A Little Harmless Fantasy(78)
Carino looked at first Rory then Zeke. He read the answer in his eyes.
“What?”
The detective sighed. “The truth is you might be collateral damage right now. They might use you to get to them.”
“I think you are blowing this out of proportion.”
“For fuck’s sake you were attacked. You need to take it seriously.”
The words burst out of Rory. Zeke knew he had been barely keeping it together since they had left the mall. His anger wasn’t truly for Maura. Just like Zeke, Rory felt helpless, and for both of them, it was beyond what they wanted to handle.
She frowned. “I know the attack is serious. And I might be collateral damage, but not for that. He specifically mentioned you two. Not Conner, who I would think he would mention first before Zeke because he’s my brother.”
“That makes sense. I take it the relationship you are in hasn’t been a long standing one?” Carino asked.
“What?” Maura asked apparently stunned by Carino’s blunt question.
“The three of you. You haven’t been together long have you?”
She shook her head. “Rory and Zeke have been though. They’ve known each other for years.”
Before Carino could say anything else, the door swung open, hitting Rory in the back. He turned, ready to pounce on the intruder, but since it was Conner, he backed down.
Conner rushed to her side. “What the hell happened?”
“Way to show the great bedside manner, Con,” Jillian said. She wasn’t smiling though. Her face was unusually serious. “How you doing, kid?”
She sat on the bed next to Maura.
“I would be fine if everyone would listen to me.”
“I knew something with the Peterson case would come back to bite us in the ass,” Conner said.
“I don’t think it was a good idea to come here. We should have stayed in Miami,” Zeke said.
Conner shook his head. “I’m not sure it would matter.”
“Will you idiots listen to me? This was not anyone related to a Mexican drug lord. This was plain and simple an Irishman.”
Conner looked at the two of them. Zeke shrugged and Rory did nothing. “Explain.”
Even though it was the same word and attitude from earlier from Carino, Rory didn’t rise to the bait, thank god. They didn’t need to deal with this and Conner finding out what was going on with the three of them.
“He had an Irish accent.”
“You said at first it wasn’t. It was American,” Zeke said.
“Then later it was Irish. After he got hurt.”
“How did that happen?” Conner asked.
“I kicked him in the shins then head butted him.”
“Good girl,” he said and kissed her bandaged forehead.
“Maura, can you be sure? You have a slight concussion according to the doctor. You might have thought you heard it because you’ve been spending so much time with us.”
“I know what I heard. He was Irish.” She stuck her lip out, but it wasn’t a pout. This was stubborn Maura.
“Where are your glasses?”
She blew out an irritated breath. “They were broken in the attack.”
“Well, Zeke can bring them by the house. You’re staying with us for the rest of your time here.”
“The hell she is,” Rory said. Zeke rolled his eyes and knew now there would be no way of avoiding Conner finding out. It didn’t really matter. They were going to have to face it at some point.
“What?”
“I said she’s staying with us,” Rory said, his voice turning dangerously soft.
“You didn’t do a great job watching her before. I think I would do a better job.”
“Quit talking about me as if I’m an idiot. I can take care of myself.”
“The hell you can,” both Rory and Conner said at the same time.
“I might want to remind you that the man was dragging me out of the mall and I got away. I didn’t need any help.”
“You were attacked. You should have been more aware of the situation.”
She opened her mouth but Carino stepped in. “Looking at the scene through pictures, I would say that Maura did everything she should have done. I doubt any of us would have been aware of what the guy was up to. He turned off the lights.”
“Yes, it was much darker when I stepped out of the bathroom.” Maura’s voice turned smug.
“That doesn’t mean that you should not be particularly careful. If this trial has something to do with it, you need more protection.”
Conner glanced at Zeke. “I think she should come home with us.”
“No bloody way,” Rory said, grounding out every word.
Conner looked from Rory to Zeke then back to Rory. Zeke knew the moment Conner realized what was going on. His eyes turned cold, colder than he had ever seen his friend turn.