Ghost (A Steele Riders MC Book 6)

by C. M. Steele

  I held a part-time position at the County hospital in Victoria, Texas, working in the emergency department. For one week a month, I worked the ER every day, and then the rest of the time I worked in my father’s clinic that he ran from our home.

  Two more days, and I’d be done with my rotation. Unfortunately, the moon’s cycle wasn’t a one-day thing. It lasted anywhere from two to three days, which meant the place would be packed with fools.

  “You finally getting out of here, Dr. Holden?”

  “Yes, Rose. I need to rest. I picked the worst week to take.”

  “They set you up for all the crazies. See you tomorrow.” I waved her off as I exited the main hospital doors to my vehicle. The sun wasn’t even out yet, but I saw the tendrils of light peeking over the horizon.

  On my way home, the sun’s orangish-red hue dominated the sky. “A wonderful Texas morning,” I sighed to myself, knowing that I’d be sleeping until dark.

  The drive was a half hour long, and the entire ride my thoughts were on my future. I loved being a doctor, but there were moments when it took a toll on me. Still, I ached to help people. Maybe I needed to get out of the emergency department because it wore me down.

  When I pulled into the long gravel driveway, a grin spread over my face. I saw my father’s truck and boat gone. He was taking a very much-needed vacation on his boat to do some fishing and diving.

  I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat and entered our two-story country home with a perfect wrap-around porch. The front of the house was where the clinic was set up, but it was closed for the next two weeks while he took his vacation.

  After a shower and a bowl of oatmeal, I tucked myself into my bed. I had just fallen asleep after seven in the morning when I was stirred awake by my father beeping. He repeatedly pressed on the horn before he even stopped the truck. Honestly, he was lucky we didn’t have neighbors for miles because someone would be over here pitching a fit with all that racket.

  When my sleep-deprived mind woke up a little more, a thought struck me that something could be wrong.

  I rushed out of our house with just my robe to cover my tiny pajamas and slippers. He opened the flatbed of his truck and gingerly pulled out a man whose face was almost completely black and blue. Setting him on his boat ramp, he grunted, “Hurry, Grace.”

  “Oh my God, Dad. What’s going on? Who is he?” I screeched, looking at the broken man my father dragged in behind him.

  “Help me get him inside and into bed one.” We had two beds in our clinic, but for Dad to bring the man here instead of the hospital concerned me more. It was clear that he needed serious medical care as soon as humanly possible. “He’s injured bad, but I couldn’t leave him in the ocean.” The man was wearing khakis. What the hell was he doing in the ocean? Unless—

  “This wasn’t an accident. Cartels?”

  He sighed, “Yes. And I need your help.”

  I nodded and assisted him into the clinic area. The offices were closed for the next two weeks, so we wouldn’t be disturbed and hopefully could treat him properly.

  We hated the cartels more than most people because we lost my brother to them. He died of a meth overdose. It crushed our family, and my mother struggled with his death to the point she had a heart attack and died last year, angering my father to no end.

  “Whoever he is, we need to make sure he’s not another one of their victims.”

  We set him on the bed, and then I went to grab my medical kits. I didn’t have everything I needed here, but we could make do. I used my scissors to cut off his clothes. We didn’t want to jostle him more than he’d already been. I made a mental list of all his injuries as my dad set up a drip and the heart monitor machine for him. Listening to his chest, I could hear some fluid in his lungs, but overall they were better than expected. The large expanse of his chest was marred with bruises, and from my minor palpitations I could see that his ribs were broken.

  Every inch of his body had bruises. When I got to his groin, I did my best to act like a professional, but today my body disagreed with my head. When I looked at him, I didn’t see a patient; I saw something more. A tear fell from my eye as I patched up his wounds.

  “Grace, I’m sorry, baby. He’s going to be okay. I think we got to him in time. You need to get some rest.”

  “I will, once I know I’ve done all I can.”

