at the same stop as Natalie, he had then followed her cautiously as she continued on through the heavy pedestrian traffic.
He saw her irritation when she stopped at the last street corner and waited for the light to change. The crowd behind her swelled in size as she stood on the curb, alternating on obviously aching feet, and it was then that he realized he had been presented with an opportunity too irresistible for him to turn down.
No one paid attention to him as he slipped up behind Natalie in the crowd. Nor did anyone notice when, in a flash of movement too quick to perceive, he pressed the flat of his hands into the curve of her back and shoved her into the street.
He had been euphoric. Yet his euphoria came to an abrupt end only seconds later when two fellows managed to jerk her out of the limo’s path. She struck her head on the curb as they did.
He supposed that was why neither of the men had waited around after the ambulance arrived. But by that time the situation had slipped beyond his control. He’d had no recourse but to follow the ambulance in a cab in order to find out the result of his effort.
And now here he was…determined to finish what he had started.
Hadden neared Natalie’s hospital room, his heart pounding. He was about to step inside when the unexpected sight of Detective Tomasini of the NYPD dozing in a chair beside her bed halted him.
Damn the man! What was he doing here?
Hadden pulled back without being seen, then stared at Natalie lying so still in the hospital bed. Her long, dark hair was stretched across the pillow in sharp contrast with the stark white of the bed linens and the bandage she wore on her forehead. She was petite, silent, her small features delicately composed, the long, black fans of her eyelashes lying like lush crescent moons against her pale cheeks. Surrounded in immaculate white, the pale beam of light shining down on her in the semidarkness forming a gleaming halo around her head, she looked like a celestial being—innocent and so completely pure that she stole his breath.
He paused at that thought.
But Natalie Patterson wasn’t pure, and she wasn’t celestial. She was the lab technician who had foiled his perfect revenge and because of her, the entire NYPD would soon be out searching for him.
Hatred surged hotly through him as Hadden turned abruptly and started back down the hallway.
He’d be back.
Chapter Four
The sound of morning activity in the hospital corridor beyond Natalie’s door woke Brady abruptly. Angry with himself for having dozed, he glanced at the bed a few feet away where Natalie slept, breathing easily. Her color had improved and her features were relaxed. Her sleep appeared to be natural and presently devoid of the nightmares that had awakened her several times during the night.
Brady rubbed his palm across his stubbled jaw, then ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to restore a sense of order to his disheveled appearance as he pushed himself upright in the chair. He recalled Natalie’s incoherent mumblings jarring him from his semisleep during the night and the sudden panic that had snapped her eyes open. He had moved to her side spontaneously. He had comforted her, telling her she didn’t need to be afraid, that he was there and he’d protect her. He had whispered reassuringly until her breathing became normal, and he had suffered a sense of helplessness when she awoke again, tortured by the same frightening torments. The experience had been bittersweet as she turned to him in her terror; yet as confusing as his feelings had become, he was certain of one thing—he would protect her with his life.
His attitude toward her had changed drastically. He couldn’t be sure if guilt at his misjudgment of Natalie was responsible; if having misjudged her once, he was anxious not to repeat the same mistake, especially when the stakes were so high. Or if his reaction to her utter helplessness was what had kept him sitting at her bedside, holding her hand until she fell back to sleep again.
It annoyed him that he’d been unable to remain awake all night, but he had consoled himself that he had been immediately alert each time someone stepped into the room, that he had diligently checked all medication and IV changes that had been conducted during that time—all of which, he recognized, would be a complete waste of time if Natalie woke up and recanted her story about being pushed into the street.
Yet, he somehow knew she would not.
Despite Dr. Weiss’s warning, there had been something about Natalie’s adamancy, and the look in those heavily lidded gray eyes that made him believe her when she repeated, He said my name.
He supposed he might not have given those four words much credence if not for the chilling fax he had received from Manderling Pharmaceuticals and his realization that only a madman could be guilty of the atrocity Dr. Hadden Moore was suspected of having committed. The knowledge that Moore might still be in the city was a major concern. Brady knew that if Moore were guilty, he would realize that having identified Candoxine as the cause of the Winslow barbecue deaths, Natalie had set the police on his trail. The possible repercussions of that scenario, considering Natalie’s “accident,” were too disturbing to ignore.
Truth is stranger than fiction. Brady was too familiar with that maxim to disregard it.
Brady glanced back at Natalie, recalling the way she had clutched his hand until she fell asleep—so tightly that she had surprised him with her strength. She was so slight that she—
Natalie’s eyes fluttered open, interrupting Brady’s thoughts. She stared at him a moment before she said, “Are you still here?”
“Yeah.” Brady moved closer to the bed. “Something wrong with that?”
“You were here all night, weren’t you?”
Brady nodded.
“Why?”
“Let me see.” Brady moved closer still and looked down into her pale face. “You had an accident on the street.”
“It wasn’t an accident.”
“And you said it wasn’t an accident, that somebody pushed you.”
“Somebody did.”
“Maybe I believed you and figured you’d need somebody to stay with you for a while.”
Natalie searched his face, frowning.
“And maybe I stayed because I owe you an apology.”
“An apology…”
“Because I was tired and irritable that first day I met you and I acted like an ass. Because I was wrong and needed to tell you I was wrong.”
“What about the second day?”
Brady smiled. “I was an ass then, too.”
Natalie nodded.
“And I also wanted to tell you that—”
A sound at the door turned them toward Dr. Weiss as she stopped still and said, “Excuse me. Am I interrupting something?”
“No.” Brady stood up. “Come on in.”
Dr.
