There's Only Been You (25 page)

Garrett winked at Ethan. “Sure. I'll be a regular choirboy."

Mike grinned. “If Sara has anything to say about it, you will be."

"Damn, I forgot about Sara. This is her biggest fear come true."

"She'll be so happy you're alive, nothing else will matter,” Jason said. Then he turned back to Mike and held out his hand. “By the way, I'm Officer Jason Thomas with the Green Bay Police Department."

Mike ignored Jason's outstretched hand. “Detective Mike Andrews. I'm an old friend of the family. I'm also Ethan's father."

Jason dropped his arm, looking genuinely surprised by that. “Interesting.” He glanced over at Garrett. “I could have sworn you told me Ethan's father was dead."

Garrett shot Mike a ‘thanks a lot’ look. With a nod in Ethan's direction, he said, “Could we have this conversation later? Maybe after I've had a dozen or so pain killers?"

A second ambulance arrived. Mike pulled out his cell phone and punched in the Jamisons's number.

Jason's pulse raced as he watched Jimmy get lifted into the ambulance. No doubt as soon as he was able to, the little prick would spill his guts and Jason would find himself sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial.

He glanced over at Andrews. He hadn't gotten a good enough look at him last night to make the connection, but up close there was no mistaking the resemblance between him and the kid. So there's the link he'd been looking for.

Andrews pulled out his cell phone and made a call, most likely to Sara or one of her brothers. Jason looked down at Garrett and said, “Since you seem to be in good hands, I think I'll head over to the station. Maybe I can get a heads up on who wanted you dead, and why."

"Thanks, Jason, I'd appreciate it."

Mike flipped his cell phone shut as he strode back over to Ethan's side. He stuffed the phone in the front pocket of his jeans then picked Ethan up in his arms. “I'm going to have you ride with me to the hospital."

"But I wanna ride with Uncle Garrett."

Mike hugged him, and Ethan laid his head on his shoulder. “I know you do, son, but you can't. They won't allow it. So we'll follow the ambulance to the hospital, and as soon as the doctor's done fixing Uncle Garrett up, you can go in to see him."

"Your father's right, sport,” Garrett said. “And I'll probably need you to calm your mother down when she gets to the hospital anyway. You know how upset she's going to be."

Ethan gave a solemn nod and leaned over to kiss his uncle's cheek.

"We'll be right behind you,” Mike said. “Sara was in the shower when I called, so I spoke to Uncle Luke. They'll meet us at the hospital."

Garrett nodded, but said nothing. Mike knew the pain had to be damn near excruciating, but was pretty sure the thought of what could've happened to Ethan was the cause of the strained look in his eyes.

And then Garrett surprised him by saying in a voice low enough so Ethan couldn't overhear, “Later, you're going to tell me exactly what the hell is going on, and why Jason just tried to have me killed."

Mike and Ethan had been waiting about ten minutes by the time Sara, Nicky and Uncle Luke arrived at the hospital. As soon as he saw his mother, Ethan wiggled to be free and took off running. Sara scooped him up in her arms and they both burst into tears.

Mike walked up hesitantly, unsure of their reaction to his involvement in the situation. At the very least, Nicky would ream his ass for not telling Garrett the truth about Jason. And he still hadn't told anyone that Jimmy was the shooter.

Much to his surprise, the first words out of Nicky's mouth were, “Thank God you were there. Uncle Luke said you winged the guy just before he got his shot off. Garrett might be dead right now if not for you.” He threw his arms around him and thumped him on the back.

Mike let out a shaky breath. “I was afraid you might blame me for this after the talk we had the other night. If Garrett had known what Jason was about, he certainly wouldn't have brought Ethan along with him."

Nicky lowered his voice. “Jesus, are you saying Jason shot Garrett?"

"I'll explain everything later; here comes Sara."

With Ethan still held tightly in her arms, Sara walked up and met Mike's gaze. Her eyes were red, wet with tears, and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and never let her go.

"Are you all right?” he asked, searching her face for the truth.

"I should be asking you that question. Do you have any idea how grateful I am that you were there? You saved Garrett's life, and possibly even..."

Mike stepped forward, took Ethan from her, and wrapped his arms around both of them.

