by A. J. Quinn
Nick nodded. “She fell in love with the area like we knew she would, and when the house on the point became available, she jumped at the opportunity to buy it.”
Evan took a deep breath and sighed, letting her head drop forward, aware Tate was watching her quizzically.
“I’m not sure why, but I get the impression you have a problem with my having bought that property.”
But before she could formulate a response, Alex jumped in once again, his face alight with humor. “She’s just jealous. Evan had her eye on that place ever since Nick and I moved to the island. She even went so far as to contact the owner. Before she shipped out, Evan arranged for him to let either Nick or me know if he ever wanted to sell. She promised to meet his asking price without question in return for right of first refusal.”
Tate stared at Alex as comprehension dawned. “That’s how you knew it was going on the market before it ever got listed?”
“I don’t suppose I could interest you in making a quick profit,” Evan interjected with a wry grin.
Tate gave a quick shake of her head in polite refusal. “No, not really. But you’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” she countered softly.
“Sounds like you’re making plans for going home,” Althea said from the doorway. “That’s wonderful news, Evan. Do I take it you’ll be staying with Tate on the island?”
Evan nodded, uncertain what to say.
Tate squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “You don’t need to worry about Evan. There’s a really good medical clinic in town and we can always hire a nurse if that’s what Evan needs. Or we can get help through the naval base on the peninsula.”
“I’m not worried,” Althea said mildly as she approached the bed. “But we still need to fatten you up, so we’ll have to plan a celebratory dinner. Something with all of your favorites. What do you think you would like?”
“A barbecue,” Evan answered immediately, suddenly feeling poignantly young as one of her favorite childhood memories flashed into her mind. It stood out in a sea of countless functions and events dictated by politics. A private family holiday and a barbecue at the lake on the Fourth of July when she and Alex had been ten or eleven. “I’d love to have barbecued chicken, apple pie, and a gallon of champagne. And music. I’ve really missed listening to music.”
Althea brushed the hair away from Evan’s face with a slightly uncertain hand. “Then we’ll arrange to have a barbecue as soon as you’re comfortably settled.”
Evan nodded and rubbed her temple. Maybe she could just plead a headache and deal with everything else tomorrow.
“Are you feeling all right, Evan?” Althea had continued to watch her closely. “You look like you’re in pain. Should we get one of the nurses to give you something for it?”
Evan considered her mother’s offer briefly. “Actually, it’s only a headache,” she said, “and I think I’d rather try a couple of aspirin and see if that works. Maybe with a cup of strong black coffee and some apple strudel.”
“I understand the patisserie downstairs serves excellent strudel. Shall we go down and see if they have some?”
“That would work.” As Evan began to relax, her mouth curved into a smile. “But maybe first, if it’s all right with you, we could stop by Deacon’s room. I understand he’s going home today and I promised I’d stop and say good-bye.”
Chapter Nineteen
At first she thought it was a dream.
She was drowning in waves of hopelessness and pain, trapped in a world without light, without air. In a state of near panic, her mouth grew dry, her heart pounded frantically, and her eyes burned.
Except she wasn’t asleep. She was awake. And even with her eyes wide open, the air in her hotel room remained charged, and Tate had the unshakable feeling something was horribly wrong with Evan.
Intellectually, she knew it made no sense. She had left Evan ensconced in her hospital bed, safely tucked in for the night, albeit restless and bored.
But the feeling Evan was in danger hit her like a blow. With her head between her knees, she breathed slowly until the pain eased and she could think more clearly. Having just found her again, there could simply be no disregarding unexplained feelings. No matter how illogical.
Raking a faintly shaking hand through her hair, she gave in to the inevitable and headed to the shower.
When she stepped out of her bedroom, showered and dressed, she was startled to see Alex moving quietly out of the shadows. With unspoken questions between them, she walked across the suite toward him, rubbing her arms with her hands. Nick stepped out from behind him and she saw both were fully dressed.
“The twin telepathy can be a real bitch,” Alex said with a faint smile and handed her a large coffee.
Humor. She hadn’t expected it, but under the circumstances she certainly appreciated it. And if nothing else, it told her at least Alex still had his balance. That was a good thing. A necessary thing. “I feel like Alice in Wonderland and I’ve just fallen down the rabbit hole,” she admitted. “What the hell is going on?”
“I was coming to wake you up and let you know Nick and I were going to pop over to the hospital. See if you wanted to come along. But then I heard your shower running and figured you were ahead of us. I should have known you’d already be up. You felt it too, didn’t you?”
“The twin telepathy?” She focused on sipping the top inch from her coffee and tried to come to terms with what he was saying. She’d certainly read about twins sharing an uncanny connection. How it could produce an intense sense of empathy, strong enough to generate physical sensations, such as feeling pain when a twin was hurting or in crisis. But still…“I don’t know about this, Alex. It makes no sense. I’m her lover, not her twin.”
“Doesn’t seem to matter much at the moment, does it?”
“It probably means nothing.” But why waste time arguing? Not finding any ready answers, Tate shrugged.
“Are you all right?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” She gave a shaky laugh. “Shall we go?”
