Nora frowned. “Do what, love? What’s wrong? Talk to me. A burden shared is always lighter.”
“I just… There was a wreck… These kids… I didn’t know them… Just saw it all happen and…”
Nora heard the break in his voice, and knew that he had been crying, and it broke her heart. He was rambling. Everything was in bits and pieces. Some of it was from his childhood, some of it was what had just happened to the little boys in the wreck. Talking about stuff she’d never heard him voice. He’d scared himself and she knew it, soshe just listened until he stopped on his own.
“Shit, Nora. I’m not crazy. I just didn’t know I’d kept all that inside me. You caught me at a bad moment, or I would have never had the guts to tell you. To even talk about it. I’m sorry, really sorry.”
Nora groaned. “You do not ever apologize to me again for being honest. I have bawled off and on all over you, for the entire time you were in Crossroads, and you were there for me every time. I know you were the stoic for everyone in your family, but that’s not how we work. We’re partners. Not emotional cripples. Me for you. You for me. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“I love you. The whole you. Not just the face you turn to the world, no matter how pretty it is. Eat some food. Go to bed. This will all feel different in the morning, because you are no longer the secret keeper. You are not needed in that capacity again,” she said. “The long-range forecast for this week is the possibility of bad weather by this weekend. I refuse to be flooded in, trapped for God knows how long here, when I want to be with you. I will be at your house in two days. I will need the code to get into your gated community. A key to get into your house, and the code to deactivate the security alarm.”
He started laughing. “Just call me when you leave. Call me when you hit the outskirts of Austin, and I’ll make damn sure that I’m there. Okay?”
“Okay, and I love you,” Nora said.
“Nora Borden, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
“Oh… I haven’t happened at all like I’m capable of happening. In the meantime, take care of you,” she said.
He was still smiling when the call ended, and then proceeded to do everything she’d just told him to do. He ate some food, and he went to bed. And when he woke up thenext morning, the first thought in his head was the boys and the dad. He knew the hospital they’d been going to, and called a contact in admissions.
“Wendy Farris.”
“Wendy, this is Asher Kingston from the AG’s office. I need an update on Roy Lee Abrams. I pulled him and his sons out of that second pileup on the freeway last night. What is Abrams’ status?”
“Lord. Give me a sec,” she said.
He could hear keys clicking, and then she was back online.
“He’s in ICU, listed in serious condition. His next of kin was his wife, but she’s been listed as deceased.”
“Yeah, she died two hours before the wreck. Abrams was taking his kids to a grandmother’s house when the wreck happened.”
“Oh my God. Wait… Here’s added info. Ray Abrams and Mike Abrams, ages seven and nine, respectively, were cleared to go home, and were released to Janice Abrams, paternal grandmother.”
Asher sighed with relief. “Thank you. Appreciate the update. I may actually sleep tonight,” he said, and disconnected, then went to the kitchen to start coffee before getting dressed for work.
An hour later, he walked into the office, unaware he’d been caught on camera at the crash site, carrying Mike and Ray Abrams to the ambulance.
“Way to go, Kingston,” someone said.
“Camera-worthy every time,” someone else shouted.
He stopped. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“That wreck. The flying Audi. What a mess, right?”
Asher snapped back. “If that son of a bitch isn’t dead, he will wish he was. There wasn’t one damn thing funny aboutit. He shot straight between me and the car ahead of me. Missed me by inches, and sideswiped the car ahead of me instead, causing that multicar pileup. Then he shot across two more lanes trying to make the exit to the off ramp. I watched the bastard go airborne as I hit my lights to go after him. He landed in the middle of traffic below the overpass, causing the second pileup as well. Those little boys, nine and seven years old. Their mother had just died hours before in a hospital. Their dad was taking them to their grandma’s house. The first thing the oldest boy asked me was if his daddy was dead, and then the rest of their tragedy spilled out. I couldn’t find the words to answer, and I don’t want to talk about it.”
He hung his jacket and Stetson on the coat rack behind his desk and sat down.
The room was silent.
A few moments later, someone put a cup of coffee on his desk as they passed by, and another brought him a sweet roll. He didn’t acknowledge the gestures or the gifts. His stomach was in knots.
“Meeting in the murder room in five,” someone announced, which was where updates and dead ends and any new leads were revealed.
