Pulling up to the emergency room, I picked her up and took her inside, setting her on the gurney they quickly brought over. I watched as they wheeled her down the hall, not sure what to do now. Then a nurse came over and started asking me all these questions, and not long after, the police showed up. I groaned, rubbing at my face.
“Do we have a problem?” the officer asked.
“No, I’ve just been up all fucking night and I’m tired,” I spat.
“Sir, you brought a woman in that you claim you found on the side of the road. I need answers.”
“I don’t know what answers you fucking want,” I said, suddenly angry at being wrapped up in all this. I should have left her body outside. “Her car swerved off the road the other night and I brought her back to my place.”
“If she was injured, why didn’t you bring her to the hospital?”
“Because we were in the middle of a fucking snow storm,” I growled. “It was faster to get her back to my place, and less dangerous. I brought her as soon as I could get down the mountain.”
“Any idea what she’s doing in the area?”
“No,” I said, my voice pure steel.
He looked at me incredulously. “You’ve been with her for days and you haven’t bothered to ask her why she was driving through?”
“She doesn’t remember anything. I went back for her things, but she still doesn’t know who she is.”
His eyebrows popped up in surprise. “Well, isn’t that convenient.”
“For who exactly?”
He shrugged. “Maybe for both of you.”
The threat in his tone pissed me off. If I could get away with it, I would kill him on the spot, but without any contacts or anyone to cover up the crime, I was left to dealing with this like a normal person.
“Her car went off the road just about ten miles from my house. When the storm clears, you’ll be able to see where she went off the road. There’s quite a bit of damage. Her car’s at the bottom of a cliff.”
“Well, I’ll be sure to look out for it.” He tipped his hat at me, turning to go, but then stopped. “Maybe you want to hang around until she wakes up.”
It wasn’t a suggestion, as much as he was trying to make it sound like one. Gritting my teeth, I nodded and took my seat in the waiting room. With nothing better to do, I pulled out my phone and googled both of the names on Ciara’s IDs. Plenty came up, but none that matched her description. There were no social media accounts that matched her, nor any headlines about a missing person. Then again, I knew both were fake IDs, so the names were useless. If this was another time, I would have snapped my fingers and had the best hacker in the family searching for her. But those days were gone. Now all I had to rely on was myself.
I fell asleep at some point, my neck cricking painfully to the side when I sat up. A nurse was standing in front of me with a smile on her face.
“I just wanted to give you an update on Ciara. She’s doing much better. We’ve given her some antibiotics and her fever is starting to drop, but she’ll need to be here another night.” I nodded, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “Is there anyone else we can contact for her?”
“I have no idea. Like I said, she skidded off the road in front of me.”
She nodded sadly. “Well, hopefully she’ll be awake soon. You can go in and see her if you want.”
I almost told her that I didn’t give a shit if I never saw the woman again, but part of me was curious. I nodded and stood to follow her down the hall to the room Ciara had been transferred to. Stepping in, the woman lying in bed was nothing like the fierce woman I had been dealing with the past few days. Granted, she was asleep, but it was obvious that the accident had taken it out of her.
“You should sit and talk to her.”
I looked up at the nurse like she was insane. “Is she in a coma?”
“Well, no…”
“Then why the fuck would I talk to her?”
The nurse gasped and hurried out of the room. Sighing, I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes. I was exhausted, and frankly, I wasn’t sure why I was staying. There was nothing more I could do, and until she woke up, it wasn’t like me being here would help in any way.
But I was just too damn tired to drive home in this shit. The snow had stopped falling, but the roads were still terrible. Trying to drive on the mountain roads right now would be asking for a death sentence. I stared at the woman, trying to figure out who she really was as I drifted off to sleep.
8
Ciara
Everything was sore. I felt like my body had been through the wringer and my head was still pounding. Raising my hand, I felt something pinch in my arm. Peeling my eyes open, I groaned at the bright light.
“I bet you feel just awful, honey. Here, let me get you something to drink and your next round of medicine.”
I squinted at the way too cheery woman that was moving around my room. “Huh?”
“You were brought in last night. You knocked your head pretty hard and you have a nasty gash on your leg, but we’ve gotten you all sorted,” she smiled, patting my hand.
“Why are you so cheery?”
“It’s morning. The snow is beautiful. What more could I ask for?”
I groaned, closing my eyes. “Since the snow got me into this mess, I’ll have to disagree with you.”
“We’ll have you right as rain in no time.”
“Can you tone down the chipper attitude just a tad? I haven’t even had my morning coffee yet,” I grumbled.
“Well, I can see why you’re with that man. He’s just as grumpy as you are.”
“What man?” I asked, still muddled and confused.
“The man that sat here all night with you. He just went to get some coffee.”
“Lucky him,” I muttered, trying to sit up in my bed slightly.
“I wouldn’t do that,” the woman rushed on. “Your wrist is broken. You’ll need to take some time to heal.”
