Critical Condition Read online

  “I really think it’s the best way, Tara.”

  Tara let out a sigh. “I suppose you’re right.”

  * * *

  It took all morning for Kelly to clear the change in plans with Detective Gray, but by one o’clock, with Suzie settled at her sister’s, Tara finally made it to the hospital.

  Zach met her at Kelly’s car with a welcoming smile. He opened her door. “Good to see you back.”

  “Thanks. I think.” He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, and Tara decided she liked the effect.

  He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, never taking his eyes off her face.

  There had to be a dozen reasons why she should slip her hand free, but she couldn’t think of a single one. All she could remember was how good it had felt to be in his arms. As if he’d needed to hold her as much as she’d needed to be held.

  “You’ll be fine.” He slipped something into her pocket and then, still holding her hand, turned toward the hospital.

  “What’s that?”

  “A two-way radio. If anyone so much as looks at you the wrong way, all you have to do is press the button and I’ll find you.”

  “Wow, my own remote-control knight in shining armor. Cool.”

  “We aim to please.” He chuckled, the deep, throaty sound bringing a rush of warmth to her cheeks. “How’s Suzie?”

  “Good.” Tara shook her head. What was she doing?

  She’d promised herself she wouldn’t drag Suzie on an emotional roller coaster. She shouldn’t be letting her heart trip at Zach’s nearness.

  The front doors of the hospital yawned open.

  Her gaze drifted up the drab, gray wall to the fourth floor. She should be checking herself into the mental ward to have her head examined for being here at all.

  A car barreled into the parking lot behind them.

  Tara spun to look, only to have Zach rush her out of harm’s way.

  “It’s Melanie’s fiancé!”

  Jeff parked across two parking spaces and had his door open before the engine stopped. He pulled open the back door and struggled to lift someone out of the seat. Zach and Tara sprinted over to lend a hand. An ambulance blocked the E.R. bay doors, justifying Jeff’s erratic parking job. He emerged from the backseat with Melanie in his arms, and from the way she shivered despite the mass of blankets wrapped around her, it looked as though her fever had returned with a vengeance.

  Tara commandeered a wheelchair, then fast-tracked the woman through triage and into a bed. As the nurse on duty tucked a heated blanket around the shivering cancer patient, her fiancé spoke frantically. Tara wished the nurse-in-charge had allowed Zach to come in, too.

  “I didn’t know what to do. The shivering got so bad, I couldn’t get her warm.” Jeff moved to Melanie’s side and brushed her perspiration-drenched bangs from her forehead. “I’m sorry, Melanie. I know you didn’t want to come, but I got scared.”

  “Has she taken anything to bring down the fever?” Tara asked.

  “Oh, no. She—”

  Melanie’s glassy eyes met Jeff’s with an inexplicable urgency.

  “She...” Jeff hesitated. “She wanted me to call her doctor first. But I couldn’t get a hold of him.”

  “I’ll send word to Dr. Whittaker that she’s here. I’m sure he’ll come down the first chance he gets.”

  Something akin to panic lit Melanie’s face. “No, Dr. McCrae. Please.”

  Tara patted Melanie’s covered foot. “I’ll go up to the ward and find him for you myself.” As Tara left the room, Betty, at the desk, flagged her down. “That hunky computer guy told me to let you know he had to get back to work, but to call him if you needed him.”

  “Thanks.” Tara figured Zach would want to know how Melanie was doing, but she hated to use the two-way radio he’d given her unnecessarily.

  “How is she?” Zach’s voice sounded behind her, as if just thinking about him had made him materialize.

  Suppressing a smile, she turned. “Stable. It’ll take a while to bring her temperature down, and even longer to figure out what caused it to spike.”

  Zach cupped her elbow and led her to a quiet corner out of the flow of patients and staff. “Is she complaining of any other symptoms? Sore throat? Cough?”

  “No.”

  “She didn’t take anything?”

