When Robert went into a room at the end of the hall, he yelled, “I found him. Call 9-1-1.”
While Ruth made the call, Jessie raced into the room to find Robert crouching next to Josh’s prone body on the floor by the closet, blocking her view. Next to him was a bloody bat.
When she came around to the other side of Josh and knelt by his arm, he groaned, his eyelids fluttering for a few seconds, then closing. The sight of a pool of blood on the carpet by his head sent a flash of alarm through Jessie.
She didn’t want to lose Josh.
* * *
The Colemans’ house swarmed with police. In the living room, at Josh’s mother’s request, Jessie had given Captain Doyle an account of what happened. He said little to her, but the look of disapproval on his face spoke volumes to Jessie. Was the police chief’s attitude toward a Michaels spreading to the captain?
When the EMTs brought the gurney down the hallway, they headed toward the front entrance and out the door. Ruth followed a few steps behind with the guard. Jessie started after them.
On the porch, Robert stopped her and blocked the way. “Mrs. Morgan will be riding with her son in the ambulance. She wants you to stay and answer any other questions the police might have.”
But I already did.
While the ambulance took off with Robert right behind it in the car she’d come in, Jessie dug into her pocket and withdrew her cell phone. She called Kira again, and this time she answered. “I need your help. I’m at Aaron Coleman’s house where Josh was attacked with a baseball bat. He’s on his way to the hospital, but my ride is gone, and I need to get there. I don’t know how bad his injury is.”
“I’ll be there as soon as possible. Are the police there?”
“Yes. Captain Doyle interviewed me. I’m outside on the porch. He’s still inside.”
“What’s the address?”
Jessie gave it to Kira then disconnected. She should sit down, but her nerves were stretched taut.
The front door opened, and Captain Doyle emerged from the house. “I have a few more questions for you.”
Jessie bit the inside of her cheek, not in the mood to go over what she’d already told him. All she wanted to do was get to the hospital and check on Josh. What if he died?
“Where are Aaron and his mother?”
“I told you. We don’t know. The mail on the entry hall floor indicates they haven’t been home for a while.”
“But you don’t know where they are?”
Patience. She took in three short breaths then said, “No.”
“Why did Josh Morgan come over here in the middle of the night?”
“You need to ask him. I do know Aaron Coleman is the teenager he mentors, and he was worried about him.”
“I heard about the incident at the community center.”
Jessie squeezed her hands into tight fists, her fingernails piercing into her palms. “You mean the assault on a teenage boy?”
“Yes. We’re working on it.”
“As well as Mrs. Williams’ and Heather’s deaths?”
“We’ve got a couple of leads.”
“Really. What are they?”
“That’s police business. And that’s not why I came out here to talk to you. How did you know that Josh was in the house? Mrs. Morgan said she came because you insisted.”
“As I said, I’m sure Josh was concerned about Aaron. He hasn’t returned to school yet.”
“I understand his doctor said he could.”
A car door slammed shut. Jessie looked toward the street. Kira. “My ride is here. I’ll be at the hospital if you need to ask me the same questions again.” She hurried past the police captain and met Kira at the bottom of the porch steps. “Thanks for coming. I need to get to the hospital and see how Josh is.”
“That’s why I’m here.” Kira peered behind Jessie. “I’m sure, Captain, you can wait until later today to talk with Jessie. We all want to make sure Josh Morgan is all right.” Kira didn’t wait for him to agree or not. She placed her arm around Jessie and made her way to her car.
Once Jessie settled into the front seat, what energy she had siphoned from her body. The events were catching up with her, but she didn’t have time to be tired.
“Are you going to tell me the details of what went down? It’s not every day I’m running around the streets of Pinecrest at four-thirty in the morning.”
“I couldn’t call Gabriel. He has Abbey. I didn’t want her to worry about her uncle. She’s dealt with so much this past year.”
“Do you think Josh will be all right?”
Jessie chewed on her thumbnail. “I don’t know. He was conscious when he was taken to the ambulance. I was basically ordered by his mother to stay back. She, and only she, would take care of her son.”
“Josh is all she has left.”
“I know but…”
“But what? You care about him?”
Jessie wasn’t sure how to answer that because it was more than caring.
“Are you falling in love with him?”
“Don’t sound so incredulous.”
“I remember how angry you were when you had to go to Florida and when you came back. You said little about Ruth and a lot about Josh.”
“Because he was exasperating.”
Kira chuckled. “That he can be.”
When Kira drove into the emergency room’s parking lot, Jessie sat up and began preparing herself for Ruth. At least the woman had given her a ride to the Colemans’ house. If she hadn’t, no telling what would have happened to Josh. The memory of his blood on the floor popped into her mind, and she had a hard time ridding her thoughts of it.
A minute later, she and Kira entered the waiting room. Before Ruth realized anyone had arrived, Jessie glimpsed the woman as she never had before—staring at the floor, her shoulders slumped, her expression riddled with—anguish.
Josh died!
Jessie’s own anguish wound around her, strangling her glimpse at happiness.
