Deathtoll (Broslin Creek Book 8) Read online

  After she finished with him, she covered him up. “Feel free to stay here for a few minutes to relax if you’d like.”

  His voice held emotion as he said, “Thank you.”

  “Absolutely, Scott, any time.”

  When she walked out into her office, closing the door behind her, she found Murph scrolling on his phone.

  “Thank you,” she said, because he had come to help.

  He pushed to his feet with the controlled grace of a warrior, nodded at her without a word, and then he left. No told you so. No gloating that she needed him. Nothing. He just did what needed to be done. Always.

  He was a man a woman could count on, no matter what, in matters small and great, which was one of the reasons she’d fallen in love with him in the first place.

  Kate blew out a pent-up breath. She wasn’t going to stand in the middle of her office, wishing he would come back, dammit. She was there to work.

  She wrote up Scott’s treatment report, pleased with his progress.

  He came out, fully dressed, and stopped in front of her. “I really appreciate the help.”

  “It’s why I’m here.”

  “You don’t understand.” He swallowed and looked at his feet. “Back at home, my wife and I have to sleep in different rooms. Before my kids give me a hug, they have to ask me if it’s okay. They had to be taught not to jump on me from behind, not to shout when they play. What you’re doing… What this place is doing…” He shook his head.

  “You’re doing so well, Scott.” Kate’s own throat was closing up a little. “By the time you go home, I promise, you’ll be a different man.”

  “I just want to be myself again.”

  “Others have done it. I can tell you, with one-hundred-percent certainty, that it’s possible.”

  A quiet joy filled her. This was why she got up in the morning every day. This was what made her happy. When she saw someone take that first step toward getting better, it was like fireworks going off in her heart.

  While Scott shifted on his feet, looking for words, a dark blond head popped in the door, followed by the rest of a tall Irishman.

  “Hey, Kate.” Harper Finnegan glanced at her patient, then back at her. “Got a minute?”

  Scott headed for the door, stopped on the threshold, then looked back. “Thank you again.”

  Once he was gone, Harper stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

  Kate sat up straight. “What is it? I don’t like the expression on your face. What’s wrong? Is this about Ian McCall?”

  “It’s your neighbor, Mr. Mauro,” Harper said in a tone thick with regret.

  A sudden chill went through Kate. She came out of her seat. “Is he all right? Did he fall on his walk?”

  “You might want to sit back down.”

  Bad news. In a place deep inside, she knew she did not want to hear what Harper was about to say. Her heart lurched into a mad rush. She gripped the edge of her desk. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  “Hit-and-run. I’m not going to lie, Kate, he might not make it. He’s in rough shape.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Kate

  “The captain said to come and tell you in person,” Harper said. “I can drive you to the hospital, but they’re not allowing any visitors at this stage. Do you want to go home?”

  “Yes. I need to check on his house.” Because she wasn’t that great with emotions, her mind tended to turn to practicalities. Hadn’t she just done this for Betty? “But I can drive myself,” she added. “I’m all right.”

  “Is Emma home?”

  “She’s at work. New job. First day…”

  Betty dead. Mr. Mauro possibly mortally injured. The two thoughts connected in her brain. She stared at Harper, cold dread crawling up her spine. “You think we could be in danger?”

  “Both of your neighbors had serious accidents within a week of each other. Bing says it makes him twitchy.” Harper shifted on his feet. “He’s worried about you. The Ian McCall incident.”

  She blinked, then shook her head. “Ian wouldn’t run Mr. Mauro over. It wouldn’t make any sense. How would he even know where I live? And why hurt a random neighbor? This isn’t Ian.”

  “But you don’t really know him, right? Isn’t he new to Hope Hill?”

  “I don’t know him, but I know a hundred other guys like him. This isn’t…” She couldn’t finish. Tears sprang into her eyes as all the emotion hit at last, all at once. Oh God. Mr. Mauro…

  “He hasn’t tried to contact you since he ran off?”

