Chapter Twelve
It was past sunrise before Beau finished up with the Mudbug police, locked up Sabine’s apartment, and loaded the evidence bagged for testing in his truck. Logic told him that Sabine had to have been poisoned in her apartment and most likely by something she consumed that night, but for the life of him, Beau couldn’t figure out how anyone had gotten inside. There was no sign of forced entry on any of the doors or windows, and since the property manager had gotten approval to replace the locks after the break-in on both the front and back doors, anyone who’d previously had a key was out of luck.
Someone could have jimmied the lock, but the new technology would have been extremely difficult for anyone but a professional. There was always the locksmith to consider, but the company the property manager used was based out of New Orleans and had been in business forever. Still, Beau supposed he would talk to someone there after he finished at the lab.
He was just climbing in the truck when he heard Mildred yelling from across the street. The hotel owner came running toward him, clutching a stack of white Styrofoam boxes. “I was hoping to catch you before you left for the hospital. Can you give me a ride?”
“Sure,” Beau said and motioned her into the truck, “but I thought you were driving Sabine home after they released her.”
“I was,” Mildred said, her face flushed with the exertion. “Doggone battery on my car is dead again. It’s happened four times now in the past two weeks, but I haven’t had time to get another. I don’t need the car that often, so I’ve been borrowing Sabine’s, but in all the excitement, I’ve misplaced my spare key.”
“Do you need some help?” Beau pointed to the stack of boxes, about to topple as Mildred struggled with the seat belt.
“What—oh, no, thank you.” She clicked the belt into place and righted the boxes. “I got breakfast for all of us over at the café. I figured you haven’t had time to get anything, same as me, and I know my Sabine. She’s not going to eat any of that hospital food.”
“I don’t blame her,” Beau said as he started down the highway to the hospital. “So do you need me to give the two of you a ride home?”
“No. You’ve got much more important business to take care of in New Orleans. I’ll get Sabine’s keys from her and have one of my friends give me a lift home. Then I’ll come back for Sabine.”
“You sure you have time? I can’t imagine Sabine is going to sit in that hospital one minute longer than required, even if it means walking home.”
Mildred laughed. “You got my girl pegged, all right. But not to worry. They won’t release her before noon. Dr. Breaux doesn’t make rounds as early as he used to and even though that Dr. Mitchell seemed sharp, Dr. Breaux’s probably going to want to see Sabine himself.”
“Dr. Breaux’s the local?”
“Yes. In his seventies and still kicking.” She shifted in her seat to stare at Beau. “So are you planning on taking care of my girl?”
Beau gave a start and glanced over at Mildred. “Depends on what you mean by taking care of. I’m going to find out who’s trying to hurt her, and I’m going to do my damndest to see that whoever it is doesn’t get another shot.”
Mildred sighed. “Why do you young people make everything so difficult? I’ve seen the way you look at her. You darn near ran me over trying to get to her apartment last night, and the way you were shouting questions at those paramedics…all I’m saying is it looked like a lot more than concern for a client to me.”
Beau groaned inwardly. Was his attraction to Sabine really that apparent, or was the hotel owner just fishing and hoping? Either way, Beau wasn’t about to accommodate her. Sabine’s rejection was embarrassing enough kept between the two of them. He wasn’t about to share it with anyone else.
“I look at her like a cop does a potential victim. I was FBI, remember? And I’m not about to lose a client…not on my watch. I’m going to protect Sabine, but once I know what’s going on here and the guilty party is in jail, then my job is done.”
Mildred studied him for a moment. “Your job, huh? Okay then.”
Beau glanced over at her as he pulled in to the hospital parking lot and knew he hadn’t fooled her for a minute. But at least she’d stopped pressing the issue. For the moment.
Sabine was sitting cross-legged on the end of her hospital bed watching television when they walked into her room. Beau took one look at her and felt his heart leap. Never before had he wanted to gather someone in his arms and hide them away from the world to protect them. He’d known he was lying to Mildred when he’d told her that Sabine was another victim he was trying to protect, but he hadn’t realized quite how much he was lying.
He swore the room got brighter when she smiled at them. He blinked once, certain he was seeing things, but reality was perched on the end of the bed, so obviously happy to see them. Beau managed a weak hello as Mildred dropped her breakfast box on the table and gathered Sabine for a hug. Beau placed the boxes on the tray next to the bed and tried to get a grip.
It simply wasn’t fair, he decided. No one should look that good, ever. Much less after being poisoned, almost dying, and spending the night in a hospital, which contrary to what it should be was never restful. No makeup, a drab green hospital gown, her hair tied in some strange-looking knot on top of her head, and she was still gorgeous. Why couldn’t Raissa have been friends with a sixty-year-old retired librarian or something?
Mildred finally released Sabine and pointed to an empty hospital food tray on a small table next to a recliner. “Don’t tell me you ate that garbage?”
Sabine looked momentarily guilty. “Not a chance. I dumped it down the toilet. Didn’t want the nurse to make a fuss. Besides, I knew you wouldn’t let me starve.”
“Darn straight,” Mildred said and pulled a couple of sodas out of her handbag. “Pancakes and sausage for everyone. You two go ahead and start. I’m going to check with the nurse and see what time they’ll be releasing you.” She handed Beau a box and gave him a wink.
“Oh, and Sabine,” Mildred said as she paused at the door. “I must have dislodged your gown when I hugged you. Your heinie is showing.” She grinned and left the room.
