by Nora Snowdon
A dark object careened toward her head. She ducked, but was too slow. The glancing blow sent pain ricocheting through her left shoulder and up her neck, momentarily stunning her. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she scrambled to her feet and turned to face her attacker. She gulped at the sight of the heavyset giant glaring at her.
Fuck.
Lu wound up and kicked at the guy’s groin. A muffled grunt and the hard muscle deflecting her foot made her realize her aim was off. Shit. You never got two shots at a guy’s jewels. Okay, jam his nose into his brain with the heel of your hand. Lu shot her arm out, but he grabbed her wrist and with minimal effort twisted her around until her arm was behind her back and on the verge of snapping. She raised up on her toes trying to relieve the agony and lined up her free elbow to swing it back into his solar plexus—
Crack!
She heard the massive explosion in her head before she felt the agonizing blow. Merciful darkness followed as she dropped into a black void.
CHAPTER 15
Lu swallowed, a familiar ache throbbing at the back of her head.
It couldn’t be.
She fought to open her eyes, but her brain was sluggish at translating her wishes. The sounds were definitely familiar. She heard low murmurs, squeaky wheels, rattling dishes, continuous beeping and that white hum of air conditioners, water coolers, and various pipes.
Lu finally pried her eyelids open. She was still in the hospital. The mucus beige walls undulated menacingly and she shut her eyes to stave off the burgeoning nausea.
Lu swallowed to ease her dry throat and that’s when she tasted it. A dry, sooty substance permeated her mouth. Fuck! Did that mean she’d …? Why couldn’t she remember anything? And what the hell was that at the back of her head?
She visualized her hand rising to investigate, but the weight of her arm remained resting on her stomach. She clenched her jaws and focused. Her fingertips curled around the thin cloth blanket. Thank God, I’m not paralyzed! After a few minutes of concentration her hand finally obeyed and she cautiously felt for the back of her skull. Tubing and bandages blocked her progress.
But …? Lu tried to reassemble her brain cells into coherency.
“Lu?” A low male voice beside her made her open her eyes again. Was it Paul? But hadn’t he dumped her, or … She tried to focus. A blur of flesh-tone, light gray and dark spots slowly tightened until she could identify the figure in front of her.
“Oh, thank God, you’re awake.” Byron stood beside her bed with bags under his eyes and his hair in wild disarray. He gently pulled her hand away from her head and held it in his own.
“Where am I?” No, she wasn’t in Springfield recovering from her bike accident. This was something new. And Byron was real. Lu closed her eyes to hold back her tears of relief. “What happened?”
“You were hit on the head.” Byron pulled a chair up to her bed. After he sat down, he took her hand again. “I thought I was going to lose you there. How do you feel?” His eyes were bloodshot and Lu felt a wave of concern for him.
She squeezed his fingers. “I’m good,” she whispered. “You look terrible.”
His snort of laughter reassured her. “Thanks.” His smile faded and he asked, “So what were you doing out at the grow-op?”
Lu stared at him in confusion. “Huh? I went with you to Baker Street. We were investigating—?”
“No. I mean last night. The grow-op on Kroger Street?”
“Um …?” Lu felt her eyebrows knitting together. What was there about Kroger Street? She’d heard that name recently. But wasn’t it a female voice?
“Hey, it’s okay,” Byron stroked a strand of hair away from her forehead. His touch was warm and soothing. “Just relax and it’ll come back to you.”
A dark woman all dressed in blue scuttled into the room. She glared at the tray table by the wall and then at Byron. “She still not eating? Should tell the kitchen. It’s a waste of food and time, we bring you this.”
“Have a nice day, too,” Lu grumbled, as the woman stalked away. “What time is it?”
Byron glanced at his watch. “Seven p.m..” He answered her next question before she could ask it. “You came in at about four this morning. You’d lost a lot of blood and they had to drain some fluid build-up in your brain. You were pretty well out of it the whole time.”
“Was I in a car accident?”
