Page 144 of Another Girl Lost

As he stood outside Margo’s hospital room, he glanced at his empty hands. Should he have flowers? But if he had flowers, it was proof he wasn’t an objective cop when it came to her. They’d see him as the cock-trapped ass that he was.

They’d slept together multiple times, and he’d do it again in a heartbeat. She was a hard woman to quit. But that had to stay in the past until he sorted this all out.

In the dimly lit room, she was lying on her back. Her eyes were closed. Her expression was always so controlled and stern, and now sleeping, she looked years younger. As he sat beside her bed, her eyes fluttered open immediately.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” he said.

“I never really sleep,” Margo said.

“The hospital would like an emergency contact.” He inched his chair closer to the bed.

“I don’t have one.”

“No one?”

“Nope.” She raised a brow. “Don’t look stunned.”

“I’m not.”

“I’m a big girl.” She moistened her lips. “Who’s your person?”

He filled a pink plastic cup with water and held it to her lips. She drank, smiled. “Once it was my wife. Now, I’m not so sure.”

“I kind of thought for a fleeting second that you could be my emergency call.”

“I’m not. I can’t until all this is sorted out.”

She tried to sit up but winced. “I know.”

He arranged the pillows behind her until she appeared more comfortable. “You’ll be as good as new in a couple of weeks.”

“Where’s Scarlett?” she asked.

“Arrested. Bailed out now.”

Tension creased her brow. “She made bail?”

“She has a good attorney.”

“Have you talked to Lynn Yeats yet?”

“She’s next on my list.” Odd, he didn’t want to tell Margo that Lynn was two floors down in the same hospital. Had the seeds of Scarlett’s doubts rubbed off on him?

“Good.”

“Why were you at Scarlett’s house?” he asked.

“She told me to meet her at the warehouse. She had something to tell me.”

“How did she reach out?”

“We passed on the street. I had to run up to my place. When I came back, it all went sideways.”

“Why bring Lynn to her warehouse and tie her up? Why not just kill her?”

“She wanted Lynn to confess,” Margo said. “All these years of not knowing if Lynn had helped Tanner ate away at her.”

“She painted pictures of Della, not Lynn.”

---