Hearing the sound of muted voices, Dana forced her heavy eyelids open. The overhead lights were painfully bright, but someone must have noticed her wince, because they abruptly dimmed.
Much better. She blinked and focused on Mitch’s concerned expression as he leaned over her. “How are you feeling?”
“Weak,” she answered truthfully. “Thirsty, but otherwise fine.” It took a moment for her to realize she was on the wrong side of the bed in the ER where she worked. How mortifying to have her coworkers taking care of her. Mitch held up a cup of water for her to drink. When she finished, she struggled to sit upright. “I need to get out of here.”
“Soon, but not yet,” Mitch protested, putting a hand on her arm. “Dr. Robertson hasn’t given the final okay yet.”
“What time is it?” She squinted at the clock.
“Seven thirty in the evening.”
Hours had passed, and they hadn’t eaten since early that morning at the truck stop. No wonder she felt a little sick to her stomach.
“Mitch?” A tall man with brown hair and green eyes wearing SWAT gear poked his head into the room. She recognized him as Mitch’s older brother Miles. “We need to talk.”
“I know. Give me a few minutes.”
Dana frowned. “What’s happening? Are you going to be arrested?”
Mitch’s expression turned rueful. “I’m not sure, but try not to worry. Mike is here to keep you safe.”
She appreciated Mike, but wanted to stay with Mitch. “Why can’t we stick together?”
“I’m not the lead investigator here,” Miles said from the doorway. “At some point the detective assigned to the case will need to interview you separately.” He stepped into the room. “We busted a portion of the drug manufacturing and linked the men who were there to Chicago Land Corp., but do you guys have any proof related to who actually murdered Janice and Simon?”
“We have reason to believe Oliver Shelton is the guy calling the shots,” Mitch said.
Dana nodded. “I saw him leaving the warehouse and getting into his fancy car. Why else would he be there if he wasn’t working with Chicago Land Corp.?”
“We think he buys the warehouses from them for a significant amount of money, at least on paper. He insures them for that same amount, starts construction, causes a fire, gets the money, then sells the damaged property for a loss.”
Miles rubbed the back of his neck, his expression full of doubt. “Pretty elaborate scheme.”
“Maybe, but there is a paper trail proving Shelton, Inc. buys the properties from Chicago Land,” Dana said. “And we know at least one fire, the most recent one Mitch investigated, was caused by arson, not faulty wiring.”
“And I have Jeff’s notes where he wrote the initials O.S. for Oliver Shelton,” Mitch added. “I think if you dig into Jeff’s finances, you’ll see that prior to his heart attack and untimely death, he had an influx of money that likely leads to Shelton.”
“Nice theories, but who is the one doing the actual murders?” Miles asked. “Not Shelton himself.”
“Tyler Pitrowski?” Dana glanced at Mitch. “Wasn’t that the name of the cop’s brother-in-law? The one who works security for Shelton, Inc.?”
“Yes. And we have the weapon you took from him,” Mitch agreed. “If he left prints on the gun, we can prove he tried to kill us. He has a criminal record including a felony drug conviction.”
“Your word against his.” Miles’s expression was gloomy. “But it’s better than nothing.”
“It’s the whole picture,” Mitch insisted. “And enough for reasonable doubt.”
“Maybe.” Miles didn’t look enthusiastic. “But circumstantial evidence goes a long way. Do you know that the detective on your case found your work vehicle in your garage with Janice’s blood in the trunk?”
Mitch groaned. “I was afraid of that. We looked, but couldn’t find it. But you need to tell the forensic team to do a tight sweep of the vehicle, because the real killer could have left a hair or some other trace evidence behind.”
“You think this Pitrowski guy is the one who set all this up? Murdered two people and framed you?” Miles asked.
“Why not?” Dana didn’t understand the skepticism in Miles’s tone. “He’s related to a cop by marriage. Maybe he learned a few tricks along the way.”
Mike stepped into the room. “The doc is on his way in to discharge Dana.”
She was relieved to hear it, even though she didn’t want to leave Mitch. There was a niggling worry in the back of her mind that they were still missing something, a connection.
But what?
“Mike, I need you to take Dana to Mom’s,” Mitch said. “Maybe stop and get her something to eat along the way.”
“What about you?” she asked.
There was a long pause before Mitch met her gaze. “I’m letting Miles take me in.”
“Why?” The minute she asked the question, she knew he was cooperating with Miles to protect her and his family.
“Take care of her,” Mitch said, then abruptly turned away. “Let’s go, Miles.”
