Page 110 of Kept in the Dark

Elijah Washington had been pronounced dead before Hailey and Trey ever made it to the hospital. When Trey had first entered the room, he had been unsettled by the absence of the beeps of the heart machine or the swooshing of the ventilator. Now it was the sound of CSI techs collecting evidence that filled the space. And because the room was a crime scene, Hailey was not allowed to go inside, something she was pouting about.

Shocker.

In the hall, an officer was trying to console Lauren as she cried over the death of her friend. Trey detoured to where the blonde was standing, and gently touched her back. “Lauren, would you like me to call David for you?”

She patted her eyes with a tissue, mascara marking her cheeks and snot running down her nose. “No, I’ll be okay. David is in a meeting, so I'll call him later.” Her eyes rounded. “David is going to be devastated. How am I going to tell him that Eli is dead?! They were best friends.”

Lauren began sobbing again and the officer gently pulled her into his chest and stroked her hair. By the slight grin on the officer’s face, he was smitten with the southern belle and was happy to be a shoulder to cry on.

Trey eyed the man and then returned his gaze to Lauren. Once Lauren composed herself, Trey continued, “I know you’ve already told Officer Montez what happened, but can you go over it again for me?”

Nodding, she inhaled deeply, her voice shaky. “I uh- I was about to come into Eli’s room when I saw a man holding a pillow over his face.” Her voice cracked and she let out a yelp.

“You’re doing great. Were you already in the room or still outside the door?”

“I had just opened the door. It took my brain a minute to figure out what was happening.”

Trey nodded. “Okay, what happened next?”

“I screamed and dropped the flowers.” She looked over to the puddle of water, red roses, and broken glass that was in the doorway, tagged by a yellow evidence marker. “I startled him, I think. He dropped the pillow and ran off, almost knocking me to the ground.”

“Did you get a good look at him?”

She looked at the room full of police then looked at the floor as she twirled her hair. “No.”

Trey furrowed his brow. “You know who did it, don’t you?”

“He could have killed me! I’m not going to put a target on my back. Look at what happened to Eli, to Loretta. Look at Hailey!”

He glanced at Hailey who was making conversation with a nurse. Though she tried to cover the bruises with makeup, he could still see their shadows. He could hear her cries at night when she would wake up from a nightmare.

Trey felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. He was supposed to keep people safe, but people were dying. And he was not any closer to making it stop.

Lauren started crying again and Trey gave her a moment to stop. “Lauren, we will make sure you're protected, but I need to know who it is in order to do that.”

She tore at the tissue in her hands, considering her fate if she told what she saw. Finally, she sniffled and sighed. “It was Ryan House.”

Trey stilled. “Are you positive?”

“Yes! I know what he looks like,” she chastised

“You’re going to need to come down to the station and make an official statement. Can you do that?”

Irritated by the inconvenience, she huffed and nodded her head. She puckered her lips and crossed her arms, a stance in which Trey knew she had done a thousand times to get her way. He was confident no one dared tell this woman no. If they did, they would surely suffer her husband’s fury.

Officer Montez quickly chimed in, “Mrs. Gallagher, I’d be happy to drive you to the station and take your statement.”

Relishing the attention from the man, Lauren gave him a soft smile while wiping at her tears. “I’d love that, Jimmy.” She touched Jimmy’s arm softly and Trey thought he might melt right at her feet.

As Lauren began walking down the hallway toward the elevator, Trey warned Jimmy, “Don’t forget she’s the mayor’s wife. Don’t do anything stupid.”

The young man ran his hand through his hair, debating if a night with Lauren would be worth the ramifications.

Trey brought him back to reality, “Jimmy.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And don’t let her leave the station until we find Ryan. The last thing I need is for her to get hurt or killed.”

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