Relentless Rhythm (Tempest #4) (36 page)

The Black Cat CEO and her VP of Public Relations had definitely pulled off a major miracle keeping the media out of the hospital. They were also taking an active role as intermediaries with the Vancouver Police. The Queen had connections of her own, it seemed. On the
right
side of the law.

She might be a hard ass, but I was beginning to suspect that beneath Timmons’ tough exterior lay a heart of pure gold.

The chief investigator nodded his head at something April was saying. This was the second time they’d been around. I hoped they’d finally gotten all the answers they needed. Every time she talked to them, her eyes stayed haunted for hours afterward. I hated that. Hated that she carried any guilt at all.

I watched them for a couple more minutes, but when it appeared as though the conversation might go on for quite a while longer, I turned and went back inside the room.

I skirted the foot of the bed, and Brandee Barrie’s eyes met mine over her magazine. She smiled softly before returning to her reading. I think she was seeing me in a different light these days. I hoped they’d let her go home soon. I was tired of the hospital; the antiseptic smell, the constant activity, the lack of privacy. We all were. Luckily, the boys had gotten a break and were hanging out with Carter this afternoon.

I took a seat in the chair, pulling my guitar back onto my lap and strumming though the chords again. The music obscured the incessant beeping from the monitors, and it seemed to relax her.

I looked up when April walked into the room, her hips gliding, her loose hair swishing around her shoulder. I gave thanks for our good fortune. I didn’t think I was ever going to take anything for granted again.

“Don’t stop,” April chided. “Keep playing.” She perched on the armrest of my chair, and I inhaled her sweet fragrance as she smiled over at her mom. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

“It is. I like it.” Brandee Barrie agreed, placing her magazine on her lap and fiddling with the bandages around her head.

“Leave it alone,” April chided.

“It itches,” her mom complained.

“Yeah, well, I imagine it will for a while. How’s your heart rate been today?”

“Good,” her mother replied. “The EKG was normal. No atrial fibrillation since the ablation.” Brandee had been the one to break the oriental vase in the Sutton’s lobby. The trauma from her fall had caused her heart to go into the irregular rhythm.

They talked softly about the possibility of her going home soon, and I worked my way through the whole song while enjoying the view of the beautiful woman who’d inspired it.

“It’s beautiful,” my mom told Dizzy when he had finished the song.

I agreed, swallowing hard as I looked up at the handsome man by my side. I couldn’t believe he was mine. I was grateful for the gift of being able to wake up beside him, even if it had been in that uncomfortable fold out chair for the past several nights. Nothing in my life brought me more joy than he did.

“Not half as beautiful as your daughter,” he insisted.

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty partial to her myself. Scares me to think what could have happened.”

Dizzy nodded, a shadow crossing his face, one that had crossed all our lives and left its mark. Thank God in their struggle it had been James that had been killed and not her. It was just like her to put herself in harm’s way to protect her kids. It was strange to contemplate that he was dead and in the ground. He would never harm me or any of us ever again, though Dizzy still woke up in the middle of the night in a panic reaching and calling out for me, reliving the scene, when he’d thought at first it had been me under that bloody sheet.

Though I was so thankful for the way everything worked out, anger still simmered in my heart. I’d never forgive my former best friend, even knowing she’d been one of the first ones to call law enforcement and that she’d called Dizzy, too. I’d overestimated Mel’s loyalty to me and underestimated the depth of her obsession with my man. I was pretty sure she’d probably been on her way up to see him that night though I couldn’t prove it. I didn’t want to go anywhere near her, and I wouldn’t forget her betrayal anytime soon.

Nor would I easily forget the fear that night. How crazed James had been as he snarled and yelled threats. And that last terrible moment of tension when my mom and James had fought over the gun. That had been his fatal mistake. He should never have pointed it at me with her standing so close nearby. He had underestimated the love we had for each other. Love was something he had never understood. I realized that now.

Remembering that malevolent look he’d given me even as his life ebbed away, I shuddered, wondering if the nightmare would ever truly be over. Could our lives ever really be normal once they had been touched by the kind of darkness that permeated James’ world?

Dizzy stroked my arm soothing me. I exhaled shakily. He was so in tune with me.

“I love you, Rhythm Man.” I had faith in us. Together we’d proven that we were strong enough to handle anything.

“I love you, too, Kitten, always.”

“Ow. I hit my knee against the toilet,” she complained.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” I stroked the smooth skin of her bare ass. “Remind me why I agreed to do it this way when I can have you in a comfortable bed with plenty of room to play?”