Diana Palmer - A Man of Means

He scowled. She wasn’t pretty, but her face had attractive features. Her nose was straight and elegant, she had high cheekbones. Her mouth was like a little bow, perfect. Her eyes, big and grey, fascinated him.

‘‘You should go,’’ he said.

She ignored him. ‘‘Can you…drive me by the pharmacy?’’

‘‘Sure.’’

She gave him directions and he waited while she had the prescription filled. He drove her back to her house and left her there reluctantly.

‘‘I’ll be at the hospital with Leo if you need anything,’’ he said as if it pained him to say it.

“I don’t need any help. Thanks,” she added stiffly.

His eyebrows arched. ‘‘You remind me of me,’’ he murmured, and a thin smile touched his lips—a kind one. ‘‘Proud as Lucifer.’’

‘‘I get by. I really am…sorry about your brother. Will he be all right?’’ she asked at her door.

He nodded. ‘‘They want to keep him for two or three days. He’ll want to thank you.’’

‘‘No need. I would have done it for anyone.’’

He sighed. She was going to look bad for a long time, with her face in that condition. She’d been beaten and he felt responsible, God knew why. He took a breath. ‘‘I’m sorry I had you arrested,’’ he said reluctantly.

She pursed her lips. ‘‘I’ll bet…that hurt.’’

‘‘What?’’

‘‘You don’t apologize much, do you?’’ she asked, as if she knew.

He scowled down at her, puzzled.

She turned away. ‘‘No sweat. I’ll live. So long.’’

She went in and closed the door. Rey, who’d done without companionship for a number of years, suddenly felt alone. He didn’t like the feeling, so he shoved it out of his mind and drove back to the hospital. He wouldn’t see her again, anyway.

Leo came back to himself with a vengeance late that afternoon. He had Rey lever the head of his bed up and he ate dinner with pure enjoyment.

‘‘It’s not bad,’’ Leo murmured between mouthfuls. ‘‘But I wish I had a biscuit.’’

‘‘Me, too,’’ Rey said on a sigh. ‘‘I guess we could buy a restaurant, as a last resort,’’ he added dejectedly. ‘‘One that serves breakfast.’’

‘‘Who was that woman who came in with me?’’ he asked Rey.

‘‘You remember her?’’ Rey was surprised.

‘‘She looked like an angel,’’ he mused, smiling. ‘‘Blond and big-eyed and all heart. She held my hand and sat down on the sidewalk in the cold and talked to me until the ambulance got there.’’

‘‘You were unconscious.’’

‘‘Not all the time. She even came in with me on the ambulance,’’ he said. ‘‘She kept telling me I was going to be all right. I remember her voice.’’ He smiled. ‘‘Her name was Meredith.’’

Rey’s heart jumped. He felt uneasy. Leo usually didn’t pay much attention to strange women. ‘‘Meredith Johns,’’ he agreed.

‘‘Is she married?’’ Leo asked at once.

Rey felt threatened; it irritated him. ‘‘I don’t know,’’ he said.

‘‘Do you think you could find somebody who knows how to get in touch with her?’’ his brother persisted. ‘‘ want to thank her for saving me.’’

Rey got up from the chair where he’d been sitting and walked to the darkened window, peering out through the blinds while he played for time. ‘‘She lives near the place where you were attacked,’’ he said finally, unable to lie.

‘‘What does she do for a living?’’

‘‘I don’t know,’’ Rey said, feeling uncomfortable. He couldn’t get her father’s accusing remarks out of his mind. She’d said she was dressed up for a party, she’d even found someone to give her an alibi, but Rey didn’t completely believe her. What if that whole defense was a lie? What if she was some sort of prostitute? He didn’t want his brother getting mixed up with a woman like that. He didn’t trust women, especially strange women. Then he remembered her poor, bruised face and he felt bad about his suspicions.

‘‘I’ll ask one of the nurses,’’ Leo said abruptly.

‘‘No need,’’ Rey told him. He turned back around with his hands in his pockets. ‘‘If you’re determined, I’ll go get her in the morning and bring her in to see you.’’

‘‘Why not tonight?’’

Rey let out an impatient breath. ‘‘Her father roughed her up because she got home late last night. I took her to the emergency room this morning before I came back here.’’

Leo’s eyes narrowed and went cold. ‘‘Her father beat her? And you took her back home to him?’’ he said angrily.

‘‘He wasn’t there. They took him off to jail,’’ he said. His face hardened even more. ‘‘She’ll have a hell of a bruise. They said she couldn’t go back to work for a few weeks.’’ He moved one shoulder restlessly. ‘‘Considering the way they live, I don’t know how she’ll manage,’’ he added reluctantly. ‘‘They don’t seem to have much. Apparently the old man doesn’t work and she’s the only one bringing home any money.’’ He didn’t volunteer his opinion of how she made it.

Leo leaned back against the pillows. His big frame was without its usual vibrance. His dark eyes were dull, and his lean face was drawn. His blond-streaked brown hair was unkempt, and looked odd in the back where they’d had to shave it to put stitches in. It was a reminder of how tricky head wounds were. Leo was very lucky not to have brain damage. Rey thought about the assailants and his eyes blazed.

‘‘I’m going to phone Simon tonight,’’ he told Leo. ‘‘I’m sure the local police will do all they can to catch the guys who waylaid you, but they’ll work even harder if they get a call from the state attorney general.’’

‘‘There you go again, pulling strings,’’ Leo mused.

‘‘It’s for a good cause.’’

‘‘Did you find my wallet and my cell phone?’’ Leo asked.

‘‘The woman had them. They’re in my pocket.’’

‘‘Good. I didn’t think she had anything to do with mugging me. Don’t forget your promise to bring Meredith here in the morning,’’ he said.

Now it was ‘‘Meredith.’’ Rey didn’t like the whole idea of having Leo around the woman, but he didn’t have a legitimate reason for keeping her from Leo’s side. It would sound even more suspicious if Rey started throwing out sarcastic remarks about her. Leo did love to pull his chain.

‘‘Okay,’’ he said reluctantly.

‘‘Good man,’’ Leo replied with a wan grin. ‘‘Nothing like family to look after you.’’

‘‘Next time, watch your back instead of daydreaming about forage grasses,’’ Rey said firmly. Then he leaned forward in the chair. ‘‘So, tell me what sort of grasses the Cattleman’s Association is advocating.’’

Rey got a hotel room near the hospital, so that he could have a bath and get some rest. The night staff had the phone number, so they could call him immediately if he was needed.

He phoned Simon before he went to bed.

‘‘Leo’s been mugged?’’ Simon exclaimed. ‘‘And you didn’t call me last night?’’

That tone was still intimidating, even though Rey was thirty-one. Simon was the eldest of the five brothers, and the bossiest, next to Cag.

‘‘I was too upset to phone anybody,’’ Rey returned, ‘‘and too busy trying to handle…another problem that cropped up. He’s all right. Honest. I didn’t find out until the early hours of the morning, and it’s been a long day. He was already out of danger before it occurred to me that I needed to let you know.’’

‘‘All right,’’ Simon said, sounding as if he was more relaxed. ‘‘Do they have a suspect?’’

‘‘No. I thought we did, but it turned out to be a dead end,’’ he added, without going into details about Meredith Johns. ‘‘There were two of them, and they haven’t been caught. It’s a miracle he wasn’t killed, and that they were stopped in time before they robbed him. You might give the local police chief a call. Just to let him know we’re all interested in solving the case.’’