In Too Deep

by Lynn H. Blackburn

  Adam knew that voice. “Leigh?”

  “Hey.” Someone—he assumed it was Leigh—squeezed his hand.

  “Let me guess,” Dr. Sloan said, “you’ve been sent by Dr. Fleming to ascertain the status of Mr. Campbell.”

  “I have,” Leigh said. She leaned over Adam. “She’s fine, Adam. Completely fine.”

  “Does she have a head injury? She already had a concussion from this morning.”

  “Um, no. A few bruised ribs. Some minor contusions.” Leigh’s eyes shone with honesty and the vice grip around his heart released.

  “Did they check? Because she can’t be trusted to tell the truth about how much pain she’s in.”

  “Yes,” Leigh said. “X-rays and scans and examinations—all done. A few stitches, thanks to Dr. Sloan, and she’s being released.”

  “How bad is she hurting?”

  “Adam.” Leigh gave him a kind but firm look. “She almost died today. Twice. A little pain? It’s not such a bad thing.”

  He understood what Leigh was saying. And she was right. Pain beat the alternative. Except he didn’t want her to hurt at all. Ever.

  “Your CT looks good, so let’s get you out of this,” Dr. Sloan said.

  In a few moments, his neck was free from the collar. He took in the room around him. “Thank you,” he said.

  Dr. Sloan frowned at him. “I’m going to tell you what I think you should do. I think you should go home. Take Dr. Fleming. Find a comfortable chair or couch and rest. Put your feet up. Watch a movie.”

  Adam didn’t respond. He wouldn’t lie to the man. And he would try to get Sabrina to agree to the doctor’s recommendations.

  But it wouldn’t work.

  Dr. Sloan’s frown deepened. “But since I know you’re going to ignore me, at least agree you will take it easy. That you will take the meds I prescribe. That neither of you will be alone tonight and someone will be around to check on you.”

  “I will,” Leigh said. “They can stay with me.”

  Dr. Sloan didn’t give Adam a chance to disagree. “Excellent.” He turned to Leigh. “Take care of them.”

  “I will.”

  Dr. Sloan left the room muttering something about workaholics.

  “How’s Gabe?” Adam asked Leigh.

  “Grouchy. He’s already gone back to the house to see if there’s anything salvageable. Ryan’s with him. They said you would understand.”

  He did. And he was thankful they’d done that. Neither of them could help him by sitting in a hospital waiting room. They needed to find out who did this.

  Now.

  “Anissa’s still here,” Leigh said.

  “Why?”

  “She’s with your grandfather in the waiting room.”

  “What?”

  “Actually, I believe she’s with both of your grandparents.”

  “Grandmother? Is here?”

  “Yes. I think they want to see you. I’ve been holding them off, but you probably should . . .”

  “Of course. Yeah. Okay.”

  Five minutes later he heard Anissa’s voice outside the door. “He’s in here.” Grandmother entered first, followed by Grandfather.

  “Oh my.” Grandmother’s whispered words stunned him. For Virginia Campbell, those two words were equivalent to a shout of horror.

  Grandfather placed his arm around Grandmother’s shoulders and squeezed. Grandmother leaned into him for a brief moment before straightening.

  “I do not appreciate getting phone calls in the middle of my bridge club,” she said. He might have been hurt by the severity of her remark if he hadn’t noticed the way her hand shook as she brushed back her hair.

  “Anissa shouldn’t have called.” He shot daggers at Anissa, who didn’t look nearly sorry enough for putting him in this situation.

  “She most certainly should have.” Grandmother bestowed a smile on Anissa. “She clearly understands the way mothers and grandmothers worry. Besides, how would it look for a Campbell to be in the hospital and no one from the family present to advocate for him.”

  “Grandmother.” He wanted to say he didn’t need anyone to advocate for him. And he didn’t care how it looked. But then he caught Grandfather’s eye. “I’m sorry. Things got a little crazy for a while.”

