Read Online Innocent Hostage by Vonnie Hughes - Free Book Online

to the emergency department,” she said after a few minutes. “Two of these wounds are very deep. I think they’ll need stitches. Here.” She pressed a soft, damp cloth against his chin. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”
    He was damned if he was going to admit that his head was spinning and his back felt as if someone had driven a tank over it. “There’s a doctor I can call,” he mumbled.
    “Will he make house calls?” Ingrid Rowland bit her lip.
    “Yes,” Breck said, and lay back again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kit, round-eyed, watching.
    “Kit? Sure you’re okay?”
    “Yes, Daddy. Ms. Rowland checked me over.”
    “Thanks,” Breck murmured.
    Somehow he lost another half-hour and woke to find Doc Hargreaves bending over him, tying off a stitch.
    “Hi, Marchant. We meet again,” Hargreaves said. He shone a light into Breck’s eyes. “No concussion.”
    “No. I didn’t bang my head. Why am I so dizzy?”
    “Blood loss. I think you ran into a knuckle-duster with sharp spikes. Stuffed up your stubborn chin but was high enough to miss your windpipe.”
    Breck hadn’t thought about his trachea. Lucky he hadn’t drowned in his own blood.
    “Seen a couple of similar injuries recently,” Hargreaves said. “Martial arts technique. Got any ideas who would do such a thing?”
    Breck tried to shake his head but his head swam and he subsided.
    “Uncle Billy does martial arts, Daddy.” Kit’s voice startled them. He was standing beside them, watching his father anxiously.
    “Who’s Uncle Billy, son?” Breck tried to sound casual, but it came out as a croak.
    “Marty knows him. He’s mean, Marty says.”
    Hargreaves raised his eyebrows. “I have to report this at HQ, Marchant.”
    “Mmmph.” Breck wasn’t going to try to nod. “I understand.”
    “Leave it up to Max to sort out.” Hargreaves peered into Breck’s face. “Hmm. See how you feel tomorrow. You’re healthy enough not to need a transfusion. Plenty of fluids will do the trick.”
    In the distance Ingrid Rowland clattered pots in the kitchen. The doctor inclined his head, “Friend of yours?”
    “Not really,” Breck answered. “A friend of my son’s.”
    Ingrid came into the room, wiping her hands on a cloth. She must have heard what he said because her lips trembled. Looking uncertain, she began to back out of the room.
    Feeling like a complete bastard, Breck lay back and looked at the ceiling.
    Hargreaves looked from Breck to Ingrid. “Well, if you’re staying, Ms. Rowland, could you see that Breck gets plenty of fluids to drink?”
    Ingrid nodded and hurried off to the kitchen, Kit pattering behind her.
    As Hargreaves packed up his gear he whispered to Breck, “Not bad; not bad at all.”
    Breck flushed. Hargreaves was a notorious gossip. He hoped while he’d been out cold the doc hadn’t said anything that would be better left unsaid. Then again, he had just managed to both upset and insult Ingrid, so anything Hargreaves came up with couldn’t possibly be worse.
    “Don’t want to hear from you until you come in for your next physical.” Hargreaves winked, and was gone.
    Breck fingered his chin. As Ingrid had surmised, the doctor had stitched two of the gashes beneath his chin. Breck hadn’t felt a thing so Hargreaves must have sprayed his skin with anesthetic. The skin still felt numb.
    Ingrid and Kit rattled into the room carrying trays of food and Breck struggled to sit up.
    “Here, let me help you,” Ingrid said, dumping her tray. She came around the back of the sofa and put her arms around him as if she were going to hug him. She smelled of lemon peel and vanilla. Startled, he froze, but she had already hoisted him up against the back of the sofa.
    He tried to assemble his wits. “Where did you…uh, learn that?” he asked.
    She grinned. “Night shift at a retirement village while I was at university. There were supposed to be two of us on duty at all times but it just never happened, so we learned