“Hold on,” Miles said. “It’s almost eight o’clock on a Saturday night. If you go in now, you’ll sit in jail all weekend. I’ll call my boss, promise to bring you in first thing Monday morning. He owes me a favor, and once I explain about the drug bust and the potential link to the murders, I’m sure he’ll agree.”
Dana’s heart swelled in relief. “That would be wonderful.”
“Here, take the rented SUV. I left it on the ground floor of the parking structure. I’ll hitch a ride with Miles to pick up Hawk’s SUV and the weapon Dana took from Pitrowski. We’ll meet you at Mom and Nan’s.”
Dana gingerly sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Her soaked blouse and jeans were uncomfortable, but she noticed a fresh pair of scrubs sitting on the chair. She slid to her feet, held on to the bed rail for a moment to make sure she wouldn’t fall, then took the scrubs and excused herself to go to the bathroom to change.
Wearing dry clothes felt wonderful. She joined Mitch, who reached out to take her hand in his. “Dr. Robertson said you were free to go. And he was nice enough to give me additional antibiotics since we left them behind.”
“Good.” She led the way through the ER, out the main entrance toward the parking structure. The sky was still overcast with dark clouds, but the rain had stopped, leaving the air cool and clear.
There weren’t many people around, a little surprising for a Saturday night at the only level-one trauma center in the city. Several of the overhead parking structure lights were out, too, which was also odd.
As they neared the rented SUV, two people moved out of the shadows. “Put your hands up and be quiet or I’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”
Dana froze and recognized Alice Petrie and another guy who was about the same age as Mitch. He didn’t look like Pitrowski, and her worst fears were confirmed when Mitch spoke.
“Paul Roscoe? But why? Was this your plan all along? To get the job as fire investigator so you could take over where Walker left off?”
Dana sucked in a breath, remembering the picture of Roscoe standing beside Simon. This was the connection they’d missed.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re both coming with us,” the man named Roscoe said.
“Alice? Why?”
“You never appreciated how good you had it, did you, Dana?” Alice asked in a snide tone. “You weren’t good enough for my son. He became a firefighter for you, and died because of it. You stole my son from me. You!”
The woman was crazy. She hadn’t forced Kent to be a firefighter—that had been his own idea. And Shelton Inc. had been likely responsible for his death. And suddenly, Dana couldn’t stand the idea of being in danger again. She knew there were cameras in the structure, but they were mostly on the main thoroughfares, and Roscoe and Alice were standing close enough in the shadow that she didn’t think they’d be seen.
There were panic buttons, too. And if her memory served correctly, there was one about five yards behind her.
Without warning, she spun around and lunged for the panic button. She heard a shout from behind her as her palm hit the alarm, and instantly strobe lights flashed and sirens blared.
When she turned back around, she saw that Mitch was fighting with the man named Roscoe while Alice was attempting to escape. She ran toward Kent’s mother, all the anger and frustration coming out as she screamed, “No!”
Alice was half in and half out of an expensive black car, similar to the one Oliver had used earlier, so Dana slammed against the door, pinning her where she was. Mitch had Roscoe on the ground, kicking the gun out of his reach.
Several hospital security guards and a Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputy came running over to assist.
And then it was over. Roscoe and Alice were arrested and hauled away. Mitch pulled Dana into his arms, then glanced over at his two brothers who had come out to join them.
“Roscoe was the missing link,” he said. “From the beginning I suspected Simon because he was a firefighter, but when he turned up dead, I never considered there might be another firefighter involved. And Roscoe knew all about me and my relationship with Janice. I should have considered him a suspect earlier. Especially since he wanted to take over Walker’s job.”
“Why would you? This was good work, bro,” Miles said with a grin. “Guess you’ve solved the case after all. Come on. Me and Mike will drive you home.”
Dana wasn’t sure she wanted to meet Mitch’s family under these circumstances, but she didn’t want to go back to the home Alice and Edward Shelton had purchased for her and Kent, either.
For now, she would have to accept the Callahans’ hospitality. And maybe there would be some time for her and Mitch to talk about the future once they were alone.
* * *
Mitch loved his family, but hadn’t anticipated the crowd waiting for them at his mom and Nan’s house. Several cars lined the driveway, so he wasn’t surprised to see that all of his siblings were there; even the newlyweds, Matt and Lacy, had returned from their honeymoon. Duchess, Matt’s K-9 partner, wove between the family members, her wagging tail beating against them in greeting.
“Mitch!” His mother enveloped him in a warm embrace, then she turned and smiled at Dana. “Hi, I’m Margaret Callahan.”
“Dana Petrie,” she said in a faint tone.
