Free The Dying Game by Beverly Barton Page B

could reach him, Griff clamped his hands down on Judd’s shoulders and yanked him away from Barbara Jean. She stared wide-eyed and mouth agape at the man who had accosted her.
    Judd jerked free, barreled around, and lifted his fists to attack Griff. Acting purely on instinct, Lindsay stepped in between the two big men. From out of nowhere, Rick Carson appeared behind Griff. Apparently, he had been only a few steps behind Nic and Barbara Jean.
    Griff bristled. The skin tightened over his sharp cheekbones and his ice blue eyes squinched with anger.
    Judd froze to the spot and glared at Lindsay, her intervention acting as the deterrent she had hoped it would. Apparently, Judd wasn’t so far gone that he would actually resort to hitting her.
    “Get Mr. Walker under control or I will,” Nic told Griff.
    Griff motioned for Lindsay to move, then when she did, he locked his fierce gaze to Judd’s. “Is that what you want? You want to be taken into custody by the FBI?”
    Judd didn’t respond verbally, simply loosened his tightly fisted hands and relaxed his battle-ready stance.
    Observing Judd’s withdrawal, Griff spoke to Lindsay, “Carson will take over and get him out of here. You’ll fly home with me.”
    When Rick Carson came forward, Judd backed away, and Lindsay feared another confrontation. But Rick made no move to touch Judd, who seemed more than ready to cause an even worse scene in the hospital corridor.
    Lindsay moved closer to Griff in order to speak privately with him. “Let me take care of Judd. He’s less likely to resist going with me than he is if you try to send him with Rick.”
    “It’s obvious that Judd’s emotional and mental stability has worsened,” Griff said. “He’s dangerous now.”
    “I know,” she replied. “But he’s more dangerous to himself than to anyone else.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “I’m sure.” She had never lied to Griff, and she wasn’t actually lying now. She wanted to believe that Judd did not pose a physical threat to her, despite knowing that he still possessed the power to destroy her emotionally.
    Griff nodded. “Be careful.”
    “I will.”
    Griff then turned to Barbara Jean Hughes, bent down on his haunches, and clasped the woman’s hands. “I’m sorry about what happened. That man is the one I told you about, my old friend who’s been half out of his mind since the Beauty Queen Killer murdered his wife almost four years ago.”
     
     
    Meek as a lamb, Judd left the hospital with Lindsay. His submissive attitude worried her far more than if he’d been openly belligerent. She tried to think of something to say to him, but she came up blank. When they walked outside, the cold night air blasted them the minute the hospital doors closed behind them. She paused long enough to button her coat before heading to the parking deck.
    Judd lifted his face to the wind, as if he liked the feel of the bitter cold. “So, what now, my little savior?” he asked, the tone of his voice strangely amicable.
    Looking over the parking lot in front of them, an area reserved for doctors and VIPs, Lindsay succinctly explained her plan. “We’re going to find a decent restaurant and eat supper. Then we’re getting a couple of rooms at a local motel for tonight. Come morning, we’re going back to Tennessee.” She removed her gloves from her coat pocket and slipped them on. “I can either drive you back to the hunting lodge and dump your sorry ass off, and leave you to drown in self-pity…” She paused, expecting a snide remark of some type. When he didn’t respond, she continued, “Or if you can behave yourself, I’ll take you to Griff’s and you can be part of our investigation again, the way you were in the beginning.”
    “Either or, huh?”
    “Take it or leave it.” Uncertain what Judd would do, she headed toward the two-level parking deck on the west side of the hospital.
    He caught up with her before she reached her Trailblazer parked on the bottom level.