Blood Haze by LR Potter Page A

you.”
    Clutching
her robe a little tighter around herself, she shuffled her feet uncomfortably
aware of the gorgeous man in front of her. “I’m sorry. I meant to call you
earlier to thank you for the flowers, but my phone died…” she trailed off as he
gave an impatient wave of his hand.
    “No.
It’s well… Karmyl, she… I don’t know how to say this… so… there’s been an
accident,” he finally said. “May I come in?”
    Her
eyebrows creased as she tried to understand his words. Wordlessly, she stepped
aside to allow him entrance. With care, he slowly closed the door and leaned
against it.
    “Is
Karmyl okay?” she asked, when he stood staring at her for a long moment.
    “What?
Oh, no. I’m sorry, it wasn’t Karmyl. She was trying to reach you. It’s… your
brother and … Drew Larkin.”
    Her
hands fell away from her robe’s lapels to flutter down to her sides. “What…
what do you mean? Are they alright? Why didn’t anyone call me ?”
    “I
think the hospital tried you first, and when they couldn’t reach you, someone
at the hospital knew you worked for the Night Owl, so…” he trailed off as her
face paled. He moved to her when she swayed on her feet. He wrapped an arm
around her waist and cupped her cheek in one hand.
    She
stared up blankly. “Are they… did they…” she couldn’t finish.
    “No,
not yet. I don’t know how bad it is. If you’ll get dressed, I’ll take you there
now.” He brushed his thumb against her cheekbone and it seemed to calm her
somewhat. “Can you get dressed on your own or do you need help?”
    She
blinked up at him as her mind seemed to be mush. She couldn’t put two complete
thoughts together. Not again, not again ,
were the only words rolling around her mind. He gave her a little shake.
Gently, he said her name, “Arabella?”
    Swallowing,
she stumbled back from him and careened down the hall in a near-drunken stride.
    Lynx
watched her stagger down the hall and sighed. From what he could gather from
Karmyl, Ian and the other fellow, Drew, seemed to be the most important people in
her life. He assumed Drew was who she’d been with the first night they’d met,
the one flirting with the young blonde.
    He
didn’t have to wait long for her to reappear. She was now dressed in jeans and
a simple, cotton shirt. Her long hair, still wet from her shower, had been
pulled back and fastened. Her face remained bare of any make-up and he thought
she was just as beautiful without any artifice.
    “Are
you ready?” he asked, holding out a hand to her.
    She
looked at his hand for a moment before placing her trembling one into it and
nodded.
    “Okay,
let’s go,” he said tugging her gently forward.
    He
made sure her front door was locked, then led her to his black sedan. He drove
smoothly through the streets as she faced forward, silently. He reached over
and held her hand. He’d like to tell her that everything would be all right,
but he didn’t want any more lies between them… at least not any more than
needed to be – their differences aside.
    They’d
gotten about half way to the hospital, when she asked, “Do you know what
happened?”
    “No,
I’m sorry. I only know there were three people in the car and that they’ve all
been taken to County General.”
    “Three?”
she asked.
    “The
two men and a woman,” he said softly.
    “Who
was the woman?”
    “Margaret…
something. Sorry, I don’t remember,” he replied gently.
    “Maggie,”
she whispered.
    “Do
you know her?” he asked.
    She
gave a small shake of her head. “Not really. She works in Drew’s office, I
think.” Anxiety made her stomach roil. The two most important people in her
life had been dying or dead and her stupid phone had been dead. She clamped her
hand over her mouth. “I need you to stop… please stop… I think I’m gonna be
sick,” she whimpered.
    Lynx
slid the car to a smooth stop and she flung the door open and fell out of the
car, to her knees, onto the gravel