by CJ Lyons
“Gant told me what you did, deciding to trust him, sending him to help.”
Megan looked up, a guarded expression on her face. “I had to decide if he was one of the good guys or not—had to trust my gut since I didn’t have anything else to go on.” She blew her breath out, her shoulders sagging. “It was hard, Mom. Really, really hard. If I was wrong, he could have killed you.”
Could have killed Megan as well. Lucy squeezed her tighter. “You did good. I’m proud of you.”
They separated and Megan nodded to the plastic bag in Lucy’s hand. “Is my phone in there? Hope it’s okay because Dad said to call him.”
As Lucy fished in the bag for the phone, Megan pulled her down the hall. “Mateo and his family wan to see you, say thanks.”
Despite Lucy’s slow, stumbling gait—she was half tempted to borrow a cane from the ER—Megan practically danced beside her, obviously still high on adrenaline.
“You know,” Megan continued, “Officer Gant said they’d need a new police chief after all this. Said you’d be perfect for the job.”
Ahh… was this what had Megan so excited? “Would you want to move here, so far away from your friends?”
Megan considered it. “No. I mean, it’s nice here and all, but I’d be bored. And Chief Hayden seemed like she worked like all the time—I want you to spend more time with me and Dad, not less. Besides, if you were chief in a small town like this, all the kids would know it—it’d be worse then you sending me to a convent!”
Lucy stifled her chuckle. “Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
“Yeah, right. But seriously, Mom, I know you’re not happy with the way your job is now. You can’t let the FBI keep you behind a desk—it’s making you miserable.”
“You’d want to stay in Pittsburgh, right?” They pretty much had to with Nick’s job. “That’d be okay with you?”
“Sure. My friends are all there and my soccer team and I like my school. Wait. Did you find a job somewhere else? You didn’t turn it down just because of me?”
Oh, to be fourteen and have the world revolve around you. Lucy stopped and smiled at her daughter. She reached a hand to tame one of Megan’s wayward curls.
“I would have, if it came to that. Your and Dad’s happiness mean more to me than any job.” It hurt to say the words; Lucy had always believed her job was who she was, not just what she did. But she finally understood—Hayden was wrong. She’d thought it had to be either/or, family or protect and serve the community who trusted her with their lives.
There were other ways to serve. And she didn’t have to carry a badge to do it. But before she could devote herself to anyone else, she needed to take care of herself and her family.
“I have a few options. We’ll talk more when we get home,” she told Megan. “But you’re right. I’m miserable behind a desk. It’s time to leave the FBI and move on.”
Megan nodded with a wisdom greater than her years. “I think you’re doing the right thing. Remember what Grams always said, every new beginning is the start of a new adventure.”
They arrived at Mateo’s room. It was filled with the joyful noise of family. A nurse emerged, shaking her head at the crowd inside. “Go on in. What’s one more?”
As soon as they crossed into the room, both Megan and Lucy were immediately embraced, working their way through a sea of smiling faces until they reached Mateo’s bedside. His color was back to normal already, thanks to the IV in his arm, Lucy guessed.
“Lucy! Megan!” His grin was wide and Lucy wondered if he was still feeling the effects of the ketamine. “I’m so glad you’re here. My heroes.”
Megan laughed, grabbing onto his arm, blushing. “All in a day’s work for my mom.”
Pride burned through Lucy at Megan’s praise. It had been so very long since Megan had anything nice to say about Lucy or her job she’d almost forgotten how good it felt.
“They say I can go home tomorrow. Can I still give you surfing lessons? It’s the least I can do—and I promise, no more standing you up.”
They both looked at Lucy, waiting for her answer. As if there were any way she could say no. “Sure.”
Megan grabbed Lucy’s free arm. “Thanks, Mom!” Then she sobered. “Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” she asked Mateo. “We don’t have to surf. We can just walk on the beach and you can teach me more about the architecture and history.”
Lucy blinked. When had her daughter learned how to flirt so effortlessly?
“Do you remember anything?” she asked Mateo.
“No.” He frowned. “Just blood. All that blood. Where did it come from?”
