The Patient Is a Shark [Shape-Shifter Clinic 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

What have I done? Why should I trust them? All con men look plausible and I just believed these people without a moment’s investigation! God, I’m a fool.

An hour later, Wynter received an e-mail from Sierra Bond of Bailey and Bond Attorneys at Law, assuring her that Thorne House Clinic did belong to Dr. Oscar Thorne who was running it perfectly legally and ethically, and anyone who said otherwise was not telling the truth. Then Mr. McHaig rang her back.

“You’ve really opened a can of worms here, Wynter, because how did the person who e-mailed you know you were interested in the clinic? My Alpha is looking into that. He’s not impressed that there may be someone disloyal to the pack who can access our private e-mails, or may even have bugged our phone calls. The place is in lockdown mode right now as everything is being checked and double-checked for our privacy. But that’s not your problem. Since you alerted us to the situation, we’re in your debt for telling us right away. What I can do is assure you the clinic is kosher and they’ll do their best to heal your injury.”

“Thank you, Mr. McHaig. They’ve already been so kind and helpful I didn’t want to believe they were a cult or something.”

“They’re good people. They’ll look after you, little missy.”

“Thanks.”

Wynter wanted to be happy. Here was a man who hadn’t seen her since she was little, but who still cared about her. The people from the clinic had been endlessly kind to her, and hopefully she could convince the men coming to help her to travel cheaply. Then finally her knee would stop aching. Which reminded her. It was getting dark. Time for her to go to the beach and swim.

But at the back of her mind was a little voice saying that nothing was proven. Why should she believe men she didn’t know saying one thing instead of someone else saying the opposite. She had no real evidence either way. All she could do was hope the werewolf clan had told the truth.

* * * *

Quinn was surprised to be met at the airport by a tall and lean blond man in a smart suit and shiny shoes, holding a cardboard sign with their names on it. He marched them across to a less busy area of the terminal and said, “Our mutual friends sent me along to tell you to remain alert and wary at all times. It appears your clinic has an enemy and he’s trying to cause trouble. Our Alpha has spoken to Oscar Thorne, and Wynter Hall has been told, but it’s you two who need to be on the lookout for trouble anywhere on the road.”

The man handed them each a business card. “Keep this card on you at all times. It has a GPS tracker signal attached to it so we can get help to you if you need it. Put this number in your cell phone and call it if you ever need help. No matter what the problem is, whether it’s big or small, our organization will be able to handle it or refer you to someone who can.”

“Thank you,” said Quinn.

The man folded up his sign, put it inside his coat pocket, and disappeared into the crowd. Quinn blinked, but he’d completely vanished. “I feel like I’m in a James Bond movie,” he said to Rainer.

Rainer was tapping the contact phone number into his cell phone. “Yes, but it may come in useful. It’s a hell of a long drive home.”

“Good point.” Quinn added the number into his address book, too.

The rolled their luggage out to the taxi stand and joined the line. Because California was three hours behind Ohio, fortunately this early in the morning the place wasn’t so very busy. But Quinn’s stomach was already rumbling, reminding him it’d been a long time since he’d eaten breakfast.

“We’ll check what food she’s planning to bring with her, and likely pick up some groceries. Things we can use for snacks as we drive to save us from having to stop too often,” said Quinn.

“Yes, but if her knee is too sore she’ll need to get out of the car every few hours and walk around to stop it stiffening up. That’ll add hours to our trip.”

“She’s the patient. She’ll have to be our priority. But if she sleeps in the backseat that’ll help,” said Quinn.

“You don’t think anyone will try to run us off the road or anything, do you?” asked Rainer softly.

Quinn looked around them, but everyone seemed to be concentrating on their own business. “That sounds like something out of a bad movie. We’ll both need to stay alert and vigilant at all times. It seems almost as though Oscar’s cousin George is escalating his fight against the clinic. Unless it’s all a misunderstanding, of course. But between us we’ll protect her.”

