Give Him the Slip (42 page)

Luke sat by himself in the waiting room, warning off with a glare
everyone who attempted to approach him. He was vaguely aware of his brother
running interference in that regard. Matt knew him. He didn't want to talk to
anyone, see their sympathetic stares, listen to their platitudes. Bottom line
was, he'd fucked up and Maddie had paid for it. Same as with Terry.

And Terry was dead.

The waiting room grew crowded as word spread. Friends, neighbors,
and clients congregated to worry and whisper together, the shock of the story
they'd learned etched across their expressions. Despite his efforts, Luke heard
snatches of conversation.
The Rawlingses under arrest. Kathy's daughter,
Sparkle, dead. Kathy sedated. Sin Callahan a federal agent of some sort.

They sneaked glances at Luke, their faces alive with curiosity,
but he ignored them.

Except when they started talking about Maddie. Those bits of talk
he strained to hear, because they made her seem closer. Vibrant. Alive. They
talked of how nice she was, how kind. How she'd made a place for herself in
Brazos Bend so fast. How much everyone loved her. What a good job she did for
her clients. How pretty she'd kept her yard before the fire. That she deserved
better than the likes of Sin Callahan, federal agent or not.

When the surgeon walked in with a smile on his face, Luke didn't
believe that, either. Terry had survived the surgery, hadn't he? Nevertheless,
he rose from his seat and approached the man, the crowd parting like the Red
Sea before him as he claimed the right of next of kin. "Maddie?"

The doctor rattled off details of the surgery, and Luke's patience
grew short. "Bottom line, Doctor," he interrupted.

The surgeon frowned at Luke's impertinence, but said, "She
should make a full recovery."

The gathering erupted with exclamations of relief and joy. Luke's
knees went a bit weak and he felt a hand clasp his shoulder. Matt.

Luke was waiting in her room when she was moved to ICU and his
first glimpse of her nearly brought him to his knees. So pale. Pale as death.
Tubes and bandages everywhere. Thank God for the steady, reassuring beat of the
heart monitor.

He lost track of time. At some point a nurse arrived with a stack
of clean clothes his brother had provided, giving him an ultimatum to change
out of his bloody clothes or leave. He refused until she said that Maddie would
be awakening soon and the sight of him would scare her. Rather than leave, Luke
stripped right where he was, heedless of the admiring glances of the nurses at
the desk; then he continued his vigil.

Luke didn't spend the hours chastising himself. He didn't replay
the events of the day or second-guess his actions and decisions. In fact, he
didn't think at all. His mind was a blank, his emotions frozen. Nothing would
change until he saw for himself life and clarity of thought in her beautiful
brown eyes.

Finally, his patience was rewarded. Her lids flickered. Lifted.
She blinked a couple times, then looked at him. His heart lifted.
Red.

Then tears pooled and pain dimmed her eyes. Her lips moved. She
croaked, "Luke."

"It's okay, Red." He stood over her, tenderly took her
hand. "You're going to be okay. The doctors promised."

Her eyelids drooped and she fell back asleep. Luke stood beside
her bed, holding her hand for a long, long time. Now he allowed the thoughts to
come. He relived the horrific events of the day. Her disappearance, the search,
the tense drive up to the river cabin. Those horrible minutes inside. The Careflight
helicopter lifting off. The interminable drive back to town.

He should have seen it coming. He should have suspected Austin.
Should have had better radar. This was Terry all over again. Another fuckup,
courtesy of Luke Callahan. And this time, Maddie paid the price.

Somebody set my chest on fire.
Maddie tried to shy
away from the pain, but movement made her feel as if they'd taken a poker to
her to stir the embers. She whimpered, felt completely sorry for herself. She
cracked open her eyes, and the sight of Luke sitting beside her bed reassured
her. She fell back asleep.

She drifted in and out of consciousness repeatedly until finally,
she awoke for the most part clearheaded. First came the questions.
What
happened? Where am I?

