Make Me Melt(51)

“What he did for you changed my life, too,” she said tenderly, gazing up at him. “I would never have met you otherwise.”

Jason chuckled. “I’m not sure if your father could have looked into the future and seen us together that he would have been so eager to help me.”

She gave him a tolerant look. “That’s not true. He loves you like a son. You heard him earlier—he always thought we should be together. He just about gave us his blessing.”

This time, there was no doubting Jason’s amusement. “He’s strung out on morphine, sweetheart. He had no idea what he was saying.”

Before she could respond, his cell phone began to beep. He glanced at the screen and then over at the two agents. “This is my office. Sorry, but I need to take this call.”

The two agents retreated to the corridor, and Jason moved to the far side of the room to speak quietly into the phone. Caroline went back to her father’s bed, surprised when she saw he was awake.

“Hey, Dad,” she said, leaning over him. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” he said weakly, giving her a wan smile.

“Go back to sleep,” she urged him. “Everything is okay, and the doctors say you’re going to be up and around in no time at all. I’d rest while you can.”

“Thirsty.”

Because of his injury, he’d not yet been cleared for solid foods and still got most of his nutrients intravenously. Caroline knew she couldn’t give him any water, but she could let him suck on some ice chips. Reaching for the cup where she kept his ice, she saw it had melted to several inches of water, which was tepid, at best.

“I’m just going to refill your ice bucket,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

Scooping up his empty pitcher and his ice bucket, she got Jason’s attention, and held up both items so that he would know where she was going. He covered the phone with his hand.

“Ask Deputy Black to go with you,” he said. “He’s right outside.”

She nodded and slipped out of the room. In the corridor, she saw Deputy Black in conversation with the two FBI agents at the far end of the hall. A new guard, whom Caroline didn’t recognize, sat outside the door.

“I’m just going to refill my father’s ice bucket,” she said to the guard.

He shrugged, as if it was no consequence to him what she did. Glancing at Deputy Black, she hesitated. The guard clearly didn’t care if she stepped down the hallway to where the ice machine stood, and with so many law enforcement personnel in the hallway, Caroline couldn’t imagine a safer place for her to be. Unwilling to disturb the deputy for such a small errand, she walked in the opposite direction, away from the room.

She wasn’t as familiar with the layout of this floor as she had been with the ICU, and when she reached the end of the corridor without seeing the ice machine, she paused for a moment to get her bearings.

“The ice machine is to your right, honey,” said a passing nurse. She indicated the adjacent corridor. “Halfway down, on your left, next to the ladies’ room.”

“Thank you.”

Caroline walked swiftly in the direction that the nurse had indicated. Halfway down the hallway, she located the machine and paused to fill the bucket. While she waited for the ice to dispense, a movement caught her eye, and she looked to her right to see a man carrying a large bouquet of flowers. He had paused almost directly beside her to study a hospital directory that hung on the wall.

Caroline watched him covertly. She guessed him to be in his thirties, and he was distinctly Latino. He was dressed in baggy jeans and heavy work boots, and he wore a bulky jacket over his large frame, despite the warm temperature outside. A baseball cap was pulled low over his eyes. As if sensing her scrutiny, he turned and looked directly at her.

Caroline panicked.

Jerking upright, she glanced swiftly back the way she had come. The corridor seemed ominously long and empty. The door to the ladies’ room was right next to her, and without thinking she pushed her way inside. With her heart hammering, she stood inside the door and waited, the ice bucket raised in one hand, but nobody followed her. After a moment, she lowered the bucket, aware that her heart was still slamming against her ribs.

Once she realized she wasn’t in danger, the adrenaline rush ended, leaving her weak and shaking. She dragged in a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Disgusted by her own fearfulness, she walked over to the bank of sinks and set the bucket down. She braced her hands on the counter, willing her heart to slow its frantic pace.

After a moment, she gave a feeble laugh. She was in a hospital, for Pete’s sake, with half a dozen police, FBI agents and deputy marshals within shouting distance. No one was going to hurt her, and even if they tried, one scream from her would bring them all running.

Now that her panic had subsided, Caroline realized she really did need to use the bathroom, and she stepped into one of the stalls. She had no sooner sat down then she heard the bathroom door open and footsteps entering. For one wild, petrifying instant, she thought it was the man with the flowers, and that he’d come in to kill her. She was halfway to her feet, when the person entered the stall beside her own. Beneath the divider, Caroline could see a woman’s feet, encased in a pair of white service shoes. She relaxed.

Not a man. Not a killer.

A nurse.