***
Consciousness returned to her by slow, groggy degrees and her first coherent thought was a profound sense of gratitude when she realized she was in a hospital bed and not bleeding poolside at the homestead. Her second thought gave consideration to which she would rather deal with, if given a choice, the shark or Guy, who had apparently taken up residence in the corner of the room sometime during the night. He was standing there, his back to the wide double window, watching her through eyes that revealed pretty much nothing. The shark was looking better by the minute.
"Trouble seems to follow you lately."
"I have no idea what you’re talking about." Her chin came up a notch.
"Where's your bodyguard"?" Guy asked, lowering himself into the chair beside her hospital bed and peering over the edge of a shiny chrome bar to inspect the thick gauze that encased her left calve.
"I don’t know. I just woke up." She told him, plucking at her white linen blanket and gazing curiously at her wounded leg. The pain had receded to mere mild discomfort and her leg was indeed whole and intact, as promised by Erik.
"You slept through all that?" He indicated the bandage with one eyebrow lifted.
"I wish, but I guess I dozed after my stitches were finished. Erik must be in the cafeteria or at the nurses’ station filling out paperwork. He wouldn’t have left the hospital." Of that much she was certain.
"You're lucky he was with you last night. Damn lucky." He sighed.
"Did you come all this way to point out the obvious?" She said nastily. The mild discomfort was beginning to work itself into a dull throb and she was in no mood to deal with Guy's sarcasm or his holier-than-thou attitude this morning. In fact, she wasn’t even glad to see him. There was no doubt in her mind that he was here in an official capacity; after all, he was decked out in his uniform and badge. For some reason, the fact greatly annoyed her.
"Do you wear that gun everywhere?" She snapped, turning her scathing glare loose on him.
"Yes."
"Too bad I don’t have a gun." She muttered.
"Is that a threat?" His lips twitched.
"Take it any way you want." She retorted. "Officer."
"Does it surprise you? That I’m a cop?" He asked, his expression thawing by several degrees. Paige was temporarily mesmerized by the sudden change and she took a moment to gather her thoughts before meeting his eyes and answering truthfully.
"Yes a little."
"Only a little?" He smiled.
"Okay," She admitted. "A lot. If you want the truth, then here it is. I was downright shocked."
"I could tell.” He nodded. “I’m sorry our first meeting was official business. It’s...good to see you Paige."
Huh? She frowned, regarding him skeptically. He was sorry? After practically cramming his 'official business' down her throat the previous day, he was 'sorry'? "Why I’m surprised Guy." She teased. "You remembered my name today."
"Yes," He answered slowly, "I remembered it yesterday too. You’re Paige. Did you hit your head last night?" He looked genuinely concerned.
"You mean I'm not Ms. Frey anymore?" She countered, disregarding his head wound question.
"Ah," He looked down, "Now I get it. Let’s put it this way-you gave me quite the shock yesterday too. I didn’t know you were back. Bottom line is, I’m sorry if I acted like a jerk Paige. You didn’t deserve it."
"Uh huh." She nodded without taking her eyes off of him. “That depends upon who you ask, don’t you think?” Her tone was deceptively light.
“Hailey tends to get emotional.” He shrugged.
“So I’ve noticed.”
"I'm sorry about Denmari.” Guy quickly redirected the conversation into safer waters. “I heard he passed away last month."
"Don’t be. I'm not."
"Oh, well..Ah..." He coughed, suddenly interested in the diamond pattern of the wallpaper above her bed.
"Thank you for you condolences." Paige sighed, knowing the polite acknowledgement was what 'normal' people were supposed to say in such a situation. "I know you must be very busy today. So we can go ahead with the report now; I’m fine to answer questions, although I'm not sure how much help I’ll be. I don’t have much information that you all probably haven’t already surmised on your own."
"I'm not here to take your statement." He quickly recovered his composure.
"You're not?" Her mind went black, not daring to hope, not anymore.
