Free Earth Enchanted by Brynna Curry Page B

room in question. His mind was screaming. He knew she was dead. It was his fault. He’d brought her here, and now he’d caused his sister’s murder.
    When the phone rang again, he snatched it off the hook.
    “Listen, you bloody bastard. Tell me where the hell she is!”
    The polite voice on the line cleared her throat and said, “Excuse me, sir, I’m sorry to have awakened you, but your sister was involved in an incident earlier. She asked me to call you for her.”
    He listened while the nurse related the information, threw on jeans and a shirt, grabbed his keys and was gone in five minutes.
    Ryan walked into Jack’s room. Stitches rained across Liv’s forehead in an arc over her right eyebrow. One hand held a cup of bad coffee, the other held Jack’s. She looked like a nightmare. There was so much blood on her. She had a smile on her face. God. Relief swamped him. “Liv, what happened?”
    The nurse who poked her head in the door to shush him said, “Now, Mr. Corrigan, your sister is all right, but if you can’t keep your voice down I’m going to have to kick you out of here. Mr. Roarke is recently out of surgery and needs to rest. It’s way beyond visiting hours and you know it.”
    He gave her a sheepish look. “Sorry.” He waited until he heard her footsteps go down the hall.
    “Did you bring my things?” She didn’t seem the least concerned.
    “Yes, come home, Liv. You need to sleep. You need real food. You were shot at, for sweet Mary’s sake.”
    “Give me a few minutes. We’ll talk.” She went into the bath and he heard the shower start.
    When she was out of earshot, Jack, who was propped up on pillows, said, “I think they aimed to kill her. If it had been me they wanted, they could have taken that shot a hundred times.”
    “You look like hell. Rough movie? Never cared much for action flicks myself.”
    “Were you born a smartass or did you just pick it up along the way? Thanks a lot, a bullet does that to a guy. So does the surgery, and all the crap that goes with it. Then there’s the fact I was worried about her.”
    Ryan didn’t comment on his theory. He didn’t have to. It was the truth, and he couldn’t do one thing about it. He knew she wouldn’t back off now. Not after all this. She’d be more determined than ever.
    “I tried to talk her into going home, but it’s like throwing a ball against a brick wall. Whatever you say bounces right off and never sinks in. Hard headed woman, she should listen.”
    Jack smiled when he said it.
    Liv came back into the room toweling dry her hair. “Hey, I heard that.” She sat, very gently, beside him on the edge of the bed. He grinned at her. She smiled back.
    Ryan wondered if they could see all those sparks flying around them, enough of them to make a brother very uncomfortable being in the same room. He didn’t like it. Roarke was trouble and his sister was in enough of it.
    “Say, Ryan, did you know that bullet our man took was meant for me? My hero.” Liv’s eyes were dancing, he noted, and that told him her heart was set on this. He might as well give up. Ryan kicked himself out a few minutes later, knowing she’d be okay. She was in a hospital. There were guards posted everywhere, and she had a cop basically handcuffed to her. She’d be okay, as long as he didn’t screw up again.
    When he finally walked through the door, weary in more ways than he could count, the phone was shrilling on its hook. He hated that damn telephone. Maybe he’d just take it apart piece by piece and see if the garbage disposal would chew it up. With that satisfying image in his head, he yanked it off the hook. “Yeah, what do you want?”
    “Show a bit of respect. I could have splattered her head, but instead take this as a warning. Don’t cross me or I will kill your family and everyone you care for while you listen to their screams. Then, if I’m feeling generous, I’ll kill you as well.”
    Ryan didn’t have a chance to say anything else.