DISCONNECT (The Bening Files Book 2)

by Rachel Trautmiller

  And Cindy wouldn’t allow just anyone to walk in here. Even after all his visits, he still had to sign in.

  Amanda scrambled off the floor and reached toward Lilly. “Her fingers moved.”

  “No.” He stood.

  “Yes.” She pulled him closer. Pointed toward his sister’s arm.

  Nothing happened.

  “I promise she moved.”

  Hope, he hadn't experienced, since after the accident, rose in his chest. Those days, before the truth had sunk in, it had been all he’d clung to. The alternative was believing his sister would never return to full function. Or at all.

  Robinson focused on fingers that used to play the guitar with Ariana. He held his breath. Nothing. Not even a small twitch. The hope balloon deflated in his chest.

  “I've imagined that a million times. It's okay.” He turned toward the door. “Come on.”

  “Wait.”

  The excitement in her voice had him circling back.

  “Look at this.” She held up her hand. Lilly’s fingers wrapped around them, in a hold. “I'm not hanging on to her, at all.” To prove it, she straightened her fingers and wiggled her free thumb.

  This was a trick. A sick joke. Was he dreaming? Yeah, that was the explanation for all of this. Including waking up to the woman he was in love with. It explained why Amanda seemed at ease.

  Might as well play this out. He stepped up to the bed. “Lilly?”

  A slight flicker of her eyelids. This time, he noted the tightening of Lilly’s digits, around Amanda's hand.

  Holy, mother of pumpernickel.

  Not a dream. That hope balloon inflated, igniting a whirl of excitement through his system. If she opened her eyes...

  “I'll get someone.” Amanda turned to leave, but the other woman’s grip wouldn't allow it.

  “Don't move, A.J. Don't change anything you’re doing. Lilly, I'll be right back.” His heart threatened to jump out of his chest. He raced into the hall. The halls were empty and quiet. Cindy would know who was on shift. He headed for the front desk.

  To his right, a door opened. A woman, in a pair of dark scrubs entered the hallway, her gaze fixed on the paperwork in her hands. She ran right into him. Papers fell to the floor.

  “I'm sorry.” He righted the dark-haired woman and scooped her things off the tiled surface. Shoved them into her hands. “My sister is Lilly Gabriel and we noticed some movement. Do you think you could send a nurse?”

  “Let's go.” The woman sat her stuff on a nearby foldout cabinet and followed him to the room.

  Amanda stood in the same spot he'd left her. Her free hand rubbed Lilly’s arm. “That's it, keep those eyes open.”

  Robinson stepped up to the bed. Her blue eyes landed on him, a bit of panic blossoming there. He used to have a list of things he’d tell her when she woke up. Things, he thought for sure, he’d never forget. “Hey, Lilly.”

  So inadequate.

  The nurse took out her stethoscope and pressed it to the patient’s chest. Watched the monitors. Lilly glanced around the room, in an erratic pattern, until her focus landed on the nurse, next to her.

  The monitors flashed a warning as her heart rate spiked.

  Robinson rested a hand on his sister’s shoulder.

  The nurse fiddled with the monitors, above the bed and silenced an alarm.

  “What's going on?” Robinson asked.

  “This is normal.” The nurse didn’t spare him a glance. “It's strange to wake up with a tube down your throat and no memory of how you got here.”

  Tears welled in his sister's eyes. Something was wrong.

  Amanda gripped the bedrail. “Lilly, I think you might be breaking my hand.” She took a breath. “Focus on your brother.”

  Lilly's eyes met his.

  “Everything is going to be okay.” Sweetness coated the words, but an undercut of pain wiggled through. “Robbie will explain everything in a minute. Right now, we need you to trust us. Try to relax. We aren’t going anywhere.”

  Words lodged in his esophagus. This was happening. It was real. Thank God Amanda was here.

  Lilly grabbed the tube snaking into her throat.

  The nurse swatted it away. His sister stared at the extremity as if she didn’t know it was hers. She tried to focus on the ventilator tubing, her eyes crossing.

