Top let the doctor go with a little shove and cracked his knuckles loudly for effect. The older man cleared his throat nervously and looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes.
“Do you really want the truth, or just what you want to hear? If you’re here because Presley sent you, you’ve already got an idea of what happened that day, regardless of the truth.” He huffed a little and wiped his dirty hands off on the thighs of his khaki pants. “I’m not going to change my story to fit Dr. Baskin’s paranoid theory.”
Sighing heavily, I nodded at Top who reached for the doctor’s hand. The older man yelled for help and tried to scramble away, but Top was faster. The pop of his pinky finger snapping was loud but drowned out as the man screamed in pain and watched us in horror.
“You’re monsters.” Tears were running down his face, and he’d gone extremely pale. “Get out of my house.”
I dropped my arms and leaned forward. “I told you, it’s up to you how easy or how hard this is. When you decide to cooperate, we’ll get out of your hair.”
He scowled and cradled his hand protectively against his wrinkled shirt. “I’ll see to it you’re locked away for an eternity.”
I chuckled. “Better men have tried.” I nodded at Top again, but this time when he went for the doctor’s hand, the older man shrieked at him to stop and scooted away. “The day Samantha Baskin died, Ashby was at the hospital. She told me she needed a couple of minutes to talk to her about the promotion. She said she wanted to ask Sam to help her convince Presley to walk away from the job offer. She asked me to make sure no one came into the room while she visited because she didn’t want anyone else to know Presley was screwing up at work. Ashby often came to visit Sam, so I didn’t think anything of it. None of the alarms or monitors alerted to a problem. None of the nurses were called. But when I went to check on Sam after Ashby left, she was no longer with us.”
Top growled at the confession and I sighed. “So you knew she did something while she was in the room with a helpless patient, and you went out of your way to cover it up. Why is there no evidence she was there that day? No video? No witnesses?”
The doctor shook his head violently from side to side. “She was dressed in scrubs like she was going into autopsy. I thought it was odd, but she said she was heading to work and just had time for a quick visit. She had her hair covered and a surgical mask in her hand. She honestly looked like any other doctor making rounds, and it wasn’t the first time she’d stopped by before her shift. No one would’ve paid her special notice. As for the video footage…” He trailed off and gave Top a worried look. “After I found Sam, I knew something bad had happened. I was already in deep since I was having an affair with Ashby, but I didn’t want to lose my medical license. Do you have any idea how much my wife is asking for monthly in the divorce?” He shook his head rapidly. “I didn’t know how involved and twisted Ashby’s whole plan was. I didn’t know she was after Presley or the lengths she was willing to go to. I knew the police would show up eventually, so I made sure the recordings from that day were switched out with another day when Ashby wasn’t in the nephron unit. I admit I was trying to cover my own ass. I figured Presley would be too caught up in trying to save her job to really dig into what happened to her mother. I should’ve known better. That young woman is relentless when she sets her mind to something.”
I swore under my breath. “You helped your lover murder her only parent. I don’t think you’re in any position to complain about Dr. Baskin’s personality.”
The doctor sighed dejectedly. “Presley’s mother was sick for a long, long time. The woman suffered endlessly but hung on because she didn’t want Presley to be alone. She was going to die sooner or later. Everyone accepted that but Presley.”
I was disgusted by his cavalier attitude. Here was someone who really had no respect for life and death. To him, when your time was limited, you ran out of usefulness. He didn’t even comprehend that he’d stolen the most precious thing Presley’s mother had to give her: her final moments. The last chance to make memories that would last a lifetime. He took their goodbye away, and it made me want to break all his teeth.
“She knew her mother was going to die. She braced for it and prepared herself for it. What she didn’t know was that the people closest to her, the ones she trusted most, were going to rob her of her last few minutes with her mother while she was still here. You took something from her she’s never going to get back, and I’m going to do the same to you.”
I knew Rave could recover the lost footage now that I knew it existed. So this corrupt physician was undoubtedly going to lose his license for his irresponsible behavior. However, that wasn’t good enough. Presley’s mother was the most important person in her life; she meant everything to her. This guy only cared about himself. His arrogance was toxic and he didn’t need to be around any other helpless patient.
I nudged Top with my elbow. “Make sure he can’t use his hands on anyone ever again.”
The doctor screamed and got to his feet to try and run away. He was screaming about calling the police and making sure we rotted in jail, but when Top dragged him to a stop he looked at my VP and sobbed, “I told you the truth. I gave you what you wanted. Don’t do this to me, please.” The plea would’ve been more effective if he hadn’t admitted to turning a blind eye while one of his long-term patients had been killed.
“You should count your blessings, Doc. If I was the one who had this kind of beef with you, I’d dump you naked across the border in cartel country just for shits and giggles. You’re getting off easy, at least until the police come for you. Gotta say, finding out she’s got a cop in the family is gonna work out well for Presley. Her older brother might be even scarier than me when he finds out this garbage you pulled with her and the investigation.” I wasn’t overly worried about the doctor trying to come for me and the club after Top was done with him. My VP had a particular way of getting his point across, and the doctor was about to be neck deep in hot water when it was disclosed he’d tampered with vital evidence.