  Kate rubbed her hands over her face. “I might have spotted him this morning on the road behind me. I can’t say for sure if it was Ian. And I really don’t think he has murder in him.”

  “He’s a vet. He’s seen combat.”

  “Of course. He has. He has issues. A lot of people have issues. But vets are not ticking time bombs.” She couldn’t help the heat in that last sentence.

  She was normally a good judge of character. She wasn’t naïve, not too quick to trust. She’d come out of the foster care system, then she’d spent her early career working with abused children. She’d seen the worst humanity had to offer. Ian struck her as troubled, a man in pain, desperate, but desperate for help. He’d come to Hope Hill to ask for aid, not to harm anyone.

  “I’ve neither said nor done anything to him to set him off like this. Even if I made him mad, this kind of reaction would be insanely disproportionate. Ian McCall is not killing my neighbors. Anyway, Betty died before Ian ever showed up.”

  “Can you think of anybody else like Ian? Other people who weren’t satisfied with the help you gave them here? Somebody else you turned away?”

  “We don’t usually turn away people.” But she thought about it for a few seconds. “There might have been one or two. I’d have to go through the records.”

  “You sure you don’t want me to drive you home?”

  Her appointment book caught her eye. “You know, I can’t actually go home.” No matter how much she wanted to. “I canceled a bunch of appointments when Betty died. I’m still playing catch-up. I need to stay and see patients. I can’t reschedule them again.”

  “All right. I’m going to stick around for a while. Don’t worry about Tony’s house. I bet the captain already had someone out there. I’ll check with him, just to make sure.”

  Harper stepped out, his phone already in hand, before Kate could protest.

  She called her sister. “Mr. Mauro was in a hit-and-run.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Harper says it’s pretty bad. I’m going to drive over to the hospital after work.”

  “I can go with you.”

  “They’re not allowing visitors. I’m just going to talk to his doctor.”

  “Okay. If you’re sure.” Emma paused for a couple of seconds. “Broslin is the sleepiest of all sleepy small towns in existence. Which is why you came here to hide in the first place. What is happening? Are you okay?”

  When Kate took a while to formulate a response, Emma added, “I’m an adult. You don’t have to shield me like when we were kids.”

  “I’m a little rattled,” Kate admitted. “Harper is going to stick around here for the rest of the day. Listen, the police don’t think it was an accident. They think it might have to do with Ian McCall or another dissatisfied patient. I really don’t think so. But with Betty and Mr. Mauro having accidents one after the other, the police think there’s a connection…”

  “Oh my God. Do you think Betty’s fall wasn’t an accident? Like, someone killed her?”

  “I really hope not. It’s just the police…”

  “Wild. I mean, sad,” Emma rushed to add. “Seriously crazy.”

  “Maybe you should go to the hospital with me after work. I don’t want you to go home and be alone in the house. I want you to be safe.”

  “I’ll stay here and offer to help Alice clean up. I’ll get brownie points. Nobody knows I’m working here. It’s my first day.�
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  All good logic, but the reassurance didn’t make Kate feel any better. “Please be careful.” She described Ian in detail. “Be aware of your surroundings, all right?”

  “I will. You too. Call me if anything else happens.”

  Kate promised she would, but then she had to hang up. Her next appointment, Finn Morris, was there.

  While the former sailor stripped for his massage in the treatment room, Harper popped back in.

  “Murph here?”

  “No. You told him?

  “Of course, I told him.”

  Kate bit back a groan.

  Harper grinned. “Yeah, I know. Even I think he’s getting a tad overprotective. Then again, I can sympathize.” He shrugged as he came in all the way. “If we were talking about the love of my life in danger, she’d be handcuffed to me right now.”

  The last word was barely out when footsteps sounded outside.

  Kate sighed. “Talk about the devil.”

  “I heard that.” Murph rolled in like stormy weather, intense and promising all kinds of turbulence. He nodded toward the closed door of the treatment room. “Who’s in there?”

