Lucky 13 (Deadlines & Diamonds) (23 page)

Water lapped at her cheekbones.

Enough was enough. She would do this on her terms. Picturing Matt and Ricky, she lowered her head into the water. It
rushed into
her nostrils. Instinct insisted she hold her breath. She did for a few seconds. Then let it out in a slow, steady exhale.

She wasn’t sure whether or not she still cried. Inside she bawled like a baby. But whether tears leaked out the corners of her closed eyes or not, she didn’t know.

Her lungs burned with the need for breath.

She could do this.

A single breath.

One inhale and it’d all be over.

With nothing left in her lungs, she focused on her last memory. Her wedding. Their vows. She’d promised to love Ricky forever and she would. It just would be a little different than either of them anticipated. She clenched her fist, feeling her wedding ring bite into her other fingers.

This was it.

She cracked her lips. Cool water flooded her mouth.

Ricky
.

She breathed in. Her heart raced, impulse telling her to fight.

Matt
.

She forced herself to breathe in again. She couldn’t bre
athe again. Her lungs protested
the lack of oxygen.
Her thoughts drifted in and out. Then dimmed until they blinked out completely.

25

“That was the greatest movie ever!”
Matt slurped at the rest of his Coke before throwing his cup and the empty bag of popcorn into the trash.

“Yeah.”

“Hey, I gotta pee.” Matt raced down the hall, hustling inside the men’s room.

Ricky kicked it across the huge hallway, leaning against the wall next to the drinking fountain. He pulled out his phone.

Before the movie
he
hadn’t been able to get a hold of Shayne. Her phone rang like she’d been on the other line, but she didn’t answer. And she always picked up when he called. She’d told him once that nobody was more important to her. He pressed in her digits and hit send. Straight to voicemail. He looked at the screen and frowned.

Something wasn’t right.

Another call. More voicemail.

Unable to swallow his unsubstantiated fear, he bent over for a quick drink.

“Are you Matt Xavier?” a woman’s voice asked.

Ricky jerked up just in time to see Matt’s brows frown. “Yeah.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad to have found you. Your mother—”

“Who are you?” Matt snapped.

The woman smiled. “Isabelle Boreno and I’m—”

“Come on, son.” Ricky clapped his hand on Matt’s shoulder. “We’ve gotta get home.”

He glanced back at the woman, meeting her narrowed eyes. He didn’t know what her problem was, and, frankly, he didn’t care. He had other, more important, people to worry about.

“You got your phone on ya?”

Matt fished the Motorola out of his pocket. “Yeah.” Without being told
,
he moved his thumb over the keys and put it to his ear. He shook his head. “Voicemail.”

Ricky wasn’t sure what his face looked like
,
but guessed it came close to the worry Matt sported.

The kid hit a few more buttons, listened. “Dammit!” He made another call. “Frankie and X aren’t answering either. Something’s wrong.”

“I’m sure everything’s fine.” A tingling at the base of his neck told him Matt hit the nail on the head.

The
y
walked as quickly as possible to where the SUV sat in the parking lot. It took three times before his shaking hands
could get
the key into the ignition. He twisted and the engine roared. He put it into gear. Tires chirped as he put his foot to the floor. He raced out of the parking lot, hit a few side streets, ran a red light. When he hit I-15, he topped a hundred miles an hour.

His phone rang and instinct said he shouldn’t let Matt answer it. Screw the handless
law, he wouldn’t allow his son to receive bad news about his mother. Ricky eased his foot off the gas and accepted the call from Xavier. “Talk to me.”

“She’s okay.” Xavier didn’t sound real sure of that. “We’re at University Medical Center.”

“What happened?”

“Just get here as fast as you can.”

“How long’s she been there?”

“About forty-five minutes.” X sighed, deep and heavy. “Don’t go there, my friend. You’re needed here. No time for thinking you
might
have changed a damn thing.”

“What happened?”

“Come in the main entrance. Frankie’ll meet you.” Shayne’s brother disconnected the call.

“She’s okay,” Ricky said numbly
, not looking over at the kid
.

“Mom’s tough.” Matt turned his phone over and over in his hand. He stared out the window. “She probably fell off a chair or something. She did that once. Broke her foot and everything. That was the first time I ever heard the f-word.”

Ricky laughed at that.
His wife didn’t exactly talk like a trucker.

“She probably had an accident.” Matt nodded. “Yeah, she’s kinda clumsy.”

Ricky
got the feeling whatever’d put Shayne in the ER wasn’t an accident.
X’
s voice spoke of six-feet-under kind of serious shit.
Not to mention
really damn scary.

Matt filled t
he silence with disjointed
conversations. Wherever his thoughts went, his mouth followed.
Ricky
half listened. Actually he couldn’t claim
even
that much. Truth was, Matt didn’t notice. The kid talked to fill the silence bouncing around in his own head. He sensed the big-fat-wrong of the situation.

Ricky flew into a parking space, barely letting the truck stop before throwing the transmission into park. Matt threw his door open before the engine was off, raced around to join Ricky in a jog toward the front entrance. The big glass doors slid apart and Frankie hurried over to them. “Come on.”

“What happened?” Ricky wasn’t sure whether he asked the question or if Matt had.

Regardless, Frankie shook her head. “It’s best if—”

“Cut the shit, Doc!”
They didn’t slow their pace, but he didn’t let their quick clip slow dow
n his lecture. “You’re a freakin’
doctor, Frankie. What the hell happened?”

She shook her head again, hurrying to put some space between them. If he hadn’t been so concerned about Shayne he might have
w
rung his sister-in-law’s neck. Frankie put a keycard up to a lock and the doors to the emergency department released. She pushed through, holding them for Matt and Ricky.

As the lock engaged again, she looked at the kid, then back at him. “It’s not good.”

