An Ill Wind Read online

  As Trina’s death proved, life could be stolen away in an instant; so Fee needed to begin to live each day as if it were her last.

  “Here,” a can of Diet Pepsi was thrust in front of her, “you look like you need some caffeine.”

  “Thanks.” Fee turned and attempted to smile at Pia.

  “You okay?” Pia leaned a small but shapely hip against the computer station. Her pretty face was couched in lines of concern. Her dark eyes looked as tired as Fee felt.

  “Nope,” Fee said. “How about you?”

  “Been better.” Pia looked down the short hallway toward the cubicle where Trina lay, covered by a sheet.

  Fee swivelled her chair so her back was to the computer monitor and the horrific story of violence and sudden death now detailed in black and white on Trina’s chart. “It never gets any easier … especially when we knew she was in danger. We should’ve—”

  “¡Basta! Don’t even go there.” Pia reached over to rub Fee’s arm. “We did everything we legally could. We counseled her, gave her referrals to the shelter…”

  None of which had done a shit load of good and had been like putting a band aid on an arterial bleed. The State of New Mexico had basically tied the medical staff’s hands.

  “…and without Trina’s cooperation…” Pia trailed off and sighed. “When will someone come to take our statements and transport her to the coroner?”

  Fee’s lips thinned. “Any time. Sheriff Gray Wolf is taking control of this death investigation personally.”

  Eyes flashing dark fire, Pia hissed and muttered, “Maldición, Levi! Cielo sálvame.” Which Fee who’d picked up a lot of Spanish in her months in New Mexico loosely translated as “Damn, Levi! Heaven save me.”

  Fee narrowed her eyes. “What is your problem with the sheriff?”

  “Nada.” Pia’s response came out sounding like the snarl of the bobcat Fee frequently caught rooting through her garbage can.

  “I call bullshit.” Fee took a sip of her soda and allowed Pia’s issues with the sheriff to push the two deaths out of her mind for the moment. “That man has the hots for you, and you don’t give him the time of day.” She pointed her can at Pia. “Levi Gray Wolf is one fine male specimen. Unlike most of the single male population in the area, he has a job. He’s also a decent human being who doesn’t abuse women, children, or animals, which is also a rarity around here. You should be all over that. And shall I mention again lest you’ve failed to notice?—he is f-i-i-ne.”

  Pia bristled. Fee could almost see the hairs standing up on the nurse’s body.

  “Look who’s talking,” Pia shot back. “You have sex-on-a-stick, tall-dark-and-handsome visiting you from up north almost every month—and you won’t even eat a meal—in public—with him.”

  “Not true,” Fee said. “I’ve had meals in public with him.”

  “But only when your brother’s with you,” Pia pointed out with a smirk. “Or when Trey brings food into the clinic as he did on his last visit.”

  “I know you had a hand in that, getting your mama to fix the meals for Trey outside of her diner’s hours,” Fee said. Pia smirked, but remained silent. “Anyway, after Trey’s last visit, I missed him. A lot. So, I’ve decided to go out on a real date with him—just the two of us and in public—the next time he visits.”

  “Really?” Pia straightened and shot her such a look of disbelief that Fee laughed.

  “Really.” Missing Trey had made her heart hurt, and if that wasn’t telling, then nothing was. She’d also had very hot dreams of him kissing her all over. “I’m manning up … so what are you gonna do about Levi?”

  “Nada.” Pia looked away. “My father was killed while running drugs for the Sinaloa cartel. Now my brother’s doing the same damn thing. The sheriff can do much better than dating the sister of criminals.”

  “So that’s why you ignore me as if I had rabies or something?” Levi Gray Wolf came around the corner of the counter and entered the small computer area situated to the side of the ER triage desk.

  While Fee was attracted to Trey’s particular brand of tall, dark, and ruggedly handsome, she wasn’t completely immune to the picture Levi made. He was six-foot-four-inches of muscular alpha-male with distinct teddy bear tendencies when it came to women. She’d once seen him carefully carry a laboring woman into the emergency room, crooning to her in his deep, soothing voice and then remaining by her side until her husband had arrived.

