WindSwept Narrows: #16 Anna Carson & Catherine Jenkins

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “I think I might need to change…” Catherine blinked and worked to inhale deeply seconds before she found her hands floundering. The cane hit the concrete and her palms went instinctively around his neck for stability. “Hey!”

  “Stubborn…” Aaron growled, his head shaking. “Use the key, Catherine,” he ordered, meeting the glare with one of his own.

  “Put – me – down.” She bit each word out sharply, dark lashes widening when he ignored her completely. She shoved the key into the slot and turned it, pulling it quickly out when he kicked out to send it wide.

  “Which way’s the bathroom?”

  “Look…I can manage my own…”

  “Yeah, right…as you lay in the front seat of your car bleeding out,” he bit out sharply, taking a quick assessment and heading down the only hall. He plopped her onto the counter and began opening drawers. Gauze, tape and cotton were in his hands and falling at her side. “I bet all the exertion with those guys didn’t help things. Can you stand up without falling over?” His hands went to her waist only to have them shoved out of the way.

  “I can manage this,” she told him once more, using her good foot and kicking out at him. “Out.”

  “Or what? You’ll call a cop?” Aaron moved to the doorway, his head shaking. “I promise to mind my manners, Catherine. Let me help, please?”

  She used her hands to lever herself to the floor. She hated being dizzy.

  “When did this happen?” He asked quietly, shrugging out of his coat and tossing it to the hall behind him. His hands went to her waist, easing her back onto the bench seat of the large dressing area. “Trust me…my idea of undressing you does not involve you being unconscious.”

  “It happened two days ago,” she said slowly, reaching for the snap of her jeans and pulling it wide, the zipper down easily. She looked at the palm he held out for her again, their wrists clasp as he pulled her up just long enough for the jeans to clear the long lean line of her hips. She sunk back down and leaned against the wall. “If I ripped out something, I’m going to get nothing but grief…” She felt him moving, felt the fabric very carefully pulled free, damp and cold.

  “Just sit there…”

  “You a doctor?”

  “Financial planner. But we grew up solo so we kind of became what we needed…between books and the internet, we learned all types of handy skills,” He told her casually, using the peroxide and gently cleaning the blood from around the expanse of her thigh and knee. “That’s some slice…”

  “Like I said…I moved too slow…believe me, it showed promise of being a lot worse,” she murmured, her head tipped back and eyes closed. “Just you and your sister?”

  “Yep…you’re a bit more than a little inflamed…but nothing’s torn free. A lot of stitches, though…I think…a little of this and some kind of support…slide forward a little…” he used the large roll of gauze, wrapping it a little tighter to offer some support to the slice and the muscle. “I bet you got pain pills.”

  Dark lashes opened over the pale violet circles, meeting his stare without blinking.

  “Yeah…I thought so…” He shook his head and taped the end of the gauze in place. “Just like Anna…Come on…I’ll help you into your room and you can find something loose to put on. Much as I’d love to take you out someplace for dinner, I think we’ll rain check that. You like pizza?”

  “Lots of pepperoni and cheese,” she admitted, deciding having his arm around her waist wasn’t so bad. And he smelled good, her nose twitching at the soap or cologne with a feminine sigh of appreciation.

  “I’ll go fetch a couple large ones…we can sit and talk and you cannot walk,” he said flatly, his palm out to tap the light switch inside the large bedroom. “Any brand preference? Soda or wine?”

  “No preference…there’s a joint around the corner on Independence that does good sauce…soda…please…I’ve got ice…” She looked down at the stark white gauze wrapped securely around her thigh. “Why didn’t I think of that? It even feels more secure…”

  “It’s not a sling, Catherine. It’s holding you together for the stress you insist on putting the muscle through before it’s ready,” he listened to himself and pulled himself up straight. Shoving two sets of long fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you’re old enough to know what you’re doing without me harping on you.”

  “Is that what your sister would tell you?” She smiled despite the urge to say exactly what he said.

  “Yeah…and she doesn’t listen worth a damn, either,” he answered, going into the hall and picking up his coat. “What kind of soda?” Her choice making his brow arch. He should have guessed. Plenty of caffeine for those long nights or days on the job.

  He took one last look into those eyes and felt the brick hit his stomach again seconds before he turned and left the apartment, the door closing firmly behind him.

  Moving gingerly, Cat crossed to the bureau, her gaze sweeping the room to calculate the distance from object to object at the same time the shadow fell across her hands. Instinct had her reaching for a weapon harness that wasn’t there, her breath catching when she saw the hook of the cane extended to her.

  “Thank you,” came the low breath.

  “I’ll lock the door on my way out,” Aaron shook his head and went out again, making sure the door was locked before going to his car.

  Catherine Jenkins exhaled loudly, her fingers gripping the cane with a lot more power than she thought she had in her. Thirty day countdown, she thought of the superstitions that accompanied that ritual. Well, a few days in, she got herself in the middle of a drug deal going seriously wrong. One went down without a hitch. She missed the swamp regulation toad sticker the guy had taped under his desk chair.