“No. You wandered into the middle of a police sting operation.” He stared at her as if trying to figure out if she really didn’t remember. “There was a helluva lot of confusion. I blew cover when I saw you get hit.” He raked his hand through his hair, his Adam apple bobbed. “Then there was an explosion and the whole place burst in flames.”
Lu licked the remaining smoke flavor from her teeth. Had she caused the explosion? Why couldn’t she remember?
Byron let out a long exhale and then added, “I told Reynolds and my bosses that you were working for me at the time.”
That didn’t sound right. Hadn’t they started dating after she’d stopped working for him? “I was? But didn’t I—?”
“No, you weren’t, but this way the police department will pay your medical bills.”
“Um … Thanks.” Lu closed her eyes to absorb the news. At least this time her hospital stay wouldn’t put her back in debt again. But she hated lying. It was bad karma.
“Yeah. It also means I don’t have to pick you up as a person of interest.”
“Oh.” Does that mean I’m a suspect? Lu couldn’t bear to ask.
Byron interrupted her thoughts. “I would like to know what the hell you were doing there.”
“Me too,” Lu agreed. Although aside from setting the fire, which Byron wouldn’t suspect her of, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have been there for any illegal reasons.
“What do you remember from yesterday?”
“Yesterday …” Her first recollection made her smile. “I woke up and there was a note on my table saying, ‘I love you, Honey bear,’ next to the left over dessert that Laurel Ann sent home with us.”
He chuckled. “Yup.”
Thank God her brain was still functioning. “I had coffee, cleaned my fridge, went jogging, did laundry … grocery shopping.” She closed her eyes trying to visualize the rest of the day. “Oh yeah, I saw Laurel Ann at her store and we went out for a coffee on her break.”
“That’s good. What groceries did you buy?”
“Coffee, milk … bread …Why? You wondering if there’s anything good in my fridge?”
“It’s your turn to cook,” he reminded her. Then he explained, “Often one memory will trigger another.”
“Okay. Soup, frozen veggies—oh, and Band-Aids. My new shoes are giving me blisters.”
“Still? You should try different shoes.”
“They were expensive.”
“What did you have for dinner?”
“Hm … Oh yeah, soup and toast.” She caught his look of disdain. “It was good. Besides I don’t want to get fat from eating out with you all the time.”
“I think you’re trying to make me feel guilty for deserting you all yesterday for work.”
“No, but I’m getting hungry now from talking about food.”
“I’ll get the nurse to add some sugar to your I.V.”
“No. Real food or nothing.”
“I’m kidding. What would you like? I’ll check out the cafeteria.”
“Carbs, please. Bread, potatoes, or pasta. Maybe some chocolate, too?”
He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back. You keep remembering.”
“Hey.” Lu held out her hand and he stopped.
“Yes?”
“I want a real kiss, mister.”
“I don’t want to make your blood pressure go up,” he said smiling as he leaned over her. Lu closed her eyes and luxuriated in the soft pressure of his lips against hers.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“Anytime, love.”
Lu sighed,
watching the door swing shut behind him. No matter what had happened to her, at least this time in the hospital she had Byron. But why couldn’t she remember? What was she doing at Kroger Street? And where the hell even was Kroger Street? She continued probing her memory: dinner, the news on TV, a late night walk because she was restless and then she’d gone to bed.
The phone!
Lu almost sat up in shock when she remembered Susan’s call. The shooting pain at the pack of her head held her back. Then her heart monitor and another monitor screamed and beeped ominously. A nurse ran in and unplugged both contraptions from the wall.
That’s what she was doing at the Kroger Street house! Lu ignored the growing number of concerned caregivers panicking about the caustic smoke billowing from her monitors. Slowly her brain pieced together last night. Kaitlynn hadn’t been there. Oh shit! She looked for her phone to call Susan. Unless Byron picked the kid up? She’d better wait until he got back. To hell with Kaitlynn’s curfew, Lu needed Byron’s help.
