Rising Storm (18 page)

"Don't worry, she does that to everyone," Kenna told her.

"Yeah, I got hit with a broom for kissing on her patio," Will smiled.

"Eugene? I didn't know that was his name. No wonder he goes by Noodle."

"Shut up Pierce," Marshall groaned.

His younger brother just smiled and rocked back on his heels. He winked at Dr. Francis and made her blush a deeper red. His brother was always the smart-ass and always an instigator, but he was usually more tuned into people's emotions and should’ve known he was embarrassing the poor doctor.

Before Marshall could tell Pierce to apologize, he gave the doctor another wink and she laughed. Well, maybe his brother was growing up after all. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Mr. Wyatt in a state. Oh crap. Beauford was known for being cutthroat in business and now he was staring at him with narrowed eyes.

"I told you to woo her, not get her shot!"

"Papa!" Katelyn gasped.

"Sir, you're right. It's all my fault. I should’ve heard him creeping up and loading his weapon." Without realizing it, Marshall had moved to stand at attention in front of Beauford.

"Beauford, you apologize to this nice young man right now. Can't you see he's already punishing himself? His face is pale and he has practically broken his hand by squeezing his fist so hard."

Marshall watched as Beauford gave him a lookover and then with a nod he turned to his granddaughter. He had been forgiven.

"Now darlin', how are you feeling?" He asked her.

"I'm okay Papa. I’m just very sore and very tired. I think the pain medication they gave me is putting me to sleep."

"Let's get you home and I'll give you one of my guns to take out with you to keep safe."

"No thanks. You know I don't like guns."

"Then you should take Alice with you for protection whenever you go out."

"I have Ruffles. I'll start taking her."

"Sugar, that dog is nothing but fluff and bows. She’s a spoiled poodle princess and doesn’t know the first thing about protection. Take both of the girls with you. They are practically inseparable now anyway."

"I will, Papa. I just don't understand why they shot at Noodle and me. Why were we targeted?"

"She's right," Dinky said. "Maybe we need to put the dog-fighting investigation on hold and find out who's taking potshots at innocent people. A shooter at large is far more dangerous."

Will took a step forward, his tall frame overshadowing Dinky's smaller one. "This just seems pretty coincidental to me."

"I was thinking the same thing, honey," Kenna said as her brows creased in thought. "It's like they're trying to throw you off track."

"So, what we have is an unfinished fight and a distraction," Cole said as he took off his black cowboy hat and ran his fingers through his black hair. His silver eyes narrowed as Marshall could see him fitting the puzzle pieces together, the same puzzle pieces he had just put together.

"A distraction from something even bigger. They just had their big fight busted by Annie and now they have to redeem themselves in the eyes of the community before the community will bring them back in," Marshall explained.

"No one would show if they tried to hold another match. They have no credibility now. But by shooting a deputy and a veterinarian who was helping with the investigation, they not only had you looking in another direction, they also earned back respect. That was very clever," Mo said, almost more to himself than to the crowd gathered.

"This means they’ll try to stage another fight soon to make up for the one we busted. I also think this next fight will be bigger and probably more dangerous. They'll want to put it all out there to make up for the last fight," Marshall told them.

"But… this is good for us." Annie nibbled on her lip as she thought.

"How so?" Mo asked.

"They think we're distracted. Let's use that to our advantage. We don't talk to anyone else about dog fighting. Only this small group will know what's really going on."

"What is really going on?" Dani looked confused as she tried to guess Annie's game plan.

"We use the shooting as a way to interview and look into people. We can go door to door and tell them we're looking for people who saw anything the night of the shooting. We get to peek in doors, especially the doors of the people we're already watching. But, we only talk of the shooting. We ask them for help and we never mention dog fighting again," Annie explained.

"That could work." Sheriff Nuggett looked to Marshall who nodded. Annie was onto something.

"Good work, Annie. I want you running point from the office with one of Nuggett's men. You'll tell us where to go, marking the questionable houses then tracking what we find," Marshall instructed. "It'll be slow going, but hopefully they'll think we're so preoccupied that they'll get a little sloppy."