  Right now, with his long, straight, dark hair tied back and his dark amber eyes flashing with sparks, he looked fierce, ready to take on whatever demons plagued Pia.

  A muscle in Levi’s sculpted jaw twitched as he ground out, “I could fucking care less about your father and Ernesto’s cartel connections. I’d be dating you … not your family.”

  “But your job … what would the county commissioners say?” Pia stared at him. Emotions chased across her face—fear, wariness, and longing.

  Damn, her friend had it bad, almost as bad as Levi from the expression on the warrior’s face.

  “They could fire you—” Pia faltered. “After what happened in Columbus … with the mayor and the police department…”

  Pia had a valid point. Right before Fee had arrived in town, the Columbus police chief, the majority of his staff, and the mayor had been convicted of running guns across the border for the cartel. The county commissioners had cleaned house and dissolved the police department altogether and appointed a temporary mayor. The Luna County Sheriff’s office had taken over policing the town. Levi had to keep his office clean and above reproach after the scandal and its aftermath, which had brought intense scrutiny to the area from the state and the Federal government.

  “Pia,” Levi crooned, his tone that of a man trying to lure a frightened animal to come to him … to trust him. “I don’t care about this job. There are other jobs. I want you.”

  Pia shook her head, either in denial or disbelief.

  It was a toss up in Fee’s mind which emotion her friend felt. Fee wasn’t even certain Pia knew, either.

  “Um, I need to ch-check on some-something,” Pia stammered, tears welled in her eyes, her gaze fixed on Fee and nowhere near Levi.

  Then the nurse hurried off, brushing by Levi who’d refused to move out of her way. He growled under his breath. “Goddammit, Pia.”

  “Levi—” Fee drew his attention when it looked as if he’d chase after Pia. She wanted to give her friend a chance to regain her composure. “Have you arrested the murdering dickhead?”

  After one last, longing look at Pia’s retreating figure, Levi turned. His face was dark with his repressed feelings for Pia … and anger.

  Fee’s gut clenched. She didn’t do well with angry males.

  But when Levi spoke, his tone was cool and all business. “Benito Rivera is on the run. I put out a BOLO on him. We’ll find him. He’s a stupid motherfucker.” He moved toward her. She stiffened, but didn’t retreat. Levi’s emotions were under control—he was like Trey in that respect.

  Levi’s gaze traveled over her face. “You okay?”

  Fee appreciated his concern. She’d dealt with Levi a lot since she’d started work at the clinic, because of the local drug and cartel violence that had been frequent and bloody. She considered him a friend.

  “Yes … no.” Her lips twisted into a wry smile. “You’d think with all the blood and gore I’ve seen in my time here and back in Detroit, I’d get used to the horrors man can perpetrate on his fellow human beings, but … but what happened to Trina—” She shrugged. “It hit me—and Pia—hard.”

  Harder than she’d admit to Levi. Abuse toward women hit far too close to home.

  No matter her emotional status, she’d deal. She still had duties toward Trina and her unborn child.

  Levi’s face grew even darker. “What specifically caused the deaths? You were light on the details over the phone.”

  “It’s all here.” Fee put the can of soda down, picked up the report she’d typed and prin
ted out, then added it to a copy of Trina’s medical file she’d made for Levi.

  “The fetus died from a lack of oxygen as a result of Trina’s loss of blood from multiple stab wounds. The bastard severed Trina’s splenic artery”—more like hacked it up—“and the internal bleeding was catastrophic. Trina had no blood pressure by the time she was brought to the clinic. I … I did everything I could, but…”

  Fee choked on the anger and grief lodged in her throat. She coughed, then continued, “She had no fricking chance. Not even getting her to a major trauma unit would’ve saved her.”

  She shoved the medical file at him. “My official report of fetal abuse and death is in the file. It is also my personal and medical opinion that the murdering asshole was the reason for Trina’s previous emergency visits … every blessed one of them. His repeated abuse led to Trina’s death. I’ve given you all my medical notes and observations. At this point, Trina’s medical privacy is moot and my hands are no longer tied.”

  While New Mexico law required Fee to report the death of a fetus brought about by abuse, it fucking well hadn’t allowed her to report the ongoing domestic abuse toward Trina since such a report violated Trina’s privacy.

