Song of the Surf (Pacific Shores Book 3) (14 page)

Serving time
. Dakota’s gaze darted across the platform to Justus. She could cross “breaking and entering” off her list, she supposed. He’d likely still be in if he’d done something that serious. Except he would have been a juvenile and likely would have gotten a lesser sentence. So maybe it was still an option. She sighed. Why hadn’t she just asked him last night?

She suddenly realized Justus had caught her staring and jerked her focus back to the couple just meeting at the head of the aisle.

“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” the pastor asked.

“I do!” Alyssa’s chest puffed out even more, if that were possible.

Despite the pain suddenly burning in all her joints, Dakota grinned, and the whole sanctuary rippled with humor.

Marie bent and kissed Alyssa on the cheek and then the little girl dashed over and clambered up on the bench next to Reece’s mom. “Did I do good, Grandma?” she asked in a very non-inside voice.

Another wave of laughter rolled through the room.

Marie covered her mouth, a little embarrassment tinting her cheeks pink.

As Darlene shushed Alyssa with grandmotherly affection, Reece chuckled and pulled Marie to his side. When Marie and Reece took the three steps to stand before the minister on the platform, Dakota moved down to the main floor of the sanctuary, pulled in a slow breath with dread at needing to use any joint, and bent to adjust Marie’s short train. When she stood, a wave of light headedness drained through her, but it only took a moment and a quick shake of her head to set her back to rights. She resumed her spot and accepted her bouquet from Taysia. She could feel Justus’s gaze drilling into her.

She chose not to look over. It would hurt her neck too much and only add fuel to his fire of worry.

The ceremony was short, with only one song to interrupt the vows, and soon Justus’s warm hand had settled over hers where she rested it in the crook of his arm, and they were following the happy couple back down the aisle.

By the time they reached the foyer however, Dakota’s legs were trembling so badly they were in danger of giving out, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been gimping around on crutches for the past several days. Her eyes felt like a tailor had mistaken them for a pin cushion and were watering unstoppably.

Justus led her to a chair and thrust a handful of tissues from a nearby box into her hands. “Wait here, I’ll get my jacket and your purse, but I’m taking you to the hospital right now.” He was gone before she could protest.

Dakota dabbed at her tear ducts and held her breath as pain vibrated through every knuckle in her hand and her eye felt set afire with each dab of the tissue. She’d have loved nothing more than to tell him she had other obligations, but the truth was she couldn’t find the energy. Couldn’t have found the energy if she was paid. She kept her eyes closed and tipped her head back against the wall. Maybe if she just rested for a moment.

But Justus was back before she even had the chance to do that. “Hey, you ready?” He nudged her upward and slid the wonderful warmth of his jacket around her shoulders. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”

“But the dance—”

“—don’t worry about the dance.” Marie was there by her side, with Reece looking concerned too. “Just get better.”

Dakota wanted to cry, but couldn’t deny a measure of relief. “I’m so sorry.”

Marie squeezed her shoulder and Dakota gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. “I just wish I’d known you were so sick. You never should have had to stand through the ceremony.”

Forcing a smile she hoped looked real, Dakota tried to reassure them. “I was fine really.”

“But you’re not right now. Let’s go.” Justus held one hand toward the exit.

“Congrats, you two,” Dakota called over her shoulder as she preceded Justus toward the door.

Marie curled into Reece’s side and looked up at him. “Thanks.”

There was so much love in her expression, and in Reece’s as he looked back down at his new wife, that Dakota felt the awe of it. And as she stood just inside the doors waiting for Justus to run get the car, she wanted only one thing.

Someday I want a relationship with someone who will love me like Reece loves Marie, Lord.

The only problem was, the man who sprang to mind came with too many risks and not enough guarantees.

Chapter 11

A little bit of terror danced in Justus’s chest.

The minute he’d opened the car door for Dakota back at the church, she’d sunk into the seat, punched the heater button, and curled into a little ball with her eyes closed. Every once in a while she moaned softly, but he couldn’t tell if she was asleep or just in so much pain she couldn’t help herself.