It was an involuntary reaction, and God knows he should have figured out some way to stop it, but Beau couldn’t help looking at Sabine’s butt. Her face blushed ten shades of red as she grabbed the hospital gown and tugged it together in the back, but not before he saw the silky smooth curve of her bottom peeking out.
Sabine groaned. “She’ll use this forever as a reason I should wear underwear.”
Beau grinned. “Hard to argue with her at the moment. Not that I’m agreeing, mind you.”
Sabine looked over at Beau and shook her head. “You know, normally I would have gone into hiding over something like this. The fact that flashing a man with my bare butt is the least of my problems is a real testament to just how screwed up my life is at the moment.”
“A butt like that should never be hidden away. Statues should be erected in its honor.”
Sabine’s lips quivered with amusement. “Maybe I won’t die of embarrassment today, then. So are you hungry?”
“Starved.” He just wasn’t saying for what.
She patted the bed. “You can sit on the bed with me if you’d like,” Sabine suggested as she uncrossed her legs and turned to the side. “The table is long enough for both of us to use it.”
Beau swallowed when Sabine said the word “bed” but took a seat next to her and pulled the table in front of them. “How are you feeling?”
“How do I look? I mean the rest of me, not just my butt.”
He choked on his soda and set the can on the table. “Great. You look great.”
“For an almost dead woman, you mean?”
To hell with it. Beau looked directly at Sabine. “You’re beautiful. A little paler, perhaps, a little tired around the eyes, but otherwise just as beautiful as you were yesterday and the day before.”
Sabine’s eyes widened and for a couple of seconds said absolutely nothing. The room was so quiet that Beau could hear the ticking of his watch. Shit, shit, shit, shit…it seemed to echo in his mind.
Finally, she gave him a shy smile. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you.”
Beau shook his head. “I wasn’t saying it to make you feel better. Damn it, Sabine, you’re a beautiful, desirable woman, and any man who doesn’t see that is stupid or blind. I’m neither.”
“No,” she agreed. “You’re definitely not the stupid one in this equation.” She sighed. “Before Mildred gets back and more importantly, before I say something I’ll regret, I need to tell you about something I did last night.”
Beau felt a momentary wave of disappointment, but it was quickly gone. As much as he would love to hear Sabine say something she’d regret, the fact that she’d apparently done something the night before that she didn’t want the hotel owner to know about had him intrigued. “Okay. Shoot.”
Sabine took a breath. “I snuck into the medical records room last night, hoping to get some background information on my family.”
Of all the things she could have said, this wasn’t even on the list. “You broke into the medical records room?”
“No, it was unlocked,” Sabine said, but the look on her face immediately told him that she wasn’t being completely honest.
“Okaaay,” Beau said, deciding it was easier to let however she’d gained access to the room slide. “And did you find out anything?”
Sabine told him about the missing files and the corresponding list.
“Wow.” Beau shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the information Sabine had given him and the repercussions it had on his investigation. “I don’t even know what to think.”
“Me either.”
“I don’t like it.” Beau turned to face Sabine. “You’ve been looking for your family for years. Even if someone has always known you’re related to the Fortescues, why go after their medical records right before you hired me? I could understand if this had happened after I started poking around, but this makes no sense at all.”
“I wish I knew, but I’ve run through every possible scenario and there’s simply nothing I’ve done recently or in the past to warrant this kind of action. Unless it was a past life.” She gave Beau a shaky smile.
“You’re not safe in your apartment,” Beau said. “Until we figure out what’s going on, I don’t think you should stay there.”
“It’s my home, Beau. I have to stay there.”
Beau shook his head, ready to argue. “I couldn’t find a single sign of forced entry. That means whoever got in had a key. Even if I installed deadbolts only on the inside of the doors, I still wouldn’t think it was safe. Someone is too close…their access is far too free.” He took in a breath and before he could change his mind said, “Let me stay with you. I can sleep on the couch.”
Sabine instantly shook her head. “No way!”
“I promise I won’t do anything to make you uncomfortable. I won’t even tell you you’re beautiful.”
“I can’t. I can’t have you in my space that way. My apartment is tiny. There’s no way I could feel comfortable staying there with you even if you were a mute. This isn’t about you, Beau, it’s about me. You scare me.” She ran one hand across the top of her head. “Not like the someone trying to kill me scares me. The way you make me feel scares me. I’m afraid if I cross that line with you, there’s no return, and a future between the two of us is filled with impossibilities, most of which you don’t even know about.”
“So explain them to me.”
“No. There are certain things I can’t talk to you about.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re going to have to take my word for it.”
Beau struggled to hold in his frustration. Why was she making things so hard? She felt the same pull that he did. Why was she struggling so hard against it? And why are you pushing so hard for it? “Fine. Then at least consider staying at the hotel until this is settled. That way you can have your own private space, but Mildred and I are close by to keep watch.”
Sabine was silent for a moment, then nodded. “I’d feel better knowing you and Mildred were close.”
“Just not too close and only me.”
Sabine looked down at the bed. “No,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
Beau rose from the bed. “Then I guess since we got all that decided, I’ll take off. I’ve got to drop off the stuff for testing at a lab in New Orleans, and then there’s a couple of other things I want to look into before I come back. I’ll see you sometime this evening, okay?”
Sabine looked up at him and nodded. “Thanks, Beau. For everything.”
“You’re welcome,” he said and left the room before he did something even more stupid than telling her how beautiful she was. Like kiss her.
Again.