“Everyone? Meet Dana Petrie.” Mitch looked at the crowd of people in the kitchen. “Dana, this is my entire family. My mother and grandmother, Nan, live here. The rest are party crashers.”
“Welcome to the madness,” Mike said in a low tone.
Mitch ignored him. “I don’t expect you to remember all their names, but the guy near the fridge is my oldest brother, Marc, and his wife, Kari, and their two kids, Max and baby Maggie. Then you have Miles’s wife, Paige, and their daughter, Abby, and their new baby, Adam. He was born about a week after Maggie. You already met Noah, and he’s standing next to his wife and my sister, Maddy. Matt is Maddy’s twin and he’s married to Lacy, and that’s their son, Rory. Oh, and Duchess is Matt’s K-9 partner.” He glanced around the room. “I think that’s it.”
“It’s nice to meet everyone,” Dana said softly.
He glanced at her in concern. She looked pale and uncomfortable, as if this was all too much to handle after everything they’d been through.
“Hey, are you all right? Maybe you need something to eat,” he said.
“No, please, I couldn’t,” Dana protested. “Um, please excuse me for a moment.” Before he could figure out what was going on, she turned and ducked outside, the door shutting behind her with a loud click.
“Something we said?” Marc asked wryly.
Kari rolled her eyes and shifted Maggie to her other arm. “More likely she’s simply overwhelmed from meeting us all at the same time. Not everyone is used to being around a large family.”
“You managed to get used to it,” Marc said, bending down to kiss her.
“I better check on her,” Mitch said. “Excuse me.” He headed outside, disturbed to find Dana walking down the driveway as if she intended to walk all the way back to her place.
“Dana, wait!” He jogged to catch up to her, appalled to see streaks of tears down her cheeks. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She swiped at her face. “So many babies,” she whispered. “I don’t think I can stay here.”
Babies? He didn’t understand. “They’ll all head home soon. Only you and I are staying overnight.”
“No, you don’t get it. Your family is full of babies!” She drew a deep breath and turned to face him. “I suffered a miscarriage three years ago, on the day of Kent’s funeral.”
Now it all made sense. No wonder she’d locked her feelings away. She hadn’t just lost a husband, she’d lost a family. “Oh, Dana, I’m so sorry.” He pulled her into his arms, cradling her close. “I can’t imagine how terrible that must have been, losing your child right after your husband’s death. I’m sure the Petries were supportive.”
Dana shook her head from side to side, her voice muffled against his chest. “I didn’t tell them. I didn’t tell anyone, ever. Until now.”
“Sweetheart.” He was humbled that she’d told him, but wasn’t sure what to say to make her feel better.
“Those babies reminded me of what I’ve lost. I know it’s not their fault, but it felt like a kick in the face seeing them so happy and healthy...” Her voice trailed off.
“I’m here for you, no matter what. Don’t you understand? I love you. Please don’t leave, not like this.”
“Love?” She raised her head and looked up at him. “It’s only been a few days.”
“I know, and I’ll give you all the time you need, but I love you, Dana. You’re beautiful, smart and brave. You saved our lives back there going for the panic button. I’ll give you space, but won’t you consider giving a relationship with me a chance?”
“Oh, Mitch.” The sorrow on her face sent a dagger to his heart. “You deserve someone better than me. Someone who doesn’t freak out at seeing happy babies.”
“If I had known, I would have had my family leave before we arrived,” he said. “You’re what’s important to me, Dana. I know my family can be overwhelming, but there’s no rush. You’ll have plenty of time to get used to them. Don’t walk away from me, from us.” He paused, then added, “From our future.”
She didn’t say anything for a long moment, then she lifted up on her tippy-toes and kissed him. He reveled in her kiss, cuddling her close while showing her without words how he truly felt about her. How much he hoped and prayed she’d give their love a chance to nurture and grow.
“Wow,” she whispered, breaking off from their kiss and gasping for breath. “You sure make it difficult to think clearly.”
“Thinking is overrated,” he chided playfully.
She tipped her head to the side, regarding him thoughtfully. “Mitch, I need to be honest with you. It’s not just the fact that I lost a baby. It’s that I don’t know why it happened. Stress? Could be, but I never bothered to get additional testing to see what the cause might have been.” She hesitated, then added, “Maybe we should wait until I know more before we commit to anything further.”
“No.” He tightened his grip around her. “Dana, if you don’t love me, that’s one issue. But I love you and I want you no matter what medical problems you do or don’t have.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely positive,” he said without hesitation.
She smiled. “I’m glad. Because I love you, too, Mitch. Thanks for bringing me back to life and back to my faith.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.” He kissed her again, relieved to know that she was willing to take a chance.
With him.