Page 40 of Closer Than You Know (Vera Boyett #2)

Lincoln Medical Center

Medical Center Boulevard, Fayetteville, 4:00 p.m.

Vera’s eyes opened. Eve was staring down at her. Vera managed a smile, though she felt seriously loopy.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Eve said.

Vera laughed a rusty sound. Her side hurt, and she winced. She lifted the blanket and stared down at the hospital gown. “Any serious damage?” She looked to her sister.

“Just a lot of blood and stitches.”

Vera studied the bandages on her arms. She remembered some of the stitching. Mostly she remembered Bent being there and how worried he’d looked.

She glanced around the room. She was still in the ER. Good. She did not want to be admitted. She wanted to go home. The sooner the better. “Where’s Bent?”

“He had to go see the Riggs family and tell them about their son—the deputy that bastard killed. He almost killed another one, too—the one watching the house—but he survived. Thank God.” Eve drew in a big breath. “Now he and Eric are holding a press conference in front of the hospital. They had no choice. Reporters had taken over the lobby. It was crazy. They were shouting your name.”

“Seriously? Were they planning to hang me?” Oh God, every part of her hurt.

“No,” Eve scolded. “They all know you’re a hero.”

Vera thought of Patricia Patton and her cameraman. And Deputy Riggs. Damn. She was not a hero. People had died. “What about Patrick?”

“He’s locked down in a room.” Eve eased onto the edge of the exam table. “Apparently you gave him a pretty bad concussion, so he’s under observation.”

“I should have killed the son of a bitch.” She remembered thinking that exact same thing last time ... except it had been about his grandfather. Such a twisted family. Then again, hers wasn’t exactly ideal. The thought made her head hurt. God, she was sore.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the photos.”

Vera looked up at her sister. She was no longer the thirtysomething grumpy mortician. Instead, here was the little girl who’d stood at the door soaking wet and not knowing what to do about their dead stepmother on the bathroom floor. Vera thought of all the little cuts that bastard had inflicted on her torso.

“Forget about that,” Vera argued. “Are you okay?” She tried to sit up and grimaced at the pain.

Eve helped her rise the rest of the way up. “I’m okay. Nothing too deep. It took a while for the grogginess of the drug he used to wear off.”

Vera moved a little to find a better position on this damned hard-ass examination table. Treatment rooms weren’t designed for comfort. She finally decided to lean back against the wall. No matter what she did, the pain was still there. Oh well, at least they were alive.

“Yeah. It takes a minute.” She studied her sister a moment. “I love you, Eve. Nothing else matters, okay?” She frowned. “Has anyone called Luna?”

It suddenly felt like forever since Vera had seen her baby sister.

“Bent called her. He told her not to come to the hospital because of all the reporters.” Eve tidied Vera’s hair. “Look, I can’t just forget about it. Mainly because when all this has calmed down, you won’t be able to stop thinking about it. You think you will, but you won’t. So just hear me out, okay?”

Vera nodded, not sure she wanted to know the details. Sometimes it felt like she knew too many bad things already. Her mind desperately needed a major helping of good, or at least a break from all the bad.

“Mama said she couldn’t bear the pain anymore. She’d had that last chemo treatment, and we all—including her—knew she didn’t have much time. She wanted me to help her. She said she wanted to take a bath and she wanted to go to sleep. She took extra pain pills. The plan was I would leave her in the tub, and she would go to sleep and slide under the water. Then it would all be over. She said it would be better for everyone. That she wouldn’t be in pain anymore and we could be happy again. She promised.” Eve closed her eyes against the shine of tears.

Vera struggled to restrain her own. “I’m sorry she put that burden on you. You were way too young to deal with something like that. It should have been me.”

“I guess she thought I would be okay because of how I understand dead people.”

Vera supposed that made a sort of sense. But still, their mother should have considered what she was asking an eleven-year-old child to do. Possibly that last chemo treatment had messed with her ability to reason. Or maybe the long-term use of powerful pain meds.

“When she woke up, spitting and sputtering water,” Eve went on, “she just kept trying to do it, but she couldn’t stay under the water. She asked me to help her.” Her voice had softened to a near whisper now. “But I couldn’t do it.” She picked at her fingernails. “I just couldn’t. So Suri did it for me.”

Vera held her breath for a moment. She wasn’t sure she trusted herself to breathe, much less to speak.

“Mama begged us, Vee. I guess she was desperate. She knew she would go any day, and she was just tired of the pain.”

Vera nodded. “Of course she was.” She reached out, ignored the fiery twinge the movement generated, and hugged her sister. “You and Suri did what she wanted you to do. I’m just sorry you had to carry that burden all this time.”

How perfectly horrible for her sister. Vera only wished she had known and could have helped. All these years Eve had lived with that nightmare. Anguish squeezed her heart. Made her wish she knew the right words to say to make it better. But she wasn’t sure that was possible.

Eve drew back, searched Vera’s eyes. “After it was over, I was so torn up. It was like, I had murdered my own mama. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and I couldn’t tell you. I was afraid you wouldn’t understand.” She shook her head. “All I could think was that Mama had lied because it didn’t feel better.”

