Impulsive (32 page)

"Because you're overreacting, you idiot," she deduced
aloud. "You haven't had a decent meal all day—a day thoroughly shot to
hell from beginning to end—which would make anyone a little raw around the
edges. It's just a lousy phone message, for heaven's sake. No more than words,
which can't hurt you. Now, pull yourself together and start behaving like an
intelligent adult instead of some sniveling scaredy cat."

Her monologue pep talk left something to be desired. She needed to
talk to someone, or failing that, simply to be around other people, where she
would feel more secure. That decided, she bounded into the bedroom and began
rifling through the closet and chest of drawers. Not only did she need a change
of clothes, but so would Ty. Even if the doctor didn't release him in the
morning as planned, he would still need his electric razor, his toothbrush,
bathrobe and undies. A set of pajamas wouldn't have been amiss, but the man
didn't have a pair to his name—unless she wanted to stop by the mall and buy
some for him, which she didn't, since he'd probably refuse to wear them anyway.

She crammed everything into one small suitcase, his things and
hers, shut off most of the lights, and was on her way again, without bothering
to shower or change her own attire. She would wash up in the bathroom off Ty's
hospital room, and use his phone to call Corey.

This time Jess drove her own car, preferring the familiarity of
it. At least she could be fairly certain she wouldn't stall the darn thing if
another unforeseen emergency arose.

To her surprise, when she arrived at the hospital, there was a
uniformed officer standing guard outside Ty's room. "Oh, no!" she
declared, running down the hall toward the man. "What's happened?"

As she tried to push past him, the guard threw out his arm and
blocked her entry. "Sorry, ma'am. No visitors allowed."

"But I just left a little while ago. What's going on? Is Ty
all right?"

"He's fine."

"I want to see for myself."

"Are you a family member?"

"No, I'm his... uh... his..."

"She's mine, all right," Ty barked from inside the room.
"Let her in, or she'll stand out there arguing all night."

The officer pushed the door open a crack and peered in at Ty.
"You sure? I've got orders not to let anyone in there."

"I'm sure. I sleep with the woman. If she was going to kill
me, she's missed dozens of opportunities already."

Jess squeezed in under the guard's arm. "Kill you? And miss
hearing you whistle in the shower? No way. What's with the guard?"

Ty put a hand to his head. "Lower the volume, babe. My head's
already exploding." As she came into the circle of light near the bed,
Ty's eyes widened. He stared at her blood-soaked clothes in alarm. "Sweet
Lord, Jess! You've been hurt! Officer, get a doctor in here right away!"

"No, no! I'm fine!" Jess assured him immediately.
"It's your blood, not mine. I had your head on my lap, remember?"

Ty heaved a heartfelt sigh as he relaxed back onto the pillow.
"Good grief! You scared the liver out of me!"

"Yeah? Well, you're both doing wonders for my blood
pressure," the guard grumbled. "So, is she staying or what?"

"I'm staying."

"She's staying."

"I'm leaving," the man said. "I'll be right outside
the door if either of you needs anything."

Jess jerked her thumb toward the departing officer. "What's
he doing here?"

"It's a long story," Ty hedged.

"Give me the condensed version."

Ty patted the mattress at his side and waited until Jess had
seated herself gingerly on the edge. "Haggardy sicced him on me after
someone tried to sneak in here and pump my veins full of air."

Jess's brow wrinkled. "Come again?"

"I was almost asleep when I heard someone tiptoe into the
room. I thought it was probably a nurse, coming to check on me. You know how
they keep pestering you when you have a concussion, waking you up periodically
and checking your pupils and whatnot?"

Jess nodded. "Go on."

"When I felt this hand on my arm, I assumed she was going to
take my pulse. Instead, I felt a prick on the inside of my arm, and when I
opened my eyes this guy in green scrubs and a surgical mask was standing over
me, trying to give me some kind of injection. Don't ask me why, but I knew
something wasn't right. I jerked my arm away, but he grabbed it again— roughly,
without a word of explanation. So here I am, yelling and trying to fend him
off, when a nurse pops in to see what all the fuss is about. She starts firing
questions, and the guy runs out of here like his tail is on fire, knocking her
to the floor on his way out.

"Next thing, the whole nursing staff is in an uproar, and
Haggardy shows up. Turns out I wasn't supposed to have a shot, and the guy
trying to give me one probably wasn't hospital personnel. Furthermore, the
syringe he dropped was empty."

"Empty?" she echoed. "That doesn't make
sense."

"Sure it does." He went on to explain, his expression
grim. "An air bubble in your bloodstream can be just as lethal as any
drug. Hits your brain or heart, and poof! You're a goner."

"Oh, my God! He tried to murder you!"

"That's about the size of it." Ty drew a weary breath.
"Hence, the guard at the door."

"I should never have left," Jess babbled, instantly
filled with remorse. She picked up his hand and brought it to her lips,
peppering it with kisses. "I should have sat right here and watched over
you. Oh, Ty! I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, I didn't expect you to baby-sit me all night." Ty
cradled her cheek in his open palm. "Besides, you're here now, and both of
us are alive, if not fit. That's all that counts."

"Did they catch him?"

"No. He got away. But at least Haggardy is leaning more
toward our theory now."

Another startling thought occurred to her suddenly. "What about
Gabe? Could the killer have gone after him again tonight, too?"

"Not to worry. We've already covered that base, and Gabe is
safe. Our would-be assassin had an easier time getting to me than he would have
trying to get into that special unit where Gabe is staying."

