Risky Return. Virginia Vaughan

marrying him.

      He could never recover from those failures of his youth, but he couldn’t just walk away knowing she was in danger. She was in trouble and he now had the skills to keep her safe.

      He turned back to Kent. “Can you place a deputy at the hospital for her safety?”

      “We’re short-staffed,” Kent told him. “I’ll never get the sheriff to authorize around-the-clock protection, especially when he knows her father has the money to hire someone.”

      Her father. Collin hadn’t considered that. He was surprised Bob Mason hadn’t already hired someone to protect her if he knew she was in danger. But as he looked at Rebecca’s house, he had to wonder what he knew. It was a modest home, a surprise to him. She’d grown up in opulence, living in one of the biggest homes in town. Her parents had always had money and she’d been denied very little in her life. He was one of only a few things they’d tried to deny her. He’d expected her to at least live in a fashionable condo or a higher-class neighborhood. Even the car he’d seen her getting into, a simple Toyota Camry, seemed modest. It was a far cry from the BMW convertible she’d gotten for her sixteenth birthday. Was it possible she was estranged from her dad? Had he cut her off? Because of him and the six months they’d spent together after running off to get married? No, from what he gathered from Rebecca today, if she and her father were no longer close, it was because she was the one who’d done it.

      All he knew was that it couldn’t be a coincidence he was in town at the same time Rebecca was in trouble. Collin hadn’t always put much faith in God, but He had to be the reason for this reconnection with Rebecca. Collin couldn’t leave town until he knew she was safe.

      He followed the ambulance to the ER and sat in the waiting room while the doctors examined her. A nurse approached him. “Sir, are you here with Rebecca Mason?”

      He stood. “I am. How is she?”

      “She has a mild concussion and some bruising but she’s fortunate there were no greater injuries. You can go back to see her for a few minutes.”

      He followed the nurse to a room, then pushed open the door. Rebecca was sitting up in a hospital bed, but her skin was pale and dark circles had formed around her eyes. It pained him to see how small and frail she looked and his first instinct was to pull her into his arms and hold on to her. He shoved away that thought and slid a chair to her bedside.

      “How are you feeling?” he asked her, unable to stop the impulse to reach for her hand.

      She didn’t pull it away. In fact, she clasped his, her long fingers cool to the touch. “I’m okay. Just shaken up.”

      “That’s twice today someone has tried to hurt you, Rebecca. Three, if you count the threatening message. I’m sorry. I should have stayed with you.”

      “This is not your fault, Collin. You had no idea this would happen.”

      “I should have suspected something.”

      “You can’t blame yourself for everything, Collin. Not everything in life is your fault.”

      He looked up at her and they both seemed to realize how easily they’d slipped into matters of the past. She knew him so well, but this time, he was certainly at fault for not protecting her.

      Suddenly, he felt awkward being there with her. She needed rest and time to recover from the attacks. “I’ll go now and let you get some sleep.” He stood but she didn’t release his hand. He glanced back at her.

      Tears filled her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here,” she told him.

      He was confused. Should he leave or stay? His heart urged him to remain by her side, but he wasn’t sure that was for the best. She was injured and concussed, wasn’t thinking properly, and he didn’t want to take advantage of that. And she’d been clear earlier at the house that she didn’t want him around.

      Thankfully he didn’t have to choose. The door to her room opened and a nurse walked in. “That’s long enough. The patient needs her rest.”

      Their moment was broken and their time together over. “I should go. I hope you feel better soon, Rebecca,” he said as he headed for the door.

      He shouldn’t have remained so long and he never should have gone back there to see how she was. He should have gotten into his car and gone about his business once the ambulance had taken her away. Only, she was his business—at least she had been—and even though he knew they could never be together again, he didn’t want to live in a world without Rebecca Mason in it.

      * * *

      Rebecca pushed back the blanket and got up, intending to get her clothes and get out of here. She wasn’t safe and she had to let Missy know what was happening, but she had to be smart. She couldn’t lead these people to Missy or they would both be in danger.

      “What do you think you’re doing?” the nurse asked.

      “I’m leaving. I’ll sign whatever papers I need to sign, but I have to go.”

      “You’re not going anywhere.”

      She was about to yank out the IV when the nurse clamped her hand down on Rebecca’s arm, her fingers digging into her skin. Rebecca looked up and saw nothing but contempt in the woman’s face. “I said you’re not going anywhere,” the nurse insisted again. This time, her words had a bite to them—more bite than Rebecca would have expected from a nurse trying to stop a patient from leaving against medical orders. The woman stood like a brick wall between her and the door, and the determination in her face was evident. “Get back in that bed.”

      But she wasn’t going to be pushed around. She had to get to Missy. “I’m leaving,” she said again.

      Only this time, the woman grabbed her arm and twisted it, causing Rebecca to cry out and fall to her knees. The nurse leaned over her and warned, “You’re not going anywhere, Rebecca. You’re never going anywhere again.”

      The hatred in her face frightened her and Rebecca knew something was very wrong. This couldn’t just be about her leaving. The nurse grabbed her other arm and shoved her to the bed, then grabbed her feet and slung her into it, pinning her down with her body. Rebecca struggled to get free but the woman was too big and strong for her to get loose. The nurse pulled restraints from her pocket and managed to get Rebecca’s hands clamped down, then moved to her feet. Rebecca frantically pulled at them, trying to get loose. She screamed for help and kicked and dodged, but this woman wasn’t fazed. She must have done this a hundred times before.

      “What are you doing?” Rebecca asked as the woman pulled a syringe from her pocket and injected it into Rebecca’s IV. “What is that?”

      She leaned over her and sneered. “Just a little something to shut you up. You should have listened to the warnings we sent you in those notes,” she said. “Now, you’ll go to sleep and never wake up. It’ll look like you suffered a heart attack from your previous injuries.”

      Rebecca jerked, realizing what this was. Murder! Was this woman even a nurse here, or was she posing as one to kill her?

      “Someone help me!” she cried, aiming her voice toward the doorway.

      The nurse laughed. “No one is coming to save you, Rebecca. As far as the nurses are concerned, you’re just another out-of-control patient that had to be restrained. By the time anyone checks on you, it’ll be too late.”

      She turned on the television, adjusting the volume so that it was loud, then pulled the cord that ran from the nurse’s call button to the bed out of the wall and dropped it to the floor out of reach. She turned and walked out, switching off the lights as she left.

      When the door swung shut and the room went dark, terror rushed through Rebecca. The first effects of the drug the nurse had injected into her began to appear. The room started spinning and her legs and arms lost their will to fight. But she couldn’t give up. If she fell asleep, she was dead. She had to keep struggling until someone heard her.