  “Hurts.” The word came out broken, the syllable drawn out and soft.

  “We'll get that out of there in a minute,” Amanda said. “Until then, try not to touch it.”

  “You a nurse?” The dark-hair woman removed her stethoscope and hung it around her neck.

  Amanda shook her head. Once upon a time, she’d been a nurse’s aide. And Lilly actually was a nurse. If she remembered that part of her life.

  A disapproving sound came from the other woman’s throat. “Miss, Lilly, I'm going to call your doctor. Then we'll get you fixed up.” She sent a glare in Amanda's direction before exiting the room.

  What was that about?

  Lilly released Amanda’s hand.

  She shook it. “You’ve got a grip. It’s nice to meet you, formally.” Then, she turned to Robinson. “I don't like that nurse.” Amanda's face held anxiety. “Have you seen her before?”

  “No.” He didn’t know every employee working here. “You’re not thinking…”

  Her eyes scavenged the room and bounced back to him. The smile on her face, mirrored the ones he’d seen after the stadium bombing. Her car. His apartment. Eric’s condo.

  A brave face she put on, as if the events didn’t touch her heart.

  “I’m just a little on edge. It’s probably nothing.”

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with our current crime spree.” Something dangerous swirled in his chest. “You know the story.”

  Did Lilly remember the accident? His sister’s eyes had closed. He touched her shoulder, needing to make sure she hadn’t slipped back to a place they couldn’t reach her.

  Her eyes opened and focused on him, a little groggy.

  What if the time his sister had spent in convalescence hadn’t been due to her injuries, but something else?

  No. He refused to believe she’d lost her unborn child and husband over a vendetta against Amanda.

  “Can I get Ariana?” Amanda asked.

  “You'd do that?” His niece would be ecstatic.

  A half laugh came from her throat. “Of course.”

  He dug his keys out of his pocket. “You know, I can get her. I don't want you to be late.”

  She snatched them from his hand. “Don't be an idiot. Just take care of your family.”

  He cleared something thick from his throat. “Thank you.”

  She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I'll see you in a bit. Let me know if something changes,” she whispered in his ear. Then, she turned away from him. Sadness emanated from every pore.

  Would they ever have a normal day, together?

  He caught her arm. “I’ll look into the staff. I’ll prove you wrong.”

  She bit the inside edge of her bottom lip. “This is one time I really hope you do.”

  “I will.”

  He had to. For Lilly. For Amanda. For himself.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Amanda didn’t dare hope. While she had the utmost faith in Robinson and his ability to decipher the truth, she knew it wouldn’t be good.

  And if this guy’s plot encompassed that deep and wide a reach…

  Anything was possible. The idea wasn’t new, but tore her heart in two, anyway. For Lilly, who’d lost her child and husband. Ariana, who was so normal despite all the loss. And Robinson, who held it all together.

  Please, let me be wrong.

  Amanda mixed sugar and creamer into a huge coffee mug, in McKenna's kitchen. She wedged her phone between her ear and shoulder.

  “Third precinct, Officer Davis speaking.”

  “Davis, this is Nettles. Is Captain Dentzen around?”

  “Yeah.” The sound of a rolling chair,
grating across marble flooring, hit her ears. “Been in his office with some pricks from SBI since four.”

  Was Jonas one of them?

  “Don't make me interrupt them. He's been on the war path. Riding everybody like...well, you know.”

  Yeah, she knew that. Most of it centered in her direction. “If you see him, would you let him know I might be a few minutes late? I had a small family emergency.”

  “Oh, brother. I'll tell him, but he's not gonna like it.”

  “Thanks.” Then she hung up.

  “Ariana's almost finished with her shower.” McKenna stepped next to her and poured coffee into a mug. “Are you sure we can't tell her what's going on? She'd probably get moving faster, if she knew she wasn't headed to school.”

  Amanda shook her head. “They should’ve removed the tube by now, so if there are any complications, we'll know soon. I don't want to get her hopes up, to have them smashed. Lilly's been on the machines a while, it could be a long first hour for her.”

