Switched

by HelenKay Dimon

  “Because we’re so loyal to each other?”

  “Yes.”

  “Speaking of a trail, you left one. You kept changing the potential bad guy in our scenario, which made it easier to track your movements.” Aaron moved so that he stood right next to Lowell’s chair now. “There were lines of evidence leading to Brandon and to Mark and to your poor conspirator Angie here. You didn’t have to time to clean those up before seeing my alive today.”

  “Of course, you forgot the obvious trail that led to you,” Risa said in a quiet voice that somehow managed to ring throughout the room.

  “And what was that?” Palmer shot back.

  “Max. He’s at the police station right now. He’s cutting a deal. Once someone explained to him how he could be connected to the murders, he begged for a deal.” Aaron put a hand on the back of Lowell’s chair and glanced down at him. “He has a tape recording of Palmer’s orders.”

  A roar of fury blared through the room as Palmer grabbed for his gun. All Angie could think was that they were so close to each other, he and Aaron, that it was hard to imagine anyone missing, especially a trained security agent.

  She closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, the room was in motion. Aaron shoved Lowell’s chair out of the way, spinning him around and blocking any shot with his body. Aaron drew his own weapon. Younger and significantly faster, he got off one shot. Palmer hit the floor before he could pull the trigger.

  The small O on his lips faded as Palmer slid to the floor. A red stain spread across his shirt as blood seeped through his fingers. As he lay in a heap and Aaron reached for the phone, the air pumped out of Palmer’s chest on staccato breaths.

  Lowell shirked out of his jacket and crouched in front of his oldest friend in the world and one of his few in the building. He pressed the wadded-up material to the wound and whispered something that no one but the two of them could hear.

  Whatever they said had Palmer shaking his head. He lifted a hand but it fell to the floor as if boneless.

  When he spoke, the words were louder. “You ruined everything. Had to go.”

  Lowell sat back on his heels as his face went pale. “It’s my company.”

  Palmer shook his head, then rode out a spasm of coughing. When he finally stopped, his head rolled to the side and his speech was slurred. “You didn’t deserve him.”

  The words came out harsh between forced pants.

  “This has been about Brandon?” Shock filled Lowell’s voice.

  Palmer nodded and then closed his eyes. “Always. Took him for granted. Destroyed him.”

  “He’s my son.”

  Angie wanted to scream. All this loss and all this destruction stemmed from Brandon. The kid never did anything in his life and he had people racing around on his behalf.

  “You should have stepped down.” Palmer grabbed Lowell’s sleeve, leaving a bloody handprint on his expensive shirt.

  “No, Palmer.” Lowell’s voice was a mix of resignation and sadness. “You’re wrong about this. He doesn’t have it.”

  “Give him the company.”

  “Never.”

  But Palmer missed the last answer. He’d passed out.

  Angie didn’t wait around for the room to turn on her. In the confusion she could sneak out and keep going. She’d packed two bags and emptied a safe-deposit box this morning as a precaution. Good planning always won out.

  While the men gathered around Palmer, administering CPR, she grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Watching the scene behind her with each step, she didn’t see Risa until she almost ran right over her.

  Risa stood in front of the closed office door, ignoring the shouts of people on the other side. “I don’t know where you think you’re going.”

  Angie weighed the chances of getting through the woman. Risa weighed less, might be weaker.

  She smiled at Angie. “I’m really hoping you try it. I’ve been dying to unleash some of the new fighting skills I’ve learned.”

  In that moment Angie knew she’d lost everything.

  Chapter Twenty

  The next morning Risa smiled when Aaron slipped his fingers through hers as they walked down the hospital corridor. It felt so right to walk hand in hand.

  She wore the jeans and turtleneck black sweater she’d fetched from her apartment when they’d swung by earlier that morning. And he had on the most casual outfit she’d ever seen him in—black jeans and a button-down shirt.

  At this point she wondered if he owned normal jeans. But she couldn’t deny he looked great in these sexy black ones. She also knew getting him out of them later wouldn’t take much effort on her part at all. For a guy who was a dating slow starter, he’d made up for lost time.

  After the harrowing morning in Lowell’s office yesterday, she’d wanted to spend the entire day rolling around in bed and eating unhealthy food. Aaron had obliged both passions.

  It had been tough to watch the life flow out of Palmer and hear his sad confession that reached back to the loss of his son and his frustration at Lowell’s failure to appreciate his own son. In fact, it seemed to have stolen most of her energy. How had a father’s love turned into all that horror and sadness? Palmer’s broken spirit would stay with her for a long time. It shaped the man. In a way it shaped her, too. She wondered if it would have an impact on Lowell or if he was a lost cause and Brandon would just never experience the love he deserved.

  If all those depressing events had darkened her soul yesterday, Aaron’s lovemaking had restored it last night. On limited sleep and with more than a little worry piled up in her life, she felt alive today. Filled with energy and feeling that bounce that usually came with the onset of warm weather after a harsh snowy winter.

