"The cops have finished their questioning." Her smile grew. "She's asking for you, but the doctor only wants one visitor at a time right now."
I let out a large breath. She’s asking for me. That’s something. God, right now, that is everything.
Lexi and Brandon were beside me, and Lexi reached out to touch my arm. "Tell her we're here and that we're thinking of her."
I nodded, gave her a big hug, and then followed Kim down the hall. I wanted to run past her, run right to Emily's room, but I walked as calmly as I could beside her.
Detective Palmer and his partner were standing across the hall from Emily's room and didn't even look in my direction as I approached. They both wore stone-cold faces and only seemed to be interested in what the other one was saying. As much as I wanted to stop and quiz them, ask them if they were going to get the bastard, knowing that Emily gave them the same story I did and probably even more information, all I really wanted to do was see Emily.
The two police officers, who had stopped me before, stepped aside and let me through. I gathered a breath, bracing myself against the door. I was scared and anxious but most of all, hopeful. I just wanted to see that she was okay.
Emily was lying in bed with her eyes closed, looking like she had the past few days. She looked peaceful as she breathed softly. My eyes roamed over her face. I saw no change. It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. My chest ached. So many things went through my mind. Why aren't her eyes open? Am I too late? Has she fallen asleep? Has she fallen back into a coma? The only thing I wanted was to hear her voice. To see her eyes open. To see her smile. However, there was nothing.
I stood in front of her bed, just staring at her, not able to move another muscle toward her. Dammit, I missed it. She woke up and I missed it. Does she even know I’m here? Or did she think I abandoned her?
Just as I was about to run out of the room and question the nurses, Emily's eyes fluttered open. She was looking right at me. I gasped for air, like I hadn't taken a breath since the last time I'd seen her eyes staring back at me. It was hard to hold back my emotions. A part of me was certain I'd never see them again.
"Reed." Her voice was soft, hoarse.
My eyes fell closed for just a moment to savor the sound of her voice. "God, it's so good to hear your voice and to see you with your eyes open. I've been—" I choked on the words, feeling my emotions burn in my chest. I cleared my throat, hoping to keep them from coming out completely. "I've been so worried about you."
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry you got involved in this. I should've told you. It's all my fault. I should've told you everything. I was just scared and I didn't want anyone involved. I thought I was protecting you. I'm so, so sorry for not telling you about him and about my past."
Making my way around to the side of her bed, I grabbed her hand in mine. I leaned close to her and said, "Don't apologize. What happened was not your fault. I'm just glad you're okay."
"I feel so stupid. I was such an idiot. I thought I could start a new life. I thought I could get away. It was selfish and dumb, and it almost got you killed, Reed. I would've never forgiven myself if anything happened to you because of me."
Her lips folded inward and her eyes closed, as if she were trying to hold in the tears. It killed me to see her so upset. The last thing she should feel right now was shame or guilt. Emily was a victim and she was acting like she had control over what happened.
"Open your eyes and look at me." I tried to keep my voice soft. She did as I asked, tears rolling out of the corners of her eyes. "You don't need to apologize or feel guilty for what happened. It wasn't your fault. None of it."
She nodded and then closed her eyes again. As I sat there, I wondered if she knew about the baby. Had the doctors told her yet? With all that had happened, they might have thought it best to wait before saying anything. She had only been awake for a couple minutes before the detectives bombarded her with questions.
"I told the cops everything," she said, reopening her eyes. "I told them it was Jake who did this to us. I told them what he tried to do to me before I got to your place, about how I barely got away. I told them everything about the last few years and how I had tried to get help in Vegas but couldn't." Her voice cracked and then she finally broke into tears.
Crawling on the bed and trying not to hurt her or mess with her IVs, I did the only thing I could think to do. I wrapped my arms tightly around her and told her over and over it was going to be okay. I told her I was sorry for not protecting her. That I was sorry he hurt her again. My mouth opened to say something about the baby, but I didn't because I wasn't sure she was ready to hear that yet. Instead, I promised her I would do everything in my power to make sure Jake paid for what he did and that I would die before I let anything like this happen to her again.
She didn't say anything in return. She just cried as I held her tight until she fell asleep in my arms. I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but it must have been hours because the sky outside her window grew dark. No one interrupted us, and I cherished every second I had with her. In that moment, when I had her in my arms, I was finally convinced that she was going to be okay.
Kim came in around nine p.m., giving me a soft smile. She had a few new bags of clear liquid that she hooked up to the IV.
"You've worked a long day," I said, keeping my voice low. She had been here since early this morning. I was thankful she was still here.
"Yeah," she whispered and smiled. "You haven't gotten rid of me quite yet. This will be my last rotation for tonight, though."
Carefully, I sat up in bed, hoping not to wake Emily. "Does she know about the baby?" I spoke so softly that I wasn't sure she heard me, but she finally nodded and the smile dropped from her face.
"The doctor told her after she woke up, but I don't think she believed them. She was clearly in shock over it and then the detectives came in and started questioning her. I'm not sure she really even processed it."
