The Doctor's Guardian

by Marie Ferrarella

  “We have a number of surveillance cameras on the floor.” She hoped she wasn’t insulting him by pointing that out. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and the same face will keep popping up on the tapes—provided that hospital security hangs on to the tapes for more than a month at a time,” Nika qualified.

  He looked at her, finding that he had to suppress a smile. Not exactly something he needed to do on a regular basis. He’d been thinking the same thing, but rather than mention that to her, he decided to allow the doctor to bask in the feeling that she was making headway in the case for him.

  “I’m impressed,” he told her. “You think like a cop. Anyone in your family on the force?”

  Directly, no, but she was now part of an extended family, so technically, the answer was yes. “Three of my cousins are married to law enforcement officers. My uncle used to be a police sergeant on the NYPD and now runs a security firm with another one of his sons-in-law. As a matter of fact, the hospital contracts his firm for extra help around the holidays, and whenever anyone of major importance comes to the hospital to have a procedure performed.”

  A thought struck her. “Uncle Josef would probably be able to get those tapes for you a lot faster than if you went through regular channels.”

  His “channels” usually involved tersely voiced orders issued to underlings, but for now, Cole kept that to himself. She was enjoying herself too much “helping.” Right now, it cost him nothing to allow her to go on thinking she was an asset.

  “That would be very helpful,” he agreed. “You’re a very handy person to have around, Dr. Pulaski.”

  That was way too formal for a man who was making her skin tingle on a regular basis. “You yanked me out of the jaws of a paralyzed elevator—I think you should call me by my first name.” She’d already told him once, but she had a feeling he’d probably forgotten it. “It’s Nika.”

  “Nika?” he repeated, a little amused and bewildered by the name at the same time. “Is that your whole name?”

  She shook her head. “It’s short for Veronika,” she told him. “But nobody calls me that.” They all found it much too formal and she was not that way, Nika added silently.

  “Veronika.” He rolled the name over on his tongue, as if appraising it for taste and texture. “Then I’ll be the first,” he told her.

  He probably would be, she thought, but she wasn’t thinking about her name. Instead, she was focused on the wave of anticipation that had suddenly risen up, riding the tide of adrenaline within her that absolutely refused to subside no matter how hard she tried to bank it down or smother it.

  She’d never been this attracted to a man before. She had a feeling she was going to pay for that.

  Chapter 9

  When the waiter brought the check over and placed it on the table in front of Cole, Nika opened her purse and began rummaging through it.

  Watching her for a moment, Cole asked, “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for my wallet so I can pay my share of the bill,” she answered, sparing him a look just before she located her elusive wallet, which had sunk to the bottom of her purse, and took it out.

  “You don’t have a share,” he replied. When she seemed confused, he said, “I used the D-word, remember?”

  Nika’s confusion lingered for another couple of seconds before dissipating, and when it did, she was still a little surprised because she hadn’t really thought he’d meant it at the time.

  “You said date,” she recalled.

  He took out his own wallet. “It’s coming back to you,” he observed, nodding his head in approval. She had no idea if he was serious or pulling her leg. “Good. I was beginning to think that I imagined the whole conversation.”

  She wasn’t comfortable with this. Did he think she was too poor to pay her own way? She was almost certain that this wasn’t really a date. “I’d still like to pay my half.”

  Cole remained firm and shook his head. “Not going to break me,” he commented. “Besides, I don’t have staggering student loans to pay back.”

  Was that why he was paying for dinner? Pity? He needed to be set straight. “Neither do I.”

  A glimmer of surprise was evident in his eyes. “I thought all medical students came out of school with huge debts.”

  Usually, they did. But she and her sisters were very lucky that way. “My mother had an older sister, Zofia, who was an actuary at one of the major insurance companies. She worked all of her life, and then died without enjoying any of her money. She left it to my mother, who used it to put all of us through school.” Wielding it like a weapon, she added silently, remembering her mother’s non-negotiable terms. They could only get their educations paid for if they agreed to become doctors. Luckily, that turned out to be exactly what they wanted, except for perhaps the baby, Henryka, who took a while to come around.

  Cole wasn’t about to accept defeat. He had another card to play. “All right, then let me fall back on my male ego. You pay, it’ll be bruised.” He leaned in closer to her across the table. “If I called this a business dinner, would that make you feel less like you were compromising whatever ideals are keeping you from allowing me to pay for this?”

  “It’s not that, it’s—business?” Nika abruptly asked, the homicide detective’s choice of words suddenly sinking in.

  Cole nodded. “You can think of yourself as my informant.”

  She had a feeling that she might have just met her match, as far as stubbornness went. Cole sounded as if he would go on arguing with her until she finally gave in. Better sooner than later. Besides, this was only a minor point. She just didn’t want him to feel he had to pay for her.

  “All right,” she allowed with a smile of indulgence. “To save your ego.”

  “Good,” he accepted her explanation. Rather than using a credit card, Cole placed several bills on the tab, more than covering the cost of their dinners as well as adding a healthy-size tip. “Ready?” he asked.

