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Keith was pacing in her rooot back "Where was she?"

"She was looking for a ride hoood sense to blush at his faux pas of talking about her like she wasn’t there "Are you okay?"

"Fine"

Grant laid her on the bed, and she could see the way his jaas bunching with frustration "Get a nurse, Keith Isabelle wants to go home"

"That’s ridiculous You nearly died today You can’t leave She needs to have that IV put back in"

"Get a nurse," repeated Grant,her around the hospital again If she wants to go ho to be the one to take her"

Keith shook his head andrude as he left the room

Keith wanted to slaoing home? She needed to be here in the hospital, where he could finish the job she’d botched

Poor thing She’d suffered so h He’d never meant to hurt her She didn’t deserve any more pain in her life than she already had

He wanted to take care of her She was more important to him than the others He loved her, and he couldn’tso that he could finish freeing her tonight

But that wasn’t going to happen now Isabelle was going hoant prick

Grant was a man who didn’t deserve a painless death Keith wasn’t so cruel that he’d let hi sha alone in his suffering, day after day Keith would still help hi easy on Grant

A quick survey of his knowledge of poisons told him just the one to use It was tasteless, odorless, and completely lethal, even in small, bite-sized doses

CHAPTER THIRTY

Grant watched Dale sleep for the better part of an hour, then went to do the saht It helped knowing they were safe Maybe in a few days, after they found Wyatt and put him behind bars, he’d start to believe it

The police were scouring Rolla for signs of Wyatt So far, no luck

"How long do you plan to stand there?" asked Isabelle in a sleepy voice

"Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you"

"You didn’t My body is exhausted, but o to her, to hold her in his arms, but he didn’t dare Not after the way he’d lied to her about Dale Their tiether was probably over now, and as much as he wished it to be otherwise, he could hardly blaer

It was best if he just played it cool It ht hurt less when she turned away from him that way "I hate it when that happens"

"You’ve got to be tired, too," she said "It’s been a long day"

"One of the longest ever," he agreed "But I’m not ready to sleep"

"Okay, then at least coo lie down" but "come lie down" Was that an invitation to join her? It couldn’t be Not after what he’d done "Aren’t you still mad at me?"

"I hated what you did, but I understand why you did it I still haven’t told Dale the whole truth, so it’d be a bit hypocritical of ainst you Besides, I’m too tired to be mad" She pulled back the covers, and this ti the invitation

Grant pulled off his boots, but he didn’t risk taking anything else off No matter how mad she was at him, she still lit his blood on fire, and he didn’t trust himself not to push her for ive It made him an ass, but at least he knew his flaws

He slid under the blankets with her andhers It felt like heaven to have her so close--to be able to smell her hair and feel her skin and know she was safe because he could feel her pulse thruh her body

He probably should have insisted she stay in the hospital for overnight observation, but he had to admit this was much better Not to mention the fact that she was an adult and fully capable of ht they were bad ones

She settled against hih "I think we should leave town until Wyatt’s found I can’t put Dale at risk again"

"We can go to David’s if Dale’s caseworker will let you take him out of state"

"I’ll tell her it’s a vacation She’ll argue that he should be in school, but I’ll get his work froree, you could let me take him That way you wouldn’t be responsible"

"You o to jail for it?"

Grant shrugged "Better ure?"

"I’m expendable"

"Expendable? What’s that supposed to o to jail to keep Dale safe, it should be me Besides, if they wanted to arrest "

"No one is going to jail I’ll get permission for a short trip His caseworker wants Dale safe as much as we do"

"Not likely, but we’ll try it your way first"

Maybe it wasn’t too late for hiot paid He just wanted to be useful Included

"What about Keith?" she asked

"He’s a big boy He can leave town, too, if he wants"

"With us?" she asked

Grant didn’t like the idea of having another , but if Keith helped her feel safe, or she felt the need to protect hiue? "If you want We’ll talk to him about it toht and on’t have to go anywhere"