Vin kept his eyes closed, though he wasn’t completely out of his mind on whatever drugs came through the I.V. His hospital bed tipped up enough to be comfortable. He was quite happy to lie there and eves drop on his visitors.
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“Did you at least get the license number?” Miranda sounded annoyed, and maybe a little bit desperate.
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“Um… FF8- a couple of numbers I didn’t get, and then either a 7 or a 1, but I’m not sure which.” Suzie sounded as worried as Miranda.
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Vin couldn’t figure out why Miranda expected Suzie to know the license number of the guy who shot him. But that wasn’t what he was waiting for. He was hoping they would start talking about him. Or rather, that Miranda would.
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Though much of the first few days in the hospital were a bit murky, one thing blazed clear in his mind. Miranda had kissed him. Miranda had told him she loved him.
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Who cared about license plate numbers when Miranda had finally come around?
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“It’s all right,” Drew said in his calm, steady way. “It’s enough for a start.”
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Vin could swear he heard both Miranda and Suzie sigh in relief. He cracked one eye open just a hair so he could see without letting them know he was awake. They WERE relieved. Worse, both of them stared at Drew while they sighed.
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Rats. Back to square one with Miranda.
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No. No, he was not going to take second place in Miranda’s heart. He opened his eyes all the way.
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“I can tell you his license plate number. It was FF8-357.”
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“Vin!” Miranda’s joyful relief to see him awake was highly gratifying. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze while Drew and Suzie also exclaimed happily.
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“Is that all I get? A handshake?” He raised an eyebrow at Miranda, who flushed bright red. He gave her hand a little tug, strong enough to send her in the right direction, but not enough to make her fall on him..
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She moved toward him, her expression soft as though she might kiss him, then pulled back hard.
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“Cut it out, Vin.” Miranda wrapped her arms around her middle and huffed.
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He could push it, but he did feel like it. He’d steal more kisses later. At the moment he wondered what made them all so tense about the license plate numbers/
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“Are you going to run the plates?” Vin asked Drew. What he meant was when would Drew run the plates, and would he tell Vin the results.
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“Yes. Besides going after the man who shot you, it might lead us to the Smash Master.”
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Vin shook his head. “It wasn’t anyone from the Clobber Club. It was just some guy who thought I flipped him off.”
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“Vin, I’m not so sure. Seems to me he was laying in wait for you. He followed me home.”
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“He what?!” Vin tried to sit up quickly, and nearly passed out.
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It was worth it, because Miranda jumped up and grabbed him by the shoulders to ease him back against the sheets. She smelled of Jasmine today. He liked it better than when she smelled of wisteria, or patchouli, but he liked all of her perfumes. She always put a dab in her cleavage.
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“It wasn’t like that,” Suzie said with a glare toward Drew. “When he came in the house he acted like he had run into Drew’s car and wanted to trade insurance information.”
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“He what?!” Vin’s heat monitor tapped out a nasty rat-a-tat. “The man who shot me was in our home?” Much as he might otherwise enjoy the feel of Miranda’s hands on his shoulders, he would not be kept down.
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“I know I shouldn’t have let him in, but Drew wasn’t home and I thought he would need the insurance information.”
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“You weren’t in the house alone, were you?”
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Suzie hesitated. She glanced askance at Drew, as if to call for re-enforcements.
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“Vin, calm down,” Drew said.
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So she WAS in the house alone at the time. There was no way Vin could let that go on.
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A nurse came to the door looking dismayed. “Please, don’t excite him.”
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Vin remembered the look of cold calculation on the red-headed man’s face when he walked up to Vin’s damaged taxi. The way he brought up the gun and fired. There had been none of the road rage Vin should expect. In that moment Vin knew it was a set up. The man went to Suzie’s house, rather than coming to the hospital to finish the job when Vin was vulnerable. Suzie and Miranda probably weren’t the targets. Drew was in the biggest danger. Regardless, they all needed all the help they could get.
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“I’m going home today,” he told the nurse.
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“Now Mr. Sutter, You know you can’t leave until you can go to the bathroom on your own.” She looked starchy inn her green cotton uniform with her lips pursed.
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“Yesterday you said all I had to do was fart.”
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“You have to do both. As I recall, you passed gas this morning.” The nurse inserted herself between him and Miranda.
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Vin ground his teeth, and tried not to take an instant disliking to the nurse. “All I have to do is go to the bathroom?”
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The nurse nodded.
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Vin threw back the covers.
The previous was Suzie’s House 21: Well? What Did You Decide, Drew?
This is Suzie’s House 22: Should Something Arise
Next is Suzie’s House 23: The Forgotten One
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