"No. I came out here to see how you’re feeling."
"Uh. My leg hurts." She uttered, sitting up straight against the mountain of pillows someone, probably Erik, had tucked behind her back at some point during the night or early morning.
“I’ll bet.” Gentle fingers probed her bandage, making her gasp. “That hurts?
He raised worried eyes to her white face.
“Yes, a little.” She told him.
“It’s swelling.”
“What?!” She jerked away from him, eyes wide.
“Your leg.” He frowned, reclaiming his seat. “There's a little swelling but not too much I don’t think. Does it hurt a lot?”
“Bad enough.” She lifted one shoulder and reached for the ice water on the bedside table, pressed it to her forehead and hoping he would take the hint.
She didn’t need anyone fussing and fretting over her, and she damn sure didn’t need anyone feeling sorry for her, especially not Guy. The whining and crying could wait until Erik returned, she resolutely decided. For reasons that remained a mystery to her, she would have cried in front of Guy only if a limb were hanging off.
Maybe it was because she had done enough crying over him. Hell, she had done her fair share of crying in front of him too, not to mention on him. No, she reaffirmed with her head held high, she would not let him see how much discomfort she was in. She had her pride, after all. Late as it may have been in coming.
“You got lucky.” He repeated, “So has anyone said when they plan on letting you out of here?”
“Nope, you’re the first person I’ve spoken to since I’ve been laid up here, but the doctor will probably sign the discharge order later today. I can’t see any reason why they would want to keep me here. All in all I seem to be pretty well fixed up and not much the worse for wear. Then again who knows? Doctors are habitually either slow or late. It takes three hours just to get checked out of a hospital.”
“Erik’s taking you home?”
“Oh look at that you know his name today too.”
“Paige…”
“Yes, he is.” She chose not to heckle him for the moment. “So you’re not taking my statement?”
“No, they should be sending someone out this morning to do that.”
“Really? Why can’t you do it?” She regretted the words almost as soon as they had left her mouth. She didn’t really want him to take down her statement. But since he was already right here…
“Conflict of interest.”
“You told your boss that we…that we…”
“Used to have a personal relationship?” He helpfully supplied. “Yes.”
“But you took the call yesterday.” She pointed out.
“True but this is an open investigation.”
“It is?”
“Someone tried to kill you.” He looked as though he were on the verge of asking yet again if she’d hit her head.
“It was just a stupid prank.” She argued, her skin becoming too hot, too tight.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t find a shark in a pool the least bit amusing.”
“Well obviously I don’t find it amusing either.” Exasperated, Paige gestured to her injured leg. “It was probably the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had.” She paused to consider this. “It’s definitely in the top ten, at least. I’ve never heard of a shark, an actual shark, swimming in someone’s backyard pool. When I felt the nudging I thought it was Erik, trying to tell me it was time to come up for air.”
“Wait, back up. Yo
u mean to tell me neither you nor Erik saw the animal before or as you jumped in?”
“No, the pool has a retractable hard cover; we hit the switch that brings it back and opens up the pool while we were eating, and dove in straight after our meal. And if we had seen the thing before we leaped in, don’t you think we would have, I don’t know, not jumped?”
“I meant did you see it an instant before getting into the pool.” Ignoring her sarcasm, he delivered the explanation with a calm that Paige found downright enviable. She didn’t think she would ever manage to exude his particular brand of quiet confidence. She was either calm, or confident. To her knowledge, she had never managed to pull of both simultaneously.
“Anyway, I was lying flat against the bottom of the pool,” She forged ahead, “but something felt…off.” She frowned, taking herself back to the underwater nightmare. “I opened my eyes and twisted around, like I said, I was expecting to see Erik beside me, only it wasn’t him, it was the-“ She shuddered, “shark. I saw it from the side and his mouth was by my leg.”
“What happened next?” He prompted when she fell silent.