“What happened?”

“We’re trying to piece it all together. The police aren’t—”

“Police?” Matt yelled. He glanced down the hallway in both directions. “
What the heck happened?”

Ricky put his hand on Matt’s shoulder. A man in a white coat came out of a room with Xavier on his heels. “Are you Mr. Santiago?”

“Yes, and this is my son.”

The doctor nodded, put his hands into the pockets of his coat. “
Your wife gave me permission to discuss her condition with you.
I can only
tell you
what happened from the point they pulled
her
out of the
bathtub.
”

The bathtub?

“We’re not sure how long she was submerged.”

Submerged?

“EMT’s found a pulse. They reported it as weak, but any pulse in a drowning victim—”

“Drowning?” Ricky scrubbed his face, plowed his fingers through his hair. “You’re saying Shayne drowned.”

“Yes.”
He shot a quick glance at X, then looked at Ricky
. “
The EMT’s got her to cough up quite a bit
of water
at the scene.
Good news,
tests verify her
lungs are clear. Bad news, there was water in them.
We’re monitoring her now.”

“She’s awake?”

“A
wake and responsive
, yes
.
Although, she was asleep when we left her. We’re going to
keep her overnight for observation.”

“Where is she?” Matt tried so hard to be an adult when Ricky could see he frayed at the seams. “Can we see her?”

The doctor pointedly looked at Ricky. “May I have a word with you?”

Not good
. “Yes, of course.”

The doctor walked down the hall and off to one side. “It wasn’t an accident, Mr. Santiago.
There was a break-in. Your wife—”

“Was she…
raped?”

“No.”

Ricky swayed with
relief.

“But they did beat her up pretty good.”

Ricky’s breath hitched. His vision went red. His molars ground together.

“She’s going to be okay from those wounds. My concern is her lungs. Comp
lications can pop up years later
sometimes. We can discuss those facts at a later time. Right now, you need to understand she looks worse than she really is.
She’s a bit confused, which is to be expected.
Your son should
be prepared for what you’re going to walk into.”

Screw
that, Ricky needed to be prepared. He wasn’t prepared.
Never would be.
No amount of rah-rah
bull
shit could make him okay with Shayne having so much as a paper
cut
, let alone...

“
I need to see her.
”

“
Of course. T
his way.”

Ricky followed the doctor back to the door he and X had come out of a few minutes earlier.

“I’ve got other patients to see.”
He
checked his watch. “I’ll che
ck back
in a little bit.”

“Thanks.” Ricky stepped toward the room only to have Xavier grab a hold of his bicep.

“She looks bad, man.”

“Got it.”
He shrugged out of the hold and opened the door.

Shayne slept.
Her auburn hair fanned out over the pillow.
Her head turned to the right.
She looked a little pale, but not
so bad. Maybe a little swollen in her cheeks, probably due to the water, but nothing horrifying. He wanted to deck X
and the doctor
for freaking him out and scaring the crap out of Matt.

Ricky quietly walked around the
bed and sat down in the chair. He took her hand, leaned forward and
gulped back a horrified groan
. A cut ran through her right eyebrow. The butterfly bandages held it together, pulling at the swollen, purple skin. No
sl
opes and gentle curves remained. Her face was puffy from brow to where he
r
dimple should be.

She moaned and he lifted her hand to kiss it. “I’m here,
amor
.”

Her lashes fluttered. One of her eyes opened. “
Matt?
”
she croaked.

“He
’s right outside.”

“
How was
the
movie?” She attempted a smile.

Two-by-four to the gut.
“I’m
so
sorry.”

She squeezed his hand softly. “No sorry.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“
L
ater. Tell you…
later
. Okay?” The weak string of words broke his heart.  

“Sure.”
He rubbed at a lock of hair, twisting it around his finger. “How do you feel?” Stupid question. She probably felt like shit, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say to her.

“Thirsty.” She licked her lips. “Can you
get me
water?”

That he could do. He made quick work of the mauve cup and pitcher combo. Handing her the water, he steadied her hands, pulling the assist of rim to lip.

She sipped, eased the cup away and smiled. “Tastes good.”

Tears shimmered in her eyes. He sat on the edge of the bed and gathered her into his arms.
She didn’t return his embrace, but
eas
ed against him just the same. He tightened his hold. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Her head moved against his chest. “Not okay. Wanted Matt.”

“What?”

“Not me. Matt.”

He ran his hand over her hair, petting her, doing his best to soothe her. “Shh. Just rest.”

The doctor had warned him she’d be confused. Obviously he’d been right. He just thanked his lucky stars she recognized him.

She stiffened. “See Matt. Need see Matt.”

“Okay,
mujer bonita
.” He bent over, forcing her to lie against the
pillows
. “He’s right outside with X. I’ll grab him.” When he sto
od, she tried to as well. “U
h-uh,
amor
. Hold tight, I’ll get him.”

“Protect Matt.”

“I will
.” He understoo
d her concern for her son. Of course.
Someone had entered their home—h
e’d really like the de
tails of that part of the story
—and very nearly killed her. Yeah, he’d be pretty freaked out too. But something didn’t add up.

He slipped out the door. Matt jumped up from where he’d been sitting on the floor and nearly pounced on him. “Is she okay?”

Ricky nailed
X with a don’t-sugar-coat-it stare.
“Yeah.”

Matt asked again. “How bad is she
?”

“Bad.”

Matt looked mortified.

“Not what you think.”
Ricky
took his son by the
bicep
s and got in nice and tight
, nose to nose, eyeball to eyeball
. “Listen
, my man
. Your mom needs you to be strong, okay? She’s pretty beat up, sportin’ lots of bla
ck and blue. And you’re gonna fron
t like she’s a beauty queen. Got it?”