Only Her (A K2 Team Novel)(45)

“Why hasn’t K2?” the man retorted.

The hell? Cody jerked his gaze up. “What do you know about K2?” And if the dude didn’t wipe that smirk off his face, Cody was going to do it for him.

“Not as much as I’d like. When she told me it was her neighbor she was interested in, meaning not me, I ran a check on you. Whoever you people are, you’re downright spooky. I’m a cop. I should be able to find out anything I need to know about you, but I was blocked at every turn. That tells me you’re a black ops operation.”

When the cop paused, no doubt waiting for Cody to confirm his guess, Cody stayed quiet.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect an answer. I’m Mike Kilpatrick. Not yet ready to say nice to meet you, Cody Roberts. Depends on how you treat the lady.”

If the man didn’t shut up, Cody was going to put him flat on his ass. That he’d treat Riley bad in any way was an insult. So you didn’t mean it when you said for however long it lasted? You didn’t think that would hurt her? Okay, so short term he had no intention of hurting her, but long term? He probably would. After he knocked the cop into tomorrow, he’d do the same to himself.

A rescue squad truck sped up, closely followed by an ambulance. The EMTs pushed him aside, checked her vitals, put a neck brace on her, and then loaded her on a stretcher. Cody watched as they closed the back doors of the ambulance behind them, whisking Riley away. He felt like his damn heart had been torn out of his chest.

“Where you going?”

Cody picked up Riley’s phone and purse. “To the hospital. Why don’t you do your damn job and find out who did this to her.”

“I plan to,” the man said, not seeming to take offense.

So did Cody, and when he found the person responsible, they were going to have the worst day of their life.

At the emergency room, no one would tell him anything because he wasn’t a relation. To keep from going on a rampage and tearing the place apart to get to her, he went to a chair that had a view of anyone coming or going. From there, he could see if they moved her.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his fingers touching her phone. Curious how she’d been coherent enough to dial his number as hurt as she was, he nosed around in her contact list. When he found that her clinic was number one on autodial, that didn’t surprise him. What did was that he was number two. All she’d had to do was push one number to call him, which answered one question, anyway. But he had a whole slew of others. He hoped to God that she’d gotten a good look at the bastard’s face.



Riley smelled antiseptic, but that was a common odor in her practice. Was she in her clinic? If she’d fallen asleep at her desk and missed her date with Cody, she was going to be royally mad at herself. Although her eyes felt like they’d been glued together, she managed to crack one open, then the other.

The first thing she saw was Cody’s face looming over her, and the second thing was Mike’s on the opposite side of her bed. Why were they in her bedroom? She tried to frown at them, but gave up when a searing pain in the back of her head made her want to throw up. To hell with them, she thought, and promptly fell back to sleep.



“Go do your job and find who hurt her.”

Cody?

“We don’t have anything to go on. I need to talk to her when she wakes up, see what she remembers. Why don’t you go home? I’ll make sure someone calls you when she comes to.”

That sounded like Mike.

“I’m not leaving this room, officer.”

Definitely Cody. Someone took her hand, and she knew it was Cody because she immediately felt safe. “Head hurts.”

“Christ, darlin’, you scared the life out of me.”

She tried to smile but the effort hurt too much, so she settled for forcing her eyes open. “Why?”

“We’ll talk about that later. Right now you need to rest.”

“Why?” Nothing made sense.

“Riley, can you tell me what happened? Who hurt you?”

Someone hurt her?

“Leave her be, Kilpatrick. Better yet, come back tomorrow. She should be able to answer your questions by then.”

She still didn’t understand why both Mike and Cody were in her bedroom, but she was too tired to care. With Cody’s hand still protectively covering hers, she drifted off.



Riley opened her eyes and surveyed the room. This wasn’t her bedroom and she didn’t think it was Cody’s. Not that she’d ever seen his, so maybe he went for sterile white. She turned her head to the left, wincing when a bolt of pain shot from the back of her skull down her neck.

Dark brown hair was the first thing she saw. She squinted, recognizing that military haircut. Why was Cody sitting in a chair with his face pressed to the bed? As she listened, she recognized the steady breathing of a man asleep. Next to his face, he held her hand in his. Her gaze searched the room. Why was she in a hospital bed?