  “Fine. I need to go back and make sure there’s no sign of him on my boat. I won’t be long.” My father assisted me as we patched up the lacerations and wrapped his ribs so they could heal. I hoped he slept long enough to let his body recover.

  I watched over him after spending three hours tending to his wounds. He’d really been beaten and left for dead. If my father hadn’t been in the right spot at the right time, this man would be dead. Something about that breaks my heart. As a doctor, I needed to keep my emotions in check, but his face distracted me even with the bruising.

  I slipped my stethoscope into my ears and listened to his heart. It was steady and normal, which was a fantastic sign. Over his heart, he had a tattoo that caught my attention. I brushed my hand over it and he groaned. His eyes opened and glassily looked into mine.

  “Angel,” he coughed out before closing his hand over mine as he passed out again.

  “Even a man on the edge of death thinks you are beautiful,” my dad said, standing in the doorway.

  I smiled and turned back to my patient before adding with a soft laugh, “Dad, you’re biased.”

  “You got me, but it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.” He walked over to my side and checked the readings on our mystery patient.

  “Dad. I doubt it,” I uttered, followed by a long, drawn-out yawn.

  “I’ll watch over him. You need sleep.” I wasn’t even going to argue that one. I was minutes from falling asleep with my head on the edge of the bed.

  “How did it go?” I muttered as I stood up and let out another yawn.

  “No one noticed anything.”

  “Good.” I gave my father a brief hug, and then reluctantly I walked away from the stranger’s bedside and to my room. I needed a lot of sleep.

  Two days later, there was no change in the man, but we were in for one hell of a surprise as we watched the news before I had to leave for my next double shift.

  “You need to see this,” I told my father.

  “Hello, this is Sandy Sandoval. We’re here at the Federal building in Houston where we learned one of their own went missing yesterday, and rumors are that he’s been killed. Here comes the Director of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.”

  Everyone quieted down as the man released a sigh, standing next to a large picture of the man in our home.

  “This morning, the agency was informed that ATF Agent Ricardo Martinez had been killed in the line of duty. He was on a special undercover assignment when he disappeared two days ago without reporting to his contacts. That is all. Thank you.” He moved to step away from the podium when the reporters shouted their questions.

  “Do you have any suspects?” Sandoval asked.

  “Nothing definitive. That’s all I can say.” He walked back into the building.

  “Well, that’s all they are willing to share. We will keep you updated.”

  “Oh my goodness. It’s him.” I watched in awe. We knew he wasn’t dead, but there was no way we could inform anyone. “We definitely cannot let on that he’s alive and here, or they’ll come finish their job. I hope he pulls through.”

  “He will. His vitals are stable. His nasal passages and throat have been burned. I could only picture them stuffing his face in coke.”

  “It’s possible.” I chewed on my bottom lip as I thought about what he must have gone through.

  “Something is on your mind, sweetheart. Tell me.”

  “Nothing.”

  “Don’t lie to me. Please.”

  “It’s strange, but I feel a connection with him. I don’t even get it, but I can’t stop thinking about him, and not as a patient. I wante
d him to open his eyes so I can see those honey-colored eyes again. I’m sure you think I’m crazy.”

  “No. I don’t believe you’re crazy.”

  “No?”

  “No. Sometimes fate brings people to us when we need them more than ever. Look at it this way— I found the handsome bastard in the middle of the ocean like he was a damn merman.” An image of him finding Aquaman flooded my mind.

  I laughed so loudly, I snorted. Shaking my head, I sighed. “I’m falling in love with an unconscious man. I’m sure I’m crazy.”

  “Well, embrace it, darling, and don’t dwell on it for now. You need to work on some patients today at the hospital.”

  “Oh shoot. I have to get to work.” I jumped up out of my chair and raced to my room. I wanted to have a minute alone with my merman before I left, so I had to move my ass.

  Chapter 3

  Grace

  When I returned from the hospital, I went to check on our private patient. “How is he?” my dad asked, stepping into the guest room where we moved him.

