Page 16 of Ice Cold Liar (Ice Breaker Cold Case #14)

Chapter Eight

“The trip to the hospital was completely unnecessary.” Naomi sniffed. “Like, do you even have any idea how expensive the ambulance ride alone will be for me?” As if she needed an extra expense to add to her current troubles.

“I’ll take care of any bills,” Eb growled.

They stood in the hospital’s parking lot. Dawn was coming, sending streaks of red across the sky. For a moment, she got lost in that redness. Looked like blood. What was that old saying? Her dad used to quote it every time he saw that tell-tale red…

“ Red sky at night. Sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning. Sailor take warning…”

Her father had grown up along the Florida coast. She’d lived there, too. Had spent so many days jumping into those gorgeous, emerald waters when she’d been a little kid. She’d been happy back then.

But things had changed.

“When a seizure lasts for five minutes, a trip to the hospital is absolutely necessary.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that long. Not like you were counting.” Her whole body felt bone weary. The responding physician had tried to keep her for observation. She’d refused. Again… expensive. She would also not be letting Eb foot any of her bills.

“I was watching you every moment.”

Yes, she knew it. He’d seen everything. No hiding. Did he have any clue how vulnerable she felt when the seizures hit? When her body jerked like a puppet on a string and she could do nothing to control the desperate movements?

“You told the doctor you’d had seizures all your life.”

Of course, Eb had heard that part. He’d been beside her every single moment.

“Yep. Started when I was a kid. Hoped I’d grow out of them.

Some people do, you know.” She hadn’t been one of the lucky ones.

Her parents had tried to take care of her.

But, when they’d been gone…a few of her foster families had freaked over the seizures.

One lady in particular had thought Naomi had been possessed by the devil when her eyes started rolling back in her head.

“They don’t come that often.” And maybe I do have a bit of the devil in me.

“When was the last one before this episode?”

Episode? Naomi snorted. Not like it was a TV show.

“Where is your car? I know you followed the ambulance in it. If you could just drive me back to the guesthouse…” Though, frankly, she hated the thought of staying there.

“If you could drive me back, I’d really appreciate it. ” There. Had that been polite enough?

“My car is this way.” He caught her hand.

At his touch, that same, wild charge went right through her.

A charge, an awareness that should not be happening.

She was dead on her feet. Ha. Let’s not imagine that.

Exhaustion pulled at her, as it always did after a seizure.

She wanted to tumble into the comfort of sleep, but this wasn’t exactly a safe sleep spot.

“You need to rest,” he murmured.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” She let him lead her to the sidewalk and toward the car that waited. Blessedly, not too far from them. The nurse had wanted to wheel her out in a chair. Naomi had balked. The nurse had argued. Been adamant about hospital protocol.

In the end, they’d compromised. The nurse had wheeled her to the sliding doors in the lobby. Then Naomi leapt out of the chair.

“I could have brought the car to you,” Eb said.

“We’re already here.” And they were.

“I mean…you didn’t have to walk out. You could have been wheeled to the exit and then straight to my car and?—”

She turned on him. “I can walk on my own. Don’t you dare start pitying me.

” Her hand snatched from his, but mostly just so she could jab an index finger into his chest. A chest that was covered by a soft, black t-shirt.

“I had a seizure. Thousands of people have them every single day. Don’t you start treating me like I’m going to shatter at any moment. I am not. ”

“No shattering. Noted.” He looked down at her poking finger. “When was the last time you had a seizure before this one?”

She pulled her hand back. “Why do you have a classic car?” She eyed the ride.

Black, sleek, and beautiful. “At first, I thought it was a ‘67.” He’d brought clothes for her, thank goodness.

Not like she wanted to rush around in those two t-shirts forever.

Now she wore jeans, a gray blouse, and sneakers.

The sneakers made no sound as she padded across the pavement.

The wet pavement. Because while she’d been rushed to the hospital, the threatened storm had finally erupted.

Now the storm had passed, and all that was left were the wet puddles on the pavement.

After dodging a few of those puddles, Naomi reached the passenger side of his ride.

An impressive ride, she’d give him that.

“Like I said, at first, I thought it was a ‘67. But the ‘67 has a bumper that’s flatter. In the front and back, it’s flatter.” She eyed his classic car.