Then the answers.
I
was shot. I couldn't breathe. I'm in
the hospital. I can breathe again.

She remembered waking up before. Luke was here. And a banker? Or
had that been a dream?

She opened her eyes to see the clean-shaven man with a military
haircut dressed in a Brooks Brothers suit seated in a chair reading a copy of
People
magazine. No dream. She shifted her gaze. Luke stood with his back to her,
staring out a window. She was so glad to see him. "Luke?"

He turned and Maddie frowned. He looked awful. Tired and worn and
in pain. Had he been hurt, too?

He studied her with a laser gaze before clearing his throat.
"Hey, there. You with us this time, Maddie?"

"Have I been somewhere else?"

"In and out for a couple of days now."

So that's why she felt as if a significant amount of time had
passed. It had. He picked up a cup of water from a bedside tray and held the
straw to her mouth. Maddie drank greedily, then asked, "What
happened?"

"Do you remember anything?"

"Bits and pieces."

He set down the water, then moved back toward the window, away
from her. He never touched her. Didn't stroke her hair. Didn't kiss her. What
was wrong?

"You took a hit from Randolph Rawlings's shotgun. Your lung
collapsed and you hemorrhaged on the operating table, but the doctors pulled
you through. They said it'll take some time, but you should make a complete
recovery."

"What about you? What happened to you?"

He looked surprised. "Me? I'm fine. Not a scratch."

Maddie didn't believe it, but she decided to wait until they were
alone to press it. She tried to sit up, and Luke showed her the button on the
bed railing for adjusting the bed. Once she'd tilted up her head, she had a
better angle to see the room. The Brooks Brothers stranger had set aside his
magazine and he stared at her anxiously. It took Maddie a moment, but she
finally recognized the eyes. "Daddy? Is that you?"

"Hi, Baby. You've rejoined the living." Those familiar
eyes teared up and he added, "Hallelujah!"

"How did you get here?"

"Rowboat," he quipped, obviously trying to lighten the
mood. "How do you think I got here? I flew, of course. Left within fifteen
minutes of this fella's call." Blade hooked a thumb toward Luke, then
brushed his lapels with his knuckles. "Like my disguise? Callahan here
insisted on it when he called me to come. Said we had to protect your life here
in Podunk, Texas."

"I've never seen you with short hair and without a beard.
You're handsome, Daddy."

"Nobody recognizes me. It's amazing."

The wonder on her father's face made Maddie smile, and she turned
her head to share it with Luke. He didn't smile back.

A tear slipped from Blade's eye and rolled down his cheek.
"Oh, Baby, I've been so worried about you. Are you feeling better? They've
been giving you some good drugs. I've been here half a day now, and every time
you woke up you were flying."

Her father was here. Maddie couldn't believe it. Blade had come to
Brazos Bend. Kathy would... "Kathy!" Maddie's stare flew to Luke.
"Is she okay? Was anyone else hurt? Matt?"

"Kathy is fine. Matt is fine. You were the only person
hit," Luke replied, his lips settling in a thin, grim line.

"So, Baby," her father said, "tell me, now. How are
you feeling? Should I call the doctor?"

"I'm... okay." Actually, she was worried because Luke
wouldn't meet her eyes.

Blade rattled off the tale of his arrival, stressing his fear and
concern and desire that she'd come home to England with him upon her discharge
from the hospital. "Your doctor told me it'll be a month or so before you
can travel, so I've rented a house here in town for the duration of your
recuperation. I understand your other place burned down."

Maddie waited for Luke to say he was taking her to Branch's place,
but it didn't happen. Luke didn't react to her father's suggestion in any way, and
Maddie's consternation grew. Unable to stand it any longer, she interrupted her
father. "Daddy? I'm awfully glad you're here, but could I have a few
minutes alone with Luke, please?"

"You sure, Baby D?"