“I’m not proud of this but I screamed. Underwater. Not the most intelligent move to make, I know.”
“Seems like a pretty natural reaction to me. I can imagine the shock at not only finding a Tiger shark in your swimming pool, but coming face to face with it.”
“Yeah, no kidding, that’s something you don’t hear about every day.”
“Try never.”
“Seriously?”
“Well, I’m sure it’s happened before, somewhere…but not that I’ve ever heard of.”
“Huh.” She mulled that over.
“Let’s put it this way, Erik gave the county dispatcher the shock of the century when he called for an ambulance and reported a shark attack at a private residence.” He shook his head. “No, that doesn’t happen every day. The entire department-and most of the city of Helena-is talking about it; the only people who aren’t talking haven’t heard about it yet.”
“I don’t do interviews.” She teased.
“Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure this thing will die down in a reasonable amount of time. And of course the department won’t comment on an ongoing investigation.”
“Thanks.” For all her jesting, she really didn’t relish the thought of reporters camping out on her front lawn. “So-it was a Tiger shark?” She asked, remembering his earlier comment.
“A young one. A baby, from the look of it. That’s probably why it didn’t try to follow you to the surface, and that’s definitely why you didn’t sustain a more serious injury.” His gaze dropped once more the swath of gauzy bandage that encased her leg.
“Yeah,” She murmured, flexing her leg and then wincing when she felt her skin tug at the sutures she couldn’t see. “I think the worst of it was shock and swallowing so much water.”
“The fact that it was dying helped a lot.”
“Why was it dying? Was it sick?” Not that she really cared. As far as she was concerned, it deserved anything it got after taking a bite out of her, test nibble or not.
“Tiger sharks-any shark really-can’t survive in the chlorinated water. The cold temperature of the pool was also working against it.” He explained. “They can survive in fresh water for several months, but a frigid chemically treated pool just won’t do.”
“Oh,” She smiled. “That makes sense.”
“You’ve had medication this morning?”
“They must have given me a little something. Is it that obvious?” To her way of thinking, they hadn’t given her nearly enough for the pain, but it wasn’t getting much worse, so she once again shoved the discomfort from her mind, focusing instead on the man who was seated beside her. Her ex-lover, her sort of friend...her childhood bad boy turned upstanding citizen. A cop.
“No,” He lied. “I can’t tell that you’ve had any medicine at all.”
“Uh-huh.” She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Well in my defense, I know next to nothing about marine life. So it’s dead then? The shark?”
“It’s dead.” Guy confirmed. “Now the question is how did it end up in your backyard in the first place?”
“I told you it was probably a prank.” She wished he would quit harping on it, that he would just let it go. At the very least, she would have preferred he discussed that aspect of her night from hell with someone else but her-anyone else but her. The why and how of the incident was both disturbing and unnerving and she didn’t feel ready to examine any of it too closely just yet.
“Gum in your shoes is a prank; hang up calls are a prank,” he gave her a withering look, “Hell, itching powder in your underwear is a prank. A shark in your pool is not a prank. That’s in a category all its own. Someone wanted to hurt you, Paige.”
“Okay, you’re probably right.” She sighed. It was a possibility that she’d spent all night fervently trying to deny, though she was certain Erik had suspected much the same theory as Guy. Parts of the night were still a horrific blur, but she knew she’d never forget the murderous look her friends face as he’d growled instructions to the dispatcher at the other end of the phone line. He had looked as though he’d like to hurt someone, or smash something-a rare occurrence with happy go lucky Erik, even though he was frequently intense by nature.
No, there was no getting around the chilling truth of the matter. Someone had wanted to deliberately hurt her; at the very least scare her.
Worse was the knowledge that ‘someone’ was still out there. Waiting and maybe even watching her every move. She wasn’t stupid. Fighting the strong pull of denial, yes, but not ignorant of reality and how human nature functioned. You didn’t go to so much trouble over a random act of violence. No, whoever had transplanted the shark to her pool had gone to an awful lot of trouble. That they would be back was a certainty of which she had no doubt.
“Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you?” He pulled his chair closer to the side of the bed, propping both arms on the adjustable chrome railing.
“Not really, no.”
“Not really? Or no?” His sharp cops eyes focused on her with such intensity she had to look away.
“No.” She clarified. “But you have to consider that I may not have been the target here.”
“You think whoever did this was trying to get at Erik?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” She ran her fingers through hair that was badly tangled and in desperate need of a shampoo. “But it could be, don’t you think? After all, night swimming is something he would do, not me.”
“Yet you were in that pool last night.”
“Only because he all but shoved me in.” She laughed before covering her mouth, eyes big as saucers. “That’s not-I didn’t mean-“
“Don’t worry.” Guy held up one hand. “Erik is not a suspect.”
“Oh thank God.” She breathed, one hand still pressed to her face.
“How long have you been back home, Paige?”
“A few weeks. I came in a week before the funeral. Erik flew out with me. Why?”
“Had either of you used the pool before last night?”
“No.”
“Not at all? Not even once before last night? You’re sure about that?” He leaned forward .
“Absolutely. Guy what are you getting at?”
“It’s nothing to worry about.” He eased the light blanket higher against her chest.
“Oh no you don’t!” She warned, forcefully shoving the blanket back down.“This is my life-and my best friend’s life-that we’re discussing here. I want to know what you’re thinking.”
He regarded her for long moments before he said “You’ve changed since the last time I saw you.”
“That was six years ago. Of course I’ve changed; that goes without saying, doesn’t it? Now tell me what you were getting at a minute ago and don’t you dare try and distract me.”
“God no,” He grinned, “I wouldn’t want to do that, now wo
uld I?”
“Not if you know what’s good for you.” The threat hung in the air between them, although what kind of an adversary she made stuck in a hospital bed, with a bum leg no less, she couldn’t say. Judging by the way Guy was laughing she guessed that at the moment she didn’t look all that intimidating.
“I asked if you’ve used the pool in order to establish a timeline and a routine.” He explained.
“Ah. So it’s hard saying how long the shark had been in there, and you think we were being watched?”
“I’m certain of it, that you were being watched, but what I meant was, would anyone have reasonably expected either of you to use the pool between now and say, six or seven months down the road.”
“Oh.” She frowned, smoothing the wrinkles from the hospital gown that hung from her shoulders. “It’s possible but not very likely. Most people wouldn’t, and I’d like to think that Erik and I look pretty normal to outsiders. At least I think we do. Well,” She amended, “I do, at least.”
“Right, so without reason to assume otherwise, our perp probably intended for you to find the animal next spring. When it was much, much bigger.”
“Oh Lord,” She gasped, trying hard not to picture a full grown Tiger shark gliding through her in ground pool, and failing miserably. The imagine was nothing short of horrifying. “Thank God it could never have survived that long.”
“Not even close.” He agreed. “But I’m betting that was the original intent.”
“So someone didn’t just want to hurt one or both of us, did they?” She whispered.
“What’s going on in here?”
Paige’s eyes dilated and Guy jumped when he burst into the small room, eyes blazing. “Is he bothering you?” Erik demanded.
“That’s none of your business.” Guy responded coldly.
“The fuck it isn’t.” Erik shot back, green eyes flashing.
“Please,” Paige eyed the two of them warily, “Sit. Both of you.”
“I was about to leave.”
“Damn right you were.” Erik snapped.
“I’ll call you tonight Paige.”
“Yeah, okay.” She nodded, her gaze still bouncing between both men.
“What did hot pants want with you?” Erik snorted, plunking two cups of coffee onto the bedside table, cursing when the hot liquid sloshed over the rims.
Paige flopped back in the bed, her head hitting the pillows with more force than was necessary. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” She sighed. “Erik, I think we’ve got trouble.”