by Lydia Burke
Forced to wait and wonder what was going on behind the closed double doors, he paced the hallways and badgered the staff for news until an exasperated nurse behind the desk took him to a small private waiting room to get him out of the flow of traffic.
At some point a harried doctor took j ust enough time to rush in and tell him Jessie was still not out of danger, and no, Ben couldn't see her yet. A few minutes later, the nurse returned with a message for him to call Leutringer at the county jail. Making sure first that she would come to get him if there was any word on Jessie, Ben found a pay phone in the lobby.
"I thought you'd like to know what a coup we pulled today," Leutzinger said. "Donno and Brock are singing like Pa-varotti to save their scrawny necks. They both heard Rory
Douglas say he killed Mai Duan, and Donno gave us some good information tying Douglas to the Port Mangus operation, too, so we've got him on drug running, prostitution and murder one. Plus Brock told us where to find the journal. From all the trouble it's caused, it ought to be pretty juicy. With all that ammunition, we offered Douglas immunity to testify in court against the top guys in his organization, and he went for it. I've already put the wheels in motion to get him out of town to a safe house. We're getting the big boys on this one, Ben."
"Congratulations," Ben said without enthusiasm. The last thing he wanted was to see Rory Douglas get off scot-free after what he'd done to Jessie. But he knew as well as Leutzinger how the game was played.
"How's Ms. Webster doing?" the agent finally remembered to ask.
Ben relayed the discouraging report the doctor had just given him.
"I was hoping for better news," Leutzinger said compassionately. "But at least she's still alive."
"Yeah, there's hope," Ben replied with an optimism he didn't really feel. He couldn't bear to think of the alternative. Could anyone lose as much blood as Jessie had and survive?
"It's too bad we didn't get to that warehouse sooner," Leutzinger said.
Ben shook off his morbid thoughts and gave the conversation his attention. "I was surprised that you showed up at all. How did you know we were there?"
"We didn't. Actually, we didn't know what to expect when we got inside. The agent who's been tailing Douglas ever since he was released on bail acted on a hunch when he called for backup. He'd seen Douglas and Donno together plenty of times, but they'd always met in some out-of-the-way place, talked for a while, then gone their separate ways. They never went anywhere together, until last night. That break in the pattern made our man suspect something important was going down, so he radioed headquarters. I headed over as soon as I got the word, and the backup was inside already when I got there. They moved in as soon as they heard gunfire."
"They did a good job," Ben said.
"A few minutes sooner and we could have kept Ms. Webster from getting shot. It was a tough break and I'm sorry, Ben. I know you two are... Well, this must be tough on you."
At this expression of support Ben swallowed, unable to answer. Leutzinger broke the heavy silence with forced cheer. "Oh, I meant to tell you. I called her sister in Port Mangus as soon as I could get to a phone. It'll take her a few hours to drive down here, but she's on her way."
"Oh, hell," Ben said. "I should have thought of that. Thanks, Cal. I know Jessie would want Allie to be here."
"No problem. There's just one other thing and then I'll let you go. I hate to bother you with this right now, but I'll need your statement about the kidnapping whenever you can get over here. Ms. Webster's, too, if she, uh... when she feels up to it."
"I'll give you a call," Ben said.
Allie arrived a couple of hours later. She rushed into the waiting room, calm but obviously anxious, her long, unbuttoned coat billowing like a cape behind her. Without ceremony, she said, "Ben. How is she? They wouldn't tell me anything at the desk."
For the barest instant, Ben thought she was Jessie. She'd put her hair up and wisps of it were escaping from the careless knot in crinkled ringlets around her face. The resemblance to her twin was so strong, it hurt to look at her.
He rubbed the back of his neck wearily. "She's okay, I think. I'm not sure. They're still working on her."
Something about his answer caused Allie's eyes to sharpen. She gave him a critical once-over. "You look terrible."
Ben didn't doubt it. He needed a shave, a shower, a shirt and a solid eight hours' sleep.
