Hector rolled the van over the driveway at a snail's pace. Gravel crunched beneath the tyres in succession. It sounded like firecrackers going off in the middle of the night on Guy Fawkes' Day. The dark silhouette of Ma's house loomed ahead of them, a dark towering temptress set against the inky midnight sky. Why hadn't he ever realised how odd and imposing the house looked this late at night, some sort of modern twist on the old abandoned, misshapen castle on a cliff side? Especially on a night like tonight. The storm was dark and foreboding over the waters, over the cliff.

"Any slower and it'll be Christmas," Devi grumbled from the back, sleep heavy in her voice, not that one could blame her. It was way past any sane person's bedtime and she was on heavy painkillers thanks to Dr Chen.

"I don't want to wake her," Hector retorted, a wee bit nervous that his mum might have forgotten she'd agreed to house a nut job, much like he'd forgotten all about Christmas. Shit, when is it? In a month? He hadn't even thought about the gifts he needed to buy, though he only had a handful of people he normally got something for. Hector stole a glance at Hilde in the passenger seat. Maybe I'll get her something too ... something small ...

"What?" Hilde asked, no doubt noticing the loaded look.

Hector shook his head and stared dead on at the house, past the sheet of rain still falling.

"By all means, take all night. Some of us aren't sore, sitting back here like discarded luggage being taken to a dump, all dodgy-like in the middle of the night or worse, some terrible threesome gone wrong ..."

At which, Hector threw her a disgusted glance. As if he'd ever get involved in a threesome with the much older, much snappier, and scary Ms Dhungel ... but a threesome with someone else and Hilde?

He cleared his throat for a retaliatory comeback when the eye-watering floodlights trained at them shone, pinning them like fugitives on the run. Hector shielded his eyes with one hand while lowering the sun visor with the other in order to not go blind from the sheer brightness! "Ah, Ma!" was his cry.

Hilde squirmed in her seat; eyes shut tight, arms crossed in front of her face.

Even numb-bum Devi went, "Wow! You didn't say your mum lives in a lighthouse. That's one heck of a way to tell the incoming ships 'watch out, a cliff loometh'?"

Hector couldn't help it, a small smile cracked his facade, and he tried not to laugh out loud should she-devil hear him. He could not and would not give her the satisfaction of knowing that he whole-heartedly agreed with her this once. Ma's security lights on the porch were definitely worthy of a lighthouse.

Hilde, however, laughed openly.

Stifling his laugh as best he could behind fits of cough, Hector pulled the van up next to the porch. His mum was already awake. That light hadn't turned on by itself. The woman was a stickler for not wasting electricity for 'no good reason'. He also knew that he hadn't yet set it up to automatically turn on when motion was detected yet. On that tiny peninsula, where critters abound, it would be lit like a Christmas tree all year otherwise. Even a pesky possum could turn the retina-scorching lights on every few minutes. And she'd be damned if she let that happen, or paid that bill.

God forbid she gets a bill she has to pay! He thought dramatically as he got out of the car—the last time she'd paid anything was the funeral costs, otherwise, Hector handled the family finances these days.

The front screen door opened with a rusty squeak then, a squeak that reminded him something else he needed to fix the next time he was over. Rusty hinges. "Ma, you're up?"

"Why wouldn't I be up? I've been waiting since midday. I didn't realise you meant midnight." Eve Martinez bounced on her heels as she came to stand on the end of her porch, her blue eyes darting to the van still bathed in the noxious spotlight. Forget sleep, she looked positively buzzed, like she'd chugged a bucket load of caffeine in order to stay up. "So she's here?"

Hector glanced at the van and nodded. Yeah, she was here, and so was Hilde. He'd have to fill her in on why Dr Chen was now involved in this case of 'hide the author in plain sight'. "Sorry, we would have come earlier, but there was drama at the hospital."

Behind him, Hilde Chen exited the van and waved at his ma. "Hi, Ms Martinez. Sorry to disturb you this late."

