“Go. Man.”
“What about Mom and Dad?”
“Nope, they aren’t listening. If crazy old Lucy can help her, she deserves a chance. Gun it, Luke.” The truck jerked and the tires tore through the gravel as Luke swung around and headed down the long driveway.
“What about the whole...” Luke stopped when she caught his gaze in the rearview mirror. “The wolf thing?”
Noah growled from the seat next to her. “She’s not going to say anything. Are you?” The question was directed at her.
“No of course not. I’ve got enough problems without adding yours to the mix. Get me to Lucy and I’ll be out of your hair like I was never here.”
“It isn’t right, Noah. Mom and Dad know what they’re doing. We’re going against everything the family has protected for centuries.”
“You can dump it on me. I refuse to let her wake up a stranger to herself tomorrow because I didn’t scout the area better before I took a late night run. If Dad wants to punish someone, it should be me. I made the careless mistake.”
“That’s not how it works. Whether you want to take the blame or not. The responsibility to protect the pack rests on Dad.”
“Sitting right here,” Emma croaked out and leaned against the window, trying to ignore the two arguing men. The pack? Good grief, how many of them were there?
“They mean well,” Kara whispered over her shoulder to Emma between the seat and the wall of the cab. “They’re twins. So they rarely agree on anything.”
A half of a chuckle slipped between Emma’s lips. Twin brothers. That certainly explained the need to constantly battle for dominance in the argument.
The truck shot down the driveway and she held onto the seat in front of her as they pulled out onto 16. She was glad they were taking her where she wanted to go. If she could get to the hospital, she could figure it out from there. She needed to see Lucy—hopefully talk to Lucy.
Twenty minutes later they were pulling into the hospital parking lot—St. Bethany Memorial. Luke pulled to a stop in front of the large entrance, and Noah got out first. He opened Emma’s door and she hopped out beside him onto the concrete sidewalk, refusing to take his hand.
He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment.
“Can I have my purse back?” Emma reached toward Kara’s open window, but Noah grabbed her outstretched hand.
“Nope, Kara will hang on to that for you,” he said, pulling her away from the truck and through the sliding doors of the emergency room entrance.
Jerk. Though she had to give him credit for remembering what she had in her purse. Of course, he had felt it twice already. Still, if he wasn’t giving it to her, he probably didn’t intend on letting her go either. Meaning sneaking out of the hospital with Lucy was going to be a little harder than the average walk in the park.
A few people were sitting in the lobby. But it was pretty quiet overall. A group of small couches and single chairs were arranged to one side. A vending machine sat against the far wall and a small coffee bar was open and serving a morning dose of caffeine to all who needed it. The scent of freshly roasted coffee was torture. It’d been too many hours since Emma had downed a cup. The neurons in her brain started to whine, but she shoved down the urge and focused on the task at hand —finding Lucy and getting away from Noah.
She followed Noah to the front desk. A beautiful arrangement of red roses was on the counter to the right and two women in scrubs were speaking to each other in low voices, smiles on both of their faces.
“Excuse me,” Noah said, putting a hand on the counter and making eye contact with the younger of the two women. “My friend and I are trying to find out where Lucinda Craig’s room is. I know she was brought here after her accident a few days ago.”
“I know you aren’t related to Lucy. Aren’t you one of the VonBrandt boys?” the nurse asked, giving Noah a suspicious eyebrow raise.
Emma moved closer to the desk, bumping her arm into Noah’s. Trying to ignore the spark of energy flowing between them, she focused on the nurse who’d spoken.
“She’s my aunt. Noah gave me a ride to the hospital.”
“Oh, well in that case, I can take you upstairs to her. I’m Shawn Collins,” she said, extending her hand. “I was working the ER when she came in and I was also the one who transferred her upstairs. She’s probably pretty groggy from the sedatives the docs have her on, but I heard she did wake up from her coma yesterday afternoon.”
“You can tell us the room number. I can help her find it.” Noah’s voice was tense.
Emma knew he didn’t want to let her out of his sight, but this was her chance.
