A Little Harmless Fantasy(87)

“She was. But, we’re convinced it had something to do with the government’s case.”

“Ah. And she had a concussion?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s not mental if that’s what you’re thinking,” Rory said.

“Hey, buddy, I was only saying that sometimes an injury like that takes some time to recover. Her fender is dented though.”

“Can we see her?”

“Sure, she’s not in trouble. She was really shaken up though and I didn’t want her going home alone. Dillon would never forgive me and believe me, that is one guy I don’t want on my bad side.”

Zeke said nothing as he turned and walked to the door. Rory followed after thanking Frank. Before he could open the door, Rory caught up with him.

“Now, babe, keep your voice calm. Maura reacts to your anger in a totally different way.”

He glanced at Rory. “Yeah, what way is that?”

“She sees it as a challenge. Or something like that.”

“Okay, I will remain calm.”

He opened the door and his heart melted. She’d laid her head down on the table and she had her eyes closed. She was so damned tired. It was easy to see from the dark smudges under her eyes. She was pale too. In less than a week, she had seemed to lose the tan she had gained from her beach time in Hawaii. And that pissed him off.

“What the bloody hell, Maura? You didn’t call us?”

She jolted awake. She blinked a couple of times, her gaze focused on the two of them.

“What are you doing here?”

“Frank called us,” Zeke said, his voice vibrating with anger. He couldn’t seem to keep it completely beneath the surface.

She looked past them with a glare.

“Office Duggan, I expected better.”

The fifteen-year veteran flushed. Maura could make most men feel like naughty boys when she was disappointed in them. “Ms. Dillon, I couldn’t release you after you said you had a concussion less than two weeks ago. Especially since you refused to go to the hospital.”

“I can fix that,” Zeke said. He stepped forward to grab her arm but she jerked away from him. It felt like a fucking knife to his heart.

Before he could just haul her over his shoulder, Rory stepped between them.

“Hey, why don’t I take Maura home and you follow.”

Zeke hesitated. Rory didn’t always offer to do things like this. Hysterical women were not his thing; although, looking at the woman who was glaring at him at the moment he probably wouldn’t put her in the hysterical category.

“Okay.”

She had her arms crossed over her chest and she wasn’t budging. He could tell from the stubborn set of her chin and the mutinous look in her eyes.

“I can take myself home.”

“You can. And I can call Conner and talk to him about it. He might just pull out of active status and put you on…well, I guess you could call it house arrest.”

He knew she was smart enough to know it wasn’t a good thing for her to drive right now. Zeke also knew she needed an excuse to follow his orders. Threatening her with Conner was the only way to get her up out of that seat and into the car. Truth was, Zeke would do it in a heartbeat and he wasn’t too sure he wouldn’t do it now. Conner would be pissed if he found out what happened from someone else, so he would probably call his friend—even if he weren’t really talking to him.

“Fine.”

She stood up and marched out of the room and through the crowded outer office. Rory gave him a grim smile and followed her.

“I hope Ms. Dillon isn’t too mad at me,” Duggan said.

He shook his head. “No problem. She’ll get over it. She’s not been herself since the attack in Hawaii. Once they clear all this Petersen shit up, she’ll settle.”

* * * *

The car ride back to Maura’s house was silent. Not the comfortable silence between two lovers, Rory thought. No, this one was heavy on the tension and it had been that way since they returned from Hawaii.

“I was not imagining it. There is someone stalking me.”

“I didn’t say there wasn’t,” he responded calmly.

More silence. He wasn’t sure there was someone, but wasn’t about to admit that to her. He knew just how badly the mind could play tricks on you after something like what happened in Hawaii.

Rory glanced over at her. She was staring out the window, slumped in the seat. She had dark circles under her eyes.

“We’re going to put someone on you. I don’t like the idea of you riding around out there if this truly is a stalker.”

She said nothing to that and he noticed she had closed her eyes.

“Maura?”

“Please, don’t patronize me.” She opened her eyes and the back of his throat tickled a bit when he saw they were watery. Damn, he hated when women cried. “I am not an idiot. I know people think I am stupid.”