Empty Net (Five for Fighting #3) Read online

  “I heard you had some people in your corner trying to keep you out of prison.” She’d already mentioned Dylan by name, but Doug wasn’t willing to do the same. The man had almost died, but he took the stand and pleaded that Steph just get the help she needed.

  “Yes, well, he’s my brother’s mentor, so of course he’d try to do anything he could to help Nels. I don’t really want to get into all that, I just wanted to acknowledge that under normal circumstances I’d be in prison instead of under doctor’s supervision. Right this second, I wish I was.”

  Her voice had progressively gotten softer as she spoke. He’d started the conversation off in a whisper because he wanted it to be as private as possible, but Doug found he had to lean closer to her to pick up the last few words, even though she was still facing directly towards one of his ears.

  “What do you mean?” he murmured back. Doug tried to remember anything in the short note she’d sent him that indicated Steph needed help. It basically just said she was going through a program and needed to make amends with people she’d hurt. He didn’t think he necessarily fell into that category, but if it helped her, he was willing to try. As far as he knew, it was still going to be years before she was allowed out of the facility, and there were people she needed to make amends with that Doug doubted were going to stop by for a visit.

  “I’m only going to tell you if you promise to wait to react until after you leave. They have cameras everywhere, and I don’t want certain people knowing I told you.”

  Doug had continued to look out the window, only watching her out of the corner of his eye. He turned his body, so he could watch her full body language as she spoke. He wasn’t aware he’d made a certain face, but Steph was quick to sigh and tell him about it.

  “Well, there went that idea. You already look like I just told you your puppy died or something, so we’ll go a different route. I need help getting moved to another place. Can you help me get a lawyer? I need to see what options I have, and I’d like to move things along sooner rather than later.”

  Steph glanced over her shoulder and Doug followed her gaze to the guard staring intently in their direction. It didn’t seem like he’d moved or changed the flat expression on his face, but he had Steph agitated. Her hands balled up into fists and she took a deep breath.

  “And you couldn’t ask Nelson for that, or call your lawyer yourself? You do have access to a phone, right?”

  Doug was still unclear what was going on, but it seemed she had better options than sending him a letter. Steph’s head swiveled back to him and she shook it from side to side.

  “Like I said, Nels might not believe my reasoning, and phone calls aren’t private. This isn’t private either, but I’ve got to get out of here.” Her eyes turned to pleading, as she seemed to try to give the appearance they were having a calm, friendly conversation.

  “I can make some calls for you, but I’m going to have to tell your brother about it. I can’t just go behind his back.” Doug didn’t know what he was getting into, and the shallow sigh he let escape was indicative of the drama he knew was going to join his life.

  He wasn’t a stranger to drama, but it was rare for it to pop up. The last bit of drama he’d dealt with was pretending to date Nelson’s wife, which had thankfully been two years prior. He’d had a boring, but peaceful life since then. It seemed those days were coming to an end.

  “I don’t have a problem with that, I just can’t deal with whatever reaction he ended up going with. I’ve worked too hard to get him to trust me. I can’t handle seeing the questions in his eyes again, wondering if I was skipping pills. And if he blows up, it’s not going to help either.” Unexpectedly, Steph leaned in to give Doug a kiss on his left cheek. “There’s a new guard and he keeps finding his way into my room at night. Nothing has happened yet, but I don’t feel safe here anymore.”

  Doug leaned back and tried to see if Steph was being the drama queen he remembered. He hadn’t spent enough time with her outside the bar atmosphere to know what legitimate fear looked like in her eyes, but it was hard to deny she was doing her best to convey there was something wrong in the hospital.

  He recalled her note about not reacting, so he did his best to remain calm. Even if they weren’t close, there was a time he’d convinced himself he was half in love with her, and hearing someone was bothering her that way wasn’t easy to stomach.

  “The guy who won’t take his eyes off us?” Doug didn’t look, because he didn’t want to give away she’d said something. He wasn’t sure why that was important to her, but he’d play things her way.

  “No, but they all watch out for each other. I’ve told my doctor and he thought I just needed my meds adjusted. No one here will come running if he does more than watch me sleep. I could probably scream my head off, and they’d just think I was looking for attention. I need to leave.”

  Doug agreed with that idea, whether there were delusions involved or not. It wasn’t his place to say if Steph was making things up for attention, but the place hadn’t given him a good vibe from the moment he walked in, so he was inclined to believe her. Steph wasn’t as tiny as some women Doug knew, but she was a woman without any sources of protection against, judging by the one guard in the room, probably a larger man.

  “I don’t know what can get resolved today, but I’ll go talk to Nelson and see if we can get something done. At the very least maybe he can get someone to come in and inspect the place. I know that isn’t the same as getting you moved out, but it could reveal some issues that would come in handy with any requests put in front of a judge.” Doug had no idea how things worked, but it sounded like a logical course of action.

  Based on her past, most people probably wouldn’t immediately decide to take action, but Doug didn’t like the idea of a woman being taken advantage of. She couldn’t have picked a better champion to see things resolved, because Doug had stood by a cousin during a relationship that turned abusive.