  “Jeff said she refused, until she could talk to her doctor. And what was even weirder, when I offered to send Dr. Whittaker down to see her, she panicked. She asked for McCrae instead.” Tara dropped her voice to a whisper. “Do you think Whittaker did this to her?”

  Zach gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “She would have said so.”

  “I don’t know.... I don’t like it. Ellen and Debra’s symptoms started with a high fever. If Jeff had delayed bringing Melanie in any longer, she may have started seizing, too.”

  “Okay, if the nurse will let me visit with them now, I’ll see what I can find out. Are you heading up to your ward?”

  “Yes, Betty called up to let them know why I was delayed. But I have to find Dr. McCrae first. I promised Melanie I’d ask him to come down and see her.”

  Zach glanced back to the desk. “Why didn’t they just page him?”

  “I got the impression Melanie didn’t want Whittaker to know.”

  “Interesting.”

  Tara took the elevator upstairs. Rushing off to D ward, she collided with Dr. Whittaker.

  “Whoa, there.” He caught her arm to keep her from stumbling, only his grip didn’t feel nearly as comforting as Zach’s had. “Miss Peterson? I didn’t realize you were back.”

  His curious expression didn’t seem menacing, but with Melanie’s panicked look fresh in Tara’s mind, she stuttered over an explanation. “I’m...uh...looking for Dr. McCrae. Have you seen him?”

  “In his office, I believe. Anything I can help with?”

  “Thank you, no. Excuse me.” She hurried toward McCrae’s office before Dr. Whittaker could ask any more questions.

  * * *

  “This case is getting stranger by the day.” Zach glanced across the truck seat at Tara as he drove her home. The air had cooled considerably and dusk had fallen. “Melanie was sleeping when I tried to see her, and Jeff didn’t want to talk about what happened. He was really shaken.”

  “Has Melanie started an alternative treatment? Do you think that’s what caused her fever?”

  “That’s what I’m wondering. It would explain why she didn’t want you to call Whittaker. She knows McCrae is more supportive of the alternative treatments.”

  “So it’s a coincidence that she presented with the same symptoms as Ellen and Debra Parker. Debra had been in the hospital for more than a week. She couldn’t have been slipping out to go to some alternative-treatment facility.”

  “Hmm.” Zach turned into Tara’s driveway, and the truck’s headlights swept over the front porch.

  Tara grabbed the dash. “Did you see that?”

  Zach shifted into Park and peered through the windshield. “What?”

  “On the porch. I saw something move.” The wobble in her voice constricted Zach’s chest.

  There were no cars on the street. Kelly wasn’t here yet. It had to have been Tara’s imagination, a trick of the light. Shadows clung to the walls. Suddenly one shadow detached itself.

  “See.” Tara pointed at the figure racing off around the side of the house.

  Zach yanked his flashlight from the glove compartment. “Lock the doors and wait here.” Flicking on the light, he ran to the end of the house and peered around the corner. The unlit backyard, canopied by a giant oak and edged by a thick hedge, offered too many places for an intruder to hide. Every cell in his body rocketed to high alert.

  He listened for movement. Nothin
g.

  After a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Tara was staying put, he edged along the side of the house, scanning every shadow with his light. New dead bolts wouldn’t deter someone determined to get in. The thought stole his breath. If he couldn’t find this guy—

  He cut off the thought. Not finding him wasn’t an option. He never should have agreed to let Tara come back. But he’d thought the guy would back off. They’d been monitoring her house since the night of the shooting, and no one had come skulking around looking for her.

  Zach circled the yard, listening for the slightest sound. But not even the wind whispered through the trees. Slowly, he made his way around the house, checking for signs of an attempted break-in, or sabotage. Again, nothing.

  Satisfied that the prowler was long gone—for now—Zach returned to the truck.

  “There’s no sign of him. But we’ll find somewhere else for you and Kelly to stay.”

  Tara unsnapped her seat belt. “No. I won’t let Dr. Whittaker scare me out of my own home.”

  “Whittaker? You saw him?”

