Virginia Vaughan - Risky Return

She glanced up and saw him and tears sprang to her eyes. His own rush of emotion nearly toppled him and an anger flashed through him that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Then the guilt washed over him. He should have stayed, offered to sleep on the couch, and if she’d refused his offer, he should have slept in his car outside. He would have been there to protect her, to see when some nutjob broke in and tried to harm her.

Kent approached him and Collin shook his hand. “Thanks for calling me.”

“I figured you would want to know. She’s okay, not seriously hurt. She put up a good fight, even got us some possible DNA by scratching his face.”

“Do you know who did this?”

“No, he wore a mask and was gone when the first car responded. We’re canvassing the neighborhood to see if anyone saw anything suspicious and Forensics is back inside processing the house. We’ll find something.”

He spotted them closing the ambulance doors and after a moment the vehicle drove away with her inside. Collin walked into the house and followed Kent into the bedroom, where a team was already working. There was clear evidence of a struggle—the lamp broken on the floor and blood on the carpet, blankets in disarray. She’d fought for her life in this room. Three attacks in less than twelve hours. He shuddered at the thought.

He’d seen evil before, more times than he could count, but this was personal. This was his Rebecca who had been attacked. He turned and walked from the scene, his stomach roiling with anger and guilt.

Kent followed him. “You okay, Collin?”

He wasn’t, but he would be once he tracked down whoever was after her. “I’m going to the hospital to make certain Rebecca is okay.”

He couldn’t even allow himself to think about what could have happened here tonight. He’d failed her years ago when she’d needed him most. He’d promised to provide for her and for the baby, but he hadn’t been able to. He’d struggled as a young man fresh out of high school to find work that would support a wife and a child. He still recalled the feeling of helplessness knowing that he couldn’t even keep the lights on regularly. And when she’d lost the baby, he’d lost her. She’d closed up and he was certain she knew the mistake she’d made in marrying him.

He could never recover from those failures of his youth, but he couldn’t just walk away knowing she was in danger. She was in trouble and he now had the skills to keep her safe.

He turned back to Kent. “Can you place a deputy at the hospital for her safety?”

“We’re short-staffed,” Kent told him. “I’ll never get the sheriff to authorize around-the-clock protection, especially when he knows her father has the money to hire someone.”

Her father. Collin hadn’t considered that. He was surprised Bob Mason hadn’t already hired someone to protect her if he knew she was in danger. But as he looked at Rebecca’s house, he had to wonder what he knew. It was a modest home, a surprise to him. She’d grown up in opulence, living in one of the biggest homes in town. Her parents had always had money and she’d been denied very little in her life. He was one of only a few things they’d tried to deny her. He’d expected her to at least live in a fashionable condo or a higher-class neighborhood. Even the car he’d seen her getting into, a simple Toyota Camry, seemed modest. It was a far cry from the BMW convertible she’d gotten for her sixteenth birthday. Was it possible she was estranged from her dad? Had he cut her off? Because of him and the six months they’d spent together after running off to get married? No, from what he gathered from Rebecca today, if she and her father were no longer close, it was because she was the one who’d done it.

All he knew was that it couldn’t be a coincidence he was in town at the same time Rebecca was in trouble. Collin hadn’t always put much faith in God, but He had to be the reason for this reconnection with Rebecca. Collin couldn’t leave town until he knew she was safe.

He followed the ambulance to the ER and sat in the waiting room while the doctors examined her. A nurse approached him. “Sir, are you here with Rebecca Mason?”

He stood. “I am. How is she?”

“She has a mild concussion and some bruising but she’s fortunate there were no greater injuries. You can go back to see her for a few minutes.”

He followed the nurse to a room, then pushed open the door. Rebecca was sitting up in a hospital bed, but her skin was pale and dark circles had formed around her eyes. It pained him to see how small and frail she looked and his first instinct was to pull her into his arms and hold on to her. He shoved away that thought and slid a chair to her bedside.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her, unable to stop the impulse to reach for her hand.

She didn’t pull it away. In fact, she clasped his, her long fingers cool to the touch. “I’m okay. Just shaken up.”

“That’s twice today someone has tried to hurt you, Rebecca. Three, if you count the threatening message. I’m sorry. I should have stayed with you.”

“This is not your fault, Collin. You had no idea this would happen.”

“I should have suspected something.”

“You can’t blame yourself for everything, Collin. Not everything in life is your fault.”

He looked up at her and they both seemed to realize how easily they’d slipped into matters of the past. She knew him so well, but this time, he was certainly at fault for not protecting her.

Suddenly, he felt awkward being there with her. She needed rest and time to recover from the attacks. “I’ll go now and let you get some sleep.” He stood but she didn’t release his hand. He glanced back at her.

Tears filled her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here,” she told him.

He was confused. Should he leave or stay? His heart urged him to remain by her side, but he wasn’t sure that was for the best. She was injured and concussed, wasn’t thinking properly, and he didn’t want to take advantage of that. And she’d been clear earlier at the house that she didn’t want him around.

Thankfully he didn’t have to choose. The door to her room opened and a nurse walked in. “That’s long enough. The patient needs her rest.”

Their moment was broken and their time together over. “I should go. I hope you feel better soon, Rebecca,” he said as he headed for the door.

He shouldn’t have remained so long and he never should have gone back there to see how she was. He should have gotten into his car and gone about his business once the ambulance had taken her away. Only, she was his business—at least she had been—and even though he knew they could never be together again, he didn’t want to live in a world without Rebecca Mason in it.

* * *

Rebecca pushed back the blanket and got up, intending to get her clothes and get out of here. She wasn’t safe and she had to let Missy know what was happening, but she had to be smart. She couldn’t lead these people to Missy or they would both be in danger.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the nurse asked.

“I’m leaving. I’ll sign whatever papers I need to sign, but I have to go.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

She was about to yank out the IV when the nurse clamped her hand down on Rebecca’s arm, her fingers digging into her skin. Rebecca looked up and saw nothing but contempt in the woman’s face. “I said you’re not going anywhere,” the nurse insisted again. This time, her words had a bite to them—more bite than Rebecca would have expected from a nurse trying to stop a patient from leaving against medical orders. The woman stood like a brick wall between her and the door, and the determination in her face was evident. “Get back in that bed.”