  “Looks to be the same, but I’m sure you already knew that.”

  “Still, two medical professionals are better than one.”

  “Any more patients today?”

  “Yes, two more. Why don’t you go shower? Dinner is almost done.” He slow-cooked a lot after my mother died. As physicians, neither of us had time to cook.

  “I’ll be back to check on you in a few, Mr. Martinez,” I said before walking into my room and straight into the shower. I needed one after the long day I had. He couldn’t hear me, or, well, I assumed he couldn’t.

  Some believed that the comatose patient could hear those around them. There were some studies saying it was possible, however, not true for every patient. My head nurse always told me that it was worth it to give them something to look forward to if they could. As she loved to say, “Kindness doesn’t cost a thing.”

  That wasn’t something I believed. Kindness could cost someone everything. Right now, my father’s act of kindness could backfire on him if the cartel became aware of what my father had done. They’d kill us and the man they believed they’d offed once already.

  I made quick work of getting clean and dressed. I didn’t know why, but I felt like I had to spend as much time with our patient as I could. I wasn’t due back at the hospital for another three weeks, which meant that I would take over primary care while my dad worked in the clinic.

  I peeked into the room where our guest remained still. Tomorrow, I had to start on moving his legs. They were primarily unscathed in the attack. They’d went for his middle and head. I checked the monitors, and everything ran well. He was breathing on his own, but his injuries were enough to kill him.

  Giving him one more look, I left him to join my father.

  The next morning, I entered his room and prepared him for the day. My father did the shaving for me. I wasn’t great at it, and he didn’t need me to cut him. “Good morning, Ricardo. I’m here for your physical therapy. Those strong legs are going to be noodles if we don’t get them moving. Any questions? No. Okay. I’ll begin.”

  I grabbed the heated towels, testing them on my arm first before I pressed them on his bare legs. I needed the blood flowing well before the risk of blood clots grew. We had to move him every few hours, but every day he needed an hour of stretching. He didn’t react to the towel, but I hadn’t expected anything else.

  “So are you just going to lay there and be silent and brooding?” I asked as if he could hear me. “Well, that makes you not my type. So you’re safe.” Giggling, I felt foolish. I moved the towels and began my ministrations, taking my time to massage every muscle in his legs. “The men that I dated weren’t the silent type. No, they loved to talk about themselves, but I doubt that is who you are. With the kind of work you do, I bet you are the guy that sits in the corner watching and waiting.” I sighed. “I hope you get to go back to your perch.”

  I moved to the other leg. “So while I have an avid listener with no judgement, I might add that, even comatose, you’d make a better boyfriend than my last one. David Vander Meer. God, his name screams pompous dick, doesn’t it? He had it all. Well, almost all. A doctor, a wealthy family with a massive pedigree, but he had to sleep around to overcompensate, if you know what I mean. You’d think having a smaller penis, he would have at least tried to be good at it. Well, never mind. I’m sure you’re not interested in his little-man woes. Well, maybe that’s what makes me angry about his betrayal. I was insulted.”

  I grabbed his foot and worked in the cream as I massaged his toes. Surprisingly, he didn’t have gross man feet. Everything except the whole coma thing had made Ricardo an incredibly handsome man. I shook my head and ignored my insane attraction to an unconscious patient.

  “Nice feet, but now back to my sordid past, which began in medical school. I fell for the hot doctor. Who doesn’t? I’m sure you’ve had plenty of beautiful women. Anyway, we were just finishing school and he got accepted to a hospital on the East Coast. He gave me a ring and asked me to marry him. He wanted me to forget about my position here and move with him. When he asked, I didn’t hesitate to say no. It came out of nowhere, but I’d never been surer about anything in my life.” I stood and started a small leg exercise.

  “I’ve never told anyone this, but since you can’t tell anyone... A week after the failed proposal, I bumped into David in town. He saw me and clearly tried to hide from me as if I couldn’t tell it was him. I was puzzled. Why was he trying to duck me? I did the dumping, so I should be the one running, but I tried to be civil, greeting him. ‘Hi David.’