  “No.” Tara climbed out of the truck. “But if you’d seen how panicked Melanie looked when I offered to get him for her...”

  Zach hurried Tara to the cover of the porch. It surprised him how calm she sounded. He would have thought that coming home to a prowler would freak her out a little more than this, but, then, he’d come to expect the unexpected from her. He supposed that, like cops, nurses quickly learned how to not fall apart in an emergency. His admiration for her went up another notch, even as he tried to assess the situation and how he was supposed to keep her safe.

  He’d start by asking Gray to put a tail on Whittaker.

  Zach took her key, unlocked the door and surveyed the room before stepping aside so she could enter. Except, once in the light, he could clearly see how shaken she was. He pulled her into his arms. Her shudders rippled through him, and his heart ripped open as silent tears dampened his shirt. “Shh, it’s okay,” he murmured, when the situation felt anything but.

  FOURTEEN

  Tara melted into Zach’s arms, absorbing his strength. She wasn’t used to having someone in the middle of a crisis focus on her well-being. And she was tired of fighting. Fighting to stay out of a murderer’s sights. Fighting to protect her daughter and her job. Fighting her attraction to Zach.

  For just a minute, she savored the warmth of his arms. The steady beat of his heart beneath her cheek was remarkably comforting. She drew in a deep breath, and with it, the hint of leather clinging to his shirt. Part of her wanted to stay here forever.

  He relaxed his hold and gripped her upper arms. “Maybe we’ve overlooked the obvious.”

  “The obvious?” She glanced around her living room. Suzie’s toys were strewn on the carpet. A half-empty mug of cold coffee sat on the end table. A couple tins of wall paint were stacked in the corner, waiting for the redecorating job she’d planned to finish weeks ago. But nothing obvious jumped out at her.

  “Your ex. He’s already snuck around once that we know of. He likely stole the key you had hidden and expected to be able to let himself in without a problem. The man is out of a job and desperate for money. You’re an easy target who probably wouldn’t press charges even if you caught him.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “Of course I would.”

  Zach cupped her cheek and gave her a crooked smile. “No, you wouldn’t. You’re too softhearted.”

  The tenderness in his voice turned her knees to jelly.

  “Not to mention, he’s Suzie’s father and, knowing you’d do anything to protect her, he wouldn’t let you forget it.”

  At the thought of Earl using Suzie to manipulate her, Tara gritted her teeth. “You’re right.” She hurried to her bedroom and opened her jewelry box. The broach was still there.

  Zach hovered at the doorway. “What is it?”

  “A broach that Earl’s mother gave Suzie. He asked for it back, but I refused.”

  “Unfortunately, without catching him in the act, we can’t know for sure the prowler was him.”

  “Oh, I can tell when Earl’s lying.” Tara grabbed her coat. “Come on...let’s go.”

  Zach caught her arm. “Maybe you should let me talk to him alone.”

  “Absolutely not. I can read in his face what he’s not saying. You can’t.”

  Fifteen minutes later, they cornered Earl in his garage. The hood of his soon-to-be-repossessed car was still warm. “Tara, what are you doing here?” Wariness, not surprise, tinged the question.

  “Be happy I didn’t send the cops. What did you think? That I wouldn’t change the locks after you came prowling around the first time? How stupid do you think I am?”

  He held his hands up, all innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  For an instant, Tara believed him. Then she noticed the twitch in the corner of his eye. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and punched in a couple of numbers. “So you won’t mind if I call the police to rule out a match of your fingerprints.”

  Earl glanced toward the open garage door, looking ready to bolt.

  But Zach stood with his arms crossed over his chest, blocking the exit. “You should’ve worn gloves,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if they had undeniable proof of his guilt.

  At the sight of sweat popping out on Earl’s brow, Tara pressed her lips together in grim satisfaction. “How could you scare me like that?”

  “You’re talking crazy.” Earl turned to Zach. “I’m telling you, she’s always coming up with these whacked-out ideas. If I was a minute late getting home, she’d be calling the hospital thinking I’d gotten into a car accident.”

