And now he couldn’t even move.

He was grateful for the company when Jeremy Carruthers walked into his private room. Despite Ashley’s warning, David couldn’t help but like the tough-minded Californian—and he didn’t have all the sparks getting in the way of his good judgment. Ash was drawn to Carruthers; David could see that.

He and Jeremy exchanged pleasantries.

“Has Ashley left yet?” Jeremy asked.

“Well—”

“David, she’s been here, hasn’t she?”

Ashley had asked him to lie, but he couldn’t, not with the raw worry staring at him from the face of Jeremy Carruthers. “Uh-uh. She called about an hour ago.”

Jeremy lunged forward. “Where is she?”

“Asked me not to tell you.”

“David, I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“Hell.” David shifted painfully in the hospital bed. “Neither do I.”

“Then tell me where she is. Look, I haven’t been entirely straight with you. Apparently—” He stopped himself, but only for a moment. “Apparently Mac Stevens did some intelligence work before he turned to private practice and all this business with your uncle and the jewels is tied in somehow. I know it sounds nuts, but—”

“You mean Stevens is a spook?”

Jeremy shook his head. “He hasn’t been in thirty years.”

“Barky getting mixed up with jewel thieves is one thing—but spooks. Holy shit.”

“David—Ashley, where is she?”

David looked up sharply. “You falling for her?”

Jeremy’s hard features seemed to soften. “I don’t know.”

“Word of advice? Don’t get possessive. Ash gets claustrophobic real easy.”

“I understand: so do I.”

“She’s okay, Jeremy.”

“But where is she? Boston, New York, the Cape—”

“Tennessee,” David said impulsively.

“What?”

David reached over to his bedside table and poured himself a glass of water from a plastic pitcher. Hell, he felt weak. “She’s checking out Barky’s story of what he did between the time he left England and when we were born.”

“She left for Tennessee without telling me?”

“Figured she didn’t owe you anything. Ash isn’t perfect, Jeremy. She can be an asshole, too.”

Jeremy looked troubled and uneasy. “David, you and Ashley have never looked into your uncle’s past?”

“There was never any need.” David drank some of the water. Nothing tasted good. “Barky always said there was nothing in Tennessee for us. The farm where our parents lived is now under a reservoir, the people who knew them are gone, and there never were any relatives. It just didn’t seem worthwhile to start nosing around.”

“What about their graves?”

“We thought about it, but just have never gotten around to visiting them. I mean, they were just never that real to us, as people. I guess maybe we didn’t want them to be. Seeing their graves would have made them real. Maybe now—hell. Who knows?” David sighed. “We’re tired of reacting, Jeremy. It’s time to act. Ash has gone to Nashville to do some digging. I don’t know where it’ll lead us.”

“Where will I find her?”

David met those cool green eyes and saw the fear in them. No one had ever been afraid for Ashley before; David wasn’t sure how she’d take to it. “Ash is pretty good at taking care of herself, Jeremy.”