  “He blanched as if he couldn’t be seen with me, and seconds later, I saw why. A woman called his name as she came up in a pretty, pale blue sundress with her long blonde hair like mine down over her shoulders. The biggest difference between us was the large pregnant belly and the rock on her finger that he’d tried to give me. He cheated on me with this woman.” I moved about, checking his vitals, and then moved to the next exercise.

  “What’s terrible is that he’d done it for a long time. ‘Is that the same ring you used to propose to me with?’ She gasped, looking between the two of us as if she’d puzzled something out. ‘Are you fucking kidding me? Are you Grace?’ I responded with a nod. ‘He told me that you two broke up a year ago when we got back together.’ She left him that day.”

  Once more, I moved to the next spot and then continued with my tale. “I don’t know if they got back together or anything, but for a week he sent me nasty text messages that I ignored. I’d been the victim of his lies, and yet he was indignant. I can laugh about it now, but then, I hoped he wouldn’t come after me. I already had enough problems. I probably shouldn’t have told you any of that, but you’re such a great listener,” I said with a giggle. After finishing up, I checked his fluids and then covered him up so he didn’t get cold.

  “Goodnight, Ricardo. I hope you recover soon.”

  Day after day, I came back and tended to him, but I never shared that much with him again. I might have done a little overshare with a stranger. Poor guy couldn’t even run away from my boring stories.

  Chapter 4

  Ghost

  My eyes ached as I opened them. The sun beamed on me, and I wondered where I was. The last thing I remembered was being tossed off a boat into the ocean. It made no sense. Was it just a bad dream?

  No. Maybe this was a dream? My eyes felt heavy, and then I saw her lean over me. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a glow about her that gave me peace. Heaven, maybe? Shit. I didn’t deserve heaven, but I’d take it. If this was heaven, then why was my heart racing and my body sore? God, the pain…

  “Angel,” I uttered, wishing she wouldn’t leave me, but the light dimmed again. It was the only thing I could say before I lost consciousness.

  Weeks Later

  I woke up to footsteps in the dark. Where was I? Was I dreaming again? Fuck, I remembered a man coming toward me on the reef, but that might have been an illusion as we
ll. Then, there was a beautiful voice telling me stories. I couldn’t see her, but I could feel her touch all over my skin as if she branded me with every move of her fingers. The heartache in her voice was evident as she shared painful moments. Then it was the laugh she had. This all must have been a dream because there could be no real woman with that perfectly adorable giggle that went straight to my heart.

  The memory of a dream brought the name David to the forefront of my mind, and a wave of anger barreled through me like a wild boar. I wanted his head, but I didn’t know a David. At least, not that I remembered.

  The sound of pattering feet moved lightly in my direction. Either my attacker was creeping up on me to kill me, or it was a tiny person. I looked for my gun in my nightstand, but then I realized I wasn’t in my home and was attached to something. Looking down, I spotted where an IV was in my arm. “I must be in a hospital,” I muttered to myself, trying to puzzle everything out. My mind was so damn fucked up that I couldn’t make sense of shit.

  I couldn’t find the light around the room. “Who’s there?” I called out, my voice cracking.

  “You’re awake,” a soft, feminine voice said as she moved closer to my side. It was angelic, and it shot a jolt of energy through me. The dream of an angel came back to me. I attempted to sit up, but I didn’t have the strength.

  “Wait. Let me help you, Ricardo.” She reached for the light on the nightstand. It was blinding at first, but as my eyes adjusted, I recognized her as my angel.

  That voice. It was her. The sweet woman who rambled on in my dreams. Were they really dreams, or just hints of clarity? “You’re so beautiful, my angel.”

  “Thank you, but I’m not an angel.”

  “It seems you’ve been helping me, so I’d say you are.” She blushed so prettily that I wanted to touch her cheeks to feel the heat off them. “Wait…Where am I? How did you know my name?”