Homicide! (Parker & Knight Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Rachel,”
    “Hello? What the hell happened to you?”
    “I was shot, but it’s not serious.”
    Rachel looked him over with a worried gaze; she then turned to the other nurse and told her that she would take over Parker’s case and that the other nurse could tend to the man with the broken arm. She also told her to tell the doctor to hurry. As the other woman walked away, Rachel noticed Heather.
    “Who are you?”
    “She’s a friend of mine, and also a witness to the shooting.”
    Heather held out her hand and introduced herself.
    Rachel ignored the offered hand and gave her a hard look.
    “I’m Rick’s wife, well, ex-wife, and I’m sorry, but you won’t be able to follow him into the treatment room.”
    Heather noticed the chill in the air and pointed to a row of nearby seats.
    “I’ll just sit here and wait for him.”
    “I’d prefer it if you went out into the waiting room.” Rachel said.
    “No,” Parker said. “She’ll wait here for me; this shouldn’t take too long.”
    Rachel sighed.
    “Very well, and here comes the doctor now.”
    Parker received several stitches on his shoulder, and the cuts on his chest and arm were also treated. All of the pellets that struck, dealt him a sideways blow that left deep wounds like scratches, with most of the tiny pellets embedding themselves in his vest. The wounds to his arm hurt worse than the ones on his shoulder even though they were minor. The wounds on his chest were all where the edge of his vest had been, but the vest took most of the spray from the shotgun blast.
    When the doctor finished treating him he left to tend to others, and Parker looked up to see Heather enter the small treatment room. He was seated atop an exam table and shirtless.
    She studied his bare chest for a moment and then gave a sour look as she ran her fingers lightly over his wounds and bruises. She then spotted something that made her wince; it was a white, puckered mark over Parker’s ribs on the left side of his body.
    Heather touched it. “What’s this?”
    “That’s an old wound from a 9mm; I was shot there during a drug raid when I worked in Philly.”
    “That looks bad.”
    “It was; much worse than today.”
    “Poor baby,” Heather said, and leaned in to kiss him.
    “That was actually how we met.” Rachel said in a loud voice, startling Heather, who straightened up and backed away a step.
    Parker glared at his ex. “Yes, you seem to always be involved whenever I suffer a grave wound.” He hopped off the table and grabbed his shirt, then discovered that he had trouble getting his right arm back into it; the force sustained during the blast from the shotgun had left his arm numb.
    Heather gave him a hand getting into the shirt, and then stood looking up at him as she buttoned it. There was something intimate about the act and she and Parker smiled at each other.
    Rachel held up a package. “The doctor asked me to help you into this sling; he said you should wear it for a few days to help your shoulder.” She then spoke to Heather. “Please wait out in the hall while I put this on him.”
    Heather began to protest, but decided against it and spoke to Parker instead.
    “I’ll be waiting.”
    “Good, I’ll be right there.”
    As soon as Heather left, Rachel shut the door.
    “Who the hell is that, Rick?”
    “Heather works at Taggart’s ; my partner and I are working a case there.”
    “So why is she following you around?”
    “She was worried about me and came along in the ambulance.”
    Rachel finished placing his wounded arm in the sling and leaned closer.
    “I guess you’ve heard that Tim and I are seeing each other again, hmm?”
    “No, I hadn’t heard, and it’s none of my business.”
    As he headed for the door, Rachel grabbed his good arm.
    “Tim and I, we’re not exclusive... if you want I can stop by tonight... I can even stay all night.”
    Parker stared at her in disbelief.
    “I’m not the sharing type; I thought you knew that by