Kate Collins - Sleeping with Anemone

By six o’clock that evening, I was at home, dead bolt and chain in place, just finishing the last bite of a turkey sandwich, when two handsome Salvare men showed up at my door, one a younger, slightly thinner version of the other.

“Hey, Hot Stuff,” Rafe said, sauntering into my apartment, “your bodyguards are here.” He winked at me. “Looking good, as always.”

“Thank you, Rafe,” I said, rolling my eyes at Marco. Rafe was a shameless flirt.

“Hey,” Marco called to him from the doorway. “Remember what I told you.”

“No prob, bro.” Rafe continued into the living room and turned on the TV, putting himself out of sight and earshot.

“Did the cops find any prints?” Marco asked me.

“Nothing useful. Just smudges, probably most of them mine, Lottie’s, and Grace’s. How the thief was able to scoop up a dozen brooches without us hearing anything still alarms me.”

“Have you told your mom yet?”

“I did, and of course Mom took it as a sign that she should make more. She wants us to lock her next batch in the glass case where we keep the crystal figurines. She said she’s going to call the pawnshops in the area to let them know to watch for her brooches.”

“At least she wasn’t upset.” Marco drew me against him. “I’ve got to get going.”

“I wish you didn’t have to work these late evening hours, Marco.”

“Sometimes it can’t be helped. I don’t plan to do it forever.”

“Can we kiss on that?”

With a little grin playing at one corner of his mouth, Marco tilted his head, his lips meeting mine in a kiss that got hotter by the second.

“Sure you can’t stay?” I murmured dreamily, as he nibbled his way along my jaw.

He pressed his lips in the hollow behind my ear, a spot he’d discovered made me go weak in the knees. “I wish.” Then he tilted my chin so he could gaze into my eyes.

“Are you going to lecture me now?” I asked, still in my stuporous state.

“Yes, so pay attention.”

“You can be bossy at times.”

“Don’t let Rafe talk you into leaving the apartment. I told him he’s your bodyguard tonight, and your safety is in his hands until I get back. Got it?”

“Word for word.” I leaned into him for another kiss and Marco happily complied. Then he tilted my chin up again.

“Don’t wait up for me. It’ll be late by the time I pick Rafe up and drop him off at home again.”

“Okay.” Or maybe I would wait up and surprise him.

We shared one more long kiss; then he had to go. “Remember what I told you,” he called as he started down the hallway.

“And you remember that a closed bathroom door means you have to knock before entering.”

He gave me a thumbs-up. Then I shut the door, slid the chain into place, and headed for the living room. Time to put my plan into action.

Rafe was sprawled on the sofa, watching TV. I blocked his view. “Do you really want to watch a basketball game all evening or would you rather take a field trip with me?”

Rafe swung his legs to the floor. “A leaving-the-apartment type of field trip?”

“I need to pay a visit to Nikki at the hospital.”

“She’s sick?”

“No, on duty. Nikki works there. I need some information from her.”

“Whoa. Back up, Freckles. Marco gave me strict instructions to stay here with you. He’ll kill me if I let you leave.”

I sat down beside him. “That’s not what I heard Marco say. He told me you were going to be my bodyguard this evening.”

Rafe looked confused. “So?”

“So he didn’t say you were going to be my babysitter.

There’s an important difference. Sitters watch their charges in a home. Bodyguards protect their charges everywhere. Do you see what I mean?”

“Well, yeah, except he said not to leave here.”

Rafe was such a babe in the woods. “Marco’s exact words to me were ‘Don’t let him talk you into leaving the apartment,’ which you’re not. Again, an important difference.”

A light went on in Rafe’s head. He hopped off the sofa with a devilish grin. “I’m ready when you are.”

In the parking lot, I discovered that Marco had taken his Prius, leaving me my bright yellow Vette-not exactly camouflage material. Not enough to deter me from my mission, either. Thinking it would be better if I wasn’t seen behind the wheel, however, I made the mistake of letting Rafe drive, then held on to my seat with a white-knuckled grip as we sped away from every stop sign and light between apartment and hospital. In between hanging on for dear life and ordering him to drop his speed, I explained the purpose of our trip.

“Damn! I don’t blame you for wanting to be sure Harding’s on his last breath,” Rafe said.

“So how about slowing down even more so we’re not about to draw our last breath?”

We parked on the top floor of the hospital garage-less chance of being seen-then took the stairs to the main level and crossed the street to the hospital. I steered Rafe toward the X-ray department in the basement and asked the volunteer at the sign-in desk for Nikki.

A few minutes later, Nikki and another tech came out of a doorway in the back, both women dressed in green uniforms. “Abby, is everything all right?” Nikki asked.

“We’re fine,” I said as Rafe gazed appreciatively at the attractive girl at Nikki’s side. “I just had a question for you.”

Rafe held out his hand to Nikki’s coworker, turning the full force of his charm on her. “Hi, I’m Rafe Salvare. And you are…?”

The young woman blushed as she took his hand. “Erin Sells.”

“An X-ray technician, I see,” Rafe said.

Nikki took me aside to whisper, “Is he your sitter tonight?”

I held my index finger to my lips to hush her. “I have to ask a really big favor, Nik. Tom Harding is a patient on the second floor, and I need to know why he’s been admitted.”

“Harding’s here?” she whispered, her eyes huge. “I haven’t seen any cops on that floor.”

“He isn’t being guarded. He was released because of his health. It’s a long story that I’ll tell you later. Right now, I really need to know how bad off he is. Can you help me out?”

“I’d like to, Ab, but I can’t get into the filing cabinet up there without permission. I could be sanctioned for doing that.”

“Can’t you just glance at the chart at the foot of Harding’s bed?”

“That contains only his immediate information, like current meds and dosages, temperature and blood pressure readings. Everything else, including his medical history, is kept in a file at the nurses’ station.”

“There’s no way you can sneak a little peek for me?” Nikki wrinkled her forehead, looking worried. “I don’t know, Ab…”

“If you don’t feel safe, then forget it,” I said.

“Well,” she said, “maybe if the nurses weren’t around, I could take a fast look.”

We managed to drag Rafe away from Erin, then took the elevator to the second floor and waited while Nikki checked out the nurses on duty. She came back moments later to report that there were two presently at the station.

“Now we need a diversion,” I said.

“I could take off my clothes and streak past them,” Rafe offered.

“And wind up in the psych ward,” Nikki said.

“Or jail,” I said. “How about if I stage an accident on the landing between floors? Rafe, you can run to the nurses to get help for me, and while they’re away, Nikki, you can take a look at Harding’s chart.”