Page 74 of Canvas of Lies
He handed the server his credit card, once we finally accepted that the evening had to come to an end. It was just past ten o’clock—not terribly late to our standards, but after the whirlwind of the previous few days, we were both beginning to wilt.
I smirked at him. “Drop a huge chunk of change on dinner?”
“Go out on a real date. Our relationship hasn’t exactly followed the usual progression. This is nice, spending time with you without any plots or crimes or attempted murder. Seeing you in that dress certainly doesn’t hurt, either.”
“Itisnice, isn’t it?” I mused, laying my napkin on the table as the server returned with Nico’s card. I waited until the young man left us alone to murmur, “Earlier, you mentioned some ideas about the rest of the night. I really hope a few of those arenice, too.”
Nico’s grin split his face as he grabbed my hand. “Oh, I can do a lot better than just nice, I think. Let’s get out of here.”
The remainder of our evening was so far beyondnicethat we both surrendered to our exhaustion immediately afterward, falling into a deep sleep still tangled up in each other’s limbs.
Chapter Thirty
Nico
Sometimewellbeforedawn,I awoke, disoriented. A cheerful, tinkling ringtone played from Kat’s phone on the bedside table, but I managed to grab it before her brain kicked into gear. I looked at the unfamiliar number across the screen and shrugged as I handed it to her.
She hit the speaker button. “Hello?”
“Ms. Willoughby? This is Detective Hanson. We spoke at the hospital. I’m sorry to call at such an early hour.”
“Yes, right.” She rubbed her forehead.
“I’m afraid your father has been in an accident,” Hanson said gently. “It would be best if you could come over to Eastman Memorial as soon as possible.”
I bolted into action, throwing off the blanket and jumping out of bed. Kat watched me, but she didn’t respond to thedetective, who said something else I missed in my hurry to dress. Once I’d tugged on my jeans, I planted a knee on the bed next to her and squeezed her hip gently. Those sleepy blue eyes finally focused on my face as understanding swept over her features.
“I—what kind of accident?” she asked. “Is he hurt?”
Hanson let out a quiet breath. “They’re working on him now, Ms. Willoughby. How quickly can you get here?”
“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” I answered for her. “Half an hour, maybe?”
“Good, that’s good. I’ll be waiting in the lobby when you come in.”
I took the phone from her limp hand and tugged her to her feet. “Let’s get you dressed,” I murmured.
She moved like a sleepwalker as I helped her throw clothes on, blinking up at me with a confusion in her big blue eyes that broke my heart. We were out the door in under five minutes, but the numbness seemed to have seeped from her brain into her limbs as we got into the car. I buckled her seatbelt for her, closed the passenger door, and jogged around to the driver’s side.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon when we pulled up in front of the hospital entrance. I spoke to the parking valet and ushered Kat into the waiting room. Detective Hanson stood when she spotted us.
“What happened?” Kat asked immediately.
Everything about her still seemed sluggish, but under the glaring hospital lights, reality was finally sinking in.
Hanson led us to a quiet corner of the lobby where Officer Ford waited, then spoke in a low voice. “As far as we can tell, he was run off the road just outside of town.”
My gaze had been on Kat, ready to leap into action if she started to fall apart, but it jerked to Hanson’s face at the statement.
“Outside of town,” I repeated.
“Not too far from where your car landed in a ditch, actually,” she added, watching us both closely.
Kat frowned. “Why would he be out driving at this time of night?”
“As far as we can tell, he was meeting with a woman who has a house out on the lake. The accident happened around nine-thirty or so last night. We just got called in on this. Witnesses described the same SUV that tailed you two. Unfortunately, Mr. Willoughby’s vehicle spun into a tree instead of a ditch.”
“Then it wasn’t him,” Kat said quietly. She looked up at me. “He wasn’t behind it.”
