Page 102 of Spying Under the Mistletoe
I attempt a different tactic. “What should I tell her family?”
Am I planning to contact them? Hell, no.
She needs that as much as she needs an elf shooting pucks at her head.
“Exactly the same thing I told you.” She flashes me a look that’s part pity and part “now move along, please.”
“Can’t you at least let me know if she’s okay? Is she conscious?”
“I’m sorry, I really don’t know anything more than I’ve told you.”
It’s clear from her expression that she’s telling the truth. I nod and pivot to return to Adam.
But instead of joining him, I keep walking out the sliding doors.
The memories of Sarah’s accident continue to pound on me. I loved her, but that had meant shit-all. I couldn’t protect her, no more than I had been able to protect Chloe.
The difference was it hadn’t been my job to protect Sarah—not in the same way it was for Chloe.
I’d let down both women. I’d let down so many people.
I begin pacing in front of the hospital doors. “Fuck, I can’t do this,” I mutter to myself.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Is there any reason you’re making a trench in the sidewalk?” Adam asks. I didn’t even notice him leave the hospital.
“What the hell happened?” My pacing doesn’t slow.I can’t do this.
“I don’t exactly know. She left the seniors’ residence, and I followed her. But a delivery truck cut in front of me. By the time I caught up with Chloe, her car was upside down in the middle of the intersection. Witnesses said they saw a truck plow through the red light at an excessive speed. It didn’t stop to check on her. It kept going.”
I continue pacing the entire time he tells me this.
“Do you know if the light had just turned red, and the driver didn’t have time to stop?”
“According to witnesses, the truck had plenty of time to stop. If anything, it accelerated when Chloe approached the intersection.”
“So, it was deliberate.”
The fact that the driver didn’t bother to stop after ramming into her confirms that. The motherfucker wanted her harmed.
I run my hand down my face, the helplessness from all those years ago worming its way in. I want to punch my fist through the wall.
Or better yet, the man responsible for putting Chloe in the hospital.
And while we’re at it, how about I just add her grandfather, cousin, and everyone else in her family who embraced that life of crime.
If it weren’t for them, things would be so different for Chloe. For one, she wouldn’t be struggling with the belief that any man she loved would eventually be murdered.
The chill in the air seeps through my long-sleeved T-shirt. But despite the cold and the bone-chilling dampness, I can’t bring myself to step back inside the building.
“Still no word,” Adam says, returning at one point after checking with the unit clerk if there’s any update on Chloe’s status.
“You’d think they’d at least tell me something. What with me being her fiancé and all.”
“You might have gotten further if you’d been more creative. Couldn’t you have come up with something not so clichéd?”
I throw him a look. “I’ll keep that in mind for the next time someone I care about lands in the hospital.”