  Steph didn’t know anything about that time in his life, so she wouldn’t have known he’d side with her no matter if there was immediate evidence. It had taken a broken arm and a black eye before anyone had listened to his cousin.

  “Just like that?” Steph’s eyes widened in surprise. She was somewhat lucky he was even still standing there. He was already calculating how long it would take to get over to Nels’ place.

  “You didn’t ask me to break you out, just try to get you moved to another facility. Even if there’s something more going on here, looking into that isn’t going to keep you from getting the help you need.”

  A breath of relief made its way out of her chest. “I promise you this isn’t one of my games. Can you tell Nels that? Tell him I pinky promise.”

  Doug didn’t get the pinky promise part, but he assumed it would mean something to Nels. He glanced over to the guard in the room and towards the door next to him. He had to wonder if the nurse he was somewhat infatuated with was part of the problem.

  He’d been drawn to women before, one of them stood right in front of him, but there was something that really made him want to peel back the layers and see if the nurse was as prickly as she portrayed. Even after feeling strongly for a few women, he’d always believed there was one out there who matched up perfectly with him, and his reaction to the nurse seemed different enough that he wondered if she was the woman he’d been looking for.

  “What about the nurses here? Do they look the other way?” He should’ve focused on the problem at hand, and not his desire to learn what he could about the nurse.

  Steph studied him for a second and followed his gaze to the door. She laughed as she turned back to face him. “There’s only three nurses here today. I’m guessing it was either Madison or Elizabeth, since the other one is married, which one has you concerned.”

  For a split second while she asked the question, Steph’s eyes light up with the joy Doug remembered. He felt like an ass for letting her realize he was interested in one of the nurses, but it was
almost worth it to see a little joy on her face.

  “I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me her name.” Doug was going to describe the woman, but Steph interrupted him.

  “That would be Elizabeth. Madison would’ve tried to mount you. If you can get me out of here, I’ll make sure my parting words from this place are putting in a good word for you.”

  Doug didn’t need the enticement. He was going to do everything he could to convince Nels to work some magic.

  “You didn’t answer the question. Would she look the other way if something was happening to you?” Doug didn’t like the idea of the dainty nurse trying to pull a guard away from Steph, but he hoped she would at least try to help.

  “I can’t say for sure. There’s something in her eyes that tells me she’s been hurt by someone before. I don’t know what she’d be able to do to help, though. It’s not like she could run to one of the other guards or a doctor around here. They’d be more inclined to believe her, but I don’t think it would keep me from being,” her voice trailed off, clearly she didn’t want to say the word Doug finished the sentence with on his own.

  Raped. The rage inside of Doug started to climb, and he was worried he wouldn’t be able to keep the topic of the conversation a secret from the guard much longer.

  “We won’t let that happen. I’ll call Nels as soon as I get out of here. We’ll take care of everything.” Doug wrapped his arms around Steph and pulled her in close. “I promise.”

  He wished he had some kind of weapon, even just a bottle of mace that he could give her. He hoped whatever had crippled most of the staff had also made its way to the guard Steph was afraid of. It would possibly buy him a little time to cut through whatever red tape was in the way.

  “I can’t believe you still wear that horrible cologne.” Steph pushed back on him to give herself a little air.

  She almost seemed like a completely different person from the withdrawn woman he’d seen when he first walked in. She wasn’t the old life-of-the-party Steph, but there appeared to be sparks.

  “Why does everyone hate my cologne? I’ve never understood why people have to harp on me about it.” Doug tried to smile as he spoke, and there was a slight chance it made it all the way to his eyes.

  “It could be great, but the fact that you bathe in it makes it a little overwhelming. If I’m going to put in a good word for you with the nurse, I don’t want it wasted on the fact she can’t breathe around you. Try limiting yourself to spraying it in the air in front of you and then walking through it.”

  That was basically what Doug did, but he sprayed the one spray on himself instead of walking through it. After hearing so many people complain about the cologne, one would’ve thought he’d find something new to wear, but he saw it as some sort of challenge. When he found the one woman who didn’t complain, he’d know he’d met the woman he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with.

  “Don’t worry about saying something, just worry about keeping yourself safe. I’ll be back tomorrow, whether I have a resolution in place or not. I don’t want you sitting around for a week wondering if I’ve been blowing smoke saying I’d do something.”

  Steph smiled and shook her head. “There have been days in here that I’ve wondered why in the world I didn’t meet you before Dylan. There were times before in my life when people said I was a little unstable, but as soon as he walked in the door, a switch went off and all I could think about was getting him to notice me. Nels won’t talk about him, but I assume he and Casey have gotten married and have a few rugrats, who look adorably just like their parents.”

  She was fishing for information, and Doug was feeling generous. He shouldn’t have let her pull anything from him, but he’d always had a soft spot for Steph.

  “You were probably too busy planning your wedding to him to realize Casey had a double mastectomy just before you stabbed Dylan. The cancer didn’t spread, and as far as I know, she’s still free of it, but it runs in her family, so she decided she didn’t want to have her own kids.”

  A look of regret immediately flashed on Steph’s face. It was the right reaction to keep Doug talking.

