Reclaiming His Bride (DiCarlo Brides book 3) (The DiCarlo Brides) (29 page)

Relief poured into Blake, though skull fractures didn’t sound great. “And the baby?”

“He seems to be doing fine. We’ll get Lana settled into her room and then you can go in and visit her.” He tugged on his stethoscope. “I understand the other patient is your father?”

“Yes.”                

The doctor’s brows lifted slightly at the way Blake bit off the word, but he made no comment. “He’ll be fine. We got the bullet out of his thigh and my colleague is stitching him up. The deputy will be taking him to the jail in a few minutes. He’s asking for you.”

Blake couldn’t believe the nerve of his father, after he’d nearly killed Lana and their unborn son. “I don’t want to talk to him.”

Surprise registered on the doctor’s face.

Blake scowled. “He tried to kill my pregnant wife. Forgive me for not caring if he wants to talk to me now.”

The doctor nodded and his expression smoothed out to unreadability. “I’ll let him know.”

“Has someone called my mother?” Blake asked before the doctor left the room.

“The deputy said they’d take care of it.”

Blake nodded and thanked the man. He was twisted up inside, not sure what to think. He was glad his dad would live, but mostly because he wanted to take some down-home revenge of his own. How could his father have done this to them—to Lana?

“Hey, everyone’s fine. Take a deep breath,” Sage said. She squeezed his arm reassuringly.

“That boy who died isn’t fine,” Blake said. He’d understood just enough of his father’s rants before the ambulance had taken him—strapped and cuffed to the bed—to know that he was responsible for everything, at least on some level. Blake couldn’t understand why he hadn’t even considered his father as s suspect—how could he have been so blind? The man hated the DiCarlos, it should have been obvious.

“No, that poor boy isn’t fine. But that’s out of our hands now,” Joel said. “This isn’t your fault, so don’t even go there.”

“Do you read minds now? Is being married to Sage rubbing off on you?” Blake asked. He rubbed a hand down his face. “I don’t know how to deal with this.”

“Focus on another part of it. Obviously your dad had help,” Joel pointed out. “He couldn’t have done it all himself or we would have seen him around. Who else does he know who might be part of this? Someone on staff who works at the hotel, most likely.”

Blake nodded. A new focus. Maybe that would help. “I have no idea. I don’t know of anyone else who might know him.”

“Would his cell phone show calls to his partner?” Rosemary asked.

“And is there anyone from the staff who’s from Atlanta?” Jonquil asked.

“Um, Vanessa in housekeeping.” Delphi raised a finger to get everyone’s attention. “She’s from Atlanta.”

“She’s not Southern,” Blake dismissed the suggestion. “Surely you’ve heard her speak. She sounds like she’s from Jersey.”

“No, she’s not from Atlanta originally, but she lived there for a few years. Do you think she might have worked in your dad’s hotel?” Delphi suggested.

“One way to find out.” Joel pulled out his phone and called Harrison, asking him to check on her work history. He hung up. “He’ll call back in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I’m going to have a chat with the deputy.” He leaned over and kissed Sage goodbye, then headed out.

 The silence stretched for a full minute before Blake stood. “I’m going to see if Lana’s settled so we can visit her.” One thing at a time. If he tried to take it all in at once, his head might explode.

Once Lana was released from the hospital, Blake checked on her compulsively every hour—even though there were a hundred and five things that needed to be done at the hotel after the previous nights’ events, and she said she was perfectly fine. Vanessa’s cell number had been found on a burner phone in Royce’s rental car. It was enough for the detective to bring her in for questioning. The rest of the story came out before morning.

Blake let Joel handle all of the legal things, happy with updates as they came through so he could focus on Lana and damage control at the hotel. After doing a final walk-through of the facility to calm and reassure the staff and guests, he returned to his suite. He sat on the sofa, one leg stretched out across the cushions, and Lana lay against him while they pretended to read. He rested a hand on her stomach, wishing the baby were old enough for him to feel it move. Despite what the doctor said, he felt the need for reassurance at his son was still alive.

Lana was making noises about getting ready for bed when there was a knock at the door. She sighed. “It better be important for them to come at this time of night.”

Blake stiffened as he assisted her to stand and then walked over to check the door. He hoped it was Joel, and that he had something specific to share.

Joel entered with Sage at his side. His expression was unreadable, but Sage looked anxious. Her eyes moved between Lana and Blake.

“Sorry to interrupt at this time of night,” she said. “Do you have a few minutes?”

“Of course,” Lana said. She shifted the pillow and blanket she’d been using to the side and gestured to the now-empty space. “What’s going on? Do you have more news?”

“Yes,” Joel said as he moved to the sofa. He didn’t say anything else while everyone got settled. “I just heard form Detective Carlson. They’ve found evidence on several of the other incidents that we’ve reported this year including a remote control that we think they used to turn the lamp on and off in one of the rooms. Formal charges have been filed against Vanessa and Royce. Vanessa insists a third person was involved in the computer stuff, but she doesn’t know who.”

Lana stiffened at the mention of a third accomplice. “A third person? Someone here in the hotel?”

“They don’t know. The detective doesn’t think so. He’s going to keep digging and see what he can find. Maybe Mr. Bahlmann will confess when he sees the charges piling against him.”

Lana nodded. “Thanks for stopping in to tell us. It’s good to know that this problem is behind us.” Her voice was tight and her words clipped.

