Deadly Obsession (4 page)

“You don’t have to stay, Sam.”

“Sure I do.” He headed for the door. “Be right back.”

* * * *

Voices.
Familiar.
Close.

Brooklyn
heard two deep voices echoing through the fog. She felt strange, heavy and weak, and she wasn’t sure she had the strength to open her eyes. She started to fade again when she heard her name. She turned her head slightly, prying her eyes open. The images were fuzzy and out of focus. She could see a man sitting directly in front of her, his body only an arm’s length away. There was another man beside him, his chair turned to the side. She felt she knew them, but couldn’t seem to remember their names.

She closed her eyes, hoping the moisture would sharpen the images, but the edges were still faded when she peered at them again. She focused on the man in front of her, drawn to the familiar curve of his jaw.

“Gage.”
She hadn’t realised she’d spoken until he stopped and turned towards her. Relief flooded his expression, tears gathered behind his blue eyes, as he reached out his hand, gently caressing her cheek.

“Brook.” His voice was rough, and she could hear the edge of fear in it.

She tried to lean forward, say his name again, but the small movement ignited a pain in her back and the word came out as a strangled moan. Darkness edged her vision until she was forced to close her eyes. She could feel her consciousness slipping away, taking her away from the pain and back into the fog.

“Brook!”

She opened her eyes again. Gage was dabbing a damp cloth on her forehead. The colour had drained from his face and she could see a single tear rolling down his cheek.
“Gage.”

“Easy, darling.
Don’t try to talk. Just relax. I sent Sam to fetch the doctor. Get you something for the pain.” He bit at his bottom lip as her eyelids fluttered and rolled, the pain pulling her back into oblivion. “Brook.”

She forced herself to look at him. Her chest hurt when she breathed, and she was finding it hard to swallow. “Where…am…I?”

“Harborview,” he said, still brushing the cloth across her skin. “They brought you in yesterday.”

She closed her eyes. “
Hos
—pi—
tal
?” she finally forced out, groaning between syllables. “Why?”

He feigned a smile. “We can talk about that later. You need to rest.”

She shook her head, clenching her jaw to hold back another moan.
“Want…to know.”
She tried to catch her breath.
“Oh God.
Why…why does it…it hurt so much?”

He leaned over her, kissing her forehead. “Don’t you remember?”

“No.” She screamed this time as a sharp pain sliced through her torso.

He grabbed her hand, patting it as if he didn’t know what else to do. “Hold on, darling. Sam should be back any second.”

“She’s awake.” Nick O’Brian walked into the room a few minutes later, a knowing smile on his face. “That’s a good sign.”

“Forget the sign, damn it. She’s in pain!” Gage shifted enough for Nick to manoeuvre beside the bed. “She needs something.”

Nick nodded, tapping the syringe. “Your partner already expressed that need. Though you might want to advise him we’re really not out to watch our patients suffer. Fisting my shirt wasn’t necessary. I’d have given her morphine either way.”

“Sorry. Sam gets passionate when his friends are in trouble.”

“So I’ve seen,” he said, slowly injecting the liquid into Brooklyn’s I.V. “It’ll only take a few minutes to take effect. Then she’ll be much more comfortable.”

Brooklyn
moaned, and Gage watched her slump on the bed.

“Better?” asked Nick.

She opened her eyes, nodding slightly. “What…”

“Morphine.
Not much else will help you at this point. We’ll switch to something less potent once you’re stronger.” He brushed the hair back from her eyes. “I was right. You’re quite a fighter.” He wedged himself out from between the bed and Gage, heading back to the door.
“Rest.
Let the medication do its job. I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Try to sleep.”

“You okay?” asked Gage.

“Better.” Her eyelids fluttered again. “Everything’s…mixed up.”

“Don’t try to remember just yet. Give it time.” He traced her jaw with his finger, vaguely aware Sam had ventured back into the room. “Try to rest.”

She nodded, closing her eyes.

Sam walked over to Gage’s side. “Trevor just called. They want to clear the scene, so if you want to pay it a visit, we need to leave now.”

“Sure.” He looked down at his wife. Her eyes were closed and her breathing had relaxed. “I doubt she’ll wake up for another few hours. We should be back by then.”

“I can go back alone. I’d understand if you want to stay.” Sam touched him on the shoulder.
“Might be for the best.”

“Just make sure you get me back in a couple of hours.”

Sam nodded and headed for the door, Gage close behind.

“Gage.”

He stopped, startled by Brooklyn’s frail voice. He walked back over, bending down to brush another kiss across her forehead.
“Sleep.”

“Stay. I feel better when you’re here.”

Gage choked back another sob. Her eyes were closed and he was positive she wasn’t conscious of her words. “I’ll be right back. I just need to check something out with Sam. I promise I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She nodded, brushing her fingers over his as he squeezed her hand. “Love you,” she whispered.

Gage stilled. He stared down at her, unable to speak as she faded back to sleep. He glanced over at Sam. He was waiting by the door, hopefully too far away to have heard. Gage straightened, trailing his finger down her side before joining Sam at the door. Sam pushed it open when her voice broke the silence.

“Sarah.”

The two men stared at her, not sure they’d heard her correctly.

“Sarah,” she called again, groaning as her body went limp.

Sam turned to his partner. “What does, ‘Sarah’, mean?”

Gage shrugged. “Not sure. Her new novel’s called,
Sarah’s Secret
. Maybe she’s remembering the book signing.” He took one more glance back. His stomach clenched and the hair on his neck stood up. Nothing was making sense. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“You think she’s still in danger?”

“I don’t think so. I just…” He huffed. “Damn it, let’s just go. The faster we leave, the faster we get back.” He looked his friend in the eye. “And I need to get back as quickly as possible.”