Luke came up from behind Sara and said, “I don't know what you were doing there, son, and frankly I don't care. I'm just damn glad you were.” He gave Mike a thump on the back, then followed Nicky to the coffee machine.

Sara looked up at Mike, frowning. “What exactly
were
you doing there? Were you following Garrett and Ethan?"

"Sweetheart, I promise I'll explain everything later.” He gestured with his eyes toward Ethan, and Sara nodded her understanding.

After a moment, she whispered, “I'm so grateful you're all right. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened...” Once again, she couldn't finish her sentence, and Mike tightened his arms around them.

Nicky and Luke returned a minute later with steaming paper cups. “We can go see him now,” Nicky announced, grinning. “I could hear him cursing from out in the hallway."

They all filed into the vinyl-curtained cubicle and surrounded the small hospital bed, which seemed even tinier with Garrett's massive frame draped over it. The first thing Garrett did was open his arms to Sara.

"You are quitting the force as soon as we get home,” she said against his shoulder. Then she looked over at Mike and added, “You, too."

"But I wasn't even shot in the line of duty,” Garrett pointed out.

"And I wasn't shot at all,” Mike chimed in.

"I don't care. I don't think my heart can take this again."

"You doing all right, sport?” Garrett asked, examining Ethan's tear-stained face.

Ethan nodded and, showing the first sign of life since the shooting, said, “But ice cream would make me feel even better."

Everybody laughed, even Ethan, and Nicky promised that if it wasn't too late, they'd stop at Dairy Queen on the way home.

The ER doctor finally came in and released Garrett, giving him prescriptions for both antibiotics and pain killers, and Sara explicit instructions for cleaning and bandaging the wound. Then he ordered Garrett to take it easy for at least a week, get plenty of rest, and absolutely no alcohol while taking the pain killers. Garrett rolled his eyes, Sara scolded, and Garrett promised to be a good boy.

They exited the hospital in time to see Danny's truck pull into the spot next to Nicky's Jeep.

"Sorry I'm late. I blew a damn tire, if you can believe it.” He came up on Garrett's right side. “Good thing you've got thick skin, huh?"

Garrett arched a brow. “Your concern is touching. I may weep."

Danny laughed. “Don't be a grouch. You know I was worried as hell."

"I know."

They all climbed into their vehicles—Sara and Ethan rode with Mike, while Garrett gingerly stepped into Nicky's Jeep—and headed for home.

They ordered a late supper as soon as they got home. While they waited for the food to arrive, and since everyone else was occupied, Mike decided to bring Garrett up to date.

"Officer Thomas is a suspected drug trafficker, and I've been tailing him since last Saturday night, trying to get something DCI can use against him in court."

"And I let that dirty SOB take my sister out on a date!” Garrett whispered furiously.

"Yeah, I wasn't too happy about that either."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me? Shit, Mike, it could've just as easily been Ethan who got shot tonight."

Mike's jaw clenched. “I don't need you to remind me of that fact. That hair-trigger temper of yours is exactly the reason I didn't tell you. And it's not like I had advance warning. The first time I tailed him, he led me straight to your front door. If it's any consolation, they weren't out of my sight for more than a few minutes that night."

"So, why put a hit on me? I'm not mixed up in that shit."

Mike glanced down at Ethan who was cradled in his lap sound asleep. “That happens to be the million dollar question. And I don't have an answer for you, at least not yet. But there is something else you need to know."

"Jesus, what now?"

"Jimmy Montgomery's the one who shot you. And the reason I was at that dive last weekend where I got Jimmy's taped confession is I'd followed Thomas there. The two of them had business dealings together. They also met up there Monday night."

Garrett blew out a hard breath. He pushed himself to his feet and slowly made his way to the refrigerator. After a quick glance to make sure the coast was clear, he opened the cabinet above the fridge and pulled down a nearly full bottle of whiskey. He took another quick look around, twisted off the cap and took a healthy swig.

Mike shook his head, laughing softly.

"Garrett Allan Jamison, I don't believe you!"

Garrett sputtered and coughed as he choked brandy down the wrong pipe. He clutched his side and had to grab onto the counter for balance. “Jesus H. Christ, Sara! You scared the hell out of me!"

