Running for Cover

by Shirlee McCoy

  Or maybe the fact that he’d saved Morgan’s life was skewing her perspective. “Jackson? What are you doing here?”

  “Making sure you’re all right.” He said it as if coming to the hospital to visit a stranger was the most natural thing in the world. And they were strangers despite the way Morgan’s heart leaped in recognition as she looking into his eyes.

  “Shouldn’t you be out searching for a wedding present for Jude and Lacey instead?”

  “That can wait,” he said, his gaze dropping to the too-large shoes she wore. “Are you going somewhere?”

  “Home.”

  “It might be best if you stay here for the night.”

  “That’s what the doctor keeps telling me, but I’m feeling well enough to leave.”

  “It’s not just your physical condition I’m worried about, Morgan. The two men who attacked you are still on the loose. Until they’re found, the hospital is the safest place for you.”

  “If they want to find me, the hospital is going to be no safer than anyplace else.”

  “If?” he asked, raising an eyebrow, the gesture as practiced as the charming smile he’d flashed when she’d opened the gallery door. He reminded her of Cody. The same easy charm and playboy exterior that hid more than it showed. She glanced away, uncomfortable with the comparison and with her own need to make it.

  “They’ve got no reason to come looking for me again.”

  “They didn’t get what they wanted, did they?”

  “No.”

  “That’s more than enough reason. They risked a lot tonight. I doubt they’ll back down now. You said they wanted a disk that your husband gave you, right?”

  “My ex-husband. And he didn’t give me anything.” The last gift he’d given her had been the diamond-and-ruby heart pendant he’d presented to Morgan on their sixth anniversary. It had been too expensive and ostentatious to wear, and after the divorce Morgan hadn’t felt at all bad about selling it and all the other jewelry he’d given her to help finance her gallery.

  “Maybe it’s packed away in a box somewhere. Is it possible he slipped it into your belongings without you knowing it?”

  “No offense, Jackson, but I’ve been asked these questions at least a dozen times by three different deputies. I’d rather not answer them again until Sheriff Reed gets here.”

  Morgan eased down into a chair by the window. She wanted out of the hospital and out of the mess she’d suddenly found herself in. A mess of Cody’s making.

  Of course.

  That seemed to have been the pattern of their lives while they were married. Cody messing up. Morgan cleaning up.

  “You okay?” Jackson asked, crossing the room and crouching down in front of Morgan, his hand touching hers for just a moment, the warmth of it remaining after he let it fall away.

  “Fine. I’m just ready to get out of here. I’ve got things to do before tomorrow.”

  “You look pale. How about I call the nurse?” He leaned closer, his eyes deep blue and flecked with gold and deep brown. An interesting color. The kind a woman could get lost in if she let herself.

  Morgan wouldn’t let herself. She’d been down that path before, been interested, attracted and then in love. All she’d gotten from that was trouble. “Look, I appreciate your concern, and I’m grateful for everything you did tonight, but I really am fine.”

  “And I can go back to wherever I came from?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Sorry, I don’t work that way,” he said, straightening, stretching. He was tall with a lean, hard build. More runner than bodybuilder, but he had a presence that made him seem larger than life.

  “What way do you work, then?”

  “I stick with what I start. I started protecting you from two men who wanted you dead. I’m not going to walk away until I’m sure I’ve achieved that goal.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Appalled, Morgan stood, trying not to wince as the throbbing in her head and jaw increased. The last thing she needed was a man like Jackson hanging around trying to play hero. She’d worked too hard to become independent, she’d struggled too long to convince herself that going it alone was better than working as a team. There was no way she was going to allow herself to depend on someone, to believe in someone again.

  “Sure I can,” he said, dropping a hand onto her shoulder, offering her support she didn’t want to need. “Why don’t you sit down before you fall down?”

  “Why don’t you—”

  A soft knock sounded on the door, and a pretty blonde stepped into the room, cutting off Morgan’s words. “Morgan! Thank goodness, you’re all right.”

