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“I need to go to the hospital. I need to follow up on patients I have here.”
She started to argue and then she didn’t. “I need to do some research. I also have a sorority sister at the FDA. I’ll call her tomorrow to see if they have any open investigations against Lender. I hope you’re wrong, Paul, but if you’re not, I’ll do whatever I can to help you take them down.”
Paul reached for her hand, his palm sliding warmly against hers as he entwined her fingers between his own. For as much as he trusted her, he knew Simone trusted him, too. He’d spent most of his adult life assuring her that he would never walk her into trouble he couldn’t get her out of, and until now, he’d been certain that he could do that. Now he had doubts and that uncertainty felt like a sledgehammer to his abdomen. “Thank you, but I don’t want to drag you into this. Especially if it looks like it might get ugly.”
“You should have thought about that before you called me.”
“I honestly didn’t think you’d come.”
“You knew I’d come.”
Paul held the look she was giving him. He didn’t bother to acknowledge that she was right. Nor did he admit that he hadn’t really thought it through. He knew he didn’t need to tell her that he was suddenly feeling like he was out of his element, or that he was scared. But with her by his side, he had faith it would all work out. He didn’t need to say it because Simone knew. She knew him better than anyone.
Minutes later he had paid for their meals and they were walking back up the block toward her car. Neither had spoken, nothing else needing to be said. Both had fallen into their own thoughts, planning what needed to come next, or not. Paul carried the bags of food and Simone had looped her arm through his, lightly clutching his elbow as she steadied herself on her high heels.
The car lock disengaged when Simone pressed her hand to the door latch. Paul opened her side door, closing it after she was settled in the driver’s seat. He moved around the back of the vehicle to the passenger side, pausing to rest their dinners on the back seat. He had just opened his door when a gunshot rang loudly through the late-night air. The windowpane in the storefront behind him shattered, glass sounding like breaking chimes against the concrete sidewalk. The building’s alarm rang loudly, the harsh tones loud enough to wake the dead. A second shot shattered the car’s back window.
Panic hit Paul broadside, rising fear holding him hostage where he stood. He was discombobulated, but he ducked, his gaze sweeping the landscape for an explanation. Simone shouted, the words incoherent as she shifted the car into Reverse. Paul jumped awkwardly into the passenger seat as she pulled forward, grazing the bumper of the car parked in front of her. A few quick turns and they were driving seventy miles per hour on Highway 41 until both were certain they weren’t being followed. When she finally slowed to the speed limit, Paul cussed, the profanity moving Simone to toss him a quick look.
“What now?” she asked.
“Whatever it takes,” Paul answered, still trying to catch his breath. “We’ll do whatever it takes to shut these bastards down.
Simone nodded. “Let’s not get killed trying to do it.”
Paul took a deep breath into his lungs and held it. His mind was racing, his thoughts a mishmash of questions with no answers. Confusion had settled deep into every crevice in his head; it felt like sludge was weighing down his thought process. “We should find somewhere to lay low,” he said. “Until we can figure it all out.”
“We can go back to my house…” Simone started.
“No. Now that they’ve seen us together, I don’t trust that they won’t find us there.”
“Then we should go to the police station.”
“Let’s just get a hotel room. I don’t think we should involve the police just yet.”
“Someone shot at us, Paul! We need to file a report! My brothers need to know!”
“I know that, Simone! But I need to think this through. Please, just give me a minute to think!”
“We might not have a minute, Paul!” Simone’s voice rose an octave and the tension between them suddenly increased ten-fold. Before either could blink, the conversation took a sharp left turn and they were yelling back and forth, each determined to prove a point when there was none. It was Bickering 101 and reminiscent of when their relationship had gone all kinds of wrong.
Chapter 2 (#u53550e63-0e07-5640-a9a5-b9bf91df715e)
The no-tell motel they’d found by the highway was fetid, reeking of debauchery and sin. The smell of cigarettes, marijuana, sex and body odor was pungent through the late-night air. Simone distorted her face with displeasure as Paul closed the door to room thirty-eight and tossed the key card on the laminated dresser. He sat down on the foot of the mattress beside her and exhaled his first sigh of relief since leaving the restaurant. Simone had finally stopped shaking and Paul felt like he could breathe normally again.
