Chapter Two
Excuse me,” Holly absently said, the conversation between her and the nurse quickly forgotten as she hustled after Molson. Picking up her pace, Holly grabbed him by the arm, swinging the startled man into a side office and shutting the door behind them.
“I knew you liked me,” he said with a lazy drawl and a slow smile once he recognized her.
Holly pushed herself away from him, knocking away his warm hands which had started to softly feel along her arms. She quickly looked around the office to assure herself that it was empty. Thankfully it was. The last thing she wanted was for some rumor to start making its way across the hospital that she was rendezvousing with a strange man in odd places. The gossip mill in hospitals was vicious at times.
“Playing hard to get? Alright,” he said easily.
“I’m not playing anything,” Holly’s tone was terse. “You’re the detective’s brother.”
He gave a belabored sigh. “If I have to be.”
Holly crossed her arms, tapping a foot impatiently. “I’ve been calling Detective Colborne and he hasn’t been returning my calls lately.”
“He’s got a girlfriend. Last I heard they were ring shopping, so you might want to choose someone else,” he snapped his fingers like an idea had come to him. “You could choose me.”
“I’m looking for more information on the Bethany Searson case,” Holly ignored his comments. He was a classic case of overcompensation in her professional opinion. He hid behind this devil may care persona that was slightly outlandish in its remarks all to avoid real relationships that might hurt him. “She was a client of mine and I want to know if any progress has been made on who drugged her, if it was the same person who forged my prescription pad.”
“You think the cops are going to give out that sort of information to civilians,” his tone implied what he thought of that.
“It is my professional name on the line,” Holly snapped. “I think I should be kept updated.”
“What do you need me for? I ain’t no cop,” he looked down on her in amusement.
“You came to the office before Detective Colborne. He must have trusted you to reach Bethany first when he couldn’t. You are brothers. You were there when we took Bethany to the hospital,” Holly explained patiently. “It’s likely that Detective Colborne would tell you more than what he would tell people in the general public.”
“You want me to betray my brother’s trust and blab to you,” he raised an eyebrow.
“No!” Holly could have growled in frustration. Normally she was able to talk through every situation. Her profession as a psychiatrist demanded it. Yet for some reason, this man had her on edge. “What I would like is be more involved in the investigation. Perhaps you could talk to your brother about that.”
“I could,” he didn’t give any indication that he would commit to doing so.
“Would you please talk to your brother on my behalf?” Holly gritted her teeth. She felt that he was being deliberately obtuse.
“My name is Molson,” he said suddenly.
“Excuse me?” Holly asked. The name rang a bell. Fielding had been complaining about a Molson in his student group.
“My name is Molson. If you’re gonna ask favors from someone, you’d best know who they are,” Molson had a slow smile. “Especially since they gonna ask for a return later.”
“What do you mean, ask for a return?” Holly frowned, not liking where this was going.
“That’s how favors work. Ain’t nothing that come for free,” he shrugged. “You ask, I give. Then I ask, and you’re obligated to give.”
“Why can’t it just be that you help me as a gentleman, expecting nothing in return?” she questioned.
“I could,” he studied her, enjoying her discomfort.
“Yet you’re not going to,” Holly said flatly.
“No,” Molson decided. He checked his cellphone for the time. “You want that favor or not? I got places to be.”
Holly thought about it for a moment. Detective Colborne had been stonewalling her. He said he’d given her all the information that he could, but it was pathetically thin, leaving Holly with doubts as to how the investigation was proceeding. She wanted to know who had harmed Bethany. She wanted justice and to clear her own name of any suspicion of wrongdoing. Holly didn’t know where else to get information.
“Can I ask what the price for my favor will be before I commit to asking for one?” she enquired.
“Nope,” Molson smiled as he opened the door behind him.
