“Yeah, the reunion sounds fun.” Karma laughed. “I’ll call you later this week to see how you’re doing.”
She waved to her sister, then the room was clear and she was being poked and prodded by the doctor. He told her in no uncertain terms she wasn’t going back to work for the foreseeable future.
Minutes or hours later, Jo’s concept of time skewed due to the drugs, she woke groggy and grumpy. The incessant sound of beeping pounded through her head.
Her gaze jumped to the annoying machine, wondering what would happen if she just yanked the plug out of the wall. If the heart monitor flat-lined, every nurse and doctor in the vicinity responded. Jo could speak from experience on the subject since she’d removed the clip from her finger earlier. But if the machine shut off completely maybe the nurses wouldn’t be any the wiser and she could get some actual rest.
“Jesus, hon. You took ten years off my life,” Rhys whispered, his voice like the softest of velvet across her abused ears as if he knew how badly her head still ached.
Her attention jerked from the plug to him. The breath left her as Jo’s gaze filled with him. Even sleep rumpled he was gorgeous. His blue shirt covered in wrinkles, as were his black dress slacks. A long red crease from the pillow that fell behind him crossed his cheek. At seeing the plastic visitor’s chair set up in a reclining position, the rest of her defenses melted. He’d stayed with her for days, returned to her as soon as he could and slept in what looked to be the most uncomfortable lounge chair in history.
“Sorry, babe. Really tried to keep from getting hurt,” Jo rasped. The Mojave Desert had more moisture than her throat.
Something whirred, then the back of her bed lifted and a straw pressed against her lips. After a few swallows, he pulled the cup away. The man was an angel.
Worry stamped across his face and made Jo’s heart clench. Would this be when he broke up with her? Not in the hospital. He would never be that cruel, but maybe when they released her? Should she leave the job she loved to have a future with him?
They’d taken every precaution on this case. Captain Walker hadn’t wanted anyone else on his team to be hurt. All the safety measures still hadn’t been enough. As she and Sullivan both knew, police work was mostly paperwork, running down leads, paying attention to details, and a lot of luck. Especially on this case with how little they had to go on.
“I’m not going to leave you, Jo.” His smile more a grimace. “I love you, and I’m in this for the long haul. However, I’ll probably be checking that you have your body-armor with you, and I might buy several additions to go in yours and Sullivan’s car. Heck, and other places that come up so you’re always safe—”
“Christ, you’re gonna be a helicopter boyfriend.”
He snorted, then laughed, finally relaxing. “Some of the terms you come up with. I promise to try not to hover, but you’re gonna have to be patient with me.”
“I’ll be as patient as I can, until you start driving me crazy. Then all bets are off.”
“As long as you don’t tase me in the nuts, I can pretty much survive whatever you bring.”
She chuckled, coughing when her throat protested.
“Drink this, wild woman and quit using your throat.” He lifted the newly filled cup to Jo’s lips. “Sullivan said the guy was massive. While Karma compared him to a mountain. So, no more taking on mountain men until you can subdue them without sacrificing yourself. Because having Sullivan call me in the middle of the night like that . . .” He shuddered, setting the cup down with a click. “It scared the hell out of me.”
The entire catastrophe had scared her too. Not when the chase was happening, then she’d acted on instinct. But as soon as the man began squeezing the life out of her . . . yeah, that’d scared the hell out of her.
Jo’s head spiked with pain when she pushed to a sitting position. Falling back against the bed, she groaned.
“Careful. You have a bad concussion.” He was there readjusting the bed again, then he pushed a few pillows behind her to better support her back.
She wanted to snap out had Rhys ever experienced a good concussion’ but bit back the sarcastic question. “When do I get out of here?” Part of her bitchiness stemmed from her hatred of hospitals. She wanted to help. The case was hers dammit and here she was stuck in a bed.
“Not for a few more days. What part of ‘bad concussion’ do you not get? Not to mention your broken arm and swollen throat.” Exasperation stamped across his face.
“Fine. Have you heard anything else about the case?”
“The guy responsible is restrained on the fourth floor, and I heard they’re starting the psychiatric testing tomorrow. They held off, one, due to his aggression and two, they wanted his panels back to make sure he wasn’t on anything. He wasn’t.” He reclined in the chair to her right. “Sullivan called before you woke up and said they’d finally tracked down the wife . . . well, ex-wife . . . and she said the guy worshiped the ground his daughter walked on.”
“What happened to the daughter?”
“Drowning accident a few years ago. She was on a camping trip with a friend and the friend’s parents when they went to a busy part of the lake. Some boys were shoving kids off the pier. One thing led to another and Chelsey, that’s Polson’s daughter, hit her head on the way down after being pushed.”