“My guess is Pastor Fleming. Wouldn’t be hard for him or his wife to get a hold of some medical supplies,” she eyed Mateo’s IV tubing, “take a little every week or so, then when they’re ready, spray it around to fake their crime scene.”
Jorge winced while Mateo’s mother and aunt made small noises of dismay. Megan frowned at Lucy for ruining the moment—back to being the mom who couldn’t get anything right.
Megan’s phone rang. Nick. A little silt and mud clung to the phone’s waterproof case, but otherwise, it was fine. Lucy edged her way out of the crowded room to answer it.
“We’re both good,” she told Nick. She glanced back into the room at Megan’s beaming face, curls bouncing and hands gesturing as she told the story of her adventures that evening to Mateo and his family. Probably not for the first time. “But you should see your daughter flirting. It’s shameless. We are so in trouble. I think we should rethink that whole convent thing. At least until she’s thirty. Seriously.”
Nick’s laughter was a sound so pure and beautiful she fell in love with him every time she heard it. She turned to the tile wall, hiding her smile from everyone passing through the busy hospital corridor, cherishing this private moment in the midst of the chaos this day had delivered. No need to travel to the beach for sunshine; Nick was all the light she needed in this world.
“Well, she is her mother’s daughter,” he finally said. “And I wouldn’t change that for anything.”
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NEW! Join CJ as she returns to her medical thriller roots with Novels of Fatal Insomnia:
In the chaos of the ER, functioning without sleep is a prized skill. But even Dr. Angela Rossi will admit that five months is far too long, especially when accompanied by other worrisome symptoms: night sweats, tremors, muscle spasms, fevers. Then a dead nun speaks to her while Angela is holding the nun’s heart in her hand.
“Find the girl,” the nun commands—although no one else in the trauma room can hear, the words drilling directly into Angela’s brain. “Save the girl.”
Aided by a police detective fallen from grace, Angela searches the midnight catacombs beneath the city, facing down a ruthless gangleader and stumbling onto a serial killer’s lair. Her desperate quest to save the girl leads her to the one thing she least expected to find: a last chance for love.
As her symptoms escalate in bizarre and disturbing ways, Angie realizes exactly how serious her illness is. She might be dying, but she’s finally choosing how to live…
Catch up with Lucy today!
Meet Morgan, everyone’s favorite teenaged psychopath:
Can two lost souls save each other? Meet Hart & Drake:
Love a touch of romance with your thrillers? Check out these action packed stories:
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About CJ:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-seven books, former pediatric ER doctor CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge Thrillers with Heart.
CJ has been called a “master within the genre” (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as “breathtakingly fast-paced” and “riveting” (Publishers Weekly) with “characters with beating hearts and three dimensions” (Newsday).
Learn more about CJ’s work at www.cjlyons.net
Want more of CJ’s Thrillers with Heart? Check out her complete list of books:
Fatal Insomnia Medical Thrillers:
FAREWELL TO DREAMS
A RAGING DAWN
Lucy Guardino FBI Thrillers:
SNAKE SKIN
BLOOD STAINED
KILL ZONE
AFTER SHOCK
HARD FALL
BAD BREAK
Renegade Justice Series (featuring Morgan Ames):
FIGHT DIRTY
Hart and Drake Romantic Suspense Series:
NERVES OF STEEL
SLEIGHT OF HAND
FACE TO FACE
EYE OF THE STORM
Shadow Ops, Romantic Thrillers:
CHASING SHADOWS
LOST IN SHADOWS
EDGE OF SHADOWS
WATCHED, a Young Adult Thriller
BROKEN, a Young Adult Medical Thriller
BORROWED TIME, a Romantic Thriller
LUCIDITY, a Ghost of a Love Story
Angels of Mercy, Medical Suspense Series:
LIFELINES
WARNING SIGNS
URGENT CARE
CRITICAL CONDITION
Caitlyn Tierney FBI Thrillers:
BLIND FAITH
BLACK SHEEP
HOLLOW BONES
AJ Palladino Suspense Series (co-written with Erin Brockovich):
ROCK BOTTOM
HOT WATER
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