The moon was a silver sickle, its light faint and thin as it guided her into the hospital less than twenty minutes later, Alex and Nick following closely in her wake. She had all but convinced herself she and Alex were suffering from a shared delusion, brought about by the unrelenting stress of the past few months.
But as she stepped off the elevator, Tate was confronted almost immediately by a disturbingly too-real sight. Kelsey Grant stood just outside Evan’s room with two MPs while a nurse gestured with her hands.
She hated this. Hated feeling helpless. Hated being so frightened she couldn’t breathe. But she was functioning on only caffeine and nervous energy, and as she tried to ignore the obvious implications of the military police presence, her chest began to ache.
Oh God, not again. Let Evan be all right.
What the hell could have happened? Every nerve in her body began screaming for her to run as fast as she could. Remembering to breathe, she sprinted forward and braced herself for the worst. “What’s happened? Where’s Evan?”
“She’s all right,” Kelsey replied, a line forming between her brows as she took a careful look at both Tate and Alex. “She’s in her room.”
“She wasn’t hurt,” the nurse added.
Tate felt a hysterical laugh bubble up to her throat as she clenched her fists and fought for control. “What does that mean?”
“Tate, I’m going to ask you to stay calm. Evan’s all right,” Kelsey reiterated.
“I’m as calm as I’m going to get. What happened?”
“Earlier this evening we had a situation—an intruder got into Evan’s room. One of the nurses thought she heard something, and when she went to check and saw what was happening, she called for the MPs.”
Tate’s head reeled and her blood turned to ice.
“How the hell did this happen?” Alex asked. “And where is this intruder now?”
“All I can tell you is he was dressed in
scrubs and a lab coat and looked like he belonged. He escaped before he could be caught. The MPs are still searching for him, but he’s most likely long gone. In the meantime, we’re trying to contain the situation and have stationed two MPs at Evan’s door. They’ll be there until she’s discharged.”
“Damn straight they’ll be there,” Alex said, his tone caustic. Turning, he tried to push his way into Evan’s room but was stopped by the two much larger MPs. Alex sent them a glowering look. “Give me a fucking break. Listen, I don’t give a rat’s ass—”
Before Tate could determine how to defuse the situation, Kelsey intervened. She quickly stepped between Alex and the MPs and looked directly into Alex’s eyes. “I’m sorry Alex. I know you want to see your sister, but we can’t let you in just yet. Dr. Patterson is in there with Evan, and right now she’s what Evan needs. Trust me.”
Seeing the determination still shining brightly in Alex’s eyes, Tate put a restraining hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. Alex raised an eyebrow and exhaled heavily but didn’t persist.
“Who’s Dr. Patterson?” Tate asked.
“She’s a psychiatrist. We just want to make sure Evan’s okay emotionally after what happened. If you could give them a little more time, I’m sure you’ll be able to see Evan once they finish.”
Something in Kelsey’s tone had Tate swallowing uncomfortably. “Did Evan say anything? Did she know who the intruder was? Could she identify him?”
Kelsey seemed to weigh her answer before she spoke. “Evan knew him. Said his name is Khalid.”
Tate felt her throat close, could see the beginnings of horrified understanding on Alex’s face. “This isn’t some manifestation of PTSD, is it? Evan didn’t imagine any of this?”
Kelsey shook her head. “He was very real.”
“Did he do anything to her? Did he hurt her?”
Before Kelsey could respond, a petite woman with wavy hair generously laced with silver stepped out of Evan’s room. Knowing this could only be Dr. Patterson, Tate quickly turned toward her. “How is she? How is Evan?”
*
She found Evan sitting by the window, staring out at the night sky. The only light in her room was a night-light blending with what little spilled in from the corridor. But the darkness surrounding her did nothing to obscure the shadows clouding her eyes and the paleness of her skin.
“Hey,” Tate said softly. “Is it okay if we come in?”
At first Evan appeared not to hear her. But after several painful seconds passed, she turned her head toward them. One look had Tate’s level of concern escalating. She appeared confused. Almost as if she didn’t know them. Didn’t recognize her twin brother and his partner. Or her lover.
Tate moved a step closer. “Evan?”
Evan stared at her a moment longer before Tate saw her features slowly relax. “Hey. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
“For some reason, we thought you could use some company.”
Beside her, Alex laughed. “You were sending out pretty strong distress signals earlier,” he said, and when Evan’s eyes swept over Tate, Alex added, “Yeah. Tate picked them up too.”
Evan’s expression inexplicably altered. Instead of laughing, her eyes darkened and traces of tension and unhappiness appeared on her face. She didn’t move, but Tate felt her pull away. She felt the distance between them stretch and could almost see the barriers closing around her.
What the hell happened? She tried to relax her body, tried to ignore the sharp ache in her chest. Tried to remember to breathe. “Evan? What is it?”
Evan shook her head. “Pointless what ifs.”
What ifs? Clarity struck Tate like a bolt of lightning. “You’re wondering why we picked up on your distress tonight but failed to pick up anything during the months you were held captive. Is that it? You’re wondering if you might have been rescued sooner if we had—before Khalid happened.”
