back of her head. My guess is the attacker hit from behind to take her down. Then he stabbed her. She might not have ever seen him.” His attention shifted between Chloe and Dane. “How do you two know each other?”
“Uh…” Dane coughed. “I need to finish my rounds. Chloe, we’ll catch up soon.” He hurried away.
She didn’t pay him any attention. Her focus was on Joel. “Are you upset?”
His eyes narrowed. “Because the young doc wanted to check you out? Mildly annoyed, not—”
“Because you crossed the line again. You say you don’t want to be helping people, saving them, but you just did it again with Judith. Only, unlike your experience with Jimmy, you don’t appear particularly shaken in the aftermath.”
His hands dropped to his sides. “I was not shaken when I stitched up Jimmy.”
“Fine. Choose another word.” She inched closer to him. “You’re different.”
“I-I didn’t think about it. I just did it. Hell, maybe it was easier because of what happened with Jimmy. I just…” He trailed away. “Can we get out of here?”
Brilliant idea. “Yes. Let’s. I have never been a major hospital fan.” She immediately turned on her heel and hurried through the waiting area. She sniffed when she passed the unhelpful Sally. Then they were outside. The motorcycle waited, gleaming in the light.
“Uh, did you drive that here?”
“No, it drove itself here.” She straddled the bike. Gave him an expectant look.
His lips curved. “I like it when you’re sarcastic.”
“No, you just like me.” She actually meant those words to be sarcastic.
But Joel nodded and appeared all solemn. “Yes, I do.” He bent and brushed his lips against hers.
Her fingers clutched the front of his scrubs. Scrubs? “Joel…” Chloe murmured against his mouth. “Where are your clothes?”
“In a garbage can someplace. They were covered in blood.” He feathered another kiss over her lips. “I’m so fucking glad she made it.” A shudder worked over his body. His forehead pressed to hers.
“She made it because of you. If I’d been there without you, I wouldn’t have been able to save her. You made a difference.”
He didn’t move away from her. “Maybe we do make a pretty good team.”
Yes, she was starting to think the exact same thing.
***
She needed to get the hell out of town. Cinnamon stared at her reflection. She hadn’t put on makeup yet. Her eyes were too big. Her lips devoid of color. She hadn’t been sleeping well. Not since Donnie’s death. Him dying should have made everything easier for her.
But every time she closed her eyes, nightmares came.
I saw him.
She’d lied to Chloe Hastings. Lied to the cops. Lies were pretty easy for her. Mostly because they were a matter of survival. She’d figured that Donnie had deserved exactly what he got. So she shouldn’t have felt guilty.
But in her nightmares, she was the one swinging the bat at him.
Her image became blurry. Shit. Why was she crying?
Cinnamon wiped away the tears. Stupid, useless tears. She needed to get out of this town. Start a new life. Stop being Cinnamon. Maybe she could go back to being Coreen Miller.
Only…it was hard to remember her. The young girl with all the big dreams. She seemed so very, very far away.
Her phone rang. Cinnamon knew by the ring tone who was calling. She almost didn’t answer it. But if she didn’t answer, what would he do?
Her fingers were shaking as she reached for the phone. “H-hello?”
“I want you to do a favor for me.”
“I already did,” she heard herself whisper back.
“One more. It will be the last favor I ask.”
I don’t believe you.
“And I will make it worth your while, Coreen.”
Coreen. “I want to leave town,” she heard herself say. “Help me get enough money to leave, and I’ll do whatever you want. I need to forget this place. This life—everything.”
“And everyone?” His voice was low. Dangerous.
“I will forget you,” she promised. It was what he wanted, wasn’t it?
“One favor.”
“One favor,” she agreed.
Chapter Twenty-One
“I guess you’re some big hero now.”
Joel had just walked into the kitchen at the main house. He’d showered, put on fresh clothes, then gone hunting Chloe. Instead of finding her, he found Marie waiting for him. She was sitting on the counter, her legs dangling in front of her, and an apple gripped in her right hand.
“Hardly would say that.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You still hate me, huh?”
“Not hate. That takes too much energy. I don’t like wasting energy.” Marie picked up the knife from the counter