Ruth lifted her gaze to Jessie, and her whole persona changed. Anger dominated it.
Before Jessie could process the fast change in Ruth, the woman rose and crossed the waiting room, her body ramrod straight, her look razor sharp. “Get out. You don’t belong here. My son might die because of you.”
Might die? Josh is alive!
Jessie’s emotion took another one hundred eighty degree turn.
Ruth halted, raised her hand, and slapped Jessie. Stunned, she backed away. She knew that Ruth didn’t like her, but what she saw in the woman’s eyes was hatred. Jessie turned toward a shocked Kira, opened her mouth, but no words came to her mind. Instead, Jessie rushed toward the emergency room exit.
Outside in the crisp winter air, she finally felt the sting of the slap. The hurt spread through her as fast as a wildfire over dry terrain. She bent over and sucked in shallow breaths.
The door behind her opened and closed. She glanced back. “I’m okay.”
“Not from what I see.” Kira placed a hand on Jessie’s shoulder. “After you left, Ruth crumbled. I’ve never seen her cry, but she did.”
“What if my snooping into Heather’s situation was what started all of this? What if I’m the reason Josh is hurt—could possibly die? I don’t know how to handle that.”
Kira stood in front of Jessie. “Listen to me. Josh wouldn’t do anything he didn’t want to. He chose to help you. Aaron was the teen he was mentoring. And most of all, I know Josh would never want you to wallow in self-pity. God is with you and Josh. Two months ago in my darkest hour, He was all I could latch onto. Grab His hand and don’t let go.”
Jessie hugged Kira. “Thanks. You’re gonna be a terrific sister-in-law.”
“Speaking of that, I need to call your brother and let him know what’s happened.”
“I’m going to the chapel. If you hear anything about Josh, please come get me. At least his mother can’t kick me out of there.”
“She may have funded a lot of mone
y for this hospital, but she can’t kick you out of the waiting room either.”
In the chapel, Jessie took a seat at the back. At first, she was so numb she couldn’t feel anything, but soon, one by one, emotions leaked into her conscience—from fear, anger, hurt to hope. In the past few days, she and Josh had been put into danger. She knew he would be all right, as if God had taken her hand and whispered that Josh would make it.
So lost in prayer, Jessie didn’t hear Kira come into the chapel until she said, “Josh is awake. He has a nasty concussion, but he should recover. He’s been taken to a regular room. I’ll show you.”
Tears flooded Jessie’s eyes. Thank You, Lord.
As they walked to the hospital room Josh had been moved to, Kira said, “If you don’t want to stay at the Morgan estate, you’re welcome to stay with Grams and me, but when I talked with Gabriel, he wanted you to return to the ranch.”
What should she do? Jessie didn’t have an answer to that. “First, I’ll see Josh. Then I’ll decide.”
“It’s Room 119,” Kira waved her hand, “down this hall at the end. I’ll wait for you then take you where you want to go.”
When she approached his room, Robert stepped into her path. “I’m sorry, Miss Michaels. Mr. Morgan is unavailable.”
“Then I’ll wait.”
“Don’t bother. He is to have no visitors. He needs his rest.”
Jessie considered trying to plow through the six foot, muscular guard, but she didn’t have the energy nor did she want to create a scene in the hospital.
“Please tell him I came to see him,” she murmured and left.
Kira met her halfway down the corridor. “Why didn’t you go inside?”
“Josh isn’t available.”
“But—”
“Kira, that’s okay. All I want to do is go to the hotel downtown and sleep. I’m exhausted.”
“You can come to my place or the ranch.”
“No! I want to be by myself, and I am not going to put anyone else in danger.”
Chapter Twelve
After thirty-six hours, Josh gripped the banister, thankful that his head only throbbed at a dull ache. He couldn’t lie around another minute.
“You should be resting,” Josh’s mother said as he came down the staircase.
“I’m fine. I have work to do and people to see.”
“You’re going to see her.” Mother met him at the bottom of the steps.
“If you’re referring to Jessie Michaels, then yes. Even in the midst of a painful headache, I realized you somehow managed to keep her away. Now that walking around doesn’t cause me to get nauseated, I’m doing what I want.” Josh started toward the front door where Robert would be waiting to drive him.
“She isn’t good for you.”
He stopped and faced his mother. “I disagree with you. I choose the people I want to be with. You don’t. I’m not a child anymore.”
“What in the world do you see in her?”
“She challenges me to be a better person.”
“She’s a mistake.”
“On the contrary. She’s just right for me.”
“If you marry her, I’ll disown you.”
Josh shrugged. “I feel sorry for you. All you know how to do is manipulate people or blackmail them into what you want. It won’t work with me.”
“My estate is worth a hundred million dollars.”
“I don’t need a hundred million. I have my own money. Not everything within Morgan Industries is yours. When I come back, I’m packing my belongings and leaving. I won’t stay in a home where money is more important than people.” Josh continued his trek to the front door and left.
Outside he paused and took a deep, refreshing breath. He felt like a bird leaving the nest for the first time on his own power. The sense of soaring above the earth flooded Josh. He’d made the right decision. He’d made enough excuses for his mother through the years.
