Twisted Creek

Chapter 41

0215 hours

University Hospital

Lubbock, Texas

Luke took his time filling Nathan in on every detail of what had happened after he was shot. The kid would be out of the hospital tomorrow and probably insist on working the case. It was his home office, he’d take the lead. Nathan would go to work with his arm in a sling and a bandage on his neck. Every man in the office would want to hear the details.

No matter how much Luke wanted to get downstairs to check on Allie and Nana, he’d do his job. He owed it to Nathan.

Finally, when they were the only two in the room, Nathan said, “I wasn’t standing in enough cover. I’d stepped out too far. The lights of that car caught me before I could step back.”

Luke gripped Nathan’s good shoulder. “The lesson almost cost you your life.”

Nathan nodded. His voice shook slightly. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

“You’re a better agent now than you were four hours ago.” Luke could think of a few hard lessons he’d learned over the past ten years. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. I could have made the same mistake. In that blackness it was hard to tell how far away from cover you were. If the car had been going the other way, its lights would have flashed on me.”

“You think so?”

“I know so,” Luke answered. “If I’d been caught in the light, you’d have been the one who made the jump toward the bad guy and then you’d have had to carry me.”

“I would have,” Nathan answered without hesitation.

“I know. That’s why I’d partner with you again, anytime.”

Nathan looked tired and still in pain, but he smiled. “Thanks, Morgan.”

Luke straightened. “Anytime.”

They talked for a few more minutes, then Nathan, almost asleep, said he’d see Luke tomorrow.

Luke saluted a sleeping comrade and left the room.

He forced himself to walk slowly down the hall even though he wanted to run. It seemed a hundred years since he’d kissed Allie in the tiny office this morning. The longing for her was an ache deep inside. Reason told him she wasn’t hurt bad. She’d driven to the hospital. She was being released tonight.

But reason could be wrong.

When he stepped off the elevator, his blood pressure jumped at the sight of the empty chair where he’d left Willie less than half an hour ago.

Luke walked over to the chair and stared. Not only Willie, but Mary Lynn and Paul were gone.

“Looking for something, mister?”

The girl at the desk had been replaced by a blonde looking five years younger than the one before, but no brighter.

“I’m looking for my friends.”

“Old guy who smelled like fish?”

Luke raised an eyebrow, wondering if hospitals kicked people out for smelling bad. “Yes,” he said as he walked closer. There couldn’t be two men running around hospital halls after midnight who fit that description.

The blonde grinned like she’d just gotten a question right on Jeopardy!. “He left with a couple.” The emergency waiting room was empty but she busily sorted papers.

“Any idea where they went?”

“They followed a woman we released. Oh, yeah, the old man said they were going to ICU.”

Luke didn’t bother to say thank you. He stormed down the hallway not caring that his boots echoed off the walls. Two left turns later, he spotted a sign pointing to ICU. Willie slept on a bench beneath the sign. Paul and Mary Lynn waited just outside the door a few feet farther down. They all turned as he neared as if they expected him.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked the question, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.

Mary Lynn spoke. “We’re just waiting for Allie to come out. Even though it’s late, we finally talked the nurse into letting her just look in on Nana. Allie promised not to make a sound and the nurse said she’d allow it if only Allie stepped in.”

Luke faced the closed door and stared through a tiny window, his tired gaze searching for Allie amid the equipment-packed hallway.

She stood thirty feet away, staring into a glass room. He couldn’t see Nana. He didn’t have to. He could see Allie’s heart breaking. Her clothes were dirty and torn. Her hair wild. Her face wet with unchecked tears. Her world was splintering and she stood all alone.

Every muscle in his body tightened. He wanted to rush to her and pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be all right. Deep down he felt the need to protect her, but he knew he couldn’t. He blamed himself for what had happened. He knew she’d blame it on the bad luck she thought followed her. She wouldn’t understand that if she hadn’t been waiting on that dock, Skidder might have run right past Jefferson’s Crossing. Allie wouldn’t be bandaged and Nana wouldn’t be in ICU if he hadn’t made the date.

Paul stood beside Luke, giving him the facts in a low voice. “Allie’s only got a few cuts. She’s fine. Nana lost a lot of blood, but they’re just keeping her here for a few days to run some tests.”

Luke braced his hands on the door frame, fighting not to shove his way through. He knew if he held her now, he’d never be able to let her go and he still had a job to finish.

Luke shoved away from the door. “Can you get Allie and Willie home?”

“Of course.”

“I need to file a few reports and have a talk with the men being brought in.”

“I understand. Don’t worry about Allie.” Paul hesitated as if knowing his question was anything but simple. “Don’t you want to stay to talk to her?”

“No,” he said, trying not to sound as tortured as he felt. “I’ll get the work done first. Tell her I’ll see her later.”

Walking away was the hardest thing Luke had ever done in his life.