Risk of a Lifetime Read Online Free PDF Page B

the guy? Couldn’t he see his presence upset her? Working his jaw to control his response, JB tempered his words but used his back-off tone to get the point across. “I said wait at the nurses’ station.”
    The agent raised his head, staring into JB’s eyes. Challenged.
JB didn’t blink. If need be, he could toss Landon across the room again. Bash him through the door. And kick him down the hallway like a soccer forward scoring a goal. He’d rather not but would if the man didn’t move of his own accord…and soon.
    “Now! Right now.” JB pointed to the door. “By the way, when you talk to Leon Ferguson, find out if he saw the shooter. And call Leon’s attorney. He needs to be there before you talk to Leon.”
    “Wilson said he already got the clearance to talk to him.” Landon walked out into the hall, closing the door behind him.
    Marcy’s grip tightened on JB’s hand. “Don’t leave me alone with him. Please. Please. I know what happened.” Her breathing had leveled, but her eyes pleaded with him to believe her. “Who else would it have been?”
    He leaned in close, careful not to jar her wound. “Landon’s never coming back in this room. I promise. You’ll never be alone with him again.”
    Sadie pushed the door open and stepped inside, followed by Betsy. One look at Marcy’s face, and the two of them rushed to her bedside, barging between the doctor and Marcy.
    “What’s going on?” Sadie questioned.
    Doctor Crowley shook his head. “Your daughter needs some rest. Time to heal. We’ve got to keep her relaxed.”
    “Those drugs are doing a job on her.” JB cringed at the scene he’d witnessed when he walked in the room. Lucky she hadn’t hurt herself worse. “You’re doing more damage than good right now.”
    Betsy rubbed her sister’s arm as her mama stroked Marcy’s forehead.
    Sadie looked to JB. “Is she okay?”
    Marcy’s face flushed. Intensified excitement, imagined or real, meant intensified blood pressure. She pounded the mattress. “No, I’m not okay. Why won’t anyone listen to me?”
    The doctor ordered the nurse to restart the IV in the other hand.
    “I asked if she’s okay.” Sadie glared at JB.
    “She will be.” He didn’t release his hold on Marcy, easing between her and the nurse.
    “Move, so the nurse can put the needle back in.” Dr. Crowley scowled, puffing himself up to his full, commanding presence.
    Not going to work this time. “What for?” JB asked.
    “She needs an IV needle inserted. The staff needs to be able to give her something fast if something like this happens again.” Doctor Crowley scribbled on the chart. “IV’s the fastest way. In fact, I’ve ordered a sedative for her as soon as we get the bag going again.”
    “No sedative.” He glanced at Marcy. “Didn’t you tell me once that you had a bad reaction to anesthesia when you had your appendix out? That when they gave you a sedative, things just got worse?”
    Marcy nodded in return.
    He centered his stare on the doctor. “So no sedatives. You can give her the pain medicine orally.”
    She focused her eyes on the doctor also. “I’ll ask if I need anything.”
    JB pointed at Marcy’s mama, her sister, and then himself. “One of us will be in this room all the time. Day and night.”
    The women nodded. They might not know why, but they knew to follow his lead. Betsy might be mad as hell that he’d come back to Crayton, but even she wouldn’t fight him on anything that had to do with protecting her sister.
    JB rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to mid-forearm and tugged them into place. “Doc, you need to go take care of the rest of the hospital. We’ll take care of Marcy.”
    …
    Once his wife calmed down, JB handed her off to Sadie and Betsy. He needed to get out of the room and calm down. Following up with Landon would at least give him something to do besides being surrounded by women who were all on pins and needles with him sitting there.
    Many times, he saw