M aybe he shouldn’t have put so much pressure on Catherine. He hoped he hadn’t scared her off. Jaidon resisted the urge to look at his watch again while he shot hoops with Nathan and a couple youth at the center. She said she’d be there. She would. Part of him wondered if the real reason she wanted to drive separately tonight had something to do with Sunday, not with having to work late. Especially since she’d turned down his offer to pick her up from work.
The phone in his pocket vibrated. “Hold on, guys.”
He reached in his pocket to retrieve the phone. Noticing it was Catherine, he motioned to the guys he’d be a second and walked off the court to take the call. “Hello. I was beginning to worry about you.”
Catherine laughed. “No need to worry. I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”
“Good.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me either.”
His heart skipped a beat; she couldn’t wait to see him. He hung up the phone. Nathan zinged a basketball toward him. He barely had time to jump out of the way before it grazed past him. “Hey. What are you guys grinning about? You missed me.”
“We were going to ask you the same thing,” Nathan said. “Have anything to do with a certain someone you brought to church Sunday?”
“It might.” Heat rose to his cheeks. Okay, so his grin gave him away. It wasn’t like he had anything to hide.
Catherine looked at the time on her cell phone. She’d gotten to the center quicker than expected. Good. She could surprise Jaidon by being a couple minutes early. Pulling the key out of the ignition, she grabbed her purse and climbed out of her car.
She collided with a solid object then swayed back against her car.
Even though he wore a hoodie, she recognized his face. “I’m sorry, Daryl. I wasn’t expecting someone to be standing there.”
“Just give me your purse, and nobody gets hurt.”
She felt something against her stomach and looked down. She swallowed hard at the sight of the gun. “Daryl, why are you doing this?”
“I got to.” Daryl glanced over his shoulder at an older black Ford Explorer. She could see hesitancy in his eyes and pain. “If I don’t, I’m dead, and so are you.”
“D-Dog!” Jaidon’s panicked shout rang out from the distance. There was nothing he could do, and nowhere she could go. She’d had to park down the street from the center. Even if he could reach her, what could he do, especially with the menacing guy in the black vehicle across the street from her?
“Sorry.” Daryl yanked her purse out of her hands then hit her in the head with the butt of his gun before he took off on foot.
Catherine staggered. She shook her head to try and clear it but was rewarded with pain and a wave of dizziness. Her knees buckled, and she fell, struggling to focus her eyes so she could identify the dark-skinned driver of the Explorer. The driver pointed at her, index finger and thumb poised, as if he were holding a gun and pulling the trigger. A cold chill went up her spine, and she shivered.
Jaidon rounded her vehicle and grabbed hold of her. She collapsed in his arms. Unable to resist, she gave way to the darkness that engulfed her.
Although the other volunteers came with him to the hospital, Jaidon hadn’t felt like talking to any of them at the moment. He let the police officers interview them first while he tried to calm down. The waiting room may have been large, but to Jaidon it felt like a cage as he paced, waiting to find out how Catherine was doing. He wasn’t family, so they hadn’t allowed him to go back with her. If it had been an accident and not a crime, they might have let him stay with her.
“Excuse me.” An officer paused near Jaidon. “Someone said you saw what happened.”
Jaidon nodded. He wanted to throw up every time he recalled the scene, D-Dog hitting Catherine with the gun and the look on her face as she collapsed into his arms. “Yeah, I saw what happened.”
“Do you mind having a seat so I can take your statement?” The officer motioned toward a couple of vacant chairs. They both took a seat. “Can you give me your name?”
“Jaidon Taylor. I’m a lawyer and do volunteer work at the Porter County Youth Center.” Jaidon folded his hands and leaned against his thighs, nervously jiggling his right leg. He should have insisted on picking Catherine up, and then this wouldn’t have happened.
“Please tell me what you saw of the incident. Start from the beginning,” the officer said.
“Catherine Wall, the victim—” Jaidon swallowed hard. His stomach turned. “Called and told me she would be at the center shortly. I came outside to wait, and she was already there. I saw a young man in a hoodie approach her and recognized him. It was Daryl Jones.”
“And you’re positive?” the officer asked.
“Yes.” Jaidon nodded. “He used to come to the center. In fact, only a couple weeks ago he’d been shot—a flesh wound. Miss Wall was his nurse.”
“So they had previous contact with each other?”
“Yes.” Jaidon sighed and sat back in his chair. It took every ounce of self-control not to track Daryl down himself and pulverize him for what he did to Catherine. How dare he hold her at gunpoint and rob her!
“Any chance Mr. Jones could be retaliating for something that happened between them?” The officer’s expression was hard to read, but Jaidon didn’t like his implication.
