Page 9 of My One and Only (Blackhawk Security #10)

C am’s head ached as if someone had swung a baseball bat at it. Like they were hitting a World-Series-winning homer. Every time the ambulance hit a bump, pain exploded through his skull and he closed his eyes and bit back a groan.

Jo had been there at the accident. She hadn’t been in the truck with him. Was she the one who’d hit him?

He forced himself to focus. No. Not Jo. It had been another pickup truck. Jo drove a crappy little tin can of a car. Her car would have bounced off his truck like a mouse throwing itself at an elephant.

He swallowed the sudden fist in his throat. What if Fiona had been in the truck with him? In her car seat in the back row. She could have been seriously injured. Or worse.

He closed his eyes and told himself Fiona was safely in school. Nowhere near this accident. But the truth was, if it had happened earlier, she would have been in the truck.

And why was Jo there at the accident scene? He struggled to remember where he’d been going, and finally retrieved the memory. He and Jo were going to look at her mom’s house. So maybe she’d been behind him. Maybe she’d seen it happen.

Had Jo’s tiny little car been hit as well? He wanted to sit up and ask the EMT riding in the back of the ambulance with him, but the effort made him groan with pain and fall back onto the gurney.

The EMT leaned closer. “You doing okay? Anything you need?”

“There was a woman at the accident,” he said, speaking slowly so he could concentrate on getting the right words out. “Was she injured, too?”

“No, her car wasn’t hit. But she was right behind you, so she saw what happened. I heard her talking to the police and telling them how it went down.”

“Okay. Thanks,” he said, and realized he was slurring his words.

He wanted to tell this EMT to turn around and take him home. He needed to be with Fiona, so she wouldn’t worry about him. After Ashley had died, she’d been clingy. Easily upset. He didn’t want her to freak out about him not being home. But even with his brain rattled in his head, he knew the EMTs wouldn’t take him anywhere but to a hospital.

He had a vague memory of a cool hand touching his face. Soothing his aching head and neck. Jo? Maybe? Something eased inside him, flattening the sharp edges of pain.

He closed his eyes and focused on blocking out the pain. He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, the ambulance doors were open and the EMTs were lifting his gurney out of the truck.

The one who’d ridden in the back with him touched his arm. “Good luck, buddy,” he said.

“Thanks,” Cam managed to say. Then they transferred him to another gurney, moving him down a hallway. He stared at the white ceiling, counting the sprinkler fixtures as they passed. The gurney turned left, and he was in a small room.

A doctor poked and prodded at him, focusing on his head. He shone a light into his eyes, and Cam turned his head away from the pain it caused.

Then the doctor asked him to read a card held in front of Cam’s face, and he rattled off the words. Someone wheeled an x-ray machine into the room, and they took X-rays of his head from several different directions. Then the doctor said, “I’m sending you for a CT scan. I want to get a good look at your brain.”

“Okay,” Cam said, closing his eyes. He thought about Fiona, about holding her in his arms and inhaling her scent. He needed to see her so badly. To make sure she was safe.

Of course she was safe. She hadn’t been in the truck with him. She was in school. And he wouldn’t let his mom bring Fiona to the hospital. She would be completely freaked out to see her father lying on a gurney, helpless.

The CT scan was painless. All he had to do was hold still, which was all he wanted to do anyway. When they wheeled him toward the emergency room cubicle, he saw Jo, sitting on a chair and scrolling through her phone.

As soon as they wheeled him into the room, Jo jumped to her feet. “Cam! Are you all right? What did the doctor say?”

“Not much,” Cam mumbled. “Just had a CT scan. Making sure my brain was still where it belonged.”

Jo gave him a weak smile. “Ah, the Cam I remember.” Her smile fell away. “Are you gonna have to stay for the night?”

God, he hoped not . “No idea,” he said. “They haven’t told me squat.”