"I'm sure."
Oh, I'm sure, all right. What the heck is
going on, Callahan? What aren't you telling me?

Or are you telling me exactly what I don't want to hear?

Blade shot Luke a warning glare, straightened his tie, then
departed the room. Maddie expected Luke to come to her then. To kiss her. At
least to touch her. To connect with her as lovers do.

He didn't budge from his stance beside the window.

Peeved now, she asked, "Luke, what's the deal here? What did
I miss?"

He deliberately misread the question. "The Rawlings are both
in jail, for one thing, on charges of kidnapping, arson, and attempted murder
to start. Judge denied bond for them both. The old man called in some
high-powered attorneys out of Dallas, but before they arrived, Austin folded
like a cheap tent. Sheriff's office recovered Sparkle's remains yesterday.
They're still working on the exact charges they want to bring for that crime.
That office has been turned upside down by this whole thing. It helps their
case that your father found the infamous pictures in with a John Wayne video.
The most damning one shows Austin and his old man lowering Sparkle Hudson's
body into a grave."

Distracted by the information, Maddie shook her head. So many
people hurt. So much grief. All because of one man's thirst for power.
"Randolph Rawlings is an evil man. What about Kathy? Is she in trouble
because of Jerry Grevas?"

"Kathy told her story, and forensics backed her claim of
self-defense. She won't get off scot-free because of the obstruction charge,
but I doubt her punishment amounts to much. Probation, maybe. Community
service. No time, I would bet. She has public sympathy on her side, and the
deputy DA has stated that she's recommending lenience."

"That's a relief." Maddie tried to shift her position
and the effort had her grimacing in pain. Yet, the pain helped her focus. What
was going on with Luke? Why was he acting so distant?

And then, suddenly, she knew. It was over. The mystery was solved.
He was leaving, going back to the bayou. That's why he summoned Blade. He'd
always told her he wasn't hanging around Brazos Bend, hadn't he? And Luke
Callahan never lied.

"Oh," she murmured.

"Are you hurting?"

"Yes." Oh, yes. Her heart was breaking in two.
"It's probably time for your pain meds again. I'll get the nurse."

Luke wouldn't meet her eyes. The cad. He all but ran out the door.
It was the last time she saw him for a week.

Oh, he stayed in Brazos Bend. She didn't ask about him, but her
visitors told her that much. Sara-Beth made sure to tell her how Luke was
overseeing the furnishing of the house her father had rented. Branch let it be
known that Luke called her doctors twice a day to check on her progress. Her
own father went out of his way to make sure she understood that Luke was
pestering the prosecutors to make certain that Austin and his father received their
just rewards.

Even Kathy got into the act. Out of jail on bond funded by Luke,
Kathy arrived at the hospital bearing a peace offering in the form of Maddie's
favorite ice cream sundae. After an awkward apology, she begged for Maddie's
forgiveness, and hardly believed it when Maddie said there was nothing to
forgive. Once that was out of the way, she spent the rest of her visit talking
up Luke and the lawyers he'd hired to help her. The man certainly had turned
his reputation around in town.

Wasn't that special?

They all knew he was a short-timer. That much was obvious. As the
days passed and Maddie waited in vain for him to appear at the hospital, she
began to wonder whether he'd even show up to say good-bye. He'd better. He owed
her that much.

Twice she picked up the phone to call him, but pride prevented her
from dialing the number. She vacillated between being hurt and being angry.
Sometimes she considered throwing away her pride and begging him to stay, but
she knew that would be the wrong thing to do. If he turned her down, she'd have
sacrificed her pride for nothing. If he stayed when he didn't truly want to,
he'd eventually come to resent her. She didn't want to live like that.

Finally, upon her discharge from the hospital, the rat arrived to
take her home. "You ready to go?" he asked from the doorway.

She eyed the plastic water pitcher on the tray table and seriously
considered throwing it at him. But Maddie had her pride, so she smiled instead.
"Hello, stranger."