She came over and helped me sit up, but it didn’t make me any happier. I hated this place. The door swung open and the man walked in. I narrowed my eyes at him and scowled.
“What’s that look for?”
“You’re holding coffee.”
He took a sip, smirking slightly at me. “Yep, I am.”
“Evil bastard,” I muttered.
“So, have your memory back yet?” he asked, taking a seat.
“I remember that you still haven’t told me your name,” I shot back.
“You…” The nurse looked at me in confusion. “You don’t know this man?”
“Let’s just say I know him about as well as I know myself.”
“I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have let him stay the night if I had known that you don’t actually know each other.”
“Well, if he was going to kill me, he would have done it at his cabin.”
The man narrowed his gaze at me and I stuck my tongue out at him.
“That’s real mature.”
“Where can I get some coffee?” I grumbled. “I don’t suppose you thought to bring some for me.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not part of your prescribed diet.”
“It’s not,” the nurse interjected. “I’ll just get the doctor now that you’re awake.”
She hurried toward the door, glancing back like she was unsure if she should leave. I motioned her on.
“It’s not like anything’s going to happen here,” I said just a tad too harshly. The poor woman was probably wishing she had a different patient. “How soon until I get out of here?”
“I guess we’ll find out when the doctor gets here.”
I eyed him curiously. “Did you really stay here all night?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Would you believe me if I said I was worried about you?”
“No.”
He nodded. “I was too tired to drive home, and this chair was just as comfortable as the one out in the waiting room. At least in here
I had some privacy.”
Sighing, I waited in silence for the doctor to show. The man sat next to me, drinking his coffee like the asshole he was. When the doctor finally showed up, he checked me over, looking at the gash on my leg and testing my reflexes, along with a whole other host of tests. It was ridiculous.
“So, what’s the last thing you remember?”
“Nothing before the accident.”
“Not a flash of something or a town that sounds familiar?”
I thought about it again, but there was nothing. “No. Should I be worried about that?”
His brows raised slightly. “Well, head wounds can be difficult. Your memory could come back in a few days or it might not come back at all.”
“Was there anything that could help with identifying her?” the doctor asked the man sitting in the chair.
“She had suitcases and her purse. She didn’t remember anything when she saw her license.”
“Hmmm, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
His shoulders tensed, and for a moment, I thought he was going to tell him the same thing he told me, but then he spoke. “Antonio.”
“Antonio,” he smiled. “And you were at the scene of the accident?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, taking down notes. “And how long was she unconscious?”
“About nine hours.”
“Any dizzy spells?”
“A few. She passed out in the shower, and that’s when I brought her in,” he said matter-of-factly, as if it was the least concerning thing of all.
“Well, I’d like to keep you another day, just to make sure the medication does its job, and I’d like to run some more tests on your head wound.”
I huffed in irritation. “I doubt tests are going to make it better,” I muttered.
Imagine my surprise when a police officer stepped in as well. It didn’t escape my notice that Antonio stiffened slightly, but if the cop noticed, he didn’t say anything. It crossed my mind that it might not be Antonio that was in trouble, but me. After all, I knew nothing about myself. Maybe I had done something, and that’s why he was here.
“Ma’am, I’m Officer Kent. I heard you had an accident.”
I glanced over at Antonio again, wondering what the hell was going on. Though the officer’s tone was friendly, there was a question to what he asked. I didn’t know what to say. It was an accident, I mean, as far as I remembered.
The officer caught me watching Antonio and stepped forward. “Ma’am, would you like this gentleman to leave the room while we talk?”
I swallowed the dry nothingness in my mouth. Was it hot in here? Why was I sweating so much? Fuck, I must have done something, that’s why the officer was looking at me like that. God, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. He was going to send me to jail for something, and I had no idea what I had done. I didn’t even notice Antonio standing over me until he grabbed my good hand, pressing his fingers to my pulse like he had done before. Why did that feel so good? What was going on with me?
“Sir, maybe you should leave.”
“Maybe you should shut your fucking mouth,” he ground out.
“Now, just a minute—”
But Antonio didn’t give him a minute. “What the fuck are you trying to do? She’s been in an accident. She doesn’t remember anything, and you walk in here, acting like she’s done something wrong.”
“I never said—”
“You implied it,” Antonio ground out, his voice low and threatening. I wondered how he was getting away with talking to a cop like this. It could be totally normal behavior for him. When I finally felt like I was gaining some control, I took a deep breath and nodded to the doctor who stood off to the side, studying me as I regained control.
“Why don’t you tell us what happened?” the cop asked.
I stared at him, shaking my head slightly. “I don’t know. I don’t remember anything.”
He nodded, glaring at Antonio who still stood right beside me. “Do you remember what you were doing before the accident?”
“No. I just told you I don’t remember anything.”
“What is the last thing you remember?” he asked.
