“That hurts, Grace. It really does,” he mocked, still trying to derail her from demanding the phone.
“Bullshit. Either tell us why you want to see Zoey or give us the darn phone.” Penni leaned forward so she could pin him down with a discerning gaze that had him shifting in his seat.
“Jackal?” Stump threw the brother under the bus.
The girls’ heads turned toward him. “Tell us.”
“Ice won’t be happy if we tell them,” Jackal warned.
“I’ll take care of Ice. So, why do you want Stump to talk to Zoey?” Grace dropped her hand to her lap, giving up on getting the phone.
Jackal told them about the flowers and note but didn’t mention the locked emergency exit.
Penni’s and Grace’s faces went pale when Jackal repeated what the note said.
Penni’s brows furrowed in thought. “I didn’t see Zoey this morning, so I don’t know if she got new flowers today, but I saw the flowers she got the other day, and they weren’t dead. They were wilting a little bit.”
“The ones we saw in Zoey’s office weren’t wilting. They looked fresh.” Stump stuck his legs out so an older man wouldn’t sit in the chair next to him and eavesdrop.
“I saw Zoey this morning when she came in to talk to you, Penni. She didn’t mention getting new flowers.” Grace looked just as puzzled.
“Maybe the note wasn’t referring to the flowers. He could be talking about other women that he’s stalked.”
“Don’t know. We won’t know unless someone asks,” Jackal stated.
“I’ll ask her when I’m allowed back.”
“Let Stump find out. He can mention the flowers and watch her reaction.”
“I can do that, too.” Penni shook her head, still refusing to let him be the one to go inside.
“If you’re as close as you say you are, she might not tell you the truth, too worried about getting you upset,” Stump tried again, seeing Jackal wasn’t getting anywhere.
“He’s right, Penni. You know how private she is. She won’t confide in us. But, I’m warning you, if you upset Zoey, Ice will be sleeping at the clubhouse,” Grace threatened as a nurse called out for a family member for Zoey.
Stump rose, going to the nurse.
“Are you a family member?”
“I’m her brother,” he lied.
“Follow me.”
Stump trailed after the nurse, going through a metal door when she placed her ID under the scanner. She then led him to a curtained off bed in the middle of a room.
When he saw Zoey, the protective instincts that usually only applied to the Predators rose up in him, pumping through his body and forcing him to take a good look at the woman on the bed.
She was in a hospital gown with a white sheet pulled over her and a purple knee exposed. A pillow was tucked underneath it. But it wasn’t her knee that had him wanting to scoop her into his arms. It was the black mascara that had smeared when she cried. The tears hadn’t done any damage to the rest of her makeup—she wasn’t wearing any. He never noticed it before, but thinking back to the few times he had seen her, she hadn’t worn any then either.
When he saw Zoey at the office building after the fire alarm, she hadn’t looked hurt. Neither had she acted like she was in any pain. When she asked that wuss to take her to the ambulance, Stump thought it was to make him feel better. He had been mistaken. She’d been hurt badly and had hidden the extent of her injury.
Her eyes widened when he walked into the curtained-off room. Then she lifted an arm and covered her eyes.
“Go away.”
“Is that any way to talk to your brother?” he joked, trying to lessen the tight restriction in his chest.
He turned to see the nurse had retreated, leaving them alone, and then caught Zoey sneaking a look at him from under her arm when he turned back.
“You’re not my brother.”
“No shit. I just said that so I could return your phone.” Moving closer to the side of her bed, he inexplicably reached for a thin blanket sitting at the foot of the bed and spread it over her, being careful not cover her exposed leg.
She removed her arm to watch him in confusion. “Are you sure you don’t need to be the one seeing a doctor?”
His lips twitched. “You’re covered in goosebumps. I always freeze my ass off when I’m in the ER.”
“Does it happen often?”
“What? Freeze my ass off or go to the ER?” He leaned down so he wasn’t towering over her, resting his arms on the metal bars at the side of her bed.
“Both… I guess.”
Stump could see she was trying to shift under the thin blanket to make herself more comfortable, not missing the flash of pain in her eyes as she did.
He brought his hand to her shoulder, pressing down. “Stay still. You’re hurting yourself.”