Quadruplets Make Six

The paperwork hadn’t taken me long, so he was already in the system.

“He’s on the second floor. Trauma unit. Do you think he has any connection to the other guy?” I asked them, thinking they had already seen him.

“Why do you ask that?” Alex cocked his head to the side, his brows drawn together. My eyes passed over his body and tried not to picture him naked. Try being the operative word.

“Uh, because he looked like him,” I shrugged. “I guess that’s pretty dumb. I’ll show you the way.”

They followed after me to the elevator. Every female in plain sight was ogling them and it made me jealous. Seriously, jealous? I couldn’t even believe it.

“It isn’t dumb. It’s an important observation,” Max assured me.

The elevator was too small for all of us, it seemed. Especially with them looking at me the way they were. Like they would stop the elevator right then and take turns claiming my body as theirs. I found it odd to believe: I had sex with Alex, made out with Nate, still imagined what Max tasted like…it was surreal.

“Yeah well. He was a real case. Kept screaming about some Irish thug robbing him. Said he tried to kill him.” I almost laughed like it was absurd, but they weren’t looking at me like that.

They were looking at me like they had seen a ghost, and exchanged a look I didn’t understand. Before I asked them about it, the elevator opened, and we were at our destination. I shook off the crazy feeling I was getting and took them to his room.

The man was doped up on meds, watching the television with a deep scowl on. The nurse was in there changing his drip and I told them they could go in. I stayed behind and used the computer at the nurse’s station on that floor, and tried to eavesdrop but it was useless. I definitely didn’t know how to read lips.

I just knew the handsy nurse was overstaying her welcome. She was pretty and thin and blonde and fucking infuriating. Ugh, and it was only two minutes maybe, that she was in there trying to talk the three of them up. I guess I couldn’t blame her for not being able to choose one?

I wasn’t being rational anyway. It wasn’t like I had some sort of insane claim on them, as much as I wanted one. Whoever the nurse was tried to take her sweet time changing his drip and checking his bandage when really, she could just leave. There was nothing wrong with any of his shit. My blood was almost boiling by the time she left with a dumb smile on her face.

“Hello. I haven’t seen you here before.” She plopped down at the computer next to me. I rolled my eyes at the thought of her actually trying to talk to me. I couldn’t believe I was being such a bitch about it, but then I realized it was exactly what Dina was talking about in terms of losing my head.

“I’m from the ER. I just had to bring the police up here.” I gestured to the three globes of muscle questioning the victim.

“Oh. Cool. I wish they would just do away with guns. Unless the cops are wearing them.” She giggled as she swooned over the men in uniform.

I managed a smile and finished updating my files before I logged out and took a walk around the corner just to clear my head. I kept running over the faces they made in the elevator. There must have been some sort of break in the case they hadn’t told me about. I didn’t expect to be told everything, but if it had to do directly with me, I would want to know.

It was the possibilities that were running crazy in my head the most, so I just wanted to set things straight.

When I came back around the corner, they were out of the room and nurse chatty was at it again. I nearly gagged but still came down the way. When I was a few feet away, they spotted me and charged at me like bulls or something.

“What the—” I started, when Alex grabbed my elbow and tugged me into the nearest supply closet, followed by Nate and Max.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Alex gave me a stern look as he released my arm. Nate leaned against the wall, scratching his neck like he wished he had something to say to lighten the situation. That couldn’t be good.

“Look, Rose…” Alex trailed off.

He didn’t seem to be very good with words. Which made sense. Max stepped in, with a comforting voice I was sure he probably used on children. I tried not to frown.

“We think the guy, our suspect, is part of the Irish mob. The victim today matched his MO.”

“But…he was robbed.” I dropped my shoulders. “The others were killed.” I chewed the inside of my lip. I glanced at Nate, who was trying to drill a hole in the ground with the tip of his toe.

“Yeah. Um. A few years back there were a string of robberies similar to this one. We’re thinking the suspect either got sloppy three times or didn’t finish the job this time. The attack happened in a more public place this time as well.” Max continued.

I found the edge of a shelf and sat down slowly. I rubbed my eyes in frustration and tried to comprehend everything. But it was no use. I still wasn’t seeing the big picture.

“And…” I pressed, looking at all of them. “You guys don’t have to treat me like some delicate flower you know. I spent my morning digging a fishing hook out of some frat boys’ ass, so nothing can be worse than that.” I laughed humorlessly, and Nate actually laughed.

“Shit. I feel sorry for you.” Nate cracked a smile. The ease of it was exactly what I needed to loosen my chest. I took a deep breath and prepped for their explanation.

“We need to put some extra protection on you for the time being. But we’re going to do it off the books because we don’t want to have any records of it that someone can get into,” Alex said.