He knew one thing for sure as he pulled into the hospital’s emergency room parking lot, his heartrate hadn’t been this high since the night Treyvon had killed his girlfriend. Justus eased the car to a stop under the emergency room portico and hopped out. He dashed around and opened her door. “Come on, Dakota. We’re here.”

A low groan and a shudder were her only response.

He skimmed a hand over her forehead. She was burning up! She needed help, and she needed it now. He glanced around. There was nothing for it but to leave her here for a second and run inside to get someone.

He left the car idling and jogged through the sliding glass doors to the triage counter. No attendant was in sight. Of course not. He could hear a bevy of activity happening through a door just behind the desk and pressed the bell on the counter to call someone to come. But no one emerged and he needed to at least get Dakota inside where it was warm.

A wheelchair sat empty near the wall. He snagged it and hurried back to the car, only to find Dakota pulling herself out already, and trying to lean down inside the car to get her purse. Her knees wobbled like a newborn giraffe. “Whoa.” He lurched toward her and guided her fall into the wheelchair. Then grabbed her purse and set it on her lap. She whimpered and murmured something about fire. He touched her forehead again. If she was feeling even half as warm internally it was no wonder fire was on her mind.

He swung around to wheel her inside, but a scrub clad woman strode out the doors looking all businesslike. “I’ve got her sir, thank you. What are her symptoms?” She held up a hand for him to stop.

Justus gladly relinquished control of the wheelchair to the nurse, even if he was wondering where she’d been only a moment ago. “She thinks she has malaria. She’s had it before. But her fever just spiked in the last few minutes.”

“Okay,” the woman carefully guided the wheelchair toward the entrance. “I need you to park your car. You can’t leave it there.” She walked calmly, more like she was out for a Sunday stroll than wheeling a very sick woman into an emergency room.

He ignored the comment and stepped out ahead of her, hoping to hurry her up a bit. His car could get towed for all he cared. They would need paperwork filled out, likely.

The nurse stopped still. When he spun back to see why, her eyebrows arched and she tipped her head in the direction of his still idling Z3. Her lips pursed like a perturbed mother.

Could the woman show any
less
concern? His gaze dropped to Dakota. Her eyes remained closed and her face was red and blotchy. “She’s really sick.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll get her taken care of. Feel free to come inside after you’ve parked your car.”

An ambulance pulled in just behind him at that moment, lights flashing. The nurse quickly put the brake on Dakota’s chair and pointed him once more to his car as she hurried toward the ambulance.

Dakota looked up at him through squinted eyes. “I’ll be fine. Just go.”

Torn between staying with Dakota and getting out of the ambulance’s way, Justus gave in to the inevitable. “I’ll only be a second.” He jogged back to park the car. It took driving down two rows to find a spot and when he finally dashed across the parking lot, Dakota still sat curled over in the wheelchair exactly in the place the nurse had left her, her head propped in her hands. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

The ambulance was gone, presumably along with the ER nurse. Dakota had apparently been demoted on the triage list. But they could at least have taken her inside! Just as he was about to step off the curb to cross to her, a red Civic peeled into the drop off zone, going way too fast for a hospital parking lot. Justus pinwheeled his arms to keep from landing in its path.

At that moment a flash of color behind Dakota caught his attention. A little body darted out from behind a bush near the emergency room entrance, making a beeline for Dakota.

What in the world—

The metallic red car screeched to a halt right in front of him under the ER portico and a man lurched out. “I’ve got you, honey, just hold on!”

Justus craned to see Dakota beyond the man’s shoulder.

The kid snatched Dakota’s purse and kept sprinting.

“Stop!” Justus lurched forward. He and the man from the car nearly collided near the trunk of the little red coupe.

“Watch it, buddy, we’re having a baby here!”

“Sorry.” Justus spun to avoid a full on collision with the man who was still darting for his wife’s door, tossed a glance at Dakota to make sure she was still doing okay, and then took off in full pursuit of the boy who was just disappearing around the corner and headed toward the street.

The boy was quick, but Justus was quicker and within several strides he had the little purse snatcher held aloft by his collar.

