Slow Burn

Chapter Fourteen

Dylan wasn't in the best of moods. He'd just finished another grueling hour of physical therapy for his shoulder, and that had hurt like hell. The muscles were still throbbing, and though he had a prescription for painkillers, he wasn't going to take any. He wasn't trying to be macho. He had tried a couple of the pills last week and had hated the way they made him feel. The pills did dull the pain, but they also dulled his ability to think. He'd felt as though he was moving around in a thick fog. No, thank you. He'd take the pain over the fog any day of the week.

He was about to strip out of his clothes and get into a hot shower when Jordan called.

After checking the caller ID, he picked up the phone and said, "What do you want?"

"Oh, that's nice."

He smiled. "You're out of the hospital now. I don't have to be nice. And since when have I ever been a nice guy? You're getting me mixed up with Alec."

"No way I'd confuse the two of you. Alec's a slob and you're a neat freak, which is why you two made such perfect roommates growing up, but unlike Alec, you can be a real grouch sometimes."

"If you're finished with the compliments, I'd like to get into the shower."

Jordan was on a roll. "I'll bet you're real nice to the women you want to sleep with, aren't you?"

"Jordan, for the last time, what do you want?" he asked, deciding her comment about his sex life didn't merit a response.

"Kate's in trouble. The problem is, I don't think she realizes she is."

"In trouble?"

"Yes."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm hanging up now."

"Listen to me."

She quickly explained what she knew about the first explosion and said, "If that wasn't enough for poor Kate, when she returned from Boston, someone tried to run her down in the airport parking lot. And then… Dylan, are you listening?"

"Yes."

"You don't sound like you are."

"For God's sake…"

"I'm right," Jordan continued. "Someone is trying to kill her. There's more, too," she added.

Before she could tell him about the second explosion, he said, "What exactly do you want me to do about it? Talk to whoever is in charge of the investigation? I doubt the detectives in South Carolina would want me looking over their shoulders."

"No, I don't want you to call. I want you to go to Silver Springs and check it out. You're on leave from the department, so you've got the time, and I know you're bored. I can't believe you're hesitating. This weekend you…"

"I what?"

"You saw Kate. What is it with you? Out of sight, out of mind?"

Yeah, right, he thought. He hadn't been able to get Kate out of his mind since he'd touched her, and that bothered the hell out of him. She was messing with his mind.

She obviously wasn't giving him a second thought. She'd left Boston without a word, so their night together had been what he and she had wanted it to be, recreational. That attitude should have pleased him. No commitment and no messy good-byes. One perfect night, no doubt about that, with no regrets.

So why was he so irritated she'd left without telling him?

He shook his head. She wasn't easy to forget, and that was all there was to it. It might take a couple of weeks, but then he wouldn't give her another thought.

"Dylan, are you going to go to Kate or not?"

"I'm thinking…"

He was in a strange predicament. He'd never been dumped by a woman before, and he didn't know how to feel about it. No, that wasn't true. He knew how he felt. Damned angry.

Had he ever treated a woman like that? Spent the night with her and then vanished? He shook his head. He hoped he hadn't. But had he?

He suddenly pictured her sitting by his bedside in the hospital. To this day she didn't know he was aware of her. He had opened his eyes and looked at her just as she was drifting off to sleep. He remembered he liked her being there.

But then he liked women, he told himself. Still, she'd been there for him, so shouldn't he do the same for her?

Jordan's patience ran out.

"If you don't go, I will."

"Ah, hell. Okay, I'll go."

"When?"

He sighed. "Soon."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, okay. Tomorrow."

"Cheer up, Dylan. If I'm right, you might get to shoot someone."