Page 76 of Operation Annulment
She was so damn convincing that I considered staying.
What does that say about me?
“I didn’t think you were on the schedule for today.”
I look up from my lukewarm cup of coffee to find my surgical nurse coordinator frowning at me. “I was on call last night and didn’t have anything better to do, so I just stayed here.”
Truthfully, I have no idea how long I’ve been sittingin the physician’s lounge. The days are all blurring together. I’ve been sleeping in my car or here. I keep telling myself I’m doing it to avoid an awkward run-in with Kate, but the reality is that I’m not ready to go home to an empty house.
Eventually, I’ll have to, but not today.
“Are you feeling okay?” Monica asks, peering into my eyes. “Flu’s going around right now.”
I shake my head. “I’m fine. Why?”
“Because you look like shit,” she says bluntly before taking the chair across from me. “I’m guessing you witnessed the drama downstairs firsthand since you were here all night.”
“What drama?” I ask before taking another drink of coffee, praying the caffeine will snap me out of this fog.
Monica leans forward conspiratorially. “Remember the female that was brought in Monday afternoon? The one that seemed to point to a ‘for-hire’ attack?”
“Jessica Davis?”
Her eyes widen. “Yeah, I’m surprised you remember. Then how do you not know?—”
“That a woman named Mary Katherine Quinn set the whole thing up?”
Monica’s brows furrow. “What? The police obtained a warrant to search Jessica’s house. They haven’t said specifically what was found, but it must have been incriminating enough for them to arrest her. I’m just upset that I wasn’t downstairs when it happened. I always miss the good stuff and had to hear all about it from one of the residents.”
My heart sinks even as my mind races through the last seventy-two hours. “That’s impossible. She was beaten and raped—no one in their right mind would do that to themselves.”
“No one in their right mind would, but from everything I heard, I’m not so sure she is,” she says, circling a finger near her temple.
Jess is a lot of things, but crazy is notone of them.
Right?
“Yeah, I’m here to see an inmate—Jessica Davis,” I say, tapping my fingers impatiently against the laminate counter.
“Nate?”
My shoulders drop at the sound of the voice. Of all the fucking people to be here right now, it had to be him.
I turn around and paste a fake smile on my face. “Detective Do-Right, what a surprise.”
His eyes narrow at the nickname. “What are you doing here? We released Kate yesterday morning.”
I knew they would arrest her, but hearing it from Mike is like a knife to my heart. If anyone’s crazy, out of the three of us, it’s bound to be me.
“I’m here to see Jess. I think you’ve got the wrong girl.”
Mike waves his hand at the woman behind the counter. “Hey, Sierra, I’ll take it from here. Come on, Nate. Let’s talk.”
I should tell him to go fuck himself, but I’m desperate for answers. So, with my head held high, I follow the son-of-a-bitch into his office.
He gestures toward a chair and shuts the door behind me. “You want coffee or water?”
“Yeah, I’d like a latte and maybe a scone to go with it,” I mutter dryly. “Is this the police station or a fuckingStarbucks?”
