"Mitch, what if he doesn’t make it? What if he died? He has to live! He can't die, Mitch. He's all I have. Please, I need him. I need him..." She was on the verge of a break down and her voice shook so badly it was barely audible.
"Shhh, Cass." Mitch pulled her into an embrace. "It's going to be okay."
Mitch had been called out by his dispatch. Despite the fact that he was on vacation and packing to leave for Hawaii the following day, Mitch gladly volunteered to find Cass and bring her to the hospital. No nineteen year old girl in a state of panic should drive two and a half hours to reach their possibly dying father. And since Mitch had blue lights the trip was very much expedited.
"All we can do is pray now." He rocked her back in forth. She buried her face into his chest and gripped his back tightly. "We're all here for you Cass."
To Mitch, it felt like Tucker Johnston all over again. A crowded waiting room, not knowing what lay on the opposite end of the ER doors.
"Miss Kerr." She looked up from Mitch's chest, but didn't let go. The doctor held a clipboard in his hands and wore a cold even face. "Why don't you come with me."
She looked up at Mitch in utter terror. She took his hand and pulled him with her, following the doctor behind the security doors.
Mitch was the closest to Kerr out of all of his men. They socialized outside of work, the only one in the group whom Kerr had done so with. As such, Cass had grown to know Mitch.
They stopped outside of a small room.
"Your father suffered some rather severe injuries." The doctor went into detail about Mike’s injuries.
"Will he be okay?" She'd calmed down.
The doctor hesitated in his answer. Cass took notice of the pause and began to cry.
“I feel in time he will make a full recovery, pending any unforeseen complications.”
“In other words you don’t know,” Cass managed between tears.
“I can’t offer any guarantees, but I am optimistic and you should be as well.” The doctor’s cold manner turned warm as he tried to convey empathy.
"Can I see him?"
"Yes, but I need you to prepare yourself."
She squeezed Mitch's hand tightly.
"He's hooked up to several monitors and has a tube down his throat. Don't let that scare you."
That was comforting...
Cass followed the doctor inside.
It scared her.
"Oh god—" She covered her mouth with her hands and froze in the doorway.
“It’s alright Cass.” Mitch reassured again.
She stepped inside and hesitatingly went to her father’s side.
"I love you, Daddy." She leaned down and kissed his cheek, cradling his neck. "Please don’t leave me. Please don’t die. I love you. You can’t leave me.”
Tears continued to leak from her eyes. She stared down at her father. An endotracheal tube was inserted down his throat, IVs hung at his side, and monitors chirped all around only upsetting her further.
“Mitch—” She dropped to her knees, her legs no longer wanting to support her weight. Mitch closed the distance between them in less than a second and knelt down beside her.
“It’s okay Cass.” He held her tightly. “Your dad is a strong man. He loves you too much to give up. He’s going to pull through this.”
The room went silent with all but the sounds of the machines and Cass’s sobbing.
*****
“We haven’t stopped in seven hours. Can you stop somewhere so I can use the Lou and grab a bite to eat?”
“We aren’t that far from home.”
“Are you bloody mad?” Aiden didn’t like her logic. “We are still ten hours away from North Carolina, do you intend on driving the rest of the way on five hours sleep with no stops?”
“Yes.”
“Pull over.”
“No.”
“Raleigh Jo Dawson, you pull this vehicle over right now, or I will piss on you.”
“Whip it out,” she said dryly.
“Then drop me off on the side of the road and I’ll arrange for a car. I’m done.”
It was then she realized she’d pushed Aiden over the edge. He’d never come close to threatening to leave her. A truck stop conveniently came into sight and she put the blinker on.
“Will McDonald’s suffice?”
He gave her a callous stare that managed to physically chill her.
“It will do.” She parked the car and he slammed the door behind him, not waiting for her to catch up to him. The sun had long set and the interstate was nearly bare of traffic.
She used the restroom and then walked to the counter. Aiden sat in a corner table with a salad placed in front of him. The Big Mac value meal in her hands was the brightest part of her vacation up to that point.
“Mind if I sit with you?”
Aiden didn’t answer.
“I’ll take that to mean you want company.” She slid into the booth with him. “I’m sorry.”
Aiden munched on his salad.
“I’m just—I’m exhausted. I’m not myself.”
“You are precisely yourself.” He took a drink of his water.
“Jeeves, I’m sorry.” She passed him the keys. He scoffed them up and put them in his pocket.
“We are staying overnight in a hotel. One that doesn’t have trees for siding, or gnats waiting to bite me when I walk out the door. And I will drive us the rest of the trip.”
“Okay.” She agreed as she enjoyed her burger.
“And—” He yanked the burger from her mouth and pulled the tray away. “You will not try to sneak this horrible food at every turn.”
