Page 44 of Nothing But the Night (Basic Instincts 2)

“You don’t happen to know your friend’s next of kin?” Melody asked. “He said he didn’t want anyonenotified of his accident, but there must be someone who wants to know.”

His parents. Poor Marc. He wouldn’t want them to know the exact same thing that took the life of their youngest son had almost befallen him. Everything they were doing was for their protection.

“I don’t know,” he said. Only half true. He could have found their contact details easily enough. “But it’s late. There’s no point worrying anyone until the morning. Especially when you say he’s going to be okay, right?”

“I guess not. But if he was my brother, I’d want to know.”

She finished his blood pressure check and pronounced him in good condition. “The doctor will be along in a few minutes to discharge you.”

“I want to wait for Marc.”

She nodded. “I’ll find out which ward they have taken him to and let you know.” She put away her equipment. “There’s a police officer outside, if you want to talk to him.”

He nodded, then winced at the pain the movement triggered. “Send them in.”

He was a grateful a moment later when a familiar face stepped through the curtain. Benito Coppola. The Detective Sergeant was his usual smart, handsome self. Even in the middle of the night, he managed to turn it out.

Jason had already given a detailed statement straight after the crash.

“Any news?” he asked.

Benito stood over him. His head and broad shoulders blocked out some of the horrendous florescent light. “Last week I met you at the scene ofone murder. Now tonight, I’m here because someone tried to kill you. Are you ready to tell me what’s really going on?”

Jason ignored the question. “Did you find the driver?”

“Not yet. But we found the car. It was burned out on the coastal road. Remind you of anything?” Benito pulled out a chair and sat beside the bed.

Jason shielded his eyes against the glare again.

“Marc hired me to investigate the murder of his brother.”

“I figured that out for myself.”

“What about the car?”

“Stolen. Like the one that killed Theo Glass.”

“Someone doesn’t want us to know the truth.”

“Maybe someone should have trusted what they were doing to the police.” Was there a hint of animosity in Benito’s voice? Jason definitely detected a note of sarcasm.

“Because the cops did such a great job with the initial investigation,” Jason shot back defiantly.

Benito rolled his eyes. “Fair point. And Dan Blumel?”

“He was going to tell me what he knew about Theo on the night he was killed.”

“Fuck. Why didn’t you tell us any of this?”

Jason massaged his forehead. “Lower your voice, will you? It fucking hurts.”

Benito edged closer but spoke softly. “Come on, if you are on to something, you have a duty to share it.”

“How come the police didn’t know this stuff anyway? I don’t have your resources or manpower, but I tracked Dan down in no time.”

“And you almost got yourself killed. You have to stop and let us take care of it from here.”

Jason shuffled up the bed. He tried to sit forward until the pain in his broken rib gave him an excruciating reminder to keep still. “Are you people going to put any more effort into tracing the driver who came after us tonight, than whoever killed Theo Glass?”

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