  “Lacey, what are you doing here?” Surprised, Morgan allowed herself to be pulled into a quick hug. Slender and lovely, Lacey Carmichael had proven to be a good friend during the months since they’d met. Morgan was cautiously excited about her friend’s engagement to Jude Sinclair and hopeful that Lacey would have a lot more happiness in her marriage than she’d had with Cody.

  “Jude called to let me know you were in the hospital. I insisted he pick me up before he came here. He’s parking the car, but he’ll be here in a minute.”

  “Are you both nuts? You’re getting married in a few hours. You should be home sleeping, dreaming of that happily-ever-after you’ve always wanted.”

  “While you were here alone? Neither of us could do that.”

  “I’m not alone,” Morgan said, shooting a glance in Jackson’s direction. He smiled, obviously amused by her attempt to use him despite her insistence that he leave.

  “And you won’t be. Are you okay? Have they found the men who did this to you?”

  “No, but it’s over, and I’m all right. That’s what matters.”

  “And we’re going to make sure you stay that way. Jude and I discussed it on the way here. We’re going to postpone our honeymoon until the men who attacked you are caught.”

  “There is no way I’m going to let you stay here babysitting me.”

  “Your well-being is more important than a trip to Paris,” Jude Sinclair said as he walked into the room. Tall and lean, he’d come to Virginia to recover from a nearly fatal attack. When he’d showed up at Morgan’s gallery asking questions about her ex-husband, she’d recognized him immediately as the homicide detective who’d put Cody in jail.

  To say it had taken a while for them to become friends was putting it mildly. Morgan was thrilled that Lacey had found someone to love, but being around Jude still put her on the defensive.

  She forced herself to relax and to meet his probing gaze. “I appreciate the concern, Jude, but I’m old enough to take care of myself.”

  “That’s not the point, Morgan, and you know it,” Lacey cut in. “This is about friendship. I can’t go to Paris and enjoy myself knowing that someone I care about is in danger.”

  “Who said I was in danger? For all we know, tonight was a one-time thing.” Morgan lied deftly, not liking the taste of it on her tongue, but unwilling to let Lacey give up a honeymoon trip to Paris to keep her safe.

  Nothing could keep her safe.

  Nothing but running, and that was one thing Morgan excelled at. She’d been running for more years than she cared to admit. No sense in giving that up now.

  “The fact is, I’m not sticking around. After your wedding tomorrow, I’m taking off.”

  “To where?”

  “Does Jake know this?”

  Lacey and Jude spoke in unison, and Morgan decided to answer the first question and ignore the second. “Washington.”

  “D.C.?”

  “State. It’s where I grew up.”

  “I thought you were from New York,” Jude said, eyeing Morgan with suspicion.

  “I moved there after I married Cody.” She didn’t offer more of an explanation.

  “We were housemates for months and you never mentioned Washington.” Lacey sounded more hurt than suspicious and the throbbing in Morgan’s head increased. Guilt was something she didn’t need
any more of, but somehow she always managed to find it.

  “I haven’t been back there in years. Now seems like a good time to visit.”

  “Do you really think you can outrun the guys who came after you tonight?” Jackson asked. He’d moved a few feet away, but still seemed to take up more than his fair share of space.

  “That’s not why I’m leaving. I have some…loose ends to tie up in Washington. Some family I need to reconnect with.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Lacey said, her green eyes filled with worry and anxiety. She should be happy and excited about her wedding the following day. Not worrying about Morgan.

  And guilt clawed another path up Morgan’s throat. She felt sick with it. Or maybe she was sick from the pain in her head and in her jaw. “I’m ruining what should be the most fantastic time in your life. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m marrying the man of my dreams. There’s nothing that can ruin that.”

  “There’s no need for anything to be ruined,” Jackson cut in. “I’m here. I’ll make sure that Morgan stays safe until the police figure out what’s going on or until you two get back from Paris. Whichever comes first.”