  Anissa smirked, and she and Leigh slipped into the hallway.

  “From what we heard, you saved Dr. Fleming’s life today.” Grandfather had a twinkle in his eye that didn’t bode well. If Grandfather got the idea he had any sort of feelings for Sabrina . . .

  “Well, of course he did,” Grandmother said. “He’s a Campbell.” High praise from Grandmother. If he hadn’t gotten the all clear from the doctor, he would have been worried there was something seriously wrong with him.

  “How’re you feeling? Investigator Bell told us you were nearly crushed by a large section of roof.”

  “I don’t know about crushed—”

  “And we ran into Investigator Chavez in the parking lot as we were coming in. He told us your quick thinking saved all of you,” Grandfather added. “Said if you hadn’t reacted when you did . . .”

  Grandmother sucked in a quick breath. “We’re proud of you, dear. When will they let you out of here?”

  “Any minute now.”

  “Do your parents know about this? Or Alexander?” Adam’s brother, Alexander, was an orthopedic surgeon in Chapel Hill.

  “He knows, Grandmother. I talked to him for about thirty seconds before they did all the scans. He was going to call Mom and Dad as soon as they knew what we were dealing with. But with the time difference, I’m not sure they’ll get the message until tomorrow.”

  Grandmother pinched her mouth into a tight line. “Good. I don’t wish to be part of any form of deception. Parents need to know what’s going on with their children.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “What do you need, son? What can we do?” Grandfather patted Adam’s leg.

  “Nothing. It’s just some bruises and lacerations. Nothing major. I’m fine.” There was no way he needed his grandmother worrying over things that would heal. “Thank you both for coming.”

  Grandmother gave him a small smile. “Would you like me to send Marcel over tonight?”

  She was offering to do without her butler for the evening? Good grief. He’d never heard of her doing that. Ever. Grandfather looked surprised by the gesture, but he supported it. “That’s an excellent idea, Virginia.”

  “Thank you for that kind offer. Truly. But I’m fine. The doctor doesn’t want either Dr. Fleming or me to be alone tonight, and our friend Leigh Weston has agreed to keep an eye on us. She’s a nurse practitioner here in the emergency department, so she’s eminently qualified.”

  “Judge Weston’s daughter. Yes. I know who she is. She’s quite respected in her field. An excellent choice. You’ll give her our number,” she said. “And tell her to call us if she has the slightest need.” Grandmother didn’t ask this—she stated all of it as an imperative.

  “Yes, ma’am. I will.”

  “And you will call us tonight? Just a little check-in?” Grandfather did ask.

  “Of course.”

  “Very well.” Grandmother looked around the room. Grandfather must have taken that as a sign that it was time for them to leave. He patted Adam’s leg, again. “Keep up the good work.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  But rather than walking to the door, Grandmother came closer, leaned over his bed, and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Be safe.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Grandfather winked and they left the room.

  Adam touched his face. He had no recollection of his grandmother kissing him. Ever.

  He had no idea what had just happened. Was it possible Grandmother had finally decided to give him her blessing?

  He didn’t need it, of course.

  But he couldn’t deny that he rather liked it.

  “You okay?” Leigh said from the door.

  “I think so.”r />
  She came in, twirling a cream-colored card in her hand. “Your grandmother gave me her card. I’m to call if I need anything. She’s quite worried about you.”

  “Yeah, I think she is.”

  Who’d have ever thought that would happen?

  It took another thirty minutes for him to get released. When he was finally free, the nurse wanted to push him to the door in a wheelchair.

  He declined.

  He found Leigh in the lobby. “Where’s Sabrina?”

  “Right here.”

  Her voice came from his left. Her eyes were red. Her right cheek was scraped. She might wind up with a black eye based on the bruising he could see forming. Her wrist had a bandage on it. There were stitches at her hair line.

  She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

  “You’re okay?” she asked.

  “Come here.” He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. She held on to him like she might never let him go.