“Hell yes.”

But somehow Quinn didn’t think the werewolf pack would have sent a man to meet them at the airport unless they thought there was at least some chance the threat was genuine. He would be on guard. That was definite.

Their taxi took them away from the airport and straight to the coast, finally dropping them at a large apartment complex several streets back from the shoreline. Wynter was on the first floor, which meant she didn’t have any view, but Quinn guessed it was easier for her to leave for a late night or early morning swim if she wasn’t on a higher level. It was also going to make moving her out of her apartment much easier for them, too, if they didn’t have to negotiate stairs carrying her furniture.

When she opened the door Quinn had trouble catching his breath. She was beautiful. Stunning. Her hair was blonde, her eyes light blue and her skin pale, but that didn’t describe the attractive aura which surrounded her. He was drawn to her as irresistibly as a horseshoe to a magnet.

Her door opened into her living room. Quinn could tell she’d been sitting on the couch. An end table was drawn up to it with her laptop, her cell phone, and a pile of papers on it, and a pillow was jammed against the armrest to support her back as she sat sideways along the couch.

“My name’s Rainer King. I’m a personal care attendant, and from now until we reach the clinic I’m your personal care attendant. How is your knee feeling and please don’t say ‘fine’?”

She gazed at them both, her pale eyes suddenly sparkled, and she said, “Fine.”

“I’m Quinn Johnson. I’m your driver, navigator, and general helper for the next little while. I’d appreciate it if you were honest with us. Maybe I can rearrange things to make life more comfortable for you.”

He watched her walk back to the couch. She was obviously trying very hard not to limp, but her body was stiff with the effort, and he guessed she’d be gritting her teeth against the pain. She certainly needed this operation, there was no doubt about that, and he hadn’t even seen her legs, which were hidden inside jeans.

She settled herself back on the couch, and said, “Very well, it hurts like hell the whole time. I’ve been wearing shorts mostly which helps, but I wanted to practice putting on jeans for when we travel so no one can see my knee. It’s swollen and red and looks totally repulsive.”

“Dr. Thorne sent some medications for you which should ease the pain a little.” Rainer tugged his suitcase closer to him, dropped to his knees, and unzipped it, pulling a bag from it and sorting through it until he found a jar of tablets. “Here they are. Two every four hours. No more than twelve in twenty-four hours.”

Quinn looked at Rainer. “Why don’t you get her a glass of water or something so she can have a few now? Do they need to be taken with food or after food or anything?” asked Quinn.

“No restrictions like that. I’ll get some water.”

I hope they make her feel better. It’s so obvious she’s hurting and isn’t sleeping much either.

“I need to know how big a U-Haul trailer to hire. Don’t get up and walk around, but can you just tell me if all the furniture in the apartment belongs to you? Are we taking it all with us? And do I have your permission to open the closets so I can see how many boxes I need to hire to pack everything in?” he asked.

She leaned her head back against the couch and closed her eyes briefly, and once again he understood just how much pain she was trying to hide. “Actually it’s much simpler than that. Most of my childhood I lived in an RV so I’ve never been the type of person to accumulate many things. The only pieces of furniture which are my own are my bed, and the bedding of course, the television, and that bookshelf. In the kitchen the plates, cutlery, pots, and so on are all mine, as is the microwave oven and the coffee percolator.”

“So the table and chairs, the couch, they all belong with the apartment?” asked Rainer, handing her the water and two tablets.

“Yes.” She gulped the water and pills down, grimacing.

Quinn pulled a tiny notepad and pencil out of his jeans pocket and left the room. The apartment was small, just two rooms, and it didn’t take him long to understand that she really didn’t have many possessions at all. So few, in fact, she could have fit everything but the bed, the TV, and the bookcase in her car, unless it was a very small car.

“Before you hire the trailer, I need to tell you something.”

“Sure.”

