Chapter

53

I woke in the back of Lester’s ambulance. Lester stood over me, his face as pale as I suspected mine was. “You okay?” I asked through my chattering teeth. For some reason I couldn’t get them to stop, even in the stale, humid air of the ambulance.

“Are you kidding me? I’m fine. Thank God you’re all right,” Lester said. “I am so, so sorry.”

“For what?”

“I didn’t know … About Mary?” He grabbed my hand. “I told her about your going to Nancy Jeanne’s. I thought … It doesn’t matter now.”

“I’m sorry,” I said and meant it. Lester had loved Mary for a long time. I couldn’t imagine how he felt, knowing he’d fallen for a killer.

His face cleared a little. “It’s funny.”

“What is?” For, at the moment, I genuinely needed a laugh. My side hurt like crazy and my brain felt like it was drowning in sour mash.

“Another Gett saving a Lucky.”

“What do you mean?”

Lester’s cheeks heated. “I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?”

“The night Jack had his heart attack …” His blush grew until his cheeks looked like twin tomatoes.

“What about it?”

He ducked his head as he shot some clear liquid into the IV attached to my arm. “He wasn’t alone.”

“What?” I still didn’t understand. Jack had company? A Gett?

“Rue was with him.”

The implication of Lester’s words hit me full force. “Are you saying Jack was … and he … Oh God.”

“Oh God, what?” Brodie said, climbing into the ambulance.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t fret, Charms.” He grinned down at me. “I’ll hold your hand all the way to the hospital.”

Lester disappeared up front and the ambulance started off, siren silent. Thankfully. Apparently the bullet hadn’t hit anything vital, though it hurt like hell.

“I can’t believe she shot me,” I said with a frown.

“For the second time.”

“What?”

Brodie sighed. “It wasn’t Boone who shot at you. Danny matched her gun to the casings we found at your house last night.” But he wasn’t finished. His face grew grim. “She also ran you off the road. With my Jeep.”

“I knew it!”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I mean,” I said. “I didn’t know it was Mary. But I knew it was your Jeep.”

“You were right. Sorry I didn’t believe you.” He stood, ducking his head to avoid the roof of the vehicle. “She asked to borrow it, to do some funeral stuff. That’s what she was doing at my house when you saw us together. The day before your ‘accident,’ she called to say she hit a deer on the highway. She must have planned it already. I never put two and two together …”

I nodded, slightly mollified as well as more than a bit doped up from the magical mixture Lester had injected into the IV in my arm. “It’s okay,” I slurred. “The night Roger died, you argued with him about his sleeping with Nancy Jeanne. That’s why you wouldn’t tell me. You didn’t want Mary to find out about the baby.”

He shrugged. “She’d just lost Roger, bastard that he was. I didn’t want to pile on. It was a mistake that almost cost your life. I’m sorry, Charms.” His face hardened, and then grew soft, mushy even. I raised my hand to poke at it. He grinned, pushing my arm down. “Damn, you’re cute when you’re too drugged up to annoy me.”

“Hey …”

“What?”

What was it I had I wanted to say? And then it came to me. “Jack didn’t kill Roger. Danny has to let him go. Take off that ankle monitor.”

“Relax, he’s on it. I promise.”

“Good.”

“Lay back.” He gazed down at me, his face a bit fuzzy. “We’ll get you fixed up and you’ll be back to calling me names in no time.”

“Sounds like a plan.” My eyes grew heavy. They fluttered, wanting very much to close.

“Hey, Charms,” Brodie whispered close to my ear. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to say for a long time now.”

I blinked.

“I …” He inhaled deeply.

Was Brodie about to declare his devotion? The thought didn’t repulse me nearly as much as it might’ve a month ago.

“We’ve know each other for a long time …” he mumbled.

“True,” I slurred.

“And I … well …”

“What?” I asked.

He leaned down until his lips were less than an inch from my ear. “You didn’t paint the water tower.”

“What?!” I tried to sit up, but he held me down. “Then who did?”

He hesitated, pausing for ultimate drama, like the best of actors. “I did.”

The End