"Hi, Hilde!" Eve bounced on her heels again, her brows kicking up a fuss at the sight of the doctor. She grinned wide at her son. "Go on then, bring her in."

Hector wasn't entirely sure which 'her' his mother meant, but nevertheless, he proceeded to obey.

Now, getting Devi out of the back of the van was a whole different story! After all, the handsome, young inspector was only one man and Devi was one heck of a lady. He didn't want to ask the beautiful doctor for a hand but needed her help, and so, part of him cursed the fact that he didn't have a body like Lewis, one that could impress the woman he'd like to date. Instead, he sheepishly smiled at Hilde from his position in the small van. "Could you give me a hand with the gurney?"

"Sure." Hilde perked at the prospect and stood by the back end to assist Hector.

Yet, not all was going to be as easy as unfastening the gurney and wheeling Devi out. This was Hector we are talking about, the man as clumsy as they came. So he tried, he tried his darndest to unhook the gurney from the floor. He tried to be gentle when he pushed it toward Hilde. To go slow. But in all his efforts to be impressive, the man forgot to note the edge was far closer, and he'd left Hilde with little time to pull down the wheels.

Before they knew it, the gurney plummeted towards the gravel faster than he could say, "Oh, my bad," with its wheels barely secured.

The fall would spell another disaster, not for Devi who was already rather sore and short on patience—partly to do with the soreness—but more so that the gurney would not pin Hilde down like a ragdoll, who jumped away just in time.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Hector cringed as he jumped off the van and helped Hilde try to set the gurney upright, but it wasn't happening. Upon inspection, the leg frame bent like a large Allen key from the fall, so there would be no 'wheeling Devi inside the house', not tonight.

"Ma!" he called next, "Give us a hand, will ya?"

Thus, instead of a macho man who could handle the onerous task himself, he had not one, but two ladies helping him out this fine, rainy evening.

While the ladies held the gurney upright, Hector bent to 'scoop' Devi into his arms—devoid of any romantic inclination whatsoever. Her heavily bandaged arm poked his left eye.

As Hector tried to hoist her off the gurney—attempting to get a secure grip around her torso—Devi's scream of pain nearly tore his eardrums and riddled his heart with guilt. Every few seconds, she would mutter, "Ouch. Watch it," which made the job that much harder.

At one point, clutching sharply at her ribs, which he may or may not have hurt in his attempt to get a grip around her torso, Devi screamed at him, "What are you doing?"

Hector's heart hammered like a rabbit wanting to bounce out of his chest and clamour away into the night, as he moved again, trying to get at Devi with minimal pain caused. Instead, his valiant effort to be as gentle as possible failed spectacularly, and he was soon buried under Devi's weight as she slid off the broken gurney and onto him.

Another scream, like a sheep at a slaughterhouse, curdled the surrounding air.

Hector winced beneath Devi. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, my god, are you okay?" Hilde rushed to their aid, peering down at them in utter shock.

Eve hovered over them, her mouth covered by her hand in a dramatic gasp.

The task of moving Devi indoors wasn't going according to any of their plans. Obviously.

Hector gently shoved Devi off of himself and saw her curl on her side, soft whimpers escaping her like hiccups she was trying to hold in.

"Just give us some space," he asked of the hoverers, or maybe he had snapped.

Soon, gravel crunched beneath their retrieving feet.

Devi stayed on her side, slightly rocking on the gravel.

"Devi?" Hector peered down at her, unable to see her face hidden behind her arms.

Another whimper simpered out of her like she was crying.

Hector scooted closer to her, trying to see her face as he called out to her softly, "Are you okay?"

Her shoulders shook and Hector's heart went out to her for once. It can't be easy ... she's hurting ... "Devi?" he said again, as gentle as a lover, slowly peeling back her arms away from her face. He didn't care for his own growing discomfort, laying there on that wet gravel. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ..."

