Her throat was sore, and she placed a hand on it.
Michael's brushed her hand aside, saw the bruises, and his expression became even grimmer. "Did you see who attacked you?"
Two EMTs arrived, cutting off her reply. One of them knelt beside their chair and grinned at her. "Hey, Kaz. How ya feeling?"
"Like someone…flattened me."
He nodded and looked at Michael. "Sir, if you'll set her down and move out of our way—"
"Not a chance," Michael replied, his voice implacable. "Check her right where she is."
The EMT eyed him and decided not to argue. She continued to lean against Michael while the EMT checked her pupils, took her blood pressure, and asked her simple questions to determine if she was alert. He cleaned her face with an antiseptic wipe and placed a temporary bandage over the cut on her forehead.
"Pupils are okay," he said, packing up his instrument case. "But let's take a ride to the hospital, Kaz. You'll need a CAT Scan and some stitches."
"No, I'm all right." She shrugged out of Michael's arms and got shakily to her feet, gripping the arm of the chair for support as a new waved of dizziness attacked her.
She felt someone catch her as she fell.
#
Four hours later, Kaz lay on a bed in the hospital emergency ward, waiting. They'd stitched up the cut on her forehead, then strapped her to a table and run her through a giant tube to take pictures of her head. Someone was supposed to come by with a verdict as to whether she would live.
She wanted out. Right now. She hated hospitals. The last time she'd been here, she'd been in the basement morgue to identify her parents' bodies.
Her whole body hurt, all the way down to the cellular level. Getting slammed into a hardwood floor a couple of times—then landed on by a 200-pound gorilla—did that. But she'd just have to take large quantities of aspirin.
Twenty-four hours. That's all she and Gary had, if she believed her attacker. And call her crazy, but she didn't think he was the kind of guy who'd be very flexible.
Michael and Lucy chose that moment to come through the curtains surrounding her bed. They were arguing, as usual. Lucy's expression when she glanced Kaz's way was worried, her eyes full of regret.
"Where the hell was your surveillance team?" Michael asked. "She was a sitting duck."
"Jackson called them off. They received some kind of tip on Gary's whereabouts that they're following up on. I didn't find out until just a few minutes before I heard your call come in."
Kaz shivered, her sense of urgency worsening. Were they closing in on Gary?
The emergency room nurse popped her head in. "The doctor wants to keep you overnight for observation," she announced cheerfully. "We've got a room all set up."
"No way," Kaz said in a hoarse voice. "I'm leaving." She swung her legs over the side of the bed, then had to wait a moment for the dizziness to recede.
The nurse rushed over and pushed her firmly back onto the bed. "That requires the doctor's signature, and he's not available. Why don't you lie down—"
Kaz leaned sideways on one elbow, squinting at Lucy through her good eye. "Show her your gun," she said, sotto voce.
Lucy rolled her eyes.
Using one hand to keep the nurse at bay, Kaz slid until her feet touched the floor, then grabbed the edge of the bed in an effort to stand up. The nurse tut-tutted and waved her hands.
Michael cleared his throat. "There were no cracks in her extremely hard head, right?" At the nurse's reluctant nod, he continued, "I'll keep an eye on her for tonight. Hunt up the doc and get him to sign the release papers." When the nurse opened her mouth to protest, he added, "Do you really think she'll stay put?"
"Where're my clothes?" Kaz demanded, glaring at her.
The nurse threw up her hands and left.
While they waited, Lucy commandeered the only available chair, pulling it up to the edge of the bed. "Talk," she ordered.
As best she could with a throat still refusing to work, Kaz told them about the attack. "He was convinced that I knew where the money was."
Michael's eyes were on the bruises beginning to form on her neck. "Did he try to strangle you?"
"I don't think that was his intention. He was controlling me by cutting off my air supply."
Michael turned abruptly on his heel and walked over to the window, standing with his back to them.
Lucy watched him, a worried frown on her face. "Can you describe the guy?" she asked Kaz.
"Not really—he was wearing a ski mask."
"Height? Weight?"
"He was heavier than me—I'd say by at least seventy pounds. And he was tall enough to lift me off my feet, so he has to be over six feet."
"So six-two, maybe three, around one-ninety to two-ten. What else?"
"He was strong, but…he had a gut." She couldn't stop the shudder that went through her. "He used his weight to subdue me."
Michael turned to look at her.
"He had brown eyes, I think," she continued, forcing herself to think back to those moments when Ski Mask had had her pinned. "But it was dark, so that's just an impression. Thick wrists, pale skin…and dark hair, fairly thick, on the back of his wrists."
"What about smells? Aftershave? Was he a smoker?" Michael asked.
"Sweat," Kaz remembered, wrinkling her nose. "His clothes were…damp with it." She closed her eyes.
She'd been helpless—completely helpless—for the first time in her life. She'd rather face down another thirty-foot storm surge than cross paths with that guy again. "I think he was the same guy who was in my house two nights ago. This time, though, I did some damage."
"Of course you did." Lucy grinned. "Any rings on his hands?"
Kaz shook her head. "He had on leather gloves." She folded her hands in front of her in an effort to stop their trembling. "He said I had twenty-four hours to return the money."
Michael swore, walked back to the foot of the bed, and gripped the metal railing. "That's it. You're out of it, from here on." He turned his fierce gaze on Lucy. "I want her in protective custody—that's a formal request. I want someone with her every damn minute until we catch this guy. And I want her in a safe location."
"No," Kaz said, and raised her hand when he would have roared at her. "Don't you see? We don't have any time left. Sykes thinks he's closing in on Gary. I have to get to him before they catch him. We have to find out what he knows."
"He can talk to Lucy. I want you out of it."
"He won't talk to anyone but me," Kaz insisted.
"Tough," Michael said, his voice rough. "I won't have you hurt, not again."
"That's not your call," Kaz said evenly.
"She's right," Lucy said, and Michael swore. "If Gary's willing to talk to anyone, it would be either Chuck or Kaz," Lucy insisted, not looking any happier about it than Michael. "I questioned the junkie we found at the scene of the second murder again, and he's not still talking. I even threw the three strikes prison sentence at him as a threat, and he won't budge. After you two left the mooring basin, I also talked to several of the fishermen at the Redemption. No one is talking—they're scared out of their wits. I don't have any suspects, dammit, and Kaz is my only hope of finding some leads I can pursue." She turned back to Kaz. "I assume you're going to contact Chuck."
Kaz nodded.
Michael heaved a sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face. "What's your plan?"
"To drive out to his place and talk to him."
"Won't work," Ivar said, appearing at the edge of the curtains. His long face was somber. "We found Chuck about a half hour ago in your backyard. The EMTs are bringing him in right now, but they aren't optimistic. Whoever got the drop on him beat him almost to death."
~~~~
Chapter 21
Kaz shooed everyone out and pulled on her clothes, gritting her teeth against the pain and dizziness that kept threatening to swamp her. She walked slowly toward the waiting room where Michael was waiting, just as Chuck was being wheeled down the hall on a gurney. She froze, taking in his blood-soaked clothes. One side of his face was purple, and his lips were swollen and split in several places. Splints immobilized his left arm and leg.