“I’ll be fine, Noah. Just wait here in the lobby. I want a few minutes alone with Aunt Lucy,” she said, patting his arm before she realized she was doing it. She jerked her hand away like she’d touched a hot iron. No touching. She couldn’t touch him like that. She refused to be interested in a guy who could turn into an animal. Whose family wanted her dead. I don’t need that drama. Even if it is attached to a heart-stoppingly gorgeous guy who I find myself extremely attracted to.
Emma’s gaze flitted to the pretty blond nurse. “Thank you. I really appreciate the help.”
“No problem. This way,” she said, grabbing the flower arrangement from the counter.
Emma followed Shawn across the lobby, leaving Noah fuming at the front desk. She hadn’t been sure if leaving with the nurse would work, but apparently he was more nervous about making a scene than he was about letting her out of his sight. A quick glance over her shoulder before ducking into the elevator with Shawn gave her a glimpse of an angry Luke storming through the doors with Kara hot on his heels. Her brown-fringed purse was slung over Kara’s shoulders along with a pink Vera Bradley cross-body bag. She hated leaving her stun gun and everything behind, but she couldn’t afford to come back if she got the chance to slip away.
The doors slid shut behind her and she heaved a sigh of relief.
“She’s doing okay.” Shawn patted Emma shoulder. “Lucy is a tough old lady.”
Emma smiled. “Thank you. It’s been a very long night.”
“I feel you there. If it weren’t for these pretty flowers turning my mood, I’d swear it was a full moon already, but that’s not for a day or so I think.”
“A full moon?” Emma licked her lips and sucked in a quick breath. She didn’t know much about werewolves, but she knew enough from TV and books to know that full moons usually were a problem for them. Unless all of that hype wasn’t true.
“Yeah. All the crazies come out on a full moon and march their butts straight into the hospital after crashing their cars or stabbing themselves with butcher knives,” Shawn laughed. “Sorry, I remember this one guy last month who swore he saw a wolf with glowing golden eyes out west of town where he was camping in the state park. He was so shook up driving home, he ran right off the road and straight into a tree.”
“I didn’t think there were any wolves in Texas.” Emma fought to keep her voice steady. Werewolves apparently, though. She forced her face to remain as emotionless as possible.
“Actually, the VonBrandts own a half dozen wolf-dog hybrids. They let them run on their ranch land. It doesn’t surprise me that one hopped the fence into the state park. But, they’ve never hurt any person or any livestock in or around town. I’ve actually seen them in town, riding in the back of Aaron VonBrandt’s truck.”
“They own wolves as pets?”
“Yeah, I don’t know how they control them so well, but they do. No one has ever filed a single complaint as far as I know. Most people in town know about them. This guy just didn’t.”
“Was the man okay?” Emma asked, pressing a little further. The more she knew about the VonBrandts, the better.
“Yeah, only a little banged up. After we told him he’d either seen a coyote or one of the VonBrandt’s over-sized pets, he was fine and more than a little embarrassed. I think he said he was pretty new to town.”
Emma sighed
. No wonder they were able to hide their secret so well. They’d probably purposefully brought in the hybrids to give the illusion of wolves on the property. Smart.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Emma followed Shawn out and down a hallway, through a few sets of doors, until she stopped in front of a nurses’ station.
“Your aunt is down that hall.” She pointed to her right. “Last door on the left, next to the stairwell. I’m glad someone will be with her to help when she goes home in a day or so.”
“Thank you,” Emma answered. With any luck, she’d have Lucy out of this place and headed out of town before the day was over. She hurried down the hallway, praying to God that Lucy was at least awake enough to sneak out of this place.
Chapter 13
“You let her go up by herself. Noah, what the hell, man?” Luke stomped his way through the lobby toward the chair Noah had sunk into.
Noah glared, warning his brother to stop talking before the outburst made a public scene. It was the very reason he hadn’t argued with Emma in front of the two nurses. The last thing their family needed was to be remembered for being the last ones seen with Lucinda Craig’s niece—or whatever she was to the woman.