  “Finn,” she said, just as Finn called, “I’m ready, Kate.”

  And Kate breathed a sigh of relief, because that meant she wouldn’t have to deal with Murph for an hour.

  As it turned out, she didn’t have to deal with him after the session either. He was gone by the time she finished with the massage.

  “I convinced him that I can sufficiently protect you,” Harper told her, chest out, all proud of himself.

  She was proud of him too. “I owe you. Big.”

  “Don’t think I won’t collect. Allie’s birthday is coming up. I thought about chaps, but she already has a couple for her Calamity Jane role. Maybe spurs? But she really loves her antique Old West ones. You could do some recon and find out what she’d like. Other than me. I mean, I’m the best, but she should have other nice things.”

  Kate didn’t hold back a heartfelt groan. “Ever get back pain from carrying around that massive ego of yours? You can come in for a chair massage if you need it.” She shook her head. “And, thanks for the protection detail, but please go away. I can take care of myself.”

  He made puppy-dog eyes at her. “I can feel Murph’s pain.”

  After Harper left, Kate focused on her patients for the rest of the day.

  When she walked out at five, mentally exhausted, Harper was waiting for her in the lobby.

  She stopped in front of him. “I thought we agreed that I could take care of myself.”

  “I left earlier. I swear. Murph told me to come back at five and give you an escort home.”

  “Sounds like Murph and I are going to have to have another talk about boundaries.” She was so not looking forward to that. “All right,” she said. “Thank you.” No sense in giving Harper any grief. He was just trying to help. “But I want to go over to the hospital first.”

  “Just got off the phone with the captain, who just got off the phone with the doctor. Broken hip and concussion. Unless you’re family, the doctor won’t even tell you that much. Still no visitors. Might as well wait until tomorrow.”

  He was probably right. “Okay.”

  Once inside her car, Kate texted Emma to let her know she was going straight home. Then off she went.

  Harper stayed behind her. When he caught her looking at him in her rearview mirror, he waved.

  A police escort. Because Captain Bing didn’t think Kate was safe.

  Now that she wasn’t working, her mind was free to run away with all kinds of dark thoughts. Betty and Mr. Mauro. And there was Emma… Her little sister. The most important person to her in the world. The thought of Emma in danger was unacceptable.

  Kate pulled up to the curb in front of her house and made a decision.

  As she got out of the car, Harper walked over, holding a hand out for her keys. “Let me walk through your house first.”

  Kate didn’t protest. She was busy figuring out how to tell Emma what she needed to tell her. She waited in the foyer until Harper called, “All clear” from the back.

  “Thanks.” Kate put her bag down and hung up her coat.

  Emma burst through the door. “Any news on Mr. Mauro?”

  Harper responded, walking up to them. “He’s resting comfortably.”

  “Harper Finnegan,” Kate introduced him. “Harper, this is my sister, Emma.”

  Emma turned to her and mouthed, Hot.

  Kate mouthed back, Taken.

  “Nice to meet you.” Harper, none the wiser, walked up and shook Emma’s hand. “You two lock up tight.” He looked at Kate. “Murph says you’ve got a gun?”

  “And I’m not afraid to use it.”

  “If you decide you want me to hang out with you guys, just call me, and I’ll pop right over. Allie is out of town for work. They asked her back to Suntown Elementary over in Maryland to do Annie Oakley this time. I was just going to listen to a new spy thriller after work. I can do that sitting in my car in front of your house. I have nothing else planned for the rest of the day. All right?”

  If she were on her own, Kate would have said no. But Emma was there. “Okay. Thank you, Harper.”

  “Who’s Allie?” Emma watched Harper through the window as he strode back to his car, her gaze hesitating on his rangy build.

  “The love of Harper’s life.”

  “Bummer.”

  “Don’t even think about it. She’s got a fancy Old West rifle, and she’s not afraid to use it.”