She edged closer to him. “Cam, I think your accident was no accident. I think the truck that hit you was waiting for you to come along. I was right behind you and saw it happen. Do you know anyone with a blue Dodge Ram 2500?”

“What are you talking about, Jo? It was an accident.”

“Not from where I was sitting. That truck had been sitting there for at least several minutes. But as soon as you stopped, then started through the intersection, that truck took off. Looked like he sped up right before he hit you. I think it was deliberate.” She leaned closer and touched his arm. “The license plates were covered with mud. So no one could read them.”

Cam began to shake his head. Froze. Don’t do that . “Lots of trucks are muddy,” he managed to get out. “That’s the point of having a truck. You don’t care if it gets dirty.”

“Yeah, I get it, but you can usually see a few of the numbers and letters on the plate. Not on this truck. Front and back were completely covered up. Like someone had deliberately smeared mud on it.”

“Why would someone want to hit my truck?” he asked, frowning at Jo.

She put her hand on his arm, and her fingers were warm. Comforting. Just like her cool fingers from earlier. He wanted her to leave them there. “Possibly because of what you found at my mom’s new house. And at other houses. Maybe whoever is responsible doesn’t want you looking into it.”

Cam frowned at her. “That’s… that’s veering into crazy conspiracy territory, Jo. Hard to believe someone would try to injure me to stop me from looking into the problems with those houses.”

“I’m not accusing anyone of doing anything, Cam. But I do find it odd that someone targeted you right after you discovered what was going on in your houses.” She leaned toward him, her elbows on her knees. “Have you considered how much money must be involved? I’m guessing a lot. Your investigation is probably costing someone a lot of money.”

He began to shake his head. Stopped immediately when pain roared through him. “I don’t know, Jo.” He tried to smile, but suspected it was more of a grimace. “I’ll keep that in mind, but it seems… seems like a TV movie plot.”

She put her hand on his arm again, and he put his hand over hers to hold it there. “I’m going to be here for another week. If you’re interested, I’ll be your bodyguard. No cost, of course. A favor for an old friend.” She tightened her fingers around his arm. “It really freaked me out when I saw that truck charge through the intersection toward you. When it hit you, it sounded like a sonic boom. I want to make sure you’re protected.”

He opened his mouth to answer, but she put two fingers over his lips. He noticed how smooth they were. How soft. “No decisions now,” she said. “But keep it in mind. If you decide to take me up on my offer, I’ll sit down with you and explain exactly what I do.”

“That’s… that’s very generous of you. I’m sure you normally get paid a lot to be a bodyguard.”

“I get a salary. My bosses set the price for my services. And I’ve never asked them how much they charge. But that’s irrelevant, because you wouldn’t be paying anything.”

The door to the cubicle opened and the doctor he’d seen after he arrived walked in the room. “I just got the results of your x-rays and CT scan,” he said. “Everything looks normal. No broken facial bones. No bleeding in your brain. I think you’re gonna be fine, but I want to keep you overnight so we can check you frequently. Take another CT scan tomorrow morning. If everything looks good, we’ll release you then.”

He didn’t want to stay in the hospital overnight. Fiona would be freaked out. And he wanted to be with her. Make sure she knew he was fine. “What if I promised to come back tomorrow for another CT scan. Could I go home tonight?”

Before he’d even finished speaking, the doctor was shaking his head. “Sorry, but that’s not going to happen. You can’t go home. You need overnight observation. If you’re here, we can check you through the night. Make sure you haven’t developed a brain bleed.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “And if we do find something? We’ll need to get you into surgery immediately.”

He wouldn’t be home for Fiona. What would he tell her? How could he reassure her that he wouldn’t die like her mother?

“Maybe my friend here will smuggle me out,” he said, only half-joking.

Jo immediately shook her head. “Not happening, pal. I want to make sure you’re okay. And the only way to insure that is if you stay here.”

“Ganging up on me, huh?” he said. He closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”

“No, Cam, you don’t.” Jo leaned closer. “What if one of your friends, or one of your family members, had a car accident and this was the scenario. Wouldn’t you want them to stay here?”