  Which would be fine with him.

  “We’re okay.” He kissed the top of her head, and he didn’t care that Leigh was standing six feet away with a goofy grin on her face and a tear slipping down her cheek.

  Sabrina’s entire body trembled. Was she cold? Or maybe having some sort of delayed reaction to the day’s events?

  “Adam,” Leigh said, “Sabrina has insisted that I take her to her lab. Would you care to join us?”

  “The lab?” He tried to keep the “Are you crazy?” out of his voice.

  “The hard drive,” Sabrina said. “I need to see if I can get anything off it.”

  “Tonight?” he asked.

  “You think we dare wait for tomorrow? We almost got blown up today. They’ve probably destroyed whatever evidence might have been in the house. We’ll never know for sure. The hard drive’s all we have left.”

  As much as he hated to admit it, she had a point.

  A terrifying one. But a good one.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  10

  How did Anissa and Ryan wind up at Lisa Palmer’s house?” Adam asked as Leigh drove them back to Sabrina’s lab.

  “They had been at the lake all morning, but they were headed back to the sheriff’s office when they heard about the explosion. They drove straight to the house,” Leigh said from the front seat of her car.

  Sabrina had slid into the back beside Adam, and she’d not objected when he’d reached for her hand. Her fingers had laced through his almost before she’d realized what was happening. His thumb made tiny circles across hers.

  Somehow, after everything that had happened today, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

  “Did Ryan happen to say if they found anything in the lake?” Adam asked.

  “A whole lot of nothing.” Leigh drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “They’re with Gabe at Lisa Palmer’s house now.”

  Sabrina studied her friend. There was something about Leigh’s tone, her stiff shoulders, her busy hands that didn’t feel right.

  “How much burned?” Adam asked.

  “My understanding is it’s a total loss. What didn’t burn was soaked by the time the fire department finished putting out the blaze.”

  The odds of them recovering anything from the house would be infinitesimally small.

  “How’s Gabe handling it?” Adam squeezed Sabrina’s hand as he spoke, and when she looked up she found his eyes roving over her face. She must have looked rough.

  Not that she cared.

  Or she didn’t usually care.

  Why should she care now?

  “He’s . . .” Leigh’s voice trailed off.

  “Yeah,” Adam said.

  “She didn’t say anything,” Sabrina whispered to Adam.

  Leigh chuckled. “Sorry, Sabrina,” she said. “Adam was reading between the lines. Same as Ryan and Anissa have. That’s why they’re with him. Gabe’s a wreck. He’s worried about the case. He’s worried about you and Adam. He’s worried about finding who fired that RPG. He’s worried about who is behind this and what they’re capable of. And most of all, he’s worried they—whoever they are—will find whatever it is they’re looking for before he does.”

  “He told you all that?” She’d never imagined Gabe would be that forthcoming about his insecurities.

  “No.”

  Then how did she—oh. “You got all that from his body language?”

  “Pretty much. That and because the more time I spend with Ryan, the more I learn about how cops are and how they think. And Gabe is a very good cop. He’s also a friend.”

  She made eye contact with Sabrina in the rearview mirror. “And he’s dealing with a lot of rage right now. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see steam coming from his ears. Anissa was the only one who could get him calmed down enough to stay still for the X-rays at the hospital.”

  “Anissa? Wow.” Adam continued to speak to Leigh, but his eyes never left Sabrina’s face.

  “Yeah. Go figure,” Leigh said. “They’ve come a long way. I’m not sure what happened, but there’s been a noticeable thaw between them since y’all helped that friend of Gabe’s with that boat that was sunk in Lake Porter.”

  “Miracles never cease,” Adam said.

  Was he still talking about Gabe? She wasn’t sure anymore. He reached toward Sabrina’s face with his free hand and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. His thumb traced her cheek as it passed by and the heat of that gentle caress startled her. She almost leaned into his palm but caught herself.

  What was she doing?