“I hope those boys were held accountable.” Maybe they’d gotten off with only community service and that was what set the guy on this path. Jo wished she knew the details, her mind craved for this puzzle to be completed.
He raked a hand through his hair, sending even more of the golden strands to stand on end. “Don’t know. Anyway, the man—”
“What’s his name? We can’t keep calling him ‘the man’ or ‘mountain man’.”
“George Polson.”
She rolled it around in her head. It was plain. Ordinary.
“Based on your expression you weren’t expecting that.” A real smile curled the edges of his mouth.
“I don’t know. I was expecting something exotic . . . or unique . . .” She trailed off at a loss how to explain.
“What, like Vladimir or Agforth?” His smile grew wider. Jo loved seeing the playfulness in his expression.
“Agforth? Seriously? That sounds like some British royalty, not a gravedigger,” she retorted, baiting him. He didn’t rise to it.
“Doesn’t matter, it’s George, making it a moot subject. But beyond that, I’ve not been kept in the loop.” The grin melted from his face replaced by worry as his gaze darted to the machines again. The second his smile disappeared she missed it.
“Did anyone find out why he used orchids at the graves and on the bodies?”
“They were his ex-wife’s and daughter’s favorite flower.”
She reached her hand out, her palm up. He laced their fingers together and kissed the back of her hand. A yawn took her by surprise. She didn’t want to go back to sleep, so many questions swirled in her head.
“I’m staying right here, hon. I told you I wouldn’t be going anywhere. Now, go on and get some rest. You can grill Sullivan again when you wake up.” He rubbed soothing circles on her palm with his thumb as she felt her body giving into its need for rest.
~ ~ ~
The dark blue BPD sweatpants and shirt were soft and worn. Jo’s tennis shoes made a tapping sound against the side of the bed as she waited for Rhys to arrive.
“Come on, partner I’m springing you from this joint,” Sullivan stated rounding the corner into her room. His ground eating walk had him at her bedside within a few steps.
“I thought Rhys was taking a vacation day—”
“Nope, I told him to save those days for later, when it’s harder to keep you at home.” Sullivan motioned to the wheelchair a nurse had already deposited next to her bed. His c
asual dress and aviator sunglasses told her this was his day off. As if the blinding orange shirt with frogs doing the hula would ever be allowed inside their precinct. “‘Sides, I think your mom’s driving the man crazy.”
Jo stood, walked to the chair and sat. “My mom?”
“Yep, she’s staying with you this week—”
“Hell, no. Sullivan, you swore you’d downplay—”
“Kid, I did what I could, but half the force is related to, or friends with, Carl. All of them, at some point or another see and talk with your parents. You’re a detective, you should know they are going to tell her about all of your injuries.” He placed his hands on his hips. “On top of that, she’s been here every afternoon, Jo. Do you honestly think she’s not cornered that poor intern or your nurses?”
“Christ, Rhys is gonna leave me.” She rubbed a hand over her face.
“Nah, he and Rian love Maddy, but she’s kind of taken over. Rhys gave Marta a few weeks off because your mom has moved into the guest room. Which is another reason I told him not to take his vacation just yet.”
They waited for the nurse to wheel her out, but with this news maybe she should stay in here.
“You can’t stay in here.”
“Quit reading my mind, dammit,” she snarled, crossing her arms. She could damn well stay in here if she wanted.
But she didn’t want to. What she wanted more than anything, or anyone, was Rhys. Not her mother and definitely not Sullivan.
“I have to say I admire your man, Jo. He told Maddy she could have this week to coddle you, but then his vacation started and he wanted some alone time before Marta gets back.”
Jo whimpered. He could be blunt, and she worried at what he’d told her mother.
“Your mom said, ‘I can stay until she goes back to work.’ To which Rhys replied, ‘You could, but Jo gets jealous if other women see me naked and as I plan on us having naked days to keep Jo off her feet, I don’t think that’s going to work.’“
“Oh God.” She didn’t know whether to be turned on by the thought of all those days with him naked or horrified he’d shared the personal details with her mother.
“It shut her up. I’ve never seen that color red on Maddy, but Carl told Rhys he had to be extreme and lay down the law or he’d never get rid of your mom until you were back at work.”
It was true. Since the kidnapping, Jo’s mother had become overly cautious with all her children. Hell, she was the original helicopter Mom before the phrase was ever coined in mainstream.
“Ms. Rayburn, I see you’re ready to leave.” The nurse stepped behind her and released the brakes on the chair. “If your friend wants to pull his car around, we’ll be heading to the exit now.”
