Charmed (Second Sight) by Hazel Hunter Page A

it?” he said. “Botox?”
    She took a deep breath, trying to find another image, something else, anything else, but the reading had been too quick.
    “No,” she said. “Just Botox.”
    A police officer strode up to them.
    “Paramedic wants to see you,” he said, and he pointed at a second ambulance.
    “Oh my god,” Isabelle said. “ Gavin .”
    Both she and Mac rushed to the road, Mac helping her over the cement drainage ditch. They arrived at the back of the ambulance, Isabelle out of breath and she realized she couldn’t hear Gavin crying.
    Oh no.
    But as the paramedic turned to them, he smiled, taking the stethoscope from his ears.
    “Doctors orders are to transport him in the carrier,” he said. “But, as you can see, I think he’s going to be okay.”
    The carried was strapped to a gurney and in the carrier was Little Gavin, staring blankly but sucking furiously on something the paramedic was holding. It looked like surgical tubing.
    Why would he need–
    “An improvised pacifier,” the man said. “My daughter loved the stuff.”
    “Oh my god,” Isabelle breathed, relief flooding through her. “ Oh thank god .”
    “He’s dehydrated and hungry,” said the paramedic. “But, as far as I can tell, he’s fine.”
    “Thank you,” she said in a trembling voice. Mac put his arm around her shoulders. “Thank you,” she whispered again.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

    MAC LAID THE holstered weapon into his suitcase and closed the lid. Then, as an afterthought, he zipped it closed. If, for some reason he couldn’t possibly imagine, the suitcase fell over, he didn’t want the gun to tumble out. Who knew if Isabelle would touch it by accident.
    He pictured her grabbing Daniel’s arm.
    That had been no accident. She’d been furious.  
    And Daniel had been afraid.
    Tomorrow Mac would question him.
    And he’d have to talk with Scanlon. The fact that Isabelle had been at the crash site, had even read Daniel–that all had to be in the report. And it was going to be a problem. Maybe a big one.
    And there was still the issue of classified data and Isabelle reading him .
    Mac glanced once more at the closed suitcase and turned to see Isabelle watching him from the bedroom door.
    “This isn’t working,” she whispered. “Is it.”
    Her sad smile said it all.  
    Mac’s gut wrenched and his first instinct was to deny it. He even opened his mouth to start. But something in Isabelle’s face stopped him. She’d eventually read the truth anyway.
    He fought a sinking feeling in his stomach and a constriction in his throat. They were at a crossroads. He sensed it in the every fiber of his being. Their future was in the balance.
    “I’ll tell you what works,” he said finally. Isabelle’s eyes were riveted to him. “The way we got little Gavin back today.” But it was as though she hadn’t heard him, her expression frozen. “That was you and me,” he said, stepping toward her. “A team. A great one.” She shrugged a little, a movement of resigned acceptance that wasn’t exactly encouraging. “When we’re together,” he said quietly, stepping closer as he searched for the right words, “we’re more than just our sum.” He stood just in front of her but she didn’t reach out. “I don’t know how to describe it,” he said truthfully. “But I’m not half of a couple.” He looked into her somber eyes. “If I’m not with you,” he said, holding his hands out for her to take, “I’m not complete.” He waited for her to place her hands in his. She looked down at them. “And I think you feel the same.” Several moments went by but Isabelle didn’t move and his heart began to sink. “If you can tell me you feel differently,” Mac said, dreading the words he was about to say, “then I’ll leave.”

    •••••

    The words echoed in Isabelle’s head as she stared hard at Mac’s outstretched hands. And with each echo, they got louder until it was nearly a shout.
    ‘Then I’ll