  Levi frowned at the thick file in his hands and then flipped through it. “Jesus Christ, there’s almost a hundred pages here. How many times had she been seen?” He reached the back of the file and inhaled sharply. When he looked up, his expression was that of inchoate rage. He’d obviously reached the part of the file where Fee had photographically documented Trina’s damage from her boyfriend’s fists.

  “Twice a month since I’ve been here, so eighteen times, not counting this evening.” Fee glared at Levi, even though none of what had happened was his fault. “Your law sucks. In Michigan, I could’ve reported the abusive asshole the first time Trina came in with a black eye and a broken wrist. His finger marks were on the wrist to prove he’d done it. Fell down the stairs, my ass.”

  “Did you photograph her at every ER visit?” Levi’s face was now blank of all emotion, his voice almost preternaturally calm. But his body language, the flames in his dark gold eyes, indicated he was boiling underneath.

  “As many times as I could without Trina catching on.” Fee smiled, a cynical twist to her lips. “I over-charted the injuries, because I knew he’d do something I could eventually report.”

  Fee’d had a premonition the abuse would get worse. With each subsequent emergency visit, there was evidence the abuse escalated. But Trina had always made excuses for Rivera, refused to say a bad word against the asshole. So, no one could do a thing until Trina filed a complaint.

  Guilt tasted bitter in her mouth. “I want the fucker to pay for it. All of it. No man should be allowed to terrorize and abuse a woman.” She swallowed hard as anger and remembered terror constricted her throat.

  Dr. Adam-fucking-Stall had beaten and raped her—had taken her confidence and sense of self away from her. But no longer. The passage of time and the patient pursuit by Trey had reinforced that there were good men in the world.

  Trina, however, had never gotten the chance to learn that fact.

  Levi would make sure Trina’s death was avenged, because he was another one of those good guys.

  Yeah, Pia was due to have a come-to-Jesus moment. Fee would point out that time was a-wasting and her friend shouldn’t let a decent man like Levi get away because of some family baggage out of her control.

  “Rivera will pay for it. I’ll see to it.” Levi looked in the direction Pia had gone. “I’ll just go take a look at Trina before the coroner’s people take her—”

  “Levi…” Fee shook her head and sighed. “Give Pia some time. I’ll talk to her. She’s trying to protect you.”

  “I can protect me,” he said, “and her.”

  “I know that.” Fee lips twisted. “But she’s ashamed.”

  “She needs to get the fuck over it.” Levi stared at the floor and rubbed the back of his neck. When he looked up, Fee’s heart ached at the love and the pain on his face. “I’m serious about that little gal.”

  “I suspected.” Fee touched his arm. His muscles were tense, hard as the bedrock in the area. “She is more than attracted to you, too.”

  “Really?” He looked up. Hope shone on his face.

  “Really.” She smiled. “Now, go and get the asshole who killed Trina. Pia needs some time to realize her family’s criminal background doesn’t matter to you.”

  “Thanks, Fee.” Levi gently squeezed her shoulder. “You need to stop feeling so guilty about Trina. Hell, I suspected something was going on with her, but when I asked her, she’d smile and say everything was okay. Until she asked for help, or I saw the bastard hitting her, my hands were tied as much as yours.”

  “But not now,” Pia stated.

  “Now Rivera’s ass is mine.” Levi looked at her, his eyes glowing with an unholy light. “I will lean on the prosecutor to go for murder—in both cases. Your file will demonstrate the history of abuse, showing intent. Manslaughter is off the table, if I have anything to say about it.”

  “Good,” Fee said. “I’ll be happy to testify.”

  “I figured.” His smile was feral. “We’ve got the bastard this time.” He turned to leave, then stopped. “Thanks for talking to me about Pia.” His expression lightened. “How about you? I know something bad happened to you in the past, because why in the hell would a city girl with your medical qualifications move to this backwater? ‘Course that’s none of my business, unless you want me to know. But that Maddox fellow who comes to visit with your brother, he’s got it bad for you. And from what I just overheard, you like him, too.” She shrugged and he chuckled. “So, are you really gonna cut the guy some slack and go out with him?”

