Hero By Night (Independence Falls 3)

“Jesus, Lena, you don’t have to leave the apartment—­”

“I’ll find a new apartment this week.” She picked up her bag and turned to the door leading up to her borrowed home. Hero abandoned his post and moved to her side. Maybe she could find four walls and a roof to rent this week, but her own place? She still felt too far adrift right now, too lost.

“Good-­bye, Chad.”

“Lena, wait,” he called.

She froze, glancing over her shoulder. Hero sat at her side glancing back at Chad and then at her with his head cocked, a pleading look in his dark eyes, which she swore said, Are you sure you don’t want to bring him? I kinda like him.

“For the record, you never disappointed me or let me down,” he said. “Not once.”

Chapter 20

CHAD HEADED FOR his truck, bone-­tired from flying since dawn. Lying awake half the night every night for the past week, thinking about Lena, hating the fact that she’d moved out and away from him, hadn’t helped. Pulling away from the landing site, he glanced at his helicopter.

This was it. His dream. But it felt more like a nightmare. Yeah, he was living the life he’d always wanted—­single and flying. And it broke his heart every damn day.

In his pocket, his cell vibrated. Chad pulled over to the side of the dirt road and took the call, hoping to hear her voice.

“Chad here.”

“Hey.” Brody’s deep voice filled his ear, and disappointment surged. “I need you to swing by the rehab center and check on Josh.”

Pinning the phone between his shoulder and ear, Chad put the truck in gear and headed for the main road. “Everything OK?”

“One of the nurses called. They’re worried he’s slipping into depression. There’s been no change in weeks.”

“Yeah, and that last specialist was a total loss.” The doctor from Seattle had tossed up his hands and said there was nothing he could do. “What should I tell him?”

“If he asks, say we’re working on it. I have a list of doctors to interview this week,” his big brother said. “I’m going to need your help with that.”

“You got it. Whatever you need.”

“Good. And try to keep the kid distracted. Talk about something else. Anything to take his mind off his missing memory.”

“Will do.” Chad ended the call and merged onto the highway heading for the university rehab center. Forty-­five minutes later, he parked his truck, went inside, and found Josh lying on his bed staring at the ceiling.

“Hey man, you got a minute,” Chad called from the doorway.

Josh laughed, sitting up. “Yeah, I got a few before, you know, bingo tonight or whatever shit they’ve got planned.”

The bandages were gone from his head, and from the outside, his little brother looked perfectly normal. But Chad knew appearances could be deceiving.

“Good, I need to talk. It’s about a girl.”

“Don’t tell me you need me to fix your love life.”

“Yeah. I do.” Chad sank into the chair by the window. Starting at the beginning, he told Josh about Lena. He explained their plan for the fake relationship, and how for him it turned real. Head leaned back, he closed his eyes and told the one person who wouldn’t remember a word of this after bingo how he’d lost his heart to a woman who felt he deserved more.

“I fell for her, man. Hard.” Chad opened his eyes and glanced over at the bed. “What the hell? Are you taking notes?”

Josh nodded, his focus on the pen and spiral notebook in his hands. “One of the nurses suggested it, so I remember.”

“Shit, I told you because I thought you’d forget by dinner, not make a written account.”

His little brother grinned. “Yeah, I know. But now I have something to hold over your head when I ask you to break me out of here.”

“I can’t do that. But—­” Chad made a grab for the notebook, but his little brother held it out of his reach. “What do you think I should do?”