Make Me Melt

10


“I HAVE TO make some phone calls,” Jason said when they’d returned to the hospital and she had reassured herself that her father was still resting comfortably. “You’ll be okay while I’m gone? I’ll try to be quick, and then maybe we can grab a bite to eat downstairs.”

Caroline nodded. “That sounds good.” He had turned away before she remembered that she had other news for him, which she’d almost forgotten about in the excitement over her father’s condition and the shooting range. “Oh, wait.”

Jason pivoted back around, his green eyes flickering with interest.

Caroline moved to the table and picked up several of the case files. “While you were gone this morning, I went through some of the cases my father was working on, and I think these three warrant a second look.”

She held the files out to Jason, who took them and quickly scanned the contents. “These are medical malpractice cases,” he said.

“Well, two of them are. The third file involves Conrad Kelly, the guy who bombed all those federal buildings.” Seeing his expression, she held up a hand to forestall him. “I know what you’re thinking—Conrad Kelly is already serving a thirty-year sentence for the bombings, so there’s no way he could have been the shooter. But he has a lot of crazy followers, Jason. What if one of them decided to get revenge on my father for the sentence?”

“Okay, I’ll take a look at them as soon as I get back.” Jason set the files back on the table and took Caroline by the upper arms. The touch of his fingers sent a shiver of awareness through her. When he fixed his gaze on her mouth and swallowed hard, she knew he wasn’t immune to the contact, either. She could sense the effort it took for him to pull his thoughts back to their conversation. “We’ll follow every lead—I promise. We’ll find whoever did this.”

After he left, she opened the top file. The medical malpractice case had involved a botched kidney transplant between two siblings. A young woman had been in the final stages of renal failure, and her brother had offered up one of his own kidneys. He was a perfect match, and the organ transplant would have saved his sister’s life. Instead, the harvested organ had accidentally been thrown into the trash and damaged so badly that doctors had been unable to use it for the transplant. The woman had been forced to remain on dialysis until another kidney could be found, and she had passed away before that happened.

Caroline didn’t understand all the nuances of the final ruling, but the hospital had received what equated to a slap on the wrist, and the family had not received any compensation for their loss.

Just reading the case made Caroline angry on behalf of the woman and her brother, so how must the family feel? Would the woman’s brother be angry enough to seek revenge on her father? People went to extremes for lesser reasons, which was why she had set the file aside for further scrutiny.


The second malpractice case involved a young woman who had been admitted to the hospital with severe stomach pains. The doctors had diagnosed a ruptured appendix and had performed emergency surgery. During the procedure, the woman had gone into cardiac arrest on the operating table and had actually died. The surgeons were able to resuscitate her, but she had suffered permanent brain damage as a result. She’d survived for a week, before she had been taken off life support. An autopsy revealed she’d had an underlying, previously undiagnosed heart condition, which had been exacerbated by the anesthesia. Judge Banks had ruled in favor of the hospital.

Caroline looked over to where her father lay. He was a good judge and a good man. She knew that with all her heart. But she had a hard time believing he had ruled in favor of the hospital in both cases. Could he have made a mistake in these instances? Medical malpractice wasn’t Caroline’s specialty, so perhaps there were some underlying legalities that she didn’t fully comprehend. But she could absolutely understand why the victims’ loved ones might want to harm her father for his ruling. Nothing about it seemed fair.

At that moment, her cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw it was Patrick Dougherty, the social worker from Richmond.

“Hi, Patrick,” she said.

She strained to listen, but the reception in the hotel was spotty at best, and she could only make out every third or fourth word that he said.

“Patrick,” she said, interrupting his flow of words. “You’re breaking up. I’m going to take the phone outside and call you right back.”

Grimacing, she disconnected the call, hoping he didn’t think she’d just arbitrarily hung up on him. Stepping out into the corridor, she looked for Jason, but neither he nor Deputy Black were anywhere in sight.

“Have you seen either Marshal Cooper or Deputy Black?” she asked the guard who stood vigil outside her father’s door.

“Yes, ma’am,” the deputy replied. “They had some calls to make but couldn’t get any reception. I believe they stepped outside.” He indicated the exit sign at the far end of the corridor.

“Thanks,” Caroline said.

Her father’s room was on the third floor of the hospital, but if she took the stairwell to the ground floor, she would be directly across from one of the main hospital entries that led to a small parking lot at the side of the hospital. Certain that was where Jason and Agent Black had gone, she made her way to the exit door.

“Ma’am?” The guard looked concerned. “I believe Marshal Cooper will be right back if you’d like to wait.”

