James Street. He’d stop by the station to let the chief know he was back and then get an update from Chris on the details of the investigation into Grayce’s brake failure. He didn’t believe that there had been foul play. This was an old Subaru, and Grayce never paid attention to maintenance.
He parked in front of the Pioneer Square Station.
“Shit.” Maclean, the assistant chief from hell, was walking right toward him. He didn’t have time to hide from the antagonistic jerk. One of the upsides of the DC position was that he wouldn’t see his acerbic supervisor. Former supervisor…now that had a nice ring to it.
“Missing us already?” Maclean’s grin was broad and showed his white teeth. And Davis didn’t believe the AC’s fake bullshit for a second.
“Maclean.” Davis wasn’t going to get let the jackass get under his skin today.
“Must be the very charming Dr. Walters you were missing.” Maclean poked and prodded until he hit his victim’s vulnerable spot. “When’s the wedding?”
“Don’t you ever get tired of being an asshole?” Davis walked away.
He heard Maclean’s laughter and mocking voice. “Trouble in paradise, Davis?”
Davis took the steps to the second floor and walked into the chief’s office. Sarah, the assistant, was on the phone. She shook her head when Davis pointed to the chief’s office.
He walked out of the administrative offices to the station next door. Chris, Steve, and Mike were washing the rig.
“Hey, man, what are you doing here?” Chris held a sponge in the air.
Davis nodded to the guys, but his suppressed angst must have been evident since neither approached him.
He turned his back to the guys and spoke to Chris. “I came to see the chief and hear what you’ve gotten from the police.”
“But you just left for DC.”
“Yeah, well, I’m back.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“You been watching Dr. Phil? Hell, no, I don’t want to talk about it.”
Chris shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, man.”
Chris dropped his sponge into the bucket. “Hey, guys, can you take over?”
That the guys didn’t rib Chris for abandoning them was definitely not a good sign. Over their shoulders, they kept giving Davis furtive looks, watching to see if he might go postal. He took a deep breath. He thought he was in control, but maybe not.
“Listen, man. I’m not sure what’s going through your stubborn, mulish, Scottish head, but Grayce is an amazing woman and you shouldn’t let her go.”
“I’m not letting her go. I’m back to take care of her.” His voice cracked in feeling.
Chris put his arm around Davis’ shoulder. “I just got off the phone with your best friend in the police department, very special detective, Blake Calfell.”
“My best friend? Very funny. Did the bastard give you any information? He pulled the confidentiality shit with me.”
“He’s enjoying making you squirm, since you made him look bad by solving his case.”
“We’re supposed to be ‘colleagues working in a collaborative relationship’ with the police department in solving crimes.” Davis quoted the department’s bureaucratic jargon. It made no difference to the ongoing territorial pissing games between the detectives and fire investigators.
“Did he tell you anything?” Davis asked.
“The brakes were definitely tampered with. Someone cut the brake line.”
Davis exploded in shock and outrage. “Not an accident?” He could barely get the words out. “What else did that bastard say? I can’t believe he wouldn’t tell me. That bastard.”
“Calfell didn’t know when he talked to you. He just found out. He’s about to call Grayce to interview her. He knew she had been in observation at Harborview.”
“I don’t want that bastard near Grayce.”
“He’s really interested in the two men following her.”
“Two men? Why am I just hearing this?”
“You’re hearing it now. And this isn’t your case.”
“Hell, if it isn’t.”
“Calfell called the chief and said you were interfering with police business. The chief told me that this case is off-limits to you. No contact with Calfell.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. That son-of-a-bitch reported me because I called him?”
“I’m telling you he’s gunning for you after you got all the attention for solving his case.”
>
“Who were the two men following Grayce?”
“I don’t know. The medic wouldn’t let me continue questioning her.”
In his worry, he hadn’t considered the possibility that the brake failure hadn’t been an accident. He had to get back to Grayce. He had to protect her.
“Davis, you’ve got the same look as you do when you’re about to take a dumb-ass risk on the mountain. What’s going on in your head?”
“I’ve got to get back to Grayce. They might come after her again.” His heart pumped hard, as if he were dangling over a crevasse.
Chris nodded. “For one little woman, Grayce sure gets herself into a lot of trouble.”
“Not anymore.”
Chris guffawed. “Now you’re talking like the Davis I know. Remember, I’m going to be the best man at your wedding.”
“Right.” He wasn’t going to tell Chris that he had just acted like a jackass, and Grayce might not forgive him. His hurt pride didn’t matter. He wasn’t leaving her until he knew she was safe.
“Where’s Mitzi? We need to head over to Grayce’s.” The tightness in his chest was beginning to ease. He could almost take a breath. He was better at making a plan of action than navigating the mire of his emotions.
“Mitzi’s at my place. It’ll be good to have Mitzi stay with Grayce.”
“I’ll be staying with Grayce, too, and Mitzi can go to work with Grayce once she’s recovered.”
“I swear that poodle understands everything I say. When I told her I’d take her back to Grayce, she settled right down.”
“Mitzi is totally attached to Grayce.” Since the first time he and Mitzi met Grayce, they had become her devotees.
“You’re not kidding. The dog howled like a banshee when they took Grayce in the ambulance. It was pitiful.”
He didn’t want to relive the images of the accident scene again. He’d played and replayed them since James had called him. The image of Mitzi howling and Grayce being sped to Harborview tore away all his steadfast control. He was going to nail the bastards who hurt Grayce.
The Grayce Walters Romantic Suspense Series Page 44