"It sounds like you all have this well in hand. Come on Sweet Pea, let's get our girl home."

Before Marshall could stop them, Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt swept Katelyn out of the hospital and into the waiting car. Damn. He wanted - no he needed a chance to talk to Katelyn. If she had made it to the top of the hill tonight, he’d have told her he loved her and that he couldn't imagine living without her. Now all he could think about was telling her. If he could get her alone that is.

Chapter Fifteen

Marshall felt like a teenager as he darted behind trees and made his way to the back of Wyatt Estate. He had talked with the group at the hospital a little longer and they had a plan to start looking into people tomorrow morning.

When they had finished, he went home and let his voicemail pick up the steady stream of calls looking for gossip. He had watched a SportsCenter rerun and even talked with Miles for a while. His brother was getting home later and later. Miles stopped by at three in the morning, still dressed in his suit, and was just now getting home. They had a beer and talked about the shooting and the game plan, which Miles agreed was a good course of action.

Marshall had drifted off to sleep somewhere around four in the morning and woke up just an hour later with thoughts of Katelyn. He was so worried about her. All he could imagine was her lying alone in her room in pain. He had to go to her. He
had
to tell her he loved her and he
had
to take care of her. And so at five thirty he was sneaking into Wyatt Estate.

He made it around the back of the house and saw a small light in Katelyn's bedroom. He hoped that meant she was awake, but then got worried that she wasn't sleeping. Dammit, what was happening to him? He was turning into his mother. He eyed the trellis full of purple morning glories and let out a breath. He was getting too old for this.

Putting his foot on the trellis, he pulled himself up slowly. He tried to avoid the flowers, just now opening for the day, as he made his way up to Katelyn's second-story window. Finally he reached the ledge. He peeked in and saw Katelyn asleep on her bed with Alice and Ruffles lying next to her. He tried the window, but it didn't open. He pulled out his army knife and wedged it under the lock. With a little jiggling the lock moved and he was able to push the window open.

He grabbed the ledge and pulled himself through. As soon as his first foot hit the ground he heard the growl. Looking up he saw and felt Ruffles with a mouthful of jeans. Alice stood slightly back and displayed a very impressive array of teeth.

"Shh. It's okay. It's just me."

The dogs growled louder and Alice took a step forward. Ruffles shook her head and his pants pulled at him as she tried her best to rip them. What was it with this dog and wanting his pants?

"Katelyn!" he whispered loudly. "Katelyn, help me." He saw her move a little in bed, so he tried again.

"Katelyn, your dog is eating me and your other dog is licking her chops. Come on Katelyn, I need you to wake up, honey."

Katelyn rolled over in bed and slowly opened her eyes. They fluttered and then shot open as she saw him backed up against the open window with her big white standard poodle viciously shaking his pant leg and little Alice standing stock still with her hair raised.

"Ruffles, Alice, it's okay. Time to go outside. It's okay. He's a friend."

Alice relaxed and reluctantly Ruffles gave up shaking his pant leg. With a look that could only be described as utmost diva, Ruffles tossed her head and headed out the cracked door and down the stairs.

She watched as Marshall went over to the door and quietly shut it. He turned back to her and gave her a shaky smile.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"I didn't get any time to see you at the hospital and I had to make sure you were okay." He came over and sat on her bed. "I’m so sorry, doc. I should’ve gotten to you sooner. I should’ve heard the man coming and prevented the whole damn thing. Are you in much pain?"

"No. Actually hardly any at all. The pain medication is helping a lot and makes me feel really good. Plus, it wasn't really that bad. The doctor called it a scrape. Makes me kind of embarrassed really," she laughed.

"Why should you feel embarrassed?"

"Because I totally froze over a scrape. It's just because I’ve never been shot before."

"It's not as bad the second time," he joked.

She felt her eyebrows shoot up as she remembered she was talking to an Army veteran. Had he ever been injured while on duty?

