Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,55
but they aren’t. I have to go, Michael. I’m sorry.”
A couple of seconds passed. “I’ll call you when I get back. I love you, Claire.” The line went dead. For several long moments, Claire just stood there with the phone against her ear.
There was a time Michael’s vow of love and his determination to make their relationship work would have meant everything. But in the months since they’d parted, her life had changed. She’d had time to consider what she wanted, discover what was important in her life. She didn’t think Michael could ever give her those things.
Dropping her phone back into her purse, she reached for the door to Ben’s room and walked inside. He was sitting in the chair instead of lying on the bed, his face pale and his beard heavy, desperately in need of a shave.
He looked hard as nails and more dear to her than any man she had ever known.
“What’s taking them so damned long?” he asked, fidgeting, anxious to be released.
One thing she knew: Ben Slocum was not a patient man.
“Paperwork. You might as well relax. That’s just the way it works. And by the way, good morning.”
He didn’t smile. By now she was used to that with Ben.
“I’m glad you’re here, Claire. We need to talk.”
Her stomach dipped sharply. She couldn’t miss the black scowl on his face. “Has something happened? Did the police call? Have they found Bridger?” She didn’t want to think what else that dark look might mean, or that something had happened to Sam.
“I spoke to Holloway. No news yet. They haven’t found Bridger or Hutchins.”
Which meant there was still no sign of Sam. “What then?”
He levered himself up out of the chair, clenching his jaw against the pain, reached out and took hold of her hand.
“I want you to go home, Claire, back to California. What happened out at that barn...you could have been the one who wound up in the hospital—or worse. I never should have taken you out there in the first place.”
“You didn’t have a choice, Ben. We had to follow Hutchins. He was our only lead. And it almost worked. Sam was there, Ben. We almost had him.”
“Almost isn’t good enough. Look, Claire, for the moment we’re at a dead end. There’s nothing either of us can do till we come up with something new. As soon as that happens, I’ll be back on Bridger’s tail.”
“I’m not going back, Ben. Especially not now. We know where Bridger’s headed. Once you’re feeling better, we can go down to Louisiana and start looking for his brothers. They can lead us to Bridger and Sam.”
“That sounds good, except we don’t know Bridger or his brothers’ real name.”
“We’ll find out what it is. Sol can help us. We can do it if we keep working together.”
Ben shook his head. “I’m not taking you with me. It’s just too dangerous. After what happened, I can’t believe you can’t understand that.”
“I understand it. I also understand that if I hadn’t been with you that night, you might have bled to death outside the barn. You might have died, and if you had, what would happen to Sam? He needs us, Ben. He’s in trouble and I’m not going to abandon him.”
He raked a hand through the wavy black hair he usually kept so short the waves didn’t show, but now it needed a trim. She had played the guilt card, which she hated to do, but she was desperate. She could help him, just as she had before. Ben needed her, even if he couldn’t see it.
“Please sit down,” she said firmly. “If you want to get out of here, you had better conserve your strength.”
A corner of his mouth edged up. “Since when did you get so bossy?”
“Since I saw you lying on that table in the emergency room. I figured right then, as much as you hate the idea, you need someone to take care of you—at least for the next few days.”
He sank down heavily in the chair. He might be well enough to get out of the hospital, but he was hardly in top fighting condition.
“So you’re planning to come back with me to Houston.”
“If that’s where you’re going, yes.”
He was quiet for a while. “You were good out there,” he said softly, as if it bothered him to concede even that much. “You should have gone straight to the car when you heard the gunshot and driven the hell out of there, but I’m