No Regrets. JoAnn Ross

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      Chapter Three

      Reece was almost home free. His grueling shift was over, he’d showered, shampooed the smell of disinfectant, disease and death out of his hair, shaved and changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that didn’t have a single bloodstain on it. He took the poinsettia he’d remembered to buy for Lena, and was headed toward the door when he saw a ragged man arguing with the security guard.

      He considered trying to sneak out another exit, but recognizing Thomas and knowing that Molly would never forgive him if he turned his back on whatever problem was plaguing the former priest this time, Reece cursed beneath his breath and waded into the breach.

      “What’s wrong, Thomas?”

      “It’s Molly.” The eyes beneath the filthy hair were wild with distress. “I tried carrying her here, but—”

      “Where is she?” Reece interrupted, tossing the poinsettia toward the nearby counter. It missed and landed on the floor, spilling dirt and breaking stems, but no one noticed.

      “Out there.” He pointed a filthy finger. “She’s in bad shape, Doc.”

      That was, Reece discovered, an understatement. Her face was bruised and battered, her eyes were swollen shut, she was stripped nearly naked, allowing him to see the bite marks on her breasts and the vaginal bleeding. She was also unconscious.

      “Jesus Christ.” He knelt down and felt her thready pulse.

      “Christ has nothing to do with this, Doc. Whoever did this to Saint Molly was a devil.”

      Reece couldn’t argue with that. As he scooped her from the pile of trash, he understood the impetus behind crimes of passion. He was not, by nature, a violent man. But he could easily kill with his bare hands whoever had done this to Molly.

      Thomas followed him to the hospital door. “Is she going to die?”

      Reece looked at the distress on the man’s haggard face, and for the first time since Molly had introduced them, felt a kinship with this man whose life had gone so tragically wrong.

      “Not on my watch,” Reece promised. The doors hissed open and he carried her into the light. And to safety.

      * * *

      A few miles away, a young woman cursed beneath her breath as she viewed the flashing lights in her rearview mirror.

      “Terrific,” Tessa Davis thought as she pulled her Mustang convertible over at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine.

      The days when movie stars, bathed in the dazzling glow of klieg lights, arrived in limousines to attend premieres at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre were long past. And the fabled glitter surrounding the walk of fame had given way to junky tourist traps. Even so, as she’d driven into the city last week, Tessa had gazed in awe at the Hollywood sign gleaming like a beacon in the rising sun and imagined she could breathe in the scent of glamour and success.

      Unfortunately, she was finding out what generations of beautiful women before her had discovered the hard way: success was not instantaneous. As she watched the cop climb off his motorcycle and come walking toward her, Tessa could envision additional hard-earned savings flying away.

      She rolled down her window and flashed her most dazzling smile. The one that never failed to bring boys to their knees.

      “Is something wrong, Officer?” Her eyes were wide and innocent.

      “I don’t suppose you happened to notice that red light you just went through.”

      “Was it red?” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I was certain it was still yellow.”

      “It was red.” He pulled off his black leather gloves. “May I see your driver’s СКАЧАТЬ