14

 

Jason sat there, his heart hammering. He was an idiot for jumping to conclusions. A stab of hot shock and grief had resonated as she told him about Frank. No wonder she wanted nothing to do with him when he joined the company.

He’d laid all his cards on the table.

Freddie said nothing.

Maybe it would be best if he just left, save her having to say anything. A cold hand closed on his.

“Stay.”

“Freddie?” His heart leapt.

“You know the case. Stay. Besides, if you bring someone else in now, any shred of cover we have left is blown right out of the water. Along with any hope we have of the boss not finding out.”

His heart shriveled. She said nothing about their future together. Well, God, I guess you just wanted me to clear up this relationship. And now I know where I stand. Give me the strength to pursue a professional relationship we can all sit comfortably with. Stiffening mentally, he nodded.

The nurse came in with the cart. She smiled at Freddie. “It’s time for those tests, Miss Flynn.”

“It’s Ms. Flynn.”

“I’ll go and grab a coffee. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“All right. Did you get any sleep last night?”

“I dozed in the chair. I refused to leave and made a right royal pain of myself according to the night staff.”

“That sounds about right. You always were good at that.”

“I’ll see you in a while.” Jason headed from the room.

Exiting the hospital, he walked across the entrance courtyard and sat on the wall that bordered the flower beds. The hot sunshine blazed down and he shrugged out of his jacket. He pulled out his phone and rang the boss. As he’d expected, he got voicemail. Not wanting to leave too detailed a message, he went for a cryptic coded one.

“Hey, it’s me. Just to let you know that Mum’s awake. She needs to know if peacock’s lay eggs, as the foxes are in the hen-house.” He hung up, knowing the boss would understand. Mum was Freddie, needs to know was the request to give her all the information he had, and fox in the hen-house indicated the danger they were in and that someone knew where they were. Edwin would be able to work out what case he and Freddie were working. Jason couldn’t tell Freddie all he knew without Edwin’s permission.

But if the inhaler had been punctured deliberately, the situation had changed. He’d promised Freddie a week and he’d give her that much.

Jason took a deep breath and then rang his sister. The phone rang once, before a deep male voice answered. “Hello.”

“Hey, Vic, it’s Jason. Is Debs there?”

“Sure, one moment.”

The phone went quiet. Muffled voices spoke before his sister’s voice echoed down the line. “Hey, Jace.”

“Hey, Debs. How are you? Not disturbing you, am I?”

“Not at all. I’m fine. How are you? How’s Freddie?” She spoke over the baby’s cries.

“She’s awake, woke about an hour ago.”

“Praise God...Vic, she’s awake...Is she all right?”

“They’re still running tests, but they think so, yeah.”

“Did you try to talk to her, or not yet?”

“Yeah, I did. For all the good it did. I really hurt her. I leapt to conclusions, and she’ll never forgive me.”

“She’s sick. Give her time, bro.” The baby’s cries got louder. “Shhh, little one. Jace I’m putting the phone down for one second. Rach wants feeding.”

“All right.” A bee buzzed around him before it landed on the roses next to where he sat. His gaze followed it into the centre of the flower. There was a click and rustling before the crying stopped.

“There we go. She’ll be quieter now. How are you, Jace?”

“Glad she’s going to be all right. I’m sorry I didn’t come over yesterday. I promise I will soon.”

“Vic told me what happened, and it’s fine. I totally understand. You needed to sort things out with Freddie and now she’s sick, she needs you there. You made the right decision to go after her.” An ambulance screeched and wailed alongside him, and he switched the phone to his other ear, trying to hear what she was saying.

“Yeah, but you’re my sister. I need you, too. I also need to meet my niece. I promise I’ll come soon.”

“I’ll be here. And you haven’t answered my question, Jace. Are you all right?”

He sat there for a long moment, his gaze following a cat creeping up on a bird in a garden opposite. “No.”

“Can I do anything?”

“Yeah, you can pray.”

“That’s a given. You’re always in our prayers. What’s different this time?”

He didn’t answer. The cat leapt at the bird, catching it. Jason winced.

“Jace?”

“Her inhaler had been emptied. The doctor found a hole in it. He gave us a couple of explanations as to what could have caused it, but given what else has happened, I’m pretty sure it was deliberate.”

There was a sharp intake of breath and a couple of clicks. “Say that again. This is on speaker now so Vic can hear, too.”

“Her inhaler had been deliberately emptied. There was a hole in it.”

“Someone tried to kill her?”

“It looks that way.” Another ambulance arrived. “She almost died. Had I not found her when I did—”

“But she didn’t die. God led you to her in time.” Vic’s strong, reassuring voice spoke.

“In more ways than you realize.” Jason shivered despite the blazing heat. Footsteps clattered past him as a bus discharged its passengers. “The whole time I was searching, I was aware of God guiding me to exactly where she was.”

“Is it safe for you to continue this big case of yours?” Deb’s voice was tinged with worry.

“We have to. We’re close to solving it and sending someone new in now would set us back days.” He paused. He didn’t want to frighten his sister unduly, but the more she and Vic knew, the better they could pray. “Our rooms were broken into a couple of nights ago, while we were sleeping.”

“Jason? Did they hurt you? Why didn’t you move to a different hotel?”