*
At first Lu had been relieved when the hospital had sent her home to recover, but after almost two weeks of being hovered over by Susan, she missed the relaxing ambience of the hospital. Byron was tense as well, but Lu wasn’t sure how much was attributable to Susan and how much to other factors.
“Are you okay with this no sex for one more week thing?” Lu whispered to Byron later that night as he climbed into her bed.
“I’ll survive.” He curled his body around hers so her back snuggled into his chest. He only wore boxer shorts and his erection strained against the thin material separating their bodies. “But when you’ve recovered, I’ll expect to make up for lost time.”
“Oh, yeah?” It felt odd lying in bed with Byron and knowing Susan was sleeping on the couch in the next room. Byron seemed even more uncomfortable. Since Susan had arrived he’d been leaving most nights as soon as he thought Lu was asleep.
“Yup. Sex twenty-four-seven.”
“That’s a lot. When do we eat?”
“Maybe we could rig up some I.V.s?”
“No. I like to taste my food, thank you very much.”
“Okay. We’ll pause for meals if you have to.” He kissed her shoulder. “How’re you doing with Nurse Susan?”
“Fine.” Lu rolled her eyes at her immediate response. “No, she’s driving me nuts. I can’t talk to her about her new boyfriend because I’m afraid I’ll say something about what a lying sleaze he is. Plus, she’s still in denial about Kaitlynn’s drug use even after you picked her up at the drug bust. I thought if she was here and away from the con artist boyfriend, she’d then see how much Kaitlynn needs her, instead she’s just abdicated all responsibility to her ex. I don’t get it.”
“Do you want me to talk to her?” Byron asked.
“She’d probably believe you, but what happened to your theory about letting her find out on her own?”
“That’s with her own mistakes. It’s different with a child.”
“Yeah.” Lu sighed. “But would it help if she knew Kaitlynn was using?”
“Probably not. Addicts only quit when they want to. Does her father know?”
“Dunno.”
“Sorry, love.” Byron hugged her. “I’m not much help.”
“Thanks for caring. That helps me, a lot.”
“I’m just relieved it’s not you I have to throw into rehab.”
“What?” Lu turned and rose up on her elbow to look at him.
“When you hadn’t told me about the other grow-op fire you were at, I was a little concerned.”
“How’d you know?”
“Your damaged car, sudden lack of curiosity, and then when you bailed out the boy …”
“I thought I covered my tracks.” Lu stared at him in disbelief. Was he really that nonchalant about her not telling him? Could he be?
“Don’t pout.” He kissed her nose. “You wouldn’t like me to be bad at my job.”
“I guess not.” Confused, she asked, “Were you mad when I bailed out Kaitlynn’s boyfriend?”
“Mostly curious. I knew it would make sense, eventually.”
“Did you say you loved me to get me to confess?” Lu blurted it out without thinking.
“No, of course not.” He shook his head as if stunned she’d even asked.
“But how could you love me and think I might be involved?” Lu persisted.
“I hoped you weren’t.”
“But—”
“Lu, I’ve been a cop long enough to know that everyone has some good and some bad in them. When you fall in love, you sign on for the whole person, not just the parts you approve of. If you were involved, then I’d arrest you. I’d also get you the best lawyer.”
“That seems weird.”
“Yup. I’m glad you’re not.” He ran his palm down the side of her face, his thumb continuing to caress her jawline.
She blinked back her tears. Maybe he really did love her, even with all her crazy baggage. She needed to change the conversation before she turned into a ball of mush. “So what is happening with the investigation?”
“We charged the enforcer with assault and battery for his attack on you. I’ll need you to file the paperwork soon.” His expression turned thoughtful and his hand rested on her shoulder. “And we’ll need to figure out your supposed part in the sting. My bosses aren’t going to like my endangering a civilian.”
“I don’t want you to risk your job for me.”
“Too late. It was my choice.”
“But why?”
He shrugged. “Temporary insanity. We managed to pull in several people running from the building, just the growers and some money men. I think Huang wondered who had his phone and was checking whether this operation had been tagged. The people we caught were probably expendable.”
