“I’d prefer to walk, thanks.” My statement makes Rich smile. In turn, that makes me happy.
The doctor doesn’t protest. “If you’ll follow me?” He leads us through the halls. I hold onto Rich’s elbow for support.
We pass through a ward with many empty beds. Finally, the doctor stops before a closed door. He addresses Rich. “Your sister’s condition is delicate. Right now, she needs her body to rest and repair itself. We’ve done all we can. She will make a full recovery, but it will take time.” He stresses the word. “If she is still asleep, don’t wake her. The more rest she gets, the better.”
“I understand,” Rich agrees.
“All right,” the doctor nods. He opens the door and lets us through.
The scene is both serene and ghastly. A hospital bed sits against the far wall. The morning sun shines through an open window, bathing the covers. They’re white and freshly pressed. Min is lying under them with her eyes closed. If I could only see her face, I would have no concern.
It’s everything else that scares me. She’s hooked up to the same machines that were around me. A needle in her hand is connected to a long, plastic tube that extends from the IV drip. Two smaller, clear tubes run into her nose, providing her with oxygen. A plastic cuff surrounds her arm, linked to a display that shows her pulse and blood pressure. A neck brace holds her head in place. Her other arm is in a white cast, suspended by a sling from the ceiling. Her complexion is pale. Her breathing, though steady, sounds short and raspy to me.
I can’t stop the overwhelming feeling of guilt from rising up again. This is my fault. No matter what I told Rich, I know, deep down, that I am responsible. I want to rush to her side and tell her how sorry I am. I want to beg for forgiveness.
Instead, I remain stoic and let Rich in first. The pain that I see on his face breaks my heart. He looks crestfallen, defeated, and almost broken. He grips the railing as he comes to the side of the bed and looks at his sister. His knuckles whiten.
As I near him, I hear a soft growl come from his throat. “I will find the bastard who did this.” He speaks so softly that at first I think it’s just my imagination. “I will find him and make him pay. This I promise you.”
“Rich…” I put my hand over his. Immediately, I feel the stress beating through his body. I mean my touch to be comforting, but he pulls away. He looks at me with a dark, determined gaze.
“You stay here,” he says. “She needs one of us around. In case she wakes. But I can’t see her like this. It kills me, Penny. I can’t…” he looks around the room and gestures at the four walls, “…be here any longer. It feels like a prison. I need to go. To think. To get my head straight.” He kisses my forehead. “You watch over her while I’m gone.”
I grab his hand before he can walk away. “Where are you going?”
“To the police. I need to know what they know.”
“Your leg—”
“I’ll get a boot. Dammit, Penny, don’t try to stop me. It’s hard enough that I have to worry about Min.”
“I’m not trying to stop you. Just remember the promise you made.”
“I will,” he assures me. He starts to hug me, then, remembering my injury, rubs my arm instead. “Don’t worry. I’ll return as soon as I know more. Keep Min safe for me.”
“I swear,” I whisper as I watch him go.
It’s the same promise I made his sister once before.
Chapter Fourteen
The hours slowly drag by. Min hasn’t stirred. A nurse comes in every ninety minutes to check on her. She’s due for her next arrival right… about… now.
The door swings open. I smile to myself for getting it right. I have to do something to keep my mind away from all the morose thoughts threatening to break out. Focusing on trivial things like this is one way of doing it.
Instead of the nurse standing there, however, I see Rich. He’s changed into jeans and a dark leather jacket. The black boot on his foot almost looks like a shoe. His deep red mane is windblown and messy.
He looks at Min first. “How is she?” he asks in a hushed whisper.
“Same as before,” I reply. “She’s been out the whole time.”
“Fuck,” Rich curses. He turns to me. I notice a change in his appearance. Something about his eyes is different from when he left. “And you?” he asks me.
“They tried to get me back to bed, but I didn’t want to leave Min.” I stand up. “If I avoid moving certain ways, the pain isn’t so bad.”
