Conard county code adam, p.20
Conard County--Code Adam,
p.20
“Gray? Malone!” Allie’s touch on his arm interrupted his deep thoughts.
“Huh?”
“You were a million miles away.”
Actually, his thoughts had been right here in this room. On the woman standing beside him, her eyes narrowed as if his preoccupation worried her. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day. What did you ask me?”
“Do you need a ride home this evening? I’m not sure how you got here from work. I didn’t see your van out front. I was going to order some takeout and pick it up on the way home. Otherwise, I’m heading straight there.”
“Jackson dropped me off.”
Allie’s eyes widened, maybe trying to place his friend from the crime lab. “The big guy?”
Gray nodded.
“He’s hasn’t been waiting for you this whole time, has he?”
Jackson Dobbs? Sitting in a room surrounded by this many people he didn’t know? Not likely. “I sent him home. I’ve got a car scheduled to pick me up.”
“You didn’t drive your van?” she asked.
Man, he had been lost inside his head. When had Doug circled around behind Allie? True, the brown-haired guy was retrieving Gray’s metal crutches, but generally, Gray was hyperaware of his surroundings. Observing the people around him had been too deeply ingrained in him by the Corps.
“I’m not a hundred percent confident with my reflexes,” he answered honestly, meeting Allie’s gaze. “So, I try to avoid rush hour traffic. Especially after dark.”
“Then let me drive you,” she offered. “Save the money. We’re going to the same place.”
He shook his head. “It’s enough of an imposition getting me here to PT. You don’t need to be hauling me around the city.”
“It’s not an imposition. If I’ve ever made you feel like that, I’m sorry.”
There was a difference between not being an imposition, and actually being needed. Wanted for something more than opening pickle jars and disposing of dead rodents.
Gray accepted the crutches Doug handed him and slipped them on to his forearms. The tension around Allie’s mouth hadn’t been there a few seconds ago. It made him want to lighten her mood. “Not to worry. I’ve got PT again on Friday morning. I could use a ride then.”
Her smile felt like a hell of a reward for a simple carpool invitation. “How about you drive on Friday,” she suggested. “It’ll give you more practice with the hand controls. And since the days are starting to get longer, you won’t be driving at night on the way home. I get off work early on Friday, so you could pick me up, and we’d get there before sunset.”
The tension returned as Doug touched the small of her back. “I thought you and I could catch dinner and a movie on Friday night. You said you’d like to do that sometime.”
“I’m sorry, Doug.” She turned and retreated a step from her coworker, a step closer to Gray. “Thanks for asking. But I’m working Saturday morning, so I don’t want to be out late.”
“I’ll give you a ride home Friday if you need it,” the other man offered.
“It’s more convenient if Gray does it. We live in the same building, down the hall from each other. You live across the city. It would be hugely out of your way.”
Even with his rusty people skills, it was easy to pick up on Allie’s discomfort with Doug and her attempt to let him down without hurting his feelings. Gray leaned his hands into the grips of his crutches and stepped up beside her. “If you trust me to drive you, I’d be happy to chauffeur you around. I could use the practice.”
Her delicate nostrils flared with a sigh of relief. “I don’t mind riding in your van if you don’t mind squeezing into my Accord. Gas prices are nuts right now, anyway. Let’s carpool and save money. I’ll drive tonight—you take Friday.”
“You having money issues?” Doug asked. Even Gray cringed at the tactless question. “All the more reason for me to give you a ride.”
“You’ll do no such thing.” She smiled as she said the words, but Gray wasn’t imagining the way her hands fisted in the towel. “I’m trying to save the planet. Help Gray with his occupational therapy. And—” she glanced up at Gray again “—have someone to talk to during the boring commute. You know, like friends do?”
“I can talk to you friendly-like,” Doug insisted.
Gray read the silent plea in her eyes. There was something else besides a neighborly favor between friends going on here. But whether Allie was trying to avoid Doug, specifically, or something else, he couldn’t tell. He wouldn’t avoid those instincts that told him something was off with his next-door neighbor. The last time he’d ignored that little warning voice that said something wasn’t right, he’d come home to Kansas City a double amputee.
He might not be a fully functional warrior anymore, but he could be a friend and help Allie out. Even if all she needed from him was an excuse to avoid Doug.
“All right. I’ll cancel my car tonight. We’re getting takeout for two, though—and I’m paying for it. Also, I’d appreciate the backup when I drive on Friday—just in case my coordination is off, or I get distracted making sure I’m doing everything right.”
Allie’s smile of relief bloomed across her face. “I’d love to ride shotgun with you.”
Doug’s noisy grunt made him sound like he was about thirteen years old. “Looks like Sergeant Hunter is about to have a meltdown. I’ll get him started on the treadmill—let him run off that temper.” He eyed the young woman with the short brunette hair chatting with Mrs. Burroughs before nodding to Gray. “I’ll see if Maeve is free on Friday. Don’t leave before I get those heat packs on your back and do today’s exit survey.”
“I won’t.”
Once Doug was out of earshot, Allie groaned beside Gray. “Why do I feel like I’ve just thrown Maeve under the bus?”
“I’m happy to help out with whatever that was. But will my wheelchair fit in your car? I’ll still give you the out and stick with my car service.”
“We’ll make it fit. Possibly in the back seat if it won’t go in the trunk.” Allie smiled up at Gray. “I appreciate the help more than you know.” She glanced back at Doug before squeezing Gray’s arm and excusing herself. “I need to rescue Maeve and get Mrs. Burroughs through her electric-pulse treatment on her hip. See you in about twenty-five minutes. I owe you one, Gray.” She tilted her gray-blue eyes up to his. “You’re my hero.”
Copyright © 2023 by Julie Miller
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ISBN-13: 9780369732613
Conard County: Code Adam
Copyright © 2023 by Susan Civil-Brown
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Rachel Lee, Conard County--Code Adam
