Blacklisted Read online

  My unease with the entire medical process was one of the main reasons I was more comfortable with the dead than the living. I dealt in hard facts and evidence, not possibility and probability. I’d had enough of hinging all my hopes on the hint of a miracle. None of the patients I had on my table in the morgue were going to break down and fall apart under my care. I was with them at the end of their journey. I did my best to send each and every one of them off with as much respect and reverence as possible. My mother never understood why I worked so hard to get through med school only to end up working with the dead. I never had the heart to tell her she was the main reason behind my decision. Years and years of watching her suffer and not getting anywhere solidified the knowledge that I wasn’t cut out for a career filled with heartache and loss. The dead were easier on my heart than the dying.

  The tiny emergency room in Loveless was busy, as any ER tended to be. I tried my best to assure the sheriff’s deputy who showed up shortly after the shots were fired that I didn’t need to see a doctor. I’d hit my head on the ground when Shot pulled me down to the asphalt, and I was pretty sure I had a slight sprain in my wrist from the force he used to pull me to safety, but neither injury was serious. I even pulled the “I’m a doctor” card, but apparently being the sheriff’s half sister trumped my medical training. The deputy refused to let me go after a brief questioning as the parking lot was suddenly swarmed by what seemed like the entire Loveless Sheriff Department. No matter how vehemently I insisted that I was fine, the deputy was just as adamant I get both my head and hand checked out. He seemed to believe his job would be on the line if Case found out he didn’t go the extra mile in looking after my well-being.

  It seemed futile to explain I wasn’t actually part of that legendary Lawton bond, so I caved and let them rush me off to the emergency room, all the while fuming that both bikers who’d been caught in the crossfire with me had disappeared before the police arrived. I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, my first encounter with Shot Caldwell had been because his biker buddies didn’t want the law involved in his shooting. But for some reason, I felt abandoned when they took off as soon as they determined the coast was clear. To his credit, before vanishing, Shot took a moment to make sure I was okay. He’d probed the knot on the back of my head with his tattooed fingers and asked if things were blurry and if I had black spots in my vision.

  Once I assured him it was just a little bump, he’d given me a hard look and declared our conversation far from over. I wanted to protest, to accept his decree that leaving me alone for good would be the perfect favor to collect from the club, but I didn’t get the chance. And when the deputies started asking me about enemies and if I had any idea who could be behind the shooting, it all got tangled and messy, because I didn’t know for sure if it was Ashby, my former friend, or if it was someone aiming for the bikers. It was convoluted and complicated, like everything in my life currently.

  When the curtain surrounding the hospital bed I was perched on finally pulled back, I was expecting to see a harried and hurried ER doctor. I’d been waiting for well over an hour since the deputy rushed me back and left after I answered a long list of questions. To my surprise, it wasn’t a doctor storming into the small space, but my half sister.

  Kody was a firecracker by nature. Passionate. Wild. Reckless. She was all the things I’d never dared be, and then some. She was also kind, caring, and considerate, and she had the biggest heart I’d ever encountered. While we didn’t hit it off at the start of our tenuous relationship, she’d done her best to bridge the gap created by our upbringing and personalities. I’d only ever had my mother, and it hurt like hell to lose her. I couldn’t get my head around the idea of being part of a big, boisterous family, and I didn’t even want to imagine what it would be like to suddenly be left alone if they decided I didn’t fit or that they didn’t want me. I tried to keep my distance, but Kody refused to let me push her away.

  Kody’s green eyes were wide, and she was pale under the freckles that dotted her pert little nose. She always seemed so vibrant and bright, and she practically hummed with life and energy. I flinched when she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, not because it hurt but because the affection was so instinctual, like she didn’t even have to think about offering solace and comfort to someone who was still mostly a stranger.

  “Are you okay?” She pulled back but left her hands on my shoulders so I couldn’t pull totally away. “Case told me you were rushed to the ER. He’s on a call out in the hill country, so he won’t be back in town for an hour or so. I asked what happened, but he wouldn’t give me any details other than you were hurt and headed to the hospital. Do you need anything? Was this that crazy woman who’s after you?”

