Chapter 15
Clary stayed at Talon’s side. When the police arrived only minutes after they’d lost their third gunman, the officers sent men out looking for the blue Audi. The detective stayed, getting their statements.
Talon refused to go to the hospital until everything was cleaned up. And then he let Laszlo drive him. Clary refused to stay home and wait and was shocked when he refused to have general anesthesia. The doctors wanted him to go in for surgery to get the bullet removed, but he was pretty stone-faced when he said, “It’s not that deep. Just pull it out.” The doctor tried to talk him out of it, but Talon said, “No general anesthetics—just get it done and then I’m out of here.”
Finally the doctor gave in and said, “It’s your funeral.”
But they hadn’t had the primer on pain that Talon apparently had.
Clary had protested his decision too, then gave up as she saw how adamant he was about it. She stood outside after they gave him a local and prepared to take out the bullet.
She listened to the doctor as he completed the job. “Aha, there it is. Now just a few moments to stitch this up, and you’ll be as good as new.” Soon afterward, the doctor said, “Let’s get this bandaged. Keep it dry, and get to your doctor in twenty-four hours to get it checked over.”
“Thanks.”
She stepped into the room in stunned amazement to see him stand and walk toward her—in obvious pain but, just as obviously, he was determined not to show it.
In a low voice, she asked, “Are you okay?”
He gave a grim nod. “But we’ll be sharing the painkillers for a while.”
“We’ll get your prescription filled.”
“No need. If we need more, we can get them tomorrow. I’d like to go home and get to bed. They did give me a pain shot, so that will hold me for a few hours.”
He was walking at a steady clip, but she had no idea for how long. The fresh air helped them both feel a little better. At the parking lot, Laszlo helped him get into the car; then Laszlo drove them back home. The day was wearing on her. She couldn’t think of anything she’d like more than to go to bed and sleep.
“You should have let them check you in for the night.”
“The only time I will be staying overnight in a hospital again is when I’m in the morgue.”
She shot him a look. “Were the hospital visits that bad?”
He didn’t answer.
She figured that was his answer already. “I wish I’d stayed beside you when they pulled out the bullet.”
“No, it’s better that you weren’t.”
“Why? Why do you have to be so tough all the time?”
“It would have been harder on me if you were there.”
She glanced at him as they pulled into the driveway. “How does that make any sense?”
“Every time I see your bruised face, I just get angrier that I wasn’t able to stop this asshole.”
“We’ll get the guy behind all this,” she said gently.
They had been at the hospital about six hours this trip. Knowing Talon had refused to go in for surgery had almost broken her. But when the doctors had agreed to just pull the bullet out, she’d had to walk out of there. And, of course, he’d wanted her gone too. She didn’t understand that but wondered if he didn’t want her to see him at his weakest point.
However, he got treated; they were both home now; the police were still inside the house, taking measurements and photographs.
Laszlo said, “I suggest both of you take knockout pills and go lie down. But maybe food first?” He had a spatula in hand and aimed it at the kitchen.
The two of them, holding on to each other, battle weary after a war hard-fought, sat down as Laszlo delivered first hot coffee, then not long afterward hefty steak sandwiches to both of them.
Talon looked at Laszlo. “What about you?”
Laszlo pointed to the pan. “Mine is coming.”
“Did the police have anything to add?” Clary asked, her voice barely holding up. The food did look good, though she was so exhausted that she couldn’t imagine eating even half of it. She cut into her steak sandwich and took a bite. She chewed, enjoying having a meal prepared for her.
Laszlo answered her question. “The man you knew as MacArthur was a con man. The other man was his buddy. At this point we figure the Porsche driver was the one who hired them.”
“So once again we’re a step behind.”
“Yes, and no,” Laszlo said. “We almost caught him this time. He’s got to be getting nervous because we’re right on his ass.”
“But now he’ll go underground,” Talon said, “and we won’t find him again until he chooses to resurface.”
“Did you remember whatever it was that was bothering you about him?”
“I can barely even think. The shot is taking effect,” Talon said. “I’m hoping to remember it once I stop worrying about it.”
“Good enough.”
The two finished eating in silence as Laszlo joined them. Talon looked at him and said, “Are you hurt?”
Laszlo shook his head. “I’m fine. You guys go to bed. I’ll stand watch.”
“But you stood watch all last night.”
“I got a couple hours off and on.”
Clary turned to look at Laszlo, hating the fear surging back into her gut. “Do you think he’ll come back tonight?”
“No. This guy is a coward. You realize he keeps hiring other people to do his dirty work, then takes them out before his hired guns can talk. He’s taken off. He’ll lie low and figure out his next plan. So will we. I want both of you to go up to bed and just sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”
It wasn’t very late, but they were both so exhausted that neither argued. Holding on to each other, they made their way upstairs to the master bedroom.
While Clary walked to the bed and stripped down, crawling in nude, Talon headed to the balcony, where he’d lost sight of the asshole who’d been waiting for him. As he stood, he realized the tree was close enough for anybody adept enough to climb up the tree to the balcony. He shook his head. “So goddamn close.”
He turned and closed the door, locking it, then walked to the bed and sat down.