“Good.” Rich takes me by the elbow and pulls me toward the door. “We have to leave,” he announces quietly.
“What? But I thought you said—”
“I know what I said. Things change. I discovered something I don’t like. We can’t stay here.”
I look at him like he’s crazy. “Are you drunk? You want to leave Min here, alone?”
Rich shakes his head. “We don’t have a choice.” He glances at his sister’s body and grimaces. “I don’t want to talk here in case we wake her. Come outside.”
I follow Rich to the hall and ease the door shut. I turn around to face him. “What’s going on, Rich?”
He exhales and runs a hand through his hair. “Look at this,” he says, pulling a phone from his pocket. I didn’t know he had had time to get one. Mine’s still incapacitated after he chucked the battery onto the road.
I watch over his shoulder as he opens the camera app and scrolls through the pictures. He stops on one showing a small TV. It looks like a surveillance monitor. It takes me an extra second to recognize the fuzzy image on the screen as the parking lot of Dieci’s.
He taps a car on the edge of the screen. “Keep an eye on this one,” he tells me. He swipes his finger along the phone. I watch the succession of images play out like a movie. I see a large figure in a dark pea coat enter the car Rich pointed out. He keeps his collar popped. It’s impossible to see his face.
“So?” I ask. “Who is that?”
“Just wait,” Rich says. He continues the slideshow. The car pulls out of its slot and turns right. I notice a passenger. It’s hard to be sure with such a low-res image, but…
“Amanda!” I gasp when Rich stops and zooms in on the screen. Rich nods gravely. Suddenly, everything falls into place. There’s only one reason Rich would have pictures of a surveillance tape on his phone. “She was in the car that rammed us! How? How did she know we were here?”
“You didn’t recognize her companion? Look again.” Rich scrolls back to the first images. It really is impossible to identify the other person—unless you know who you’re looking for. There’s only one person I know who has those wide, heavy-set shoulders.
“Victor,” I whisper.
Rich puts the phone away and meets my eyes. “Yes.”
“That means they followed us!” I exclaim. “Rich, I thought this was over! We gave the RedArm files back!” I feel panic setting in. “We got seats at the restaurant from Calloway. Does that mean it was a setup? Where’d you get this tape? The police?”
“Hah!” Rich barks a laugh. “I wish. No. The tape is private property belonging to Dieci’s. I went to see the owner.”
“You went back to RedArm without telling me?” I’m angry at him for breaking his promise. But, more than anything, I’m confused. “Wait. If you were there, how did they just let you come back here?”
“Calloway did not send Victor.”
“What? What do you mean? You showed him to me on your phone. He drove the car!”
“But not because of anything RedArm asked him to do. Calloway heard there was an accident on his property. He had no idea it involved us. When I went to his office to ask for the tapes, and he saw that Victor was the one responsible, he went ballistic. I told him what happened to Min. He raged and cursed and started throwing things. It even took me aback.”
“How do you know it wasn’t an act?”
“If it was, he should get an Oscar. No. I’m sure that wasn’t the case. His surprise when he saw me was
genuine. He had no idea why I’d returned. I asked him if the USB stick had everything he needed before telling him anything else. He said yes. He has no reason to want to hurt us.”
“What about revenge? After what you did to Victor?” I ask, trying to make sense of this development.
“That’s exactly what Calloway alluded to. Except, Victor is acting on his own.”
“And now Amanda’s with him,” I finish. “Oh God, Rich, is this ever going to end?”
Rich takes both my hands. “I promise you, Penny. I will do everything in my power to see this resolved.”
I nod. “I believe you. But what do we do now? Can’t we go to the cops, and show them the tape?”
Rich grimaces. “We don’t have enough proof to lay charges. The tape is not definitive. We only recognize Victor and Amanda because we know who to expect.”
“So then, what?” I ask. “If they tried to hurt us once, what’s to stop them from doing it again? What do they want from us, Rich? How do we end it?”