Rainer had pulled two chairs up to face the couch and was sitting on one. Quinn dropped into the other one. She was biting her bottom lip, and he guessed whatever she was going to say embarrassed her. He couldn’t imagine what it might be, unless she was going to refuse to come with them. Was that the trouble? Had the e-mail saying the clinic was a cult made her decide not to go through with the operation?

He could see from her point of view she was placing a lot of faith in people she didn’t know. She was in pain, unable to move around much, and would be at their mercy, helpless to protect herself from the two of them on the journey. She was placing a huge amount of trust in them. Taking an enormous step.

Unless she shape-shifted into her shark, of course. If she did that she’d scare the shit out of him and likely be able to bite him in half as well. But could she do that on land? Or perhaps she could only transform when she was under water.

Finally she sat up straighter and spoke firmly. “I haven’t been able to work since I hurt my knee and I’ve had a lot of expenses I didn’t anticipate. I’m happy for you both to do whatever suits you best, but I’d like please to sleep in the car at night, and to make my own meals as we travel. I even thought that perhaps when you pack the trailer you could leave the bed accessible and made up and you could sleep there. I’m very grateful for your help and I don’t want to spoil your fun, it’s just that until I sell my car I won’t even be able to pay for the operation. Also, I need to swim every day so I’ve made a list of rivers we cross, but I’m afraid we won’t be able to travel the most direct route because…”

“Aw, sweetie, you’re tying yourself in knots over nothing. Ambrielle, Dr. Thorne’s office manager, has arranged accommodation and evening meals for us all with the werewolves. We’re only making two stops,
Albuquerque and St. Louis, but we can stay a couple days at each place if the traveling’s too much for you, and they both have swimming pools you can transform and swim in,” said Rainer.

Quinn watched her pale face brighten and a smile break though. “You’ve been fretting over that, haven’t you?” he asked.
Hmm, “had a lot of expenses I didn’t anticipate.” I just bet she’s been worrying herself ill about how to pay for everything, poor little thing. We’ll protect her from all that stress as well as from the pain.

“Right now money’s a little tight, but as soon as I sell my car, I’ll be fine. Also, I need you to take my television down to the pawn store in town to sell it for some gas money. Do you think it’ll be enough? You could take the microwave oven as well. I don’t think the coffee percolator would be worth much.”

And right there and then Quinn decided that even if he had to work as a Dom at the BDSM club every Saturday night for the rest of his life, he’d make sure she could afford her operation without selling her car or going without anything she needed. She had so little in the way of worldly possessions, but she was strong and facing the situation head on. He could think of no better task than to make sure she succeeded.

That’s providing we can get home safely with her. That those wolves are wrong and no one is going to cause us any trouble on the journey.

The pain in her fin was excruciating. The sports fisherman was reeling her in, hauling her high up into the air, up from the sea, up into the boat. Her whole body was hanging from the hook, her bodyweight pulling on her fin…

Wynter woke gradually, aware first that she wasn’t alone, then that someone was patting her back, whispering soothing words into her ear. Slowly she realized her pillow was wet with her tears and that the pain in her knee was all too real.

A man held out a glass of water beside her face in one hand and two pills in the other. “Here, Wynter, there’s no need to suffer so much pain. Take two more tablets, sweetie. Come on. Sit up a little and swallow them down. The pain will be much more manageable in fifteen minutes, if you take the tablets.”

She let the other man, Quinn, support her body and obediently swallowed the tablets and water Rainer held out to her. Quinn brushed her hair back off her face, and she realized she would be looking ghastly, all sweaty, pale, and damp with pain and tears.

“I’m sorry I woke you both up,” she whispered. How embarrassing. Not only were they having to sleep on her living room floor, but also she’d woken them up with her crying. They must think her such a pathetic creature.

“If I was a half-decent personal care attendant I’d have woken you and given you more pain relief before you got this bad. I’m the one who’s sorry,” said Rainer.