“Gee thanks. When do I get to eat?”
“Going to be just jello and broth for lunch and dinner. I’m sorry we can’t offer you the gourmet menu, but you’ll get there soon. Not to worry.”
“They said if I wanted to, I could take a shower,” Shannon asked the nurse. “I’ve been up all night in the ER, and I feel dirty.”
“Yes, you can use the guest shower at the end of the hall. I’ll get you some scrubs and a towel. You need shampoo?”
“Yes, please,” answered Shannon.
After the nurse left, he saw her eyes were red and puffy. Little flashes of activity popped up in his brain, and he began to remember things slowly.
“This happened at Bone Frog Development, right?” he asked her.
“Yes. They said it was a bomb.”
“I didn’t see any bomb. But I do remember looking out the window when something hit me from the side—my left side. It felt like someone slapped my left hip with a spiked baseball bat, and I lost my footing. I smelled sulfur, and I almost puked.”
Then he remembered he was talking to two new hires Celia was introducing to him, and as she was talking, her chest erupted when a piece of metal stud nearly cut her in half.
“Celia, the gal from HR. She was badly injured,” he said. “I saw it. How bad?”
“There are four fatalities. She was one of them,” Shannon told him. “I’m so sorry, Marco.”
He couldn’t get the vision of the explosion out of his head. “I couldn’t move. I tried, and then I just passed out.”
Suddenly, he remembered Harry and the arrangements for the two princes to arrive in Tampa. He attempted to get up as if he was going to change his clothes and drive himself to the office. But immediately, his limitations sent him back into the mattress and pillow. “Did Harry get the two boys to Tampa?”
“Yes. Rhea told me to tell you they’re arriving—” she checked her watch. “No, I think they should be here now. Apparently, there was something that held them up in New York. She said to tell you Pete and Ron picked them up in the jet and are bringing them to the condo. They know about the bomb, and so does the sultan.”
“Okay. I’m sure Rhea and the crew will watch over those boys.”
“She said to tell you, ‘Like glue’ so you needn’t worry.”
“Who else?”
“Jennifer, Connie, and Maggie. I only remember meeting Jennifer. I think the other two were new interns or new hires getting their paperwork straightened out. Those were the pictures of people they said were killed. I’m so sorry, Marco.”
He was getting sleepy, probably from the drug the nurse had injected into his tubing. Just then, she arrived with a folded towel and some blue-grey hospital sweats, along with a plastic bag filled with personal items for her shower.
“Here you go. Be quick about it because I believe Dr. Patel is going to stop by very soon.” Shannon took the pile and promised Marco she’d be right back.
“So how bad is it?” Marco asked the nurse, hoping to get more technical information about his condition.
“I haven’t seen Dr. Patel’s work on you, but apparently, they came close to removing your left leg. You have pins holding everything together until some of the soft tissue heals.”
“Shannon said they still have to repair my knee?”
“You’re going to be in and out of here quite a bit, yes.”
“Any other damage elsewhere?”
“I don’t think so from your chart. But he’ll go over that with you, Mr. Gambini. You’re very lucky he was on call yesterday. You got one of the best orthopedic surgeons in Florida.”
“That’s where we are! Finally, someone tells me.”
“Where did you think you were?”
He shrugged.
“All this happened at your office. You should see that building.”
“I can only imagine. Will I be able to walk soon?”
“Finally, something I know. They might have you up tonight. Depends on whether he lets you out of bed to put any weight bearing on this leg, but I highly doubt it. I think they’ll have to do the knee fairly soon.”
“How many injured?”
“The news is reporting twenty-three injured with four fatalities.”
“I guess it was a big deal then. Where are the police?”
“Right outside your door. They want to talk to you when you feel up to it. You should get it over with as soon as you’re able.”
“Why spoil the party? Send them in.”
The nurse next shuttled the pair of investigators into Marco’s room and asked if they needed her to stay.
“No, ma’am. We’ll keep it short.”
“Please do. His fiancé is showering down the hall and his doctor is due in to speak to him. I’m going to do my best to make sure he has a long, restful night’s asleep as much as possible. You can come back tomorrow if you have more questions, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the younger of the two investigators answered. The two of them stood on either side of the bed, studying his face, and following a bulge under the covers where all the action was.
“Mr. Gambini, did you have any warning this was about to occur? Did anyone threaten you or make disparaging comments to your face or anyone else on the team, that you know of?”
“It was my ex-wife, Rebecca Gambini. She’s the one behind this. She practically told me so.”
“Um, we met with her downstairs, and she definitely appeared to be most distraught. She appeared to us to look like a woman in pain, that she cares that you were caught up in it,” said the younger investigator.
“Still, I think she’s responsible. She might not have wanted to hurt me, but I’m sure she’s at least partially responsible for the bomb that injured and killed others.”
“How did you know it was a bomb, sir?”
“Because everyone’s been talking about it. And I felt some sort of impact, something big hit me.”
“Explain why you think Rebecca is behind this attack.”
“She made a comment about my first fiancé, who just happens to be Shannon’s sister. Emily died in an auto accident fifteen years ago. We had a heated discussion regarding the Trident Towers, which she wants to be part of, and she has no right. But she won’t leave me alone. At the end, she asked me if I thought lightning could strike twice.”
“And you took this to mean, what? That you could lose your new fiancé, or that she might have had something to do with your first one?”
Marco noticed Shannon standing in the doorway, her palm covering her mouth. He knew it was a mistake that she’d heard the investigator’s question. It was the one detail he’d left out of his discussion with Shannon, and he knew this was going to be a huge problem for her. The look that he shared with her in that long moment broke his heart. Her expression was the same as if she’d walked in on him in bed with another woman. He could tell she felt betrayed.
And in fact, she was. He hadn’t been completely honest with her. Now he was about to pay the price for it.
He called out to her, but she quickly disappeared.
“Shit.” He muttered under his breath. “You have to help me protect her, officers. I didn’t tell her about the veiled threat and—”