“I don’t know yet. But I will figure it out.”
“With my help,” I remind him. “I’m not letting you scheme up something on your own again.”
Rich chuckles. It’s a forced attempt at levity. “Of course. The first thing we have to do is get away from here. We can’t draw any more attention to Min.”
“You want to just abandon her?” I say, shocked.
Rich shakes his head. “No. The hospital has been informed of the threat. They’re keeping security tight. And Calloway offered her extra protection.”
“You trust him with that?”
“For now, it’s our only choice.”
“I don’t like it, Rich,” I mutter.
“I don’t either. But what options do we have?”
“I don’t know.” I close my eyes and lean against his chest. Nothing in my life has been stable since I met Rich. Why expect anything different now?
“I got us a hotel a few blocks away. It’s low-key and it keeps us close to Min. I think we both need to get out of here.”
--
I walk into our room and go straight for the mini-fridge. I grab all the tiny sampler liquors and set them on the table. One by one, I open them and pour them into my mouth.
Rich watches me, glowering. When I reach for the fourth one, he stops my hand.
“I think that’s enough.”
I fight out of his grip and grab the Johnnie Walker bottle anyway. I unscrew the lid and tip it back. The harsh whisky burns my throat.
“Penny, stop!” Rich commands.
“Why?” I spit at him. “Everything we do is fucked anyway. The first night we’re supposed to be free, a car crashes into us and your sister nearly dies. Why should I stop? Victor and Amanda are now looking for us. Nothing’s changed! We’re on the run again. And I don’t want to be, Rich. I don’t want to be!”
“I know it’s hard,” Rich begins, sitting on the edge of the table, “and I know it can feel overwhelming. But drinking your problems away—” he gestures at the empty bottles, “—is not the answer.”
“Who are you to give me advice? If I remember correctly, you were the one who downed a fifth of vodka the night you fought Victor.”
“That was different,” Rich says.
“Oh yeah?” I demand. “How?”
“For one, I knew what I was doing.” I glare at him as he pushes the remaining bottles out of reach. “I was giving you an out.”
“You were giving me an out?” I repeat, incredulous and increasingly agitated. “What kind of BS is that?”
“It’s not BS,” he says calmly. “It’s the truth. I knew I had to let you go. I was drinking because I couldn’t face the pain of losing you. I was hoping if I drank myself to sleep, having you gone the next morning wouldn’t hurt so much compared to the hangover.”
I smile a little despite my mood. “How’d that work out for you?”
“I sure as hell never thought we’d be here together! I’ll tell you that.” Rich relaxes and takes my hand. “This is just a bump on the road for us. We’ll get through it. I promise you. I know our relationship didn’t have the most traditional start. In some ways, that’s good. In others, that’s bad. We’ve been through so much, you and I, that I know without a shadow of a doubt our love will win out over anything that comes our way. We can overcome any obstacle. We’ve proven that already. Once we get this—” Rich gestures with his free hand in the direction of the hospital, “—behind us, any surprises we’ll face in the future will pale in comparison. Our foundation is rock solid. You and I have gone through so much in such a short period of time. I know that we’re good together. Most people wouldn’t be able to handle the strain. That gives me hope.”
I nod in agreement.
“But,” he continues, “we’ve also missed so much: Lazy days lounging at home by ourselves. City dates where I can show you off. Long nights spent gazing at the stars and talking about our future together.”
“You want to do all that?” I whisper. I didn’t know Rich had such a romantic side.
“Penny, it doesn’t matter what we do, as long as I’m with you. But, yes. I want to experience everything this world has to offer with you. Those things, other things—hell, anything you want—as long as we’re there together, without the worries, the instability that we’ve always had thrust our way.”
I smile. “That does sound nice.”
“I know. And, we’ll get there,” he promises. But, it will take time. Right now, we have to sort out the mess with Amanda and Victor.”
