notice and I'll be here. I should tell you that I've asked Jed Harley to stop by and check on you occasionally. I don't want you to think he's one of Molino's pet vipers.'
'Who's Jed Harley?'
'I've hired him to keep an eye on you. He's a good man.'
'How good? In what way?'
'In all kinds of ways. Guns, knives, karate, tai chi. If you don't need him to put down someone, he's very good at keeping you entertained.'
'I don't believe I'm in need of a court jester.'
'Harley doesn't care what you need. He is what he is. Since you're having trouble enduring my presence I have to make sure you're safe. Nothing's going to happen to you, Megan.' He walked out of the waiting room.
She felt a surge of comfort at those last words. She was feeling very much alone at this moment and was filled with confusion and sadness. Grady was not motivated by love or kindness but he wanted her protected. She would need that protection if she was to work her way through this bewildering maze.
'HI. BAD SCENE, HUH? Anything I can do?'
She opened her eyes to see a tall, loose-limbed man in a red Hawaiian shirt standing in the doorway. She straightened in her chair. 'No, thank you.'
'Sure?' He came into the waiting room. 'I'm not just a busybody poking my nose into your business. That would piss me off too. My name is Jed Harley and I've been paid to stick my nose in your business.' He dropped down in the chair beside her. 'That should make you feel better. Protect and soothe. That's my job.'
She stared at him. He was in his mid-thirties, tanned, with sandy hair and bright blue eyes. In that Hawaiian shirt he looked more like a beachcomber than the man Grady had described. 'Your bedside manner is very unusual, Mr. Harley.'
'Harley.' He grinned. 'And you're not in bed. Actually, my bedside manner is pretty damn good. I once had a job as an EMT driver and I was comforting as hell. The patients loved me. I just fit the manner to the situation. You're not a lady who would appreciate someone patting her on the back and soothing her. You're very independent.'
'How do you-Oh, for Pete's sake, are you some kind of freak like Grady?'
'Lord, no.' He shuddered. 'Perish the thought. I relish the simple, uncomplicated life. I'm just a decent judge of character. I've been keeping my eye on you and you're not difficult to read. I feel as if I know you already.'
'How nice,' she said dryly. 'Lately, I've been wondering if I know myself.'
He grinned. 'Talk to me. I'll set you straight.' He leaned back in his chair. 'Now, I'll shut up and let you relax. No, there's no way you'll relax. But you won't have to put up with my bullshit. Under other circumstances I'm sure you'd find it fascinating but not now. Just lean back in your chair, know I'm here for you and I'll do whatever I can.'
To her amazement she found herself doing as he told her and leaning back in her chair. There was something curiously soothing and gentle beneath that brash exterior. 'You don't have to be here for me. I'm sure Grady didn't mean you to sit here and hold my hand.'
'So I'm an overachiever. I believe that life should be all parties and fireworks and it brings me down when I see someone who's been left out of the party. I have to try to do something about it.' He crossed his arms across his chest and stretched his legs out before him. 'Now ignore me until you need me.'
Bizarre. He was totally bizarre.
But oddly comforting.
She closed her eyes again, her hands tightening on the arms of the chair, waiting.
Ten minutes passed.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
'Megan.' Suddenly Harley's hand was covering her own. Warmth, strength, comfort. 'I think that's your doctor coming.'
Her lids flew open.
'Dr. Blair?' Dr. Pretkay, the specialist from Johns Hopkins, was standing in the doorway. Her grip tightened on Harley's. Pretkay's expression was sympathetic, compassionate and… regretful.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
PHILLIP WAS A SMALL MAN BUT HE LOOKED even slighter in the white hospital bed.
'Hi, Phillip,' Megan said unsteadily as she moved toward the bed. 'I'm not sure if you can understand me. All those specialists can't agree on what coma patients are able to process.' She took his hand. It was cool and unresponsive, completely unlike the warm, affectionate grasp to which she was accustomed. 'I thought I'd give it a try. If you can understand what's going on here, you may feel helpless and that sucks.' Don't start crying again. 'They say they can't do anything to help you right now. So we're moving you to a private nursing home and you'll have wonderful care. I may not be able to visit you right away, but I'll never stop looking for a way to get you well.' She swallowed and whispered, 'I love you. Thank you for all the years, Phillip.' No, that sounded like good-bye and she would
She moved quickly for the door but she was blinded by tears by the time she reached the hall.
'Hey, easy.' Grady was pulling her into his arms, cradling her. 'Don't fight me. You need a shoulder to lean on and I want to be the one to help, dammit.'
She didn't fight him. He felt warm and strong and alive. She needed that life after facing the half death that Phillip was experiencing. 'Pretkay said he probably wouldn't ever wake up. He wanted to know if I wanted to take him off any life support.' She buried her face in his shoulder. 'Screw him. No way. Phillip hasn't even had a chance to fight his way out of this. I haven't had a chance to fight for him.'
'Shh.' Grady was stroking her hair. 'You're right. We'll take care of him. And we'll find a way to help him.'
'Damn right.' She pushed away from him and wiped her eyes. 'And the first thing we'll do is find that son of a bitch who shot him. I don't want that bastard prancing around when Phillip is lying there like a zombie.'
'I've been working on it.' His lips tightened. 'Don't look so surprised. I'm the one who sent Phillip to you. There wasn't any question that I wouldn't go after that shooter. What do you think I was doing while you were sitting in that waiting room?'
'Who is it?'
He shook his head. 'I'll know soon.'
Her lips twisted. 'Crystal ball?'
'No, Atlanta Police lab. There were tire tracks in the sand from his truck and fiber on the porch where he was kneeling.'
'That's not much.'
'It's a beginning. I have contacts with the CIA and they'll put pressure to hurry up the investigation. And I called Michael Travis and he said that he knew someone who might be able to help.'
She remembered that name. 'Phillip said there was a Michael Travis who headed a Psychic Investigative Group in Virginia. I thought you said no crystal ball.'
'It's the truth. Michael was talking about Atlanta City Hall. His contacts aren't limited to-'
'Freaks.'
'Call it what you like.' He looked her in the eyes. 'No one has a better right.'
He meant because she was one of them, she thought wearily. 'I won't admit that yet.'
'What? Not even after what you went through in that cave?'
'It could still be a mental problem. I'm a very pragmatic person and I have no evidence that would prove otherwise.'
'The hell you haven't,' he said roughly. 'Accept it, Megan.'
'When I can prove it to myself. I don't believe I'm schizophrenic. But do I trust what my instincts tell me and go against my logic? Do I go against what my mother told me? But what you did to me at the zoo has no logical explanation. Phillip believes what you told me and he'd never steer me wrong. I just don't know.' Her hands clenched into fists. 'You said that the voices are usually connected to the scene of a particular emotional