“I never even thought about how it’s your good arm that got shot,” Clary whispered as she slowly stood and went around the bed to help him undress. “I doubt that was accidental …”
“Yeah, that’ll be a bit of a bitch for a while.”
Slowly he stripped down and crawled into bed, collapsing. She walked to the other side and got in beside him. Curled up together, both exhausted, they crashed.
Talon woke to the sound of birds singing outside on the balcony. He sat up, slipped out of bed, wincing at the movement, used the bathroom, took a look at his wound, and shrugged. “I’ve seen worse,” he said to the mirror.
He made his way over to the glass balcony doors and took another look outside. Even though he could see the tree and understood how the intruder had snuck in, it still pissed him off. He hadn’t expected a third man.
Hell, they hadn’t really expected the second one. He turned, walked back to the bed, and sat down beside the still-sleeping Clary. And that’s when it hit him. He got back up again, walked over to the glass doors, and stopped. In his mind he replayed the fight and saw something he hadn’t expected to ever see again. A tattoo. A large one on the man’s neck. Somehow, in the fight, the bandanna he’d tied below his eyes had fallen off.
He’d been clean-shaven, and Talon had never really had a chance to see his face clearly, but he remembered seeing a large peripheral mark on the man’s neck down the shoulder. He’d kept it mostly hidden by a collared shirt and a T-shirt underneath.
And this man had worn a winter wool cap that had come low and snug over his head. But Talon had seen the mark before. He was sure he’d seen it.
Leaving Clary to sleep, he pulled on a pair of sweatpants he used for running and a loose muscle shirt. He made his way downstairs. Laszlo sat at the kitchen table.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you this early,” he said in surprise. “How are you feeling?”
“Like someone tried to turn me into hamburger.”
Laszlo nodded sympathetically. He got up and poured Talon a cup of coffee.
“I remembered what it was that was bothering me. I just figured it out this morning,” Talon said quietly. “Only I don’t understand what I saw.”
“Tell me.”
“He had a mark I recognized. Or think I did.”
“Who?”
Talon turned to look at him directly. He spread his fingers apart to show the size of the tattoo and then pointed to the location of the mark down low on his neck. “The third guy. I couldn’t see it clearly and had no time to confirm it, but it was right here.”
Laszlo stared at him, looked at the place he’d pointed out, and then glanced back at his face. And then it hit him. His gaze widened, and his jaw dropped. “Mouse had a mark like that.”
Talon nodded slowly. “Exactly.”
“You’re not thinking it’s Mouse back from the dead, are you?”
Talon shook his head. “No. But I’m wondering if somebody didn’t get a matching tattoo to make us think that. Or because he was honoring Mouse.”
“What it does do,” Laszlo said in a hard voice, “is cement the idea that this nightmare really surrounds Mouse.”
“Clary was right,” Talon said quietly. “I just wish to God we were a little further into this investigation.”
“Are you staying here?”
He looked around the room. “No, not necessarily. She wants to move to Santa Fe with me.”
Laszlo nodded as if just confirming what he already thought. “How quickly?”
“She handed in her notice at work yesterday. And given what happened in the parking lot, they’re basically letting her use sick leave as her time remaining, and then they’ll pay out her vacation time. I have to admit her boss was decent.”
Laszlo smiled. “Nice to know some good guys are out there.”
“Lots of good guys are in my house right now,” Clary said cheerfully as she slowly walked into the kitchen, wearing a long robe. She poured herself a cup before joining the men at the table. “Although I feel like shit, I do feel better than I did yesterday.”
“You should still be in bed,” Talon snapped at her.
“Only if you are,” she said, lifting her coffee cup to take a sip. “You don’t look much better than I feel.”
He shrugged and then winced.
“So, are you guys planning out the next step?” she asked in a conversational tone.
“It’s time to go home,” Laszlo said. “I have a meeting with the rest of the guys, and we’ll figure out what our next step is.”
“Good. Am I welcome to join you?”
Laszlo studied her for a long moment. “Are you moving in with Talon?”
“I am. And we can’t leave soon enough.” She fished her phone out of her pocket and looked down at it. “In fact, my Realtor friend will be here in ninety minutes.”
“It’s awfully fast,” Talon warned. “I told you not to make a decision—”
“It’s not fast. And I told you that already,” she interrupted him. “What I have to decide is what is here that I want to keep, if anything, and what to do with the rest of it.”
“It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind,” Laszlo said.
Talon watched her, seeing no sense of indecision on her face.
She smiled and said, “Absolutely and grateful for it.” She reached across and covered Talon’s fingers with her own. “We’ve wasted enough time.”
“I can’t argue with that,” Talon said. “I just want to make sure you’re certain.”
She leaned over, kissed him gently on the temple, and said, “I’m sure. Santa Fe, here we come.”
“Forever?” he asked, a slight edge to his tone.
She sat down in the chair next to him and looked at him. “Forever,” she said firmly. “No way in hell am I letting you go raring off after this guy if I’m not there with you.”
He raised an eyebrow and studied her.
And she beamed. “You can look all you want. You can be distrustful for as long as you need to be. But, at some point, you’ll realize how much I love you and how I always have. I’ve changed, finally grown up. I know what I want, and what I want is you.”
He leaned over and kissed her. A kiss of promise. A kiss of forever. But most of all, a kiss of love and respect.