It killed me to know that I wasn't in here with her when she found out. I should've been in here with her.
"The detectives are still out there waiting for you," Kim said, jerking her head toward the hallway. "Why don't you go out and talk to them while I'm in here. I'll come get you if she wakes up."
I nodded. "Thank you."
When I exited the room, the detectives were standing across the hall almost like they were bodyguards hired to protect her. If they really wanted to protect her, they should have been hunting down the piece of shit that did this to her.
"Mr. Alexander, do you have a moment?" Detective Palmer asked.
"We can talk right here. I'm not leaving her again." My voice was firm. I had about all I could handle of these two.
Detective Palmer nodded his head once and then glanced over to Detective Wallace.
"Emily told us what happened," Detective Wallace said. "We know what Jake has done to her over the years and what he did to the two of you a few nights ago. It's not that we didn't believe you, but you have to understand that we were just doing our jobs and we had to cover all the bases, especially with someone like Jake Terrell, who clearly lives by his own rules. When those people gave us an ironclad alibi for him, our hands were tied." He sighed and paused for a few seconds. The demeanor in the air around us had changed. Something didn't feel right and the look on their faces already had my heart hammering.
"Once we were done questioning Emily, we sent a team to pick Jake up in Vegas, but…" He paused, hesitating again. "When they got to the casino and up to the penthouse suite, he was gone. His men, the few we could find, say they don't know where he went. We have his men in custody and are questioning them now, but there's still no sign of Terrell."
"So you let him get away? That's what you're telling me? You let him get away with attempted murder and now he's probably out there planning his next attack on her. I told you two, dammit," I said, grinding my teeth together. "I told you it was him. Why couldn't you just have picked him up and held
him. He knew exactly what he was doing the entire time. He played you and now he's free to hurt her again."
They shared a frustrated look. "We're really sorry. We were just trying to do our jobs the best we know how. We now realize it was a mistake. We underestimated him," Detective Palmer admitted.
They were clearly holding back something else.
Finally, Detective Palmer spoke up. "There was some significant information that we just found out about. It was out of our jurisdiction, and we didn't know the information even existed until a few hours ago." He stopped and cleared his throat. "Apparently, the FBI has been building a case against Mr. Terrell for the past six months. One of Jake's men has been aiding the FBI in trying to bring him down. I'm not sure they were aware of what was happening in New York either, until yesterday."
The story just kept getting better. "And the FBI, they don't know where he is either?" I asked through clenched teeth, not wanting to believe what they were telling me. They now had all the information they needed, yet they let him get away, and now he was out there somewhere, probably planning his revenge right now.
Detective Palmer shook his head. "We spoke to an agent with the FBI. They told us that they had lost track of him earlier this week… probably when he skipped town and came to New York. After he returned to Vegas, they had a team of agents watching the building, but they're not sure how he slipped by."
Seriously? Does anyone know how to do their jobs? How is it that this guy slipped by the FBI?
"But rest assured that we'll get him, Mr. Alexander," Detective Wallace said. "There's a widespread manhunt going on now. He'll turn up eventually."
My whole body shook with anger. Empty promises. That was all they seemed to be giving me.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to keep my cool. "The man that's working with the FBI, may I speak to him?" I asked. It was at least something. I wanted as much information as I could about Jake and his men. Truthfully, I couldn't help but be suspicious about the guy. Maybe he wasn't working with the FBI and trying to bring Jake down. Maybe Jake knew he was being watched and sent him to the FBI to see what they knew. Maybe the FBI was being fooled. Either way, I just wanted five minutes alone with him.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Alexander, but the FBI isn't releasing the information about the informant. We don't even have his name. Since he is closely tied to the case, they are keeping him out of the picture until Mr. Terrell is apprehended."
My hands squeezed into tight fists. Dead ends. Everywhere I look, there's a damn dead end. I could feel my emotions stirring up inside me, and I tried to keep it contained, knowing that losing it right here with them wasn’t going to do me any favors. However, it was hard to keep my feelings for the two detectives buried. I was positive they could easily be seen on my face.
If they had just listened to me days ago, Jake would be in custody, but no, they didn’t listen and they let him escape. They let him get away with attempted murder and gave him the opportunity to do it again.
“Detective Wallace and myself are heading to Las Vegas tomorrow. We’re going to start our own investigation and see if we can find out any more information from the FBI. We’ll have Emily under protective surveillance until he’s found,” Detective Palmer offered.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t want Emily to know that Jake got away, not for now at least. She already has so much to worry about. Let’s just wait to tell her, maybe by then we will have found him. The son of a bitch is going to come for her. He’s not going to stop until she’s dead. If anything happens to her. If I even see him come within a mile of her…” I stopped myself, knowing I couldn’t threaten to kill the asshole in front of two detectives. I couldn’t tell them what I wanted to do to him.
“Two men will be by her door at all times until he’s found. Only doctors and nurses will be allowed to come in and out.”
“What about me?” I asked, my eyes squinting into a glare.
“You and Lexi have also been cleared,” Detective Palmer said.