  “You can get the time off?” Jude asked, frowning slightly.

  “I’ll work it out.”

  “You don’t need to work anything out,” Morgan responded, trying to regain control of the situation, but neither man seemed to hear.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Absolutely.” Jackson smiled, his gaze on Morgan. She was sure he was trying to convey something with his unwavering stare, but for the life of her, Morgan couldn’t figure out what it was.

  “You two can discuss this all you want, but I don’t need or want Jackson sticking around,” she said, and Jackson responded with a brief shake of his head.

  Obviously, he was trying to tell her something.

  “You don’t, but if it’ll ease our friends’ minds to know that I’m here looking out for you, what’ll it hurt for me to stick around?”

  And she finally got it.

  He had no intention of playing bodyguard. He simply wanted to reassure Jude and Lacey so they could enjoy their wedding and honeymoon. That she could do. That she could deal with. “All right. If it’ll help everyone feel more comfortable, I’ll agree to it.”

  “You will?” Lacey sounded so shocked, Morgan would have smiled if she hadn’t been in so much pain.

  “Every once in a while, I see the sense in someone else’s plan. Jackson has a good one. You and Jude will have a wonderful day tomorrow and a wonderful week away, and I’ll be perfectly fine while you’re gone.” Fine without Jackson, but Morgan didn’t say that.

  “Oh, Morgan, thank you!” Lacey pulled Morgan into a gentle hug.

  “Don’t thank me. Thank Jackson. It was his plan.” His lie. But Morgan didn’t say that, either. She had too many of her own issues. Too much of her own sin to deal with. No way did she plan to point fingers at someone else until she could look in the mirror and stop seeing all the mistakes she’d made.

  “Thank you, too, Jackson,” Lacey said “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

  “Sure I do.” Jackson smiled and accepted Lacey’s hug, his gaze meeting Morgan’s again.

  “I hate to interrupt the love fest, but I just finished at the crime scene, and I need to get some information from Morgan,” Jake Reed said as he strode into the room, a small notebook in his hand. He looked grim and unhappy, his jaw set and his lips drawn into a thin, hard line. Bad news had a look to it. A hardness and ugliness that no amount of trying could hide. Jake had that look, and Morgan braced herself to hear whatever he had to say.

  “What is it? Did you find something?”

  “Nothing significant. We’ve got a couple of smudged prints, the tread of a shoe in the blood on your kitchen floor. We’ll see if it matches to your shoe.”

  “What else?”

  “Nothing. The guys who attacked you were thorough. Professional. They didn’t leave hair or clothes fibers. We’re checking on some blood in the gallery. It may belong to one of our perps.”

  “Okay.” Morgan took a deep breath. Waiting. Waiting. There was more. She was sure of it.

  “While the forensic evidence team worked, I made some phone calls. Thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check up on your ex.”

  “And?”

  “I’ve got some news that you may not want to hear, but it’s got to be said.”

  “So just say it.”

  “Cody Bradshaw is dead. He was killed by an inmate three days ago.”

  “He’s dead?” Morgan couldn’t wrap her mind around the thought. Vibrant, larger than life Cody. Dead.

  The words didn’t seem to go together.

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Why wasn’t I told?”

  “His parents were listed as next of kin. Since you and Bradshaw are divorced, you weren’t contacted. I guess your in-laws didn’t bother to let you know?”

  “No.” They wouldn’t have. They still blamed her for their son’s incarceration. According to the Bradshaws, Morgan had led their son down a path to destruction. They’d cut ties with her before the divorce was final.

  She’d been happy to let them.

  It was the way she’d wanted it. No contact with Cody. No contact with his parents. No contact with the past.

  Too bad the past refused to let her go.

  “Are you okay?” Jackson’s hand rested on her shoulder, his fingers warm through her borrowed T-shirt. Morgan wanted to tell him that she was fine. That hearing of Cody’s death wasn’t nearly as hard as hearing that he’d murdered his business partner had been. But the words stuck in her throat, and all she could do was nod.