Allie slipped off her coat as she moved farther into the room. "Come on. You'd better sit down before you fall down."
She folded her coat in front of her and perched on the edge of a cushioned chair with metal arms, obviously too tense to relax, in spite of her composure. Ben took the matching chair next to her.
"Aren't you too warm?" she asked distractedly, glancing at his zipped-up jacket as he sat down.
For a terrible moment his mind flashed back to the gruesome scene in the warehouse and the reason he was baie chested under the concealing leather. He answered evasively, "I'm fine."
But Allie's attention was already back on her sister. The worried look returned to her face. "Have you been able to talk to a doctor yet?"
"Yeah, about half an hour ago. Dr. Panelli."
"Is it bad?"
There was no easy way to put it. "Bad enough. She took two bullets and lost a lot of blood by the time the ambulance came. The doctor told me she started to go into shock and was in and out of consciousness for a while. But they finally managed to stabilize her, and now she's in surgery."
Allie's eyes widened in alarm and she sat up straighter. Cursing himself for his bluntness, Ben said quickly, "It's not life threatening, as long as no complications set in. Panelli's just digging the bullet out of her leg and fixing the artery that was hit. He couldn't do it sooner because she wasn't stable. Now that she is, it's a routine procedure, he said, with minimum risk. The other wound is nothing to worry about—only a gash about an inch long above her ear where the second bullet grazed her skull."
The color had left Allie's cheeks during his recitation of Jessie's injuries. "Is she going to be all right?"
"According to the doc, in a few days she should be fine."
"What do you think about Dr. Panelli? Is he competent?"
"He's a trauma specialist, Allie," Ben said gently. "He deals with gunshot victims every day. He knows what he's doing."
"Oh, a specialist. That's good." With a relieved sigh, Allie slumped and propped her elbows on the arms of the chair. "Who would believe it? My sister, who wouldn't hurt a fly, getting shot."
"I know," Ben said grimly. "Out of all of us in that room, nobody was hit but her, and she was the only one of the whole bunch who didn't deserve it. It was just a damned good thing Leutzinger was there to radio for an ambulance right away, or she might've... Well, it could have been a lot worse."
Not until he'd knelt over Jessie's unconscious body while waiting for the paramedics had Ben realized how lost he would be if the life drained out of her. He was sure the pain of those long minutes would never be erased from his memory. In the midst of all the chaos created as Leutzinger and his men subdued, cuffed and Mirandized the three bastards who had caused all the trouble, Ben had sat on the floor beside Jessie, pressing his shirt against the hole in her leg, willing the blood to stay in her body. Over and over he whispered to her around the lump in his throat, Don't die, don't die. And inside his head, he threatened, cajoled and pleaded with the God of heaven, the God he hadn't turned to in eleven long years, to spare her.
The world without Jessie would have no light, no joy.
Allie asked,' 'Where did it happen? How?"
"It was my fault," he said. Thai he looked at her and added derisively, "Some bodyguard, huh?"
Ignoring his self-condemnation, she said, "Tell me."
He sketched out the nighf s events for her without sparing himself—his argument with Jessie, Ed's abduction, the subsequent struggle in the dark warehouse with his old enemy, the terrible moment when he'd called out Jessie's name a
nd she hadn't answered.
"Did you get them all?" Allie demanded fiercely when he was finished. "Douglas, Ed Brock and that other guy, Donno what's-his-name? Did anybody get away?"
"No. Leutzinger has them all in custody." Ben decided not to mention that Douglas planned to trade his freedom for somebody else's.
"Good." The vengeful light in Allie's eyes glimmered with satisfaction.
She leaned back with a sigh, apparently content to wait in silence now that Ben had answered her questions. After a while she said, "I knew Jessie needed me, even before Cal called. I don't know how I knew, I just did. I was already dressed and ready to go when the phone rang. God, the miles between here and Port Mangus have never seemed so long. All the way I kept telling myself that she was still alive, that surely I'd know—I'd feel it if she... didn't make it."
