Race Against Time

She found the buzzer and rang for a nurse.

Nick sat up with a jerk and then grabbed his head as the room began to spin.

“Oh, crap,” he mumbled, then eased himself upright and moved to the side of her bed. “Are you okay?”

She pointed at the bandage on his head.

“Are you okay?”

Before he could answer, a nurse’s voice came over the intercom.

“Good morning, Quinn. What do you need?”

“To go to the bathroom,” she said.

“We’ll be right there,” the nurse said.

“I’ll step out of the room,” Nick said.

“No need,” Quinn said. “Sit back down before you fall down. Do you know what happened to my bike? Everything I own is on it.”

“Your Harley is in police impound. It’s safe and so are your things,” he said and eased back down in the recliner just as a nurse walked in, saw Nick and pointed toward the door.

“Detective, would you mind stepping out for—”

“No!” Quinn interrupted. “Please! I’ve been shot at twice in the last twelve hours. He and his gun stay.”

“Okay by me,” the nurse said with a smile, then lowered Quinn’s bed and let down the guardrail.

Quinn glanced over her shoulder, giving Nick an awkward smile.

“But, um...maybe you want to turn around so you don’t get flashed?”

Nick nodded, then winced as his head rang with pain.

“I’m closing my eyes,” he said.

Quinn groaned as she eased up from the bed, then grabbed the nurse’s arm to steady herself and headed for the bathroom.

“Call if you need help,” the nurse said, closing the bathroom door behind Quinn as she went inside.

Quinn eased herself down on the commode and then had to talk herself out of crying. Twenty-four hours ago she had been in Alamo, Nevada, doing a favor for a friend by filling in at her restaurant after her regular hostess took time off to get married.

If she had not just lived it, she wouldn’t believe all that had happened to her since leaving Alamo. Her shoulder was throbbing right along with her head. She was scared of what might happen next and still unsure of why any of this had happened to begin with. How had a simple trip to Vegas gone so wrong?

By the time she was through in the bathroom, she was shaking from the exertion and pain. She called for the nurse, then grabbed her arm to steady her steps, stopped at the sink long enough to wash up and didn’t relax until she was stretched back out in bed.

“They’ll be bringing breakfast soon,” the nurse said, with a wink at Nick. “We had them send a tray up for you, too.”

“Many thanks,” Nick said, following her to the door, then looking outside to make sure the guard was still there.

He recognized the officer, gave him a nod of recognition, then shut the door and walked back to her bedside. There was no use beating around the bush anymore.

“So, I guess we have a lot to talk about, don’t we, Queenie?”

Quinn’s heart skipped a beat.

“What did you just call me?”

Nick smiled and repeated, “Queenie.”

All of a sudden she was a child again, sitting up in bed and waiting for the boy who slept in the room across the hall to come read her a story—the only person who’d ever called her by that name. She stared at the man in front of her, trying to picture the boy’s face, but it had been too long.

“What’s your name?” she said.

“Detective Nick Saldano, Las Vegas Homicide, but you used to call me Nicks.”

Quinn’s eyes widened at that. Oblivious to the pain, she threw back her covers in excitement.

Nick got a flash of her long bare legs, and then her good arm was around his neck.

“I can’t believe this. I never thought I’d see you again,” she said and buried her face against his shoulder.

Nick was surprised by her reaction and then touched by it as he eased her down to the side of the bed and took her in his arms.

“Don’t cry, Queenie. You’re breaking my heart,” Nick said, his voice shaking from emotion.

Quinn leaned back, still searching his face for recognition.

“I never would have known it was you. How did you—”

“You talked in your sleep,” Nick said.

“I did?”

“You asked for Nicks. That was a name from the time I was in foster care, so I ran a background check.”

Quinn was trembling as she touched his face, then the bandage covering his forehead.

“That man you shot. He was shooting at me, wasn’t he?”

Nick nodded.

“He came close to killing you,” she said, taking his hand. “I would never have realized who you were. This is all so—Why is this happening? Who was that baby I found? What hell did I stumble into?”

“You’re shaking,” Nick said. “This has been a lot for one day. You need to lie down.”

Quinn let him tuck her back in, but refused to turn loose his hand.