  Use the cane, doctor’s orders echoed in her brain until she was tired of hearing it. It’s only been thirty-six hours. Stay off your feet. How do you spend over ten years being a cop and suddenly stop because you’ve got a railroad track system stretched into your knee and thigh? She carried the canvas colored draw string pants into the other room and sat at her computer, drawing them up her legs and gritting her teeth as she pulled them over her hips and knotted them.

  She stared out the large bay window into the small backyard. Someday she’d find a place where she could set up a garden and plant and grow for relaxation. She looked at the calendar she had hanging next to the computer. Twenty-seven days left.

  Catherine was positive she’d dozed off, upright and in the chair. Her body jumped when the sound of a foot against her door broke into where ever her mind had traveled.

  “It’s open,” she could smell the pepperoni and straightened in the chair. She’d cleared the desk top of files and books and mail.

  “You always leave the door open?” Came the growl, two large boxes with fragrant pizza and two large sodas riding on top. Aaron met those flickering violet eyes across the room.

  “It was either open it as I passed,” she began sweetly. “Or get up and put more stress on my already stressed leg…now…”

  He stopped a few feet from the desk, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Feel pretty good about that one, huh?”

  “Damn good…and hungry…it’s not nice to mess with a girl’s stomach…I think I missed lunch,” she commented absently, reaching for the soda he held closest to her before sitting the square boxes on the desktop.

  “Plates?”

  “What for? We got cardboard?” She peeked in one, hastily closed it and snatched the other to sit before her, staring with a long sigh, letting the steam cool a little. She watched him drop his jacket on the back of the sofa before hauling a chair from the dining room to join her.

  “A…yeah…we got cardboard…” He set everything down and went in search of napkins, absently noting a lack of a lot of things in the kitchen. “Not into cooking?”

  “I flunked home-ec,” she confessed, delicately picking a slice of pepperoni from the pie and biting down hungrily. “This is where you find
out all the horrid reasons why I’m still single.”

  “My first guess would be the cop thing. I have some friends in security that used to be cops in one form or another,” Aaron commented, opening the vegetarian pie and lifting a piece with a grateful bite. He saw the odd look on her face and laughed. “Too many vegetables for you?”

  “Hmm…I guess I find out all the odd things about you, too,” she murmured, white teeth bared as she sunk them into the pepperoni.

  “It’s not odd to enjoy vegetarian meals,” but he was smiling around the pizza.

  “I bet you don’t eat a lot of pizza, either,” she said after a minute. “But you took a guess that I did.”

  “True. Donuts too, huh?” He teased, watching the shades of violet shift a little darker.

  “That’s a stereotype…mostly cloned in big city cop shops,” she answered cheekily, wrapping her hands around the large, frosted cup of golden soda. “I’m telling you…as dates go, you know how to treat a girl good.” She reached across the desk before he could move and lifted the sleeve on his right arm. His body froze and their eyes met. “Navy?”

  “Naval finance,” he confirmed, the small electric shock that coursed through him when she touched his arm a curious puzzle. “Spent six years in San Diego.”

  “You really are a financial consultant?” She reached for another slice, studying the man across from her. Another part of her brain tried linking him to the two guys trying to pound him with a baseball bat this afternoon. And the two weren’t meshing.

  “I’ve worked with money since…since I was a kid. I’m signing on to partner with another consultant with the resort for their schedule of fees in exchange for being part of their health care system,” Aaron told her easily. He saw something in her eyes. “A problem?”

  “This afternoon. It’s not making sense…I don’t like loose ends. I don’t like…unanswered questions,” she said carefully. “You’re…just what you say you are. I checked. No gambling…no involvement in anything illegal…those guys didn’t go out on that break-way to mug you, Aaron. They wanted something…”

  “Seems you know a lot more about me than I thought,” he said slowly, his mind on the information he and Anna had built about themselves.

  “It’s my job. One of them…Wolpert…he’s a dealer…he sells for bigger dealers and gets busted at least once a month. Anyone working for you who would be involved with a drug dealer?” She saw the answer on his face. “No…somehow I didn’t think so.”

  “I will truthfully swear that I have never had a thing to do with drugs.”

  “Why do I feel a but in there…” Catherine stretched out the sliced leg, pulling her good one onto the seat of the chair and wrapping her arms around her knee.

  “Now you’re talking about the old fashioned long story…” He finished a second slice and took a long drink of the cola.

  “Something from your tainted youth?” She asked softly.

  “It more falls into the category of how much do you reveal of yourself and risk running off a beautiful, smart woman before she gets to know you?” He said frankly, laughing at the flush of color filling her cheeks.

  “Wow…” she drew in a long slow breath. “Would I know this information eventually?”

  “If you cared to know me, yes, you would,” he answered firmly.

  “Then I don’t see time as an issue. Because I care to know you.”

  “Because of the mystery, Catherine? Or because I’m a single guy and you’re a single woman?”

  “Because you’re kinda cute and buy me pizza,” she returned with a wink. She liked the deep laughter her comment brought even as he shook his head.

  “I have a feeling you’re easy to feed.”

