Fire and Ice (Ice 5)

“Mr. Shinoda? He was treated and released.”

Of course he was. Gone without a word. Probably halfway to Tokyo by now, and unless some other maniac surfaced to try to kill her, she wouldn’t see him again.

Of course, she could always egg someone on. He’d assured her that anyone who spent time around her would wind up homicidal. That hadn’t happened until she ran afoul of him, but if it was that easy, she could doubtless get someone to try to strangle her if it would bring Reno back.

She was out of her mind. He was gone, and good riddance. “I want to go home,” she said again.

“I’m sorry, Miss Lovitz, but right now there’s no home to go to. Your house is gone, and the entire neighborhood has been evacuated. You must have some friends in the area, someone you could stay with for the time being? The police have been in touch with your parents and they’re flying home, but in the meantime you need—”

“In the meantime I need to get the hell out of here,” she said. She smelled of smoke and chlorine, every inch of her body ached, and her heart, already smashed into little pieces, had somehow managed to re-break. Falling in love had to be the stupidest thing imaginable. Reno was right—if you feel it coming on, you just lie down until it passes.

“Would you like us to call someone for you?”

“I need a taxi to take me to the Beverly Hilton,” she said. “Nothing else.”

“Wait right here and the social worker will be with you.”

He disappeared before she could make another protest, and she bit back a snarl. One that she swallowed, as she suddenly realized the name tag on the elderly doctor’s coat. Dr. Yamada.

Dr. Yamada had climbed into bed with her and held her, kissed her, and it certainly wasn’t that annoying old man. There was an observation window overlooking her cubicle, and she could see the good doctor in earnest conversation with a policeman and a woman who looked like a jail-house matron. Probably the social worker, but she wasn’t sticking around to find out.

She slipped off the table, wincing as she put her weight on her sprained ankle, and began moving toward the back of the cubicle, when the enveloping curtains were pulled back. He was there after all, a bandage across his forehead, his arm in a sling, his bad-boy smile in place, despite the fact that she’d managed to split his lip when she’d punched him.

She managed not to throw herself into his arms. She froze, looking at him. “You never told me. What happened to your beautiful hair?”

“I needed to blend in. You can’t guard someone if you stand out like a parrot.”

“You cut it for me?”

She was waiting for a denial, but none came. “Someone was following you. I needed to make certain you were safe. I got here a little late, though. You were already in the hospital.”

“And you were there, too.”

He didn’t deny that, either. “You want to get the hell out of here? They were talking about putting you under psychiatric observation when I went by.”

He was going to kill her. He was going to break her heart all over again, in tiny little pieces. She should just lie down and wait for it to pass. But she only wanted to lie down with him.

“I thought you’d be halfway to Tokyo by now,” she said, stalling.

“Not without you.”

Oh, man, she was so screwed. He was bad enough when he was giving her shit. Right now he was looking at her as if she was the most precious thing on earth, and she knew what she looked and smelled like. The world had turned upside down.

“I don’t suppose you love me,” she said. “Even a little bit?”

“Don’t be an idiot, Ji-chan. Why else would I be here? Now, do you want to stay here or do you want to prove you’re really crazy and come with me?”

“Will you grow your hair again?”

“If you want me to.”

“Then tell me.”

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you? Su-chan warned me about you.”

“She warned me, too. Tell me.”

He let out a long-suffering sigh. “Aishiteru,” he