A slap on the shoulder. “I’ll go do that. See ya’ in a few.”
~ ~ ~
Two weeks passed before he convinced Jo’s mother to leave. If he hadn’t put his foot down last night, Mom would still be here, and Jo would be grumpier than usual. Especially since she and Rhys hadn’t done much in the two weeks. Not that they hadn’t tried in the beginning, but her mother’s voice coming through the door just as Jo had stripped Rhys’s underwear off was like dumping ice water on them. They’d separated so fast she was surprised she didn’t have carpet burns on her ass.
He’d been just as bad, racing into the bathroom then shutting and locking the door. Later, they both agreed they might have overreacted, but it’d been like Jo’s mother walked through the door and watched them. Definite mood-killer. As the interruption happened more than once, the entire situation made for a cranky Jo.
“I swear we’ll be at dinner on Sunday, Maddy,” he stated again before closing the front door.
They had needed to reassure her mother too many times to count that they would be there, but this time looked to be the charm.
“Alone at last.” His lascivious grin sent a sliver of heat through her.
She pushed up from the couch, knowing if she had followed them Maddy would still be listing instructions.
“I hear you told Mom, from now until Marta’s back was naked house time.” She slipped off the sweatpants she’d donned that morning.
“Only until I pick up Rian, then it’s clothes on everyone until bed.” his eyes widened when the pants slid from her. “Jesus, hon. No underwear?”
She smirked, working her shirt over her cast. “Hey, I had incentive for easy access. Can’t waste a second of our naked alone time.”
Suddenly he was in front of her, scooping her up and heading to his room. “You know, if you’d just move in—”
“Nope.” She pressed kisses to his neck to take the sting of rejection from her words. “We still don’t know enough about each other—”
He laid her on the bed and followed her down. The sun pouring through the window revealed every emotion that danced across his face. The absolute want in his eyes stole her breath. “What’s there to know? I was worried about my brother, but you accept him.”
“Why do you live in a castle? How’d you know that Karma was only defending herself when she and I fought? Are you ever going to go back to school to become a doctor . . .” Jo trailed off when she felt him flinch at each question.
He dropped his face into the bend of her shoulder. Refusing to destroy the time they had, she nipped his neck. “How about dating exclusively and letting my family interfere more?”
His mouth tugged on her earlobe interrupting her train of thought. “We’ll let your family interfere more, we’re already exclusive, school I’ll think about, and the rest we’ll discuss later.”
She nuzzled into his hair. “Oh, and you have to survive my family reunion.” Dragging her lips across the top of his ear rewarded her with a muffled moan. “Then and only then will we discuss living arrangements. Those arrangements will include a damned ring.”
He laughed. “I already met all your family, Jo. At Thanksgiving and again at Christmas. Your mother calls to check on Rian every few days and somehow has gotten Marta’s number to make sure we’re eating right. As for the ring, just tell me when and where and I’ll make sure I’m there.”
Ignoring the last piece, she focused on the first. “Exactly. Mom loves to take care of everyone.” One lick of his tongue on the side of her neck, and she knew he was losing focus. It meant she could answer without sending him screaming from the room. “As for everyone no, you only met Carl’s brothers, sisters, and their kids. The family reunion is with the five heads.”
“It sounds like the mafia,” he mumbled, nibbling behind her ear. His breath ghosted over the fine hairs of her neck.
Shivers raced through her and heat curled into her. She wanted the conversation done but needed him warned in case he balked later. “Nah, but there’s a lot more than just sixty people.”
“Meh, can’t be all that many.” He shimmied out of his clothes, lifting away to yank the shirt over his head, still being careful with her broken arm. “Tired of talking.”
Separating from her, he stood next to the bed to take the rest of his clothes off but froze. His eyes traced each of her features. With anyone else Jo would have grabbed the discarded sheet and covered herself. With him, she stretched, laid her good hand flat against the headboard and arched.
“Christ, hon. This is exactly where you belong.”
“Show me.” Jo lifted her arm to him.
CeeRee Fields currently lives in Groningen, the Netherlands, with her husband and cat. Since she was born in Alabama and moved to the Netherlands, Dutch is not her first language which gets her into mischief in various stores around town when she tries to speak it.
She loves writing, building worlds that her characters can explore and break if they feel the need. Action, adventure, and love are her favorite things. And when stuff gets blown up, who says the guy is the only one who gets t
o do it?
She can be found at:
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ceereefields.com
Twitter: twitter.com/ceereefields
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Gravedigger (The Rayburn Mysteries Book 1) Page 21
