Changing the Rules (Richter Book 1)(68)

And Cooper soaked up every minute he was with her.

It was raining in Seattle. Their rental car was waiting curbside, again a treat from Neil. “Hotel first, or hospital?”

She glanced at her watch. “Hospital. We don’t know when our opportunity will be to talk to her. If we need to come back later, we will.”

Cooper followed the navigation to the hospital. When they got close, Claire reached in the back seat and removed one of the handguns from the suitcase Neil had arranged. She did a weapons check, chambered a round, and tucked it in her purse.

Cooper made a noise and she looked over. “Still works for you?” she asked.

“That’s so hot.”

“Put it away, Cooper. We don’t have time for that right now.”

That comment had him doing a double take. “So much better than the other way you used to say that.”

They bantered with a smile and a simple touch, all saying their relationship had changed.

They pulled into the parking lot. Cooper repeated Claire’s actions and put his weapon in a shoulder holster. Technically, she was the only one that was supposed to be carrying a gun.

But technically, Cooper didn’t give a shit. Someone tried to kill the woman they were about to go see, and he wasn’t about to believe that someone wouldn’t come back to finish the job. They locked everything else in the trunk and exited the car.

“Let’s do this.”

Claire’s fist came out, and he bumped it with his.



Claire walked by Cooper’s side as they entered the hospital. They stopped at the information desk and asked where Hope Boyer’s room was located.

As expected, they were asked to wait in the lobby for an escort.

Two uniformed police officers exited the elevators and approached the information desk.

Claire and Cooper walked up to them. “I’m Claire Kelly and this is my associate, Cooper Lockman.” It had been so long since she used her real name, it felt foreign on her tongue.

Claire identified herself with the private investigator badge that sat next to her primary identification. Her ID was checked quickly and given back.

They scrutinized Cooper’s a little closer. “Bodyguard and private security?” the officer holding Cooper’s identification asked.

“My retired military credentials are on the next page.”

After checking, the police officer gave it back. “Thank you for your service, Mr. Lockman.”

Claire and Cooper followed the officers and entered the elevator.

“Are either of you interviewing the witness?”

“No, ma’am. Detective Phelps is on the floor waiting for your arrival.”

Neil must have known they wouldn’t waste time getting to the hospital.

Cooper kept completely quiet, his body tense, eyes sharp.

The elevator stopped on their floor. Claire heard the click of her shoes as the scents that permeated medical buildings filled her nose. The first section of the floor was bustling with hospital staff, nurses, and doctors. Many stopped to watch them as they passed by. They took the first corner and angled down another long hall before stopping in front of a single door with a phone on the outside.

Along with a few nerves, some of Claire’s spidey sense began to tingle. She wasn’t sure if it was anticipation at what might be the break in the case they needed, or worry that something was going to go wrong.

One of the officers spoke into the phone, and someone buzzed them in.

The door emptied them into an ICU. One of the officers stayed behind, a single chair his only comfort.

The unit was significantly quieter than the one they’d passed through. Less staff and even fewer civilians.

All the rooms were completely visible from the central nurses’ station. The only patient privacy was a curtain that could be pulled around a bed. Very few were pulled. Claire averted her eyes to avoid looking at the other patients in the unit, most of whom were either on a ventilator or hooked up to so many tubes and machines it was hard to tell if they were a man or a woman.

They arrived at Marie’s room, the curtain pulled so they couldn’t immediately see her.

A middle-aged woman in street clothes hovered outside the door. She smiled as they approached.

“Detective Phelps?” Claire asked.

“You must be Miss Kelly.”

The two of them exchanged identification. Cooper showed his and stood back.

Detective Phelps shuffled them a few feet from the open door to Marie’s room. “I’m glad you could come so quickly. She fades as the day goes on.”

“How is she?”

“Good as can be expected, I suppose.”

“We weren’t given a lot of details,” Cooper told her.

A nurse walked into Marie’s room with a bag of IV fluids.

“My commander’s orders were to tell you what I know.”

“Have you identified the other two victims?”

“Not yet.”

“Has she told you who they were?” Cooper asked.

Phelps looked at Cooper. “She hasn’t told us anything. The staff came up with the name Hope. Boyer was a random computer name.”

“Excuse me, Detective?” The nurse that had walked into the room interrupted them.

They all turned.

“We’re going to have to do a dressing change soon. If anyone needs to talk to her, now would be the time.”