  The questions were rapid-fire and rushed together. I had to lift a hand to get her to slow down and back up a step. I touched my temple where I felt the start of a headache building and briefly closed my eyes.

  “I’m fine. Really. There was no need to rush over here. As soon as I see the doctor and get checked out, I’m headed back home.” I forced myself to meet her probing gaze and told her, “Someone took a shot at me while I was standing in the parking lot in front of my apartment. It could have been Ashby, but I’m not sure.”

  Kody took the hint and put some space between us. She copied my pose, leaning against the side of the bed rather than sprawling across the top of it. She crossed her ankles and her arms over her chest. I could see a muscle twitching in her cheek before she quietly asked, “Do you have someone else trying to kill you that I don’t know about, Presley?” Her tone made it clear that if I did, indeed, have a new enemy she wasn’t aware of, she wasn’t going to be happy about it.

  I rotated my sore wrist and let out a heavy sigh. “No, no one else is trying to kill me.” I put the emphasis on the last word and sighed again. “I wasn’t alone in the parking lot. Shot and one of his biker friends have been hanging around my apartment on and off since he recovered from his injuries. Today I finally got up the courage to tell him to leave me alone. I was worried they would scare Ashby off if she was waiting to make a move on me. I told Shot I wanted my life back, but then someone started shooting and everything went to hell and I have no idea if I was the target or if he was.”

  Kody was silent for a long moment, then she let out a low whistle and turned her head to look at me. “That’s gonna make things complicated.”

  I nodded carefully in agreement. My head was starting to throb, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the headache or the knock it’d taken earlier. Either way, I wanted to lie down in a dark room and pretend like none of this happened for at least an hour. “I know it is. Shot and the VP didn’t stick around and wait for the police to show up.” I was going to remain bitter about that.

  Kody snorted. “Of course they didn’t. That’s going to piss Case off, and now he’s going to be thrilled he has a legitimate reason to find Shot and bring him in for questioning. Those two are like oil and water. They never mix well, and Case isn’t going to like Shot having anything to do with you and your situation.”

  Having anyone invested in me was a strange feeling, but the idea of suddenly having a big-brother figure in my life was completely foreign.

  Reiterating my original statement, I whispered, “I can take care of myself, really.” But it didn’t sound nearly as convincing as I wanted it to.

  Fortunately, the ER doctor finally made an appearance. He looked at me, then at Kody, and did a double take. The locals in Loveless were still adjusting to the fact that Conrad Lawton had another child floating around no one knew about. It was particularly startling when Kody and I were next to one another and the resemblance couldn’t be ignored. The older man quickly recovered his composure and gave the blond woman next to me a friendly grin.

  “Kody. I thought I told you I didn’t want to see you here for the rest of the year. The Lawtons and their associates are getting too comfortable in this ER.” He clicked his pen and gave me a curious look,
clearly trying to connect the dots as to how I suddenly fit into the Lawton family circle.

  Kody scoffed and pushed off the side of the bed. “You know how hard it is to keep the Lawtons and the like out of trouble.” She grabbed her purse and gave me a narrow-eyed look of warning. “I’m gonna step outside while you look my sister over. I’ll be back to take her home once you give her a clean bill of health.” She switched the sharp look to the doctor. “Don’t let her convince you she’s fine if she’s not.”

  The doctor chuckled and nodded. I could see him puzzling over the word sister, but he was too polite to say anything. Once Kody cleared out of the small space, the doctor turned kind eyes in my direction and took note of the way I was holding my sore wrist.

  “Got a little banged up, did ya?” He pulled a pair of reading glasses from his pocket and looked over the chart in his hand.

  “I’m fine. It’s just a sprain, and a bump on my head. I don’t have any symptoms of a concussion, and my wrist will be fine if I ice it and wrap it up for a few days.” I gave the self-diagnosis with quiet confidence, which made the older man’s eyebrows lift.

