by Jenny Penn
There was just something about the other man that had Nick bristling. Carl knew it. He’d have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to. The man didn’t respond in kind, though. Instead, Carl’s gray gaze fell to Lindsay as his expression softened into a perfect look of pained concern.
“My daughter has many problems and, unfortunately, it is the burden of parenthood to bear the blame, especially when you try to help your child.” With neither malice or accusation, Carl shifted his attention back to Nick with a pointed suggestion. “I trust, though, that you are rational enough to require more proof than simply one person’s word before you damn me.”
He made it sound like such a simple request but then again that’s how the devil always lured his victims into his clutches. Satan was said to be attractive and charming, seducing men with lies that blinded them to the damnation they were walking into. Nick knew instinctively that’s exactly where Carl would lead him if he didn’t marshal his defenses.
“I am aware that my fiancée has some particular idiosyncrasies,” Nick allowed, not wanting to rebuff Carl directly. The devil wasn’t the only one who knew how manipulate fools into revealing too much. “However, I think after tonight’s debacle Lindsay has the right to be a little paranoid.”
“Why?” Carl’s brow furled into a perfect look of confusion. “Because of the fire? Trust me, it’s not the first she started, or did Lindsay fail to explain her many attempts at escaping West Field.”
She hadn’t but Nick wasn’t surprised. Lindsay was a fighter. She did what she had to and he wouldn’t blame her for that. “I hardly think that compares. After all, she has nothing left to escape.”
“Except for life…and all the monsters in her head.” Carl whispered the last forlornly as if his very heart were breaking. “Unfortunately it’s not all that uncommon for people with Lindsay’s kind of problems to become suicidal, which is just why she needs a protective environment to ensure she doesn’t do anything rash and end up endangering herself…or others.”
Nick snorted at that, instinctively knowing that he was watching the dress rehearsal for Carl’s performance in front of a judge, but the man would have to be a fool to buy Carl’s crap. There was nobody Nick knew who was more full of life, of grit, of kick-ass mentality than Lindsay. People like that didn’t off themselves.
They did occasionally kill, which left Nick wondering how it was that Carl was still alive. The man wouldn’t be for long if a judge saw it his way and believed all Carl’s babble about Lindsay being a danger. Of course, Carl couldn’t rewrite everything and there was such a thing known as the truth.
“So she knocked herself unconscious, locked herself in a bathroom, and then started a fire?” Nick drawled as he offered Carl a curious look. “Wouldn’t it just have been easier to shoot herself in the head or take a bunch of pills?”
“Only if one doesn’t have a taste for the melodramatic,” Carl retorted, unruffled by Nick’s questions. “And how can you be sure that is the order things happened in?”
“Because I had to kick through the barricade locking Lindsay in just to rescue her.” Cooper stepped into the room, forcing Carl the rest of the way through the entrance. He raked a gaze over the smaller man, peeling away Carl’s heartbroken façade to reveal the aggravated asshole lurking beneath. “Mr. Bryne, aren’t you going to thank me for saving your stepdaughter’s life?”
“You must be Andrew Cooper,” Carl remarked, ignoring Cooper’s question and instead giving him a once over that assured he knew how little Carl thought of him.
“I am, and you might as well call me son because I’m going to marry your stepdaughter.”
“Really?” That drew the first honest emotion from Carl as he laughed and cast a glance in Nick’s direction. “And here I thought you were her fiancé.”
Nick wished he could tell the other man that Lindsay owned them both, that she had two protectors now. He didn’t, though, certain Carl would use that information as proof of her unstable nature. So instead he smirked and shrugged.
“A small family disagreement. It’ll be settled soon.”
“But there is no disagreement over what’s going to happen to the son of a bitch who tried to burn Lindsay alive.” Cooper stepped back to stand shoulder to shoulder with Nick and present a united front. “Trust me when I tell you that whoever tried to condemn Lindsay to that fate will suffer it themselves.”