Ben nodded. "She told me once that you two have that kind of connection/'
Suddenly Allie jumped from her chair and took several long steps across the carpet. She did a quick about-face when she reached the small sofa on the other side of the room. "I hate waiting like this. How long can it take to cut a bullet out of... somebody's leg?"
She choked on the last words and her face sort of crumpled. But she held out an arresting palm when Ben rose to go to her. A strangled sound halfway between a laugh and a sob came from her throat. "No, don't you dare comfort me, or I'll fly to pieces."
"Do you want some coffee or a soft drink? There are vending machines just down the hall."
"Yes, please, a cola. Diet, if they have it."
When Ben came back with her drink, she had regained her composure and returned to her chair. He popped the top on her cola and handed it to her.
"Thanks," she said. The previous shakiness was gone from her voice. Ben admired her control.
"Aren't you having anything?" she asked him.
"Uh-uh." He sat down again, slouching so he could stretch out his legs. A huge, audible yawn caught him.
"It looks like you could use a nap." Allie's smile was her first since dashing into the room. "Why don't you lie down on that couch over there and try to sleep?"
"Not till I know Jessie's okay. I'll be all right."
She studied him for a moment. "You shouldn't blame yourself, you know. It was a whole combination of people and events that led to her getting hurt, not just one. For that matter, / contributed. If I hadn't taken Mai's journal—and now I wish I hadn't—Jessie wouldn't have been involved in any of this."
"Yeah, but you didn't practically kick her out of your house in the middle of the night. You didn't get yourself knocked out and tied up like an untrained civilian, for God's sake, so you were of no earthly use to her whatever." Ben shook his head in self-recrimination, remembering the frustrating helplessness.
"You're right. You're beyond the pale, you dirty bird. Let's string 'im up," Allie declared with rousing fervor.
He whipped his head around and saw her watching him with an ingenuous expression on her face.
"Well," she said, shrugging, "if you're determined to beat yourself up about it, I'm not going to stop you." In a softer voice, she added, "You love her, don't you?"
Ben didn't answer.
"She loves you."
He swallowed. "I know. God knows why. Look what I brought her to. She deserves better."
Allie clucked her tongue impatiently. "Honestly, Ben. Will you listen to yourself?"
Ben replayed his self-pitying words in his head, grimaced and then smiled ruefully at Allie's knowing look. He was starting to like this difficult woman.
"Mr. Sutton?"
A tall, dark-haired man appeared in the doorway dressed in surgical scrubs. Ben shot to his feet.
"Relax, Your fiancee is fine," Dr. Panelli said with a slight smile. "We got the bullet out and repaired the severed artery." The surgeon's gaze shifted to Allie for a second. "There'll be some scarring, of course, and she may have a good bit of pain for a few days, but that leg should heal up nicely now."
Ben felt a wide grin of relief split his face. He took the doctor's hand in both of his and shook it warmly. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I want her to stay off her feet for a few days. If she has someone at home to fetch and carry for her, I'U release her after twenty-four hours. Otherwise, we'll keep her a little longer."
From behind Ben, Allie said, "I'll take care of her." Ben shot her a dark look over his shoulder.
Paneili's look, however, was more cordial. "Do I detect a resemblance to my patient?"
"You do." Allie stepped forward. "I'm Alicia Webster, Jessie's twin. May we see my sister now, Doctor?"
"She'll be in ICU until the anesthesia wears off in a couple of hours or so," the doctor said. "You can see her for a few
minutes after she's moved upstairs. Just ask the staff—one of them will tell you the room number."
He was gone as quickly as he'd appeared.
Allie raised her eyebrows at Ben. "Fiancee?"
He shrugged. "I had to tell them that, or they wouldn't have given me any information."
She held his eyes steadily for so long he began to feel as if they were in a staring contest. Finally she said, "You're good for her, you know, and you can't persuade me otherwise. She's been happy with you, happier than I've ever seen her."
After that remarkable statement, she asked Ben to excuse her and went to find the ladies' room.
But her words stayed with him for a long time.
"How's the view?"
