Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet (26 page)

Ed swore, understanding
what she wasn’t saying. “Call him, tell him I’m on my way. And find
her next-of-kin.”

What in the four hells had
happened?

Marianna stood by the
hospital bed, staring at the damage done to her friend. Cody’s
beautiful face was covered in bruises and scrapes. Someone had
beaten her and hard. Why? What had Cody ever done to anyone? She
was a good-natured, kind person. It didn’t make sense.

Mari had been worried about
Cody since that morning; she’d known something was wrong. Cody
never missed a shift, and was never even late. After she hadn’t
answered her cell when Marianna had repeatedly called her, Mari had
had Payton start calling hospitals. She’d
known
something was wrong.

When Ed had rushed into the
lab, ordering Mari to get her coat, Mari hadn’t given a second
thought.

Now she held her friend’s
hand as carefully as she could. Cody’s other hand was in a cast,
two of the bones in her hand had required surgery to
fix.

Ed stood just outside
Cody’s room speaking with the physicians in charge of Cody’s care,
and the two St. Louis police detectives who were assigned to the
case. The doctors had Cody in a coma, to allow her body time to
rest. Hopefully the detectives would have some answers. They were
holding out hope, but Mari had seen it on the physicians’ faces—the
injuries were extensive. People had died from far less
trauma.

Mari squeezed Cody’s hand
and whispered near her friend’s ear. “Just hang on, Cody. You have
a lot of people worried about you. And we’ll find out who did this.
I promise. I’ll put Ally and Kelly on this. And I’ll work on it
myself. We’ll find them.”

A warm hand landed on
Mari’s shoulder. She managed not to squeak. She knew who it was,
and his presence was actually a comfort to her. He cared for his
people, she’d seen that in the drive to the hospital. And over the
last six weeks since he’d slept on her couch to protect Ally’s
children.

Ed was different than most
men she knew, much like Fin and Lorcan.

Lorcan.

He and Cody were still
close, despite being divorced. Someone would have to call him. Let
him know what had happened.

She straightened, and moved
slightly closer to him. “What did they say? Who found her? What
happened? Do they have any idea who did this to her?”

His other hand rose to her
opposite shoulder and he rubbed lightly. He pulled her closer and
Marianna didn’t even think to protest. She needed the connection.
That it was with
him
didn’t really seem to matter.

Or maybe it mattered
because it
was
him. Because she
knew
she could get that connection from him in a moment
of weakness?

When was the last time
she’d felt that way with someone, especially a man? She couldn’t
remember; a lifetime ago perhaps?

“
Sit down; I’ll tell you
what Bowman told me. In the meantime, I’m assigning Paige Daviess
and Alessandra Brockman to watch over Agent Cody. And I’m calling
Dan, let him know to keep his eyes open, stay close to his
daughter.”

Marianna’s breath caught
and she looked up into dark brown eyes. “You think this has
something to do with what happened to Kelly, don’t you?”

“
There isn’t any
indication, but yes. Yes, I do.” He guided Mari toward the chairs
by the window, and the warmth of his hand on her both comforted and
disconcerted. Maybe it was the artificial light and enforced
intimacy of the hospital room that drew her to him just then.
“Bowman said she got out of her car willingly, Marianna. And left
her weapon in the car. That says she didn’t feel
threatened.”

Mari understood what he was
implying. “Or she knew her attacker. Knew him well enough to not
feel the least bit afraid of him. But who?”

“
I don’t know. But I will
find him. I won’t stop until I do. I’m pulling every available
agent to meet me first thing in the morning. And I’m assigning
guards to every member of your team from Indianapolis.”

“
You
think that’s necessary?” She remembered Kelly after being shot.
Knew she’d never forget the sight of the younger woman in the
hospital bed. Knew that Cody’s bruised and battered face would be
forever etched into her mind. For as much as the agents that worked
for him were Ed’s, Mari’s team were
hers.
Especially those who’d
relocated with her. She felt the same sort of responsibility as
this man did.

“
Yes.
I
know
it is. Only
question is, who do you want assigned to you and your
boys?”

Ed waited for her response
for several seconds. “Marianna? Someone
will
be staying with you. Either one
of the agents…or
me.
”

He didn’t like backing her
into a corner, but when push came to shove, he’d do whatever it
took to keep his people safe when they were in harm’s way. And
every instinct was telling him that was exactly where she was. He
wouldn’t risk her
or
her boys.

She rubbed her lip, a
nervous tick he’d noticed she had early on in their acquaintance.
“I’m not sure…”

“
It’s not up for debate. I
stay tonight.” That was the option he hoped she’d pick. He wanted
to be with her. Needed to.

She’d put him off for
nearly six weeks, though he’d certainly made it clear that if she
ever wanted to, he’d be more than interested in seeing something
happen between them outside of the PAVAD building. He’d never
pressured her—and he never would. But every instinct he had told
him that
she
was
an integral part in all of this. And he’d do what he had to do to
protect her. Even railroad her, if needed.

“
You think it’s
necessary?”

Ed nodded toward the bed.
“I think
she
would
believe so. Wouldn’t you?”

“
I don’t want strangers in
my house. My boys—”

“
I
understand. We can tell them we’re working on a case together. It
would be the truth, wouldn’t it? I don’t want to worry the boys any
more than you do. But if
you
are a target, I want you protected. At
any
cost.”