“No. Miss Wall is a very caring individual. She was inspired to work with inner-city youth after she helped care for Daryl during his recovery.”
The other officer who’d been questioning Ariannah came over to them. He stopped a few feet away and motioned for his partner to join him. After a couple moments, the officer who was taking his statement returned. “Thanks to a couple witnesses at the location of the incident, Mr. Jones has already been apprehended. Would it be possible for you to bring Miss Wall by the station when she’s released to make a positive ID?”
“If she’s up to it I’ll bring her by later. If not, I’ll bring her by tomorrow.”
The officer nodded and handed Jaidon his business card. “Thank you, Mr. Taylor.”
“You’re welcome.” As soon as the officer walked away, Jaidon sprang out of his chair and began pacing.
An hour and a half later, a nurse came out and called his name. “Catherine Wall asked if you could come back.”
“How is she?” Jaidon asked.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to ask her yourself,” the nurse said. “HIPAA laws and all, we’re not allowed to disclose patient information.”
“I understand.” Jaidon’s heart pounded in his chest as he followed the nurse back to Catherine’s room. The nurse left him at the doorway.
Catherine looked pale. She had a couple stitches on the left side of her forehead; it looked swollen and purplish. Jaidon clenched his fists. Part of him wanted to run over and hug her; the other part wanted to make a beeline for the police station and crucify Daryl.
At her lopsided grin, he edged closer and gently kissed her on the uninjured side of her forehead. “You don’t know how worried I’ve been about you.”
With her left hand, she reached up and grabbed his arm, while continuing to hold him to her with the other hand. “Thank you for being there for me.”
“Always.” And he meant it.
“They’re keeping me overnight for observation.” Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. “Apparently I have a concussion and the knot to prove it.”
“I’d be happy to stay.” He didn’t care if it looked inappropriate to the others from his church. Right now he didn’t want to leave Catherine’s side.
“That’s not necessary.” She nodded and then moaned. Several of her friends were scheduled to work the night shift; they’d check in on her often. “I’ll be okay.”
He wasn’t so sure of her assessment. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow when they’re ready to release you. I told the police officer I’d take you by the police station when you’re able so you can identify your attacker. In fact you can rest easy. They have Daryl in custody.”
Catherine struggled to sit up.
“Whoa. Relax. It’s okay.” Jaidon tried to ease her back against the mattress amid her protest.
“No.” Catherine swallowed hard. “You’ve got to help him.” “Help who?”
“Daryl.” Catherine’s eyes were pleading.
“How can you ask me to do that?” Obviously she was disoriented. “You realize he was the one who attacked you?”
Catherine shook her head slightly. Crease lines marred her face as she winced. “He had to. He didn’t have a choice. There was—”
“He had a choice.” Jaidon gritted his teeth. “He figured you were a vulnerable target and attacked you. You’re lucky he didn’t kill you.”
Jaidon might as well have been the one with the concussion. He was nauseated and felt light-headed. What if Catherine had been killed?
“Jaidon,” Catherine mumbled as tears brimmed her eyes. “He apologized. Bad guys don’t say they’re sorry when they’re committing a crime.”
Jaidon clenched his jaw. There was a first time for everything. Maybe D-Dog hadn’t realized he knew his victim when he approached her.
“Someone was watching him.” Catherine moistened her lips and swallowed. “Jaidon, please. Just go talk to him. I think he needs help.”
If Jaidon went to talk to him, he would need help.
“Please?” Catherine pleaded. “Take his case…for me.”
He groaned. For her? “How can you ask me to help the man who hurt the woman I love?”
“Love?” Catherine blinked several times.
“From the moment we met, I knew you were the one.” Jaidon ran a hand through his hair. “I know you made your father a promise, and I’m willing to try going to your church and seeing if we can make this work. If you’ll give me a chance.” Tears trickled down her cheeks. “You would consider changing churches for me?”
Jaidon nodded. “Just please don’t ask me to help the man who hurt you. I can’t do it.”
Catherine reached for his hand and brought it to her lips, gently kissing the back of his hand before she clutched it to her chest. “I need you to do this for me. At least talk to him. Find out what really happened.”
Jaidon ran the fingers of his free hand through her hair and then stroked her cheek gently with his thumb. The smell of lavender and lilacs teased his senses. Her hazel eyes drew him closer to her like magnets. When her lips parted a fraction, his pulse raced, and he closed the remaining distance between them to claim her lips.
A moan escaped her that only increased his hunger and he deepened the kiss. When he drew back, they were both breathless.
“Wow.”
He nodded in agreement and gently kissed her again.
“I have another favor.” Her breath was still ragged. “Ask Daryl who the man was that wanted me dead—the one in the black Ford Explorer.”