  “Nosy much?” Fee asked with an indignant whine.

  “Yeah, it’s a small town. The county’s sparsely populated. Everyone knows everyone’s business or tries to. You and him have been the topic of a lot of speculation, especially since good-looking professional women are as rare as hen’s teeth in these parts. You kept giving him the cold shoulder. Got me worrying. So, I ran Maddox through the system—you know, just in case he was stalking you.”

  “Really?” Her breath caught at the thought of Levi watching over her just as her brother would’ve done.

  “Yep.” His expression was blank, but his eyes crinkled at the corners. “So, you gonna give Maddox a break?”

  “Yeah. Trey’s like water on stone. It might take longer for water to wear the stone down, but it gets the job done eventually.”

  “Good. From what I found out, Maddox is a good man,” Levi said.

  “He is.” Fee nodded.

  “Maybe we can double-date when he comes down the next time.”

  Fee snorted. “Good luck getting Pia on board with that. Seriously, Levi, she’s not ready.”

  “We’ll see.” Levi touched two fingers to his forehead in a mock salute and then walked out of the computer area.

  With dating on her mind, she pulled out her cell to text Trey and found a voice mail from an unknown number. She played it and heard nothing followed by the click of a disconnect. She deleted the message and blocked the number.

  Fee’d gotten a lot of these types of calls right after she’d moved to New Mexico. The phone company said the calls had come from a pre-paid phone. So she’d had her number changed and that had stopped the calls. Now, it looked as if they’d started again.

  A vague unease settled in her gut.

  As much as she wanted to rationalize these hang-ups as wrong numbers or nuisance calls by bored teenagers, Fee had to accept that Stall was stalking her … yet again.

  But why would he? He’d won. No one had believed her when she’d reported Stall’s stalking and harassment of her to the hospital. He’d then raped her, and she’d run, believing him when he’d said no one would take her word over his. People liked to blame the victim. She’d seen it often enough in her ER and on the news.

  She sigh
ed. Time to change her number again.

  Eventually Stall would give up. He’d find a new victim; hopefully, one who could make a case against him and have it stick.

  Maybe you should tell Trey and Price?

  No. Price and Trey had gone to Detroit last June. According to Keely, they’d delivered a forceful message to Stall. A physical message. They hadn’t gotten in any trouble, but they could’ve. If she told them about the calls, they might decide to deliver a second, even more forceful message, and she didn’t want either of them to get in trouble over a bunch of phone calls.

  The calls were just an irritating pain in the ass. Stall was nowhere near New Mexico.

  Ostrich, much?

  Shoving the edgy feeling and her past aside, she took a step toward a potential future and sent Trey a text: I’m ready for that date. Let’s start with dinner in Deming next time you visit. OK?

  She imagined the look of shock on Trey’s face when he received the message, and a warm feeling replaced the disquiet the hang-up had caused. Just thinking about Trey made her feel safe.

  “Doctor Teague, we need you in Exam Two,” came blaring over the intercom.

  Fee got up and headed back to work. The living still needed her skills.

  ****

  Same night, Sanctuary, Idaho

  The push notification on his cell drew Trey’s attention from his shitty hand. Using the distraction as an excuse to keep Price and Vanko guessing as to what his cards might be, he pulled the phone out and checked the text.

  Trey smiled and looked at Price. “Your baby sis wants me to take her to dinner in Deming the next time I visit. She says she’s ready to date.”

  “Well, halle-fucking-lujah, it’s about time.” Price slammed his hand on the table, a big grin on his face. “Did she indicate what changed her mind?”

  Trey shook his head. “Nope—and I’m not going to ask. I’m just fucking happy she has. Not gonna give her time to change her mind. I’ll take her up on her offer … this Saturday evening.” He hesitated. “You don’t mind if this trip is another solo…”

  “No. Go. This tells me she’s finally over what Doctor Douchebag did to her. Maybe now we can convince her to leave that dangerous dust pile.” Price frowned. “Her risk of getting shot by a cartel wannabe is higher than getting taken out by a gang-banger at the inner city Detroit hospital she left.”