Just Good Friends (36 page)

“Look, mate,” he told the officer. “You can ask me anything
else you like, but it’s going to have to be in hospital, because I’m going with
her.”

“Fair enough,” the man agreed. “We’ll need to question her
as well. We’ll send a policewoman along for that, make it easier.”

Kate made a sound of distress. “Stay with me,” she begged
Koti. “Don’t leave.”

“I’m here,” he promised. “I’m with you.”

When they got to hospital, though, he found that the police
had other ideas. While Kate was hastily bundled off, he found himself in a room
with a different officer, in plain clothes this time, who insisted on taking
him through the events of the morning once again.

“You went to her flat. And why was that?” The other man’s
expression was impassive, his cold gaze steady.

“I told the other fella,” Koti said restlessly. “She always
swims on Wednesdays. I was going to meet her, but she didn’t turn up.”

“Going to swim, were you?” the detective asked.

“Nah. I wanted to talk to her.”

“About what?”

“We had some things to straighten out,” Koti told him. What
did this matter?

“Because you’d had a fight,” the other man suggested.

“Yeh. We’d had a fight. As everyone knows, now.”

“So you went to her flat. And there was someone else there
with her.”

“Yeh. Like I said.” Koti was impatient now. What was all
this about? “I heard her scream, saw the door open. Ran in and found this
mongrel on top of her, choking her.”

“Or maybe not,” the detective mused. “Maybe you got there
and found her with someone else. That’d make any man see red. What did you do
then?”

Koti stared at him. “What? What are you saying? That
I
strangled her?”

“You were upset. She’d broken it off with you. And you found
her with another man. Bound to be a shock. And you reacted. You hit him. Then
you went after her. You didn’t mean to choke her, maybe. Just to shake her.”

“This is bollocks.” Koti stood up. “We’re done here. I’ve
told you what I saw, and what I did. Ask her what happened. She’ll tell you the
same.”

“We’ll do that,” the detective told him unsmilingly. “I’ll
ask you to stay in the waiting room while we do, though. And not to leave the
building.”

“No worries,” Koti told him with disgust. “I’m not going
anywhere.”

Hours later, he was still sitting in the waiting room,
staring at the floor. He reminded himself for the hundredth time that Kate had
been conscious and talking when he’d been separated from her. That had to be a
good sign. But nobody had been willing or able to tell him how she was since. When
he saw the detective approaching again at last, he jumped up, trying to read
the other man’s expression.

“We’ve got it sorted,” the detective told him, still without
a smile. “You’re free to go.”

Koti stared at him in disbelief. “I’m not going anywhere,
except to see Kate. I thought I’d made that clear. And I want to do that now. Where
is she? How is she?”

 Relief made him momentarily weak as he finally entered her
room and caught sight of her. Very much alive, doing her best to get out of
bed, thwarted by a beleaguered nurse. And crying.

He dropped into the chair next to the bed and took her hand.
“Shhh, love. Shhh, now. It’s all right. Everything’s going to be all right.”

Kate turned to him, crying even harder now. “You’re here. I
thought they’d arrested you. They asked me all these questions. They thought you
did it. I was so scared.”

“Nah.” He reached for a tissue and gently wiped her tears
away. “Here I am. They asked me too. Fair wound me up. Checking, I reckon. Our
stories will have matched, though, and it must’ve been straightforward enough
once they knew that. Good as gold.”

“Paul’s here, though.” She clutched his hand more tightly,
her still-raspy voice rising in panic. “Here in the hospital. They brought him
here. They told me so. I don’t know where.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he told her firmly, pushing his own rage
aside for the moment. She needed him now. “Because I’m here too, aren’t I. And
I’m not going to leave you.”

“Promise me,” she begged. “I’m so scared.”

“Bloody hell.” He kicked his shoes off and climbed onto the
bed with her. Looked up at the nurse challengingly as he put an arm carefully
around Kate and held her to him.  

“No argument from me,” the nurse assured him as she saw
Kate’s agitation dying down under the influence of Koti’s soothing voice and
touch. “I’d say you’re good medicine. Ring for me if you need me.”

Kate was calmer at last, resting against Koti, when the
sound of hurrying footsteps in the corridor heralded the appearance of Hannah
and Drew.