Chapter Three

Gage sat in the car as Sam wove through the traffic. Neither of them had spoken since they’d left the hospital, and Gage knew it was only a matter of time before Sam started hounding him.

“You sure you’re up to this, buddy?” Sam asked, eyeing him with uncertainty. “You really do look like shit.”

“There you go again with the compliments,” he said. “And yeah, I’m up to this.”

“See you’re still determined to convince everyone you’re not in love with Brooklyn.”

Gage chuckled. He’d wondered how long it’d take Sam to bring up Brooklyn. He glanced at his watch. “You’re a minute early, partner. I had you pegged at five.”

“Joke all you want, but it’s painfully obvious you’re still in love with her.”

“I never said I didn’t love her,” he said, staring out the window. “I just can’t be married to her anymore.”

“Care to explain why?”

Gage grunted, staring at his friend from the passenger seat. “You know bloody well why. Everyone does.” He sighed and looked back out the window. “Besides, Brooklyn doesn’t want me in her life. She’s not in love with me anymore.”

“That’s why she just begged you to stay with her?” he countered, obviously determined not to let the subject drop.

“Someone just stuck a six-inch blade in her back! She’s scared, nothing more. Despite everything that’s happened between us, she knows I’d protect her.”

“That wasn’t fear in her voice. It was love. She wanted you to stay because she loves you…case closed.”

Gage focused on Sam’s face. Had he heard Brooklyn say she loved him? He watched the man
carefully,
finally satisfied his friend was merely stating a thought. “Believe what you want to, but I prefer to live in the real world.” He watched a group of people cross the street, as Sam stopped for a red light. “She’s moved on. Emma told me she went out on a date last week.”

Sam snorted. “It wasn’t a date it was a charity dinner. And she went with Emma’s brother as a favour, so stop trying to change the subject. I know for a fact Brooklyn’s still hung up on you.”

Sam took the next left, easing his car over to the kerb, wedging it between two police cruisers. Gage stepped out, turning his collar against the chill. The March day was cold and dull, with the promise of rain cloaking the city. He followed Sam through the throng huddled outside the store, stopping long enough for Sam to flash his badge at the cop standing guard.

“Sam.”

Sam and Gage turned towards the voice, watching a tall, dark-skinned man move towards them. “Trevor.” Sam shook the man’s hand. “You remember my partner, Gage Matthews.”

Trevor nodded, exchanging a firm handshake with Gage. “We met a few months ago, at a party.” He turned back to Sam. “Sorry to call so soon, but the Commissioner wants this cleared up. He says it’s bad for tourism to drag crime scene investigations out so long.”

“Since when is twenty-four hours long?” asked Gage.

“Hey, you and I know it, but try telling it to headquarters.” Trevor sighed and nodded at Gage. “Sorry to hear about your wife. I’m glad she’s going to be all right.” He waved his hand towards the back of the store. “Everything’s still the way we found it. The clean-up crew should be along within the hour, so feel free to take any pictures or samples you want. But I’ll tell up front. Our guys didn’t find anything other than a single, black fibre. And from what I’ve heard, it’s typical black wool.
Could’ve been bought at any department store.
I’ve been told they ran the prints and blood, but everything came back as Brooklyn’s. I’m afraid whoever did this, didn’t leave anything behind for us to find.”

“Maybe not,” said Gage. “But if it’s all the same, I’d like to see for myself.”

Trevor nodded, stepping aside as Sam headed for the back. Gage followed, nearly slamming into the man’s back when Sam stopped in front of the men’s washroom. Gage stared at the yellow tape crossing the door and frowned.

“I thought Brooklyn was stabbed in the woman’s washroom?” he said, flicking the edge of the tape.

“I found that puzzling as well,” said Sam, “
until
I noticed this.” He pointed to a trail of blood droplets scattered across the floor. “I’ve been thinking that maybe the creep attacked her out here,
then
dragged her inside.”

“Possible,” said Gage. “But then why didn’t she scream? Trust me, Brooklyn wouldn’t go quietly.” He glanced back down at the blood. “It could have dropped off the knife on his way out,” he suggested before looking away, remembering it was Brooklyn’s blood on the floor.

Sam shuffled up beside him, grabbing his arm. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

Gage brushed off Sam’s hand. “I didn’t come all the way down here just to stand in the hallway.” He gave Sam a quick nod. “It’s okay. I can handle it.”

Sam pursed his lips, pausing with his hand on the door, before pushing it open and stepping inside. Gage followed him in. The room was small and square, with two stalls along the back wall. There was a sink opposite the toilets and a large pool of blood centred on the floor. He stared at the blood, unable to look away, as the room started to spin. He reached out his hand, bracing it against the wall, hoping his legs didn’t give out.

“Easy, buddy.”

Sam was at his side, shouldering his weight as Gage covered his mouth in an attempt to keep from puking. Good God, how had Brooklyn survived?

“Damn. You’d think I was a bloody rookie,” he muttered.

“Hey, it’s one thing to analyse a scene. It’s another when the blood on the floor belongs to someone you love. Cut yourself some slack.” Sam eased his grip as Gage steadied his stance. “And in case you haven’t noticed, I can’t bring myself to do more than glance at it.”

Gage patted Sam on the shoulder. “Thanks.” Gage pushed away, walking slowly towards the evidence. He still couldn’t imagine what had brought Brooklyn in here. It wasn’t her style to use the men’s room. “He definitely stabbed her in here,” he said.

“He took the knife out of her back in here,” agreed Sam. “But I still say he could’ve dragged her in from the hallway.”

Gage shook his head.
“No way.
That’s easily twelve feet. Screaming or not, Brooklyn would’ve put up a fight if he’d given her that much time. She isn’t a blue belt in Jujutsu for nothing.” He moved over to the sink.
“Prints.”