  “Why they would single you out, is a mystery,” she said after a long silence. “They didn’t go there for a stranger, Aaron. They had to have followed you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Followed…” He straightened in the chair and pulled his phone out, tapping the speed dial and holding up a finger when she opened her mouth. “Anna…are you at home?”

  “Hi, Aaron…nope…actually…I’m having dinner and staying with Carter tonight,” she said happily. “Why? Something wrong? You don’t sound good…what’s wrong?”

  He pushed a long breath from his lips. “Nothing. I’m good. Just…don’t go to the house alone tonight, Anna. Okay?”

  “If you don’t tell me what’s wrong, I am going home right this instant…”

  “Look…someone followed me to the break-way and tried to attack…”

  “Attack! You were attacked? By who? Where? Aaron! What…are you alright? Where are you?”

  “I’m fine. Honestly. And I’m actually having dinner with a police lieutenant who happened to be on the break-way and prevented serious damage.”

  “Serious…you were hurt?” She whispered.

  “Anna…put Carter on, would you?” Aaron sighed. He easily recognized the tone in her voice and could see her eyes fill up with tears.

  “I am your sister…” She informed him haughtily.

  “Anna, you’re not being rational at the moment. Let me talk to Carter.”

  “Rational? You were attacked! On what world would I be rational about that?”

  “Anna,” Aaron used a low, steady voice he’d perfected through the years. “Carter.”

  “I have been your sister longer…” But she let out a low growl and thrust the phone at Carter and got up to pace the large room. “All of a sudden he can’t talk to me…oh, no, he has to talk to you…”

  “Oh, that went well…hi, Aaron…what’s up?” Carter watching the furious bundle pace the floor. “I hope this is good because you just seriously chinked our mood.”

  “Keep her away from the house on her own, Carter. Until I find out what’s going on, okay? I went to the break-way and took a walk just after we had breakfast. Thinking. It was empty for the most part…two guys jumped me and would have pounded me worse than I got if not for police intervention. Now…since I was the only person beat on…and the only person visible…the police believe whoever they were, followed me from the house,” Aaron took a deep breath. “Which means…”

  “Someone is watching the house,” Carter nodded calmly. “I’ll make sure all the alarms are set and keep an eye on her. She brought clothes, so she’s going straight to the nursery in the morning. I’ll calm her down, Aaron. What about you? I have a spare room…”

  “I’ll be okay. Now I know what to watch for,” he said quietly. “Thanks, Carter…and thanks for…for making her smile. I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye.”

  “And how will you handle it, Aaron?” Catherine asked calmly, lifting a slice of pizza and taking a healthy bite.

  “We have alarms at the house, on the vehicles and I’m licensed to carry, Catherine,” he said simply. “I’ll get it out tonight and keep it nearby.”

  “She’s lucky…your sister,” she clarified, watching him closely. “You’re not the least bit worried about yourself, but you’d go to the wall for her.”

  “Once you meet Anna, you’ll see it’s mutual. But that doesn’t mean a big brother can’t worry about her…even if she rants and paces,” he shook his head. “So we’re back to whether you want to know because of me or the mystery…and it can’t possibly have anything to do with this afternoon. It’d be the longest damn long shot known…”

  “You don’t know that, Aaron. Trust me when I say, I’ve seen things done to people with the most off the wall reasons behind them.”

  “We were four years old, Catherine,” he watched her expression, a stunning mix of surprise and curiosity. He saw a familiar expression follow as she sat up and began closing the box of pizza, her leg shifting slightly. “Do you have pain pills?”

  “This will make a great breakfast,” she said as if he hadn’t spoken, taking a long draw on the straw in her drink and reaching to close his pizza box. “So…you were telling me about when you were a child? Were you exposed to drugs as
a child?”

  Aaron leaned back in the chair, his long legs stretched out and arms crossing his chest. He crossed his ankles and met her stare. Silently.

  Catherine had stared down felons and creeps since she became a cop. She had an older sister and a younger brother.

  She could handle silence.

  So why was her butt suddenly itchy and making her twitch in the chair?

  “Restroom break,” Aaron said simply, striding down the hall and standing before the mirror in the bathroom. He pulled the small medicine cabinet open, his head shaking.

  Evidently she’d been hurt before. He picked up the most recent, dated for that morning and tipped one of the tablets into his palm. He’d done it enough over the years to Anna. He filled a small paper cup with water and came in behind her.

  Her head turned at the same time she opened her mouth to speak. Without pausing, he popped the tablet into her mouth and held the water to her lips, draining the cup and watching her eyes flare with anger at the same time her palms wrapped around his wrists.

  “God damn it…I’ll…you can be arrested for that…” She spit out when she could breathe without choking.

  “Yeah, tell me all about it,” he shook his head and sat back in the chair again. “You just got out this morning, didn’t you? So you go out to walk on the break-way right out of the hospital.”

  “Somehow I hate you seems too early for our relationship…” She growled, took a long drink of the soda and slammed the empty cup on the desk.

  Aaron arched one brow. “But at least you’re admitting we’ll have a relationship.”

  “The hell we will. I blame the drugs. A girl’s not accountable for things said under the influence,” she shoved back from the desk, the wheels gliding over the hardwood. “Damn it…I hate those things…”