She sniffled, wiping her tears from her face, a proud woman. "I'm fine. Just get me off the ground and try not to break a rib, please. Two is enough for me." She peered up at him briefly, her dark brown eyes glistening with unshed tears when Hector felt it, that strange tug right where his previously 'I want to flee,' heart had been. Her face, her caramel face, blushed by the sheer activity of crying and pain, not to mention the rain, looked beautiful.

Hector hadn't realised until this point that Devi Dhungel was entirely stunning, despite being a broken rag doll on the ground or because of it. Her features were soft. Slim, almost petite nose, wide eyes rimmed with shapely brows, flanked by faint fine lines. Her full lips, though small, were naturally pouty, and her jawline, defined, in that feminine way, giving her a sharp and clear outline. Her hair, though dyed, he was sure, wasn't fighting with her features. In the dark shadows, it almost shone like the deepest sapphire, flecked now and then with hints of grey.

Stunning.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled once more, absently blocking the rain with his hand over her face.

She stared at his face in a way Hector hadn't seen before. Was that curiosity? Understanding? Something else. "Can we get out of the rain, please? My cast is getting wet."

Hector nodded, moving to embrace her torso and prop her up into a seating position gently, entirely aware how her shallow breaths brushed his exposed, wet neck; that her body heat wrapped around his cold torso, offering some comfort. Aware of how she clung tight to the back of his shirt, begging him not to let go, with her one good hand.

Hector's mind swam, trying to shake those odd little thoughts away, those seemingly normal things that felt profound in that moment. Of course, she was going to cling to him so he wouldn't drop her again. Right? Right?

But as he propped the author up and let go of her, briefly mourning the loss of heat, he was acutely aware of the issue he still faced; moving Devi into the house without causing further pain.

"I'm out of ideas," he blurted, recalling just how easily Lewis had picked her up from the hospital bed, and regretted not asking the man for further help. He wasn't built for. Clearly. He could no sooner lift a sack of rice with ease than pick up a woman her size—or any woman—and move her.

He moved into an awkward crouch. "Do you think you can hobble if I sling your arm around my shoulder?"

Devi shook her head.

Eve Martinez broke their staring contest with her pronounced throat-clearing. "Hector?"

Devi broke eye contact first, clearing her throat as if a toad was stuck in it. She plastered a smile on her face and looked up past Hector at her host. "Mrs Martinez? Thank you for offering me sanctuary."

Hector stared, stunned once more. He had never thought Devi could be as polite as she was now.

"Who could pass up on a chance to meet the one and only D. Dhungel? Not sure how I could have said no." His mum clasped her hands together and squeed like a teenager, much to his horror.

Devi slipped her hand from him to offer it to his mother before Hector actually realised he'd been holding it all this time.

Hector jumped up to his feet, trying not to look too guilty? Shy? Caught red-handed?

"Ma, sorry we're late," he interrupted his mother gushing over how thrilled she was to meet Devi. "Again."

"It's okay." Eve Martinez threw him a giddy look.

"What now?" Hilde asked from the sideline. Her expression unreadable.

"Anything we can move her with?" Hector queried.

Eve Martinez, flustered and too aware of the celebrity among them, had no clue. No clue. "Check the garage? Maybe your dad had something?"

And so, for the second time that day, Hector Martinez hated the idea of checking out another shamble of a garage that hadn't seen daylight in years—not since his Papi died. Who knew what was in store for him there?

"Fine. Fuck it. The rain's getting worse. Where are the keys?" he grumbled.

"Darling, your language!" Eve chuckled, eyeing the lightning flash across the sky.

Devi Dhungel, sitting there with rain pelting down on her, her butt cheeks getting unnecessary and unduly harsh massage from the gravel, while her saviours stood before her talking nonsense, couldn't help herself. She laughed. "But fuck perfectly sums up today."

She raised her hand like a pupil in class. "Because it's pissing down cats and dogs, might I suggest something simpler?"

All three peered down at her, shivering in the chill rain.

Devi eyed the black bodybag inside the van, and then looked at them, one by one. "Every carried a bodyin a body bag?"