Colton Under Fire

“Why, thank you, Liam. That’s kind of you.”

“I don’t know much about these things, but do you think all this commotion is good for Chloe? Maybe a little more...quiet...might help her rest and recover?”

Mara glanced around in fond exasperation at the crowd. “I do believe you’re right. I’ll go have a word with my husband.”

Mission accomplished. Between the two of them, Russ and Mara would clear the place fast. Sure enough, it took about three minutes flat for the ward to go silent and deserted.

Ahh. Better.

Liam poked his head inside Chloe’s room. The little girl was fiddling with the elephant he’d brought her last night, and a cartoon was playing on her television, but she looked listless.

“I hope you don’t mind that I chased your family off,” he murmured.

“You’re why they left? Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Sloane said sincerely. She stepped away from Chloe’s bed to come over to him.

“How’s she doing?”

“Fever’s down, but she’s been throwing up, and she’s starting to cough. Doc says the respiratory infection is the rough part of this virus. So we’re not out of the woods yet.”

“She’s getting constant care and the best support available. She’ll be fine,” he murmured.

“From your mouth to God’s ear.”

“How are you holding up?” he asked softly.

“Fine.”

“No. Seriously. How are you doing?”

She looked up at him candidly, and for an instant, naked fear shone in her hazel eyes.

“That’s what I thought,” he muttered as he gathered her into his arms for a hug.

She shuddered against him, a long, full-body shiver of terror. “I—”

Her phone buzzed, interrupting whatever she was about to say.

Frowning, she stepped out of his arms and pulled out the device. She swore quietly and moved out into the hallway, away from Chloe.

Liam followed her. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s Ivan. I don’t want to talk to him, but I suppose I’ll have to tell him Chloe is sick.”

“Why? You don’t owe him anything. He doesn’t have custody of her.”

Sloane stared up at him as the call went to voicemail. “You sound like you don’t like him.”

“I don’t.”

“But you’ve never met him.”

“He hurt you.”

Sloane’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth to speak, but her phone started to ring again. “Crud. It’s Ivan. He’ll keep calling until I answer. Can I ask a favor of you...as a police officer?”

Startled, Liam replied, “Of course.”

“Listen to the call. So you can—” her breath hitched and then she continued grimly “—so you can testify to what you heard in court, if it comes to that.”

Alarmed, he took Sloane’s arm and steered her into the empty hospital room next door. He pushed the door shut. “Why do you need a witness for the call? Is he threatening you?”

“Not exactly.”

“What exactly?” he asked sharply. The hackles on the back of his neck were standing up, and he realized with a bit of a start that his right hand was balled into a fist. He forcibly relaxed the fingers and focused all of his considerable observational skills on Sloane. Elevated breathing. Faint sheen of perspiration on her skin. Gaze darting around. She was scared.

“You’d better damned well believe I want to hear this phone call,” he growled.

The phone rang for a third time, and she took a deep breath. He watched, eyes narrowed, as she put the phone on speaker and accepted the call.

“Hello, Ivan.”

“Why the hell are you avoiding me?” a male voice snarled.

“I’m busy. And I don’t have to answer your calls. We’re not married anymore. You can speak to my lawyer if you have something to say to me. You have her phone number.”

Ivan swore viciously at that suggestion, and Liam’s eyebrows climbed. Temper much?

Then Ivan spat out, “I’m not kidding, Sloane. I’ll expose what you did. I want Chloe back. I will take her from you.”

“You don’t want Chloe. You just want to punish me.”

More swearing.

“Look, Ivan. Chloe’s sick. She’s in the hospital with a bad viral infection. If you want to come see her, I won’t stop you.”

“I’m busy. And besides, I don’t want to catch some godawful disease.”

“She’s your daughter.”

“I said I’m busy.”

“Then get to your point. Or were you just calling to threaten me?” Sloane asked coolly. Liam had to give her credit. She was an icicle under pressure.

“My parents wanted me to remind you that they’ve got a scheduled visit with Chloe next week. You have to bring her to Denver.”

“I haven’t forgotten. But you did just hear me say she’s in the hospital, right? I don’t know if she’ll be well enough to go—”

Ivan cut her off. “I don’t care if you have to scrape her out of her sickbed and pour her into an ambulance to get her here. I’ll sue for breach of contract and overturn the custody agreement if you don’t comply with the court order down to the last letter.”