Tying You Down (18 page)

Her heels clicked on the sidewalk and she hugged her jacket a little tighter as cool air chilled her skin. It was early in the morning, about an hour after her bar had closed and she and her staff had wrapped things up for the day. She’d had paperwork to take care of and had been the last to leave. The paperwork had piled up thanks to being in the hospital and her recovery.

Tate hadn’t been able to make it tonight, thanks to some kind of emergency on his ranch, but he said he needed to talk with her about something important tomorrow.

She walked around the corner into the parking lot and her thoughts flashed back to when her friend, Tess, had been taken from Jo-Jo’s and thrown into the trunk of a car in this very lot.

It was the first time since then that she’d felt uneasy in her own parking lot. The guy who’d taken Tess had been caught so no one had to worry about him. She’d even had more light added to the lot, so it wasn’t as dark anymore, so that was reassuring. They’d also installed a security camera.

But now she wished she wasn’t alone.

Her Lexus was the only vehicle in the lot and she found her steps quickening toward it even as she told herself she was being silly. Still, she checked her surroundings and looked into the back seat before she climbed into the sedan and locked the doors.

When the doors were locked she relaxed and rolled her shoulders. The motor purred as she turned the key and the Lexus came to life. She backed out and then guided the car out of the lot and to a stop before the street that ran in front of Jo-Jo’s. There was no traffic. Everything seemed empty and abandoned.

From her left came the sound of a big engine starting up. The engine revved. Jo frowned as she looked both ways and didn’t see any traffic. Just as she pulled the car onto the street, a vehicle’s high-beam headlights suddenly came on, blinding her for a moment. And then she saw a big rig barreling toward her.

Terror ripped through her. It was too late to back up. She stepped on the accelerator to try and outrun the truck, but it was too close. In that instant, she knew she didn’t have a chance.

The monster truck slammed into the driver’s side and she screamed as metal crunched in on her as airbags deployed. In the back of her mind she felt pain but she didn’t have time to think about it.

Everything seemed unreal as the powerful truck that hadn’t stopped moving shoved her car down the street. She screamed again as she saw that her car was sliding toward a telephone pole.

The car smashed into the massive wooden pole on the passenger side and metal shrieked as the truck rammed the car into the pole. The car wrapped around it and Jo cried out as she felt everything crumpling in on her body.

Pain and darkness engulfed her.

And then she felt pain no more.

Chapter 27

Bone tired, Tate blinked sleep away as his cell phone rang, wondering if there was another problem with the cattle. Someone had poisoned his stock tanks and there was no telling what could happen next. They’d worked well into the night rounding up the herd while hauling off the carcasses of the dead cattle to keep the coyotes from going after them overnight.

He reached for his phone on the nightstand, looked at the caller ID, and saw that it was his sister-in-law, Tess.

His heart started to pound as he looked at the clock. Three a.m. Tess wouldn’t call this time of night if it wasn’t something serious.

He pressed the button to connect the call. “Tess?” he answered as he sat up in bed, fully alert, all traces of sleepiness gone. “What’s wrong?”

“Tate.” Tess’s voice sounded shaky and like she was fighting tears. “It’s Jo.”

He bolted out of bed and to his feet. “What happened? Is she all right?”

“She was in an accident.” Tess’s voice broke. “All I know is that she’s alive.”

Fear for Jo rushed through Tate, the fear so intense that it almost blinded him. “Where is she?”

“The hospital, in the ER,” Tess said. “Charlee is here as well as David. Charlee called me as soon as the police notified her. She said she tried to call you but was having problems with her phone.”

“I’ll be right there.” Tate disconnected the call then yanked on the T-shirt and jeans he’d left draped over the trunk at the foot of the bed, and shoved his feet into socks and athletic shoes. He grabbed his phone and keys, and bolted for the front door. She’d already almost died and it was unimaginable that she was in the ER again.

He made the drive from his ranch and into Prescott in record time, lucky that he hadn’t been stopped for speeding. He jumped out of his truck and was running for the ER doors as soon as he’d parked and killed the engine.

