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“Shooting up a lab wasn’t going to change the results,” I can’t help but point out.
“I know. It was wrong and I’m sorry. Really sorry.” She starts weeping again.
I step back and call Quinn and explain the mess I’m in. Quinn promises to come right over.
“The florist called,” she tells me as she walks to her car. “And said that your freight of roses are in. And, yes, I did say freight. How many did you order?”
“A few. I’m going to get this woman a glass of water. Come over before I dissolve under her tears.”
“I’m on my way.”
Inside, I find my way to the kitchen and call Dally.
“I thought you told me to go save lives.”
“You can save mine,” I quip. I open a few cupboard doors before finding the one housing the glasses.
“Oh?” She must sense the seriousness behind my words.
“Yeah.” I sigh. “So the guy who shot up the lab died last night.”
“What?” she yelps.
I shove the glass underneath the water dispenser on the fridge. “I’m at his house right now and his wife is sitting on the front porch, crying her eyes out. She’s pregnant and about to pop.”
“Oh my God.”
“That was my reaction, too. Guy had a heart attack and died. I guess no one has updated the detectives.”
“I can’t believe this. Also, why are you at his house?”
“I just wanted to talk.”
“I can’t believe you went over to his house! You were going to fight, weren’t you?”
“He did shoot me, darling.” Taking the glass, I cross toward the front door.
“I’m not mad that you went to fight him. I’m mad that you thought fighting him in your condition was a good idea,” she fumes.
“I’ll have you know my condition is perfect right now.” I have plans to show her how perfect tonight.
“I’m not going to argue with you about it now because of the whole situation. Do you need me to come over?”
“Nah, Quinn’s got me covered. Hey, darling,” I say before she can hang up.
“What?”
“Life’s short so let me tell you. I love you.”
Silence falls. I shoulder the door open and hand the glass to the widow. She takes it with a grateful whimper.
“Darling?” I prompt into the receiver.
“Why are you saying this now? On the phone?” she hisses.
I glance over at the woman, who looks like she’s two steps away from the grave. Life’s a fragile thing. We experienced that two weeks ago and looking at the widow feels like an exclamation point on the end of that sentence. “Felt like the right time. I’ll see you at home.”
Chapter 13
Dally
“Clear screen,” I tell the automated system I have for the phone in my lab. The screen fades to a picture of Mack and me and I know he must have had it put up because it wasn’t there the last time I was here. It’s a picture of me half asleep lying in his hospital bed with him. Something I was half forced to do. I say half because I wanted to crawl into bed with him so badly and wrap myself around him to reassure myself he was okay. The other half of me was scared I could hurt him. Mack was relentless and I learned him fighting to get me to lie down with him was going to cause more problems with his stitches than if I just gave in. So I did. It looks like now he or likely Star snuck a picture.
Mack had all of this state-of-the-art stuff installed when he built my lab. I thought it was crazy to have my phone connected to a computer system but I have to admit that he was right. It is helpful when I am working and someone calls or if I need to make a call in a hurry while working on a sample. My hands are often full and it helps me out when I’m jammed up. Just like when Quinn’s texts came up I saw them clearly on the giant monitor on my lab wall. When the photos first popped up, my eyes immediately focused on the dark-haired stranger before I realized it was a distraction that Mack sent. He knew I’d want the goods on Quinn and he used it to escape. After a few minutes of asking Quinn questions, I realized exactly what my man was up to. That’s how I refer to him now. I called him to give him shit for trying to get one over on me and our conversation ended with him telling me that he loves me. He came right out and said it as if it were no big deal. I love you. The words tingle through my mind and body. I went from being mad at him to…God, I don’t know what I am.
I put the lid on the test tube before doing a triple check of the label and putting it away. I pull off my gloves, throwing them into the trash. I stand there for a moment. Did he really say that? Of course he did. If these past few weeks have taught me anything about Mack it’s that he says whatever he wants. I’ve always thought he did but now I think he’s been holding things back. Even though he’s never exactly been shy with me, I’m starting to realize there are sides to him that I never expected. His brush with death has him more bold and demanding than ever.
