Page 35 of Only Her (K2 Team)
His tires squealed when he took the turn into her parking lot, the persistent police car still on his bumper. The front lot was empty, and he sped to the back where she parked her car. If she wasn’t there, he didn’t know what he’d do.
As soon as he came around the corner and saw Riley facedown on the pavement, his heart fell so hard that he thought he was having some kind of attack. He screeched to a halt, shoved the gear lever into Park, and almost fell out of his door trying to get to her.
“Riley!” he yelled, running to her. When he reached her, he dropped to his knees and put his fingers on her throat, looking for a pulse. “I’m here, darlin’,” he said, willing her to respond. She didn’t, but he let out a relieved breath when he felt the blood flowing through her neck vein.
“Don’t move her.”
Cody looked up at the cop standing over them, recognizing him as the man who’d taken her out. “Call for a fucking ambulance.”
The officer was already speaking into his radio, giving an address for the rescue squad. Cody petted her shoulder, not knowing where else he could safely touch her. He wished Doc were here. His friend would know what to do.
He leaned close to her ear. “Wake up, darlin’. We were supposed to watch the sunset together, but that’s all right. We can do that some other time. You just need to wake up.”
She moaned.
Let her be okay, he prayed, something he hadn’t done since they’d lost Evan Prescott on an operation in Afghanistan. His prayer hadn’t work then, but he refused to go there. Sirens sounded in the distance. The cop knelt on the other side of her, and Cody glared at him for getting close to her.
The cop glared right back. “Hey, man, I know she prefers you, but she’s still my friend. Don’t be an ass.”
Cody gave a terse nod as he took Riley’s hand in his. Her skin felt so damn cold and clammy. “Why haven’t you caught who’s doing this?” he demanded. If the cops had done their job, Riley would be sitting on his porch, drinking her slushy beer while he fed her grapes.
“Why hasn’t K2?” the man retorted.
The hell? Cody jerked his gaze up. “What do you know about K2?” And if the dude didn’t wipe that smirk off his face, Cody was going to do it for him.
“Not as much as I’d like. When she told me it was her neighbor she was interested in, meaning not me, I ran a check on you. Whoever you people are, you’re downright spooky. I’m a cop. I should be able to find out anything I need to know about you, but I was blocked at every turn. That tells me you’re a black ops operation.”
When the cop paused, no doubt waiting for Cody to confirm his guess, Cody stayed quiet.
“Yeah, I didn’t expect an answer. I’m Mike Kilpatrick. Not yet ready to say nice to meet you, Cody Roberts. Depends on how you treat the lady.”
If the man didn’t shut up, Cody was going to put him flat on his ass. That he’d treat Riley bad in any way was an insult.So you didn’t mean it when you said for however long it lasted? You didn’t think that would hurt her?Okay, so short term he had no intention of hurting her, but long term? He probably would. After he knocked the cop into tomorrow, he’d do the same to himself.
A rescue squad truck sped up, closely followed by an ambulance. The EMTs pushed him aside, checked her vitals, put a neck brace on her, and then loaded her on a stretcher. Cody watched as they closed the back doors of the ambulance behind them, whisking Riley away. He felt like his damn heart had been torn out of his chest.
“Where you going?”
Cody picked up Riley’s phone and purse. “To the hospital. Why don’t you do your damn job and find out who did this to her.”
“I plan to,” the man said, not seeming to take offense.
So did Cody, and when he found the person responsible, they were going to have the worst day of their life.
At the emergency room, no one would tell him anything because he wasn’t a relation. To keep from going on a rampage and tearing the place apart to get to her, he went to a chair that had a view of anyone coming or going. From there, he could see if they moved her.
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his fingers touching her phone. Curious how she’d been coherent enough to dial his number as hurt as she was, he nosed around in her contact list. When he found that her clinic was number one on autodial, that didn’t surprise him. What did was that he was number two. All she’d had to do was push one number to call him, which answered one question, anyway. But he had a whole slew of others. He hoped to God that she’d gotten a good look at the bastard’s face.
Riley smelled antiseptic, but that was a common odor in her practice. Was she in her clinic? If she’d fallen asleep at her desk and missed her date with Cody, she was going to be royally mad at herself. Although her eyes felt like they’d been glued together, she managed to crack one open, then the other.
The first thing she saw was Cody’s face looming over her, and the second thing was Mike’s on the opposite side of her bed. Why were they in her bedroom? She tried to frown at them, but gave up when a searing pain in the back of her head made her want to throw up. To hell with them, she thought, and promptly fell back to sleep.
“Go do your job and find who hurt her.”
Cody?
“We don’t have anything to go on. I need to talk to her when she wakes up, see what she remembers. Why don’t you go home? I’ll make sure someone calls you when she comes to.”
That sounded like Mike.