“Oh, sweetie.” Hannah rushed across the room to her. “I’m so
sorry. We came as quickly as we could, after I got Koti’s message. What
happened? Oh, your poor face.”

Koti made the description as brief as possible, not wanting
to upset Kate by dwelling on the details.

“How horrible,” Hannah said in distress. “Oh, Koti. I’m so
glad you were there.”

He nodded. “And now you two are here to stay with her, I
need to ring Kate’s parents, let them know what’s happening.” He gave Kate a
gentle kiss and eased off the bed. Looked at Drew, jerked his head toward the
door. The other man nodded in understanding and followed him down the passage,
out of earshot of the room, where Koti stopped and turned to him.

“Didn’t want to say this in front of Kate. But I wanted to
ask you to keep an eye on her. She’s got concussion, and a broken arm of
course, but that’s not the issue, why they’re keeping her here. It’s her
throat. It’s pretty damaged, hard for them to tell how much. If she seems to have
any trouble breathing, complains of any swelling in her throat, ring for the
nurse straight away.”

Drew nodded. “I’ll tell Hannah too.”

“The other thing. That mongrel’s here too. In hospital. They
say he’s under a police guard. But how careful are they going to be? He’s not that
big, doesn’t look dangerous. But I saw him, and he was berko. On her, trying to
kill her. He’d try again, if he got the chance. He nearly did already.” Koti
leaned back against the wall, scrubbed his hands over his thighs in agitation
at the memory. “If I’d got there a minute later . . . I thought she was gone.
Thought I was too late.”

“That’s the point, though, isn’t it,” Drew told him
steadily. “You weren’t too late.”

“My fault, though,” Koti went on wretchedly. “My fault that
he knew where she was, that that piece was in the paper, and online for him to
find. That has to be how he tracked her down. And my fault that she was home
alone this morning.”

“But she wasn’t alone,” Drew pointed out. “I still don’t
understand why you were there, but you were.” He reached out and grasped Koti’s
shoulder with a steadying hand. “You saved her, mate. It’s over now.”

“Worst morning of my life,” Koti said. “That moment. And
then waiting, not knowing. Reckon I know how you felt now, trying to get back
the night Jack was born, not knowing what you’d find when you got here.”

“It’s true, we’re in the same club now. And nobody’s queuing
up for membership,” Drew agreed. “But I’ll return the favor you did me. I’ll look
out for her. He’d have to go through me first.”

“One last thing,” Koti told him. “I’m not going to be flying
to Argentina tonight. I’ll ring Pete as well, of course. But I wanted to tell
you. Sorry if I’m letting the team down, but I’m not leaving till her parents
are here with her. Till she’s out of danger, and that bastard is locked up.”

Drew nodded. “Course you’re not. I’m not sure how it
happened, but it sounds like you’ve got your priorities sorted at last. Go on
now, make your calls. Take your time. Hannah and I will look after Kate while
you’re gone.”

“And, mate,” he added. “Get some breakfast. You look
shattered.”

Koti laughed shakily. “Too right. Think a coffee’ll help?”

“Can’t hurt.”

Koti was relieved to see Kate looking calmer and more settled
when he returned to the room. “I rang your parents,” he told her. “They’ll be
on a plane as soon as they can manage it. And I bought you a toothbrush. I know
how important dental hygiene is to you.”

Hannah smiled, then got up and kissed Kate goodbye. “We’ll
be going, then, since you’re obviously in good hands. I’ll call you tomorrow, once
you’re home again.”

“Take care of her, Koti.” Hannah gave him a hug as well.
“I’m so thankful you were there.”

Drew reached out to shake Koti’s hand, laid his hand again
on the other man’s shoulder.  “Well done, mate. See you next week.” He began to
move toward the door, then turned and added with a smile, “And by the way. Those
new priorities had better include your workouts, soon as Kate’s on her feet
again. We need you back training with us.”

 “I’m so tired. I just want to sleep,” Kate said, once she
felt Koti settled firmly against her side again. “But I need to know why you
were there. I don’t understand any of this. I’m supposed to tell you to go
away. But I want you here with me.”

He squeezed her hand. “And I want to be here. I want to be
with you. That’s what I came to tell you this morning. I waited for you at the
beach, and when you didn’t come, I knew something was wrong. So I went to find
you.”

