Page 17 of Chaos & Carnage
“You saw him too?” I asked.
“Only after Gemma raised the alarm. Got straight onto the cameras.”
“Anything you noticed about his tattoos? Any design?”
“No. They just seemed a bit abstract. Like separate from the rest of the tattoos. Just didn’t fit.”
Caleb glanced at me and cocked an eyebrow.
“What’s the chances you ladies can get me that CCTV?”
The taller nurse shook her head and doe eyes looked like she’d taken a step back.
“We can’t. That could cost us our jobs.”
“But you might suddenly have to rush off to look after a patient and leave this station unattended with the CCTV camera footage open?” Caleb gave them a lop-sided grin, pushing his hand back through his hair.
This was the first time I’d noticed how good my brother was at this. The shorter nurse bit her lip and glanced at her friend.
“No. I’m sorry. We couldn’t do that,” Doe-eyes looked at us apologetically.
“No course not. Wouldn’t want to get you ladies into any bother.” Caleb grinned, his face full of mischief, and his eyes locked on the short brunette. “Thank you, though. Again. Thank you for saving Demon. If there’s any way we could thank you properly, you just let us know.”
Caleb moved his jacket, pushing his hand into the pocket of his jeans, letting the tight t-shirt cling to his lower torso. The waistband sank slightly under the weight of his arm, an inch of skin exposed between the t-shirt and the sag of denim.
We turned to retreat, no further forward identifying the man who’d made another attempt on Demon. That bothered me, because someone knew he was still alive. Someone coming to correct their mistake. The soft pad of feet behind me that took me from my thoughts, a sudden smell of floral perfume.
It was the taller nurse who’d hurried behind us. She held out her hand, shoving a folded-up piece of paper towards Caleb.
“I can get you stills of the CCTV. Call me.” She smiled nervously, her eyes raking over his face.
Caleb reached for the paper, taking hold of the end and pausing, his eyes never leaving hers, a grin forming on his face.
“Thanks, babe,” he cooed again, his voice low and soft. “I’ll call ya later.”
The nurse chewed on her bottom lip. Nervousness or an attempt at looking sexy, I wasn’t sure.
“What do you reckon, Cade?” Caleb lowered his voice as we walked away from the nurses and the nursing station in the middle of the ward. “Reckon you’re up for some action tonight? We haven’t got laid in ages.”
“Days, Caleb. It’s only been days.”
“That’s fucking ages. We go round, get the CCTV images, get sucked off. Job’s a good ‘un’.”
I rolled my eyes and strode away, back to the bodies in leather at the end of Demon’s room.
“What?” my brother called out from behind me.
Chapter Eight
The last client left, their cat tucked up happily in their little plastic pet carrier, a smug look on its furry face. I clasped my arm, the sting of claws under the long sleeves of my white top, and the pinpricks of red just leaking through the fabric. It hadn’t been the first injury of the day. An irate hamster had chomped down hard on my finger, a puncture wound now covered with a plaster, but growing hotter and angrier by the minute, and an anxious dog had darted away from me unexpectedly, the nylon and synthetic mix of the lead burning the skin across my right palm.
“Stuart’s doing tonight’s emergencies isn’t he?” Abbie asked, restocking the downstairs drugs cabinet with vials of vaccines.
“He said so.” I typed the last of my notes into the boxy, ancient computer that sat on the bench alongside.
“Do you want to do something?”
“Ewan not coming over?”