Walker (Bowen Boys, #1)(9)

She knew he was lying and he seemed to know she knew. She didn’t answer him and he didn’t seem to mind too much, but continued to read the newspaper. She felt herself drifting off when the door opened and then closed again. Opening her eyes, she picked up the phone and called her boss, Conrad Garrett.

“Where the hell have you been? Do you know that I’ve put out a missing person’s report on you?” He blustered for several more minutes before he slowed to let her answer him. She didn’t really like or trust her boss, but he did seem concerned, seemed being the operative word. But Lynne trusted very few people and he wasn’t one of them, probably never would be.

“You told me to take some time. I’m taking it. I’m not due back for another…I don’t know that right now. I’ve been relaxing and resting, as you bellowed at me on the seventeenth.” She had no idea of the date and hoped he’d shed some light on it. “Why the hell would you call in a MP when you told me not to contact anyone until I came back?”

“Your neighbor said your window had been busted open and there was blood on your carpet. What the hell else was I supposed to think other than some ass you put away was out to get you?” That was close enough that she told him he was wrong.

“The two brothers that stole from my elderly neighbor across the street? They decided to get me for some payback. I eluded them pretty well, but not enough to get a little banged up. Can you have my window fixed? I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s already taken care of. You want me to take care of the police report too?” She told him no, she’d do it. “All right. Let me see. You were supposed to be gone a month…no, that was six weeks. You’ve been on leave for nearly three so I guess I’ll talk to you in another few weeks. If you need anything, give me a call. And next time you have a beef with the neighbors, call me and let me take care of it. You can’t be f*cking with these people, not now at any rate.”

She knew that. And she hadn’t had the chance to f*ck with anyone. If her calculations were right, she’d gone on R&R on the seventeenth and had been kidnapped on the first day. If she had already been gone three weeks, the date was right around the fifth of June. Shit. So much for having a long vacation to rest up on a beach as she recouped.

“I’m not at home and probably won’t be for another week or so. When I get back there, I’ll let you know. Any word on the Small case?” The case that had gotten her nearly killed and a vice president arrested. “And do I need to be watching over my shoulder until the trial?”

“He’s still in jail. It’s better than most hotels. But we have a platoon of guards surrounding him. He tries to step out, he’s going to have fifty guns pointed at him.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “You okay, kid? I know what it’s like to lose a partner like you did.”

Melvin Carpenter had been her partner for nearly six years and had taken a bullet meant for her. Had he not stood up those seconds before she had then she would have taken one in the head and not him. She looked out the window as she thought about what his brains and—

“Do me a favor, will you, and don’t bring it up again right now. I’m dealing, but…I don’t want to think about it until I’m facing that bastard in the courtroom.”

“Okay, kid.”

They talked a few more seconds before she hung up. For whatever reason, she knew he was tracking the call and didn’t want him to know about the Bowens. He told her to let him know if she needed anything and she promised she would. Both of them knowing that she wouldn’t call him if her life depended on it. She knew that he was involved somehow, and for that reason she didn’t trust him. Just as she was putting the phone on the bedside table, the door opened. The man standing there was huge, bigger than Dr. Bowen, and he seemed to be pissed about something. She reached for the gun that wasn’t there and waited.

~~~

Khan didn’t know what to expect, but the beauty before him wasn’t it. He shut the door behind him to give himself a few seconds to compose his thoughts. This wasn’t going to go well and he was preparing himself for the tears and begging. Like all women like her did.

“I’ve come to tell you that as soon as you’re able, I’d like for you to make other arrangements on where to stay.” He watched her for the sudden tears. She only nodded. “Do you hear what I’m telling you? I want you out of here as soon as possible.”

“I can hear just fine and since you seem to think I’m deaf and need to yell I can only imagine that people down the street heard you. And I’d like nothing better than to oblige you. If you think you can take this piss bag off me then I might be able to move around enough to get some exercise.”

He flushed, forgetting that she had been bedridden since she’d been brought in.

“I don’t have a clue how to remove it. Perhaps you can ask my brother. He’s the doctor.” She snorted and he wasn’t sure what to say to her now. “Do you need anything? I’m not going to give you money, but I can accommodate you in other ways.”

“I didn’t ask to be brought here or for your money, jerk ass. I have plenty of my own and, as for accommodating me, f*ck off. I want out of here as badly as you want me to be.” He was lost. He had expected her to want to stay and now he didn’t know what to say back to her. “You find that ass of a brother of yours, have him remove this thing and I’ll be more than happy to go to my house. Today, if it can be arranged.”