  Picking up her purse, Nika slipped her wallet back into it and then echoed, “ready,” just as she began to rise to her feet.

  She was caught off guard when Cole circled the table and came up behind her, drawing the chair away so that she didn’t have to push it back. Nika looked at him over her shoulder, an uncertain expression on her face.

  He laughed when he caught a glimpse of it. “Don’t worry, I’m not about to trip you or do something strange.” He moved the chair back in as she stepped to one side. “Haven’t you ever had anyone treat you like a lady?”

  The answer required no thought on her part. “Not recently.”

  “Then you’ve been seeing the wrong kind of men,” he concluded.

  “The only kind of men I’ve been seeing since I arrived in New York have either been bleeding, throwing up or are contagious.”

  The woman was talking about work. Placing his hand to the small of her back, Cole guided her around the tables, now all filled, and toward the front door. As he walked past the receptionist’s tall, narrow desk, he nodded goodbye.

  Nika caught the silent exchange and wondered how well he knew the woman—was he a regular customer, or was there something more to it—and why did that even matter? she asked herself in the next thought.

  “Are you telling me you haven’t gone out socially since you got here?” he asked her.

  She saw no reason to be cagey. After all, it wasn’t as if this was an actual date. He’d just been kidding when he’d said that.

  “I’m telling you I haven’t gone out, period. Except to Uncle Josef’s a couple of times.” And even that had an obligation attached to it. “Turning up at my uncle and aunt’s table in Queens every so often is mandatory.” There was a note of fondness in her voice as she referred to the couple. “If I miss that, one or both of them come looking for me.”

  He held the door open for her. “You don’t sound like you mind.”

  She didn’t. None of them did even though a couple of her cousins pretended to grumble about it on occasion j
ust for form’s sake. “It’s nice having family,” she told him. “A bigger family,” she amended. Nika walked right past his car, which was parked in a prime spot at the curb.

  “Hey, where are you going?” he asked, calling her attention to the vehicle.

  She stopped walking, but didn’t retrace her steps. She saw no reason for that. “To the bus stop. My sister Alyx has the car, because she’s got the third shift at the hospital,” she explained, citing why she wasn’t going back to the hospital to pick up the communal car they all shared.

  “Where do you live?” he wanted to know. “I’ll take you home.”

  That was going above and beyond the call of duty, she thought. Nobody should have to buck New York traffic if they didn’t have to.

  “You don’t have to go out of your way. I’m used to taking buses and trains,” she told him. “Reminds me of home—Chicago,” she elaborated.

  Cole shook his head. “Is everything an argument with you?” he asked.

  She hadn’t meant it to sound like an argument. “No, I just didn’t want to be any trouble.”

  “You’re more trouble when you argue,” he told her, beckoning her over. “Now, unless you live in Virginia, taking you to your apartment isn’t going to be out of my way.”

  “No, it’s not as far away as Virginia,” she said, giving in. She did a quick mental review. “Actually, it’s only about a little more than a mile away. On a nice day, I walk.”

  “So I take it you haven’t done much walking, then,” he quipped. Pointing his key at his vehicle, he pressed down on one of the indentations, releasing the security system. The locks popped open, accompanied by a beep. “If we’re lucky, there’re about two decent days in New York City, weather-wise. One day comes in the spring and the other day comes in the fall.”

  Nika opened the door on the passenger side. “You don’t like New York?” she asked, getting in.

  “I love New York,” he contradicted, getting in on the driver’s side, then closing the door. “It’s the weather I hate. It’s always either too humid, too rainy, too cold, too something.” Cole glanced to see if she’d put on her seat belt. Satisfied that she had, Cole started up the car. “And your address?” he prodded.

  She realized that she hadn’t given it to him and rattled it off. With a nod of his head, he backed out of the space.

  And got all of about five feet before he queued his car into the slow drip of traffic. From what he could see, it appeared to be bumper-to-bumper. Probably was all the way from the restaurant to the building where she lived.

  She made the same assessment. “I can get out and walk from here,” Nika volunteered cheerfully.

  “I said I was taking you home, so I’m taking you home,” he told her. “Besides, I’m going to be stuck in this traffic whether you’re in the car or not, so you might as well keep me company.”

  “If you put it that way—”

  “I do.”

  “Then, okay.” She studied his profile for a moment, her eyes drifting over the hard, rigid lines that comprised the planes and angles of the man’s face.

  It was a noble face, she decided. Not soft, but noble. The kind of face a victim of a crime could trust. While it was evident that he wasn’t running the danger of having someone accuse him of being warmth personified, the detective did give off an aura of strength, of dedication and competence. That would be the kind of policeman she would want to turn to if she found herself ever needing one.

  Cole could feel her eyes on him. Could feel her scrutinizing him as he was driving. Did he measure up? he wondered.

  “What?” he finally asked. “Is there sauce on my face or something?” The next moment, since they were now at a complete standstill, Cole angled the rearview mirror so he could see his reflection for himself.

  “No, I was just thinking. You’re not nearly as hard-nosed as you initially came off,” she told him. And before he could comment or deny her assessment, she added, “I’m glad.”