He disposed of her oh so tasteful food and went back to the counter to order.
“This is more like it.” He put a new tray in front of her. It contained apple slices, a salad, and a bottle of water. “You’re really trying hard to heff up like a typical fat American.”
“Hey you nasty little Brit, don’t put down my countrymen.” She shoved him. Their playful banter returned.
“It’s the truth.” He pushed the remainder of his salad aside ticking away on his cell phone. “The Harrington Inn is thirty minutes down the highway. Four stars will do, better than that log shack.”
“Whatever you say.”
He dialed the number and booked two rooms for them. Back onto the road they went. Forty minutes later they pulled into the lot of The Harrington. It was a very picturesque inn. She didn’t expect less from Jeeves. He had expensive taste when it came to spending her money. As she told him, he had a champagne pallet on a beer wallet.
Aiden checked them in and made friendly conversation with the bellhop.
“If you need anything, let me know.” Aiden stood in the doorway of her room.
“Jeeves, get some sleep. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
“Good night, Miss.”
“Night.”
The attendant opened her door and brought her luggage to the bedroom. After tipping him, she was left to the silence of the suite. The room was more spacious than a family of four would require and the excess of it sickened her. She dropped backward onto the bed and looked at the ceiling deep in thought.
Why? That was the only thought that resonated in her mind and she kept asking herself it over and over.
*****
“Cass is going to stay with Chance at our house tonight.” Mitch ruffled his short hair underneath his hat. “And I’m staying here until she gets back in the morning. She’s in no condition to be here. Seeing him right now isn’t helping her.”
Terry McGuiness, the Colonel of the warden service, stood in the hallway with Mitch. He towered six inches over Mitch and his bald head gleaned in the florescent lighting. “When are you leaving for Hawaii?”
“We’re not going.”
“You two go on your trip, I’ll make sure he’s not alone. We’ll figure something out.”
“Good luck convincing Chance of that. Wouldn’t be much of a honeymoon now anywa
y.” Mitch looked into the room where Mike lay motionless. “It’s late, there’s no reason for you and all the guys to be here. Go home. I’ll call with an update in the morning.”
“You might as well go home and be with your family. I’m staying here. I have a little more brass than you and this is one occasion where I’m pulling rank.” Terry was an approachable man, always there for his men. He was soft and gentle, but when needed fierce as a pit bull.
The corner of Mitch’s lip quirked up. “I’ll find another chair.”
CHAPTER FOUR
SUNDAY
Raleigh barely sleep a wink. With the amount of money she’d been charged for two rooms at the four star establishment, Raleigh thought the walls would be a little more...soundproof. Fail. The walls were paper thin and the couple in the room adjoining hers had rough, loud, boisterous sex all night long. Surely there had to be a large amount of pharmaceutical assistance to aid in their endless tryst. She couldn’t help but be a tad jealous.
7am shone brightly on the clock that faced the bed. She had no intention of waking Aiden at that hour merely because she couldn’t sleep. A long cold shower and three aspirin later, she was out the door on the mission to find coffee and a lot of it. Her cell phone vibrated and displayed a number that’d appeared more than a dozen times on her caller ID over the prior twelve hours.
What if they track you down? Phones have GPS, they can do that. SHIT! What am I going to do? You need a new phone. Raleigh thought. She sent Aiden a quick text so he wouldn’t worry about her absence and removed the battery from the phone. It’s going to be okay...it’s going to be okay...he’s going to be okay.
*****
Ben Anderson left yet another message on the generic voicemail. Green dispatch traced the phone number to Subaru of America. A huge corporation with hundreds, if not thousands of company cell phones. It was Sunday so the corporate offices were closed. He wouldn’t get anywhere until Monday morning. Frustrated would be an understatement to describe Ben’s state. Seething with anger would be more appropriate. There were no witnesses to Mike’s incident other than the woman who called it in. The only facts he knew about this woman was her name, Jen, and that she drove a white SUV. He hadn’t noticed her physical features in their brief encounter because he was too focused on Mike’s condition. That and she’d disappeared shortly after he’d arrived.
The fact this “Jen” ran from the scene said all he needed to know. Innocent people don’t flee the scene of a potential crime. Jen was their girl. Jen was the one who’d done this to Sergeant Kerr. And Jen could rest assured once the pieces were put together her tattooed ass would be brought to justice.
*****
Mitch barely slept a wink. With all the contraptions making noise and the hellatiously uncomfortable metal chair, it was an impossible feat. He’d nod for a moment only to be roused by one of the many sounds of the hospital.
Mitch spoke with Chance earlier in the morning. Cass finally succumbed to sleep, purely from exhaustion. Chance was in no better shape except she hadn’t slept at all. She wanted to be with Mike, but wasn’t going to bring little Tuck to camp out with her.
