He bent at the waist to peer at the edge of the bed. “There’s no one under there.”
He tried to straighten, but Portia put her hand on his shoulder and pressed him down. “Get on the floor and look all the way.”
“Portia, you’re being irrational. There’s no one here.” Dizzie had been here, he was sure of it, but he had no way to explain his certainty.
She whirled and directed her frustration at him. “You insisted that she was in here. Are you trying to hide her from me now?”
“I was wrong. There’s no one here but this patient. We probably shouldn’t be here. Let’s check the other rooms.” He stepped out of the way of the nurse crawling around the bed.
“Get up.” Killian grabbed the man’s arm.
“No, there’s something under here.” The other man sprawled onto his stomach and his top half disappeared beneath the bed.
Portia shot Killian a look of triumph.
The nurse reversed his underbed wiggle. “Sorry, it’s just a robe and some slippers.” He cleared the bed and shoved the robe to the side. He braced his hands on the edge of the mattress to lever himself up and disturbed the blankets. A hand flopped out from beneath them, flapping lifelessly against his. His scream was earsplitting.“It touched me!”
Killian wanted to laugh but the guy was freaking out so badly that would only make it worse. How was this man a medical professional? Killian looked at Portia to share the moment, but she was staring at the clothes the nurse had retrieved.
“Relax, you’re fine.” Killian stepped forward and gently lifted the patient’s thin wrist. As soon as the offending limb was moved, the nurse scuttled backward like a crab, then sprang to his feet and raced from the room.
The patient’s arm weighed almost nothing as Killian laid it back along her side.
“Wait a minute!” Portia moved suddenly, until she stood at his side. “What’s that?”
Killian frowned. “Her medical bracelet. So they can monitor?—”
“I know that, Killian,” she snapped. “Why is she wearingtwo?”
He felt a rush of pride and relief. Clever, clever courier.
Killian wished she’d asked him for help, but she’d very smartly gotten herself out of the hospital. Dizzie was proving to be as strategic a thinker as her sister. If the two of them ever worked together, they’d be formidable. If they didn’t try to kill each other.
He shrugged, wanting to give Dizzie as much of a head start as possible. Not from him, but from Portia. She wouldn’t be that far behind…
“The tracker says it’s hers.”
“Okay. She obviously isn’t here, though.”
“Dammit! She should have been taken into custody the moment I saw her. The moment you saw her.” She glared at him.
“She’s innocent, Portia.” His rote response by now.
“For someone who’s innocent, she went to an awful lot of trouble to escape the hospital.” She stared down at the patient in the bed, a sad look on her face.
“Can’t say I blame her. The company isn’t that desirable. And you did try to run her over.” He straightened the blanket over the patient’s arm, then walked out of the room.
Portia followed him out. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Killian stopped in the middle of the hallway and faced her. “We came here to learn why Dizzie’s vitals looked like a coma patient’s.” He pointed to the door she’d left open. “We did that. Now I’m leaving.”
He didn’t wait for her to argue or respond. He’d spent too much time with her and not enough time focused on clearing Dizzie’s name.
Portia stomped her foot. “We’re not done. Killian, come back here!”
Chapter43
Dizzie drovePortia’s car into the executive parking lot in the garage. She circled the lot until she found a parking place with Portia’s name on it.