Unable to stop laughing, Mike hid his face against Ethan's head.

Hands on hips, Sara snapped, “You have no one to blame but yourself. The doctor specifically told you not to mix alcohol with those pain killers, and we're not home twenty minutes before you're disregarding his instructions."

Danny, Nicky and Uncle Luke all piled into the kitchen to see what the commotion was about. Sara filled them in, much to Garrett's obvious chagrin, and Nicky shook his head as he helped his brother back to his seat.

The doorbell chimed, and silence fell upon the kitchen.

"Thank God,” Garrett said, carefully lowering himself onto his chair. “I'm friggin’ starving."

Sara came up behind Mike and smoothed her hand across Ethan's brow. He was out like a light, having not so much as flinched while the adults were busy shouting over his head.

Mike rose to his feet and said, “I guess I'd better put him to bed before he wakes up."

"I'll come with you."

Mike laid Ethan on the bed, yanked off his shoes and covered him with the Spiderman blanket. They both pressed a kiss to his cheek, then Mike took Sara into his arms.

She gazed up at him, and Mike bent his head and captured her mouth, softly at first, and then more demanding as their lips parted. Sara's hands crept up around his neck, and his arms tightened, practically crushing her against his chest. Sara moaned softly, and Mike broke off the kiss.

"We'd better stop while we still can.” He kissed her forehead and added, “Besides, I'm starving."

"So am I,” she whispered, moving against his semi-erection. “Just not for food."

"Damn, you really know how to torture a man."

She grinned up at him. “Sorry, but I can't seem to get enough of you."

"You're insatiable,” he replied, dipping his head to claim her lips again.

"Hey, guys, it's going fast!” Danny hollered.

"Shhhh! They're putting Ethan to bed, you moron.” Garrett's response was every bit as loud.

"Come on, we don't want to get caught in a compromising position in our son's bedroom.” Mike took her hand and pulled her along behind him.

When they entered the kitchen, hand in hand, all eyes were on them, and everyone was smiling. Even Garrett, who said, “Come on, lovebirds, time to eat."

By the time he finished eating, Garrett could barely keep his eyes open. Sara and Nicky helped him to his room.

"You guys are making too much of this,” Garrett said, his voice groggy from the medication. “I got grazed."

He'd only been able to sneak one quick swig of booze, so Sara tried not to worry about how tired he looked. “You've always been the one taking care of us. Now it's your turn. Besides, that bullet made a pretty big crease in your side, and you're probably going to be a lot more sore tomorrow than you are tonight."

They eased him down onto his bed and, grinning, Sara asked, “Would you like me to read you a bedtime story after we tuck you in?"

Garrett made a sound she assumed was a laugh. “Yeah, as a matter of fact, there's a Penthouse in my bottom drawer—"

Sara pinched his forearm causing him to yelp. “Goodnight, Garrett. There's water on your nightstand, and if you need anything else, just holler, all right?"

"I'll be fine. Go take care of Mike. He's more shook up about what happened tonight than he's letting on."

"I was thinking the same thing,” Nicky said. “Seemed like he didn't want to let go of Ethan."

Sara kissed Garrett on the cheek. “I really hate what happened tonight. But if there's one positive thing that came out of it, you and Mike seem to have developed some sort of appreciation for each other."

"He more than likely saved my life, and possibly even Ethan's. I can't think of anything I appreciate more. Now, please, get the hell out of here so I can get some sleep.” He smiled and gave her a gentle shove toward the door.

When Sara and Nicky entered the kitchen, Uncle Luke and Danny were chatting away, having sucked down a pot of coffee between them. Sara glanced into the darkened living room where Mike stood alone, gazing at a picture of Ethan hanging on the wall. She came up behind him and snuggled against his side. “He's fine, Mike. Thanks to you, he's safe and sound, snoring away in his bed."

Mike's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. “But what if I hadn't been there? I could have lost him after only a week ... I want to lock him up in his room and never let him out."

"But you
were
there. You saved my brother's life, and you saved our son."

Mike sighed. “Listen, I need to get going. I have a couple of things to take care of before I can head home. But I'll call you first thing in the morning to check on Ethan and Garrett.” He turned and pulled her into his arms.