“That’s okay,” she demurred. “I know where to find him.”

He was halfway to his feet, clearly uncertain what to do, since his own assignment was to stand guard outside the judge’s hospital room. For a moment, Caroline felt sympathy for him.

“Please don’t worry about me,” she called. “I’ll probably run into the marshal and his deputy in the stairwell.”

But he was speaking into his earpiece, and Caroline pushed the door open and quickly made her way down the stairwell. On the first floor, she found herself in a wide corridor, bustling with medical personnel and visitors. Directly across from the stairwell entrance was a revolving door that led to the parking lot. Pushing through the doors, she looked around for Jason or Deputy Black, frowning when she didn’t see either one of them.

It was possible they had taken the elevator back up to the third floor, in which case Jason wasn’t going to be pleased to find her gone. Quickly, she redialed Patrick’s number.

“Hey, Caroline,” he said. “I’m glad you called me back. How’s your father doing?”

“He’s actually showing signs of improvement,” Caroline said. “Is everything okay out there?”

“Yes, everything is fine,” he assured her. “I just wanted to be sure you were okay, and to let you know that Devon Lawton was placed into a foster home. I think it’s going to work out for him.”

Before she could respond, a hand descended on her shoulder and spun her around. She found herself staring into Jason’s face, and if his eyes had reminded her of tempered glass before, now they were positively shardlike.

“That’s wonderful, Patrick. Look, I have to go,” she said hastily. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to give you a call later today, okay?”

She disconnected the call, knowing her expression looked guilty.

“Let’s go,” Jason said. Without waiting for a response, he took her elbow in a firm grip and steered her back toward the building. At the entrance, he stiff-armed the revolving door, preventing anyone from using it, as he cleared a way for her. Then he hustled her effortlessly inside and over to the stairwell.

Only when they had climbed quickly to the third floor, and she was breathless and panting, did he finally pull her to a stop and push her up against the wall.

“Don’t ever do that again,” he said, his eyes blazing into hers. Then he bent his head to claim her mouth in a kiss that was both demanding and exhilarating. Pinned between his hard body and the wall, Caroline could only hang on.

Slowly, the kiss changed and became softer. Deeper.

She gave a hum of approval and slid her hands to his back, clutching him tighter. He stroked her tongue with his own, pushing past her teeth to explore her more fully. Caroline felt light-headed, but whether it was from their mad dash up the stairs or from his kiss, she couldn’t tell.

Finally, he dragged his mouth away and bent his head to hers. The only sound in the stairwell was their ragged breathing. When he lifted his head to look at her, she was shocked by the expression in his eyes. He looked haunted.

“Jason.” Her voice came out as a husky whisper. “What is it?”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m okay. I just didn’t know where you’d gone. And when the deputy said you’d left...” His voice trailed off.

“I’m sorry—I should have waited for you to come back, but I thought you were outside.”

He gave her cheek a gentle flick of his thumb. “As if I would leave you. But Jesus, I stepped away for five minutes, and that’s all it took for you to vanish.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again. “I just had to make a call, and I couldn’t get any reception inside.”

“Promise me now that you won’t do that again,” he said. He took the sternness out of his words by planting a warm, tender kiss against her mouth.

“I promise.”

He straightened and glanced through the window of the stairwell door, to where Agent Black and the guard stood vigil outside her father’s room. Caroline could see his pulse beating strongly at the base of his throat, and she realized just how much her disappearance had impacted him. The knowledge made her feel both guilty and pleased.

He exhaled harshly and scrubbed a hand over his hair. When he looked at her, she could see he was back in control. “It’s almost six o’clock. Would you like to stay a bit longer or head back to Santa Cruz?”

After that smoking-hot kiss, Caroline couldn’t believe he thought there was even an option. Her father was still heavily sedated and had made a turn for the better. There was nothing more she could do for him today.

“I think I’d like to head back to the beach house,” she said. As fast as you can drive, please.


“I’ll let Deputy Black know,” he said, completely unaware of the direction of her thoughts. “It’s getting late, and I’d like to go through those case files before it gets too late.”

His words were like a dash of cold water. Caroline thought about the medical malpractice cases she had reviewed. What would Jason think about the judge’s decisions in those cases? Would he agree with the rulings, or would they somehow diminish his opinion of William? Jason also had a law degree, so maybe there were nuances to the cases that he would understand. Still, there was a part of her that was reluctant for him to read the files. He’d always looked up to the judge, maybe even more than she had. She didn’t want to see that change.

“Maybe the cases should wait,” she said. “At least for tonight.”