“Though, I doubt we’ll allow them the luxury of being unconscious,” Nick corrected his brother. “After all, I am a believer that revenge is better served hot.”
“White-hot and burning,” Cooper finished for him.
“I see.”
No fear or doubt flittered through Carl’s frigid gaze. Neither did he flinch from the promise buried in their words. Instead he remained strangely detached for a man clearly being threatened, even offering up another long-suffering sigh.
“My daughter does seem to have a tendency to be attracted to violent men. Another of her many character flaws, which explains why she is so desperately in need of assistance in making her own decisions.”
If not for the hand clasped in his, Nick would have walked across the room and smashed in the smug bastard’s face. While it might not have been an effective way to gain the advantage, it would have been greatly satisfying.
“I guess you suffer from the flaw yourself seeing as how you hired the abusive bastard who married her,” Cooper commented, saving Nick from doing something foolish.
“I had no knowledge of Crugman’s interest in Lindsay, and I assure you that I had the union dissolved the moment I learned of it.” Carl struck a pompous pose that matched both his suit and his exasperated tone. “Unless my daughter has failed to explain the details of that union, I assure you Crugman was not the abusive one in that marriage.”
“No, of course not. Stalking an ex-wife and threatening her with being raped is not at all abusive,” Cooper retorted with a smirk. “Of course, he wasn’t really her ex given that Crugman and Lindsay never were married.”
“And who told you that?” Carl blinked, doing an excellent impression of bewildered. That just made it all the more fun when Nick actually managed to shock him with his answer.
“It doesn’t matter.” Nick faked innocent confusion just as well as Carl. “I know you told the judge the marriage wasn’t legitimate, or don’t you remember your testimony in her competency hearing? I believe you testified that she hallucinated the entire incident. She seduced your poor assistant and then attacked him? Isn’t that the story you told your good ol’ golfing buddy, Judge Hatworth?”
Carl went white and then flushed red hot as his gaze narrowed on Nick. “Those records are supposed to be sealed.”
“You lie so much it’s almost hard to remember the truth, isn’t it?” Nick shot back, not bothering to dignify Carl’s question with an answer. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. You set them both up, didn’t you? You told Crugman he was married, but you’d never give him that kind of authority over Lindsay.
“No.” Nick shook his head, on a roll now as it all became perfectly clear. “You were going to wait until he impregnated her and then accuse him of raping her. You’d have him sent away and her institutionalize until after she gave birth.
“Then you would have had Lindsay eliminated but she ruined your plans and fought Crugman off.” Nick snickered, comforted by the reminder of how strong Lindsay actually was. “You made the best of the situation, but it wasn’t perfect, was it?”
“You, young man, either have a brilliant future in dinner theater or are in need of a shrink. Either way, I would suggest you keep your conjecture to yourself unless you want to find yourself on the wrong side of a civil suit.”
“I bet you set her mother up, too,” Nick tacked on, remembering Lindsay’s comments earlier that night.
Before Carl could respond to that or try to defend himself the nurse reappeared at his side.
“Sir?” Drawing the men’s attention to her, the nurse held a
clipboard full of forms out toward Carl. “I need your signature before we can begin processing the transfer.”
“Thank you.” Carl accepted the papers before casting a quick smirk at Cooper and Nick. “Sorry, gentlemen, but I actually am the next of kin and Lindsay’s only legal family, so if you’ll excuse me, I have paperwork to handle.”
“What transfer? You’re not transferring Lindsay anywhere.” Nick stiffened in alarm but Carl didn’t wait around to answer. Following the nurse back to her station, he left Nick to glance in desperation at Cooper. “We’re not letting him take her anywhere. I’ll kill the son of a bitch before that happens.”
“Don’t worry.” Cooper turned to offer Nick a tired smile. “I’ve already taken care of it.”
It was then that Nick finally got a good look at his brother. He looked like he’d been through hell. His eyes were red, bloodshot from too much smoke and too little sleep. His clothes were singed and the skin beneath raw and red. The purple bump growing big and thick on his forehead looked mean and angry and must have hurt like a bitch. Still Cooper was standing.
