Amy Atwell - Lying Eyes

Iris swallowed, glad she didn’t need to draw him a picture.

Allie blew out a breath. “What a night. Foote didn’t have any luck catching those two thugs?” She threw Cory a look as the two of them sat on the opposite sofa.

“What thugs?” Hunter asked.

“Jock and Pebbles were chasing Cosmo,” Iris answered. “Foote said they all got away.”

“Hey, it’s not like we didn’t try,” Cory said. “Cosmo went one way, those guys went another, so Foote and I split up. By the time I admitted I’d lost Cosmo, I went back to find Foote and discovered the poker room was trashed.”

“What happened?” Allie asked.

“Near as I can judge, that big moose guy tried to run through a poker game. He knocked over the table, and chips went flying everywhere. That became a brawl, and the two guys got away while Foote and security were stuck dealing with the aftermath.”

“That explains the other call I got about the Bellagio,” Hunter said on a sigh. He looked sideways at Iris. “Good news for you, though. Jock and Pebbles are now all over the Bellagio security tapes. They won’t set foot in there again for months.”

Somehow, that was small consolation.

“Once we catch Turner, you’ll be safe.”

Safe? Who cared whether or not she was safe? Mickey might have died, and her father was still missing. Right now, she’d risk anything to protect either of them from harm.

She looked across at her two sisters. They’d risked themselves to help her tonight. Hell, Allie had leaped into battle with Turner as if she were Lara Croft.

Iris had masterminded tonight’s plan, but it hadn’t gone well. No matter how much she loved Mickey, tonight had proven her right-she wasn’t cut out for this kind of life.

Iris paused in her fiftieth circuit of the surgical waiting room to look at her sisters. Cory and Allie were seated-well, slumped, really-on a striped loveseat. They’d both refused to leave, but they were exhausted.

So was she, but sleep eluded her. Until she knew-

Hunter came up behind her. “He’s in Recovery.”

She closed her eyes, giving thanks silently. Her shoulders dropped their tension, and she became conscious of how tired she really was.

“We should get them to go home.” Hunter tilted his head toward the two napping women.

“Think you can convince them now?”

“Sure. What about you?”

“I’m not leaving until I can see him.”

He granted her a tired nod. “I’ll see what I can do. It’ll be another hour before he’s alert enough to talk.”

“I can wait.” She looked out the windows at the horizon-purple mountains gilded with the rising sun’s brilliance.

Hunter woke first Allie then Cory. Iris hadn’t pegged him to take such care, nor did the shining smile Allie granted him escape her. Her little sister was gone over that guy, though what she saw in him Iris couldn’t guess.

The women came to hug her goodbye. They spoke in soft voices interjected with yawns. With a final wave, Cory and Allie walked down the hall toward the exit.

Hunter rubbed his eyes. “I’m going to get some coffee from the cafeteria. You want anything?”

Iris shook her head. After he left, she resumed her seat. Shifting uncomfortably, she reached into her back pocket and found Mickey’s phone. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to call when he was in real danger, but his parents deserved to know what was going on.

Self-consciously, she opened the phone and pressed buttons in search of the address book. Finding that, she scrolled down to a listing for Mom/Dad. With a deep breath, she hit the Send button.

“Hello?” Deirdre Kincaid sounded bright and chipper on this Tuesday morning.

“Mrs. Kincaid? This is Iris Fortune. Mickey’s…friend.”

“Well, now isn’t this a surprise.” Her delight was evident.

Iris closed her eyes, hating to ruin her morning. “I’m afraid Mickey’s in the hospital-he was shot last night.”

Deirdre made a choked sound, one Iris recognized as a barely concealed sob. “No, dear Lord.”

“He’s going to be all right,” Iris said in a rush.

Deirdre fell silent for a few moments. “Can I speak with him?”

“He just came out of surgery, but the doctors expect a full recovery.”

“Praise be,” Deirdre said between sniffles. “Was he on duty? I didn’t think the training there would be dangerous.”

Unsure what training the other woman referred to, Iris said, “He was out on a case last night.”

“Should we come out there?”

She didn’t know how to answer that. “Why don’t you wait and talk to him. I think he’ll be able to call you by tonight.”

“Good idea. He might not want family around. Always was a bad patient, even as a child.” Another sniff. “He’s convinced he’s indestructible, you know.”

Iris closed her lips against another sob. Regaining control, she said, “I can imagine.”

“Is he at Northwestern’s hospital? I should at least send some flowers or something.”

“Northwestern?” Iris wasn’t familiar with that hospital.

“Oh, I’m sure there’s any number of good hospitals in Chicago.”

Chicago? “Er, yes. Look, I hate to cut this short, but I’m sure the authorities will contact you soon with more complete information.”

“Oh, then you’re not with the department.”

“No. I just wanted you to know he’s…safe.” A tiny sob escaped before she could catch it.

Deirdre picked up on it. “My dear, I appreciate you calling and being there with him. You were frightened for him, weren’t you?”

“Yes, but I know he’ll be okay.”

“He will. If it helps at all, the fear never goes away, but it gets easier to handle with time.”

“Thanks,” Iris said. But time wouldn’t make things any easier for her. It wouldn’t change the fact that Mickey had lied to his mother-the woman had no idea what city he was in, much less that he was chasing a killer.

She’d asked him who he was, but God help her, she’d known from the first day she met him. He was a liar-just like her father. There was no future in that.

Cory yawned heavily into her hand as she and Allie strolled out the hospital’s sliding doors toward the parking lot. Poor Allie looked just as tired. They were both starting to stumble like zombies. She squinted at the early morning daylight and tried to remember where she’d parked.

“Iris had a rough night,” Allie said.

“Yeah.” Cory looked over at her. “You still angry with her about yesterday?”

“Are you kidding? She jumped on that guy and attacked him when he pulled me off balance. What more could you ask from a big sister but that she defend you?”

Cory still couldn’t handle how damn positive Allie was about everything. “Only you would find a silver lining in last night’s chaos.”

Allie grinned. “Oh, come on-tell me you won’t smile every time you remember Daddy running by us in that casino.”

A chuckle escaped her. “I didn’t know he could run so fast.” She stopped and scanned the parking lot. “Where did I leave the car?” The lot was nearly empty at this hour, and her Jeep shouldn’t be this hard to spot.

“Is that it?” Allie pointed to a car mostly hidden by a purple PT Cruiser.

“Yeah, there it is. Wow, someone likes driving a giant grape.” They climbed in and, as Cory cranked the engine, the Cruiser’s engine rumbled to life. Startled, Cory realized there was a big guy at the wheel of the other car.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just jumpy from lack of sleep.” Cory shifted into reverse, looked into the rearview mirror and choked out a scream when she saw a man’s face behind them. His gold tooth twinkled at her, and she recognized him as one of Papa’s pursuers.