  “I’ve got one of our agents checking into the backgrounds of all the staff members at Two Rivers. We should have some information in an hour. Maybe two.” McKenna stirred some creamer into her coffee and tossed the spoon in the sink. “Robinson’s right. It’s probably unrelated.”

  Amanda wished she had their faith, in the matter.

  A slender eyebrow raised on her friend's forehead. “You look like crap.”

  “You're so kind.” She took a sip of the liquid. Hopefully, the caffeine and sugar would rush into her system. She headed for the table and sat.

  “Spend the night with Robinson?”

  A sharp intake of breath, sent coffee flying into her lungs. She coughed. “Not like that. One minute we were talking, the next it's nearly seven.”

  The other woman sat across from her. “I know I promised last night I wouldn't ask for details, but I'm worried about you.”

  “I'm okay.” She ran her fingers through damp hair, courtesy of the shower she’d taken, after arriving.

  Her friend stared at her.

  “Nothing happened, okay?” Except maybe the loss of the remaining chunk of her heart. The pesky thing had slipped through her fingers like beach sand.

  “You guys have been dancing around each other, like peacocks, forever.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Peacocks?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “No. I don't.”

  “You guys work well together. If his decisions rub you the wrong way, you let him know. When we're working a joint case, he knows exactly what to delegate to you. Doesn't hesitate.”

  “So, we know how to get the job done. Lots of people do that.”

  “You bicker like an old married couple. And when you walk into the room, his face lights up. Even if he's not smiling.”

  That was a nice thought.

  “You do the same thing. You're doing it right now, because you’re thinking of him.”

  Well, shoot. She'd have to work on her transparency. “You're making me feel all warm and fuzzy, McKenna.” And like the worst person on the planet, because how long had this been occurring?

  “So, nothing happened? You didn't even kiss him?”

  A groan came from deep in Amanda’s lungs. They would be here all day until McKenna got sufficient information. “We went to the center where his sister's been at, ate food and talked.”

  “That's it?”

  She spun her cup. The three hours she’d slept on his chest, were the best she’d had in forever. Even if she had woken up with a few cramped muscles and a desire to kiss him silly.

  “What do you want me to say? That it's possible to fall in love with someone after a few hours?”

  McKenna grimaced. “You make it sound like you met on a dating site and got married after one, two hour date.”

  She blew out a breath and leaned back in her chair. “I've lost my mind. Go ahead and say it. I lived with a man I didn't love. We never even exchanged those words. How do you skip that step? And I...”

  Love Baker Jackson Desmond Robinson IV. Did she?

  In her mind, his warm smile reached toward the bluest eyes with the most captivating green flecks. The way he laughed as if no one were around, made her want to do the same. He took care of Ariana.

  His half-apologies always sucked her in, when she should stay mad. And he took her mouthy personality in stride, as if he couldn’t wait to see what would fly out of her lips next.

  At another time, she might have freed the smile starting near her heart. Might have escaped her friend’s watchful eyes and raced to where Robinson was, to tell him he was all she thought about. All she would ever think about, for the rest of her life.

  “So, you're in love with Robinson.”

  Whoa. It was one thing to speculate. Another to let it out in the open. “I didn’t say that.”

  McKenna shrugged. “It didn't happen in a conventional manner. So, what?”

  “How can you be so flippant? I almost kissed one man, while I was still in a relationship with another.”

  “I didn’t notice any of it until Jordan pointed it out—”

  “No.” She pressed her hands to her face and swallowed a frustrated scream. The last thing she needed was McKenna analyzing her love life.

  “And that’s my fault. I’ve been absent for the last few months and I’m sorry. I haven’t been a great friend.”

  She removed her hands. “What?”

  McKenna stared at her coffee, then looked up. “I know I haven’t been with it.”

  “I don’t want your apology. It’s not needed.”

  “If I’d been anywhere, but my own world, I’d have noticed how unsettled you’ve been, a long time before now. Once Jordan pointed it out, I started paying attention. Want to know what I saw?”

  “If I say no, will that mean anything?”