“I understand.” Vera ached for her. “It was a terrible thing you had to do, but it was her wish, and that’s all that matters.” She pulled her sister close again and hugged her hard, no matter how much it hurt. “I would have done the same thing. I promise.” Tears sprang to her eyes, and she struggled to hold them back. Eve didn’t need tears; she needed her big sister to be strong for her.

They held each other for a long time. Vera just wanted the past to stop haunting them. It was time they were able to move on without looking back. Maybe now they could.

A rap sounded on the door just before it opened. Bent poked his head in. “You ready to go home?”

Vera had never been more ready in her life. She gave Eve one last squeeze. “Yes. Please.”

Bent walked in, Eric right behind him.

“Hey,” she said. “Looks like we got him.” But, dear God, the cost. Patricia Patton ... Mike Brown ... Deputy Riggs. Damn it. Her heart ached for their families.

Eric gave her a gentle hug. “ You got him, Vera. Patrick Solomon is going away for the rest of his life.”

“Good.” She wished she could see the look on Palmer’s face when he heard the news.

“We think,” Bent said, “we have a deeper understanding of why Solomon was eager to work with you to stop his grandson.”

Vera scoffed. “I’m not sure I would give him any credit at all. That goat farm he told me about turned out to be a ruse.”

“True,” Bent admitted. He looked to Jones. “Why don’t you explain the rest?”

Jones gave Bent a nod. “Patrick killed his mother several weeks ago. We think just before he came here to start watching you. The consensus is that he had some sort of breakdown, and maybe Solomon was actually trying to stop Patrick, given he had murdered his daughter.”

She studied Eric a moment. Sounded reasonable anyway. “I suppose time will tell.” She made a sad face. “I guess this means you’ll be heading back.”

“I am. I have work to do, and Anna is anxious to have me back home.”

Vera hugged him. “I expect to be invited to the wedding.”

“Count on it.” He shook Bent’s hand. “Good working with you, Bent.”

“Thank you for the assist, Eric.”

Vera liked that her two favorite men seemed to have made friends.

When Eric was gone, Bent turned to her. “You wearing that home?”

Vera laughed. “No way. If you’ll get out of here, I’ll ...” She frowned. Where were her clothes?

Bent snapped his fingers. “Damn. I think they cut your clothes off when you first arrived.”

Vera groaned.

Another light knock on the door, and it opened. “Got those scrubs for you, Sheriff.” A nurse walked in holding a bag and smiling for Bent as if he were her idol.

“Thanks, Shelly.” He accepted the bag. “Much appreciated.”

She glanced at Vera and Eve, but her gaze lingered on Bent. “Let me know if you need anything else.” Then she was gone.

Vera resisted the urge to shake her head. The man could charm anyone. She held out her hand for the bag.

He handed it to her and stepped out of the room.

Eve helped her dress in the scrubs. It was a slow, uncomfortable process. Luckily she still had her sneakers.

“We match,” Vera said, only then realizing that Eve was wearing the same green scrubs. Well, of course she was. Her clothes had been missing or all bloody as well.

“Just like twins,” Eve teased.

Vera smiled at her. “We will always be more than sisters, Eve. Best friends. That’s what we are. Forever.”

“Damn straight.” Eve hugged her once more, making Vera wince.

Before walking out, Vera had a quick glance in the mirror. The reflection there was horrifying. She washed the remaining blood and dirt from her face while Eve finger combed her hair. Then they joined Bent in the corridor.

“Is it okay if Suri and I stay at the farm tonight?” Eve asked as they started along the wide corridor, with its white tile floors and shiny white walls.

“Absolutely,” Vera confirmed. “It’s your farm too.”

“Just a heads-up,” Eve added, “Luna’s doing a big surprise birthday party for you. She’s been working on it ever since she got word we were coming home.”

“Got my invitation an hour ago,” Bent tossed in.

Vera groaned. Forty sucked already.

“We’re going out the staff entrance,” Bent said, directing their forward journey.

Vera suddenly had a thought. She knew exactly how she wanted to spend the rest of her birthday. “You should stay tonight too.” Vera looked to Bent. “The Boyett sisters always seem to be in need of a hero.” She moistened her lips. “Some more than others.”

He chuckled. “I think the only hero in all this is you.”

Vera just laughed at the idea. She put her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “Just say yes,” she encouraged. “It is my birthday after all.” She might as well embrace the crazy.

“It will be my honor,” he assured her. Then he suddenly stopped and reached into a pocket. He withdrew a cell phone and handed it to her. “You left your phone in your SUV.”

“Oh.” She made a face. “Thanks.”

She had several missed calls, but the latest notification was a text message.

Unknown number.

Thank you for not killing my grandson. Stopping him was essential. He could not control his urges and he stole away my beautiful Pamela. Bravo to you, Vera. Now you can sleep at night ... at least until the next monster finds you.

Palmer Solomon. Bastard.

Vera wasn’t ruining this moment by mentioning the text. In fact, she decided it was time for a new number.

She slid her free arm around Bent’s waist and rested her head against his shoulder. No question there would likely be a next time. Helping find the bad guys was her job.

And she might not be a hero, but she was damned good at her job.