California Schemin' - Kate George [23]
“I told Tom not to let you come. Why won’t you ever do as you’re told?”
“Oh, you know me. I’m a tease. I figure by the time anyone knows I’m here we’ll be gone again. I’m more worried about you getting dizzy and sliding off a roof. I know you, and given a day by yourself, you’ll be figuring out how to work with a cast on. I’m taking you home as soon as they let you out of here.”
I sat on the edge of his bed, careful not to bump his leg.
Beau smiled and shook his head. He reached over and took my hand.
“Damned if I’m not glad to see you, even if you shouldn’t be here. Gonna kiss me and make it all better?”
I stopped holding my breath and kissed him.
Getting him out of the hospital wasn’t as easy as I expected. The doctor talked vaguely of dizziness and memory loss. The nurse just shrugged her shoulders. Finally, Sheriff Fogel showed up, and the obstacles started to disappear. While Beau was signing papers and assuring the doctors he’d check in with his own medical team at home, Sheriff Fogel took me aside.
“Did Beau tell you the whole story about his accident? If you can call it an accident.”
The worry was plain in Fogel’s face, and my stomach clenched.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“The day before his accident he was visited by a couple of goons. They asked about you, and when Beau claimed ignorance, they threatened his life. The next day his second story staging collapsed. I asked the doctor not to release him until they were absolutely sure he wasn’t going home alone. Luckily the administration here owes me a favor or two.”
“Then it’s not safe for Beau here either. We’re on a flight out of here tonight. I’ve got to get to the house and clear out his stuff.” I turned away, but Sheriff Fogel’s hand on my shoulder stopped me.
“I took care of that the day he fell. Didn’t need his house getting tossed again, so I had a deputy clear out the house, and we’re watching it pretty closely. I’m worried these bastards will try and burn it down. I don’t like the way they warn their victims.”
“Was all the damage from the fall, or did they hurt Beau when they came to talk?”
“As far as I know they were civil enough on the first visit. Threats only.”
“I’m getting us out of here, and he’s not coming back until Lily’s murder is solved, even if I have to break the other leg.”
“Good girl.” Fogel laughed.
Getting a man with a broken leg on the plane proved to be a challenge. I pushed the airport wheelchair down the jet way and parked it outside the door. Beau pushed himself up to stand on his good leg. He swayed a little, and I hurried to steady him. We managed to get through the door, but faced with the rows of first class seats we had to get past, I glanced at the flight attendant, nonplussed.
Beau took matters into his own hands. Sliding his arm from around my shoulder he used the backs of the seats like crutches and swung himself into economy seating where the attendant settled him into the first row of seats. I followed and plopped down in the middle seat next to him, hoping that the plane would be under-booked so no one would sit next to me.
Beau was laughing at me as I scowled at the passengers coming through the door from first class, trying to keep our spare seat open. He leaned over and put his mouth to my ear.
“It won’t kill me if someone sits there you know. You could stop glaring at those poor people.”
But I had stopped glaring anyway. A woman I recognized was standing at the head of the aisle scanning the plane. A plumpish redhead with Sara Palin glasses and a lost look on her face. The trouble was I couldn’t remember where I knew her from. I scanned her face but couldn’t figure out the connection. An elderly woman pushed past her and sat down in the seat next to me, and the redhead moved off down the aisle, leaving me with the uneasy impression that I had met her before.
I looked at Beau and noticed he was watching the other passengers as well. Tension