Jamie-5 (2 page)

“What a way to answer your phone. Does anyone say, ‘Hello, Mother, how was your day?’

anymore. I was wondering if you’ve heard from your brother yet? He is supposed to be at the house this weekend and I don’t know what he wants for his birthday dinner. And are you bringing a date? A mother likes to know these things.” Jamie had to smile at his mother. There was no doubt in his mind that she was the most loved mother in the world and she had each of her sons, including their wives, wrapped tightly around her fingers. And he knew this was her way of reminding them all that it was Byron’s birthday this weekend. He could get a date, but he was not really seeing anyone he wanted to take to his family’s house. That was something no man did to a causal date. The girl did fine, but the man would hear about it for months.

James Grant had no delusions about his looks. He knew he was pretty good-looking, or so women had been telling him since he knew the difference between boys and girls, he thought with a grin. He was well over six feet tall and had a head full of black hair. It was longer than his brothers’, just over his collar and while not curly, it had a wave to it that women could not resist touching. His body was tight with muscle and not the kind made in a gym, but of hard work and real labor. Every year he and one of his brothers or more would be at a project site somewhere building a house for some organization. He also helped the elderly with construction projects they needed around their house in his free time. His hard jaw was in direct contrast to his easy nature, he knew. His mother often told him that he had a hard head, too, but he doubted it was a compliment. Dark brown eyes and long thick lashes under dark brows gave him his rugged looks, and his high cheek bones and sloped nose hinted of his Indian heritage back along his family line. Jamie, to his friends and family, was hard to anger and quick to forgive. He’d always tried to live by that.

“I’m going over to have dinner with them tonight as a matter of fact. Taylor is cooking me my favorite dinner. And apple pie for dessert.” He waited for the explosion and was not disappointed.

“Oh good heavens! Please tell me she’s not cooking again. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone burn a cup of coffee before. Oh, Jamie, take over some pizza or something. Don’t let her poison you. I love the girl very much, but...you’re kidding me, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Mom, I am. Byron is cooking. But he is making me my favorite. I have a late meeting then I’m going over there at six. You should come with me. I’m sure they won’t mind.” He was positive they would not mind, but hoped for some reason she said no. He loved spending time with his brother and Ta.

“No, I have two meetings as well. I also have to go over and see to this family. Why some people think it’s their right to abuse children…I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Tell them I love them and will see them both on Sunday.”

After hanging up, Jamie made a few calls and started over to the lecture hall to begin his class. He almost drove over, but it was such a lovely evening that he walked. It took him a little longer because he kept getting distracted by the girls—women really, who were out on the Quad sun bathing.

The campus at Ohio State was huge. It spread out over a massive amount of space, but there were buses every ten minutes or so to get you from one point to the other in no time. He was still headed to the meeting when he felt an odd sort of tingle.

He slowed his pace a little and started just looking around when he noticed a man and a woman staring at him. Well, staring was a strong term, he thought, but they were looking his way very intently. When he started to look back more, they suddenly turned and walked in the opposite direction. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he tried to remember everything he could about them. When his watch beeped to tell him he was running late, he took off at a gentle lope and made it just as the meeting was being called to order. Before he started taking notes, however, he make a list of everything he remembered about the couple and thought his sister-in-law Cait, a detective, would be proud of him.

~CHAPTER 2~

Dane was just sitting down when her cell phone went off. She looked at the caller ID and moaned. Not now. She liked sitting quietly and waiting for the man to come by, not talking on the phone. Before she could decide if she was going to answer, she felt a stir in the air. He was coming. Tonight was going to be the night, she just knew it.

Sitting back further on the bench, she tried to concentrate on the area around her. She could feel...not anger, but something more. Hatred, violent hatred, too. She could not tell where it was coming from, but she could tell that it was close. Much closer than the man was. She thought about the dream and shuddered.

In the dream, he was walking by the bench and someone came out of the shadows and threw him to the ground. He fought hard, but when the second person came out and stabbed him in the chest, he began to lose the fight. Getting weaker, the two attackers started to push harder at killing him. Because that was their intent; the man was to die. He bled to death before he was found several hours later. Dane couldn’t, no, she wouldn’t let that happen again.