  They’d stayed in a hotel while cleaners took care of the mess back in his condo. Aaron had insisted they needed some pampering from room service and a big bathtub, so they skipped her tiny place with the stand-up shower. She was grateful for his maneuvering because she wasn’t sure she’d ever be fully comfortable at his place again, ever see the balcony without remembering a man go over. The bloodstains might be erased by professionals, but she saw them whenever she closed her eyes.

  But for Aaron she would try to block it out. Ignore all the negative and focus on what the past few days had provided her. She’d never dreamed of another date with Aaron let alone a chance of a lifetime. She would do just about anything for him. Not be his doormat or the woman he held on the side for the rest of his life—she deserved better than that—but if they could build something together, she would.

  That’s what happened when a woman fell for a great guy. A guy she could trust. Aaron wouldn’t run off or take her money. He was solid. Maybe a little slow in the dating department, but solid.

  Machines beeped around them as the loudspeaker rang with the newest call for assistance. While she’d enjoyed the hotel, the hospital was a different story. She’d spent more time in this place in the past few days than she had in twenty years.

  Most important to her was who wasn’t there. Royal was home now, complaining and texting Aaron every few minutes begging for a beer and burger run. He’d actually demanded pizza only to write back and say his wife had forbade it. Aaron had explained that forbidding included couch sleeping in Royal’s house, so Royal would be skipping that entrée for some time.

  She hadn’t met Gail. That would happen during a home visit with Royal later today, but Risa already liked the other woman. Royal and Gail proved the adage that you could measure a person by his friends. Solid, every last one of them.

  They walked the hallway to Brandon’s private room. Lowell stepped out just as they got there. His tie hung open and his jacket appeared loose over the shoulders, as if he’d lost a significant amount of weight while he waited for Brandon to get better.

  Lowell closed the door behind him as he stepped into the hall. “Sonya is visiting. They could use some privacy and a few minutes without me.”

  Risa didn’t really
believe people could change overnight. She thought personalities were set; certainly they held a rigidity once a person hit the fifties.

  But the man before her no longer had this larger-than-life persona that entered a room a second before he did. He wasn’t pontificating and judging. He was trying to act the role of father, which might prove to be the toughest battle of his impressive career.

  “How is Brandon doing?” she asked.

  The lines across his forehead smoothed out at the mention of his son’s name. “Better. He came out of the coma. He’s aware of what’s going on around him but only has limited memories of that night.”

  Risa almost envied Brandon that memory loss. Maybe the brain repaired what the body couldn’t. By blocking it, he didn’t have to relive every minute as she kept doing.

  “The doctors are now saying he can go home tomorrow. There will be home therapy and memory work, but we have the resources to get help.” Lowell raked a hand through his hair. The strands of gray appeared more pronounced now, and a weariness pulsed all around him.

  Aaron shook his hand. “That’s all good news. Much better than I think any of us expected so soon.”

  “We had to tell him about Palmer. Brandon knows he died. He doesn’t know the details, but he will eventually. He’s a grown man. I can’t hide this stuff from him like I did when he was a kid.”

  A breakthrough. Risa didn’t know what else to call it when a man woke up and realized his son was no longer a kid. She hoped that meant good things for the relationship. If nothing else, maybe they could find some sort of tentative peace.

  As for Palmer, a heart attack on the way to the hospital had taken his life. Risa guessed he would have survived Aaron’s bullet, but he’d never gotten the chance to try. She also assumed Lowell was really talking about telling Brandon about Palmer’s part in the bombings and threats.

  “About what happened in the office—” Lowell’s sentence stopped and he didn’t show any signs of finishing it.

  She tensed, waiting for him to make a judgment on Aaron’s shooting Palmer. Aaron shot because he had to. She knew that as much as she knew anything about her own life. As he’d inched toward Lowell’s chair, Risa had panicked thinking the scene would play out a very different way.

  He’d been prepared to be a human shield. That’s why he stood there. He knew Palmer would make a desperate move.

  She’d tried to get Aaron to admit it all, but he’d just shrugged. Hero worship was not his thing, so she practiced it in silence.

  Lowell finally looked up at Aaron. “Thank you.”

  Aaron’s eyebrows lifted.

  She felt as if she’d been kicked in the gut. Hearing those simple words stunned her. From what she knew about Lowelll, all she’d read and heard, he wasn’t a man who appreciated much other than his own steady rise to power. Those who didn’t match his drive or talent got left behind.

  He didn’t leave a lot of room for emotion in business, so sparing some for Aaron meant something. It filled her with pride. She guessed it gave Aaron a sense of accomplishment. How could it not?

  Her pride for Aaron and what he stood for, for all the accolades he earned, exploded inside her. He was a good man. And she was a lucky woman.

  Aaron opened his mouth, but Lowell held up a hand to stop him. “You didn’t have to play it that way. You certainly didn’t have to put your body in front of mine. Anything could have happened.”

  “I don’t miss that close.”

  “But you bleed just like everyone else.”

  Risa closed her eyes on the horrible thought. When she opened them again Lowell was staring at her. Some of the harsh shadows had left his eyes.

  He shook her hand. “And you were pretty impressive, as well.”

  “It comes with the girlfriend job.” She’d spent her entire grown-up life hating that word. It sounded so juvenile, as if she’d been transported back to ninth grade. When she said it about Aaron it made her smile.