Turning toward the door, I walked away from the sound of the doctor screaming as I pulled my phone out of my pocket so I could call Presley. It took her a minute to answer the call, and when she did, I could barely hear her over the loud country music in the background. It didn’t take too much brainpower to figure out she was at Kody’s bar and no longer dress shopping.
“Hello? Shot, is that you?” She sounded funny and not just because I could hardly hear her.
“Are you at the Barn?” I was already moving toward the golf course in the subdivision and the unsecured maintenance gate where we’d snuck in.
She said something I couldn’t quite make out, but a second later my heart dropped into my boots when she whispered, “I don’t feel well.”
“What’s wrong with you?” I barked the question as the line went dead. I shouldn’t be too worried. Kody protected her new sister like a mama bear, but something wasn’t right. I was on my bike and headed toward the bar like it was the most natural thing in the world to ride to her rescue, even if she didn’t end up needing me to.
Chapter 10
Presley
Thank you so much for including me today. It was really special.”
I smiled shyly at Della Deveaux, soon to be Della Lawton. She was Crew’s fiancée, and while the middle Lawton had been cautious about welcoming me into the family, the gorgeous blonde he was getting ready to spend the rest of his life with had been much more accepting. She fully embraced bringing me into the girls-only club that consisted of Aspen Barlow, Case’s live-in girlfriend; Kody; and herself. They were all strong and successful in their own unique ways, but what tied them together was family and the fact that they all had stubborn, complex men they loved unconditionally. I was the odd one out on that front, but it didn’t stop them from including me in their girls’ nights, and none of them ever hesitated to invite me along when they all got together like they did today for Della’s final wedding dre
ss fitting.
Della was going to be a stunning bride. She had an ethereal, unreal kind of beauty that made her stand out in a crowd. Especially in a crowd like the one that filled Kody’s bar on a busy Friday night. She seemed so very different from Crew, who was a rough-and-tumble professional rodeo star. Crew made his money getting tossed off horses and bulls. He wore cowboy boots and competed to win giant belt buckles. Della was the CEO of one of the world’s premier cosmetic companies. She’d grown up in France, was multilingual and elegant to a fault. I had no idea what the two of them had in common, or how they made their relationship work considering both were on the road all the time, but they seemed deliriously happy and were obviously deeply in love with one another.
The blond woman tilted her wineglass in my direction and lifted a perfectly arched brow. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider being in the wedding party? You’re family. You should be up there with the rest of us.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d asked or brought forth that argument. She was an inherently kind person, but I couldn’t imagine how uncomfortable Crew would be if I was suddenly such an integral part of his big day. I reached out so I could pat her hand.
“I’m touched to be invited. I don’t need more than that. You and Crew deserve to have the whole day be about the two of you. If you add my sudden appearance to the mix, all people will be talking about is why I’m there and who I am to the Lawtons. It’ll shine a light on Conrad not being there and the fact he had an affair with my mother.” I shook my head. “It should be a day of celebration, not speculation.”
Della grumbled but didn’t disagree with me. Instead, she added more wine to her glass and pouted prettily. We’d been at the bar since happy hour. Kody insisted on drinks and appetizers after the fitting, since the four of us were already together. Aspen had offered a half-hearted protest, saying she had court in the morning, but eventually, she relented. And even though this impromptu get-together was Kody’s idea, she’d been missing on and off throughout the evening. I figured she kept getting pulled away to work, since the Barn was packed, but I didn’t see her behind the bar, and when I asked our server if she’d seen her, she mentioned she’d bumped into her going into the bathroom. Apparently, my spunky half sister wasn’t feeling too well but was too stubborn to mention it. When she came back to the table I noticed she was a little green around the gills and was drinking only water.
When I asked what was wrong, she waved me off, mumbling that she must’ve picked up a bug. I wanted to press her, but she cleverly changed the subject by asking Della, “You really aren’t concerned that Crew and Case might show up to the wedding in old boots and faded Levi’s? Your dress costs more than this entire bar is worth. You should at least ask him to wear a suit and tie so he doesn’t embarrass you.”
Both Della and Crew had some notoriety. Crew was the model and inspiration behind her company’s first-ever line of men’s products. His pictures had gone viral, and so had their relationship. They were kind of the Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani of the cosmetics world. People were fascinated by their romance, so even though the wedding was here in Loveless and minimal details had been released, the expectation of there being a media circus around the event was high.
Della lifted a shoulder and let it fall in a careless shrug. “Crew looks good no matter what he wears. He told me he didn’t care how much my dress cost, and he let me have my way when it came to most of the wedding details. He hasn’t complained once, even though I know he would’ve been happy eloping to Vegas. As long as he shows up and says, ‘I do,’ I don’t care what he’s wearing.”
Her words were slightly slurred and her eyes were overly glassy and bright. I realized the bottle of wine on the table was gone, and so was the one that had arrived before it. Aspen was also extra giggly, seeming to think Della’s declaration was the funniest thing she’d ever heard.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let Case show up in boots and jeans. He won’t tell me what Crew is planning, but it’s something better than what they usually wear. I overheard him talking to Hayes on the phone and he was asking for measurements.”
