Blacklisted (Loveless, Texas #3) - Jay Crownover Page 0,10
did, indeed, have a new enemy she wasn’t aware of, she wasn’t going to be happy about it.
I rotated my sore wrist and let out a heavy sigh. “No, no one else is trying to kill me.” I put the emphasis on the last word and sighed again. “I wasn’t alone in the parking lot. Shot and one of his biker friends have been hanging around my apartment on and off since he recovered from his injuries. Today I finally got up the courage to tell him to leave me alone. I was worried they would scare Ashby off if she was waiting to make a move on me. I told Shot I wanted my life back, but then someone started shooting and everything went to hell and I have no idea if I was the target or if he was.”
Kody was silent for a long moment, then she let out a low whistle and turned her head to look at me. “That’s gonna make things complicated.”
I nodded carefully in agreement. My head was starting to throb, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the headache or the knock it’d taken earlier. Either way, I wanted to lie down in a dark room and pretend like none of this happened for at least an hour. “I know it is. Shot and the VP didn’t stick around and wait for the police to show up.” I was going to remain bitter about that.
Kody snorted. “Of course they didn’t. That’s going to piss Case off, and now he’s going to be thrilled he has a legitimate reason to find Shot and bring him in for questioning. Those two are like oil and water. They never mix well, and Case isn’t going to like Shot having anything to do with you and your situation.”
Having anyone invested in me was a strange feeling, but the idea of suddenly having a big-brother figure in my life was completely foreign.
Reiterating my original statement, I whispered, “I can take care of myself, really.” But it didn’t sound nearly as convincing as I wanted it to.
Fortunately, the ER doctor finally made an appearance. He looked at me, then at Kody, and did a double take. The locals in Loveless were still adjusting to the fact that Conrad Lawton had another child floating around no one knew about. It was particularly startling when Kody and I were next to one another and the resemblance couldn’t be ignored. The older man quickly recovered his composure and gave the blond woman next to me a friendly grin.
“Kody. I thought I told you I didn’t want to see you here for the rest of the year. The Lawtons and their associates are getting too comfortable in this ER.” He clicked his pen and gave me a curious look, clearly trying to connect the dots as to how I suddenly fit into the Lawton family circle.
Kody scoffed and pushed off the side of the bed. “You know how hard it is to keep the Lawtons and the like out of trouble.” She grabbed her purse and gave me a narrow-eyed look of warning. “I’m gonna step outside while you look my sister over. I’ll be back to take her home once you give her a clean bill of health.” She switched the sharp look to the doctor. “Don’t let her convince you she’s fine if she’s not.”
The doctor chuckled and nodded. I could see him puzzling over the word sister, but he was too polite to say anything. Once Kody cleared out of the small space, the doctor turned kind eyes in my direction and took note of the way I was holding my sore wrist.
“Got a little banged up, did ya?” He pulled a pair of reading glasses from his pocket and looked over the chart in his hand.
“I’m fine. It’s just a sprain, and a bump on my head. I don’t have any symptoms of a concussion, and my wrist will be fine if I ice it and wrap it up for a few days.” I gave the self-diagnosis with quiet confidence, which made the older man’s eyebrows lift.
“Have you been to medical school, young lady?” There was a hint of condescension in his tone, and if my head hadn’t been killing me I would’ve rolled my eyes hard enough to see into the future.
“Yes, I’m a medical examiner. Same training, different title.” I wasn’t just a medical examiner either. Before my life had imploded, I’d been in line to