  Zach’s nostrils flared. “Ever think that maybe that was because she cared about you?”

  Earl snorted. “You say that now, but try living with her.”

  His words slashed through Tara’s heart, slicing open scarred-over wounds, leaving them stinging and raw. She’d tried so hard to love him, to be a good wife and mother.

  The garage went deathly silent. The reek of oil clutched at her throat. A lone light bulb flickered, too weak to push back the cold darkness that crept through the windows and door.

  Then Zach’s voice, low and steely, rumbled through the silence. “Tara is the most selfless, caring, intelligent woman I know.”

  Tara blinked at the fierce sincerity in his voice. His strong hands curved around her shoulders, drawing her from the darkness that had begun to swallow her. Instinctively, she tried to pull away, but Zach wouldn’t let her go. His grip was gentle, but firm, holding her at his side.

  “You were her husband,” Zach growled at Earl. “You vowed to honor and protect her. Cherish her. Do you even know the meaning of the word?”

  Earl glared at them in defiance.

  Thrashing past her pain and humiliation, Tara squared her shoulders.

  “Answer her. How could you scare her like that?” Zach demanded.

  Earl, a good eight inches shorter than Zach and fifty pounds lighter, actually cowered.

  Staring at Earl now, Tara wondered if she’d ever really loved him, or if she’d fallen in love with the idea of being loved, being married, being out from under her parents’ roof. But she couldn’t bring herself to hate him. He’d given her Suzie, and for that she would be eternally grateful. “You were there. We know you were.”

  His shoulders rose and fell in vague assent. “No law against that. I didn’t steal nothing. You changed the locks.”

  “So sorry to have messed with your plans.” Part of her wanted to have him hauled off to jail on the spot, but all she could hear was Suzie’s teary voice the first time she asked why she didn’t have a daddy like the other kids. Suzie deserved better than a jailbird for a father. “Is that how you want our daughter
to know you? As the guy who robbed our house? I don’t ever want to find you sneaking around my house again. Do you hear me? Or I will call the police.”

  At his sheepish nod, Tara went limp with relief.

  Zach curled his arm around her shoulders. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

  * * *

  You’re falling for your informant. Rick’s words whispered through Zach’s mind.

  He glanced across the truck at Tara. Her hair glistened under the passing streetlights. Watching her stand her ground against her ex-husband as she’d grilled him about the attempted break-in, Zach had found himself moved beyond admiration. Then, when Earl had berated her, it had taken every ounce of self-control not to haul back and sock the weasel in the mouth.

  He couldn’t bear to see Tara hurt or afraid or in any kind of danger—the same way he’d feel about any woman on his watch. Only, the emotions that had charged through his chest hadn’t felt the same at all.

  He pulled into her driveway and shifted into Park, but she made no move to climb out. He may have relieved her fears that her attacker was on the prowl again, but Earl’s verbal attack had left her shaken.

  “You okay?”

  She shrugged. “I keep wondering what I could’ve done differently.”

  “With Earl?”

  “Yes.”

  The depth of guilt Zach heard in her voice was staggering. Considering how long she’d likely been shouldering the blame for Earl’s abandonment, it was a miracle she hadn’t self-destructed.

  He turned her gently toward him. She tried to hide her pain, but he could see it in her deep brown eyes, could feel it in her almost imperceptible wince. “Tara, Earl has remarried. You can’t undo that. You can only move forward from here. Don’t let regret over the past steal your now.”

  She dropped her gaze. “I know I shouldn’t.”

  “But it’s easier said than done,” he added.

  “Yes.”

  “You have so many admirable qualities.” Zach lifted her chin. “Don’t let Earl make you think otherwise.”

  She let out a good-humored snort.

  Smiling, he trailed his thumb along her bottom lip. The sudden thought of waking every morning to her smile filled him with unspeakable joy. He pictured them chasing their children in a lively game of tag. He heard Suzie call him Dad, not Dak, and the sound arrowed deep into his heart.