“Lucky for me you did, I know. That was really close.”

“Too close,” he agreed. “But it’s over now.”

“Is it? He’ll go to prison this time, I hope. But they
aren’t going to keep him there forever. What about when he gets out?”

“He’ll be PNG, that’s what. Deported back to the States,
Persona Non Grata. He’ll never get into En Zed again, I can promise you that.”

“But I won’t be here,” she protested. “So how does that help
me?”

“I hope you will, though. Here, or wherever I am. That’s
what I came to tell you. I know I’ve been the world’s biggest drongo. It’s
taken me all this time to realize how I feel about you. But I know now. And I’m
not going anywhere, not without talking it over with you first and making a
plan. I’ll be giving it heaps from here on, you can count on that. On the
paddock, and with you. So I need to ask you, are you willing to try again? To
give me another chance?” 

She looked up at him searchingly. “Yes,” she told him at
last. “I am. Because I’ve missed you so much. I didn’t know how much you meant
to me either, not until you were gone. Is that really what you came back to
tell me?”

“It was.” Relief overwhelmed him as he held her close. “Oh.
And to give you this.” He fumbled in his pocket, brought out a small bag made
of woven flax. “I bought it for you yesterday, after practice. Had to go to
three shops to find the one I wanted.”

“You have to open it for me, though,” she told him. “Not
enough hands.”

He opened the little bag carefully, drew out a bone pendant
formed into a twining design, inlaid paua shell gleaming along one curving
edge.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed. “What does it mean?”

“Depends what level you’re talking about. It’s an infinity
symbol. It means that no matter how far away from each other we may be, the
bond between us is still there. That our paths will come together again. So you
can look at it while I’m gone and know that I’m thinking about you. That I’ll
always come back to you. And there’s a koru here too, see? This curving bit.
That’s for new beginnings, starting over, remember? Which seemed right.”

“And on the other level,” he told her seriously, “it means,
‘
E ipo, e iti noa ana, na te aroha.’
He smoothed back her hair, touched
her cheek gently with the back of his hand. “‘My darling, though my present is
small, my love goes with it.’ I reckon this won’t be the last thing I give you.
But I thought we could start with this.”

“It’s beautiful,” she told him again, the tears falling now.
“I don’t seem to know what else to say. And I keep crying. I’m sorry.”

“Can you put it on me now?” she asked as she wiped the tears
away. “I want to wear it.”

He lifted the pendant on its black cord gently over her
head, settled it carefully around her bruised neck.

“How does it look?” she asked.

“Beautiful. Right.”

“But oh, Koti,” she remembered. “Hannah helped me clean up a
little. And I saw how I looked. How can you even look at me? I look so . . .”

“Battered,” he agreed, leaning over to give her a gentle
kiss on the forehead. “Yeh. You do. Every time I look at you, I wish I’d hit
that bastard a few more times. Give it a week, though, and you’ll be as
gorgeous as ever. But it doesn’t matter anyway. Because I’m not in love with
your pretty face. Not even with your pretty body. I’m in love with the person
are. With your warrior’s heart and the spirit that shines from you every time
you smile. With the way you give everything you have to everything you do. I’m
in love with the beautiful person you are, inside and out. All the way
through.”

“Oh. That’s . . . oh. Really?”

He nodded, squeezed her hand.  “Totally and completely.”

She felt the tears welling, spilling over. Sniffed. “Kleenex,
please.”

He smiled and handed her a tissue from the box, watched as
she blew her nose and blotted her wet eyes.

“Well,” she told him, a huge, foolish smile spreading over
her face despite her throbbing head. “Well, ditto.”

He stared at her. “
Ditto?
That’s it? That’s the best
you can do? I don’t think so. I need to hear it too. Then you can go to sleep.”

“All right.” She looked at him tenderly. She’d almost lost
everything today. Her life should have been over. But instead, she’d gained
something precious. Something she had thought was lost forever. Her heart
swelled as she spoke.

“All right, then. I can’t talk the way you can. But I’ll
tell you. I don’t love you for your pretty face. Not even for your pretty body.”
She smiled again as he grimaced, then looked into his eyes and spoke from her
overflowing heart. “I’m in love with you, too. Completely and totally in love
with the beautiful person you are, inside and out. With every last wonderful bit
of you.”