The Platinum Collection. Maisey YatesЧитать онлайн книгу.
at him. She’d been so elusive in the past, he wasn’t absolutely confident that he’d won her over into moving forward with him.
They’d certainly gone beyond a one-night stand and he no longer thought this was a rebound situation. The connection between them was too good to doubt it. Still, the fact that she was severing the work connection... Harry shook it out of his mind. There was no point in letting it throw a cold shadow over the warmth of their intimacy tonight.
He had her where he wanted her.
It was enough for now.
The call-tune on his mobile phone woke him to the dim light of dawn.
Elizabeth stirred, as well, asking, ‘Who’d be wanting to contact you at this hour?’
‘Don’t know,’ he muttered, hoping it wasn’t bad trouble of some sort as he rolled out of bed and retrieved the mobile from his shorts pocket. He quickly flipped it open, held it up to his ear and spoke a terse, ‘Yes?’
‘Harry Finn?’ asked a male voice he didn’t recognise.
‘Yes. Who’s speaking?’
‘This is Constable Colin Parker. I’m calling from the Cairns Base Hospital. I’m sorry to say your brother, Michael Finn, was involved in a serious car accident earlier this morning....’
Harry’s heart stopped. Shock and fear jammed his mind for a moment, fear spearing through to force out the words, ‘How serious?’
‘Your brother and two teenagers are in intensive care. I can’t say exactly what injuries were sustained but I’m told they are extensive. Two other teenagers...’
‘He’s not dead.’ Relief poured through Harry. Although there was no guarantee Mickey would pull through, at least he had a chance, not like their parents.
‘Who?’ Elizabeth cried, alarmed by what she’d heard.
It instantly recalled the high probability that Lucy had been with Mickey—a Saturday night—out on the town. ‘Was my brother alone in his car?’
Elizabeth clapped her hands to her face, her eyes wide with horror, a gasp of shock leaving her mouth open.
‘Yes, he was. No passengers.’
‘Lucy wasn’t with him,’ he swiftly assured her. ‘Thank you for letting me know, Constable. I’ll get to the hospital as soon as I can.’
He grabbed his clothes and headed straight for the bathroom, his mind racing over which would be the fastest way to the mainland. Calling for a helicopter, getting the pilot out of bed and to the airfield—no, he couldn’t bear waiting around. Best to take the yacht back to Cairns at full throttle, be on the move. He could easily summon a car to meet him at the marina, drive him straight to the hospital, no time wasted.
You hang on, Mickey, he fiercely willed his brother.
Elizabeth had wrapped a robe around her and was pacing the bedroom floor when he emerged from the bathroom. ‘How bad is it?’ she shot at him, anguish in her eyes.
It made Harry think she still cared a hell of a lot for his brother, which put another savage twist in his heart.
Her hands lifted in urgent plea. ‘Lucy will want to know.’
Anguish for her sister or herself? He shook his head. He didn’t have time to sort this out. ‘He’s in intensive care. That’s all the cop could tell me,’ he answered. ‘I have to go now, Elizabeth. Will you hold on here until...until...’ He couldn’t bring himself to voice whatever was going to happen.
‘Of course I will,’ she cried. ‘I’ll do anything you want me to do. Just call me. I’ll stand by as long as you need me.’
Yes, Harry thought. The one who had always carried the load. Always would. The anchor.
He walked over to her, scooped her into a tight embrace, needing a brief blast of warmth to take some of the chill out of his bones. He rubbed his cheek over her silky hair and kissed the top of her head. ‘Thank you. I’ll be in touch,’ he murmured, then set her aside to go to his brother.
Elizabeth was not going to leave him any day soon.
Mickey might.
* * *
Elizabeth’s heart bled for him as she watched him make a fast exit from her apartment. To have his parents killed in an accident and now to have his brother on the danger list from another accident...it was a wickedly unkind twist of fate.
When she had thought Lucy could be involved, too... The huge relief at hearing she wasn’t made her feel guilty for being spared what Harry was going through—totally gutted with fear and anxiety. It was no empty promise that she would do anything to help. If she had the power to make everything better for him, she would. He was a good man.
So was Michael.
And Lucy would want to know that the man she loved was in hospital, possibly fighting for his life.
Where was her sister? Why hadn’t she been with Michael? Had there been a bust-up between them? Questions fired through Elizabeth’s mind as she used her mobile phone to make contact with her. The call tone went on for a long nerve-tearing time before it was finally cut off by Lucy’s voice, sounding groggy with sleep.
Of course, it was still very early in the morning—Sunday morning—but time didn’t matter. ‘Wake up, Lucy!’ she said sharply. ‘There’s been an accident.’
‘What? Is that you, Ellie?’
‘Yes. Michael was injured in a car accident early this morning. He was badly hurt.’
‘Michael...oh, no...no...’ It was a wail of anguished protest. ‘Oh, God! It’s my fault!’
‘How is it your fault?’
‘I ate something at dinner last night that upset me. He brought me home. I was vomiting and had dreadful diarrhoea. He left me to find an all-night pharmacy, get me some medicine. I was so drained I must have drifted off to sleep. He should have come back but he’s not here and... Oh, God! He went out for me, Ellie!’
‘Stop that, Lucy! You didn’t cause the accident and getting hysterical won’t help Michael,’ she said vehemently, needing to cut off the futile guilt trip. ‘I take it everything was still good between you last night?’
‘Yes...yes...he was so caring when I was sick. Oh, Ellie! I’ll die if I lose him.’
‘Then you’d better do whatever you can to make him want to live. Are you still sick? Can you get to the hospital? He’s in an intensive care unit.’
‘I’ll get there.’ Gritty determination was in her voice, hysteria gone.
‘Harry was with me on the island. He’s on his way. Be kind to him, Lucy. Remember he and Michael lost their parents in an accident. I have to stay here. Harry’s counting on me to take care of business but I think he’ll need someone there, too.’
‘I understand. You love him but you can’t be with him.’
Love? That was typical Lucy. Elizabeth cared about the man and she certainly loved aspects of him, but she mentally shied from putting a boots-and-all love tag on her feelings for Harry. However, right at this moment it was easier to just let her sister think what she wanted to think.
‘I need to know what’s happening, Lucy. Please...will you keep me informed?’
‘Sure! I’ll call you with news as soon as I have it. Moving now. Over and out. Okay?’
‘Okay.’
Elizabeth took a long deep breath, trying to settle some of her inner agitation. There was no more she could do about the situation, yet the need for some kind of action was twitching through her nerves. The office didn’t have to be opened for hours yet. It was too early for anyone on the island to require her for anything.