The man’s closeness moved over her. His calm mind and easy thoughts were soothing to her. Dane reached out and tried to center on his thoughts, but like what happens most of the time; they are too many and too jumbled to get any single one. It wasn’t easy to read the mind of someone with obvious intellect. Suddenly, he was in front of her and as he took two steps beyond her, she thought that she was wrong tonight again and sighed.

The attacker sprung forward so quickly Dane was too startled to react for several seconds.

Then when the younger man started to moan, she jumped up and kicked his assailant in the ribs and off the young man. She didn’t know who looked more surprised by her kick, the attacker or the young man.

Before the victim could get up and help, the second attacker hit Dane in the back with something. She tumbled to the ground and landed over her man. Attacker one kicked her in the head and soon Dane was seeing stars, but had no time to appreciate the pretty colors when attacker two grabbed her by the hair and jerked her up. Just as the fist was coming back to hit Dane, Dane lifted her booted foot and kicked her in the kneecap, bending it backwards with a loud snap. The scream was loud in the otherwise quiet area. She released Dane immediately, but she was not able to keep standing. Another blow to Dane’s head made her dizzy and she dropped to the ground. The man Dane was there to help, the hapless victim, hit attacker once again and he took off, leaving his partner unconscious on the ground beside Dane. Her last thought before she slipped into her own unconscious state was that the young man was damned good-looking.

“Dr. Wallace? Dr. Wallace, can you hear me?” Dane opened her eyes and tried to focus on the girl in front of her. It was too much effort and she closed them again. “Dr. Wallace, I need for you to look at me. I have to ask you a few questions.”

“You’re not supposed to tell me my name, first of all, and secondly, I can hear you fine. It’s my head that hurts, not my ears. Where am I?” Dane tried to sit up, but the pain was too much.

“University Hospital. They brought you in about thirty minutes ago. Can you tell me the date?”

“It was five o’clock when I went to the Quad and since it’s probably still the same date, I’ll assume it’s April twenty-fourth. I haven’t really kept up on the political part of the States yet so don’t ask me the president. I might know it, but my head hurts too much to try and figure it out right now.”

“Dr. Sheppard will be in to see you soon.” Humor laced the nurse’s voice. “Are you hurting anywhere else but your head? Mr. Grant said that he thought you might have been hit in the back as well.”

“Mr. Grant?” Her head was still fuzzy, but the name Grant meant nothing to her. She gave up trying to concentrate on just working through the pain; there were too many other emotions in the room for her to do that. Dane closed her eyes and concentrated on building a wall around her to block out the bombardment of feelings hitting her. This was why she avoided crowds of people and especially hospitals.

“He’s the man you saved. His family is with him now. I think Dr. Sheppard is releasing him soon.” The curtain moved and Dane heard clicking, then the nurse continued. “But he’s not releasing you, though.”

Releasing him soon meant that he was all right. Dane relaxed for a few minutes and thought, one more. She’d been able to help one more. There had been a time when she decided that she’d had enough. That’s when she’d moved—no, escaped would be a better term—to China. She’d been betrayed by the very people she’d been trying to help.

“Dr. Wallace? My name is Alex Sheppard. I’m the on duty emergency room doctor. I’ve gotten your x-rays back and there doesn’t seem to be any cracks in your skull, but I would like to keep you over night. You were out for over thirty minutes and that has me concerned. If you’ll lean up, I’d like to have a look at your back as well. Jamie said that you were hit with a piece of wood and he was surprised you didn’t complain about it more.”

“I didn’t complain at all. Seems this Jamie person was more aware than me. Maybe I should have just let him take care of them himself. My back is fine. My head, however, feels like a freight train has gone—”

“Missy Dane! Missy Dane, where you be?”

“Holy Christ, you called Pi. You can’t tell her anything. She is…well, I was going to say slightly over protective, but that’s like saying I’m slightly a woman. Just play down everything, all right?”

Alex was nodding when the curtain flew back and Pi was grabbing her. For a tiny woman, she could hug tighter than anyone Dane knew. And since she was speaking in Chinese, Dane answered her the same way.