Hayes, Case’s son, was currently away at college. The two were close, and according to both Aspen and Kody, Hayes was considerably more fashionable than both his uncle and father. It was a good thing he was part of the wedding party, since the men were in charge of their own outfits. Della wanted Crew to have a part in the wedding, to make his own mark on their special day, so aside from making sure he matched her colors, she gave him free rein to wear what he wanted. Again, they were so different, I couldn’t get my head around how she could trust him so implicitly with something that was so important.
Della ordered another bottle of wine from the waitress, who looked in my direction and asked if I wanted anything. I wasn’t a big drinker and wine wasn’t my favorite, so I stuck with a dirty martini. The one I’d been nursing was gone, and I figured one more wouldn’t hurt.
“How do you and Crew agree on anything? You have such different backgrounds and come from such different experiences. How did you start to find common ground?” As I asked, I couldn’t help but think about Shot, and the way I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was different from anyone and anything I’d ever known, and I couldn’t decide if that was the reason why I couldn’t stay away from him.
Sure I liked the way he looked and the way he moved. I liked that he was confident in himself to the point of being cocky about it. I liked the way he smelled like leather and sunshine, and the way his deep voice softened just slightly when he talked to me. I really, really liked the way he kissed, and I was getting used to the playful way he teased me. I could tell he was different with me than he was around anyone else—maybe that was what drew me to him so inexplicably. I’d been treated differently because of my job and because I was smart, but Shot was the first man who treated me like I was someone special, like I was a woman he was attracted to, regardless of how impossible that attraction might seem.
“God, why would I want to spend the rest of my life with someone just like me?” Della snorted in an adorable way, her cheeks flushed. “I’m a workaholic. I have daddy issues. I can be self-absorbed and insensitive. He forces me to think outside of myself, and he makes me take care of myself. Before Crew, I only dated men who moved in the same circles as I did. They were more interested in my earning potential than my heart. It was boring and bland. When you have white and you add more white to it, nothing changes—you just get more of the same. But if someone comes in and dumps red, or blue, or green into that white base, you end up with a whole new color. Something vibrant and beautiful. Crew balances out all my bad traits, and I like to think I tamed some of his. We’re better people when we’re together, and that’s the common ground. I don’t want to change him, because I love who he is and who he influences me to be. I hope it’s the same for him.”
Aspen sighed sweetly and plopped a hand on Della’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you found each other.”
Della nodded a little sloppily and placed her palm over the back of Aspen’s hand. “You and Case, too. You’re very different. You’re so warm and caring, and Case is so cold and closed off, but you bring out the best in each other. He’s so much more approachable now that he has you, and you’re nowhere near as naive as you used to be.”
Kody made a gagging sound and rolled her eyes. “You guys are being gross right now.”
I giggled and thanked the waitress, who had appeared at my elbow with a fresh martini.
“Oh, stop.” Aspen turned her head, dark hair swinging. “You’re no different. You were living each and every day like it was your last until you admitted how you truly felt about Hill. He’s the eye of your constant storm, Kody, and you know it.”
Kody opened her mouth to argue, but before she could get any words out, she slapped a hand over her mouth and jumped to her feet. She made a panicked face and bolted toward the bathroom, practically knocking over a couple two-stepping on the dance floor in her ha
ste.
I took a sip of my drink and asked of no one in particular, “Should I go check on her, or will it just make her mad?”
Aspen grabbed for the last jalapeño popper and told me, “Give her a minute. I’m not sure what’s going on with her, but she’ll tell us when she’s ready.”
I frowned. “What do you mean? You don’t think she’s got a stomach bug or something along those lines?”
Both Aspen and Della shook their heads, dark and light in total agreement. “No, I don’t think she’s sick.” Aspen gave a small smile that was tinted with a shadow of sadness I didn’t understand. “I’m not going to say anything until Kody figures it out, and decides she wants to share, but I’m pretty sure what’s going on with her is eventually going to be a reason to celebrate.”
I was new to all this girl talk, but it seemed like Aspen was hinting at a major life change for Kody, which meant something along the lines of marriage or starting a family. Since Kody hadn’t mentioned either of those things, and she wasn’t one to keep her opinions and thoughts on pretty much anything to herself, both seemed unlikely.
But as I watched as Della hugged the other woman comfortingly, I felt like I was missing something big. I shook my head, realizing my thoughts were a little foggy and I was having a hard time putting the pieces of the conversation together. I bypassed the martini and reached for a glass of water, but my depth perception was off, and I ended up knocking over both drinks in front of me.
I gasped and got to my feet, nearly tripping over my chair. Aspen and Della both jumped up and scrambled to help clean the mess, but they were blurring together, and the bar was suddenly too loud. I put a hand to my forehead and rubbed the sweaty surface. I could feel my fingers trembling, but when I pulled my hand away, it felt like it belonged to someone else. Almost as if it wasn’t attached to my body.
Blacklisted Page 11