  “They do have a little girl, though. Casey carried her, but neither one of them is her biological parent. I know it probably hurts to hear it, but they’re happy, and I truly believe they were meant to be together.”

  Steph nodded and the tips of her lips turned back up. “One day I’ll tell her how sorry I am. I’ve thought about writing to her, but I can’t express the things I need to say on paper.”

  Doug wasn’t sure how Casey would take the one-time acquaintances reunion, but he figured they still had a number of years before the fireworks happened. Maybe if it was proven Steph was telling the truth about the creepy guard, they could get a judge or doctor, or someone, to take a look at her progress and give everyone a better idea of how long that wait would be.

  As the guard separated from the wall and started walking in their direction, Doug realized his thirty minutes was up. It had been an enlightening trip, and he was glad he hadn’t blown it off.

  “I’m getting ready to be kicked out, but we’ll talk again tomorrow. Do they let me bring stuff from the outside to you? Maybe I could bring you something to eat.” He hadn’t witnessed a meal, but he assumed they didn’t serve anything as good as a greasy cheeseburger.

  “Call and ask one of the nurses on duty if they allow that sort of thing. Nelson hasn’t brought anything in, so I don’t really know.” She winked as she turned to see the guard was about ten steps away from them. Sighing, she turned back around. “It was nice to reconnect a little. I hope you don’t make yourself a stranger.”

  Doug had already established he wouldn’t, so he knew Steph was trying to cover up what they’d been talking about. It was hard to leave as she made herself home in the chair she’d originally been sitting in, but he had tasks ahead of him that he needed to see to.

  He left before the guard could open his mouth to tell him to get out. Seeing the man closer, Doug knew he could take him, but it wasn’t the time or place to let the frustrations he’d gained from the visit out. He looked a little hopelessly at the door in the room for Elizabeth, but someone else appeared to walk him out.

  “There are days I really wish visitors could stay a little longer, stud, and today is definitely one of those days.”

  Doug knew the second the sultry voice started speaking that the woman had to be the Madison Steph referred to. She didn’t try to hide the fact that she was picturing him naked as she licked her lips.

  Deciding to remain mute as she hit buttons on the keypad to let him out, Doug listened as she painted a picture of what she wanted to do to him. There was chocolate sauce and whipped cream involved, along with an actual whip. Saying the woman was direct was an understatement.

  She couldn’t punch the code in the door fast enough as Doug waited for the handle to turn under his hand. As soon as it gave, he was out the door and back to security so he could pick up his things. He hadn’t studied the woman closely, but his heart had already tried to settle on one nurse, and he wasn’t about to let it go crazy.

  Chapter Four

  Lizzie struggled getting Ben out of the car. For as healthy as he was, Ben was small for his age and Lizzie hesitated moving him up to the next size of car seat. Since he was borderline too big for the one he was in, sometimes the latch seemed to stick and she had to convince it she was the boss.

  “Do you need some help?”

  Lizzie gasped when she heard Doug’s deep voice behind her. She hit her head as she momentarily let the latch win so she could turn around to see what he was doing by her car. She’d thought he would’ve been long gone by the time she got back.

  Her brain temporarily stopped functioning as he looked around her to see what she was working on in the car. God was he gorgeous. It really wasn’t right that someone had not only great shoulder-length blond hair that she wanted to run her fingers through, but just below his defined cheekbone on
his left cheek there was an adorable dimple that begged her finger to touch.

  “Well, who’s this?” Doug asked as he bent down and got a better look at Ben. Ben seemed to enjoy the attention as his legs kicked happily. He was usually extremely shy, so the excitement was a little surprising.

  Lizzie had somehow been pushed to the side, and Doug reached in and held up his hand, looking for a high five. She was going to tell him that Ben probably didn’t understand the gesture, but her son surprised her again by making contact with his palm.

  “Wow, you got an arm on you. How old are you?”

  Lizzie intervened before the pair could get too friendly. “He’s two, and he’s my son. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I need to get him out of his car seat so I can get back to work.”

  Doug looked up at her, with his brow slightly scrunched. “You bring your baby to work with you?”

  She understood the questioning look, but didn’t appreciate him doubting her parenting ability. He straightened up and leaned against the car, waiting for her to explain.

  “There’s a chicken pox outbreak at his daycare, so I don’t have a lot of choices.” She reclaimed her spot leaning in the car, and was thankful when the button released the latch she’d been fighting with. She pulled Ben out from his confinement and propped him on her hip, straightening his t-shirt as she did. It was mid-June, so the air was warm enough he didn’t need a jacket.

  As soon as Ben got a look at Doug, he reached out to try to convince the man to hold him. Lizzie kept a grip on the baby and leveled Doug with a look that told him he needed to keep his hands to himself.

  “Isn’t there a relative or someone else you can find to look after him? That place isn’t right for a baby.” Doug pointed to the looming building behind Lizzie, as if she wasn’t clear where he was talking about.

  “Thanks for stating the obvious.” Lizzie rolled her eyes as she grabbed a diaper bag and threw it over her free shoulder. “Did you have a nice visit with Stephanie?”