“And go where? Like Freddie said, it’s summer and everywhere’s full.” He paused. “We weren’t hurt, slept through it all, including the perp stealing the necklace Freddie was wearing. It’s likely someone drugged us somehow, as I am a light sleeper, and Freddie passed out completely dressed.”

“Jason...” Debs voice shook and tailed off.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine, Jason. The more informed we are, the better we can pray. Do you have any back up with you?” Vic’s voice was calm. Did anything ever shake that man? Jason pictured him sitting on the arm of the chair, his arm around Debs.

“If you mean weapons, no. I refuse to carry one unless I have to. The office knows where we are, but we’re here alone. Just promise me you’ll pray for us.”

“Of course we will.” Debs regained control of her voice. “Vic’s nodding in agreement. We’ll pray now and keep praying.”

“Thank you.”

“Jace, do you mind if I inform the elders, get the prayer circle going. I’ll give them no details. Just tell them you need urgent prayer cover for the next few days.”

“That would be great, Vic. Thanks.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Grab a coffee and then go back to sit with Freddie. Try to make her rest. She’s adamant about leaving the hospital and getting back to work.”

“She sounds as stubborn as ever. Just like you.” Debs sounded resigned. “Coffee won’t help on its own. You need to eat, bro.”

“Yes, Mum.” He laughed. “All right, I’d better go. Love you both. Bye.”

 

****

 

Finishing his coffee and roll, Jason headed back to the ward, to find Freddie arguing with her doctor. He crossed the room in three long strides, and stood next to the bed, setting the bag on the side. “Is there a problem?”

“Yeah. He wants me to stay in. At least tonight and maybe tomorrow as well.”

“And that’s a problem?”

“Yes, it is. I have too much to do.”

“Ms. Flynn, you need to calm down and rest or you might precipitate another attack.” Dr. Jameson looked at her over the top of the file.

“I’m perfectly calm.”

“Freddie, shut up.” Jason stepped in, opting for a teasing tone, needing her to be quiet and listen to him.

“Did you just tell me to shut up?”

“Yes I did. I assume her test results weren’t what you wanted, doctor?”

“No. Her blood oxygen levels are still too low.”

“Fair enough.” He looked at Freddie. “Then you follow what the doctor says and stay.”

“Jason—”

“Freddie, that’s two attacks in two days. This one almost killed you. Work isn’t going anywhere. Plus, if you huff and puff like the big bad wolf you’ll make it three in three days.”

“Your boyfriend’s right—”

“He’s not my boyfriend, doctor. He’s my boss.”

“See, I’m right. Stay here tonight, and I’ll come pick you up in the morning.”

“I have no intentions of staying here. I’m fine.”

“It’s not up for debate, Ms. Flynn. If the doc says you’re not well enough to leave, then you stay. He’s the expert.” He raised an eyebrow and used his corporate voice.

“Yes, sir.” Freddie sighed.

The doctor left, and Jason sat next to the bed. “Right, as your boss, there’s something we need to discuss. I held off informing the police at your request, but things have changed. The more I think about it, the more likely I feel your inhaler was punctured deliberately.”

“It worked fine on Saturday.”

“Were you listening to what the doc said? Puncture it with a needle and you get a slow leak. You used it just a few hours after the rooms were trashed. But by the time you needed it on Sunday, a good thirty hours had passed. That’s plenty of time for it to have emptied itself.”

“Yeah. Makes sense.”

“Things have gone from a simple room trashing and theft, to attempted murder. Under the circumstances I really think—”

“Jason. We give in now, and they’ve won. They’re trying to make us give up and go home. I won’t do that.”

“Freddie, don’t argue. I am trying to do what’s best for everyone here. If the fact that they know we’re here and on to them is enough to make them do this, I don’t want to think what else they are capable of doing.”

“I’ve faced bigger than this in my time and so have you.” She reached out and gripped his arm tightly. “Please? With both of us on the case, they don’t stand a chance. You promised me a week.”

Jason sighed heavily. “Fine, but let me make one thing crystal clear. Anything else happens, and we leave the guest house.”

“That’s fine. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Jace…You said you’d spoken to the boss. You didn’t tell him where we were?”

“No. I just told him you’d had an asthma attack and were in hospital. I rang him again just now and left a message to say you were better. And I bought you something.” He handed her the bag.

Freddie smiled as she opened it. “Chocolate—that’s much better than grapes. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Right, I shall let you get some rest. I would sleep here again, but they might not be so amenable now you’re out of danger.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You could do with a shower, anyway.”

“Thanks.”

“Any time. And you need a shave.”

“Oh, I do, do I?” He leaned in, scraping his chin along her neck, laughing as she squirmed.

“Beast.” She pushed him away.

Jason caught her hands. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

Freddie held his gaze. “I thought I was dead. And just as I gave up all hope, the phone rang and it was your voice. And although I knew I was dying…I wasn’t alone because you were there. If that makes any kind of sense at all.”

He took a deep breath. He had to know, one way or the other. “Freddie, I love you. I know I don’t deserve it, but if there’s the slightest chance that—”

Freddie pulled off the mask and held his gaze. “No, you don’t deserve it, but I love you. I never stopped loving you. I’m not saying things can go back to the way they were...”

Elated, he hugged her. “One day at a time.” He smiled. “Now rest up, keep the mask on, and I’ll come pick you up in the morning.”