The Collector (51 page)

The hairs on the back of his neck rose when he saw the scratches on the locks, the slight gap in the way the door fit.

He'd already dropped the bags when he heard the scream.

He charged the door. It creaked, groaned, but held. Rearing back, he threw his body, his rage against it.

It crashed open, showed him his worst nightmare.

He didn't know if she was dead or alive, all he saw was the blood—her blood, her limp body and glassy eyes. And Maddok straddling her, the knife poised to strike.

Fury snapped through him, a lightning charge that boiled the blood, burned the bones. He rushed her, never slowing as she sprang up, never feeling the bite of the knife as she sliced it down.

He simply picked her up bodily, heaved her aside. He stood between her and Lila, not daring to look down, bracing instead to attack, to defend.

She didn't spring to her feet this time but heaved herself up to a crouch from the rubble of what had been his grandmother's Pembroke table. Blood ran down her cheek in a river, leaked out of her nose. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if that's why she wept. Her eyes were red, swollen, running with tears.

He charged her again, would have rammed her like a bull, but she managed a staggering dance aside, a shaky pivot, and an underhand strike with the knife that missed by a whisper.

He grabbed her knife hand by the wrist, twisted, imagined snapping the bone like a dry twig. In panic and pain, she swept a leg out, nearly took him down, but he held on, used the momentum to take her back, around.

And he saw Lila swaying like a drunk, her face fierce, and a lamp in her hands like a bat or a sword. Relief and rage churned together. “Run,” he ordered, but she kept coming.

Jai fought against his hold. Blood-slick skin nearly allowed her to slip free. He tore his gaze from Lila, looked into Jai's eyes.

And for the first time in his life, he balled his fist and punched a woman in the face. Not once, but twice.

The knife fell to the floor with a single hard bang. When Jai's knees buckled he let her drop. He scooped up the bloodied tool, managed to get an arm around Lila as she pitched forward.

“Is she dead? Is she dead?”

“No. How bad are you hurt? Let me see.”

“I don't know. You're bleeding. Your arm is bleeding.”

“It's okay. I'm going to call the police. Can you go in the kitchen, in the utility closet. There's some cord.”

“Cord. We have to tie her up.”

“I can't leave you alone with her and get it myself. Can you get it?”

“Yes.” She handed him the lamp. “I broke the plug when I pulled it out of the wall. I'll fix it. I'll get the cord first. And the first aid kit. Your arm's bleeding.”

He knew he shouldn't take the time, but he couldn't stop himself. He set the lamp aside, then he pulled her to him, gently, gently. “I thought you were dead.”

“So did I. But we're not.” She moved her hands over his face as if memorizing the shape. “We're not. Don't let her wake up. You have to hit her again if she starts to wake up. I'll be right back.”

He took out his phone, watched his hand shake as he called the police.

I
t took hours, and felt like days. Uniformed police, paramedics, Fine and Waterstone, the FBI. People in and out, in and out. Then a doctor, shining lights in her eyes, poking, prodding, asking her who was president. Even through the glaze of shock she wondered at a doctor making an emergency house call.

“What kind of a doctor are you?” she asked him.

“A good one.”

“I mean what kind of doctor makes house calls?”

“A really good one. And I'm a friend of Ash's.”

“She stabbed him—or it looked like more of a slice. I just fell down the stairs.”

“You're a lucky woman. You took some hard knocks, but nothing's broken. Throat's pretty sore, I bet.”

“It feels like I've been drinking glass chips. Ash needs to go to the hospital for that arm. So much blood . . .”

“I can stitch him up.”

“Here?”

“It's what I do. Do you remember my name?”

“Jud.”

“Good. You've got a mild concussion, some heroic bruising—that's a medical term,” he added, and made her smile. “It wouldn't hurt for you to spend the night in the hospital, just for observation.”

“I'd rather just have a shower. Can I just take a shower? She's all over me.”

“Not by yourself.”

“I really don't think I'm up to sex in the shower just now.”

He laughed, gave her hand a squeeze. “Your friend's here—Julie? How about if she helps you out?”

“That'd be great.”

“I'll go down and get her. You wait, okay? Bathrooms are minefields.”

“You're a good friend. I . . . Oh, I remember now. I met you at Oliver's funeral. Dr. Judson Donnelly—concierge medicine. Like the guy on TV.”

“That's a good sign your brain's not overly scrambled—another fancy medical term. I'm going to leave written instructions on the medication, and I'll swing by tomorrow to take a look at both of you. Meanwhile, rest, use the cold packs on the bruises and skip the shower sex for the next twenty-four hours.”

“I can do that.”

He packed up his bag, then paused on his way out to look back at her. “Ash said you were an amazing woman. He's not wrong.”

Her eyes welled up, but she fought the tears back. She wouldn't break down, just couldn't. She feared if she did, even for a moment, she'd never stop.

So she had what passed for a smile when Julie rushed in.

“Oh, Lila.”

“Not looking my best, and it's worse under what's left of this dress. But I have some very nice pills, courtesy of Jud, so I really do feel better than I look. How's Ash?”

Sitting on the side of the bed, Julie took her hand. “He was talking to some of the crime scene people, but the doctor dragged him off to take care of him. Luke's with him. Luke's going to stay with him.”

“Good. Luke's really good in a crisis. I really like Luke.”

“You scared the crap out of us.”

“Join the team. Are you up for standing by while I take a shower? I need to . . . I have to . . .”

The pressure dropped into her chest, stealing her breath.

Hands around her throat, squeezing, squeezing.