  She sounded positively cheerful as she made the pronouncement. He hadn’t thought that women like her existed. “Why?”

  “Because it makes you easier to talk to.” And then she got to the more important reason. “And because someone else might not have believed me when I said that I was innocent.”

  He wasn’t about to take credit where none was due. “I already told you, you had an alibi for the time that Sergeant Kelly was killed. I’m not the kind of detective who ignores the facts just because they don’t fit in with my theory.”

  “And,” she continued, “you took it upon yourself to look into my alibi—an alibi I didn’t even know I needed—before I ever said anything.”

  He shrugged away her gratitude. “It’s called being a good detective.”

  In her book, it was called more than that. He could have made her life miserable if he’d wanted to, putting the burden of proof on her shoulders. “All the same, I’m glad you’re on my side.”

  “I don’t take sides,” he corrected her, “I follow the evidence.”

  She refused to accept that. Nika shook her head. “Too late to be Mr. Gruff-and-Cold,” she informed him brightly. “I’ve seen your soft underbelly, Detective Baker, and I know who you are.”

  He cleared his throat and looked straight ahead at the clogged streets before him. Compliments had always made him uncomfortable. Especially undeserved ones. He knew what he was and it didn’t involve being a saint, or a knight in shining armor. His armor had long since rusted.

  “I suggest you stop getting into the pharmacy supply closet,” he told her matter-of-factly.

  Nika nodded as if he’d said something serious. “I’ll put it on my ‘not to do’ list,” she promised.

  He could hear the smile in her voice and, for some reason, although he was determined not to let it, it still managed to seep in under his skin and spill out to his very core.

  “You don’t have to get out,” Nika told him when they were finally within view of her apartment building. She pointed out the structure on the right. At the same time, she got the feeling he wasn’t about to listen to her. “You’ll lose your spot in the flow of traffic,” she warned.

  Cole angled the vehicle’s way out of the line of traffic and drove toward the building’s underground parking structure.

  “That isn’t flow,” he said with a touch of disgust. “That doesn’t even qualify as a drip. Maybe it’ll get better when I get back.” Although he didn’t hold out too much hope.

  “Back from where?” she asked.

  Driving into the structure, Cole glanced up to see if there were any signs pointing out the way to guest parking. Finding them, he drove his car toward the designated area.

  Several spaces were unoccupied. He took the first he came to. He’d never been one to see the point of jockeying for a position that amounted to being just a few feet closer to his destination. He liked walking. He liked leaving his car dent-free even more.

  “Back from bringing you up to your door,” he told her as he slipped into the space.

  She didn’t know whether to be amused or a little nervous. She realized that she was both. “You are taking the D-word seriously, aren’t you?” she asked, unbuckling her seat belt.

  “I’m taking the city seriously,” he countered. Getting out, he rounded the trunk and was at her door in time to open it for her. “Single women shouldn’t be roaming around by themselves at night. Especially if they’re young and attractive.”

  He said it so matter-of-factly, she almost missed the compliment. But it echoed back to her in her mind, causing her to smile.

  Whether he realized it or not, he’d just told her he thought she was attractive. Nika grinned.

  “Really not as gruff as you want people to think you are,” she repeated.

  Hiking her purse strap onto her shoulder, she led the way to the elevator.

  “Just carrying out the protect portion of my job description,” he told her. Reaching the elevator a step before she did, he pressed f
or the car.

  This was above and beyond the call of duty, as far as she was concerned, but if he didn’t want any attention drawn to that, it was fine with her. “Whatever you say.”

  Cole raised an eyebrow as he heard the amusement in her voice. He realized that she wasn’t buying into his story any more than he was. He’d been trying to tell himself that he was just bringing a potential witness home, nothing more. And that she wasn’t a woman who had somehow managed, in an unbelievably short amount of time, to work her way under his skin when he wasn’t looking. Moreover, she’d also managed to make him start wondering what it would be like to relate to another human being on some level other than as a cop working a case.

  Dangerous ground, he warned himself.

  None of the words, silent though they were, were making any sort of an impression on him.

  This wasn’t good, he thought.

  They got on the elevator and, for the moment, they had it to themselves. As soon as the doors closed, the inside of the car began to fill up with a scent that was vaguely familiar and teased his less than lucid memory banks, challenging them to recall what it was.

  Vanilla? Lavender?

  He couldn’t quite place the scent but he did know that it was familiar. And that he liked it. It stirred things on some semi-faraway region in his soul that hadn’t been functioning lately—or, more truthfully, hadn’t been functioning for a very, very long time.

  The elevator, for once, turned out to be an express, taking them from the basement straight to her floor.

  The doors slid open on five.

  “This way,” Nika told him, getting off the elevator. She turned to the right immediately, taking him down a long, modernly decorated hallway.

  Cole walked beside her until she stopped before 5E. The apartment next to hers, 5F, was still empty, she thought absently. Alyx had told her all about the murder that had taken place there before she’d arrived in the city.

  She did her best not to think about it.