  Love was a silly, stupid thing.

  And that’s what it was. She’d known him for such a short time, but she recognized the feeling. The rush of breath when she saw him. The tumble of her stomach right before he kissed her. The thud of her heart when he stripped off his shirt.

  She wanted to be with him, talk to him, learn all about him. If she managed not to scare him away, she might have a chance to do all of that.

  “And an additional thank-you for keeping quiet about the Angie situation.” Lowell’s cheeks flushed when he said the words.

  “What’s going to happen?” Yeah, she should have let it drop, but Risa asked because the curiosity was eating at her.

  “She’s trying to work a deal. There have been more threats and comments my attorneys assure me amount to blackmail.” Lowell stared at his son’s door for a second. “When he’s up and going again, I’ll tell Sonya. She won’t be surprised, but at least that way we can take the sting out of Angie’s supposed upper hand.”

  Risa couldn’t imagine a marriage based on nothing more than a financial contract. The cold comfort of having someone else in the house but not having love or intimacy sounded like a nightmare to her.

  Accepting infidelity was not something she would ever do. Things went wrong, but some aspects of a relationship were sacred and that was one. She glanced at Aaron, saw his strong profile and knew in her heart that was a lecture she’d never have to give him. Besides that, he had a good marriage influence in Royal and she was grateful for that luck.

  “We’ll let you go,” Aaron said. “You can get back to the family and a few days without any danger.”

  “After all, Christmas is right around the corner.” Lowell smiled at her comment but didn’t respond.

  Aaron slipped his arm around her waist. He shifted her for a quick exit and she didn’t fight it.

  “There has to be something I can do for you,” Lowell said before they’d taken a step.

  Aaron pretended to think about it. “Pay your bill.”

  “Done, and if you’re looking for a new job, I have one for waiting you. You would be a fine addition at Craft, especially now that the danger has passed.”

  Risa struggled to hide her frown. She almost made an unpleasant noise but managed to hold it in. Seeing Lowell now broke her heart. Despite that, the idea of sending Aaron off to work with Lowell each day made her breakfast curdle in her stomach. He was wounded now but his terrible reputation was hard to forget.

  “I like being my own boss,” Aaron finally said.

  “The deal is always open.”

  “A man couldn’t ask for more than that.”

  Risa thought he could ask for one more thing. Something from her. If he did, she’d give it to him. She was his. Question was whether he realized that yet.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  By the end of the day, Aaron was dead tired. He tried to remember another point in his life when he’d fired his weapon this much. He’d be filling out forms for months over this job. The insurance company might send someone to shadow him for a month, although he hoped that threat from his agent was a joke.

  As it was, the police had all sorts of questions for him. Apparently finding injured men in bathrooms at Elan had not made them happy. The dead guy in the elevator didn’t help. Hey, he’d warned them before they fanned out through the building.

  Both of the bathroom attackers lived, but one was in critical condition from the loss of blood. The kid on the fifth floor had rubbed his wrists raw but was otherwise okay. As far as Aaron was concerned, the dead guys deserved to be dead.

  He opened the hotel room door and ushered Risa inside. With her usual flair, she made a dramatic noise and threw her body across the bed. She plopped down there with her arms and hair spread out over the comforter.

  The woman sure did like her comfort. Aaron knew that from just a few days of nonstop togetherness. She never demanded, but somehow she made sure she had soft pillows and even softer linens. She insisted the bubble bath had been a bonus for him.
/>   Mighty sweet of her to think of him while naked.

  She made a delicious picture. So beautiful and full of life. After seeing so much death, she was a burst of sunshine.

  He marveled at how she’d taken all the threats and violence in stride. He kept waiting for some blowback. He’d never known a civilian not to experience aftereffects, even some sort of a posttraumatic reaction. Some just wanted to talk about the situation until he thought his head would explode. The need to relive it was one of his least favorite, so he was grateful she didn’t feel that need.

  Whatever he was looking for, whatever symptoms, never came. She shared all the time, so it was hard to see how she could keep something that big from him.

  Just one more way she surprised him. She was nothing like Pam or any other woman he’d ever known. The combination of strong, smart and sexy kept knocking him off balance.

  If she ever realized how much power she had over him, he was a dead man.

  Truth was, she had every right to hate him. Some days when he looked in the mirror he felt a kick of disgust. Taking her to Lowell’s office yesterday had been a mistake. The police had been involved by then and she would have been safe on her own. He just hated the idea of being separated from her.

  She spread out on the bed until her fingers and toes touched each end of the mattress. “So, now what?”

  “We stick around here, sleep for a month and then eventually, when we think all the gunman have cleared out, we try having dinner again.”

  She lifted her head and glared at him. “That gunman thing isn’t funny.”

  Worse for her, he was only half kidding on that one. Thanks to the constant attacks on her, he now expected someone to jump out around every corner.

  It wasn’t a bad worry to have. It kept him fresh and ready to go. He could be on the defensive and easily switch to the offensive if his battle gear was always ready to go.

  “I promise no gunmen for a while.”

  She flopped back down. “That’s good news, but I wasn’t talking about anything so specific.”