“She ruined my dress.” She felt herself gasping, couldn't stop. “It was Prada.”

“I know, sweetie.” Julie just gathered her up when she broke, rocked her like a baby when she sobbed.

After the shower, after the pain pill kicked in, it didn't take much for Julie to persuade her to lie down. When she woke, the light was on low, and her head was pillowed on Ash's shoulder.

She sat up—and the twinges woke her fully. “Ash.”

“Right here. Do you need another pill? It's about time.”

“Yes. No. Yes. What time is it? It's after midnight. Your arm.”

“It's okay.”

But despite the twinges, she reached over to turn up the light, see for herself. The bandage ran from shoulder to elbow.

“It's okay,” he repeated at her sound of distress.

“Don't say it's just a scratch.”

“It's not just a scratch, but Jud claims he sews as exquisitely as a Breton nun. I'll get your pill, and you can get some more rest.”

“Not yet. I need to go downstairs. I need to see— God, you're so tired.” She laid her hands on his cheeks, looked into his exhausted eyes. “I need to see it, go through it, settle it.”

“Okay.”

She winced as she got out of bed. “Wow, the cliché about run over by a truck is real. Believe me, I won't be shy about the drugs. I just want to see, clear head, clear eyes. Then we'll both take drugs and zone out.”

“That's a deal. Julie and Luke wouldn't leave,” he told her as they walked each other out. “They're in the guest room.”

“Good friends are better than diamonds. I cried all over Julie—I'm going to confess that. I may cry all over you at some point, but I'm pretty steady right now.”

She paused at the top of the stairs, looked down.

They'd cleaned up. The table Jai had landed on was no longer scattered in pieces on the floor. There'd been shattered pottery, glass. And blood. Hers, his, Jai's. Scrubbed away now, for the most part.

“She had a gun, there was a gun.”

“They have it. You told them.”

“The telling part's foggy. Did Waterstone hold my hand? I sort of remember him holding my hand.”

“Yeah, he did.”

“But they got the gun. They took it away?”

“Yes. It was empty. She'd run out of bullets.”

Hearing the strain in his voice, she took his hand as they walked down.

“Vasin's security people underestimated her. She killed two of them, got one of their guns, got a car.”

“She was hurt when she got here. That was lucky for me. I didn't bother with the internal locks. That was stupid of me.”

“We were careless. I can't remember if I set the alarm when I left. She got through the system, either way. She got to you, and I wasn't here.”

“We're not going to do that.” She turned, took his face again. “We're not going to do that to ourselves or each other.”

He lowered his forehead to hers. “Pepper spray and a Leatherman.”

“I couldn't figure out how to incorporate duct tape. I blinded her ass—well, her eyes. She should never have come here, never have tried this. She could've gotten away.”

“Pride, I guess. It cost her. Fine and Waterstone came back while you were sleeping. She's not going to see daylight except through bars for the rest of her life—and she's rolling like an avalanche on Vasin. They've already picked him up.”

“So it's really over.” She let out a breath, realized the tears wanted to flood again.

Not yet, she told herself.

“That thing you asked me to think about, before? I have.” She drew away, walked over to examine the lamp with the broken plug. Yes, she could fix that. “You saved my life tonight.”

“If that idea persuades you to marry me . . . I'll take it.”

She shook her head. “We fell down the steps. It's all so blurry. She was choking me, and I didn't have much left. My life didn't pass in front of my eyes—not the past stuff, like you hear about. I thought about you, and the image you have of us. I thought I'll never have that now, that life inside the crystal ball, and all that could go with it. I wanted to give up—but she said she was going to kill you when you came back. And I found more. Not just the trusty Leatherman I'd hung on to. But more. Because I love you. Wow, give me a minute.”

She held her hand up to keep him back until she got it all out. “I
couldn't stand the idea of the world without you, that she could take you away, take the future away from us. So I found more—not enough, but more. Just before you came crashing in, and I thought it was over, all I could think was I never told you I love you. What an idiot. Then my knight in not-too-shiny armor saved my life. Of course, I loosened the lid.”

“The lid.”

“Like the pickle jar. I really softened her up for you, you have to admit.”

“She was cursing your name when they took her out.”

“Really?” Lila's smile was fierce. “That just makes my day.”

“Make mine. Are you going to marry me?”

In her hands, she thought. She didn't have to look to know. She only had to trust—and choose.

“I have some conditions. I do want to travel, but I think it's time I stopped living out of two suitcases. I want what I was afraid to want until my possible future passed in front of my eyes. I want a home, Ash. I want one with you. I want to go places, see places—with you—but I want to make a home. I think I can make a good one. I want to work off what's on my schedule, then focus on writing. I have a new story I really want to tell.”

A new story, she realized, she wanted to live.

“Maybe I'll house-sit now and again, for an established client or as a favor, but I don't want to spend my future living in someone else's space. I want to spend it living in my own. In ours.”

She drew a breath. “And I want you to come to Alaska with me and meet my parents, which is a little scary since I've never taken anyone to meet my parents. And I want . . .” She swiped at her cheeks. “This isn't the time for another jag. I want a dog.”

“What kind of dog?”

“I don't know, but I want one. I always wanted a dog, but we could never have one because we were always moving around. I don't want to
be a gypsy anymore. I want a home and a dog and children, and you. I want you so much. So, will you marry me with all that hanging on it?”

“I have to think about it.” He laughed, forgot himself long enough to grab her, yank her against him, then eased back quickly when she gasped. “Sorry. I'm sorry.” He took her mouth, pressed light kisses over her face. “I accept your terms, absolutely.”