“I’m fine, I swear. I just slipped and hit my head on the bench. Nothing happened that you should be this worked up about. How did you find out anyway?”

“You didn’t call. I worry for you. You didn’t call. Then news person say two people mugged on campus, I knew it you. I told you, I told you to call police. But you never listen.” Pi hugged her again. “What I do without you?”

“I’m fine, Pi, I promise. They’re just going to keep me over night to make―”

“Over night? No, Pi will stay too. You not be alone. I stay too. You scare me. Never do that again, Missy Dane.”

The doctor had left at some point and Pi had crawled up into her bed. Now that someone had pointed it out, her back was killing her. Dane bit her lip and kept quiet. Pi was already upset and there was no reason to make it worse. The nurse came in a few minutes later and said that she was going to transfer Dane to the third floor.

“Pi, you have to go home and bring me back some clothes and some personal items in an overnight case. And you can’t stay all night. I need you to sign for that package tomorrow. I’m sorry. But you can call me whenever you want.”

“No, Missy Dane. I stay. No package worth something happen to you. I will keep you safe.” There was a noise at the front of the curtain. Dane looked up in time to see her past slam into her.

~~~

Cait stared at the two women on the bed and it took her several seconds to realize who they were. Well, at least who the younger woman was. Christ, there had to be a mistake. She glanced up at the piece of tape over the bed and realized it was not a mistake. Dane Messenger had moved back to the States.

Neither of them moved until the oriental woman squeaked. “You hurt me, Missy Dane. Let go my arm. I go to get stuff.”

“No!” Dane shouted to her. “I’m not staying. Go and get the nurse and tell her I’ve changed my mind. I’m all right and I’m leaving.”

“Missy Dane, you think—”

“Now, Pi. Go get the nurse.” Cait watched at Dane threw off the sheet and was beginning to stand. The older woman moved out of the curtained area, but she kept looking back at Dane and Cait. Before Cait could speak, Spencer and Jamie came around the curtain too.

“You found her, good. I was wondering where you’d gone off to. So this is the woman who saved my brother’s life. I’m Spencer Grant. And you would be...?”

“Leaving.” Dane grabbed the bed when she stood, dizziness overwhelming her for a moment. “I’m glad you’re all right, Mr. Grant, but I’ve just remembered I have somewhere else to be. And if you all don’t mind, I’d like to change.”

“Dane, please don’t go. I’m not here under any official business. I’m just—” Cait started to say.

“Frankly, Detective O’Malley, I don’t give two good shits why you’re here. You just are.

I’m leaving and if you try and contact me, I swear to you that I’ll sue you so fast your head will spin. Either you leave or I dress in front of you. Your choice.” No one moved. Cait knew she would do it and was not surprised when Dane shrugged and pulled the gown up over her head. Luckily, her back was to them, or unluckily. When she took off her shirt, it gave them all a view of her bare, scarred, and bruised back. Cait had seen her back before, but there had been open wounds back then. The bruise was new.

“Holy Mother of God. Who did that to you?” Jamie cried out just as Spencer moved forward.

It was too late to stop him. He touched Dane on the shoulders with both his bare hands and Dane screamed. Dropping to the floor, she screamed again as her body jerked and convulsed.

Cait rushed to her husband and pulled him away from her. But the damage was done.

“Get out. All of you get out and leave me alone. I beg you, please get out.” Dane tried to stand, but staggered, and when she moved to hold on to the bed, Cait moved her brother-in-law and husband out and called for Damon to come quick. Most of the staff in the emergency department had come running when Dane screamed. Cait moved back beside Dane, careful not to touch her, and told everyone but Damon to get out.

“Damon, help her up, but don’t touch her skin. Wrap her gown around her shoulders if you have to, but don’t touch her. Jamie, I said to—”

“I’m not leaving. What can I do to help?” Cait looked at the woman still huddled on the floor and wished that she knew. “Don’t touch her.”

“Yeah, I got that part. Are you going to let my brother take a look at your back, miss? He’s a good doctor, one of the best.” Cait looked at Jamie and wondered at his anger, but didn’t comment.