Page 65 of Skin Deep

Chapter22

Harrison

The number was local, but it was attached to one of the hospitals. I called the hospital directly, but no one could tell me where the call came from. I called everyone I knew, even Georgina numerous times again. Everyone was okay, but she never answered. I decided to go to the hospital. No one could tell me anything there, either. They took my name and number and told me if they found something out, someone would be in touch.

The next day, I was driving back to the hospital. I was going to demand answers. I was still calling Georgina. Instead of it ringing, it was going straight to voicemail, but I couldn’t leave a message. An automated system told me it hadn’t been set up. After this trip, if it yielded no results, I was going to call Kee or Mari. Or I was going back to Modica. I would have already left, but things seemed to be only getting worse with the many fires Cash had going.

The Craigs were number one on the list. Kelly had found out that it was two of their guys who had tried to stab him and Lach the night before. I didn’t need them following me and me leading them to her.

Cash had taken Lach to a private place set up for gangsters who were wounded. Tito Sala, a doctor connected and related to the Fausti family, had founded them. They were placed all over the city in discreet locations. Men like Cash Kelly paid a hefty monthly fee to use them. Lach was a little surprised that Clara Bow Mulligan had been the nurse who’d stitched him up. I wasn’t. Her old man had been connected at one time.

My mind was elsewhere, wherever Georgina was, and the car that came out of nowhere and slammed into me hit me so hard that I spun out of control and hit two other cars. When my car came to a stop, the sound of metal crashing against metal still rang in my ears. I smelled something burning. The hood of one of the cars I’d hit was smoking. Air bags had been deployed.

People who were in the direct path of the accident started to get out of their cars, looking around. Some people held cellphones. Sirens started to wail in the distance.

I’d caught sight of the SUV that had hit me right when it had rammed me. Black. Tinted windows. Big enough to feel like a Mack truck. I felt something itching my forehead, like something crawling on it. When I touched it, I winced, pulling back a smear of blood. It wasn’t a huge gash. Just a small one that was bleeding freely.

My phone rang. It was an unknown number calling. I wondered if it was the Craigs, letting me know what they’d done. I didn’t offer a greeting when I answered.

“Hello?” the Italian voice said. “Hello?”

“Who’s this?”

“Harrison Ryan? My name is Tito Sala.”

“This is Harrison,” I said.

“I am Tito Sala. I am a doctor who—”

“I know who you are,” I said, and not impolitely. Tito Sala was a legend in the Fausti family and beyond.

“I was also Pasquale Ranieri’s cousin. His granddaughter—you are familiar with her?”

“I am,” I barely got out. My heart wasn’t hammering this hard at the impact. Blood rushed down my face even quicker with the frantic beat of my heart.

“The hospital tried to call you last night. No answer, they tell me. I am taking it upon myself to call you today. Georgina—”

“Where is she?” I rushed out.

“Hey? You okay in there?”

I nodded, waving away the guy who was standing at my door. The door creaked open with a push and the guy stepped back. He shoved a card in my face, then put his head down and kept walking. It had the Craig’s family crest on it. I looked up. He was halfway down the block already. Our eyes met and he nodded, then kept walking.

“You still there, Harrison?” Dr. Sala asked.

“Yeah, I’m still here.”

He gave me the name of the hospital and the floor. Then he asked me what was going on.

“Accident,” I said. “Someone slammed into me.”

“Where are you?”

I told him.

“Stay there,” he said. “I will arrange your ride. It will be quicker if your car is not drivable.”

It was, but the traffic was gridlocked. I told him where I was, and a few minutes later, an ambulance came and picked me up. It wasn’t the ride I was expecting, but it got me to the hospital quicker than I could have on my own. I called Cash and my brothers to tell them what had happened on the way. The issue with the Craigs was starting to spread. I hung up with Lach when we pulled up to the hospital.

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