He thought about Fiona. If, God forbid, she was in an accident and had a head injury, would he want her in the hospital? Hell, yes.

And what if he was stubborn and insisted on going home and ended up dying. What would happen to his precious daughter?

“Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll stay. But I don’t like it.”

“So noted,” the doctor said, his voice dry. “I’ll put that in the paperwork. ‘Patient staying under duress.’”

“I’m gonna leave, Cam, and let you get some sleep,” Jo said. “But I’ll pick you up and take you home tomorrow.”

Without waiting for Cam’s agreement, she turned to the doctor. “What time will he be released?”

“Late morning or early afternoon,” the doctor said.

“I’ll be here at ten.” She turned back to Cam. “Cut the doctors and the nurses some slack, Cam. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She lifted one hand, smiled at him and disappeared through the door. Silence settled over the room, which seemed smaller without Jo’s presence. Cam moved his head slowly until he was looking at the doctor. “You guarantee that I’ll be released tomorrow morning?”

“Hell, no,” the doctor said. “Depends on what happens overnight. But if all goes well and the CT scan tomorrow morning doesn’t show any brain bleeds, you’re probably good to go.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Cam knew his tone of voice was clipped. Irritated. But he was angry he had to stay. He understood why the doctor was insisting, but he’d never been away from Fiona overnight and hated that she would worry. Because he knew she would. And that his parents would have to either have her stay at their house, or they’d have to stay at his.

Struggling to sit up as his head spun, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and called his mother. Thank God Fiona was still in school. The phone shrilled several times, and he’d tightened his grip before she answered.

“Hey, Cam. What’s up?” she asked, her voice cheerful.

“Hi, Mom,” he began. “I, ah, had a car accident this morning. Someone T-boned me. Fortunately, he missed the driver’s side door and hit behind me, but I banged my head on the steering wheel. I’m at Delnor. All the tests have come back fine, but I have to stay here tonight. So they can make sure I don’t develop a brain bleed. If everything’s good, I’ll go home tomorrow.”

She gasped, then drew in a deep breath. “Well, you’ve always had a hard head. No worries then, right?”

He heard her effort to lighten the atmosphere and closed his eyes.

“Yeah, thank God it was only my head that got banged up. I’ve had an x-ray and a CT scan, and they’re both good. But they want to check me during the night, then do another CT scan before I leave.”

She drew in a deep breath. “You’ve always been too much of a tough guy, Cam. Take it easy on the doctors and nurses, okay? I don’t want to hear stories about what a pain in the ass my kid is.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll behave myself. Can’t do much else. And don’t worry about me. They’re keeping me here to cover their asses so I don’t sue them if I drop dead overnight.”

His mom sucked in a shocked breath, and he said quickly, “Just kidding Mom. Too soon, huh?”

“Yes, Cameron, way too soon.”

Oh, oh, she’d brought out the Cameron. She was worried. And pissed. “Sorry, Mom. Give Fee a kiss for me and tell her I’ll see her tomorrow.”

“What am I supposed to tell her?” his mom asked.

“Tell her the truth. If she freaks out, bring her over to Delnor so she can see that I’m okay. I’m still in the ER, but I’m sure they’ll move me to a room later.”

“I’ll make sure she knows you’re okay. And that she’ll see you tomorrow. Okay?”

“That sounds good, Mom,” he said, barely able to keep his eyes open. “Thanks a bunch. Give Fee a kiss for me.”

“Will do, honey. You rest and get better.”

“Working on it,” he said, then ended the call.

As he shifted on the gurney, a faint hint of Jo’s scent rose in the air. Not perfume. He inhaled slowly. A combination of her shampoo and skin cream? It was citrusy and floral and smelled like summer. He closed his eyes and as he fell asleep, he remembered Jo leaning over the gurney, her scent blocking out the hospital smell.