Dead Heat (Taz Bell Book 1)
Page 39
"You're asking me?" I countered with a snort. "When it comes to being a shapeshifter, I don't … know much of anything. And I never thought I'd actually say that out loud."
"You're working on an extension of the saying, 'Out of sight, out of mind,'" he responded with a nod. "If you don't find out about what's going on, you can pretend you're the same as you used to be. A lot of us react to the situation in that way, and I even tried it myself for a short while. Then I realized that what you don't know can hurt you, and I've been studying and doing research ever since. When you reach the point of needing someone to give you a few answers, I'd like you to feel free to call me. Here's my card with my cell phone number on it and the best times to call with a non-emergency."
He'd pulled out a wallet from his pocket, and the card came from the wallet. I took the card and glanced at it before putting it on the table next to my chair, and then I got to my feet.
"I need to do some washing before I get into normal clothes," I told him. "I very much appreciate the help you gave, and I appreciate the offer even more. The way things are going, there's a good chance you'll hear from me sooner rather than later. If you can stay a little longer, help yourself to the coffee in the sitting area."
"Thanks, but I have to be on my way," he said as he also stood. "If I sat down with a cup of coffee, I'd probably get an emergency call even before I took the first sip. Life tends to be like that… Don't sit around long with your own coffee. Sleep will help you heal more than caffeine will. And next time try to keep more distance between you and things with claws."
He smiled when he said that last, so I knew he understood that in my line of work the choice wasn't usually mine. I matched his smile as I nodded my agreement, then left him to go into my bathroom. I moved slowly as I got out of the body suit, pantyhose and bra, but only because I didn't want to wake up the pain again. I also sat down to wash the blood off my legs, feeling the pull of tiredness more than usual. I did want one last cup of coffee, but right after that I'd follow doctor's orders and fall into bed.
Instead of finding clean clothes to wear, I slipped into the pants and shirt and underwear I'd worn before dressing up for the bodyguard job and then went out to the sitting area barefoot. Bending over to tie shoelaces was a chore I'd decided against performing, most especially since I'd expected all our company to be gone. I hadn't even reached the door of my bedroom when I realized that Allison was still in the suite, and when I walked out I found out why.
"Oh, that's much better," she said when she looked at me, and I realized she was more relieved than joking. "All that blood was very upsetting, but Dr. Lamdell said you're doing fine. I wanted to make sure of that personally, and now I'll just finish my coffee and get out of your way."
"Take your time," I said as I went back to the chair I'd used earlier, finding that Freemont had been his usual efficient self and had put a fresh cup of coffee in place of the one I'd left. Freemont smiled at me when I thanked him, but his smile looked a bit on the distracted side. As I raised the cup and took the first, delicious sip, Allison's phone chimed.
"Where did George go?" I asked Freemont once I'd swallowed. Allison was busy answering her call, so I kept my voice low.
"George said he had some questions for Dr. Lamdell, so he went down to the doctor's car with him," Freemont answered, still looking distracted. "Taz, that call Allison is getting… Someone is passing on a message for you, and the message is important."
By that time I didn't need Freemont to tell me about the message. I could hear the voice on the other end of the line clearly, especially when he added the name of the person who had left the message.
The name was Aurella Lees, George's wife. George's widow…