Page 14 of Knife to the Heart

The wind whipped into the foyer and scattered the memory into fragments. Two choices—to pay or not to pay—played a life-or-death game of tug-of-war. Should he let Rosalie call her team? If they worked around the clock…

He looked around the crowded waiting room. A pale, gray-haired man gave his information to Michael at the intake desk. Would the patient have a heart attack or a stroke before he was seen? Would the plump woman sitting next to him with her hand on his shoulder be left a widow?

The tug-of-war battle ended. As soon as he got Rosalie’s discharge papers and sent her on her way, he’d pay the damn ransom.

Annie tuckedRosalie’s signed papers under the nurse’s desk as she peered at Cannon over her reading glasses. “Rumors are circulating about a cyberattack. Care to elaborate?”

Rosalie stifled a laugh. Cannon may be the CEO, but Annie clearly ran this place.

He scowled at them both. “We’re working on getting the network back up and running. And this isn’t the time or place to be discussing that.”

Annie rounded the desk. She motioned Rosalie to follow as she pulled Cannon to a quiet corner. “Miss Zenner is with the FBI Cyber Division, so I think it’s the perfect time to discuss it. I don’t care if you’re the big boss. I’m pulling rank as the nurse who helped deliver you and your sister. I swear to God, if you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll march over to the cemetery, plant myself next to your daddy’s headstone, and tell him he’d better do something about your lying.”

She tugged at the dark waves brushing his collar. “Then I’ll go tell your momma you need a haircut.”

He shrugged off Annie’s hand and stuffed his own in his pockets. “I don’t need a haunting from my old man or a lecture from my mother. I have enough to deal with.”

She chuckled. “Oh, my dear boy, you’re just scared your old man really would haunt you. But the last thing your mother would give you is a lecture. On her lucid days, you’re all she talks about.”

A flush as pink as the paper hearts strung throughout the ER flooded his cheeks.

“The problem’s bad, isn’t it?” Annie stroked Cannon’s arm like a mother soothing her child. “I can tell. When you were a boy, you used to shove your hands in your pockets when you were angry and afraid. You squeezed them so hard, I thought your fists were going to burst the stitching on your jeans.”

Rosalie raised her eyebrows. Deceased father? Mother, who might or might not be lucid? Dear Lord, what had this man been through? If he’d let her stay and help, she might find out. Not that his deep, intimate, personal history was her business, yet it surprised her how much she wanted to learn about him.

He freed his hands from his pockets and grasped both of Annie’s. “We’re doing everything we can.”

“I’m sure you are, but hurry. Operating in the dark is making everyone edgy. It’s only a matter of time before someone makes a deadly mistake.” Annie picked up a clipboard and looked at Rosalie. “But I have faith that things won’t be slowed down by pen and paper for much longer. Our hero, Dr. Ford, always comes through. For everyone.”

Cannon’s cheeks blushed a darker pink. Did the hero label embarrass him? Scare him? Rosalie guessed both. Last night, she’d joked about him being a dirty old man. Right now, he looked haggard, like he’d endured a lifetime of responsibilities beyond his forty-two years. As he pulled back his shoulders, she wondered how he stood up straight with the weight of being everyone’s savior.

She ignored the phone buzzing in her pocket. Her mother and the party would have to wait until she laid eyes on the ransom demand. Malgor never strayed from his pattern of attacking then taunting her with his calling card, but criminals changed their behavior when they made a new move. Besides, this time of year held significance in his twisted game. Just a fewdays from now would mark the two-year anniversary of Malgor’s retaliation against her and her father for stopping his terrorist plot. If he really was behind the attack on Red Snow, this could be her chance at finally putting a face to the bastard, then punching him in the balls or shooting him between the eyes.

Excitement pumped through her veins at the thought. She might finally fulfill the vow she made to her father. “Which way to Schlitz’s office?”

“I said you’re not coming.”

“Oh really? Want the number of the last guy who discounted my expertise? Or how about the name of his bankruptcy lawyer?”

Bankruptcy?Hell no.

Cannon ushered Rosalie into a break room. He’d been so focused on patient care he hadn’t considered the possibility of Red Snow failing to provide care at all.

Losing his composure in the middle of the ER, no matter how much her bankruptcy threat terrified him, wasn’t an option. The staff needed him to stay calm.Heneeded to stay calm in the face of the biggest crisis this hospital had ever experienced.

If the doctors had been able to bring his father back from the dead all those years ago—and bring Julia back not too long ago—he could revive this organization. Unlike his father, who had eventually succumbed to cancer, the hospital would live.

So would his sister. He was Cannon Ford. The supposed hero. Somehow, he’d find a way to fix everything.

Rosalie wheeled on him as the break room door clicked closed. “I can put you in touch with the stubborn ass who told me he’d handle a ransomware attack himself. Just say the word. Hecan tell you all about why he wouldn’t let me or my colleagues get involved. And about how he paid the ransom and then paid another when the attackers demanded more money.”

Cannon rammed his hands into his pockets and, just as quick, yanked them out when Rosalie arched her eyebrow.

She pulled out her phone. “I’m calling headquarters.”

He snatched the device that seemed like a bigger threat than the attacker. “Like hell you are.”

“Give that back.” She dug her fingers into his wrist and twisted. With a quick maneuver, he countered and slipped the phone into his back pocket.

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