"Have you ever been shot?"

"Yeah."

"How many times?" He was so nonchalant about it!

"Three."

"Oh my gosh! I also bet when you were shot it was more than a scrape. Where were you shot?"

"Once on my shoulder, once through my thigh and once through my calf."

"How did it happen? If you don’t mind me asking."

"No, I don't mind. I got the shoulder shot when I was rescuing an ambassador from a new terrorist group that popped up and was later overtaken by the Taliban. The thigh shot I got when I was trapped in a crossfire and dove for some cover in the mountains of Afghanistan, and the calf wound was just a ricochet off part of a Somalian pirate ship I was boarding to rescue some hostages."

"Wow. I had no idea you did those things. I just pictured you at some base in the desert patrolling or helping rebuild towns."

"No one knows what I was doing except for Miles and Cade. They are called classified missions for a reason." He smiled and gave her a wink.

She had to see them. She wanted to touch them. She couldn't believe how strong the man was sitting next to her. There was a whole side of him she had never seen before. That no one had really seen before except his brothers.

"Can I see them?" she asked.

"See what?"

"Your scars." She wanted to try to feel what he went through.

"If you want."

She watched as he lifted his shirt over his head, exposing his muscled abdomen and chest. She had seen him naked before, but never noticed the scars.

"There?" She traced the small round scar on his left shoulder.

"Yup. That was my first one."

"It looks like a vaccination mark."

"It was a .22, which is a pretty small caliber, but it still hurt."

He stood up and unbuttoned his jeans. He pulled them down and Katelyn forgot all about bullet wounds.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I sleep naked and when I just couldn't stand not seeing you any more I just slipped on my jeans and didn't bother with underwear."

Katelyn didn't mind. She ran her fingers down his leg until she found the scar hidden among a smattering of dark hair. She ran her hands down further until she found another scar on his calf. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed them before. But like now, there were other more eye-grabbing things about him to see.

She reached up from her seat on the bed and grabbed his hands. Slowly, she pulled him down until he was sitting next to her on the bed. Katelyn ran her hand over his scar again and slowly leaned forward to kiss it. His warm muscles tightened under her touch and she felt the rumble of a groan under her lips as she kissed her way across his jaw.

"Katelyn, as much as I want to do this, you're injured."

"I'm a doctor and I think this is the best medicine you can give me," she said as she lay back down on the bed.

Marshall looked down as her blonde hair spilled over her pink and black satin nightgown. One of the small straps had fallen off her shoulder and exposed the top of her breast.

"Kiss me," she whispered.

"Yes, ma'am."

How could he not? He moved up the bed and sat next to her. He looked down as her blue eyes sparkled up at him. He placed his hand by her shoulder and held his weight on it as he bent down and kissed her. It was magic. He always felt as if the world disappeared when he was with her. His body had recognized her long before his heart caught up.

He danced his fingers up the satin gown to cup her breast as he deepened his kiss. She arched underneath him and moaned into his mouth. He needed to tell her why he came here tonight. The words were clawing at his throat for release.

"Katelyn," he said, pulling away from her slightly so he could look down into her eyes. "I have to tell you something."

"Yes?"

"I…"

"For the love of all that is holy! Do you ever wear clothes in my house?"

Marshall jumped up at the sound of Mrs. Wyatt's voice. She stood in the doorway with a tray full of food and a medicine bottle. He was about to dive for his clothes when Katelyn tossed him his shirt and mumbled something about finding her own place. He was pretty sure this was karma for his younger years. At this rate, he'd never get to tell her that he loved her more than the breath in his body.

*     *     *

Katelyn was so happy to be at work. Her grandmother had taken care of her, meaning she hadn’t let her move out of bed, for three days. She couldn't take it any longer and had returned to work on Wednesday. She was happy to be here, but was thankful tomorrow was Friday.

She was stiff and sore, and if she moved too fast her stiches really pulled. They were so tight right now as they pulled the skin together to heal. She also had to stop herself from scratching at them.