  “Why is it that all the good ones are always taken?”

  “They’re not all taken. Patience.”

  “Easy for you to say. You have Murph.”

  Did she? Not a topic Kate wanted to discuss right then. She wanted to talk to her sister about the decision she’d made.

  She took Emma’s hand and drew her into the living room, onto the couch, until they sat side by side, facing each other. “You know how much I love you. I love you more than I love anyone in the world.”

  “You need a kidney,” Emma deadpanned.

  “You know how much I love having you here.”

  “But you want me to move out so Murph can move in and you two can have hot countertop sex?”

  That caught Kate off guard enough to make her laugh. She hated to ruin the mood. She forged ahead anyway. “No countertop sex. But would you please consider going home?”

  Emma shoved to her feet and stepped back, betrayal glinting in her eyes, a hard, hard look. “No.”

  “I want you to be safe.”

  “Well, I want you to be safe! I’m not leaving you alone.”

  “I won’t be alone. Bing assigned me a detail. That’s why Harper is here. They’ll all be keeping an eye on me.”

  “You don’t have to protect me. Could you catch up to that now, please?” Emma’s tone thickened with hurt. “I’m not a child.”

  “I know. But if you stay, if it is a disgruntled patient, and if he does want to hurt me by hurting people near me…”

  “Why would a patient be this obsessed with you?”

  “Could be transference.” She’d thought about that on her way home too. “Take someone like Ian. In his mind, I might stand in as a surrogate for someone else in the past he’d gone to help for, someone who then ended up hurting him. It’s extremely unlikely. But extremely unlikely things happen every day.”

  Kate would ask Maria what she thought the next time she saw the psychologist, but she’d spent enough time around therapists, discussing patients in staff meetings, to have picked up this and that.

  “As soon as the police figure out what’s going on,” Kate told Emma, “you can come back.”

  “I just got a job.”

  “Alice will understand.”

  “I can’t believe you’re kicking me out.”

  “To keep you safe.”

  “Like you faked your death to keep me safe. Like you stayed away for years, letting me grieve. A
ll to keep me safe.” Emma was seething, stepping farther back, putting more distance between them.

  “We’ve already talked about that. I explained why.”

  “Isn’t it great for you to be deciding what’s best for everyone all the time?”

  “I don’t want you to get hurt,” Kate snapped, losing her own patience. “What’s so hard to understand about that?”

  “Why are you in charge of my safety?” Emma shouted.

  “Because you’re my little sister!” Kate shouted back, getting good and angry. “I can take care of myself better than you can. I spent three years taking self-defense classes from Murph in Ohio.”

  Emma rolled her eyes. “So if you won’t let me stay and help because I’m younger and not a ninja, then you’ll let Murph help you, right? He’s older, and I bet he still has better hand-to-hand combat skills than you do, despite all your extensive training.”

  Kate gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to say anything she would regret later, but dammit… “Emma, I love you. But I want you to go home to Mom and Dad until this, whatever this is, blows over.”

  “You’re seriously uninviting me?”

  “Yes. And I’m also going to uninvite Mom and Dad.”

  If her family was mad at her, Kate could live with that. But she didn’t know what she’d do if harm came to them.

  God, she hated to have to fight with Emma over this. “Listen. I—”

  The doorbell interrupted. Maybe just as well.

  Kate strode over to the window to look out. She wasn’t going to open the door without checking first who was out there, not in the foreseeable future.

  She swore under her breath.

  “Because my day wasn’t complete,” she said as she stepped to the door and opened it.

  “What’s that?” Murph tapped his ear with a goofy grin that only made him more ridiculously handsome. “Did you say You complete me?”

  “So not funny.”

  He dropped the grin. “I wanted to make sure you two were all right. I know you want distance, but how about we do the distance thing when you’re safe?”

  “She’s protector goddess of all!” Emma shouted from the living room. “Nobody can protect her. Sorry!”