“But I heard it from the shop. That’s why I left,” I answered.
Toby’s eyebrows went up, and he opened his mouth, but no words came out.
“Okay, but when they ask you, you just say you heard it from the sidewalk, alright?” Dexter asked.
The crow cawed again from outside, and I turned my attention to the window. She was sitting on a branch, staring in, and she fluffed her feathers at me. I swear she even bobbed her head up and down. I don’t know when I decided the crow was a she, but it just felt right to think of her as female.
I looked back at Dexter. “Okay,” I said.
He seemed to visibly relax, and then I could hear sirens outside.
“Showtime,” Dexter said, which seemed a weird thing to say.
I didn’t have time to ask, because Dexter got up to go out and meet the police officers and EMTs, and everything was a little chaotic after that. They came in and took the injured guy off on one stretcher, and they moved Toby and I out of the house pretty quickly. I was checked out by the EMTs, but I let them know I was a nurse and was just feeling a little shaken up. They put me on some oxygen and wanted to start an IV for fluids, but I insisted I would be okay. It was just adrenaline and low blood sugar, and I would eat right after this and rest. I got to have some oral glucose, which was so sweet it made my teeth hurt, but I was starting to feel more like myself.
The cops came over next, and I told them exactly what Dexter had said to tell them. It wasn’t that far off from the truth. When they asked whether I walked in while the “altercation” was still in progress, I could only say I wasn’t sure.
“It’s all kind of a blur,” I told the officer. “Which is super weird, because I’m used to dealing with crisis situations. I’m a nurse. I know sometimes people don’t remember things after traumatic events, but I’ve dealt with far worse medical emergencies. I didn’t feel so great when I was walking, though, so maybe I was already suffering from low blood sugar. Everything was sort of muffled and hazy.”
The police officer was writing stuff down, and he asked me where I worked, where I lived, and a few more questions, but I really couldn’t tell him much.
“Well, you did a good deed today, son,” he said, closing his notepad. “Who knows what would have happened if someone hadn’t heard a noise and checked on things. Nothing could be done for the son, although I’m sure you tried, but with the father unconscious, I’m not sure if help would have gotten to him or not.”
“Thanks, officer.” I knew I should have tried to say more or asked questions, but I was just too tired.
“We’ll be in touch if we have any other questions,” he said, then he walked off, leaving me to the ministrations of the EMTs.
Toby and Dexter came over after that, and there was a mini argument over whether I needed the hospital or not. I firmly insisted I did not, and eventually the EMT let us leave. It wasn’t long before Toby and Dexter were ushering me into a car. The crow cawed from a nearby tree, and I smiled up at her, glad she was still with me. Maybe that’s why it took me a good minute to realize that it wasn’t the car we had come in, and that it was Corbin who was driving.
Well, there went trying to appear normal for the cute guy. I climbed into the backseat and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. Toby slid in next to me, and he gently patted my hand, but I didn’t even open my eyes.
I loved my life, I really did, but sometimes I had the worst luck.
Chapter 9
Corbin
Crow didn’t often “speak”to me. I could read her, for lack of a better word, and I got feelings and impressions from her all the time. She’d followed Sebbie for shopping, and I could sense her, calm and at ease, for most of the afternoon. I was working on shaping a piece of banded carnelian I’d found—it was a vibrant orange with rings of paler colors marking the stone—when I felt a vague sense of curiosity from Crow.
I didn’t think too much of it—she was curious about a lot of human things—but I dropped what I was doing when I felt a flash of worry from her. I was already heading out of my workshop—a shed I worked out of behind the house—when she “spoke” to me. There was an image of Sebbie, a house, and a pervading feeling of death, along with the thought that I needed to be there NOW.
I was running for the house and the car keys in the same heartbeat.
We had multiple cars between us, and we generally just traded them around. It usually worked well, but not so well when you weren’t sure which keys to grab and felt the need to be somewhere right away. I ended up grabbing a handful of key fobs, pressing the lock button on each one as I ran out the door.When I heard the tell-tale beep from a car in the driveway, I hit unlock and ran over to it, hopping in and heading toward Crow.
I had a vague sense of direction from her as well, but Crow didn’t follow roads, so that didn’t necessarily get me to her in the fastest possible way. Luckily, we were already close to the local murder, and we had a good level of communication with them. Between the two of us, we were able to let them know they needed to guide me to Crow by road.
It was slower going than I would have liked, and I was relieved when Crow sent me an image of Toby and Dexter. If they were there, then I knew they’d take care of Sebbie. I kept driving, though, and I wasn’t surprised when Liam sent me a message with a gps location. The nosy asshole was probably tracking all our cars and hacking CCTV footage, but for once I was thankful for his surveillance. If there was anything that needed to be dealt with, he’d deal with it.
I was only a few minutes out when the phone rang.
“On my way,” I answered.
“Yeah, you might want to hold off on that,” Dexter answered, his voice quiet. “Cops and EMTs just got here. Park somewhere nearby, and you can come pick us up when shit’s settled down. I’ll call you back.”
The line went dead, and I growled in frustration. I could feel Crow’s frustration as well, but there was no sense of urgency anymore. She wanted me there, but Sebbie was safe.
I drove to the neighboring street, pulled over, and parked. The area was pretty shitty, and I doubted there was any kind of neighborhood watch worrying about random cars hanging out. I could see flashing lights through the yards of the houses. Dexter hated involving the police, but at least he wasn’t an idiot like Jude about them.
