A Time to Protect Read Free

tired and grumpy because someone had called in sick and the ward was shorthanded again, but most of all she was embarrassed that she’d harassed him—and she’d knocked down an FBI agent! Why hadn’t he told her the truth to begin with?
    Not that Chloe needed the answer to that. After all, she’d already dealt with a father who’d lied, a cheating husband to whom truth was whatever was convenient and now a supervisor who didn’t know reality from his own fiction. She could handle this guy with one hand tied behind her back.
    “Everything check out? Did I make your list?” He loomed over the counter, his smile just itching to break free. The ice had melted and he was a gorgeous sight.
    “You’ve been added.” Chloe sucked in a breath and ordered her blood pressure down. “You can stay. You can look around. But you cannot touch anything. Understand?” She ignored him, smiled at Sid and returned to the mayor’s bed once more before moving on to her next patient. When she’d completed her rounds, she returned to the desk. He was still there.
    “How is Max doing?”
    Chloe found herself repeating the official version.
    “Mayor Vance is currently unresponsive. He has a bullet fragment lodged in his brain which the surgeons feel would be detrimental to remove at this time. The other gunshot passed completely through his body missing his heart by centimeters. At the moment, the mayor’s condition is listed as stable but critical. He has not regained consciousness since the incident.” She raised one eyebrow. “Anything else?”
    “I guess not. If he hasn’t spoken then that’s no help.”
    He frowned, making her think of a little boy who couldn’t grasp what he’d done wrong.
    “Why so hostile, Mrs. Tanner?” he asked. “I’m just trying to do my job.”
    “As am I, Agent Montgomery.” She dropped the chart back into its holder and studied him. “What is it you hoped to find here anyway?”
    “Information that would lead me to the perpetrator of this crime.”
    The grim tightness of his voice suggested the mayor’s shooting had been committed against him personally. Chloe admired his dedication to justice but this was taking it to the extreme. She raised one eyebrow.
    “We don’t have any bad guys hiding here, so I think you can go home and get some sleep.” Since she’d moved to Colorado Springs, Chloe had heard a lot about Montgomery and the Vance families and their close-knit ties. Perhaps that’s why this man felt he had to stand guard over the mayor. Maybe he was some kind of close family friend—which would make his job much tougher. A trickle of sympathy spurted up.
    “Hey, Chloe, I’m back.” Theresa, her co-worker, raised an arm as she walked through the elevator door. “Ooh. I see you’ve had company while I’ve been away.” She offered the FBI agent a fawning smile. “You can take your break now if you want, Chloe. I’ll look after your friend.”
    “That’s kind of you.” Brendan Montgomery smiled at the woman, but never budged from his position. “Your sacrifice is unnecessary though. I have a few more questions for Mrs. Tanner. You were the nurse on duty when he was admitted, correct?”
    “Yes,” she admitted grudgingly, searching for an excuse to get away from Theresa’s curious stare without being too obvious.
    “Then I’d like to ask a few more questions, if you don’t mind.”
    “You’ll have to ask while I have my break.” Loathe to face the barrage of questions that would follow, Chloe strode to the elevator. Once inside she stepped as far away from him as the space allowed. “I don’t know anything more and I really need to relax for a few minutes. Please, just leave me alone.”
    “Hey!” Brendan Montgomery held up both hands. “I’m notstalking you. I just thought we could have some coffee while I ask you some questions.”
    “Ask away. But I’m telling you, I don’t know anything.”
    “You might have seen something without recognizing