  “Have you been to medical school, young lady?” There was a hint of condescension in his tone, and if my head hadn’t been killing me I would’ve rolled my eyes hard enough to see into the future.

  “Yes, I’m a medical examiner. Same training, different title.” I wasn’t just a medical examiner either. Before my life had imploded, I’d been in line to become the chief medical examiner for the entire county. It was a huge honor, one I’d worked diligently toward. It was also the breaking point for my former best friend’s sanity. When the promotion had been offered to me instead of her, Ashby decided to frame me for murder. I’d never seen it coming.

  The doctor didn’t seem impressed by my career choice, but that wasn’t anything new. When your patients weren’t breathing, those in the medical field typically tended to look down on you and your work.

  The man didn’t say much else. He gave my head a brief look and tried to rotate and flex my wrist until I protested in pain. It took him less than ten minutes to repeat back my original diagnosis. He asked me if I wanted a prescription for pain meds and told me he would send in a nurse to wrap up my wrist. I declined both, not wanting the drugs or to wait around for another hour when I could wrap my wrist on my own. After he shrugged and told me I was good to go, I maneuvered out of the room. I gave a brief thought to trying to give Kody the slip, but I knew that if I did she would just show up at my apartment, more riled up than she already was.

  Normally, aggravating Kody wouldn’t bother me, but I hated the idea of something happening to her because I was being stubborn and foolish. I couldn’t risk her safety. The guilt I felt over taking the Lawtons’ father away, even indirectly, was crippling. It was the Lawtons themselves who’d forced me to accept that Conrad was gone because of his own misdeeds and bad choices. Ashby was certifiable, and that had nothing to do with me. On bad days I still struggled to believe both of these things, but my new siblings were unshakable in their emotional support.

  Kody caught sight of me as soon as I cleared the noise and chaotic energy of the emergency room. She gave me a critical look since I was still holding my injured wrist tightly and asked, “Why didn’t they take care of that for you?”

  I tilted my chin in the direction of the desk used for check-in and out. I told her I needed to take care of whatever I owed and then I would explain why I was leaving seemingly untreated. She didn’t seem too happy with the curt answer, but she didn’t hound me with questions or try and manhandle me with aggressive affection like she normally did until we were in the parking lot and headed toward her unmissable lime-green Jeep.

  Once we reached the neon vehicle she turned to face me. “Why didn’t you let them help you? I know you think you can handle everything on your own, but isn’t this taking things a little too far?”

  “I didn’t want to wait around for someone else to wrap up my wrist when I can do it myself. I just want to go home and take a nap.” I fought back a tired and slightly frustrated sigh. I was navigating the ups and downs of our newly formed relationship. The boundaries between friend and family were still new to me, and I kept tripping over them. “But I honestly appreciate your concern and how you rushed to the hospital to check on me.”

  Kody sighed dramatically and tossed her fall of curly hair over her shoulder. “You can’t seriously think I’m going to leave you on your own after someone took a shot at you today. You’re not going back to your apartment until Case gives the all clear. You’re coming home with me. There’s an armed Texas Ranger there. That should be enough to make anyone think twice about shooting at you again. You can nap better knowing that you’re absolutely safe under my roof.”

  Her words were fierce and so was the expression on her face. This was exactly what I meant by her aggressive affection. She cared so much, almost to the point of it being painful to someone very unused to being the center of all that concern. She looked like she was going to take no arguments from me, but I had a few.

  “Kody,” I started, and she immediately held up her hand to get me to stop talking.

