Page 34 of High Intensity

I shoot him a grateful smile and make a mental note to thank him properly when I have a chance.

“Ma’am? For now, I’m going to need to ask you to wait outside. There’s a small waiting room for family right across the hall. Someone will be in to get some information from you, and I’ll come see you when I know more.”

Shit. I have a feeling this false claim being related isn’t going to hold water for long once they discover I really have no information to give. I assume they’ll want to know things like medical history, allergies, insurance, and stuff like that. I know nothing.

As luck would have it, I bump into Sheriff Ewing when I slip out of the room.

“Great job finding her.”

I offer a smile at his compliment and put my hand on his arm, leading him across the hallway into the waiting room the doctor indicated. Thankfully, no one is in here.

“So you’re not confused later,” I tell him as I take a seat. “I lied and told staff I’m her aunt to be allowed to stay close.”

He nods, a serious expression on his face. “I see. Well…since the poor kid seems to have lost almost her entire family in that crash, she can probably use an extra relative.”

“I’m not sure how useful I’ll be. I was told someone will be in to get information, but I have no idea what to tell them.”

Ewing sits down beside me. “Don’t worry. I stopped at the nurses’ station coming in and explained the situation.”

That’s a relief, I’m not a fan of lying—I’m not particularly good at it—and would’ve hated to have had to come up with some plausible story.

“You’re saying she has some remaining family?” I come back to something he said earlier.

While Wolff and I were on the search, he filled me in on what he knew about Hayley’s background. Somehow, I thought her entire family was on that plane, but apparently not.

“Yeah, an uncle. Her father’s younger brother. We were finally able to connect with him through the family company. He was in Guatemala on a business trip and is making his way home.” He flips his hat back and runs a hand through his hair. “I’ll see if I can get word to him; it’ll be a relief for him to hear his niece was found alive. The man was devastated.”

“I’m sure. Can you imagine what that girl went through these past days?”

“No.” He shakes his head and puts his hat on the chair beside him. “I’ve seen a few things in my day, but that crash site was pretty horrific.”

A silence falls over the room, and I rest my head back against the wall, briefly closing my eyes.

The sun was already down by the time we arrived at the hospital, and I hope Wolff got my dogs out for a pee. That’s something I don’t really have in place yet, a dog sitter. Someone like Kimmie, my next-door neighbor’s teenage daughter, who would look after the remaining dogs when I was on a search. She’d stay at my house if I had to go out of town.

I’m going to have to start looking for someone like that around here, but I haven’t even had a chance to knock on my neighbors’ doors to introduce myself. During the summer their care is a little easier; the pack would be happy outside in thedog kennel where they’d have a small fenced-off run. Of course, someone would have to stop by to ensure they have fresh water and get fed regularly. In the winter, however, they’re inside the house, and that would mean trusting someone with the key and alarm code so they can get in.

Normally trust takes time for me. Oddly enough, I didn’t think twice about handing Wolff my keys. I’m not sure what to make of that.

Speak of the devil, fifteen minutes later he walks into the waiting room.

“Any news?” he asks, his attention moving from me to Junior and back.

“Still waiting to hear,” the sheriff answers first, cocking his thumb at me. “I’m sure they’ll come here first, since Jillian here is the nearest family around.”

At Wolff’s confused look, I confess my minor deception and earn a grin.

“Everything okay with the dogs? You got here fast,” I observe.

“They’re fine. JD went with me; he’s taking them for a run out behind your house. I was going to hit up Best Buds and grab us a quick pizza, but decided to first come to see what was going on.”

He’s about to take a seat on my other side, when the doc who was looking after Hayley walks in.

“I see you’ve grown in numbers,” she comments, “You’re all here for the girl?”

“Hayley Vallard, yes,” the sheriff confirms, getting to his feet.

I get up as well.

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