“Something like that.”
It was a question Tate wasn’t prepared to ask herself. “I can’t answer that any more than I can pretend to understand what happened earlier tonight. I just know I’ve never experienced anything like it. I’m only sorry we didn’t get here sooner. But we’re here now and I promise we’re not going to let anything else happen to you.” I’m not going to let that bastard hurt you again.
As if hearing her thoughts, Evan looked down for a second, blinking. “I don’t think you’ll be able to stop Khalid. He won’t let anything stop him.”
“Oh, Evan.” Tate wanted to reach for her, to touch her so badly she ached. But she hesitated. Afraid to startle Evan who was clearly on edge. And even more afraid of being rejected.
Shadows had infiltrated the room, secluding them in a silence broken only by the occasional sound of voices and movement of the hospital staff in the corridor beyond the door. After a minute or two passed, Evan looked up and held Tate’s gaze steadily.
“We need to talk about this…about what happened this evening.”
“I agree,” Tate responded calmly. “But I get the feeling we’re talking about having two very different conversations.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I think we should talk because you’re already holding in much more than is healthy. You’ve been through hell and you need to start letting some of it go. But that’s not why you want to talk, is it?”
Evan shook her head. “No. I think we need to talk because I’m thinking this…my going home with you and Alex…my staying with you…I don’t think it’s going to work. I think we’re making a mistake.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying Althea is heading to the UK, but Dad’s flying back to DC and I think you and Alex and Nick should catch a ride back with him.”
Tate felt a flash of something hot and painful deep in her chest. Anger or hurt, she couldn’t be sure. She found her throat suddenly dry and she was no longer certain she could say anything. She made an effort to swallow, knew her heart was breaking. The best she could manage was to keep her voice calm when she spoke, even if it was only one word.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t think my going with you is the right thing to do. Not right now, anyway.”
Tate waited only an instant before shaking her head in disagreement. “That’s not good enough,” she said, and some of the hurt she was feeling seeped into her voice. “After all this time and everything we’ve been through, don’t you think I deserve more of an answer? At the very least, I think I deserve the truth.” She didn’t need to look at Evan. She knew by the silence she’d made her point.
Evan pushed her hands into her hair and held her head. “Christ, Tate, I don’t know if I can handle much more tonight, and I’m not sure I know how to explain, but I really need you to understand.” She lowered her hands and blew out a breath.
“Understand what?”
“Don’t you get it? Khalid found me. He was here this evening. This isn’t PTSD. I didn’t imagine him and he’s as mad as a hatter. He’s obviously still working on some agenda I’m not sure even he understands, but quite clearly he needs me to be part of whatever he’s got going on. And that makes it dangerous for anyone to be around me.”
“That’s bullshit,” Tate responded sharply. “There are MPs stationed outside your room even as we speak and they’ll be there until you go home. If that’s not enough, if we need more, then we’ll get them. And once we get you home, we’ll do whatever we have to do to protect you. We can get security systems, security guards. Whatever.”
“She’s right,” Alex spoke for the first time. “For Christ’s sake, Evan. Our mother’s the bloody secretary of state. Don’t you think Althea’s got enough resources she can call on to protect you—to protect all of us if need be—until they can find and put a stop to this guy? You’re obviously not thinking straight.”
Evan exhaled tiredly. “You’re right. I’m not thinking straight, and that’s part of the problem.”
�
�What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m a mess, physically and psychologically. The doctors want me to gain weight but food is the furthest thing from my mind. I can’t sleep for the nightmares, and when I’m awake, I’m having flashbacks I can’t control. Don’t you see?”
“What, Evan? What do you want me to see?”
“That this whole situation is completely fucked up because the truth is the Evan Kane you knew didn’t survive. She died in Afghanistan.” She paused and released a harsh laugh. “Jesus, listen to me. A psychiatrist would have a field day with me on a couch.”
“Evan—”
“No, don’t.” As she continued, her voice grew calmer, became softer. “Don’t get me wrong. I know I’m getting better every day and I’ll heal physically. I’d also like to think I’m still mostly sane, in spite of everything that’s happened. But right now, I’m the last thing I figure is good for any of you the way I am. I’m not sure I have anything to offer, not while I’m like this, and I don’t know if anyone can fix what’s broken.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Evan stiffened, but before she could respond, Alex quietly interrupted. “Listen, it looks like the two of you really need to talk, so why don’t Nick and I head out of here? Tate, do you want us to wait for you?”
Tate shook her head. Trying to remain calm, she watched Alex and Nick leave before turning back to face Evan. “Now, do you want to explain what’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Tate,” she whispered uncertainly.
“I’m not going anywhere, Evan. So you might as well talk to me.”
For a moment she didn’t answer. She wanted only to be left alone. To protect her world and to be left alone inside it. But as quickly as the desire crystalized, she knew Tate wouldn’t let her be. “You and I,” she began. “We’ve always had a very active…a very physical relationship.”
“Is that the problem?”
“Not exactly, no. The problem is right now I’m not sure I can handle any level of intimacy.”