At least Luke took the hint. His brother’s mouth snapped shut and he sat on the arm of the chair across from Noah. Kara took up residence in the chair next to Luke and placed her hand on his thigh.
“It’s not like she can really go anywhere, Luke.
She doesn’t have a car or even her purse.” Kara patted the brown bag in her lap with her other hand.
Noah moved quickly, snatching the bag out of Kara’s lap and retreating to his seat.
Kara raised an eyebrow and Luke growled low in his chest.
“I’ll hold onto this for now.”
“What’s in it?” Kara asked, curiosity blooming in her bright blue eyes.
“We have to take her to the house, Noah,” Luke said, his voice low enough that none of the people milling around the lobby could hear.
“We can’t.”
“You can’t possibly have feelings for this girl in less than twenty-four hours.” Luke stood up but didn’t move toward Noah. Instead he focused on the television hanging on the wall a dozen feet away.
Noah turned his head and glanced at the screen. Emma’s picture popped up along with pictures of a man and woman—Arnold and Ericka Carrington, both found dead on their front lawn. Their throats slit. Holy shit. Who was this family? Average people didn’t get murdered and dumped on their front lawn.
Noah jumped up, his heart racing in his chest. Emma Carrington. Wealthy. Elite. Mixed up in some bad stuff. No regular person had armed mercenaries tracking them through the night with automatic rifles.
At least it explained why Lucy’s closet under the stairs had been stocked like a military locker with weapons and supplies. Genuine fear for Emma’s safety wrapped its claws around his chest and squeezed. It didn’t make sense that he cared so much about what happened to her. She’d been nothing but a pain-in-the-ass since she’d first lit him up with that damn stun gun.
But he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her curvy but surprisingly strong body. Her soft dark blond hair. Her sparkling blue, intelligent eyes that expertly hid her emotions from the world. Whatever she’d lived through, Lucinda Craig was important to her. He couldn’t let this girl suffer at the hands of his family. She’d already lost her parents and probably didn’t even know it yet. She couldn’t lose her identity too.
His brother pulled out a cell phone and walked toward a row of vending machines.
“What are you doing?” Noah stood, taking a step toward his brother.
“I’m calling dad to tell him where we are. She’s not going to come with us easily.” Luke’s face was grim but serious. He really was going to turn Emma over to their parents without a word.
Not happening. He moved faster than he realized, his hand deep inside Emma’s bag, digging for the heavy stun gun in the bottom. Wrapping his fingers around the weapon, he jumped at his brother and pressed the tongs against the skin of Luke’s neck.
“Wha—” Luke shuddered and dropped to the floor with a thud.
“Noah!” Kara screamed, falling to the floor next to the chair.
Noah grimaced. He’d forgotten that anything he did to Luke, Kara felt as if it happened to her, too. “Shit, Kara. I’m sorry.”
“I’m going t-to b-beat the s-shit out of y-ou, N- noah,” his brother growled from the floor where he was still jerking from the electric current the stun gun had shot through his nervous system.
“Not right now.” Noah tossed Emma’s bag down beside Kara, along with the stun gun, and sprinted across the lobby to the elevator. He had to find Emma before the rest of his family got to the hospital. Luke and Kara would be back to normal in only a few minutes.
“Lucy?” Emma closed the door behind her and turned to the small woman on the hospital bed. A black headband was holding her white blond hair tight to her head. Her skin was paler than she remembered. Lucy was approaching sixty, but she’d always seemed younger and full of energy. Seeing her like this made Emma worry.
An IV fed a line attached to her wrist and an extra-large lump under the covers looked like a leg cast.
“Emma, is that you?” Lucy mumbled, her words slurring. “They’ve got me on something. I can’t move. Damn doctors wouldn’t let me go home.”
She sounded drunk, but Emma wasn’t surprised they’d had to sedate Lucy to keep her in bed, especially if she’d seen a recent newscast. Right now the TV screen was playing some morning news show, but if Lucy had been awake last night, she’d seen the missing persons report on the Carringtons that had been splashed across every channel.
