Free Four to Go (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Sandy Smyth

That you can walk? Well, maybe Mike and I should walk, too. You apparently don’t need us anymore.”
    “I hope you won’t walk away,” said Tom quietly as he slowly and painfully limped over to the table, removed some papers from his pocket, and threw them on the table. “There was an envelope on my pillow when I got back to my room this morning. I thought it was from Kate. I was wrong. I think you’d better read the messages.”
    “What about me, Tom, do I get to read them, too?” Her face was paper white as she stood in the doorway, tears shimmering in her eyes.
    “Oh, Kate, love! What happened? I thought you were safely gone. I wanted to keep all of this from you, I wanted to protect you and keep you safe.” Tom paused for a moment. “But maybe there is more safety in knowledge than in ignorance. Will you trust me and let me explain about the papers and this?” Tom swept his arm down toward his legs and then limped haltingly toward her, his eyes beseeching as he held out his hand to her.
    “Always, Tom. I trust you. I have always trusted you.” Kate bypassed his hand and walked into his arms. “The only problem was I decided to detour into the powder room for just a minute or two. When I came out, I could hear you all in here. What’s going on, Tom?”
    “Goddamn fucking son of a bitch! You found this on the pillow of your bed this morning?” The absolute horror in John’s voice was chilling. “Damn it, Tom, you sleep so lightly, I can’t believe anyone could get within five feet of your bed without you being aware of it.”
    John suddenly stopped. “When you got back to your room this—” He looked at Tom, then at Kate, and his eyebrows rose almost comically. Then he looked back at the paper in his hand and said angrily, “Damn it, man, I checked the security system last night before I went to bed. No one could have bypassed that system.” John paced back and forth, dragging the fingers of one hand through his black hair in frustration, as Mike pulled the papers from his other hand and started reading.
    Moments later Mike shook his head in disbelief and threw the papers back on the table. “Hold on,” Mike said as he pulled a small, black instrument from his shirt pocket and punched in a series of numbers. “Let me run a diagnostic on the system and see what we come up with. No, nothing. All clear. The system has not been tampered with, nor has it been bypassed or shut down. Nobody could have gotten in here last night, or this morning. Give me some time to get the video replays from the security cameras outside, and we’ll see what they show.”
    “What about the pool?” Kate asked as she turned in Tom’s arms to face John and Mike. “Is that sliding glass panel part of the security system? You know, the one that lets you swim from the inside pool to the outside pool in the summer. I know it’s usually locked into place in the cold weather. But, maybe someone could have cut a hole in the glass, couldn’t they?”
    Dead silence met her words. For a moment no one moved, and then Mike looked at John, nodded, and took off for the pool at a run. John was already on his cell phone, calling in some of the investigators from their base office.
    Kate walked to the table and picked up the papers which Mike had thrown down. At her horrified gasp, Tom limped heavily to her side, rivulets of sweat now running down his face. He’d been on his feet way, way too long, especially without a cane or his crutches.
    “Kate! Sweetheart, don’t worry. John and Mike are here and won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.” Tom’s voice was strained. He started to put his hand on her shoulder and noted that his fingers were trembling. He fisted his hand and fought against the tremors.
    “Oh, for God’s sake, Tom, sit down. You’ve overdone things, as usual,” said John, his voice both distracted and worried. He scooted a chair behind Tom and grabbed his good arm to help him into the chair.
    “Tom,