Page 114 of Legacy of Lies
“What?”
“They gave me hot chocolate. In a big cup.” He demonstrated with hands.
“Awesome.” He kept his hands on his kid. Couldn’t stop smoothing his son’s orange hair. Couldn’t stop rubbing his kid’s warm skin.
Zach was alive.
Son of a bitch, at some point he’d have to explain to Zach about his mother’s death. Not right now, though. He needed his son to recover from his ordeal first. Garrison needed time to process what he’d learned, too. Grieve for the marriage he had never really had in the first place.
Zach leaned forward and whispered. “Know what else?”
“What?” He played along.
His eyes widened. “They put bags of hot water, you know, downthere. I think some girls saw ... stuff.”
Garrison stifled a laugh and hugged him. “Probably worth it, if you’re alive.”
“Yeah.”
He didn’t know how long he held his son, but it wasn’t nearly long enough.
A petite doctor popped into the room with a quirk to an eyebrow. “Hi, I’m Dr. West. So, sounds like you two have had an interesting evening. Mr. Taggart, is Ms. Lopez part of these festivities as well?”
Garrison nodded. “Yes, Ms. Lopez was mixed up in a kidnapping. She managed to get Zach free. Can you take care of her?”
“Next on my list. Your family is keeping me on my toes tonight.” Her shoulder-length brown hair swung forward.
“Are you new to the area?” he asked. “Sorry, it’s a small town.”
“No worries. Yes, I’ve been here since August, first job out of family medicine residency.”
“Not ER?”
“It’s a small hospital, Mr. Taggart.” She grinned. “Welcome to rural medicine. We have to cover a lot of bases.”
“I can see that. What do you think about Dad?”
She frowned. “Won’t know for certain until the CT is completed. If we can get his blood pressure under control and help him relax, we can limit any damage that is occurring.”
“You think stress brought on his symptoms?”
“Didn’t cause the problem but sure didn’t help.”
A stab of pain flashed behind his left temple. Reducing Dad’s stress. More to manage.
“And Zach?”
Her green eyes danced as she wrinkled her nose at Zach. “He’s going to be just fine.”
Bless him, but his son smiled and blushed.
“Thank you so much.” Garrison shook her hand.
A nod. “If you don’t mind, let me go work on your dad and Ms. Lopez now. Um, can I get the officer in for a statement? He asked to talk with you.”
“Sure.”
A few minutes later, an older officer, with a notebook ready, entered the cubicle. The officer gave him a professional smile and took the statement. Thank God the law enforcement guy wasn’t Tommy Brand. Garrison couldn’t take any more of the Brand clan this evening.