  McKenna sipped her coffee, a brilliant smile on her face. “You’re not you without Robinson. I mean, you are always you, but you’re happier when he’s around. Or the two of you are involved in a case, together. Eric isn't a bad guy. He's just not for you. Maybe he never was. Not everyone stays in our lives for the long haul.”

  Okay. She could handle this.

  “Do you regret ending things with Eric?”

  “No.” The answer came so fast, it surprised her. Even if Robinson weren’t in this weird picture she’d drawn of her life, her answer would be the same. Was their breakup only yesterday?

  The other woman tapped Amanda's mug. “Drink up. The coffee will clear your head.”

  “Or make me jittery.”

  Brilliance turned to smug on her best friend’s face.

  Oh, brother. “What?”

  “For once, I can honestly say I approve of a man in your life.”

  This time, a shot of the liquid, in her mouth, punched beyond her lips and landed on the table. She reached for a napkin, in the holder, at the center of the table. Then she dabbed her face and the wooden surface. “Eric and I were together for five years. You're just telling me now?”

  McKenna shrugged as if they spoke of their favorite pizza toppings. “Did you say anything when I was with Rupert?”

  “No, but that's different.” Any idiot could see, Jordan was the only man for McKenna.

  “How?”

  “Because Rupert is kind of a snob.”

  That eyebrow arched again. “That's the best you've got?”

  “The list should be really long.” Jordan's voice reached them before he padded into sight, Riley cradled in his arms. “Morning, ladies.” He yawned and placed a kiss on his wife's mouth.

  “Let me see my niece.” Before either of her friends could protest, she scooped the infant into her arms and sat back down. Blue eyes blinked at Amanda. A tiny mouth, turned into the shape of an O. “You're dad needs coffee, because he looks like a zombie. And your mom has had way too much, because she's in everybody's business.”

  “Only the important people.” McKenna laughed. “Eric's kind of a neat fr
eak. And he doesn’t know what makes you tick. Not enough to be a permanent fixture in your life.”

  Amanda shook her head. McKenna was right. Who’d come looking for her after the explosion? It hadn’t been Eric. He hadn’t done so until Robinson had dragged him to their condo.

  “I didn't say anything because there are worse people out there.” Riley’s fist gripped Amanda’s forefinger.

  Jordan set a steaming cup on the table, next to his wife, and sat. “And better.”

  “And I figured you would see the truth soon enough. If not, at least he wasn't going to murder you and stuff you in a shallow grave.”

  “And here we are.” McKenna raised her mug, in mock salute.

  “Plus, I ran a background check on him.”

  Her best friend crossed her arms over her chest, while Jordan wore a smirk that said, this-is-why-we’re-friends.

  “Don’t worry, I ran one on Jordan, too.” Robinson had a good laugh over that one.

  “What?” They said in unison.

  Jordan opened his mouth. A knock at the door, halted whatever he’d been about to say. “Rupert?”

  McKenna pulled her lips inward and nodded.

  “I swear you’re torturing me, on purpose.” He moved toward the front entrance. “I can’t be held responsible for my actions after only two sips of coffee. I just want to make that clear.”

  The other woman leaned across the table. “So, what’s this about a background check? Are you serious?”

  Amanda shrugged. “He was gone for ten years. I wanted to make sure he didn’t have a wife hidden somewhere with six children. You were freaking out. And my curiosity wouldn’t let me rest.” Amanda adjusted the blanket wrapped around Riley.

  The voices of the men drifted closer.

  “Find anything good?” McKenna asked, a gleam in her eyes.

  “You never could resist a good mystery. The name Juliana ring a bell?”

  McKenna sat back, waved a hand in her direction. “Old news.”

  “Who’s Juliana?” Rupert said as he shooed his sleepy-looking son, into the living room. A second later they heard the tune to his favorite cartoon.

  “Anyone going to enlighten me?” Rupert asked.

  Jordan locked eyes with his wife and shook his head. Then he swiped his cup from the table and took a gulp. “Coffee, Rupert?”