Chapter 14
Fiery pain lanced up her foot. Had she stepped on a needle? No. It felt too deep. Too horrible.
A knife?
But the agony felt more like fire flaming from her foot up her ankle.
“Turn on the light,” she panted, even as the overhead dome already blazed.
Rick leaped across his seat. Before she could gather herself to search the floorboard, Rick’s curse filled the vehicle. He grabbed her by the shirt and hauled her across the seat, out his side, shouting, “Lauren, get away from the car. Now! Scorpions.”
Scorpions?
No wonder her foot hurt. She’d worn open-toed shoes out of vanity to show off her painted toenails. Her mind raced. Thank God, Lauren had worn those clunky—ugly as all get-out—boots. Had she even gotten in the car?
Were there scorpions in the dirt? But they didn’t have the creatures here. Her mind fogged. From the fear or toxin, she didn’t know.
Still, she forced herself to think of the others. Rick always wore boots these days, too, for the extra support. They would hopefully be fine.
By the time she finished those thoughts, the three of them were in the parking lot and Rick was barking instructions. “Check your pants. Be sure nothing crawled up inside.”
Her skin fired at the mere thought.
His hands began patting her down. “You’re fine, Nola. You’re going to be okay. I’ll get you to the hospital in minutes.”
Already a crowd gathered around her and Mako rushed to the front holding out his keys for them to use, while Rick barked instructions to secure the area in case any scorpions had crawled out of the vehicle. How long did she have? She tried to remember from her instruction in survival school after pilot training, but holy crap, there had to be like a thousand different kinds and just breathing evenly took all her energy as Rick scooped her up in his arms. One fact blared through the panic.
Her stalker had struck again.
The next morning, Rick wished he could pace in the hospital’s waiting area. That would work off some of his nervous energy, but his legs wouldn’t cooperate. Instead he was stuck waiting in one of the uncomfortable industrial chairs that was half a size too small for him while he waited for Nola to finish her release processing after her night spent in the hospital.
At least he’d gotten Lauren on a plane home with hurried, but surprisingly comfortable goodbyes. And Lauren had seemed nearly as shaken as him by Nola’s trip to the E.R.
He’d spoken to Lauren the minute she’d landed in Atlanta. Now he just needed to hear that she’d made it to New Hampshire and back into her mother’s safekeeping.
The electric doors swished open, a cool burst of air from outside swirling in along with three of Nola’s squadron friends he’d met at the party the night before.
The in-flight mechanic, Mako; the wiry genius junk-food-junkie pilot, Crusty; and the football-player-looking pilot, Bronco.
Rick shoved to his feet, determined to meet them on even footing.
Crusty pulled up to a stop in front of him. “How’s Nola doing?”
Rick nodded toward Bronco. “His flight doc wife has cleared her to leave, but stay on bed rest. Nola’s checking out now.”
The three men eyed him, chests puffing like a line of overprotective brothers. Yeah, they were all posturing, but he could see the genuine concern in their eyes, and since he cared what happened to Nola, too, he couldn’t fault them. Suddenly he realized one of these guys wasn’t married. Sure, Mako was enlisted and that was taboo for dating, but that didn’t stop plenty of people in the military.
Possessiveness pumped through him.
“I’ve got her from here.” Rick stepped forward, pulling himself to his full height, only Bronco matching him in inches, but not a chance did the easygoing guy equal him in intensity when it came to seeing to this woman’s well-being.
Mako nodded slowly. “So that’s the way it is.”
Rick narrowed his gaze. “I’m not answering that and I don’t want any gossip about her.”
Bronco grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. “Well hell, now we have to like you.”
Hmm. Apparently, he’d been accepted into their brotherhood. “I’ll tell her you stopped by. I’m sure it will mean a lot to her.”