“Look, either you’re the stupidest cop I know, which isn’t saying much considering I don’t know anyone, or you’re trying to trip me up in some way. I told you, I don’t remember anything. I woke up in this man’s house after he rescued me. We waited out the storm, and then he brought me here.”
“Alright,” the doctor said, patting my hand gently.
My heart was still pounding slightly, but the cop seemed a little more satisfied. He pulled out his notepad and started writing stuff down. Turning to Antonio, he asked, “When was the accident?”
“Saturday afternoon, about mid-afternoon.”
“Why didn’t you call in the accident?”
“Because I live in the mountains and there was no cell service. In case you hadn’t noticed, there was a bit of a snowstorm.”
The officer stopped and looked up at him. “And you didn’t think to try and get her here sooner?”
“I went out yesterday to check the roads. They were still pretty bad. I brought her here as soon as I could,” he said through clenched teeth.
I frowned at the officer. “Why are you asking him those questions?”
“Ma’am, this is just routine.”
“It sounds like you’re accusing him of something,” I said angrily. I wasn’t sure why I was so angry, but I was, and I couldn’t seem to control it. “This man saved my life, bandaged me up, and took care of me. He climbed down a cliff to get me out of my car! And you’re acting like he did something wrong!”
I was heaving by the time I finished my rant. I wasn’t sure where that came from or why I was defending this man like I was. But it pissed me off. I felt like I had a hair trigger inside me and it was being pulled. I glanced up at Antonio, who smirked slightly at me. Finally releasing my wrist, he stepped away from me, which really pissed me off even more than I already was.
9
Antonio
I was a little shocked that she had come to my defense. Mostly, she seemed to handle everything pretty well, almost too well, which made me suspicious. She didn’t remember a thing, but she didn’t act like the innocent victim. She acted like a feral animal, ready to take out anyone.
“Sir, if you want to step outside with me, I can get the location of the vehicle and have it extricated out of there,” the officer said, glancing back at Ciara. “We’ll give them some privacy.”
I nodded, wondering what he was up to, but went along with it, because she was clearly a little unstable at the moment. We walked down the hall and grabbed some coffee from the nurse’s station. After waiting for a good five minutes, he finally opened his mouth.
“Folks around here say you’re a bit of a loner.”
I stared at him, not responding.
“But you’ve never caused any problems in the year that you’ve been here. I’d like to keep it that way.”
I just stared at him with a bored expression. If there was one thing I knew, it was never to offer up any information. I told him what he needed to know and that was it.
“So, this woman really doesn’t remember anything?”
I shrugged. “Not that I know of.”
“And you’ve never seen her before,” he stated.
“Officer, if I knew her, why would I lie about that?”
“Sometimes lovers have arguments. Things get out of hand.”
I nodded. “Well, when you find that car, you can let me know if you think this was a lover’s quarrel. And as far as she goes, once I’m done here, I’ll never see her again. I brought her in, but I’m going back home and moving on with my life.”
He looked like he was about to go into some speech or something, so I turned on my heel and walked away. I flung the door open just enough to step inside and assess the situation. She was being taken care of, the doctor was talking with her about getting a cast
on her wrist, telling her about the antibiotics she needed to take.
The door opened again and the officer walked back in. I crossed my arms over my chest, prepared for an onslaught of more questions, but it wasn’t him who spoke.
“What happens now?” Ciara asked, her voice small.
“Well, do you have your driver’s license on you? I can run it through the database. If you’re in there, I can at least tell you something about yourself. If not, this is going to be a little harder.”
“I don’t have my purse on me. It’s still at his house.”
“You didn’t bring it?”
I glared at the officer. “She was passed out and running a high fever. Did you want me to stop and gather up all her things first?”
The cop looked back at Ciara. “What about a last name?”
“The driver’s license said Donnelly.”
“Date of birth?” the cop asked, writing it down.
She shook her head. “I don’t remember the date…just that it would make me twenty-eight years old.”
The cop nodded. “Alright, I’ll run the name and your general description, and see if anything comes up.”
He walked out of the room, but I knew he would come up with nothing. Without a driver’s license, that information wouldn’t give him much to go on. Not to mention, it was a fake driver’s license, which also meant a fake name.
“Alright,” the doctor grinned as a nurse walked in. “You get to go for X-Rays. It shouldn’t take too long, and then we’ll get you in a cast.”
I thought about leaving, but I found myself sitting down instead. I was interested to see what the cop found out. About an hour passed and Ciara finally returned. I rubbed at my eyes, just wanting to get the hell out of here, but my curiosity wouldn’t let me just leave.
When the cop returned, I got a bad feeling. “Well, we can’t find you in the database.”
Ciara frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Well, there’s no one in the system that matches the name Ciara Donnelly and your age. So, that means you don’t have a criminal record or you’ve never had a background check run on you. But I would need a driver’s license to be sure.”
Dead Man's Hand: A Small Town Romance (A Good Run Of Bad Luck Book 1) Page 5