At the sound of the dry, familiar voice of her sister, Jessie's eyes swung with pleasure from the overcast sky outside the window to the door of her hospital room. She should have known Allie would come.
Wrinkling her nose, she said, "Boring. I'd rather watch the squirrels chase each other around the trees in Ben's backyard. How did you get here, Allie?"
Allie approached the bed. "I might ask you the same question, sister dear. I thought / was the twin who didn't know how to stay out of trouble. Is it safe to hug you?"
"You'd better." Jessie held out the arm that wasn't connected to the IV. "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered as Allie embraced her.
Allie drew back but stayed close to the bed. "Cal Leutzinger called me. I tell you, Jessie, if I hadn't already been planning to move back to Chicago, this morning would have settled it. Every mile I drove to get here seemed like a hundred. I was never so scared in my life. But, hey, at least that interview Leutzinger promised me will be a doozy, won't it? I'm sure to get a job now."
She smiled, but the worried look didn't leave her eyes as she grabbed Jessie's hand and held on tight. "I can only stay for five minutes, so tell me how you're feeling. Does your leg hurt?"
"Not too badly, but I'm pumped full of painkillers. Why can't you stay longer, Allie?"
"I will, this evening during regular visiting hours. Right now, though, there's a dragon of a nurse at the nurses' station who says you Med rest so soon after your ordeal."
"Thaf s ridiculous. I'm a little tired, but otherwise I don't feel bad. Even if I did, having you here gives me a lift."
"That's nice to hear, sis, but I want you to do what you're told. Let's not take any chances."
Jessie couldn't hide her disappointment. "I suppose you're right."
Allie patted her arm sympathetically. "Dr. Panelli said we can get you out of here tomorrow, so hang in there, kiddo."
"Allie, have you seen Ben? Do you know if he's all right?"
"Are you kidding? I practically had to wrestle him to the floor to get first dibs to see you. If I go a second over my time, he'll probably haul me out of here bodily. I don't think he'll be completely convinced you're okay until he sees you for himself."
"He's here? Now?" Jessie jerked her hand out of Allfe's and touched the bandage on her head. "How do I look, Allie? Is there a mirror somewhere around here? I know they shaved my hair around this gash on my head. Does it look too awful?"
"Vanity, thy name is Jessie. Do you think Ben is going to care about t
hat?" Allie rolled her eyes but leaned ova: and examined the bandage, anyway. "I don't think they shaved too much, though it's hard to tell. In any case, ifs covered up for now. By the way, you're going to get your wish."
"What wish?"
"The one about watching the squirrels in Ben's yard. You're going to recuperate at his house."
Though she had heard every word Allie had said about how anxious Ben was to see her, this announcement caused Jessie some trepidation. "Whose idea was that?"
Allie looked at her quizzically. "His, of course. The only way the doctor would let you go tomorrow was if you had somebody at home to wait on you hand and foot, and Ben volunteered for the privilege."
"But... what about his job?"
With a maddening lack of concern, Allie shrugged. "He said he'd make arrangements/ 9
"What arrangements? He told me he'd be leaving town the day after Christmas."
Allie exhaled impatiently. "For Pete's sake, Jessie! Ask the man himself, why don't you? / don't know what his {dans are."
Jessie remembered Ben's harshness after she'd pushed him into a confrontation the night before. He'd been willing enough then to be rid of her. Knowing how his overblown conscience worked, he must be thinking he owed it to her to nurse her through her convalescence. Which would come first, she wondered, the discharge of his self-imposed obligation, or his new assignment? Either way, she'd be alone. Jessie wasn't sure she could face the pain of separating again.
"Why can't you help me, Allie? You're between jobs right now."
Allie put her hands on her hips. "If s not that I can't or don't want to. Look, I was perfectly willing to take care of you at your apartment for as long as you needed me, and I said so. But Ben overruled me, okay? I fought the law, and the law won. Bid of story."
"Please, Allie. He just feels responsible that I got shot I don't want to be in his house just because he feels guilty. He doesn't want me there, not really."