Emma approached the bed and placed her hand on Lucy’s forehead, stroking her platinum hair to the side. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too, sweet girl, but we don’t have much time for this right now, do we? Pull the IV out and find my clothes. I know those nurses stuck them in the cabinet over there somewhere. We’ve got to fly this coop.”
Emma smiled. Always telling her what to do. She missed it. Missed feeling the affection that Lucy, even as strict as she was, bathed her in. Just those two words “sweet girl” showed more affection than she’d gotten from her own mother in the past decade.
She carefully removed the IV from Lucy’s wrist. Lucy’s hand closed around Emma’s wrist and Emma felt her heart leap in her chest. Tears welled in her eyes and she leaned over to press a kiss to Lucy’s temple.
“It’s so good to see you, honey. I love you to the moon and back.” Lucy’s raspy voice was choked with emotion. She squeezed Emma’s wrist tight.
Emma stood and wiped her damp eyes with the back of her hand. “There are people hunting me.”
“Help me up,” Lucy said, nodding. “I saw blips of the news report last night, that’s why they put a damned IV sedative on me. I made the mistake of raving like a lunatic. Have you been to my house yet?”
“Yes, barely got out before my backstabbing asshole bodyguards showed up. If it wasn’t for one of the locals, I’d be on foot on your property.”
Lucy’s eyes sparked to life as she did her best to fight through the sedative clearing her body. “Who’s with you?”
“Noah VonBrandt.”
“I don’t know a Noah, but I know that last name. What the hell was he doing on my property? They own enough land to stay on theirs.”
She helped Lucy sit up on the edge of the bed and move to the edge, the cast on Lucy’s left leg was going to be challenging. “Is it your ankle?”
“Calf. The damn shelf at the grocery store snapped it. I’m lucky that was the only broken bone, although they said I bruised some ribs too,” Lucy said, pulling back the hospital gown and peering down her front. “Sweetheart turn up the volume on the TV. Sportscaster just started and I want to hear what they have to say about the team this season, plus we need to cover our voices. And I damn near missed everything
with this stupid head injury. Apparently I’ve been in a damned coma for a month,” Lucy growled.
With a few clicks of the remote, the voices on the television rose to a clearer level. Emma sat on the foot of the bed, trying not to grin. It was funny, in the midst of any crisis, Lucy always kept track of whatever teams she was rooting for. March Madness had always been a huge part of her life because of Lucy’s obsession. She’d forgotten how much she missed it. Without Lucy around, she’d completely stopped watching sports.
“In a shocking upset, the James C. McAdams University Highlanders have won the South Coast Conference title and , for the first time in school history, they will be playing in the NCAA Tournament. Led by sophomore guard and Pac-12- transfer Hamilton Kidd, the Highlanders have pulled out one hell of shocker for the nation. This small, unknown school will now be in the national spotlight, at least while we wait to see what their rank will be in the Tournament. What do you think, Scott?”
“I see a high seed in their future, Ken. Remember, Hamilton Kidd was last year’s Pac-12 Player of the Year. That has to factor into the committee’s decision.”
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Emma reminded her gently, turning toward her beloved guardian. She’d missed her. Missed how life was so much more normal with Lucy around.
“Yes,” Lucy said, finally pulling her focus from the television. “The less the VonBrandt boy knows about us, the better. Grab my clothes.” Lucy pointed to the cabinet across the room. “It’s exciting that our team won though, but I’m pissed I missed the game. That Hamilton Kidd must be a hell of a player.”
“Sounds like there will be more games.” Emma moved to the cabinet on the wall and opened doors and drawers until she found Lucy’s clothes folded neatly in a plastic bag. It was going to be easier said than done, getting away from Noah and his family. She tore the bag open and helped Lucy out of the gown and into her street clothes. If she looked like a discharged patient, the nurses, busy closing out their notes for the night shift, would barely give them a second look. At least that’s what she was hoping. The last problem was the stairs. If they took the elevator to the lobby, the VonBrandts would catch them for sure.
To Love A Mate: Somewhere, TX (VonBrandt Pack Book 2) Page 7