Neither spoke. Both were still reeling from the fight they’d had in the car. Simone had wanted them to drive straight to the police station. Paul had refused, insisting that it would only make things worse. He was adamant that they needed additional proof to substantiate his claims and the only way to get that was if no one knew where they were or what they were after. Simone knew her family wouldn’t take them disappearing lightly and she trusted her brothers would look for them. They still hadn’t come to an agreement. The argument had been contentious, the intensity of their emotions palpable.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Simone finally said, breaking the silence. “No one we know would think our not going to the police is a smart thing to do.” There was still an air of hostility in her tone.
And a hint of defiance in his as he responded. “No one knows what we’re up against. Even we don’t know yet, Simone.”
“Which is why going to the police would make sense. I know my brothers would back us up.”
“I don’t agree. All that’s going to happen is that the police will dismiss my concerns because the proof I have is shaky at best. The preliminary test results Oliver sent me still need to be analyzed and there’s more testing that needs to be done. Lender will be tipped off that we’re on to them and we won’t be able to prove what they’re doing or stop them.”
“In the movies when people don’t go to the police, they die. They fall off cliffs, demons get them, all kinds of horrors,” Simone said facetiously.
“In the movies I’ve seen the police get it, too.”
“You’re watching the wrong movies.”
“You watch too many.”
Simone tossed up her hands in frustration. “I’m an officer of the court, Paul! I have a responsibility to uphold the law. I have a damn badge, for heaven’s sake!”
Paul cut his gaze in her direction, a smile pulling at his mouth. “Why do they issue you a badge anyway? You’re a prosecutor.”
Simone shifted her body, turning to stare at him. “Are you making fun of my badge?”
“I just asked the question!”
Her tone was laced with attitude. “It makes me official. It says that I represent the courts of the state and that I took the Attorney’s Oath and I’ve promised to honor its tenets. Don’t you dare make light of what I do, Paul Reilly. It’s as important to me as the Hippocratic Oath that you doctors take.”
“I’m not, Simone. I was just curious about the badge. They don’t give us doctors one.”
“No, they give you those white jackets with your names embroidered over the breast pockets. Same thing, different medium.”
“I cannot believe we’re sitting here arguing over a tin emblem.” He lay backward on the bed, pulling his arms over his head.
“We’re arguing about involving the police. Don’t change the subject.”
Paul blew a soft sigh as another wave of silence swept between them. Both sat listening instead to the noise in the room. An alarm clocked ticked loudly from the nightstand next to the bed and water leaked from the faucet in the bathroom. There was a steady rhythm of clicks and plops, both just loud enough to be annoying. Minutes passed before he spoke again. “I’ll do whatever you think is best, Simone.”
“You will?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled as he folded an arm over his eyes.
She nodded. “I’ll call my brother. We need to at least tell him that we’re safe. We can also tell him what we know in an unofficial capacity. If they can help work it from their end, it can’t hurt. Until we figure out what the hell we’re doing, we can use all the help we can get.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? Really?”
“Yeah, baby, okay.”
A noise outside the door pulled Simone upright. “Did you hear that?”
Paul mumbled, “No. I didn’t hear anything.”
Simone stood and moved to the window to peer through the blinds. Outside, three working women were gathered in the parking lot changing their clothes. Bare asses and boobs were on full display and no one seemed to be concerned. Laughter rang through the late-night air, their good time fueled by the bottle of booze being passed between them. Simone exhaled, turning back toward the bed. “I don’t know if I can stay here…” she started.
The rest of her comment stalled in midair, warm breath the slightest whistle past her lips. Paul had fallen into a deep sleep, jet lag and exhaustion fully claiming him. He snored softly and for a quick moment Simone realized just how much she missed hearing him beside her at night.
Shaking the thought, she grabbed her cell phone from her purse and her food from the meal bag. She took a seat on a cushioned chair in front of the small desk and dialed Parker’s number. As she waited for someone to answer, she took the first bite of her macaroni and cheese.
