Chapter 12

Jarrod made it over to Nat Springer's office without an issue. He didn't see anyone on the street following him. No one was even paying attention to him. He caught a glance once or twice of Davis about a block behind him and felt more secure, but he felt much more secure when he went into Springer's building and up to his office.

"Come on in, Jarrod," Springer told him and invited him into the inner office. "Bring me up to date."

Jarrod sat down in front of the desk while Springer sat down behind it, and Jarrod proceeded to tell him everything that had happened with Alana that morning.

"Dear God," Springer said when Jarrod was finished. "You're sure she's safe with the nuns?"

"I left a Pinkerton man with them," Jarrod said, "and Martin was nowhere to be seen. A Pinkerton man followed me over here, too, and I never saw Martin."

Springer turned in his chair, stood up, and looked out the window. Nobody out there looked like they were hanging around or watching his office. "Who's your Pinkerton man? I don't see anybody who looks like he's following you."

"I told him not to linger in front of the place," Jarrod said. "Just to be on the safe side, I'm going to take the back door when I leave here, so he's pretty much circling the block, stopping here and there, and keeping an eye on the alley when he passes it. He knows what he's doing."

"Have you been to the police yet about what Martin did to Alana?"

"No. That changes the plan a bit. I'll go there from here. Have you talked to your client yet today?"

"He'll be over here this afternoon," Springer said. "He wasn't available this morning and he doesn't know anything about any of this yet, not even that Alana's brother is still alive. I plan to fill him in on everything, even her suicide attempt, unless you have some objection."

Jarrod shook his head. "Not if you trust him. He should know where she is and that she's safe. I'd try to keep him from going to see her yet, though. I want to get Alistaire picked up first, if the police will do that without a complaint from her. She's not up to filing one yet."

"I think I can keep him from going to her today. I don't know about tomorrow."

"Since I don't even know what the rest of today is going to bring, we'll have to let tomorrow take care of itself. She should be stronger then anyway."

"If this guy Martin is gonna try to pick you up, it could be somewhere around here or your office."

Jarrod nodded. "I know. I'll be careful, and I have my Pinkerton men ready."

"You're still planning for three of you to strongarm him."

"If Alana doesn't have him arrested. I wanted to get her safe with the nuns before we did, and I've done that. I just didn't plan on her being hurt when I did."

"If she does have him arrested, that'll make it easier on you."

"Even if she does, I'll see he gets the message while he's in prison. Believe it or not, I have a couple former clients in there who would still do me a favor. It'll be different messengers, but the same message. Get out of your sister's life and stay out. Someone will always be watching."

Jarrod left, heading downstairs and to the back door. He stepped outside but stayed hidden in the doorway. He waited a bit, looking up and down the alley, watching for Davis to pass by at one end or the other as he walked around the block, and watching for anyone else to come into the alley. Boxes and trash obscured his view a bit. Someone could be hiding, but Jarrod didn't see any movement.

He thought about Alana, about what he could do for her now, about what Steve Roman might do for her now. His opinion about her and her lying and even her attitude of trying to keep control were all changed now that he knew the truth. He wondered if her husband's attitude was going to change too. He actually hoped it would, but the truth included the fact she could not have children. If that was still uppermost in Steven Roman's mind, it might mean Alana was about to be cast aside again.

Jarrod spotted Davis walking on the street, by the end of the alley. He started that way fast, to catch up to him. It was a mistake.

Someone rushed up behind him from the other direction in the alley, from where the boxes and trash could have hidden someone and apparently did. He felt a gun pushed into his back. He halted. He froze.

The man's voice said, "Tell me where my sister is. I know you have her."

"I don't know where she is," Jarrod said, and he said it loudly in the hopes that at the end of the alley, Davis might hear him.

"You have three seconds – "

Jarrod whirled and pushed the gun away. It went off harmlessly, but Alistaire Martin did not drop it. He dodged the fist Jarrod threw at him.

And then the gun went off again. Jarrod was knocked to the ground before he even felt the pain in his side. He was paralyzed and felt sick and dizzy and like this was it, he had completely blown it. The gun went off one more time.

But Jarrod didn't feel another hit. Instead, he tried to get into a position to see what was going on. He rolled on the side that wasn't hit, but all he could see was another man grappling with Martin on the ground. Phil Davis. Phil Davis must have heard the first shot and come running.

Then for Jarrod everything started to spin, and he fell flat again. He heard Phil Davis come close, call his name, and then he heard more people coming. He heard shouting. He heard someone yell, "Police!" He heard voices telling him to take it easy. His side began to burn like fire. The world dissolved into big ugly blotches of black. The last thing Jarrod thought was, "Damn."

XXXXX

Funny thing about being put under anesthesia. It was like you were awake, and then suddenly you were awake again, like you'd never been to sleep, but you were somewhere else. As Jarrod started to come around, he started to remember the alley and the voices, and then even other voices and being carried and something over his face in a bright room and now here he was, awake again. Awake, and somewhere else.

Awake enough to see his brother Nick's face in front it him and hear his voice say, "Come on, Pappy. Wake up."

Jarrod squinted at him. "Nick? What are you doing here?"

"There we go," Nick said.

And someone took his hand. A small, soft hand took his hand. Jarrod saw his mother beside him. "Mother! What – "

"Take it slow, darling," Victoria said. "You're all right, but you are hurt."

"Oh, I was shot," Jarrod said. "Where am I?"

"Hospital," Nick said.

Jarrod was still foggy and a bit dizzy, but he turned his head and looked and saw he was in a room full of beds and people in beds. A hospital ward. "How did you get here so fast?" he asked.

"Jarrod, you've been asleep for a while," Victoria said. "You were shot yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Jarrod said and tried to sit up. That didn't work. His side screamed in pain.

"Don't move around yet," Victoria said. "You've had some hard surgery to get the bullet out and you have a lot of healing to do."

"I have to get out of here," Jarrod said and tried to move anyway.

"No, you don't," Nick said. "Everything's been taken care of while you slept through it."

"What?" Jarrod asked.

Victoria said, "The police got you here to the hospital and notified us yesterday right after you were shot. We got here as soon as we could. The man who shot you was caught right away by your friend Phil Davis and has been arrested."

"Alana – " Jarrod said.

"We know where she is," Nick said. "Davis told us when we got here, and Heath and Audra have gone over to that little hospital of yours to check on her. They'll take care of whatever she needs."

Jarrod closed his eyes and tried to think it all through. Alistaire Martin was arrested for shooting him. He himself was here in the hospital, the bullet removed. He'd been unconscious or asleep for at least a day, but Heath and Audra knew where Alana was and between them and the sisters she would be well taken care of. "Nat Springer?" he asked.

"We haven't seen him, but we understand it was outside his office you were shot and he knows what's happened," Victoria said.

Jarrod assumed Springer talked to his client, but he wasn't sure. "Does Alana's husband know where she is?"

"We don't know," Victoria said, "but that's for Nat Springer to worry about, not you. You just need to rest and heal."

Satisfied there was nothing more for him to do just yet, satisfied with the information, and comforted that his family was here, Jarrod closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry to put you through all this."

"Give it no thought," Victoria said. "Everything is all right. Alana is fine, you're going to be fine, and the man who shot you and hurt her is in jail. There's nothing you need to do except get well."

Jarrod smiled at the softness of her reassurance and squeezed her hand as best he could. "All right," he said. "I'll just go back to sleep now." And he did.