Free Firstborn by Carrigan Fox

don’t look okay.  You look like hell.”
    “I can’t help but think that if I’d tried to get you into bed, I wouldn’t have been at my office when those guys showed up.”
    She laughed softly and leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on the side of his head.  The discoloration of the bruise caused her to wince.  The gentle pressure of her lips on his sore temple caused the same reaction in Will.
    Jac surprised him again when she greeted the officer beside him by name.  “What are you guys thinking, Detective Wilson?”
    “Not sure.  The first time, we thought a robbery.  Drug search.  But they’ve been through the place once and know that there are no drugs on the premises.  Why would they come back a second time?”
    “Good point.  Did they take anything?”
    “Dr. Archer said that on the way out, one of them kicked him in the ribs and dropped a file folder.  He then picked it up when he walked out.”
    “And they were on my computer.”
    “So they’re after patient files?”  That didn’t make any sense.
    Will gestured to Jac with a shooing motion.  “I need to get dressed and get out of here.  I hate hospitals.  I’m fine.  I may be a bit concussed, but there’s nothing they can do about that.”
    “Will, stop.”  She reached out to keep him from hopping off of the exam table.  “You need to finish your exam.  You took a blow to the head and could have some serious damage that you don’t know about.”
    “Dr. Archer, you heard the doctor say he wanted to keep you for observation,” Detective Wilson reminded him.
    His head hung in defeat.  “Okay okay.”
    A couple of minutes later, the detective stepped out of the room and Will looked up fiercely at Jac.  “Turn your back so I can get some clothes on.  You’re taking me back to the office.  If someone is after one of my patients, I need to find out and warn them and the police.”
    “But the doctor said--”
    “I’ll come back.  It won’t take a half hour.  C’mon, Jac,” he pleaded.
    She nodded reluctantly and turned her back.
    They were able to slip out of the hospital without any interference and made it quietly to Jac’s car.  By the time they got to the office, the police had cleared out for the night and the office was dark.  Will opened the door and Jac nudged him out of the way.
    “Wait here.”
    He turned to her, surprised and prepared to argue but gasped instead when he saw she had a gun aimed at the floor in front of her.  “Where did that thing come from?”
    She smiled suggestively and then tapped the purse at her side.
    “You carry a gun?”
    “Don’t act surprised, Dr. Archer.  Just this morning you accosted me outside of the bank where you were trying to weasel a date out of me by asking me to share my gun training with you.”
    She moved past him stealthily and swung her gun around in front of her as she entered the office doorway.  She paused to flip on the light switch as she inspected the office and closet.  Once she was confident that the entire building was secure, she stuck her head back into the front lobby and gestured for Will to follow her.
    “All clear?” he asked.
    “All clear.  Where are you going to start?”
    Will moved straight to his computer and moved the mouse, watching the screen come to life.  “They didn’t turn the computer off.”  As the screen brightened, Will realized that they had been through his email.  “ What the hell?”
    “What is it?”
    “An email I wrote earlier today to a patient of mine.  But what interest would they have in Dianne Huntley?”
    Jac moved closer to read the email over his shoulder.  “ ’I saw some wonderful potential today.  I truly believe that this relationship will continue to grow with the effort that we saw today.  I’ll look forward to seeing you next week.’” 
    “Yeah.”
    “Are you dating this lady or seeing her as a patient?” she teased.
    “Just a patient,” he answered with his hands held up