Tess rushed up to him the moment he walked into the ER, the second time in just under two weeks. Tess’s face was pale. “I’ve been waiting for you. I’m so glad you’re here.”

“How is Jo?” Tate demanded, realizing his voice was too hard, too rough, too loud. He said in a lower tone. “Is she all right?”

“We don’t know yet.” Tess took his hand. “We’re in another waiting room,” she said as she led him through a set of double doors into a smaller room.

Immediately he spotted Charlee and Tate bristled when he saw that she was sitting in a chair holding David’s hand. Her eyes were puffy and red and it looked like she’d been crying. She let go of the man’s hand, got up from her seat, and went to Tate. Tess stepped aside as Charlee wrapped her arms around him.

He held her for a moment. “What happened?” He tried to keep calm as he took her by her shoulders and held her away from him so that he could see her face.

“A car accident.” Charlee sniffled. “Hit and run. A big truck smashed her car into a telephone pole and the driver fled the scene. The wreckage was twisted up so badly that they had to use the Jaws of Life to get her out.”

Fury and fear had Tate clenching his jaws and gripping Charlee too tightly. She winced and he released her. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Her voice trembled and tears started rolling down her cheeks. “Jo is all I have in this world and I love her more than anything. I can’t lose her.”

All Tate could do was bring her back into his arms, hold her tight, and stroke her hair. “I know she’s going to be okay, Charlee. We just have to think the best.”

She nodded against his chest. Her tears were soaking through his shirt, wetting his skin.

Being in the hospital waiting room brought back a rush of memories. Not only had he just been here with Jo recently, but not that long ago he’d found his brother, Gage, in his home dying of gunshot wounds. Later Tate had been waiting for a doctor in this very hospital to tell his family if Gage was going to survive. His brother had almost died but in the end he’d pulled through. He hated this place.

He prayed to God over and over that Jo was going to be all right.

When Tate released Charlee, she went back to her seat by David. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him so that her head was on his chest. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks and she hiccuped down another sob.

David gave Tate a nod. “I hope she’s going to make it,” David said, a look of concern on his features.

“She will,” Tate stated, as if his certainty would make it so. He looked at Tess. “Are just the three of you here?”

“Gage is home with Jenny or he’d be here,” Tess said. “It’s too late at night to find a sitter with Mrs. Webb ill and our teenage sitter out of town.” Tess rubbed her arms with her hands as if she was cold. “Jo and Charlee don’t have any other family.”

Tate planned to change that. Jo had him and she was going to end up with a whole lot of family when she married him.

Because that was what he intended to do. First, he had to convince her, but come hell or high water, he’d do it.

Jo was going to be all right. She
had
to be all right.

Time ticked by slowly as Tate shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned up against a wall. He tipped his head back and thumped his head against the wall hard enough to let him know that he was awake. That this was real.

Thoughts of Jo consumed him as he stared up at the ceiling. He pictured her brilliant smile, her warm laughter, and the way she had of looking at him that made his gut tighten. She was beautiful, yes, but it was far more than surface beauty. It was the kind that went straight to the core of her being. Inside and out she was a special woman.

She would not die. Would not leave him.

It didn’t come as a surprise to know that he loved her. He’d started loving her back when they were just kids, before she had been sent away. Life had separated them, but they’d been brought back together. It had taken some time, and some convincing on Jo’s part, but they were headed toward where they were meant to be.

She would
not
die.

The waiting room door opened, jerking Tate from his thoughts. A young doctor of about thirty, tall with black wire-rimmed glasses and a white coat, walked into the room. His expression was impossible to read.

“I’m Dr. Taylor,” he said before anyone could speak. “Ms. Burke’s attending physician.”

“Is Jo okay?” Charlee pushed away from David as she got to her feet and rushed up to the doctor. She clenched her hands in front of her. “Is she going to live?”

“Yes, Ms. Burke is going to be fine.” The doctor nodded and gave a tired smile. “It’s a true miracle considering the magnitude of the accident.”

Charlee’s knees seemed to go weak but David was nearby and caught her by her arm.