Such a thing of beauty. “This one has a more streamlined front. The corners of the grill meet the bumper.” A critical assessment, then, “And the hood is a wee bit longer.

Definitely a ‘68 Impala. Not a ‘67.” She nodded.

“The corner pieces of the grill are the big tell.”

He unlocked the car. Opened the passenger door for her. “So in addition to everything else, you’re a classic car expert.”

She had to laugh as she slid inside. The laughter felt oddly good after the night from hell. “Actually, I’m a Supernatural expert.”

His brows shot up. “What?”

A sigh escaped her as she leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. “Get in the car.”

He shut the door. A moment later, she heard the driver’s side door open and felt him slide into the Impala with her. Her eyes remained closed as he started the car.

“What kind of expert are you again?” Eb asked.

“A Supernatural one. As in, Sam and Dean from the unforgettable TV show.” Her life-long bad-boy addiction had made her fall for Dean instantly. “The main character, Dean—he drove a ‘67 Impala. So I may have learned a bit about the car.”

“Sounds like you learned more than a bit.”

Horror sank through her. “Oh, no.” Her eyes flew open. Her head swiveled his way as she gaped at him. “Do you have a brother?” Hudson had never mentioned much about Eb’s family.

“Actually, yeah, I do have a brother.”

Again… “Oh, no.”

“Why is that a problem? I happen to love my brother.”

She tugged at the seatbelt she’d pulled over herself. “Of course, you do. Because you’re too much like freaking Dean and that may explain why I have the urge to jump you.”

Eb cleared his throat. “You’re gonna need to explain more. Especially about the jumping me part.”

No, she should not explain more. Instead, she should end the conversation before things were said that she could not take back with her currently loose lips.

“I’m tired.” Way more than just tired. “I am not thinking clearly. I have none of my usual control. I will be collapsing ASAP.” A worry rose, making her heart race.

“Where is Henry? Tell me that he’s safe?—”

“Relax.”

“You relax,” she snapped right back even as her whole body ached, and she wished that she could relax. Oh, if only.

“Jeffrey has Henry.”

“Who in the world is Jeffrey?”

“The firefighter? The one with the impressive mustache? The one who realized right away that Henry wasn’t just an ordinary dog? Jeffrey Lee.”

She sniffed. “There will never be anything ordinary about Henry.” That dog was her superhero.

“Jeffrey was on the scene when you were hauled out of the guesthouse.”

Her memories of that scene were pretty foggy. Eb had been shouting orders. And demanding that she be okay. He’d gripped her hand until she’d been loaded into the back of the ambulance. That part she remembered quite vividly. One of the EMTs had pried her hand from Eb’s.

“Jeffrey agreed to watch your dog.”

“I’ll have to thank your new firefighting best friend for his pet sitting service.”

Eb turned the wheel. His long, strong fingers flew over the surface.

She swallowed. Why was it oddly sexy to watch those powerful fingers spin that wheel?

“He knew before you actually had the seizure. Henry knew, I mean.”

“Now you get why I wanted him back so badly. That dog is worth his weight in gold.” She just wanted to curl up into a ball and crash. To know that she was safe and didn’t have to worry for a while. “Had to get him back.” She’d been so desperate. “Golden Retrievers have a great sense of smell.”

“That’s how he knew the seizure was coming? He could smell the difference with you?” A whistle. “That’s freaking amazing.”

“That’s Henry.” She loved that dog. “A friend helped me get him in Vegas.”

“Hudson knew that Henry was your epileptic service dog.”

She pressed her lips together. Epileptic service dog. Seizure alert dog. Seizure response dog. Lots of names that all equaled the same thing. Her superhero dog, Henry.

Naomi had discovered that, in this world, you couldn’t trust a man. He’d let you down. But a dog? Again, worth his weight in gold.

“Why would Hudson tell Ivan to take your dog, knowing how important he was to you?”

“Probably because your partner wasn’t the superstar that you keep believing him to be.” Hadn’t she told him about Memphis’s visit? Naomi was pretty sure that she had. But things were a bit blurry thanks to the seizure. “Did you miss the serial killer part?” Maybe she should review it for him.