“Do you need anything,” Sage asked.

“I don’t think so. If I do, I’ll be sure to call. Thank you.” Lana stood and took Sage’s hand when she approached, giving it a squeeze. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“You can call anytime if you need to.” She looked at Lana, then glanced back at Blake. “Seriously, anytime, day or night. But you’re going to be fine. It’s over now, for sure.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Blake said.

Joel threw Blake a commiserating look as he said goodnight and escorted Sage out.

Blake tried to figure out what exactly had Lana on edge, even as he tried to swallow the guilt of knowing he should have figured it out somehow, despite the fact that the signs had been so subtle. But he hadn’t, and Lana had nearly died as a result.

Lana could only wait until she got Blake alone before she turned to ask him the question that had been burning through her. “Did you know all this time? Did you have any idea what he was doing? Help him?”

Blake looked at her with hurt and disbelief etching his face. “I can’t believe you would ask me that.”

“That’s not an answer. Yes or no. Did you know?” She felt stupid for asking, for even considering he would get involved in something that could ruin his career, but she couldn’t get Royce’s echoing words out of her head—even if Vanessa was involved in the case.

“Of course not. How could you think I would ever do anything so underhanded? That I would hurt you.” He leaned against the kitchen counter and stared at her. “How could you even think it?”

“Your dad. He said something, insinuated it was you helping him.” She shook her head slowly, as if she were getting bad reception and if she could only turn the right way, everything would come into focus. “I just can’t help but wonder. You’ve always wanted his approval.”

“Not like this. Never like this. I feel terrible that I didn’t even suspect him, that some kid died and you nearly did because it never occurred to me. I wouldn’t hurt you for anything, Lana.” Despair filled Blake’s face and he turned away from her, saying nothing for a long minute. The clock on the nightstand changed time and someone walked by the door, talking loudly about the Nuggets game. When he spoke again, his words were thick and full of emotion. “Go home to your sisters. If you can’t trust me even that much, then you don’t belong here.”

“Blake—”

“No. After what you just asked me, I can’t be reasonable. Just go and give me the night to figure out how I could be with someone who thinks so little of me.” His voice broke a little at the end of the sentence and he didn’t turn back to face her.

When she didn’t move, he looked at her over his shoulder, grief in his eyes. “Go. Go now.”

Lana stumbled back, wondering what she had done.  How could she have put that expression on his face? She picked up her coat on automatic, grabbed her purse and shuffled toward the door. “Blake, I—”

“No. Go to your sisters. Let them coddle you. I can’t talk to you right now.”

Lana stumbled out of the room, moving for the front door. She didn’t even care about the tears on her face, except she wondered if she should be driving when she was so upset.

When she reached the entryway, Joel came upon her. “Hey, are you okay? Whoa.” He turned her and looked in her face. “What happened?”

“Will you drive me home? I probably shouldn’t.” Calling that big house “home” again when it wasn’t where Blake lived made her chest shudder with pain. Her hands shook as she pulled the coat tighter around her. “Please. I can’t.”

“Of course.” He tucked her under his arm, leading her to his SUV. “What happened? Did you and Blake have a fight?”

“He kicked me out, but it was my fault. Why did I say that? How could I think...” She couldn’t think at all anymore so she was glad when he didn’t ask anything else, just loaded her into the passenger seat and headed for her house.

When they pulled up, she realized Cami wasn’t back from her honeymoon, but that was fine. Lana didn’t need anyone, not now that she was home. She just needed to be alone. “Thank you,” she said when Joel stopped in the driveway.

“I’ll make sure you get in okay.” He slid out and came around to help her inside. Rosemary was by her side almost before they were in the door.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Joel said. “She’s not very coherent. I think she and Blake had a fight.”

“Come on upstairs and tell me what a jerk he is. I’m a really good listener,” Rosemary said, taking over for Joel. “I’ll take care of her.”

“Good. I’ll send Sage over with something too.”

“Perfect.”

Lana let Rosemary take her upstairs and start a hot bubble bath.

“This is just what you need—hot water, good scents, a chance to relax and to get a hold of yourself. We can talk when you get out and you’ll be feeling better,” Rosemary said.

Lana nodded, but she hardly cared what she did. When the tub was full, she undressed and climbed in like Rosemary told her to, and when Sage brought in a big cup of tea, she drank it all down. Soft music played from the other room—the soundtrack to the Last of the Mohicans.

To her surprise, by the time the water cooled and she was forced to add more hot or get out, she did feel a little better.  At least she could look at their discussion more sensibly. She should never have said what she said. She was in shock, but the thought had been there, like a germ working its way into her system. And even though she was pretty sure she was way off base, she couldn’t handle facing it all right now.

“Better?” Rosemary asked, sticking her head into the room after Lana was dressed in flannel pajamas and snuggled into bed.

“Yeah. Just so you know, this is going to be the suckiest Christmas ever. Even worse than last year. And I didn’t think anything could top last year.” She easily remembered the weepy holiday she had spent alone in her apartment, unable to handle more than an hour with Cami and their dad. This year she knew she wouldn’t be allowed to be alone. Her sisters would see to it. She wasn’t sure if that would be better or worse, but knowing it was her fault that things with Blake had fallen apart would make everything feel worse.

“So what did he do?” Rosemary asked, settling on the edge of the bed. She picked up the giant stuffed dolphin and held it to her.