"Well," I said carefully, "at least you got it on with an octopus. Not very many people can say that."
"I don"t know what you"re talking about," Leah said, her volume a little louder than necessary, "but it sounds absolutely vile." Then she added in a hushed voice, "I wasn"t kidding when I said I"ll kill you if you tell anyone! Unlike some people here, I have a reputation to maintain!"
I smiled to myself. Yeah, she was the sane one.
I went back to the hotel with my friends. The sun was almost up and they had a flight to take them back to San Francisco later in the afternoon, but everyone needed a nap first. Dena took my room and Bo-Bo agreed to hang out with Marcus in his room...just for added security of course. I had booked a flight back the following day, when Anatoly would be able to fly. As soon as I had made arrangements with the hotel to stay an extra night I was ready to go back to the hospital to be with him. But before I was able to leave Bo-Bo pulled me aside in the hall outside my room. "You"re still going to testify, right?"
"You just give me the whens and wheres and I"ll be there. I want to be sure Margarita and Alex are put away for the rest of their lives...or at least for the rest of mine."
"Yeah," Bo-Bo muttered. I watched him shift his weight from foot to foot.
"What"s going on?" I asked, suddenly feeling a little paranoid.
"Look, Margarita"s locked up and she"s not going anywhere, ever."
"And Alex?"
Again, Bo-Bo shifted his weight. "We didn"t find him."
"What!"
"We will!" Bo-Bo added quickly. "But it was a chaotic scene, you know? There was a fire, there were dead bodies and we didn"t know at first how many we were looking for and then, somehow in all that, he managed to slip out."
"He was burnt! His right arm was, like, crispy!"
"That"ll just make it easier to find him, "course guys like that always know unlicensed doctors who will see them in some backroom for cash payments, if you know what I mean. Still, we"ll find him."
My heart was beating a little faster again. "I"m going back to Anatoly. Find him soon, okay? Like really soon."
"We got all our best guys on this. We"ll get him and you"ll put him away."
I nodded and went back to the hospital to see Anatoly.
When I got back to the hospital I found that they had moved Anatoly out of the emergency room and put him in a room on a higher floor that was marginally less cold and sterile. He was sound asleep when I got there and I took a moment to confer with the nurse in the hall about his condition. She didn"t really want to talk to me since I wasn"t technically family but she gave me a very basic rundown before briskly walking away. I took a deep breath and turned to go back into Anatoly"s room.
"Excuse me, are you Sophie Katz?"
For a second I panicked, thinking about my first meeting with Natasha. Slowly I turned around. But of course it wasn"t Natasha at all. This woman had a chestnut bob and obviously fake b.o.o.bs.
"I"m Sophie," I said, trying to push aside the dej vu feeling.
"Some guy just paid me $250 bucks to give you this."
And that"s when I noticed my MacBook carrying case over her shoulder. I stood stock still as she handed it to me along with an envelope.
"Is he here?" I asked quietly.
"I don"t think so. He handed it to me when I came in and told me where I"d find you. He seemed like he was in a hurry to get some place and he kinda looked like he was in pain too. But hey, for $250 I don"t ask a lotta questions."
I opened the carrying case. That was my computer all right. I opened the envelope and pulled out a 3x5 note card.
"I meant to tell you that I read your unfinished ma.n.u.script. It"s quite good. Can"t wait to see how the story ends.
"til next time.
--A.
I stared at the note.
"til next time.
Swiftly I walked back to Anatoly"s room. Was he really okay? Had Alex been here too?
I walked right up to his bedside and considered waking him up. But as I watched his chest rise and fall in the even breathing patterns of sleep I found myself becoming almost mesmerized and...calm. Anatoly was fine. As Marcus would say, he was so very, very fine.
How many times had I lost myself in his arms?
How many times would I do it again?
At least once...every day for the rest of my life.
I put my purse, the MacBook and the note on a chair and carefully crawled into bed with him, choosing the side that wasn"t injured. Without opening his eyes, he pulled me to him, allowing me to gently put my head on his shoulder.
"Are you awake?" I whispered.
"If I am will you get out of bed?"
"Maybe."
"Then I"m asleep."
I smiled as he pulled me closer and kissed my hair.
If I had to, I"d deal with Alex later. But right now...
My smile widened as Anatoly"s hand moved down to my b.u.t.t.
Right now I had the only man I wanted and he was wearing nothing but a thin paper gown that didn"t even cover that perfect a.s.s of his.
Yeah, I wasn"t going anywhere.
Author Page.
Kyra Davis is the author of the critically acclaimed Sophie Katz Mystery series and So Much For My Happy Ending. Her books have been translated and published in eight different countries. After spending the majority of her life in the Bay Area, Davis now lives in Los Angeles County with her son and his endearing but occasionally moody leopard gecko. Find out more about Kyra Davis and her books at www.kyradavis.com.
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