Page 10 of Crosshairs

At five forty-five, she grabbed her service pistol and left a note on the kitchen table. Once she stored the pistol in the hidden safe in her console, she drove to the hospital. The first visiting time for the ICU was from six until seven, and she should be right on time. Cora’s nurse had said the doctor usually arrived early for his rounds, and she wanted to be there.

Pink clouds streaked the eastern sky as Ainsley pulled into Merit Health and parked the pickup. What was with the cloud that suddenly hung over her? Guilt? No, more like regret. Maybe passing her familiar haunts drove home how much she’d changed since leaving Natchez.

If someone had told her when she graduated from high school that she’d be working as an Investigative Services Branch specialagent sixteen years later, she would’ve laughed. She’d had plans to make it big as a country singer, in spite of her dad’s opposition.

Ainsley sighed. She’d ridden that train for eighteen months—dropped out of college after her first year and toured the country as a backup singer for a big-name artist long enough to prove her dad and Linc wrong. But when her big break came, her voice had failed her ... so maybe they’d been right.

She loved what she was doing now. When she’d returned to college, she’d chosen a degree in criminal justice. Mostly because it was as far from music as she could get. Ainsley once again brushed away thoughts of failure as she climbed the stairs to the ICU.

Inside the waiting room, she pressed the button to enter the unit and was quickly allowed in.

Her aunt was dozing when Ainsley paused at the door, then her eyes fluttered open. “Ainsley? What are you doing here?”

She crossed the room to the bed and bent and kissed Cora’s cheek. “Checking on you before I go to work.”

Confusion crossed the older woman’s eyes, and she glanced around the room. “Where ... am I?”

Ainsley had been afraid something like this might happen. It was one reason she wanted to see her aunt first thing this morning. “You fell last night and hit your head.” She filled her in on all the details, and tension eased in Ainsley’s shoulders as understanding replaced her aunt’s confusion.

“I remember now, at least some of it,” Cora said.

The door opened, and Ainsley frowned when her father walked into the room.

“You’re here early,” he said.

He didn’t have to sound so surprised. “I have a busy day, and I wanted to check on Cora before it got started.”

“I didn’t know you were planning to visit Natchez until last night, or rather this morning.”

“It’s not exactly a visit.” Surely he wasn’t upset that she hadn’tlet him know her plans—he hadn’t expressed an interest in what she did since the day she defied him. “The park service rerouted me, and I got in late yesterday. I did plan to text you this morning.”

“Too busy for a five-minute call, but not too busy to get a nice tan.” He arched an eyebrow. “Mom said you just got back from a cruise.”

Heat flooded her face. “I’m surprised to see you here this early.”

“Had to come see how my girl was before I left town.” He flashed his famous grin at Cora as he took her hand. “How are you feeling, sweetie?”

“I’d be better if you two would stop bickering with each other,” Cora said sharply.

Ainsley swallowed the he-started-it reply on the tip of her tongue. One of them had to be the grown-up. “Sorry. I should have made a point to let you know I was here.”

There. Now it was up to him to accept her apology, which he wouldn’t.

“Thank you.”

Ainsley clamped her jaw tight to keep it from hitting the floor.

Her dad turned to Cora. “You didn’t say how you’re feeling.”

“Tired,” Cora said, returning his smile.

“I heard you say you remember some of what happened?” he said.

“Only the part about coming to the hospital.”

“How did you hear about her fall?” Ainsley asked. Gran hadn’t indicated that she’d called him, and Ainsley certainly hadn’t.

“I asked the nurse to call him for me after you and Rose left,” Cora said.

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