Dakota’s purse tumbled to the pavement and the boy grabbed on to Justus’s arm, kicking and hollering. “Let me go!”

The familiar voice snapped Justus to attention. “Wait a minute!” He set the boy down and spun him around, gripping his shoulders firmly. “You?”

The boy kicked out and his toe connected solidly with Justus’s shin.

Justus grunted and on reflex let the kid go, but the boy only got two steps away before Justus had him firmly in grasp again.

It was the same boy he and Dakota had almost run over the other day. His red hair stood from his head in tangled patches and his freckles sharply contrasted with his pale face. “I didn’t mean any harm, mister, honest I didn’t.” The boy squirmed, trying to free himself.

But eight years of working with troubled youth had taught Justus a thing or two about keeping hold of one when he wanted to without hurting him. “Didn’t mean any harm, but you snatched a sick woman’s purse?” Another wave of pain shot up his leg. “And kicked me?”

At least the kid had the decency to hang his head.

Across the street a group of laughing teen boys drew his attention. They kept glancing his way and then dissolving into another fit of laughter and back slapping. Justus would bet his bottom dollar the boy, who was dressed in designer clothes and didn’t look like he’d gone without necessities a day in his life, had been dared to snatch the purse.

Justus kept a firm hold on him as he bent down and retrieved Dakota’s bag. “You’re not going anywhere until we can talk to the cops, but first I need to help my friend. So you’re coming with me.” He marched the kid back toward the emergency room entrance.

Some chord of familiarity begged for his attention. It wasn’t that he’d seen the kid before so much as that he reminded him of someone. That same ring of familiarity had been there the first time he’d seen the kid too. Who was it the kid reminded him of? He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Thankfully Dakota was no longer sitting in the wheelchair outside the entrance. Hopefully she was not only inside but was being taken care of.

In his relief, he relaxed his grip.

Like a slippery fish on an unbarbed hook, the boy twisted with lightning speed and darted away again.

Justus rolled his eyes. The boy didn’t have a chance against his long stride. “You’re not making this easy, kid.” Justus wrapped one hand firmly around the boy’s upper arm, bringing him once more to a halt.

This time he wasn’t taking any chances. He detoured to his car. Popping the trunk, he pulled out his Oregon Juvenile Justice badge and the set of handcuffs he kept inside. How many times over the years had he had some kid handcuffed to his wrist to keep track of him? He’d lost count. But when he ratcheted the lock into place around the boy’s wrist and then did the same to his own, the boy’s eyes widened and filled with unshed tears. This was obviously a first for the kid. Good, maybe this would teach him a well-earned lesson.

“My dad will take you to court.”

Justus almost felt sorry for him. “Actually, reasonable suspicion is all I need to detain you until the police can get here. And you and I both know I have a lot more than reasonable suspicion.”

“This is child abuse! You can’t do this, Mister!”

Justus’s lips thinned. “I just did. And if you had any idea how many times a kid has said that to me… You don’t think what you did to that woman was abuse? She’s sick and vulnerable, and you take advantage of her? You know what?” He pointed to the surveillance equipment in the corner of the portico. “There is going to be video footage of you. Did you ever think about that?”

The kid’s face paled and he looked a little startled at that thought.

When Justus strode back into the emergency room, Angry-Mom-Nurse looked up from behind the triage desk. “Oh, your wife is in the back…” Her words trailed away as her gaze settled on the shiny links connecting his wrist to the boy’s.

Justus dropped Dakota’s purse on the counter and flashed the nurse his badge. It really wasn’t anything more than proof that he was certified as an Oregon juvenile detention agent, but he hoped it would keep questions to a minimum.

He tipped a nod from the boy to the purse. “He stole her purse. I’m a correctional officer and will be keeping track of him till the police can come. How is she?”

The nurse was slightly bug-eyed. “She’s in the back being looked at by a doctor now.”

“Good. First, she’s not my wife. Second, she has a tropical disease specialist she was supposed to see this afternoon at four thirty. I don’t remember his name. But I didn’t think she should wait that long. Can you please see that she gets this purse while I deal with the kid?”