"She has a mild concussion. She'll be fine. She's supposed to take it easy for a couple of days though."
Bricker grunted and then returned to his rant. "I can't believe you'd think I was behind her being attacked. Sitting in a van twiddling my thumbs while you bone up is one thing, but attacking her? No way."
"Bone up?" Cale asked uncertainly.
"Get a boner," the man explained, and then added, "Or an erection to those of us too damned old to know modern lingo ... not to mention be able to judge character anymore. You've spent too damned much time alone if you thought I'd-"
"I didn't really," Cale said quickly, hoping to bring his rant to an end. "It's just that since it achieved what everyone was so eager to have happen, it occurred to me it might not be an accident."
"Well, of course it's not an accident," Bricker snapped, still apparently annoyed. "You don't accidentally attack someone, but I can promise I wasn't behind it. And I know Mortimer wouldn't do something like that either. As for Julius, I don't know him all that well, but I don't think he would ... Now, Lucian might," he added dryly. "That old hard-ass isn't above doing anything so long as it achieves the wanted end. He'd think nothing of clubbing a gal over the head and dragging her to his cave."
"How did you know she was dragged?" Cale askedsuspiciously, drawing a return of anger and another curse from Bricker.
"I was speaking metaphorically," Bricker spat. "Christ, you really do think I'd do that kind of thing. What kind of guy do you take me for?"
"The kind of guy who suggests burning her house down so she has to come stay at my hotel," Cale said dryly. It had been one of Bricker's many very bad suggestions earlier that night.
"It was a joke! I was joking. Man, you old dudes are as lacking in humor as you are in wooing skills," he snapped.
A small silence fell. When Bricker spoke again, Cale could hear the frown in his voice and knew the man had thought of something.
"I gather you didn't see who it was?" he asked.
"No," Cale admitted.
"But it was an immortal?"
Cale hesitated. "I can't be sure of that. I didn't see him, and Alex didn't say anything that might reveal that it was. What are you thinking?"
Bricker was silent so long Cale didn't think he'd answer, but then he said reluctantly, "We've been having some trouble with a particular rogue. A nofanger," he added grimly.
Cale stiffened. His cousin, Decker, had mentioned this at the wedding reception in New York. A no-fanger named Leonius had kidnapped and turned Decker's life mate, Dani, as well as her teenage sister, Stephanie, and seemed to want them back.
"I know about Leonius from Decker," Cale said now.
"But what would make you think he'd wish to harm Alex?"
"Well, one of his sons attacked Alex and Sam's younger sister, Jo, planning to take her back to his father. He seemed to think Leonius would enjoy gaining a little revenge on us through her." He let that sink in and then added, "It's possible this is the same thing. Not likely," he added quickly, "But possible."
Cale frowned. "I don't know. She has had an awful run of bad luck lately, and I've been wondering if it was all connected."
"Yeah, she has," Bricker agreed, and then said, "But I don't think Leonius or his sons would bother with the little problems she's been having."
"Those little problems damn near ruined her," Cale murmured, thinking about all the wrong deliveries and defecting employees.
"Maybe, but Leonius isn't the kind of guy who seeks revenge by ruining people. His type of revenge is more a rape-and-torture-type deal."
"Bev said Alex's assailant was trying to drag Alex behind the Dumpster."
"Trying, huh?" Bricker said thoughtfully. "Not likely an immortal then. Any one of us could pick her up with one hand and take her wherever we want her to go. Hell, we wouldn't even have to pick her up, we could make her go where we want with mind control ... well, the rest of us could. Not you, of course."
"Hmm," Cale murmured, but the revenge business was still in his head. Now that he was thinking it, this whole situation reminded him a great deal of the eventsleading up to the deaths of his father and brothers. They'd suffered a lot of accidents prior to the ambush as well: defective weapons, suddenly wild horses throwing their riders, and fires. They later realized that those "accidents" were all due to his father's competitor, who had been working himself up to the ambush that killed Cale's father and so many of his brothers.
"I'll talk to Mortimer and see what he thinks, and then get back to you tomorrow. In the meantime, you should really get to sleep and get those shared dreams going."
Cale grimaced at the suggestion, and reminded him, "She has a splitting headache, Bricker."
"I thought that was a married woman's complaint?" Bricker responded quickly, and then laughed at his own joke as he hung up.