I get between them.
“Baby, time to go.” I grab her hand and tug.
“Jude, stop,” Ally protests.
“Not the time,” I say and usher her in the other direction. I look over my shoulder.
Grace Steele stares at us in shock for a beat before she shakes it off. Now she’s got her phone to her ear.
Fuck.
“Not smart, Ally,” I say.
Tears stream down Ally’s face as we leave the hospital. I flag down a cab and then we’re inside.
“Take us to the nearest hotel,” I tell him.
The cab driver passes Ally some Kleenex.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“Not smart, Ally,” I repeat. “You can’t just go off half-cocked like that.”
She blows her nose. “Yeah, well, I’ve been not smart and half-cocked about a lot of fucking things.”
I stare out the window, shaking my head.
***
Craig calls me two minutes after we’re checked into the hotel. She got pushy with me at the front desk trying to pay, but I won.
She’s in the bathroom when I answer.
“Hey Craig. I’m in Columbus with Ally.”
“Steele made it out of surgery. No joy finding Daystrom yet. He get in touch with her?”
“Not that I know of. We’ll check her email. We’re just settling into a hotel. Listen, she insisted on going to the hospital and I hoped I’d see you or one of your guys there, but Grace Steele was there and there was a minor scene. I’m not happy about Ally approaching and want your take on how this might go.”
“From what I know, the two Steele sisters live clean. Grace and Jonah are close. She’s two years younger, youngest Steele sibling. She’s supposed to be locked down, though. I’ll head over there. What’s the purpose of this visit, Novak?”
“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I briefed her on what you told me about Jonah Steele not being after her, trying to take his brother down for her disappearance, and she found out he was shot and wanted to see him.”
“Right,” Craig says and with that one word I know the guy knows exactly what’s in my head right now.
“Later,” I say. “I’ll be in touch if we hear from Daystrom.”
“Yeah, man.”
She comes out of the bathroom and pulls her laptop out of her bag and opens it, setting it up on the desk in the corner of the room.
“Checking for a message from Daystrom?” I ask.
Her eyes blaze at me. “Why don’t you just look at whatever it is you have that tells you everything without talking to me about it. Then go ahead and make decisions about what to do or not to do about it. Since, you know… that’s what you do.”
Whoa.
She angrily types away.
I sit down and thrust my hand through my hair.
“No message from him. Who’s at your house watching my cats?”
“Roman. He’ll spend the night.”
She says nothing, just clicks away on her screen.
***
An Hour Later
“I’m ordering room service. What do you want?” she snaps.
“What are you having?” I ask.
I’m on the bed, laptop open, TV on. She’s on her laptop at the desk, back to me.
“Chicken fingers. Cesar Salad. Chili fries. A shake. And cheesecake. I’m eating my feelings.”
“I’ll have a steak. Rare. Baked potato.”
She still looks pissed off. And sad at the same time.
I’ve been on the bed digging into Wade Daystrom. Victoria Daystrom, too. And Ally is at the desk working on some sort of poster. Her job. She’s sitting there doing her job probably trying to keep busy because of all she’s feeling right now.
I get a text message from Craig right after I eat. She’s still eating.
Craig: Jonah Steele is conscious, and his sister told him your girl was here. He’s asked to see her.
Me: Do you think that’s safe for her?
Craig: No guarantees, man, you know that, but I think so. Been dealing with that guy for months and my gut says it’ll be fine. I’ll be there and have backup for you if you give me fifteen minutes before you get here.
Me: Thanks. Be there in about 20.
I wait ten minutes before I talk to her, knowing there’s a good chance she’ll try to go immediately, buying myself a few minutes.
“He’s awake. He wants to see you,” I say to her back.
Her body stiffens. She puts her fork down and looks over her shoulder at me.
I can’t get a read on her expression for a change. And I fucking hate it.
47
Ally
When we get to Jonah’s hospital room, there are four uniformed cops outside the door and a tall, dark-haired guy in a suit whose eyes are on me. He shakes Jude’s hand.
“Craig Jenkins. Good to meet you in person, Jude. Ally. Two of the officers here are here to guard Steele and there are two more to escort you both back to your hotel after this.”
Jude shakes his hand. I do the same.
Two more to escort us? Are we in danger?