“She doesn’t remember anything,” Fitz said.
“They don’t know that.”
Fitz looked around the room, took a peek beyond the curtain. “You’re right.”
“And considering she doesn’t know who she is, anyone could come in here pretending to be family and . . .”
Fitz blew out a breath and made a grand gesture, while she pulled out her cell phone and walked out of the room.
The second she left, Leo removed his phone and called Neil.
He picked up on the first ring. “What room is she in?”
“ICU bed four.”
“We’re parking now. Don’t leave her side.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
Olivia moaned, taking Leo’s attention away from his phone.
Her eyes fluttered open, and her hand reached for her side.
For a moment Leo thought she was going to pull at the tube sticking out of her lung.
“Hey,” he said, distracting her.
Their eyes met and held. She smiled, at first, and then those green eyes clouded and her smile fell. “Do I know you?” she asked.
“We met earlier,” he informed her.
“Why don’t I remember?”
“The doctors say it’s temporary.” And maybe when Neil walked in the room something would click into place.
Fitz returned, offered a nod to Olivia, then turned to Leo. “Brackett is calling the locals for around-the-clock protection.”
“Good.”
Fitz addressed Olivia. “How are you feeling?”
“I can’t seem to stay awake.”
Leo looked around the sterile space. “It’s not like there’s a lot of excitement going on in here.”
For the first time since he’d run into her, she offered a true smile. Amused.
“Excuse me.” Maureen poked her head in the room. “There’s a Neil MacBain asking to come back.”
“What’s he doing here?” Fitz asked.
Leo shrugged and got to his feet. “Maybe he came to the same conclusion we did.”
Leo followed the path to the locked door of the ICU and opened it. Neil stood on the other side, a stony mirror of the man that had been in the courtroom only hours before. Instead of escorting him directly back, Leo stepped outside to talk first.
“My partner is in there.”
Neil seemed to accept the need to delay his trip to the bedside. “How is she?”
Leo smiled. “Recovering. Off the ventilator, awake . . . only she doesn’t remember anything.”
Neil looked away as if not believing Leo’s words.
“Anything. Even her name,” Leo reiterated.
“Olivia would never tell you her name,” Neil informed him, reaching for the door.
Leo stopped him. “She has to be reminded that she’s in Vegas. She has some type of amnesia.” Leo removed her cell phone from his pocket and handed it to Neil. “When I asked if I could use her phone to try and find someone who knows her, the only number on it was yours.”
Neil took it and stared. “She wouldn’t do that.”
“Right . . . well, she did. I didn’t tell Fitz that you know her.” He sighed. “I’m not sure that was the right call.”
“No one in your department needs to know who she is.”
“Not sure that’s possible,” Leo told him. “If her memory comes back and she can ID the people holding the gun . . .”
“She won’t do that.”
“Someone nearly killed her,” Leo reminded him.
Neil fixed him with a cold stare.
Leo felt the chill down to his toes.
Neil tucked her phone in his pocket. “Keep this silent. I’ll explain more later.”
Leo hoped he could.
Neil followed him through the doors, past the nurses’ station, and into Olivia’s room.
Leo kept his eyes on the woman in the bed when Neil came into view.
She looked at him and then past him as if he might be there to empty the trash.
The only visible change in Neil was a muscle twitching in his jaw.
Fitz stood and put out her hand for Neil to shake. “What brings you here?”
“I know Leo didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, and I thought my team and I could help with backup.” Neil shook her hand, and then moved his eyes back to Olivia.
“That’s thoughtful, but we should have help here within the hour,” Fitz said.
Neil didn’t comment and walked to the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
Olivia narrowed her eyes. “I was shot.”
Leo smiled. “That’s an improvement. An hour ago, she needed to be told that over and over again.”
“Do I know you?” she asked Neil.
“I’m hard to forget.”
Leo heard Fitz laugh under her breath.
Leo asked the same questions the nurse had. “Do you know where you are?”
Olivia squeezed her eyes shut. “Atlantic City.”
He looked at Neil as if to say, See . . . she doesn’t remember a thing.
“Wait.”
Leo turned back to her.
Olivia’s features twisted in pain. “That’s not right. Not Atlantic City.” She brought a hand to her face and pressed her fingers to her temples. “Why is this so hard?”
The monitor over the bed started to ping.
“It’s going to be okay.” Leo dropped into the chair beside the bed, placed a hand over hers.
Her eyes welled with tears. “I don’t know you.”
“No, you don’t. And you didn’t before either.”
The nurse walked back in, took one look at Olivia, and glared her disapproval. “My patient needs her rest, not this overstimulation. You’re not getting your answers tonight. You might as well come back in the morning.”
“We’ve scheduled continual security,” Fitz told her.
Maureen wasn’t amused. “In here, I’m the boss. If one of you needs to stay, I’ll put a chair outside the door of her room.”
“Completely fair,” Neil spoke up. “A chair would be appreciated.”
The three of them filed out while Maureen spoke in soft tones to Olivia.
“I’ve got this,” Neil told them both.
“We’re bringing in local PD,” Fitz said.
“Police officers who haven’t been vetted? Rookies who wouldn’t know to stop a housekeeper from walking in the room.” Neil shook his head. “I got this. I have resources. Save the taxpayers their money.”
Neil’s argument was solid.
“Why?” Fitz questioned him.
Neil didn’t miss a beat. “A bad cop kidnapped one of mine trying to bury what Mykonos and his family were doing. Now there’s a woman in the ICU without a memory. I take that personally. If she remembers the shooter, she’s going to need more than a local anything to keep her safe.”
Leo placed a hand on Fitz’s arm. “I think Brackett will agree.”
Fitz put both hands in the air. “It’s your aching back,” she said.
Leo shook Neil’s hand. “I’ll be in touch.”
CHAPTER SIX
Neil stood outside the doorway of Olivia’s room. His eyes fixed on her sleeping features. She was softer here. The sharp edges of her personality had been chipped away with one bullet.