A Harmless Little Game (Harmless #1)

 

 

We burst into laughter just as a doctor walks into the room.

 

“Good to see your spirits are improving, Ms. Bosworth.” It’s the same doctor who almost kicked Mom and Daddy out last night. “I’m ninety-five percent sure we’re sending you home in the next few hours.”

 

I sigh with gratitude. “Thank you.”

 

“No need to thank me. You’re young. You heal fast. And the accident wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.” She scribbles notes. “Follow up with your primary care physician. Any new pain requires an emergency room visit.” A few more sentences of medical details and she finishes.

 

“I can go?”

 

“We’re waiting on one more test. Then yes.”

 

“Should I leave?” Jane asks. Her phone buzzes.

 

“No. Stay.” I offer the doctor a maple cream. “Want one?”

 

She pats her hip. “I shouldn’t.”

 

“Maple cream,” I tease. “Who can resist one?”

 

“You’re evil.” The doctor takes one and pops it into her mouth, rolling her eyes with pleasure. “These are so good.”

 

“Blame her,” I say, pointing to Jane.

 

“The calories are all your fault.” She winks at Jane and leaves.

 

Drew comes right in.

 

“I heard you have candy.”

 

“How did you know?”

 

“When three women are in the same room moaning, it has to be from chocolate.”

 

Jane punches him.

 

“And I saw the gold foil box. Let me guess. Maple creams?”

 

He remembers.

 

I offer him the box. He takes one and grins. “These were always your favorite.”

 

“Still are. Haven’t had any in four years.”

 

Guilt covers Jane and Drew’s faces like a dark blanket.

 

“It’s okay. I can talk about it. It’s not your fault.”

 

Before either one of them can answer, a new nurse comes in.

 

“Your paperwork’s been processed faster than expected, Lindsay.”

 

Bzzz.

 

Drew’s phone. He answers it, eyes going cold.

 

Uh oh.

 

I listen to the nurse prattle on, my body on alert for Drew. He gets off the phone just as the nurse hands me a bunch of papers and says, “Recover well.”

 

She leaves. I look at Drew.

 

“Who was that?”

 

“Your dad and mother. They’re on a helicopter to a plane back to D.C. Some big meeting.”

 

“Right.” D.C. before dear daughter. I’m used to it.

 

“You can’t be alone, Lindsay,” Jane says.

 

“Have you seen my house?’ I joke. “There are a bazillion workers there. I’m hardly alone.”

 

“And I’ll be with you,” Drew adds.

 

Something has changed, though. He keeps giving me these side-eye glances. It’s creeping me out. Who was on the other end of that phone call? I don’t think it was just about Mom and Daddy.

 

I move the covers so I can crawl out of bed. Jane picks a small bag and holds it, while Drew helps me up.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“You want to shower before we go?” he asks.

 

“No. I don’t care. I just want to go home and get away from here.”

 

He nods. “Safer at the Grove, too.”

 

I give him a sharp look. My knees hurt, and I can tell I have bruises everywhere, especially on my head. But step by step, I shuffle into the bathroom, wearing only a hospital gown. Someone undressed me, washed my wounds, and put me in that bed.

 

My fingers shake as I untie the hospital gown, but I manage. I’m wearing my bra and panties. With stiff legs, I get my feet in my pants and pull them up. Putting on my shirt is harder, but I do it, even when my neck pinches and my head throbs. I get myself presentable, consciously avoiding looking in the mirror.

 

Why torture myself?

 

Fully dressed, I shuffle out. Instantly, Drew’s at my side, holding my elbow like I’m some ninety-year-old lady crossing the street and he’s a Cub Scout helping me.

 

“I can walk without help.”

 

“I can protect you better if you let me.”

 

I shut up.

 

Because he has a point.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 38

 

 

 

 

 

After going home, showering, letting Connie fuss over me and make me a healthy, protein-packed salad, I’m sitting at the granite counter in the kitchen, picking at the pecans and unsweetened tart cherries at the bottom of my salad bowl, musing over my phone.

 

Jane left with a promise to check in tomorrow. Daddy and Mom texted me from D.C., telling me they loved me. And then there’s a cryptic text from someone at the Island.

 

It’s a text about joining a famous soft drink manufacturer’s contest, but that’s code. Our secret code. My hacker contact has learned something from the dark net, and he needs to get in touch with me to tell me. No one who reads that text will know that it’s anything more than a spam text.

 

But I know.

 

And suddenly, everything has changed yet again.

 

I need to get out of the Grove, out from under all this scrutiny, and somehow get the information my contact has. He’s learned important details about my attackers, and if I can get that information, I can act. I can exact my revenge.

 

And revenge has taken on a new importance, given their attempt to kill me.

 

Or—worse.