  “You’re going to say that you’re fine on your own and you’ve been trying for months to draw Ashby Grant out of hiding. I know you think if you come home with me it will ruin all of that and you might miss your shot at drawing her out, but I don’t care. I care about you. I’m worried about you. And I’m telling you it won’t matter if you go back to that crappy apartment or not because even if you do, Case is going to surround the place with his deputies. If Shot lurking about was really enough to keep her away, what do you think the entire Loveless Sheriff Department is going to do?” She paused in her tirade long enough to blow out a breath. “I know the whole ‘family’ thing is new to you and you’re trying to adjust to having all of us all up in your life. So, I’m asking—no, I’m pleading with you to do this for me, Presley. Come home with me, for a few days at least. Let me take care of you. Let me help you.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her no, but I couldn’t do it. No matter how independent and solitary I was, there was no looking into those big, green eyes so like mine and denying her. It was a strange sensation, putting Kody’s wants and needs before my own survival instincts. I’d lived so much of my life as the primary caregiver for my mother, it was nearly impossible to switch gears and accept being the person who was being cared for. I’d never had to worry about hurting anyone before, and the weight of that responsibility was honestly alarming.

  I slowly nodded my agreement to her demand and told her softly, “I’ll come, but only for a day or two. I don’t want to impose on you and Hill.”

  They were a new couple, both with busy schedules. They didn’t need a third party lingering around during their honeymoon phase, and I didn’t know how long I could tolerate being in the middle of Kody’s constant bedlam. But I was going to try to acquiesce because she was family, and because she was important to me. I didn’t want to give her more reasons to worry about me, as much as I didn’t want to worry about something happening to her because of me. It was exhausting, and again I longed for the days that all passed in one beige blur.

  Plus, Kody was right. I needed to figure out what family meant to me now, and it was up to me to learn to function as part of one.

  Chapter 3

  Shot

  Stay away from my sister, Caldwell.”

  I lifted my eyebrows and looked at the sheriff of Loveless over the rim of the coffee mug I had pressed to my lips. I’d done my best to avoid Case Lawton for the last few days. I knew he was going to have questions I didn’t have answers for, and I knew he was going to get cranky when I stonewalled him. It wasn’t that I had anything against the stern and stoic lawman. I actually respected him and appreciated his no-nonsense approach to keeping the peace. However, we were never going to see eye to eye when it came to my viewing certain laws and regulations as suggestions rather than absolutes. We w
ere also never going to be on the same page about me being an acceptable partner for his sister…either one of them.

  Pushing his buttons, mostly because I could, I set the coffee cup down and asked dryly, “Which one?”

  Case’s low growl rumbled from the other side of the table and his big hands curled into fists. I grinned when a muscle ticked in his cheek. I could practically hear his back teeth grinding together in frustration.

  “Stay away from both of them. I’m sure you know that most places have some kind of surveillance equipment installed, even crappy apartment buildings in small towns. I don’t know why you’re suddenly interested in Presley, but I don’t like it. If I have to, I’ll push her to get a restraining order, and if you break it, it’ll be my pleasure to lock your ass up for stalking.” He leaned his big body back in the booth and narrowed his sharp, observant gaze in my direction. “Kody went and found herself the right kind of forever, and I’m sure that had to sting your pride. But I’ll be damned if you’re trying to replace her with Presley since they just happen to look so much alike.”

  I blinked in surprise, honestly taken aback at the accusation. Sure, the women bore an uncanny resemblance to one another other than the difference in their hair color, but they couldn’t be more different. Kody was as unpredictable as the day was long. No one ever knew what kind of crazy scheme she was going to come up with, or how much trouble she was going to bring to the table. As far as I could tell, Presley was the opposite. She seemed methodical and as calm and cool in a crisis as they came. If Kody was a tornado, Presley was like a cool summer breeze. Kody’s chaos could be fun in small doses, but I found the good doctor’s unflappable and quiet reserve when all hell was breaking loose to be oddly reassuring. I had enough noise and pandemonium in my life. It was often too loud to even hear myself think. In the short moments I spent around Presley, things seemed to be much quieter, even with a lunatic in the mix. I liked the serenity that seemed to surround her, and I wondered if that was one of the reasons I’d been unable to just walk away when she made it clear she wanted nothing to do with me or my crew.