Page 113 of The Nature of Secrets

“Idiot,” she mumbled as she swiped the tears of anger from her cheeks.

The porcelain sink abruptly fell off the wall and crashed to the floor. Cold water suddenly spewed at her.

“Shit!” She turned her face away from the spray and dropped to her knees. She felt blindly for the shutoff valve. Closed her fingers around it and gave it a twist.

The water stopped.

She sat on her knees in a puddle of water and started to laugh.

Finley laughed until she lost her breath. Finally, she pushed to her feet and reached for the stack of towels on the shelf next to the new hole in the wall. “That was about the stupidest thing you’ve done,” she grumbled.

She dropped to her knees once more and swabbed at the water. The sink was a goner. It had cracked. Oh well. It was junk anyway. To hell with it. Towels pushed all around the broken sink, she started to get up, but something snagged her attention, and she hesitated. Blinked. Then she looked again at the glob of white that had come loose from the sink. Didn’t look like porcelain. She frowned and surveyed the underside of the sink. There were several indentations molded into the underside of the porcelain, but one had been filled with something that had fallen loose in the crash to the floor. She picked up the small clump of white. Beyond the cracks in whatever the hell it was, she could see somethingblack. She squeezed the clump, and it broke apart. Like dried Sheetrock mud, she decided. The small dark object dropped onto a towel presently sucking up water on the floor.

“What the ...?”

The object she stared at right now was another thumb drive. Just like the one Matt had found under Derrick’s truck. Her heart did some sort of acrobatic move that stalled the air headed to her lungs.

No. She wasn’t doing this again. She grabbed the thumb drive. She should just throw it away. But she couldn’t. Instead, she stared at it, marveling that it had been hidden in such an odd place. A place no one would look.

Could this one actually be something important? The something those men had been looking for? Her heart bumped hard against her sternum.

She reached for her cell. Not in her pocket. Where had she left it? She scrambled to her feet, thumb drive held firmly in her fist, and rushed out of the bathroom. Her wet feet slipped as she made the turn toward the kitchen. She barely caught herself before slamming onto the floor. She launched forward again, made it to the counter, and grabbed her phone.

It rang.

Finley started. Almost dropped the damned thing. She stared at the screen. Didn’t recognize the number.

She accepted the incoming call. “O’Sullivan.”

“Ms.O’Sullivan, this is Karen Segal at Vanderbilt Medical Center.”

Oh hell. Finley braced for bad news. Had the Judge suffered a heart attack—assuming she had a heart? Her father? Jack? Forcing away the worries, Finley said, “How can I help you, Ms.Segal?”

“We’ve had a patient admitted, and you’re listed in his cell phone as an emergency contact.”

Finley’s heart stuttered. Had to be Jack. Shit. “What happened? Is he okay?” She had been telling him for years that he needed to get into a fitness routine. If he’d had a heart attack, she was going to kick his ass.

“There was an automobile accident. He’s been taken into surgery. That’s all the information I have at this time. We’d like you to answer a few questions if you can. Do you know if he is currently on any medications?”

“Jack doesn’t take any medications. No.” Jesus Christ. Jack was the safest driver in the world. How had he gotten in an accident?

“I apologize, but we seem to have had a miscommunication. The patient’s name is Matthew Quinn.”

Finley’s heart dropped into her stomach. “No.” Oh God. She gasped for a breath. “No, he doesn’t take any medication. Please, just tell me he’s okay.”

“I only know he’s been taken to surgery. Do you know of any preexisting conditions?”

“No. He’s completely healthy. I’m heading there right now.”

“Please let us know at the ER desk when you arrive, just in case we have additional questions. Drive carefully, ma’am.”

Finley didn’t care that she was wet from the broken sink in the bathroom. She grabbed her keys and bag and rushed out of the house.

She needed to be at that hospital. Now.

Vanderbilt Medical Center

Medical Center Drive, Nashville, 6:55 p.m.

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