Drift Away (Noah Braddock Mysteries) (12 page)

She put her elbow on the sofa next to me. “For showing up. Even though I was a complete bitch yesterday.”

“I was going to get a sandwich,” I said.

She smiled. “But you stopped. For me. For Jackson.”

My entire head throbbed and my eyes ached. I closed them.

“You should go to the hospital,” she said. “You probably have a concussion.”

I grunted my disapproval. There was nothing they could do for a concussion and going to a hospital would mean showing up in a computer somewhere.

“Sorta thought you’d say that,” she said. “I won’t argue. Right now, anyway. Are you thirsty?”

I managed to move my head enough to indicate that I was not.

“Rest then,” she said. “When you feel better, I’ll tell you. What’s going on. You at least deserve that.”

“Here, here!” Jackson said.

I opened my eyes to half-mast.

He set a small, brown monkey in the crook of my arm and a bright green cat on my stomach.

“Bert and Ernie,” he said.

“Wow,” Bella said, raising her eyes. “Your two favorites. That is big time.”

Jackson nodded enthusiastically.

I reached for the green cat
—
Ernie, apparently
—
and tucked him into my other arm. “Thanks, Jax. They help.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, holding onto my sleeve again. “I named them from those guys on TV. Those puppet people.”

I tried to nod but couldn’t. My eyes were heavy and I shut them again.

“Rest,” Bella said. “We’ll be here when you wake up.”

Her lips brushed my forehead as I drifted off.

NINETEEN

Liz filled my dreams.

Her face showed up in flashes, images of her smiling at me. Some from the ocean, some from her bedroom, some from restaurants, some from places I couldn’t see.

Then she was off in the distance, a stretch of sand I didn’t recognize. Her mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear her. I called out to her, tried to get closer to her, but I still couldn’t hear. I walked at first, then ran. But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t get closer. She stayed off in the distance, now cupping her hands, like she was yelling toward me.

My feet pounded the sand, my legs churning as I tried to get to her.

Her hands were in the air now, waving at me as if she was trying to get my attention and I couldn’t see her.

But I could see her perfectly.

I just needed to get to her.

Finally, I seemed to be closing the distance. I could hear her voice, but couldn’t make out the words.

I ran harder.

I caught my toe in the sand and stumbled, nearly going face first into the sand.

I regained my balance and looked up.

She was gone.

Gone.

TWENTY

Something soft was brushing my face when I woke up.

I pushed my eyes open and the room was dim. I was still on the sofa and the ceiling was still above me. I twisted my head to the side, a flash of pain burning through my face. I winced, then opened my eyes to see what was tickling me.

It was Ernie. The stuffed cat. Leaning against the side of my face that hadn’t been bashed in. He’d somehow moved from just inside my elbow to taking a nap on my face.

I reached up and pulled him down, setting him next to Bert. Stiffness permeated my limbs and every movement felt slow, like I was just learning how to do it again. The side of my head pulsated with heat and pain. I took a deep breath and brought my legs over the side of the couch, pushing myself up to a sitting position.

The room wobbled in front of me and the pain in my head seemed to seep from one side to the other. A soft ringing in my ears got louder for a moment, then died off. I set my hands to the side of me, steadying myself against the cushions.

“You’re awake,” Bella said. “Again.”

I turned slowly to the side. She was standing at the edge of the room, just off the hallway, her arms folded, her eyes tired.

“I am,” I said.

She came over and sat down on the edge of the sofa next to me. “How do you feel?”

“Pretty crappy.”

“You look worse.”

“Thanks.”

“I took the ice off of you awhile ago,” she said. “It just kept falling to the floor because you kept shaking your head in your sleep.”

I nodded and a thin thread of pain rippled through my neck.

“I can help you get to my bed,” she said. “It’ll be more comfortable than the couch.”

“No, I’m fine,” I said. “I should go.”

“Go?  Where?  How?”

“Home.”

I pushed myself up. The floor slid out from underneath me and I toppled back into the couch.

Bella hurried over and helped me sit back upright.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” she said. “You’re a mess. You need to rest. And this couch isn’t big enough to hold you. I’m worried you’ll fall off. So I’ll help you get to my bed. I’m going to sleep in Jackson’s room.”

I wanted to argue because I just wanted to go, but the fact that I couldn’t even get to my feet made that a pointless wish. My head pounded, my face felt like it had been driven over and my legs couldn’t hold my weight. Even my stubbornness wasn’t going to get me out the door.

“Okay,” I said.

“I’m going to get under your arm and help you stand up,” she said, pressing up next to me.

“You can’t hold me up.”

“How the hell do you think you got here?” she asked, taking my arm and putting it around her shoulders. “In my car and into the living room?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, it wasn’t Jackson,” she said. “On three, push up. Lean against me if you need to.”

She counted to three and we stood. My legs were rubbery and I did lean against her. She held me up, far stronger than I expected and we moved slowly out of the living room, down the hallway and into her bedroom.

The sheets and comforter were pulled back on the queen bed and we sat down together on the edge. She got out from under my arm and helped lift my legs onto the bed. She scooted me away from the edge.

“You alright?” She pulled the covers over me.

“I’m thirsty.”

“I’ll be right back,” she said and left.

I lay there, exhausted from the short walk down the hall. I looked around me, trying not to think about the pain still throbbing in my temples. Bella’s bedroom was small, with light blue walls and white furnishings. Small photos of Jackson in silver frames lined the top of the dresser. A short pile of books was stacked neatly on the nightstand. The faint aroma of lavender permeated the bedding and I breathed it in.

Bella returned with a plastic bottle of water. She unscrewed the cap and handed it to me. The frigid water hurt my teeth, but tasted as good as any water I’d ever had.

I handed it back to her, half-empty. “Thanks.”

She set it down on the night stand, next to the books. “Welcome. You should sleep some more.”

“I think I’ve slept all day.”

“You have. But you got the crap beat out of you.”

I wondered what happened with the chairs and umbrellas on the beach. It was the first time since I’d arrived in Florida that I hadn’t finished the day. I needed to apologize to Ike as soon as I could get up and move.

“Tell me,” I said.

“Tell you what?”

“Who they are.”

Anxiety settled on her face. “We don’t need to do that now.”

“I’ve slept all day,” I said. “I need to stay awake so I can get my bearings. And you said you’d tell me.”

She sighed, clearly torn between whether or not she was going to tell me. I was prepared to leverage my injury, if necessary. I was now in this far. I needed to know exactly what I was into.

She sat down on the foot of the bed, her legs folded up Indian-style. She played with her fingers for a moment, studying them, avoiding my eyes.

“They’re friends of Evan’s,” she said.
  “David’s last name is Hanson.  I don’t know Colin’s.”

It took me a moment to remember that Evan was Jackson’s father. “Friends?”

She shrugged, rolled her eyes. “Friends. Colleagues. Assholes. Whatever. They all worked together.”

“Together?  Or they worked for Evan?”

An irritated smile turned into a smirk. “Truthfully, I have no idea. Evan was great at keeping secrets and those two are no different. When he was killed, David took over. I don’t know if that’s because he was next in line, or they were partners, or what.
Colin
, he’s just a dickhead who thinks he’s the enforcer. Wants to be bigger than he is.”

“But that was in Tampa, right?”

She shifted on the bed, pulling her knees to her chest. “David decided to expand the business.”

“To here.”

She hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. To here.”

I had yet to meet a dealer who wasn’t ambitious. It was inherent in their business. Once they got a taste of the money involved, they wanted more. But the problem with expansion was that they were always infringing on someone else’s territory. And that usually led to bloody problems.