“I get that Memphis Camden is an Ice Breaker, but he was dead wrong. Hudson isn’t—wasn’t—a serial killer. I think that kind of thing would have popped up in the agency’s psych evaluation. They have the best shrinks in the world there.”

“They also have the best actors in the world. People who know how to become someone different in the blink of an eye.” Naomi studied his profile. “People like you.”

“I’m confused.” Actually, Eb sounded stiffly polite as he asked, “Did you just imply that I’m a serial killer?”

“Are you?” Naomi tossed right back.

“No.” His grip tightened on the wheel.

“Good to know.” He had a great profile. Strong nose. Hard jaw. Square and perfectly cut. Lined with stubble now because they’d spent all night together. Mostly together, anyway. “What’s your brother’s name?”

“What?”

“Your brother.” Going back to her Supernatural obsession. “What’s his name?” She could almost imagine Eb saying?—

“You seriously want my brother’s name? Now?”

Seriously, she did. It was why she’d asked. Naomi bit her lip, then just had to question, “By any chance, is his name Sam? Sammy?”

“What?” Again, the same bark. Then, “No. His name is Jake.”

A tough, strong name. “Are you older than Jake?”

“Yes. By all of two minutes and forty-three seconds. Dammit, why are you so interested in my family all of a sudden?”

Her eyes widened. “You have a twin ?”

“Sure do.”

“As in, identical? Or fraternal?” No way. No way could there be someone else walking about with that gorgeous, but oddly dangerous and intent-looking face. That would be too impossible. Too amazing.

“Identical. But you should be warned, Jake doesn’t have my easy-going personality.”

Laughter spilled from her.

He seemed to tense. “God, that’s a gorgeous sound.”

Could a sound be gorgeous?

“A real laugh from you. I like it.” He’d braked at a stop sign. “But I wasn’t bullshitting. Everyone always thinks that Jake is the dark and intense one. I’m the fun twin.”

“Well, everyone is wrong. You’re clearly extra dark and intense beneath that killer smile you enjoy tossing around like confetti.

The bigger the smile, the darker the soul.

And that dimple is just damn deceptive. Makes you look all sexy and fun when you’re clearly the opposite deep inside.

” A hard exhale. “The bigger the smile, the darker the soul,” she repeated.

He accelerated. “I don’t think that’s a thing.”

“It’s one hundred percent a thing.” She yawned. “Hudson said he hadn’t killed them.” Sleep tugged at her. How much sleep had she gotten that night? Maybe an hour before the fire? If that long? Add in the hard toll the seizure had taken on her body…

I am crashing…

“Naomi?”

She jumped. Her eyes fluttered open.

“Hudson told you he wasn’t guilty?”

“Yes. But he was lying.” Her eyelids sagged closed.

“How do you know?”

Her breath whispered out.

“Naomi.”

Her lashes fluttered. She was confused. Disoriented. And…still in the car? She fumbled and pushed against the seatbelt. Had she fallen asleep for a moment?

“When was the last time you had a seizure? The doctor asked, and I asked but you didn’t say. How long was it before this one?”

“My wedding night.” Another yawn. Couldn’t the man just let her sleep?

She heard a curse. Her eyes had fallen closed again. “Wake me up when we get there,” she murmured. The words tumbled out all at the same time. Wakemeupwhen…

“You had a seizure on your wedding night? Did Hudson help you? Did you lose consciousness? Is that what happened? You lost consciousness and never saw the killer and you just gave the cops some story about being gone and an intruder attacking him?”

Her eyes reluctantly opened. Her stare locked on his profile once more.

He gripped the steering wheel far too hard.

Poor Eb. He thought he’d just solved the big mystery.

She hated to disappoint him, but he needed to understand who his friend had truly been.

“Hudson didn’t help me. He watched me suffer. Wanted me to beg. I didn’t beg.”

“Naomi. ”

“The mask fell away. He didn’t love me. He wanted to control me. He wanted to hurt me. He did hurt me. But now Hudson can’t hurt anyone.”

Stunned silence.

“Believe me or not. Your choice.” Her breath drifted out on a sigh.

Eb didn’t ask any other questions. Good. Because she didn’t have more answers to give.

Naomi let her eyes drift shut once more.