“Where are you?” Parker questioned. “I’m sending a patrol car.”
“We’re fine, big brother. You just needed to know what happened. I also took the bumper off some guy’s car, I think. You’ll handle that for me, too, right?”
“If they knew Paul was at that restaurant, they’re probably tracking his cell phone. They may even be tracking yours.”
“We thought that, too, so we tossed the sim card in his phone and powered it off. I’m using my other phone. The one that’s in mom’s name. My primary phone was dead, so I left it at the house on the charger.”
“You need to come in, Simone. Until we figure out who shot at you, we can’t trust that either of you is safe.”
“We can’t, Parker. Paul truly believes this company is killing patients and he’s determined to stop them. If we come in, we might lose our window of opportunity to prove his theory.”
“I wasn’t asking, Simone. That was an order.”
“I stopped taking orders from you when I was ten.”
“Then I’m calling Mom and Dad.”
“Don’t you dare! I just need you to trust me.”
Parker yelled, “You don’t know what the hell you’re doing! Neither of you has a clue what you’ve gotten yourselves into! Now, where are you?”
Simone sighed. “I love you. And I’ll be okay. I promise.”
“Don’t you dare hang…”
Simone disconnected the call abruptly. She took another bite of macaroni and sat in reflection as she polished off the last of her meal. She didn’t have the words to explain to her brother what she was feeling or why they were suddenly acting like fugitives. She honestly wasn’t sure what the hell they were doing. But they were together and she instinctively wanted to do whatever necessary to support Paul. He needed her and it had been forever since she’d felt like she added value to his life. Wanting each other had never been the problem between them. Needing each other, and admitting to it, had been a whole other animal neither had been willing to claim. But now necessity had put them together, if for nothing more than to hold on to each other for emotional support, and Simone had no intentions of failing him.
Paul was now snoring loudly, and she instinctively knew that it had been days since he’d last rested well. She was reminded of those days after medical school, during his residency, when his shifts at the hospital seemed to last for days before he was able to come home and fall out from exhaustion.
She dropped her fork and empty container back into the bag. After reaching for her phone she dialed again.
Her brother Mingus Black answered on the second ring. “What’s wrong, Simone? And why is Parker texting me to ask where you are?”
“I need you. I’m at the Karavan Motel on Cicero Avenue.”
“Karavan? On the South Side? What the hell are you doing there?”
“Someone tried to kill us tonight,” she said, explaining all that had happened since Paul Reilly had called her.
“So, you two check into the city’s seediest motel?”
“We’re not planning to stay, and they take cash,” she continued, hoping to rationalize why the no-tell motel had been a good idea and why Paul felt going to the police was not. Even after saying it out loud Simone knew it sounded like she and Paul had lost their collective minds. And she definitely couldn’t tell any of them that she just needed to be with Paul because she had missed him terribly.
Mingus listened, taking it all in. A private detective by profession, he heard his sister’s dilemma with a different ear than their police officer brother. He didn’t yell or give her orders he knew she wouldn’t heed like Parker did. Instead, when she was done talking, Mingus said, “Sit tight. I need to put some things in place. I’ll be there before breakfast tomorrow. Are you carrying?”
“Yes,” she said, taking a moment to check the weapon in her handbag. The Glock 43 had been a gift from her father, the patriarch ensuring she and her sister both knew how to handle a firearm just as well as their brothers. Regular visits to the gun range kept her shooting and safety skills honed.
“Keep it close, and if you need to use it, don’t hesitate to pull the trigger. You can always ask questions later.”
“What are you going to tell Parker?”
“That I didn’t put your leash on you this morning. That he should check with whoever did.”
“Thank you,” Simone responded, chuckling softly.
“Get some rest. I’m sure you’re going to need it,” Mingus concluded.