  “I’ve got a call into the warden. Hopefully by tomorrow we’ll have more information about what happened. Until then, I want to offer my sincere condolences,” Jake said, his grim expression never easing.

  “Thank you.”

  “Morgan, I’m so sorry.” Lacey’s eyes were filled with tears, and Morgan wanted to tell her to save them for something more tear-worthy, but she knew how harsh that would sound. How wrong.

  The fact was, she’d loved Cody once. Might have continued to love him if he hadn’t betrayed her one too many times. In the nearly two years since he’d been in prison, Morgan hadn’t wasted time missing him and had rarely spent time thinking about him. But that didn’t mean she wanted him dead.

  “It’s okay. I’m okay,” she offered, fighting tears she wouldn’t shed. There’d be a time to mourn the loss of life, but it wasn’t now. It wasn’t here. Later, when she was walking through the vivid green pasture behind her parents’ house, when she was staring up at the deep blue foothills of the Rocky Mountains, when she was all alone except for the grass and the sky and God, then she would cry. For Cody. For herself. For what they could have had, but had never managed to create.

  “Can you think of anyone who would want your husband dead, Morgan?” Sheriff Reed asked.

  “Ex-husband,” she said by rote. As if it mattered any longer.

  “Sorry. Your ex. Is there anyone you can think of who had a grudge against him?”

  “Not offhand. Cody could be charming when he wanted to be.”

  “Did he always want to be?”

  “If you’re asking if he had enemies, then you’ll have to ask someone else. Cody kept his business life separate from our life together.” He’d kept other things separate, too, but Morgan decided not to say as much. Not now with a roomful of people listening.

  “If you think of anything…”

  “I’ll let you know. Is there anything else you needed to ask? Because I’m exhausted, and I’d really like to go home.”

  “Nothing that can’t wait for another time. I’ve got a cleaning crew getting your apartment and gallery in order. You may want to stay here for the night.”

  “I’d rather not.”

  “You can stay with me,” Lacey offered, but Morgan shook her head.

 
; “I need to pack.”

  “Pack?” Jake speared her with a hard gaze.

  “I need to put some distance between myself and what happened tonight. I thought I’d go stay with my parents for a while.”

  “And they’re where?”

  “Washington.”

  “That’s a long way from here.”

  “I know.”

  “Tell you what, write down what town you’re going to be in. Give me your parents’ address. I’ll call the local police and make sure they’re aware of what’s going on. They can keep an eye out on things on their end while I investigate here.”

  “I appreciate it, Sheriff Reed.”

  He eyed her for a moment and then nodded, handing her his notebook and a pen. “Write the information down for me. Then you can be on your way.”

  She did as he asked, her hand shaking as she scribbled her parents’ address, her mind racing with memories. The day she’d met Cody. The day she’d brought him home to meet her parents. The soft, sweet scent of summer rain as they’d fished in the pond behind her parents’ house. The quiet joy of finally feeling accepted and loved.

  The disappointment of knowing it was all a lie. The sweet words and tender touches. The whispered promises and deep, meaningful gazes. The vow to love forever.

  Lies.

  And now Cody was dead and it was too late to do it over. To try it again. To hope for something better.

  A tear dropped onto the pad of paper, and Morgan brushed it away angrily.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me, Morgan?” Lacey asked, and Morgan glanced up, saw that four pairs of eyes were watching her intently.

  “I’m sure,” she said, forcing a smile as she handed the pad back to the sheriff. “But I wouldn’t mind a ride home if someone can give me one.”

  “I’ll drop you off,” Sheriff Reed offered. “That way I can make sure you’re locked in tight before I leave you alone.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that. I’m going to lock and bolt every door.”

  “I’ll call you when I get home, okay?” Lacey said, her green eyes shadowed with worry as she and Jude walked to the door.

  “We’ll talk tomorrow. At your reception. Or have you forgotten that you’re getting married in ten hours?”