Footsteps approached.
“I have coffee and donuts. We’re perpetuating the stereotype this morning.’” Terry passed them to Mitch.
“Thanks, I’ll take it.” Mitch immediately sipped on the sludge.
“Doctor said his O2 levels have gone up.”
“That’s a good sign.” It meant Mitch’s condition was improving.
“He said something else that was interesting.”
“What’s that?”
“Mike has injuries on his chest that aren’t consistent with the accident.”
“I’m not following.” Mitch sat up straight in his chair, his attention peaked.
“He can’t explain it either. It doesn’t fit.”
*****
“What’s this about you wanting to have your number changed?” Aiden started the Audi.
“Telemarketers. My phone has been ringing non-stop lately.”
“I noticed that yesterday. Someone was very keen on trying to get in contact with you. The number I saw on the caller ID wasn’t a one eight hundred number though.” Aiden didn’t believe her motives. “It doesn’t have anything to do with what didn’t occur yesterday?”
“Someone obviously gave my number out.”
“Mhmm.”
Raleigh didn’t address his accusations.
“I’m going to take a nap. The lovebirds in the suite next door kept me awake all night long.”
“All night?” Aiden repeated.
“All night.”
“Lucky bastards.”
“Tell me about it.” Raleigh slid her sunglasses over her eyes and rested her head on a travel pillow. “Wake me when we get to N.C.”
Aiden drove 20 mph over the speed limit and shaved off a considerable amount of their travel time. It was 5pm when they rolled into her yard.
Aiden threw the Audi in park and jumped out, immediately tending to their luggage. Her vehicle was unpacked in less than five minutes and simultaneously his was loaded.
“It certainly is good to be back in civilization. Please don’t take me to that hellish place again.” Aiden pleaded.
“I won’t. I promise.” Raleigh did not have any plans of returning to Maine anytime in the near future.
“I going to pop on over to my flat and unpack. Is there anything else you need?”
“My fridge is empty—” She wasn’t going to further put Aiden out. He’d been through enough in the past 48 hours. “I’ll order some takeout, you go home.”
“I don’t mind dropping by the market.”
“No, no. Go home. Take a couple days off. You’ve put your time in.”
“I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
She closed the door and kicked off her sandals. The tile floors were cold on her bare feet, but preferable to the shag carpeting that adorned it when she’d bought the house as a fixer-upper.
The fridge contained a few groceries, none of which looked appetizing. Salad mix, raw fruits and vegetables, some tofu, and some lentils. Yum. The only thing that made her tongue salivate was a bottle of Jose Cuervo. Bad things happened when she and Jose hung out together. She closed the door and retrieved a take-out menu from a drawer.
Mesa Valley Tex-Mex. Perfect. Damn, wouldn’t that go good with some Jose? NO RALEIGH. She pushed the Tex-Mex menu back in the drawer and pulled out a pizza shop menu.
Thirty minutes later her extra cheese, broccoli, chicken, bacon, and ranch pizza arrived, along with mozzarella sticks, onion rings, and buffalo fingers.
If only Jeeves could see me now.
For a fit and svelte woman, the food went down quickly and disappeared with the exception of a few pieces of pizza and a buffalo wing. She could easily win an eating contest if she tried. Or, at the very least, become a “fat American” by Aiden’s standards.
She picked up her iPad and began reading a book by Ben Collins. The book was about a character on the television show Top Gear. But the book didn’t hold her attention. She was too anxious about the events from the day prior. It was 7pm and too early to go to sleep. What to do?
A swim in her pool. That would relax her tension. She took the stairs two at a time and went to her bedroom. Her closet was organized thanks to her wonderful housekeeper Marta. She had a selection of three bathing suits. One to tan, one to swim, and one to flaunt herself, on the rare occasion she decided to be ultra-feminine. She picked the flaunting bathing suit then walked toward the doorway, but something caught her attention. A photo. The picture was a snapshot of a happier time in her life. Lucas Davenport had her wrapped in a tight embrace and leaned against the hood of their Subaru Impreza rally car stealing a kiss. It was their first championship together and Raleigh remembered it like it was only yesterday. The picture jogged so many memories. The only bad memory she had of Luke was their last day together. She picked up the photo frame and stared down
at it.
“I miss you.” Tears formed in her eyes and she couldn’t keep them at bay. “I wish you were here with me. I wish that every day. And I’m really wishing that right now.” Her words were broken with quiet sobs.
“I don’t understand why you were taken from me. It’s not fair. It was my fault.” She pulled the photo into her chest and leaned back, sliding down the wall. She clutched the photo and stared upon it. “I miss you.”
A Courtesy Call (Green Division Series Book #2) Page 3