“I know,” I sigh. “I don’t know why I thought drinking would be a good idea.”
“You’re stressed. Worried. It’s normal. But if you want me to rely on that brain of yours—” he taps my head playfully, “—you’ve got to stay sober. All right?”
“Okay,” I nod. “I just… I just can’t believe Amanda would follow us all the way here. Is she really so spiteful?”
“Hell, she tried to set us up in her house,” Rich says. “And you told me she set your apartment on fire. What do you think?”
I shake my head. “I honestly hoped that wasn’t actually her.”
“Well, she’s with Victor now.”
“It doesn’t make any sense. Rich, you’re usually a good judge of character. When you brought us to Amanda’s, you couldn’t have expected that she’d betray you like that!”
“Obviously not.”
“Well, then either she really holds a grudge, or there’s something else going on that we don’t know about. There’s got to be something other than jealousy driving her behavior.”
Rich frowns. “You think so?”
I slap his arm. “I know you have a high opinion of yourself, but let’s not get cocky.”
He grins. “I was kidding. You’re probably right. It shocked me how easily Amanda deceived us. I’ve known her for years. I told you about the breakup. But, after that, when she calmed down some, we stayed in touch. I mean, you think you know someone, and then they go and do something like this!”
“What does she want from us? That’s the real question.”
“Why can’t it be as easy as she wants to hurt me? She knows I care about you. Obviously, she knows I care about Min. If this is her way of getting back at me, then I think her real goal is to hurt the two of you.”
I shudder. “It’s kind of scary to know that I can incite that type of anger in a person.”
Rich looks at me intently. “I don’t want you to be scared, Penny. There’s nothing that I hate more than that. I want you to feel protected and safe when you’re with me. That’s why I’m going to do everything in my power to get us past this.”
“So what’s next?’ I ask. “How do we get past this?”
“First, I’ll go and talk to Amanda.”
“What?” I stand up, shocked. “Rick, she tried to kill us, and you want to talk to her? Why?”
“I know what she did. But I cannot believe she is all bad. I’m… worried about her.
Maybe I shouldn’t be. But I can’t help it. I’ve known her for a long time. We have a shared past. You were right. Something must be driving her to act this way. Maybe, if I can meet her, can confront her about it, I can help.”
“You want to help her,” I say flatly. I don’t believe my ears. “Did you forget what she did to Min?”
“Don’t you dare accuse me of forgetting about Min!” Rich snaps.
I can almost roll my eyes. Here we go again! I think.
“I am going to talk to Amanda, Penny. There will be no discussion. You can’t argue me out of it.”
“Unbelievable,” I mutter. “You say you trust me. You say you value my opinion. But every chance you get, you ignore what I say! Or worse, you don’t even hear it!”
“Don’t test me this time, Penny,” Rich warns.
“Why not? Why do you even pretend to care what I think?” I’m angry at him again. “You say you’ve changed, Rich. But you don’t show it. You’re exactly the same as before. Running forward with guns blazing, not giving a damn about what that does to the people who love you—”
“Enough!” Rich barks. He slams a fist on the table. “That’s enough, Penny. Dammit! Why do you have to make everything so difficult?”
“I make it difficult?” I would laugh if it did not hurt so much to do so. “At least I don’t pretend to think I know what’s best for everyone around me!”
Rich points a finger at me. “Not once did I do that!”
“Oh, wow, Rich. You’re serious?” I pause. “Okay, let me count the times. One, lying to me about everything the night we met. Two—”
“Fuck, Penny,” Rich groans. “We’re back to this again?”
“Two,” I repeat, speaking over him, “drugging me and giving me to Tam and Victor. Three,” I list, “deciding to come back for me, on your own, without any input from Min.”
“You’re blaming me for that?”
“I’m proving a point! Four, not telling me we were going to your ex’s house until we were at the door…”
“Are you finished yet?” Rich growls
Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) Page 216