An Angel For Christmas. Heather Graham
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Название: An Angel For Christmas

Автор: Heather Graham

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Зарубежные детективы

Серия:

isbn: 9781408957196

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ hospital.”

      The stranger stirred. By now, Shayne had washed away the little trails of blood that had streaked down his face.

      It was a good face, Morwenna thought. Nicely chiseled, a bit like the statues she’d seen of Greek and Roman gods. Except, of course, he had a slightly more rugged appeal. Actually, he was a very nice-looking stranger.

      And still a stranger! she warned herself.

      They needed him out of their house.

      His eyes flew open as she entertained that thought. He was looking straight at her.

      She was surprised when she knelt down and touched his cheek. “Hey, it’s all right. You’re all right. We’re the MacDougal family. We found you outside in the snow. Do you know who you are? Do you know what you’re doing up here? You’re hurt.”

      “Morwenna,” Shayne said. “One question at a time for the poor man.”

      The stranger struggled to sit up and winced. Shayne pressed him back down by the shoulders. “Don’t try to get up yet. Let’s see how you do. Someone hit you good.”

      He eased back for a minute, closing his eyes again. “Yeah, someone hit me good. Um … my name is Gabe.”

      They all looked around at one another. “I’m Gabe,” he repeated. “Gabe Lange.” He winced, and opened his eyes again. “Could I possibly have some water, please?”

      “Water, of course,” Stacy said, and turned toward the kitchen.

      “Move slowly, and when the water comes, take your first drink slowly,” Shayne instructed.

      Stacy returned quickly with the water. Morwenna thought that actually, it must have been pretty scary for him to open his eyes, to find all of them looking down at him as if he were an unknown wounded creature they had dragged in.

       But, then again, he was.

      She glanced at Bobby, who seemed to be a step ahead of her. “Hey, urchins!” he said to Connor and Genevieve. “Let’s give your dad the doc some space. I need some help upstairs with presents.”

      “But … is that guy going to be okay?” Connor asked.

      Genevieve’s little lips were trembling. Morwenna turned toward her niece. “Yes, of course, my darling. Go on up with Uncle Bobby. The nice man just needs some rest.” She glanced at Shayne. Was that all he needed?

      “Come on, Lady Niece, Lord Nephew!” Bobby said.

      The kids followed him up the stairs.

      Morwenna suddenly found herself thinking all kinds of horrible thoughts. He wasn’t all right; he was bleeding internally, and he was going to die on her mother’s sofa on Christmas.

      She lowered her head quickly. What a horrible concept! A man’s life could be in the balance, and she was thinking that his death might affect their Christmas!

      The stranger’s gaze was on her when she raised her head again. A small smile tugged at his lips as if he had read her thoughts. “I’m strong, really. I’m feeling better already.”

      “Well, lie still until I’ve gotten that wound cleaned up,” Shayne said firmly.

      Gabe winced when Shayne laced the wound with disinfectant, but he didn’t let out a sound. “The thing is, you probably do have a concussion,” Shayne told him. “You’ll need to be careful.”

      “One of us can stay with him and keep an eye on him,” Stacy said.

      “I’m going to call an ambulance,” Mike told her, speaking up. “Any objections?” he asked. He wasn’t speaking to the stranger; he was looking at his wife, daughter and son.

      “Not to an ambulance,” Shayne assured his father. “What the heck happened to you?”

      “Obviously, he got into a fight!” Mike jumped in, his voice harsh.

      “I’m with the Virginia State Police,” Gabe said. “I was after a man. He eluded me.”

      “Gabe Lange, with the Virginia State Police?” Mike demanded. Her father sounded as if he was interrogating a prisoner of war. Maybe, in his mind, he was.

      “There’s nothing to worry about,” Gabe assured them. He looked at Morwenna and grimaced. “I was an idiot. I let him get away. But I crawled up here before I passed out. I’m sure that he’s long gone. In fact, I’m afraid that he’s long gone.”

      “I’ll call that ambulance,” Mike said, reaching into his pocket for his cell phone. He stared at Gabe while he dialed. Nothing happened, and he frowned at his phone: “3G, 4G—10G! I don’t care how many Gs you have, the damned things never work in some places. They’re all full of it. Wenna, you’re on a different carrier—try your phone.”

      “Okay, Dad, let me just see where I dropped my purse,” she said. She had dropped it inside, hadn’t she? Maybe not.

      “I think it’s outside,” she said.

      “Morwenna Alysse MacDougal!” her father said. “What have I taught you about—”

      “Hurt guy on the sofa, Dad,” Morwenna said. “You always told me that human life was worth more than anything I could possibly own, remember?”

      He scowled at her. She hurried outside. She had dropped her purse somewhere out there. It took her a few minutes, but she found it and walked back in the house, pulling her cell phone from it as she did so.

      “What number do you want me calling?” she asked.

      Mike MacDougal looked at their uninvited guest. “Nine-one-one, of course.”

      She dialed. She looked at the phone—it, too, said that she was out of range. “Sorry,” she told him.

      “Well, what the hell is going on?” Mike demanded.

      “We always have decent satellite coverage up here.”

      “Dad, calm down—it might be the storm,” Shayne told his father.

      “Try your phone, Shayne,” Mike insisted.

      Shayne sighed. He was standing again; he’d patched up Gabe Lange’s head nicely, and there was color returning to the man’s cheeks. He did look well enough to sit up. He might be entrenched on the couch with her blanket warming him, but she did think then that he must be wet and freezing beneath the covers.

      “No bars, Dad. No coverage. It’s one hell of a storm brewing up,” Shayne said.

      Mike snapped his fingers. “Let me see if I can get them out here online!”

      He headed for the computer in his office, just down the hall from the stairway.

      “Thank you,” Gabe told Shayne. “Thank you for patching me up—a stranger on your doorstep.”

      “Hippocratic СКАЧАТЬ