“How do you prove who was doing what? I mean, the guy that hit me’s easy. you saw that. But won’t they all pretend they had no knowledge of the drugs?”
“Yup. And the fire erased a lot of evidence. At least we called it in faster. I don’t get what’s with the damned fires.” He raked his fingers through his hair, his lips pressed tight in frustration.
Lu eyed him cautiously. How much does he actually know about the fires? Did he suspect her and hope she’d confess? But he couldn’t know about her psychic ability and obviously she hadn’t physically started the fires. Still, he hadn’t freaked out about her bailing out Kaitlynn’s boyfriend. Maybe he would take her fire-starting habit in stride, too. Lu sighed.
“What?” Byron asked, his expression casual but perceptive.
Oh shit. Was she going to tell him? And yet if she didn’t, there’d always be that question in her mind, “Would he still love her if he knew?” Damn the consequences, she had to do it. Lu took a deep breath. “You won’t believe me, but I’m going to tell you something, anyway.” She looked down at her fingers and unclenched them from the bedspread. She’d already told Susan about it, why was it so much more difficult leveling with Byron?
“Whoa. That sounds scary, woman.”
“Yeah. And if you try to put me in a loony bin, I’ll deny everything.” She pushed herself into a seated position beside him, scrunching her pillow behind her back. This isn’t that hard. A fire-starter isn’t that much worse than a drug addict, is it? And he was okay with that. But where did a crazy person rate on the scale?
“Who knew it could get any worse?” Byron sat up and leaned against the headboard. “Wait a minute.”
Lu took a deep breath. You owe it to him to be honest.
He looked at her for a moment then asked, “This isn’t going to be some weird sex thing, is it? You didn’t used to be a man, or uh, jeez, I don’t know …”
“No. It has nothing to do with sex. I’m normal … sort of.” She took his hand. “And I’m crazy about you. It has nothing to do with us.”
“Okay. Then fire away.”
“Funny you should say that.” C’mon, just say it!
“What?”
She closed her eyes and blurted it out. “I’m responsible for the fires at the last two grow-operations.” There was silence. Lu turned to look at Byron. She had no idea how he’d take her confession.
“You set the fires?” From the incredulity in his voice, she gathered he hadn’t been suspicious.
“It’s not like—I mean …” She took another deep breath. “I can set fires with my mind.”
Byron stared at her. He seemed to be waiting for the punch line. Lu shrugged.
“But … you’ve never actually lit any of these fires? With matches, or a lighter, or a … a flint or anything like that?” he asked finally.
“No. I’ve never physically lit a fire. I mean, an arson fire. I used to smoke,” she joked.
“So, we’re only talking about, what, uh … psychic ability?”
“Yes.” Lu relaxed her fingers. There. She’d said it. The rest was up to him.
“O—kay. I can handle that,” Byron said, still frowning.
“Do you believe me?” Lu asked cautiously.
“I believe you believe it.” He rubbed his hand over his eyes. “Was it just these two fires? Have there been others?”
“It started when I was in the hospital several years ago, before I became a fire fighter. I’d been in a bike accident and cracked the back of my skull badly. In the ICU, the patient across from me kept demanding a light for her cigarette and I was annoyed. Then suddenly her bed goes up in flames. I freaked out about the fire, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with me. But they never found any lighters or matches around her.”
“An electric—”
“My ex-boyfriend’s car blew up after he cheated on me and then stormed out. He wasn’t in it, luckily. I hated Paul for what he did, but still…”
“But—”
“Then there were a few other minor fires when I got annoyed. And each time I have a horrible headache, my fingers get blazing hot, and I’m left with the taste of ashes in my mouth.” Lu could see he wasn’t convinced. “When Compu-Shack fired me, a bank of computers on display suddenly burst into flames as I walked by. And your barbeque when we were arguing?”
He thought back and shook his head.
“According to my uncle, this sort of thing might run in my family. I know it sounds crazy …”
