Page 101 of High Frequency

“Fine,” he grumbles. “But I’m sticking close.”

He lifts his hand to stop me when I start to object. “Out of sight, but close,” he insists.

I nod, letting him have that one. I’m sure this afternoon’s events were traumatizing for him as well. Also, if not for Dan’s protective tendencies, I recognize I likely would not have survived that fire.

I’m not sure how long I’d been out for when Shelby’s frantic screams penetrated. I was disoriented at first, the cabin had already been filling with smoke and I could feel the heat of the flames on my skin, but reality set in fast enough. I had to fight my instincts to get the hell out of there, because there was no way I could even contemplate leaving Shelby behind.

She’d been incoherent with fear and given our very precarious situation, I didn’t waste time coaxing her out of her bra gently. I needed my hands on those wires if I had any chance of getting her, and therefore myself, out of there alive.

Truth be told, I’d already been losing hope by the time I heard a loud bang behind me. When we were getting sprayed with embers, I was convinced the roof had started caving in. Next thing I knew, I was being dragged through a wall of flames by Dan, who’d come sweeping in like some fictional action hero.

So, I let him push me, in the wheelchair he insisted on, to Shelby’s hospital room. A curtain is partly pulled around her bed, which is not visible from the door. I can see why when I spot SAC Bellinger already in the room, but out of sight of the bed. He presses his index finger to his lips. I nod at him as I roll myself around to the other side of the bed.

Shelby has her eyes closed, and only now do I notice the bruising around her eyes and the dark marks around her neck. When I touch her hand, she startles awake. As soon as she sees me her eyes fill with tears.

“Thank you,” are the first words from her mouth. “You stayed.”

“Technically, I think those thanks belong to Lucas Wolff and Dan, because I wasn’t having a whole hell of a lot of luck getting you out.”

At the mention of Dan’s name, I notice her wince.

“When we were young, he always protected me,” she starts, and for a moment I’m not sure if she’s talking about Dan or Jason. “I’d get teased in school, and he would take care of the bullies, like an older brother might. His mom and mine are close, they’re sisters, so he was a constant presence growing up.”

Yeah, that has to be Jason.

She sniffles and I hand her a box of tissues from the nightstand. I choose not to say anything and risk disrupting her flow. As it turns out, she doesn’t need my prompting, since she continues after she blows her nose.

“He’s the one who actually introduced Michael and me. It was at a baseball game I went to see. Both of them played in the same league, just on opposing teams.”

I let her talk through the years of her marriage, understanding that for her it’s probably all part of the same story. However, my interest is piqued when she explains how he started spending stretches of time away from home—indicating she had no idea where he was—and when he’d return, he’d become increasingly violent with her.

“My parents never knew, but when I showed up at home that last time he put his hands on me, after our divorce was finalized, Jason was there. He told me he’d make sure no one would ever hurt me again.” She shakes her head as she stares past me out the window. “I swear I didn’t ask him to, but I think he may have done something to Michael.”

I finally break my silence, wanting more information from her.

“Do you know if Jason was one of those hunting buddies of Michael you told me about before?”

I get a quick flash of her eyes. “As far as I know, Jason was the only one.”

The way she avoids looking at me directly for long, I have to wonder whether she may have had some inkling her cousin and her ex-husband were engaged in some questionable things. I have a good sense she wouldn’t admit it if she did.

“How did you end up at the cabin?” I ask instead.

“Jason came back to the store after he saw me talking to you. He told me if I didn’t come with him, he could make it look like my father spray-painted Dan’s house and would make sure he’d end up in prison.”

“But that wouldn’t have been true, would it?” I prompt her.

She shakes her head. “No, Jason did that…” She leaves a big pause before adding, “At my request.”

A nurse walks in, wheeling a medical cart.

“I’m sorry, I just need to take your vitals,” she addresses Shelby. “And then I really need you to get some rest,” she adds.

She doesn’t look at me but I know the last comment was meant for me.

“I will leave you to it,” I announce, wheeling my chair back to make room for the nurse. “We’ll be in touch.”

“Sloane?” she calls as I’m heading for the door.

---