  This was a bad idea. A terrible idea. She’d had this conversation with herself before. Adam Campbell needed a certain type of woman.

  She wasn’t that type. She couldn’t be that type. And if she cared about him, she needed to remove herself from consideration.

  She straightened in the seat but couldn’t bring herself to pull her hand away from his. She could enjoy this. For now. Right?

  “Dr. Sloan got him out of there as fast as he could. I told Ryan to be sure he gets him back to the house tonight. I’ll set up a mini-clinic and check out all three of you again. How long do you think you’ll be at the lab?”

  “I’m not sure. A couple of hours at least.” Sabrina turned to Adam. “Do you need to go to your office?”

  His hand tightened around hers. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “But—”

  “No.”

  If Gabe had been steaming earlier, Adam was practically vibrating. Probably the same causes. Rage. Frustration. Worry. Stress.

  Regardless, there was no point in fighting it. Sabrina closed her eyes and tried to settle her own nerves.

  The next thing she was aware of, Adam was rubbing her arm. “Bri?” He spoke her name with gentle reverence.

  “Did I fall asleep?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Sorry to wake you.”

  “It’s okay.”

  Leigh was looking at her phone. “Ryan says he’s going to have a couple of deputies on the scene bring you your car. He said it was undamaged.”

  “Great.” Adam released Sabrina’s hand and climbed from the car. She waited. Seconds later, he opened her door. “Thank you,” he said.

  “For what?”

  “For letting me be a gentleman.”

  She took the hand he extended. Wow. She was stiff. Between this morning’s attack and this afternoon’s explosion, her entire body ached. Her legs didn’t want to work, and rather than stepping away from the car the way she’d intended, she tripped and stumbled. Right into Adam. He caught her with her face mere inches from his.

  The air between them hummed.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what?”

  “For being a gentleman.”

  He cleared his throat and steadied her, making sure she wasn’t going to fall over before he released her. “I try.”

  “Are you two sure you’re okay?” Leigh asked from behind the wheel. “I don’t kno
w about this.”

  “We’re good,” Adam said. “When we finish here, I’ll take Sabrina to her place to pack a bag and we’ll come stay with you.”

  “Okay. I expect you to work quickly,” Leigh said. “You both have been through a lot of trauma today. At some point, your bodies are going to crash. You can only keep them going by sheer force of will for so long. You need to be in a place where you can let down your guard and get some rest when that happens.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Adam tried to keep a straight face but failed.

  “I’m not kidding, Adam Campbell. I’m speaking as both a medical professional and someone with firsthand experience. You may be willing to test my theory, but I know you don’t want Sabrina to.”

  Adam bit down on his lip. “You’re right. We’ll work as fast as we can.”

  “Excellent. Be careful.”

  “We will.”

  Adam closed the door and Leigh drove away. He slid an arm around Sabrina as they walked to the lab.

  “Did Leigh seem a bit tense to you?” she asked.

  “A bit?”

  “That’s a yes?”

  Adam held the door for her. “Sorry for the sarcasm. She’s more than a bit stressed.”

  “What’s wrong?” Sabrina pushed the up arrow for the elevator.

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No . . .”

  He pointed to her bandaged wrist and the stitches in her forehead, then pointed to his own head.

  “She’s worried about us?” Sabrina stepped into the elevator and Adam followed.

  “Very.”

  “What aren’t you telling me? Or what am I missing that should be obvious?” There must be something.

  Adam looked at the sides of the elevator. “Are you going to make me spell it out for you?”

  “If you don’t, I’m going to be wondering what’s going on.”

  He didn’t speak as they walked to the lab entrance, or as she leaned forward for the iris scan, or as they walked into the dark room. The motion-activated lights flickered on one by one, and she waited as he made a silent inspection of the lab and her office.

  “Everything clear?” she asked.

  “As far as I can tell.”

  “You still haven’t answered my question.”

  “I’m still trying to figure out how to do it.”