"Thank God you're both okay." Jess was silent a moment,
then asked thoughtfully, "How do you know it was a man and not a woman?
You said he wore scrubs and a mask."

"His arms," Ty told her. "They, along with the rest
of him, were too big, too muscular, and too hairy to belong to a woman. So were
his hands, even inside those rubber gloves."

"In that case, I take it he didn't leave any fingerprints
behind."

"Astute deduction, my dear Watson. And we're right back to
square one again."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Jess debated telling Ty about the
phone message; but his eyelids were drooping, and she figured it would keep
until morning. Hopefully, by then they would both be more rested and alert and
ready to deal with all their problems. Meanwhile, with a policeman guarding the
door, they were both safe and sound for the night. She could even take a shower
without having scenes from
Psycho
flashing through her head.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Go to sleep,
sweetheart. I'm going to take a quick shower in your bathroom. Then I'm going
to curl up in that big chair in the corner and spend the whole night with
you."

"You could always climb in with me," he countered sleepily.
"There's not much room, but we could make do."

"Not tonight, darling," she told him in a droll voice.
"You have a headache."

Ty was released from the hospital the next morning, and Jess drove
him home to his condo. There, she hovered over him like a mother hen with one
lone chick. "Are you hungry? I could fix a sandwich? Or a nice hot bowl of
noodle soup?"

"What I really want is a frothy cup of cappuccino."

"Ty, you know the doctor said to slow down on the caffeine
for a few days. How about some orange juice, instead."

"Sure. Why not?"

"Shouldn't you be lying down?"

"Shouldn't you be heading off to practice?" Ty
countered. "Coach Danvers is liable to have a fit if both of us skip
out."

Jess brushed his comment aside. "What will it matter if I
kick twenty goals today or thirty tomorrow? If I don't know how to do it by
now, I might as well hang up my cleats."

All morning Jess had delayed telling Ty about the message on her
answering machine, but with Detective Haggardy due at any moment to question Ty
further about the attempt at the hospital, she figured she might as well spill
the beans now.

"Uh, Tyler?"

The minute she called him Tyler instead of Ty, he knew something
was up. "Yes?"

"Last night, I went home to change my clothes, and I found an
odd message on my answering machine. Sort of a threat, actually," she
admitted. "At least it sounded like one to me."

He eyed her sternly. "And you're just now getting around to
informing me of this? Who was it? What did they say?"

"The voice was so muffled, I couldn't begin to guess who it
was. I can't even be sure if the caller was male or female, but I suspect it's
a man. He said, and I quote, 'You were lucky tonight, and got off easy. Take
heed, or you're next, lady.' I have the tape, if you want to hear it for
yourself."

"Under the circumstances, I'd classify that as a
threat," Ty concurred. "And I ought to beat your butt for not telling
me sooner. Is there anything else you want to confess while you're at it?
Anything more you've been keeping under your hat?"

"No, and the only reason I didn't tell you last night is
because we already had so much happening, and I figured this could keep until
today, when we were both thinking more clearly."

"By 'tonight,' I suppose the caller was referring to last night,
at the stadium?" Ty presumed.

"I assume so," Jess agreed, "especially since it
was the last message on the tape, recorded after one from Corey wanting an
update on your condition—and you were fine before then. Besides, I'd just
checked my machine the day before and erased all the previous messages."

"Play it for me. Maybe I'll recognize the voice."

Ty didn't recognize the voice, but he insisted that Jess let
Detective Haggardy listen to it when he came. Haggardy surprised both of them
by taking the threat seriously, rather than simply dismissing it out of hand.

"I hate to admit it, but I think you two just might be onto
something. I'd like to take the tape and have one of our lab men analyze it, if
you don't mind. If nothing else, he may be able to tell us for sure if it's a
man who made that call, and maybe pick up some other clues like background
noises that aren't clear to us now. We're also attempting to locate Dr.
Johnson, since last night's attack on Tyler would appear to have been made by
someone with some medical knowledge, and thus tie in with your suspicions about
him."

"His address should be on file at the Knights' office, if
nowhere else," Ty offered helpfully.

Jess made it to the team practice the next day. Ty went along, but
would be sitting this one out, as well as those scheduled for the rest of the
week. Whether he'd be well enough to play in their game Sunday in Miami was yet
to be determined.

Since she preferred to wait until the other players cleared out of
the locker room, leaving her privacy in which to don her shoes and jersey, Jess
was the last one out on the field.

"Okay, you bunch of sissies, hitch up your jock straps, and let's
get this show on the road," Danvers commanded gruffly.

"Hey, Jess! You wearin' your jock strap?" one of the
guys called out jokingly.

"And your protective cup?" another player added with a
snicker. "According to the rules, you've got to be wearing all the
required safety equipment, you know."

Jess was used to their ribbing by now, and usually gave as good as
she got. Today was no exception. She thrust out her chest and replied with a
superior sneer. "I'm wearing two of them, hotshot. Right here in my
double-barrel 'jockette' strap."

"Aye, chihuahua!" Chili hooted with glee. "Guess
the chica told you!"

"And I'm telling you clowns to get with the program!
Now!" Danvers yelled, though he, too, was grinning and shaking his head at
her quick comeback.

The practice was long and tiring, and even within the controlled
atmosphere of the dome, they trooped off the field afterward dripping with
sweat. In reverse procedure, Jess got the locker room first following the
practice, since unlike the guys, she simply changed into street clothes and
shoes and went home to shower. Normally fast about it, this time she was even
quicker, and she reemerged still wearing her uniform. Her face, glowing with
color mere seconds before, was now pasty.