Page 22 of K-9 Justice

“I don’t know you.” Her heart hurt at the reminder Dr. Piel wouldn’t be the one to clear her for fieldwork or to go head-to-head with Congress again. Ivy scanned the room, but there was no sign of her team. No sign of Max. Or Carson.

She didn’t know what to think of that right then. Didn’t really want to think about it.

“No. I expect you wouldn’t.” Her doctor faced her, his clipboard leveraged against his lower abdomen. Sharp features built out a handsome face. A little too perfect for her taste. She’d always been attracted to men who had a little wear on them, a little life experience. This one was brand-new. “I’m Dr. Cavill. I’m your attending physician during your stay here.”

“And where exactly is here?” Ivy tried to sit up, but her body seemed to have other plans. In the way it screamed at theslightest movement. How her right shoulder refused to take any weight. She could see out of both eyes. That was comforting. The swelling she’d sustained from Sebastian’s fist colliding with her face multiple times had gone down. Which meant she hadn’t just taken a nap in the time she’d passed out and woken here. It was now most likely days since she and Carson had stepped into a fight they hadn’t been prepared to handle.

“Alpine Valley.” Dr. Cavill made a note on the clipboard. Presumably in her chart.

“I’m in the clinic.” That explained the sheets. Alpine Valley, while home to almost two thousand residents, kept a small-time feel with family-owned businesses and a medical clinic that mostly handled broken bones and people who knew each other’s names. “Can I get an early checkout?”

“I’m afraid not.” His laugh did nothing to ease her discomfort. “You’re lucky to be alive, Ms. Bardot. You’ve suffered from multiple blows to the face, dislocated a shoulder, and we can’t forget about that nasty stab wound in your side. If you still had a kidney, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Don’t forget the sprained ankle.” Her nerves were ticking higher with every pulse of that damn machine. She’d never liked being held against her will. Though she’d have to say this was far more preferable than being hung upside down from a tow hook and used as a piñata. “As for the kidney, someone else is borrowing it.”

Dr. Cavill set the clipboard on the side table and unwound the stethoscope from around his neck. Practiced movements. As though done thousands of times. Maybe he wasn’t so brand-new after all. “Yes, I’ve read your medical history.”

Goose pimples spread over her skin as he slipped the cold metal between her shoulder blades. She tried to keep her breathing steady, but the more she tried to force herself to relax,the farther away she seemed to get from her goal. “Not sure how you would, seeing as how that is confidential information.”

“I contacted your employer when we couldn’t find any next of kin to ask permission for your history. One of your employees—Cash, I think his name was—was kind enough to send it over while you were recovering. He’s in the lobby with a couple police officers waiting to take your statement about how you ended up in my clinic. Along with what I believe is everyone else who works for Socorro.” Dr. Cavill withdrew his probing and recentered the stethoscope around his neck.

Her team was here?

“I have to say it’s a miracle the damage you sustained wasn’t any worse. The dozen or so lacerations over your body were all relatively surface cuts. We’ve cleaned and bandaged each one.” The physician picked up his clipboard once again, making another note. “As for the stab wound, we sewed you up with two levels of stitches. We found some rust flakes in the wound, so we made sure you were up-to-date on your tetanus shot. You should make a full recovery with no ongoing issues as long as you take it easy for the next few weeks, but based off your past X-rays, I’m willing to bet this isn’t the first time you’ve dislocated that shoulder.”

Her past X-rays. Dr. Piel had insisted on collecting as much past medical history and films as possible for each Socorro operative. Ivy couldn’t even remember the number of broken bones she’d sustained the first ten years of her life. Each had healed, in their own way. None perfectly. “No. Not the first time.”

A deep ache that had nothing to do with her injuries took hold. “What happened to the man who was with me? Carson—” She had to stop herself. Because Carson Lang didn’t exist anymore. That part of his life had ended a long time ago, and there was no getting it back. Not as long asSangre por Sangrestill hadpower. “Dominic Rojas. He would’ve had a German shepherd with him. Is he here?”

“He was.” Dr. Cavill finally looked up from that damn clipboard. He pointed to the door with the end of his pen. “I think one of the nurses finally convinced him you would be okay if he got a few hours of sleep. I’ll see if my staff can locate him.”

Something released inside of her. He was alive. They both were, and it didn’t escape Ivy that they’d been in this situation before. Not that long ago they’d faced a killer in a cartel hideout. The same killer. A sinking sensation interrupted the steady rhythm of her heart rate on the EKG, but Dr. Cavill didn’t seem to notice.

“Try to get some rest. You’ve been through a lot.” The physician headed for the door. “I’ll be back to check on you in a couple hours. Until then, try not to make matters worse by thinking you can check yourself out, Ms. Bardot.”

Before he could exit, Dr. Cavill stepped back as the heavy metal door opened from the other side. Carson. “Well, that saves me having to track anyone down.”

The doctor closed the door behind him, sealing her and Carson in the same room.

“Hi.” As a professional, she ran a multibillion-dollar security firm. She lobbied for additional resources from the Pentagon. She shot down congressmen and made public statements. And the only thing she could think to say when seeing her partner washi.

“You’re awake.” Carson moved deeper into the room, heading straight for the side of her bed.

“That’s what they tell me.” She grabbed on to her injured shoulder wrapped securely against her chest. “Can’t say it’s been a great experience thus far, but it’s better than being used as a punching bag for a cartel soldier.”

He settled on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping under his weight, but there was a distance between them. Something thick and unspoken she didn’t want to deal with right now. “Ivy, I’m sorry. I made a mistake—”

“Stop. It’s…” Well, it wasn’t fine. It wasn’t close to fine, but blaming him for what had happened wouldn’t get them closer to bringing Dr. Piel’s killer to justice. “It’s him, Carson. Sebastian. He killed those women.”

Understanding slid into his expression. “All this time I’ve been looking for the man who abducted you—almost killed you—and he was standing right in front of me.”

“What better way to hide than in plain sight?” Images kept coming back to her. Of the warehouse. Of seeing Carson before she collapsed. There were sensations and memories and confusion. And it had all led to this. To them. Ivy shut down a shiver prickling along her spine. “Did you…? Is he dead?”

“No.” Regret laced that single word. “I sent him back to upper management with a message. They want to come for you, they’ll lose. I’ll make sure of it.”

The wrongness of that statement collided with her need to know she wasn’t alone in this and pressed the oxygen from her lungs. A warning that had been there since the moment she’d found him in her apartment slithered into awareness. It had taken a back seat in her subconscious over the course of two days, but it was growing now. “You had the chance to put an end to this, and you let the killer off with a warning?”

“You’d been stabbed, Ivy. You were bleeding everywhere. I wasn’t sure how long you had until…” Color drained from his face. “I didn’t want to lose you again. I did what I thought was right.”

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