No more.
Now all he had to do was find Jessie and apologize for his mother’s behavior.
* * *
Jessie clasped the door handle in Quinn’s car. “Thanks for bringing me home from work. I appreciate you helping me out until I can come up with a form of transportation to and from the community center.”
“I can pick you up tomorrow if you need me to.”
“I feel safe walking the half mile to the center while it’s daylight. There was a time in Pinecrest even nighttime wouldn’t have bothered me.”
“But someone tried to kill you. I don’t blame you for being leery.”
“Have you heard anything about Josh and his recovery?”
“No, but I thought I’d pay him a visit tomorrow. I can take you, too.”
Ruth’s enraged expression in the waiting room dominated Jessie’s thoughts way too much lately. She didn’t want to see the woman only to have Ruth turn her away. “No, your report on your visit is all I need. Bye.”
Jessie opened the door and exited the car. She hurried into the Pinecrest Hotel, welcoming the warmth after the chill outside. Staying here last night hadn’t been too bad, except for a few loud noises that had jerked her from her sleep. Gabriel was insisting she come back to the ranch. Kira even tried to persuade her to stay at her grandmother’s house. If somebody was after her, she couldn’t put anyone else in danger. She had three locks on her hotel room door, and once she was inside, she made sure each one was in place.
On the elevator to the fourth floor, she envisioned taking a long, hot bath. Maybe then she would fall into a deep enough sleep that short of someone barging into her room she wouldn’t wake up. At her door, she used her key card, entered, and froze.
Her eyes widened. Her heart seemed to stop beating. “How did you get in here?”
Josh grinned. “I sweet talked the maid into letting me in here to surprise you.”
Her heart rate kicked up a notch. “I should report her to management.”
“Don’t. I know her. Her husband works for Morgan Industries. I assured her you wouldn’t mind.”
“Did you give her that smile?” She drank in the sight of him until her gaze latched onto his bandaged head, reminding her of what happened less than two days ago.
“Sure. I had to sweeten the deal.” He winked at her.
And her muscles dissolved into jelly. She barely made it to the chair nearby and sank onto it. “Are you okay?”
He held out his arms. “Don’t I look okay?”
“Not with that white bandage on the right side of your head. I should have stopped you somehow from going.”
“Hindsight is always perfect. But besides someone wanting to harm me, I discovered that most likely Aaron and his mother packed a bag and left their house, possibly even Pinecrest. I checked today. Mrs. Coleman still hasn’t been to work since Aaron was hurt.”
“Either they’re involved or scared.”
“I think scared and someone was keeping an eye on their house in case they came back.”
“Or in your case, when someone went snooping.”
“You have me there. This morning I hired an excellent private investigator, who I’ve used for tough cases in the past, to find them.” He looked around her small hotel room. “You can’t stay here. We know that someone doesn’t like us.”
“I won’t come back to your estate, even to stay in the guest house.”
“I wasn’t going to ask you to. I’m not staying there either.”
“You aren’t? What happened?”
He frowned. “My mother. Robert and I had a little chat on the way here. I know what she had him say to you, and I’m sorry because you were the only one I wanted to see—well, maybe Abbey, too. She always cheers me up.”
“I don’t mind coming in second to Abbey. She’s also special to me.”
“I never said you were second.” His roguish grin returned.
He pushed out of the chair by the bed and strolled to her. When he knelt in front of her, he took her hands. “You are importan
t to me.”
“Important? What does that mean?”
He cupped the sides of her face and tugged her toward him. “That I’m falling in love with you.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers. “Pack your things. It’s not safe for you to stay here by yourself.”
“But I’m—”
“We aren’t going to the estate. In fact, I told my mother I was moving out.”
“Moving out? Where are you going?”
“To a house I own. I was going to rent it out, but Mother and I don’t see eye to eye.”
“About what?”
“You.”
Her heart fluttered. He felt the same way as she did. “What exactly are you saying?”
“I have a place with a good security system. Robert and another one of my security guards have agreed to come with me. The house is big. We might not see each other for days.”
She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. “And if I say no?”
“Then I’ll leave Robert and his other security guard with you here in a hotel suite.”
“But you wouldn’t have anyone to guard you.”
“True. My priority is your safety.”
“Okay. Okay. I concede but only until the case is solved or it’s safe for me to leave.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal.” He rose and offered her his hand.
She clasped it and shook it. “Deal.”
* * *
Monday morning at the office on the ranch, Jessie hung up from talking to the owner of the feed store about their next order. She marked that item off her “to do” list. She was starting to feel more like her old self. A few days of rest helped her remarkably, but seeing that Josh was healing was really what gave her a bounce to her step.
The slamming of a door at the back alerted her to Gabriel returning from driving Abbey to school. Heavy footfalls sounded in the corridor right before her brother appeared in the doorway.
“Who is that standing in my hall?” he asked, his eyebrows slashing down under his cowboy hat.
“Robert. He’s my—bodyguard.”
“Since when can you pay for that and a hotel room?”
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