After disconnecting the call, Simone moved back to the bed and kicked off her heels. Laying her body beside Paul’s, she eased an arm around his waist and shifted herself close against him. She nuzzled her nose against his back, inhaling the scent of his cologne. The familiar fragrance reminded her of their last trip together, a two-week excursion on the island of Jamaica. They had walked hand in hand along the beaches of Negril, had swum beneath the cascading waters of Gully Falls, and had danced under a full moon in Montego Bay. They’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms and woken each morning making love. It had been as magical as any holiday getaway could possibly be. Weeks later, they were no longer a couple, barely talking to each other about the weather.
Taking deep breaths to calm her nerves, Simone closed her eyes and settled into his body heat. She couldn’t begin to know what he had gotten her into and despite trusting that Paul would have never purposely put her in harm’s way, running from gunfire added a whole other dynamic to his situation. The nearness of him only put her slightly at ease, not enough that she could fully relax.
Sleep didn’t come as quickly for Simone as she lay listening to the occasional sound outside the door and the steady rhythm of Paul’s heavy snores. Simone hated showing any vulnerability, but she was scared. This was bad and had the potential to get worse.
Her mind continued to race as she thought about what she might need to do to help her friend. Thinking how much she had missed him when he’d been gone and being grateful to have him back, even under the dire circumstances they found themselves trapped in. Wondering if she should heed Parker’s advice and run for the security of the police department and shelter with her law-abiding family. Her father was, after all, Jerome Black, the Superintendent of Police, leading the entire Chicago Police Department. Her mother, Judith Harmon Black, was a federal court judge, and both were well respected in Chicago’s judicial system. With two brothers on the police force, another who was an attorney in private practice, the baby boy in the family a city alderman, her favorite sibling a private investigator, and her only sister front and center in state politics, law-abiding protection was a given.
Despite her best efforts she couldn’t turn her brain off. For another two hours she lay pressed against his back, not wanting to disturb his rest and needing him near, even if they weren’t a couple anymore. Thinking about the past and the present, Simone’s thoughts ran the gamut from sane to senseless until sleep finally slipped in and delivered her from her misery.
Chapter 3 (#u53550e63-0e07-5640-a9a5-b9bf91df715e)
Outside, the morning sun was just beginning to rise. Paul stood at the foot of the bed staring down at Simone’s sleeping form. Fully clothed, she was curled in a fetal position around a pillow. Her mouth was open, low gasps expelled from her lush lips. Her freckles were like stardust across her nose and her skin shimmered under a layer of light perspiration. Simone was a beautiful woman, but there was something about her when she slumbered, where she seemed most angelic and at peace. In those moments her beauty was extraordinary, leaving him to wonder what he had done to get so lucky.
In that moment though, he was wondering what he needed to do to ensure she was protected. How to get her, and himself, out of the mess he’d pulled them into. He sighed, feeling as if things might implode if he didn’t tread cautiously. But he had neither the time or the wherewithal to play nice with Lender Pharmaceuticals.
The knock on the door pulled him from his reverie and startled Simone out of a deep sleep. She sat upright, clutching at the well-worn spread atop the bed. Bewilderment furrowed her brow. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she threw her legs off the side of the bed as Paul moved to look out the window. He heaved a deep sigh as he sidestepped to the door and opened it, greeting Simone’s brother Mingus. The two men embraced like old friends, an exchange of shoulders bumping and chests grazing.
“You two good?” Mingus questioned as he entered the room, carrying two large duffel bags over his shoulder and a tray of coffees from Starbucks.
“No,” Simone muttered as she flipped her hand at him. “I need to pee, and I want a shower.”
Mingus and Paul exchanged a look, both smirking slightly. Her brother shook his head at her as he extended the duffel bag in her direction.
“Well, I brought you some things from your house. Clothes, your toothbrush…”
“My toothbrush!” she exclaimed, jumping up and down like a four-year-old. “I love you, big brother!”
Mingus laughed. “Until you see what I packed for you. Knowing you, I’m sure it’s all wrong.”
“As long as you brought me clean panties, I’ll be a very happy woman.”
“Panties? Ohhh…well… I didn’t…”
Simone’s eyes widened, a hint of saline suddenly pressing against her thick lashes. “Please, don’t tell me you didn’t get me any clean underwear. How could you not think to pack me clean underwear? I can’t believe you…”