“Here.” Nick kicked the chair he’d been sitting on when Carl entered over toward his brother. “Sit down before you fall down. How did you get checked out so fast?”
“Because I checked myself out,” Cooper retorted, ignoring the chair and rounding Lindsay’s bed instead.
“That figures.” Nick watched Cooper each out to run a finger down Lindsay’s cheek.
“She feels warm.”
“She was in a fire,” Nick reminded him. “So were you and I really think—”
“I don’t care what you think,” Cooper cut him off. “I’m staying, so don’t bother trying to convince me to go rest or sit down or whatever else you feel like nagging me about.”
Nick rolled his eyes, but spared his brother the lecture. Sally, no doubt, had probably already given him one, which would explain the attitude. “Where is Sally?”
“I told Thomas to take her home and make sure she gets some rest.”
“Rest? Yeah right.” Nick snorted. “You do know they go at it like bunnies whenever our backs are turned.”
Cooper shot him an annoyed look. “That’s none of our business. Besides we have enough problems to focus on right now.”
“I’ll say.” That chipper agreement had both of them glancing toward the door and the man wearing a perfectly pressed three-piece suit that was damn near as expensive looking as Carl Bryne’s threads.
Of course Carl didn’t fill his out nearly as well. Then again very few men could compare to Evan Chester. Since he was a baby, women had been cooing and cuddling him, which probably explained how he’d ended up a bigger womanizer than Cooper.
“Jesus Christ, Evan, it’s four thirty in the morning, you didn’t have to get all dressed up.” Cooper shook his head as he held a hand out to his longtime friend.
“Hey, when a client calls and says they need me, the suit comes out.” Evan laughed, crossing the room to shake Cooper’s hand before turning to offer Nick a lopsided grin he knew too well. “Check out the squirt. He’s all grown up.”
“Yeah, so don’t even think about trying to put me in a headlock,” Nick warned him without any heat as he offered Cooper’s old elementary school friend a hand.
“I’m way too professional to even consider it,” Evan assured him before his gaze skipped over Nick’s shoulder to land on Lindsay. “Though it looks like your girl needs medical help more than she needs legal advice right now.”
“You don’t even know the half of it.” Nick sighed.
“Oh, I think I do.” Evan’s smile faded as his tone dropped and he glanced out to where Carl was busy signing papers. “I think I’ve been getting a really good picture of what we’re up against here, boys, and the outlook is not good.”
“How not good?” Nick asked, even as he began to plot how to take Carl Bryne out permanently.
“If you want to play by the rules, you’re not going to win,” Evan summarized with brutal honesty. “Because that man owns a lot of judges and even more politicians.”
“Well, that explains how he got her committed the first time,” Nick muttered.
“Yeah? Well, I know one judge he doesn’t own,” Cooper stated with soft, sincerity. “And we need to get you before him, Evan, before Carl has Lindsay shipped off to some institution. He’s trying to have her transferred.”
“Then we’ll need an emergency injunction,” Evan stated. “I can have the paper work ready in a half hour…but technically I’m still not her lawyer, not unless she signed those papers I sent you.”
Nick knew Lindsay hadn’t but he didn’t flinch even a little as Cooper boldly lied and assured Evan she had and that he had left them at home, if needed they could be retrieved and, no doubt, forged. Even Evan seemed to see the truth behind that offer.
“Fine.” Evan smiled slightly. “I’ll believe you but it would help if the girl would just wake up.”
* * * *
Lindsay…Lindsay…
Like a gnat in her ear Lindsay’s name whispered through her head with a relentless demand. More annoying than the distant beeps and hisses, the urgency of the insistent call lured her from the soothing abyss of slumber toward a reality defined by sharp hues and painful accents.
Lindsay flinched away the bright wash of the florescent lights glaring down over her and moaned as the small motion set off a riot of agony as her whole body ached in protest. Even the small attempt at a complaint caused pained her as the sound forced air over her raw, brittle feeling throat.
