to leap and flip, and she turned around, putting him out of her sight. How was it possible that he could still cause such a physical reaction after all these years?
“Well, this is a terrible thing to happen to you, Deborah, especially after the incident in the morgue.” Frank sounded genuinely shocked. “I’ll report it to the police right away. We’ll need to issue a warning to all hospital staff that we have a mugger on the prowl.”
Deborah squeezed her eyes tightly shut. “This wasn’t a mugging, Frank. The guy was trying to hurt me. He had his hands around my throat.”
“Are you okay?” Frank asked. “Why didn’t you come back inside the hospital immediately? You shouldn’t have gone home alone.”
“I’m not alone,” she said, dropping her voice. “Cole Strachan is with me. He brought me home after chasing off the attacker.”
After a moment’s silence, Frank said, “I see. Well, that’s a good thing. An ex–navy SEAL makes a perfect bodyguard.”
“Don’t you see, Frank,” she said, feeling that he was making light of her ordeal. “This second attack proves that I’m being targeted for a reason, most likely because I’m close to uncovering drug tampering at the hospital.”
Frank let out a long, weary sigh. “These two incidents may be entirely unconnected. I can’t help but feel that you’re beginning to sound a little paranoid.”
“Paranoid!” she repeated incredulously. “You weren’t the one shoved inside a freezer compartment or choked by a masked attacker. I am not paranoid.”
“Okay, okay,” Frank said calmly. “I’ll file a report with the police, and we’ll let them decide whether there is a correlation between the two incidents. Take some time to rest and recover. You sound exhausted.”
She turned around and saw Cole sitting at her kitchen table. “I am,” she admitted. “I got the wind knocked right out of my sails.”
“I apologize, Deborah,” Frank said in a sudden rush. “An emergency call is coming through. I have to go. Take care.”
The line went dead, and Deborah went to join Cole at the table, sitting opposite and running her finger down the icy condensation on her glass of iced tea.
“Frank thinks it was a mugger,” she said. “He still doesn’t believe me about the drug tampering.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured that from your side of the conversation.”
He pulled his chair closer to hers. “I can help you,” he said. “I saw that you have a guest room upstairs—”
She cut him off. “No!”
“I’m trained in special ops, Deborah,” he said. “If anyone tries to get to you here, I can be ready—”
She cut him off again. “I said no.”
He shook his head. “You always were stubborn.”
She met his gaze. “And you always were persistent.”
“I prefer the word determined,” he said, raising an eyebrow, clearly trying to make her smile. It didn’t work.
“I can’t let you stay here, Cole, not even for one night.” She dropped her eyes. “I find it really hard to be around you. I wish you’d warned me you were coming back. I feel like you blindsided me.”
“I’m sorry, Debs,” he said. “I just didn’t know how to tell you.”
“I know it’s been ten years, but the hurt is still there.” She thought of the sunny day they both had sat in a coffeehouse by the lake. His words too young to settle down had hit her like a blow to the stomach. “I need time to accept that you’re back in town,” she said. “It’s a lot to take in.”
“Okay,” he said, leaning back in his chair, putting a larger gap between them. “I totally understand. But you really shouldn’t stay here alone. Is there somebody you can call?”
She swallowed away the lump in her throat. “I’ll call my brother.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.” She rubbed her temples where a dull throb had begun. “I know Chad’s off work today, so he’ll be able to come over right away. You can go.”
“I’ll stay until Chad arrives.”
Deborah’s head started to pound. “No,” she said. “I need some space.” She tried to level her voice and iron out the wobble. Cole’s proximity to her was overwhelming. “You’re crowding me a little.”
Cole reached into his back pocket and pulled out a card. It was the same business card he’d handed to her the previous day. He laid it flat on the table. “My numbers are here,” he said. “Call anytime you need me. And I mean anytime.”
She picked up the card. “You gave me one of these already.”
His mouth curled at the corners. “I’m kinda guessing that it might have ended up in the trash.”
Her color rose. He still knew her well.
“I live over on Franklin Street,” he said. “So I can be here in just a few minutes. I keep my cell with me at all times.”
She nodded. He rose from his chair and headed for the door. His shoulders were much wider and firmer than they used to be. He looked like a man now, rather than the boy she used to know.
“I’ll come by tomorrow on my way to the hospital,” he said. “Make sure you keep the doors and windows locked tight, okay? If Chad can’t come straight over, call me immediately.”
She nodded again. He slipped through the door and shut it behind him. She took a deep, steadying breath and sipped her iced tea before dialing her brother’s number.
Chad was more animated than usual upon hearing Deborah’s voice. “I heard some news today,” he said, interrupting her greeting. “Cole Strachan has moved back to town. A friend of mine saw him at the hospital today. I wondered if you saw him, too.”
“Yeah,” Deborah replied flatly. “I saw him.”
“Are you okay, sis?” Chad asked, trying hard to be sympathetic. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Deborah sighed. “No, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Are you sure? You sound really down.”
“Actually,” she said, “I had a scare at work today, and I wondered if you could come over, maybe stay the night?”
“What happened?” Chad sounded concerned.
How could she explain the situation without worrying him even further? “I’ll tell you about it when you get here.”
“I got called into the office on short notice,” Chad replied. “We’re working on a big presentation. I’m here till late. Sorry, sis. Is this serious?