Her shoulders felt so
fragile beneath his hands. Ed fought the urge to tighten his hold,
to bring her closer. To give her some measure of comfort. He’d seen
her fear and worry for her friend in her blue eyes. He knew that
worry. Had felt it himself when Dan was the one in the hospital
bed, shot while protecting a member of his team. This woman was a
lot like him in so many ways, and different in all the ways that
mattered. All the ways that made her so infinitely intriguing.
“Marianna? What will it be? Should I call Agent Len and see who’s
available or should I just make plans to drive you home this
evening?”

She closed her eyes for a
moment, and Ed felt his breath stall. Then bright blue eyes opened
and stared into his. “I think it would be easiest for the boys
if
you
were the
one. They like you, especially Ted and Bobby. And maybe we can go
over what the locals find out about Cody. See what we can find
ourselves.”

“
That sounds like a plan.
Are you going to stay with her? Or should we get back to PAVAD?” He
needed to return to the lab, get the investigation started. But he
wasn’t going anywhere without this woman. Period.

“
I called Payton Asher.
It’s her day off. They are best friends, and I know Payton would
want to be here. She should be on her way.”

As if she’d been listening
at the door, the woman Ed recognized as being from Questionable
Documents knocked lightly on the room door. She was young, only in
her early to middle twenties, blonde haired and blue eyed. She had
the sweet kind of kid sister manner that Ed knew made the rest of
her team protective. Ed nodded at her, and she entered.

Marianna pulled away and
hugged Payton.

“
I would have been here
sooner, but I had two flat tires. I must have run over some nails
somewhere.” The young blonde woman had obviously been crying. Ed
listened as Marianna filled the girl in on Cody’s condition and
what they knew had happened. He filed the information about
Payton’s tires away, as something started to niggle at his mind.
He’d have someone look at the tires a bit more closely as soon as
he got back to the lab.

Ed told the forensic
scientist that he’d be assigning agents to watch her, and to sit
with Agent Cody at the hospital. She didn’t protest.

He led Marianna to the SUV,
barely aware of his ever present security detail. They were on loan
from the Secret Service, and were part of three teams assigned to
his detail. They were a part of his life and would be until he
retired. Most days he found their presence mildly irritating. Today
he was reassured that he had extra eyes on Marianna.

It wouldn’t hurt to have
them outside her house tonight, either.

“
We’ll return to the lab. I
am pulling Hellbrook’s team.”

“
You think it’s all
related, don’t you?”

“
Don’t you?” He looked at
her, seeing the worry and fear on her face. The strain. “Dr.
Reynolds shot. Dr. Brewster burgled. Agent Cody assaulted. Payton’s
tires possibly sabotaged. It all adds up, I think. All connected.
And that connection includes you, and possibly the rest of the
people who relocated with you.”

“
So someone could be after
me.”

“
Possibly. But I won’t let
them hurt you.”

“
They are after the people
on my team, too.”

“
It looks
that way. I’m assigning security to everyone who came down with you
from Indy. And I’m half tempted to assign an agent to
every
person in the lab,
just to be on the safe side.”

“
Can we afford that? Won’t
that eat up man-hours?”

“
Yes. But that’s something
I can worry about later. Or Len can. What’s more important is
stopping the one responsible before he hurts anyone
else.”

Marianna wasn’t happy about
it, but she understood why the man driving insisted he accompany
her home. She didn’t want some strange agents her boys didn’t know
around her kids. Even a female agent. Her kids weren’t that
comfortable with those kinds of changes in their routines. God
knows
she
wasn’t
comfortable with those kinds of changes either. But she’d never
take a chance with her children’s safety.

And at least they
knew
Ed to some extent.
He’d been around before, and they’d seemed to accept his excuse the
last time. Should she tell the older boys more? Nate?

“
What should I tell my
kids?”

She hadn’t meant the words
to come out, but they had. His hands tightened on the wheel for a
moment. Marianna tried not to think of the fact that in a matter of
hours he’d be sleeping in her house once again. Tried not to think
of the reason behind it.

“
That we’re working on an
important case. I’ll sleep on the couch, just like the last time.
It will be fine.”

“
I hope so. I’m worried
about Nate and the older twins. They’ll suspect something. Should I
tell them about Cody?”

“
Depends. How well do they
know her?”

“
She’s babysat quite a few
times. And Ted will hear things around the office
building.”

“
I think you should tell
them that she was hurt. Maybe not the who or the extent, but I
would tell them. I’d tell Georgia if the situation warranted it,
when she was a teen.”

“
It’s just…Nate has seen
too much violence.”

“
Because of what happened
to you?”

Marianna stared at him. He
knew, then. “I—”

“
I read the file weeks ago.
You have nothing to be ashamed of. And Nate seems like a good kid.
I think you can tell him this.”

She pushed the memories
away. “Even about the threat? A part of me thinks I should. He can
watch the others, keep his eyes open.”

“
Yes. But that’s also a big
responsibility to put on a boy his age.”

“
True. Maybe I should tell
the three oldest; let them know to be careful. They have activities
outside of school, activities that I can’t always go to. If someone
wanted to hurt me, all they’d have to do would be go after one of
my boys. I can’t get that thought out of my head. What am I
supposed to do?”

“
Tell
them. I’ve been there. Someone
did
attack my daughter to get back at me. Twice. I’ll
never forget that. And I’ll
never
be careless when children are involved again. I’ll
assign someone to watch the school. It’s something I’ve done
before. I’ve had threats against me before. Brynlock is great about
keeping the kids safe.”