It felt as if she’d inhaled crushed glass. Lindsay could feel each tiny shard cutting deeper into her with every breath she took. Left with no choice but to endure the moment, she lay as still and quiet as she could. While she could try to hide from the pain, she could not escape the soft voice calling to her.
“Lindsay.”
Filled with such agony, the husky demand held a note of arrogance that was all too familiar. Daring to risk another peek at the world that shone too brightly around her, Lindsay lifted her lashes to discover that she was now protected by a shadow, one that Cooper cast as he leaned over her.
“Lindsay.” Cooper’s eyes clenched closed for a second in a look that betrayed the depths of his relief. “Oh thank God.”
“She’s awake?” That panicked question followed the sudden appearance of Nick overhead. He gazed down at her with a gratitude that echoed in the depths of his tone. “She’s awake. I guess your nagging finally worked, boss man…no, no, lil’ bit. Don’t try to talk.”
But there was so much she wanted to say. The wealth of emotions churning through her in that second overwhelmed and she felt her eyes flood with a sudden rush of tears. Fragments of memories rushed through her mind, assuring Lindsay that she’d come very close to death that night.
Despite thinking she’d long come to accept her demise as the inevitable end of her battle with Carl, now that the moment had arrived Lindsay didn’t want to go. It was too soon. She had only just discovered the joys of being with Cooper and Nick, had finally just learned what it felt like to be cherished, loved, protected…Lindsay didn’t want to let go of that just yet.
Nick’s eyes gleamed with an emotion even stronger than that, one that matched the strain Cooper’s fear and worry had left on his features. Both brothers’ looks hardened as Lindsay stared helplessly up at him. She could read the rage that began to simmer within them and knew they intended to make Carl pay. Whatever hope she’d held that she could keep them safe died, giving birth to a terror that left her trembling.
“Cooper…”
“Hush, lil’ bit. Everything is going to be okay.”
Cooper’s head dipped as he rubbed his cheek against hers in a gentle caress that conveyed everything he did not say. He pulled back with a frown, showing the first signs of doubt Lindsay had ever seen Cooper display.
“You believe me, don’t you?”
As hard as it was for Lindsay to trust, this time it
was easy. She didn’t even hesitate to nod, wishing only that she could tell him all of the truths filling her heart right then. The momentary glow faded as she took in Nick’s scowl.
“Good, because we need your help.” Nick’s grip tightened over her hand in a hold that had her bracing for whatever came next. “Carl Bryne is here.”
She should have known. Of course Carl had come. This was his prized moment. If only she had died then, at least Lindsay could have deprived him of his victory. Instead, though, she’d gone and lost her heart, making Carl’s revenge all the sweeter because this time when he stuck her in another asylum it would really hurt. This time she would know what she had lost.
“My lawyer is here, also.” With a tip of his head Cooper gestured to the man hovering near the door to her room. “Carl wants to have you transferred, but Evan has a plan to stop him. He needs your help. Do you understand me? We’re going to stop Carl and you’re going to help us. Right?”
Lindsay fought back the dread Cooper’s words inspired. She tried to believe in the determination strengthening his voice. They were going to stop Carl. Everything would work out. Then Cooper and Nick would marry her. They’d have four or five kids and live happily ever after. The only problem was Lindsay wasn’t that naïve. As much as she wanted to believe in the fairy tale, a part of her started to harden, to withdraw, to prepare for the inevitable defeat.
“All right, Lindsay?”
Nick squeezed her hand, drawing her gaze upward to meet his earnest one. Lindsay could sense more than his silent demand for an answer, she knew there was only one he would accept. Nick wouldn’t give up and she wouldn’t deprive him of the satisfaction of trying. Slowly Lindsay nodded, agreeing to fight on when she really just wanted to escape back into the beautifully numb world of slumber.
“Good.” Nick appeared to relax ever so slightly as he offered her a sad, unenthused smile. “Good. Then you’ll follow Evan’s lead and he’ll handle everything.”
