Page 16 of Christmas Ransom

She met his gaze and tears again flooded her eyes. “Davy, I’m being released from the hospital tomorrow.”

He didn’t have time to react before there was a knock at the door and a blonde in scrubs stuck her head in. She had an armful of flowers. So did the candy striper behind her.

“I’m sorry—you have company,” the blonde said as she put down two vases of flowers and took three more from the young candy striper behind her. She placed them around the room. “Seems you have a lot of friends.”

He watched the aide fuss with one of the bouquets. “Is this the woman who brought your dinner tray?” he whispered to Carla, who nodded. “Excuse me,” he said to the blonde. “Were you in charge of her dinner tray?”

The woman looked surprised. She carefully straightened one of the vases before she said, “The patient said she wasn’t hungry and asked me to take it away. If she’s changed her mind, I’d be happy to get her another tray.”

He shook his head. “Where is that original tray?”

She seemed confused. “I took it down to the kitchen. By now the dishes have been scraped clean and loaded in the dishwasher.” She looked past him to Carla. “Did you leave something on the tray that you didn’t mean to?”

“Never mind,” Davy said and felt the woman’s gaze turn to him. Something like anger flickered in those blue eyes before she dropped her lashes.

“I’m sorry, but visiting hours are over,” she said to him.

“I’m not visiting. I’ll be staying as long as Carla remains in the hospital.”

The blonde aide raised a brow. “Sure? I can’t imagine you would be comfortable—”

“No problem.”

It wasn’t until she’d left that he saw Carla frowning at him as if surprised by his reaction to the attendant. “At this point, we have to suspect everyone,” he said. “She had access to your dinner tray.” Carla’s eyes widened in alarm. “I didn’t see a name tag, did you?” She shook her head. “I’ll get James and Tommy to find out who she is.”

He moved to the side of her bed. “In the meantime, I’m not going anywhere. Don’t worry.” But even as he said it, he was more than worried. He had feared that her life might be in danger. Now they knew it was.

Chapter Eleven

Carla told herself that she couldn’t do this as she listened to Davy inform the doctor that he would be sleeping in the reclining chair next to Carla’s bed. The last thing she wanted was for him to spend his Christmas holidays here in this hospital. But she couldn’t send him away either. His being here made her feel safe and less afraid.

Her head ached and she felt sick to her stomach. She hated feeling so vulnerable. She was the one who helped others—not the other way around. She didn’t like asking for help. Especially from Davy Colt, the man she’d given an ultimatum to all those years ago.

But she’d never had a killer after her before. Was this going to be her life until the masked man was caught—if he was ever caught? Running scared and being afraid of everyone who crossed her path? “I can’t do this,” she said when Davy got off the phone. “I can’t ask you to either.”

She was so grateful to him, but what if the killer wasn’t caught? Davy couldn’t put his life on hold. She wouldn’t allow that. He didn’t have that many more years to rodeo. She knew what it meant to him and felt sick at how she’d demanded he give it up if he loved her. She’d forced him to choose—and he had, breaking both of their hearts. He’d begged her to come on the road with him, calling it an adventure they would talk about when they were old.

But she’d refused, telling him he needed to grow up and quit being so selfish. She cringed now at the memory. Given the way she’d treated him, she had no right to ask him to keep her safe now.

“Hey, you didn’t ask,” he said as he moved to the bed. He brushed a lock of her hair back from her forehead, his fingertips gliding over her skin and sending a shiver through her. “I’m here for you. Don’t worry. The feds are looking for him and my brothers are beating the bushes for information on him. We’ve got this.”

She couldn’t help the relief that welled inside her. “Thank you, Davy.”

His gaze softened. “Just try to get some rest. I’ll be here.”

As silly as it seemed, she was exhausted. She closed her eyes. Davy was here. He was the only man who’d ever made her feel completely safe. Within seconds, she drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

WHILECARLASLEPT, Davy placed a call to the Colt Brothers Investigation office and filled James in on the latest information, including the tattoo and note.

“She needs to tell the FBI agent about both,” James said.

“I agree, but not until she’s out of the hospital. We can’t take the chance that J will find out. We know he has access to her here. Better for her to tell the agent after she’s at home. Not that I suspect the feds are going to like it.”

James agreed. “The agent is definitely going to be skeptical about this new information. She just now remembered the tattoo? As for the note, because she didn’t keep it, there is no evidence that she’s telling the truth. If he already suspects she’s involved, he’s going to think she’s lying to cover up something. But don’t worry, if the feds don’t follow up on this, we will.”

“Think you can get information on hospital employees with names that begin withJ?”

“I’ll do what I can,” his brother said. “As for the tattoo clue, it could be an old girlfriend, so don’t hang too much hope on the secondJ. The firstJcould be a nickname. Unfortunately, Tommy and I are both working other cases too and Willie is training over at the sheriff’s department. Do you think you can hit the tattoo shops?”

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