WHEN I got back into Emily’s room, she was awake, and her bed was raised into a sitting position.
Both Emily and Kim looked at me. Emily’s eyes met mine as she smiled softly before quickly turning away.
“Well, I’m going to get out of here and let you two visit. Just make sure you get some rest tonight.” Kim gave Emily a pointed look.
“I will.” Emily nodded and stole another quick glance at me.
The nurse left and then I took my seat beside her bed again.
“Is everything okay?” Emily asked. “You look like something’s bothering you.”
“I’m fine. The detectives just wanted to clear up a few things up.”
“Have they… found him yet?” she asked.
My chest ached, knowing I was going to have to lie to her.
“They’re working on it,” was all I said. It wasn’t a complete lie, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that Jake had gotten away and was nowhere to be found.
She pulled in her bottom lip and bit down. The fear in her eyes was evident.
“Hey, nothing’s going to happen. There are going to be officers here at all times, guarding your room, and I’m not going anywhere. You don’t need to worry about him.”
She nodded as she leaned her head back against the bed. “I know about the baby, Reed. I—I can’t believe it. I don’t know how it happened. I mean, I know how it happened, but it wasn’t supposed to happen, not like this.” She stared at the ceiling, refusing to meet my eyes. “I didn’t believe it when the doctors told me earlier. When I just woke up, I figured it must have been a dream, but then I asked the nurse and she said it is true. It’s crazy. What if something would’ve happened to the baby in the accident? I would have been responsible.”
“Nothing happened.” I grabbed her hand. “You’re okay. The baby’s okay. We’re going to be okay.”
“What are we going to do?” she asked, her voice breaking. She still refused to meet my eyes. It killed me not to know what she was thinking. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel embarrassed, remorseful, or guilty.
Taking her chin softly in my hands, I forced her to look at me. “We’re going to make sure you get better. That’s the most important thing right now. Don’t worry about anything else. We’re going to be okay. Everything will be okay.”
She still didn’t look convinced.
“Emily, over the last few days, I’ve had so much time to think. It killed me to know that you may never wake up and never know how much I care about you. I love you, Emily. I will do whatever I can to protect you. I promise. It’s all going to be okay.”
Her eyes grew glossy. I didn’t mean to make her cry. I just wanted her to know the truth. I’ve come too close to losing her to not tell her everything when I had the chance.
“I love you, too.” She smiled and took in a deep breath. I wrapped my arms around her and we held each other for a long minute. When I finally let go, her head rested back onto the bed and her eyes remained closed. I wasn’t sure what she was thinking of exactly, but I didn’t want her thinking about Jake or worrying about anything. I needed to get her mind off it.
“Lexi’s here, but the doctors are only allowing one person in at a time. Would you like me to send her in?”
“Yes.” Her eyes opened and grew bright. “I would love that.”
While Lexi visited with Emily and hopefully took her mind off Jake for a while, I called Robbins to see if he had an update for me. I also wanted to fill him in on what Detective Palmer and Detective Wallace told me about one of Jake’s men being an FBI informant. I didn’t know if Robbins could find out the man’s name, but I wanted to try everything I could to get in touch with him.
Robbins had been sitting in front of the casino for hours and there was still no sign of Jake anywhere. There had been police coming in and out of the casino all day, but other than that, it was quiet. He was going to call around to a few people in the FBI to see if he could pull some strings and
get me a name. I knew it was a long shot, but I was feeling desperate. Each second that passed and Jake remained free, I grew more afraid that he was getting farther and farther away from being caught or, even scarier, he was getting closer to coming for Emily again.
I kept Brandon company in the waiting room until Lexi came back out. He had been a great friend to Emily and an even better boyfriend to Lexi. She was lucky to have him. I was lucky to have him, too. I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done if I had to watch out for both Lexi and Emily right now. It made it easier to leave Lexi, knowing she had someone to stay with her at a time like this.
“She looks good,” Lexi said when she came back. “It’s so good to see her awake and talking.”
“Yeah, it’s a huge relief.” I stood up and pulled her in for a tight hug. “Why don’t you and Brandon head home and get some sleep? I’m going to stay with her tonight.”
“Can I get you anything before I leave? I don’t think you’ve eaten today.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. I’ll get something later.” My stomach was such a mess nothing sounded good anyway.
When I returned to Emily’s room, she was asleep. The moment the door closed, her eyes fluttered open.
“I’m sorry I woke you. Close your eyes. You need your rest.”
She closed her eyes again and smiled. “It was really good to see Lexi.”
It wasn’t long before she was asleep again.
EMILY
"WAIT JUST a second and I'll come help you," Reed said. He jogged around the car, but by the time he got to me, I was already walking toward the trunk to get my things. The valet was back there as well, pulling out my boxes of stuff and a couple of suitcases. I knew Reed was trying to be nice, but I’d been doted on the last few weeks in the hospital, and I was ready for a little bit of my independence back.
"You were supposed to wait for me." He smiled, wrapping his arms around my waist.
The Hardest Part Page 23