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Authors: Carla Neggers
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trusting.”
Maybe. Maybe she shouldn’t have told the truth about who’d called last night. Maybe she shouldn’t have let Juliet Longstreet insist on moving her out of the hotel.
Maybe she shouldn’t trust her brother’s colleagues to have her best interests at heart.
They were all in shock themselves. They wanted to find a sniper, not be burdened with a wounded deputy’s archaeologist sister.
She had to get a grip.
Had Winter overheard her brother urging her to go home? Would he take it as his duty to put her on a plane back to Nashville?
She didn’t like the idea of being a nuisance, having these people think they were responsible for her. Before her flight to New York, her deputy escorts had offered to arrange for a counselor to be with her, but she’d turned them down. Maybe if her brother had been killed.
But he was alive. He’d be all right. She’d been so determined not to tempt fate by agreeing prematurely to counseling. She just had an ordeal to get through.
She hadn’t expected, though, that Rob wouldn’t want her in New York.
The elevator doors shut. An elderly doctor frowned at her in concern. “Are you all right?” he asked softly.
She nodded and brushed at her tears, relieved to be getting off Rob’s floor, away from the able-bodied deputies. She needed something to eat, a break. She didn’t want to feel sorry for herself. She wasn’t the one lying in the I.C.U. And what kind of compassion did she expect from a bunch of armed federal law enforcement officers? They were doing the best they could.
The elevator doors opened again, suddenly, and Juliet Longstreet stepped in. She put up a hand to Sarah, stopping her before she could get started. “I’m a jerk. I’m sorry. What I said in the waiting room—it was stupid.”
The older doctor moved to the front of the elevator car, letting Juliet take his spot. Sarah felt an immediate urge to ease some of Juliet’s obvious guilt. “It’s a difficult time for everyone.”
But Juliet refused to cut herself any slack. “For
you
. You’re Rob’s twin sister. I’m only a colleague.” She didn’t mention their past relationship. “I was just trying to look tough in front of Nate. I’m sorry I mouthed off at your expense.”
“No harm done.”
“Sure there was. You must have felt like the kid sister at the big kids’ party.” She smiled crookedly. “I’d say belt me one, but you’d probably have a half-dozen marshals jump on the elevator and pin you against the wall in two seconds flat. We’re all in rotten moods. But, hey, you see some of those guys? Very buff.”
Sarah fought a smile of her own, her first, she thought, in many hours. “Nate Winter—I just met him.”
“Yeah. I can tell. Most people run when they meet him. You’re not the first. He’s a total hard-ass.”
“You’re very irreverent, aren’t you?”
Juliet smiled, relaxing some. “Helps in dealing with things like two marshals getting shot in Central Park. At least the news on Rob is positive. Barring complications, he should be back on the streets before too long.”
Sarah tried to let Juliet’s optimism sink into her psyche, tried to visualize Rob back on his feet, with that lazy grin of his, that way he had of making people think he was a hundred percent on their side. “What about Deputy Winter?” she asked. “How’s he doing?”
“He’d like to get his hands around the neck of whoever shot him.”
“But physically?”
“Just enough of a wound to piss him off.”
The medical personnel all got off at the cafeteria floor, leaving Sarah and Juliet alone in the elevator. “I keep picturing the two of them leaving the news conference yesterday and walking into the park,” Sarah said. “Why did they do that? Do you know?”
“No, I don’t.”
“The news conference—did a lot of people know about it in advance?”
“The world. That was the whole idea. It wasn’t thrown together at the last second.” Juliet frowned at her,
Maybe. Maybe she shouldn’t have told the truth about who’d called last night. Maybe she shouldn’t have let Juliet Longstreet insist on moving her out of the hotel.
Maybe she shouldn’t trust her brother’s colleagues to have her best interests at heart.
They were all in shock themselves. They wanted to find a sniper, not be burdened with a wounded deputy’s archaeologist sister.
She had to get a grip.
Had Winter overheard her brother urging her to go home? Would he take it as his duty to put her on a plane back to Nashville?
She didn’t like the idea of being a nuisance, having these people think they were responsible for her. Before her flight to New York, her deputy escorts had offered to arrange for a counselor to be with her, but she’d turned them down. Maybe if her brother had been killed.
But he was alive. He’d be all right. She’d been so determined not to tempt fate by agreeing prematurely to counseling. She just had an ordeal to get through.
She hadn’t expected, though, that Rob wouldn’t want her in New York.
The elevator doors shut. An elderly doctor frowned at her in concern. “Are you all right?” he asked softly.
She nodded and brushed at her tears, relieved to be getting off Rob’s floor, away from the able-bodied deputies. She needed something to eat, a break. She didn’t want to feel sorry for herself. She wasn’t the one lying in the I.C.U. And what kind of compassion did she expect from a bunch of armed federal law enforcement officers? They were doing the best they could.
The elevator doors opened again, suddenly, and Juliet Longstreet stepped in. She put up a hand to Sarah, stopping her before she could get started. “I’m a jerk. I’m sorry. What I said in the waiting room—it was stupid.”
The older doctor moved to the front of the elevator car, letting Juliet take his spot. Sarah felt an immediate urge to ease some of Juliet’s obvious guilt. “It’s a difficult time for everyone.”
But Juliet refused to cut herself any slack. “For
you
. You’re Rob’s twin sister. I’m only a colleague.” She didn’t mention their past relationship. “I was just trying to look tough in front of Nate. I’m sorry I mouthed off at your expense.”
“No harm done.”
“Sure there was. You must have felt like the kid sister at the big kids’ party.” She smiled crookedly. “I’d say belt me one, but you’d probably have a half-dozen marshals jump on the elevator and pin you against the wall in two seconds flat. We’re all in rotten moods. But, hey, you see some of those guys? Very buff.”
Sarah fought a smile of her own, her first, she thought, in many hours. “Nate Winter—I just met him.”
“Yeah. I can tell. Most people run when they meet him. You’re not the first. He’s a total hard-ass.”
“You’re very irreverent, aren’t you?”
Juliet smiled, relaxing some. “Helps in dealing with things like two marshals getting shot in Central Park. At least the news on Rob is positive. Barring complications, he should be back on the streets before too long.”
Sarah tried to let Juliet’s optimism sink into her psyche, tried to visualize Rob back on his feet, with that lazy grin of his, that way he had of making people think he was a hundred percent on their side. “What about Deputy Winter?” she asked. “How’s he doing?”
“He’d like to get his hands around the neck of whoever shot him.”
“But physically?”
“Just enough of a wound to piss him off.”
The medical personnel all got off at the cafeteria floor, leaving Sarah and Juliet alone in the elevator. “I keep picturing the two of them leaving the news conference yesterday and walking into the park,” Sarah said. “Why did they do that? Do you know?”
“No, I don’t.”
“The news conference—did a lot of people know about it in advance?”
“The world. That was the whole idea. It wasn’t thrown together at the last second.” Juliet frowned at her,
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