A Time To Protect. Lois Richer

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СКАЧАТЬ the administrator and you’ll find I have clearance to come and go as necessary, which means that it’s okay for me to be here.”

      “You need to understand that looking after this unit is my job and I’m not going to let anyone who’s not supposed to be here on my ward. I’m calling security.” Chloe strode to the desk, called and asked about her stubborn visitor. A ripple of frustration washed over her. He was who he said he was. And he was allowed to be on her floor, guarding her patient. “Thanks,” she mumbled into the phone. She felt like a fool.

      She was tired and grumpy because someone had called in sick and the ward was shorthanded again, but most of all she was embarrassed that she’d harassed him—and she’d knocked down an FBI agent! Why hadn’t he told her the truth to begin with?

      Not that Chloe needed the answer to that. After all, she’d already dealt with a father who’d lied, a cheating husband to whom truth was whatever was convenient and now a supervisor who didn’t know reality from his own fiction. She could handle this guy with one hand tied behind her back.

      “Everything check out? Did I make your list?” He loomed over the counter, his smile just itching to break free. The ice had melted and he was a gorgeous sight.

      “You’ve been added.” Chloe sucked in a breath and ordered her blood pressure down. “You can stay. You can look around. But you cannot touch anything. Understand?” She ignored him, smiled at Sid and returned to the mayor’s bed once more before moving on to her next patient. When she’d completed her rounds, she returned to the desk. He was still there.

      “How is Max doing?”

      Chloe found herself repeating the official version.

      “Mayor Vance is currently unresponsive. He has a bullet fragment lodged in his brain which the surgeons feel would be detrimental to remove at this time. The other gunshot passed completely through his body missing his heart by centimeters. At the moment, the mayor’s condition is listed as stable but critical. He has not regained consciousness since the incident.” She raised one eyebrow. “Anything else?”

      “I guess not. If he hasn’t spoken then that’s no help.”

      He frowned, making her think of a little boy who couldn’t grasp what he’d done wrong.

      “Why so hostile, Mrs. Tanner?” he asked. “I’m just trying to do my job.”

      “As am I, Agent Montgomery.” She dropped the chart back into its holder and studied him. “What is it you hoped to find here anyway?”

      “Information that would lead me to the perpetrator of this crime.”

      The grim tightness of his voice suggested the mayor’s shooting had been committed against him personally. Chloe admired his dedication to justice but this was taking it to the extreme. She raised one eyebrow.

      “We don’t have any bad guys hiding here, so I think you can go home and get some sleep.” Since she’d moved to Colorado Springs, Chloe had heard a lot about Montgomery and the Vance families and their close-knit ties. Perhaps that’s why this man felt he had to stand guard over the mayor. Maybe he was some kind of close family friend—which would make his job much tougher. A trickle of sympathy spurted up.

      “Hey, Chloe, I’m back.” Theresa, her co-worker, raised an arm as she walked through the elevator door. “Ooh. I see you’ve had company while I’ve been away.” She offered the FBI agent a fawning smile. “You can take your break now if you want, Chloe. I’ll look after your friend.”

      “That’s kind of you.” Brendan Montgomery smiled at the woman, but never budged from his position. “Your sacrifice is unnecessary though. I have a few more questions for Mrs. Tanner. You were the nurse on duty when he was admitted, correct?”

      “Yes,” she admitted grudgingly, searching for an excuse to get away from Theresa’s curious stare without being too obvious.

      “Then I’d like to ask a few more questions, if you don’t mind.”

      “You’ll have to ask while I have my break.” Loathe to face the barrage of questions that would follow, Chloe strode to the elevator. Once inside she stepped as far away from him as the space allowed. “I don’t know anything more and I really need to relax for a few minutes. Please, just leave me alone.”

      “Hey!” Brendan Montgomery held up both hands. “I’m not stalking you. I just thought we could have some coffee while I ask you some questions.”

      “Ask away. But I’m telling you, I don’t know anything.”

      “You might have seen something without recognizing what it was,” he said as the elevator opened.

      “If I did, I’m too tired to remember it.” Chloe stepped out toward the cafeteria. She knew he was following but pretended she didn’t. She needed to think about Christmas, figure out a way to handle her son’s request to go skiing with his friends for the holidays.

      “You’re going to eat all that?” a voice over her shoulder asked.

      Chloe glanced down, saw a carton of chocolate milk, three sandwiches, two apples, a cellophane-wrapped bowl of pudding and a piece of pie. Cheeks burning, she returned most of it then walked toward the cashier.

      “I’m paying.” A twenty-dollar bill pushed past her shoulder and before she could object the cashier had made change.

      She opened her mouth to argue, caught a gleam of interest on the cashier’s face and offered a simple “Thank you.” Chloe chose a table far away from the few staff who dotted the area, sat down and began to unwrap her sandwich. Night shift wasn’t bad, except that she always got so hungry, and she missed saying good-night to the kids.

      Brendan Montgomery flopped down across from her. A moment later his hand thwacked the table. “Hey, do you know Madison Tanner?”

      “She’s my daughter.” She frowned. “How do you know Maddy?”

      “Soccer,” he announced with a grin. “I’m the new coach, started last week. But I didn’t see you at the last practice.”

      “I was working. The sitter took her.” She frowned, troubled by his information. “Is something wrong with their former coach?”

      “No. Buddy Jeffers is still on our side, but his work at the high school is taking a toll. He mentioned he needed help or he’d have to quit. My mother volunteered me to team coach with him.”

      “Your mother?” Chloe frowned. He sure didn’t look like a mama’s boy. “I don’t believe I know her.” The flicker of a smile that tiptoed across his lips puzzled her.

      “Ever hear of the Stagecoach Café, Mrs. Tanner?”

      His mother was a waitress? Chloe frowned, then remembered. “You said your name was Montgomery,” she said aloud, thinking. “Fiona Montgomery owns the Stagecoach—”

      He nodded. “My mother.”

      “Oh.” She had to clamp her lips closed to stop her thoughts about Mrs. Montgomery from becoming public.

      “I see you understand how I came to be a soccer coach.” Brendan chuckled, his СКАЧАТЬ