LITMIR.BIZ

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Claire, I swear I’d never have brought her here.”

      In all the years that Ethan had known him, he’d seen very few things rattle Griff Cabot. Anything that affected the well-being of his family was obviously one of them.

      Although he hadn’t been in on the action, Ethan knew that the Phoenix had been born out of a dangerous operation Griff’s former External Security Team members had undertaken, at Cabot’s request, to rescue his daughter from a kidnapper. The fact that Griff had blown the cover the CIA had arranged for him in order to carry out that mission indicated exactly where his priorities lay.

      “I think she’s lying,” Cabot said curtly. “I’ve known Monty Gardner a long time, both before and after I met Claire. There’s never been a man more devoted to his family.”

      “Maybe after his wife died—”

      “He’s been a widower for less than seven years. It won’t wash, Ethan. Whatever Raine McAllister is selling, I’m not buying.”

      Despite his sympathy for Claire, who had clearly been distraught, for some reason Ethan felt compelled to defend Raine against that characterization.

      “I’m not sure she’s selling anything. She hasn’t made any claims on Gardner’s estate or on the family. At least, not yet. I think she just wanted to see the old man again. It may be that when she was told visitation was for family only—”

      “She dreamed up that story about being his daughter?” Griff interrupted. “That’s even more unforgivable. Besides, a claim like that is too easy to disprove. She has to know she can’t get away with this.”

      “Maybe she only needed to get away with it tonight.”

      “You think she wants access to his room to do him harm?”

      As the thought occurred to him, Griff started toward the corridor leading to the ICU. And considering the seemingly inexplicable attack on Gardner, that suspicion wasn’t as farfetched as it normally would have been.

      Ethan grabbed his arm, forcibly restraining him. “I’m not suggesting anything like that. We’ve all been afraid he won’t make it. She was, too. She wanted to see him before it was too late. Maybe she was desperate enough to come up with that story.”

      Claire had vehemently denied her claim, but Raine had been resolute that she was Gardner’s daughter. And equally resolute in her demand that she be allowed to see her grandfather. She hadn’t wavered from either position, not even in the face of Claire’s escalating anger. When Griff had taken his wife out of the waiting room to calm down, Raine had taken the opportunity to present herself to the ICU staff as Gardner’s daughter, newly arrived from out of town.

      Given the Cabots’ explanation about the manner under which the unit allowed visitation, Ethan had expected her request to see him to be turned down. It hadn’t been. She’d been ushered inside the ICU unit before Griff’s return.

      At least Claire had no idea as yet that Raine had been allowed in to see her grandfather. As exhausted and as anxious as she was, that would probably have been the last straw.

      “I don’t care how desperate she is,” Griff said. “I won’t have her adding to his family’s stress.”

      “Gardner gave us her name. That means there’s some—”

      “He provided her name as someone who could help the investigation. Not as his illegitimate daughter.”

      “Maybe not, but there’s some bond between them that’s important to them both. After all, he paid for her education. And that’s the only reason she let me in, by the way. Because I told her Gardner was a mutual friend.”

      “I’m willing to believe she cares for him. About him,” Griff amended. “The other, however—”

      “Mr. Gardner’s daughter? You may come back to the ICU now.”

      They turned to find the nurse who’d just made that announcement standing in the door of the waiting room.

      “She’s already in the ICU,” Ethan offered.

      “The pretty brunette?”

      An apt description, Ethan thought. Of course, he’d already admitted his bias in that respect.

      “She went in maybe ten minutes ago.”

      “But we sent her back out,” the nurse said, coming over to them. “There was a problem with one of the monitors. She was going to come here and wait until it was resolved.”

      Automatically Ethan scanned the faces of the people gathered in the room, although he would surely have noticed if she’d returned. Raine was definitely not among them.

      “Maybe she decided to wait in the corridor,” he suggested.

      “But…I just came that way. There’s no one there.”

      “Maybe she left,” Griff said, his voice hard. It was obvious that as far as he was concerned, that would be nothing but good riddance, despite the static state of the Phoenix’s investigation.

      “She seemed very anxious to visit her father,” the nurse said, peering around the room as if she thought they might have missed her. “I can’t imagine where she’s gotten off to.”

      Uneasiness stirred in Ethan’s stomach. If Raine wasn’t in the waiting room or in the corridor…

      “I’ll help you look,” he offered.

      “Of course, she could come back during the next regular visitation time,” the nurse said, apparently ready to give up the search as too time consuming in the face of her other duties.

      “Not if I can help it,” Griff said under his breath.

      “I’m sorry?” The nurse appeared puzzled by the comment.

      “There are some…family tensions.”

      Ethan doubted Griff would appreciate his explanation, but maybe it would be better if the staff understood that Gardner’s relatives weren’t pleased about sharing the precious few minutes they had to visit him with someone they viewed as an imposter.

      “Is there a ladies’ room nearby?” Ethan asked.

      “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that? She was upset when the alarm sounded.”

      The nurse continued to talk as she led the way back to the waiting room door, Ethan following. He’d leave it to Griff to explain the situation to Claire.

      He only hoped the two women hadn’t chosen the same rest room in which to attempt repair to their shattered emotions. When the nurse searched the one nearest the ICU, however, she found it was empty.

      “Maybe she decided to go down for coffee,” she said. “If you see her, would you tell her that her father is still the same. And that she was right. The problem was in the machine.”

      “I’ll tell her,” Ethan promised.

      He watched as the woman walked down the corridor and pressed the button that would give her admittance to the ICU. Standing there alone, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

      Raine had been determined to see the old man. If her visit had been cut short, then she should have been waiting around here to be readmitted.

      Except she wasn’t. Knowing how furious Claire had been about the idea of letting her in to see her grandfather, he didn’t believe Raine would risk the family taking steps to prevent her from doing that again.

      Claire’s departure from the waiting room had been her window of opportunity. He couldn’t see her giving it up to go down to the cafeteria for coffee.

      And if not, then where the hell was she?

      THERE HAD BEEN NO HESITATION in the gunman’s guidance. He was obviously very familiar with the hospital or he had explored this route before he’d

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