“We’ve run tests and do not believe she’s suffered any internal injuries,” the doctor continued. “She sustained multiple cuts and bruises, a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, a fractured leg, and a fractured arm. All things considered, she’s doing exceptionally well.”

“Thank God.” Charlee turned and clung to David who rubbed her back, giving her words of support, soothing her.

Air left Tate’s lungs and for a moment he closed his eyes, holding back a rush of emotion. When he raised his gaze he looked at the doctor. “I want to see her.”

“I’ll send in a nurse shortly and she’ll take you back when Ms. Burke can receive visitors.”

Tate walked up and reached his hand out to the doctor. Dr. Taylor took Tate’s hand and they shook. He found that he was choked up and barely got the words out as he said, “Thank you.”

Dr. Taylor put his hand on Tate’s shoulder before turning and nodding to Tess, Charlee, and David. The doctor departed, leaving those in the room filled with relief.

It seemed to take forever before they were allowed to see Jo. The police had to question her first. Tate’s cousin, Officer John McBride, was the one to take her statement.

The nurse gave them each fifteen minutes to spend with Jo. Tate didn’t want to wait, but he let Charlee see her sister first while he stayed outside the room with David.

David seemed consumed by his thoughts and didn’t speak as Tess and Charlee visited Jo. When their time was up they came out. Charlee and Tess both looked beyond relieved, but Charlee was still pale.

When Tate walked into Jo’s room, it was like a punch to the gut when he saw her. The left side of her face was puffy and bruised, her head was bandaged, her left arm in a cast and a sling, and her left leg was in a cast. The bruises on her face made her features seem even paler than Charlee’s had been.

Heart in his throat, he strode across the room and took her right hand in his. He leaned over and kissed her. “Hi, honey,” he said as he drew away and looked down at her.

She gave him a tired smile. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Thank God you’re alive.” He sat in the chair beside the bed and pulled it closer to her. “Don’t do that again.” He squeezed her hand. “You scared the hell out of me. That makes two times in just under two weeks.”

“You know how I like to live on the edge.” She winced as she adjusted herself in the bed.

“Hey, you’d better sit still.” Concern for her had him leaning forward with his hand on her uninjured arm. “Are they giving you anything for the pain?”

She relaxed against her pillows. “Morphine. At first I said I didn’t want the stuff, then when reality hit, I said go for it.”

“No sense in hurting when they can make it a little easier on you.” He stroked her tousled hair away from her cheek, below the bandage wrapping her head. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

She frowned. “Like I told John, Officer McBride, I don’t really know. Just some huge truck came out of nowhere. It didn’t have its lights on until the moment before it hit me. Then it kept shoving me across the street until my car hit the telephone pole. I don’t remember anything after that. I know I’m really fortunate that my car has side airbags as well as front ones.”

Anger burned in Tate’s chest. “From what Tess said, whoever did it ran from the scene. So help me, if I get my hands on him, he’s going to regret it.”

Jo gave a wan smile. “Not if I get to him first.”

As much as he tried, Tate couldn’t get himself to return her smile. “Did John tell you anything?”

“They located the owner of the truck in a motel,” Jo said. “He told the police that he was just passing through Prescott on a run up to Seattle and that his vehicle must have been stolen while he was sleeping. He had the keys, and the truck had been hotwired, so it’s a possibility. The police still have him in for questioning.”

Tate nodded, wondering how true the guy’s story was. He’d have to talk to John himself.

As Tate gently stroked Jo’s hair, his heart welled with his love for her. “When are you getting out of this place?” he asked.

“They want to make sure everything’s okay before they set me free.” She still looked dazed. “But since nothing is life-threatening, I can go home tomorrow or the next day.”

“You’re not going home,” he said. “At least not to yours.”

She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I want you to stay with me.” He put his hand on the thigh of her good leg. “Someone needs to watch out for you.”

She shook her head then winced. “I’ll be able to get around okay.”

“With one arm and one leg?” He shook his head. “And since you seem to be a little accident prone lately, I think it’s a very good idea for you to come home with me.”