What... What’s going on?A lone thought swirled in the darkness, tugging on my consciousness and demanding it leave the peace, quiet, and numb.
“She was doing your fucking job because she told you a million times Courtney Thorne didn’t do it, and you wouldn’t listen!”
My eyelid cracked open, sending searing light piercing through my brain.
“Look at my wife! Look at her!” shouted a familiar voice. “Is this what an innocent person does to a woman!?”
Through one eye, my vision slowly cleared. I was in something small and cluttered. The walls crowded me even as a firm surface kept me tethered.
Ambulance...my sluggish brain supplied.
I was in an ambulance—which meant the two figures standing at its entrance, shouting back and forth, were Alex and Officer Davis.
“This attack was unfortunate, but the fact remains that you and Mrs. Kim had no business here. You—”
I tried to speak. “Arggh.” Nothing but a groan came out.
“Mrs. Kim?” An unfamiliar face bore over me. From the uniform I safely guessed she was a paramedic. “Don’t try to speak, please. You’re safe now and we’re getting you to a hospital.”
“O... O-omma...” I croaked. “O— Om...ma...”
“What’s that? Uma?” Her freckled brow crumpled. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
“She’s saying Omma,” Alex snapped. “It means mother—hermother, whothat womankilled!”
“Mr. Montgomery, please calm down,” Davis said. “There’s no question an error was made. We have Mrs. Finley in custody, and she’s already given a full confession.” Davis fixed on me. “She’s admitted that on the night ofyour party, she persuaded her nephew, Officer Callahan, to sneak her inside your home... where she killed your mother.”
He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his stiff, tense throat. “Your reckless actions aside, I give you my sincerest apologies because it was mylackof action that drove you to it. You told me that it couldn’t have been Ms. Thorne. You asked me to investigate my fellow officers for a traitor, and you said there were stronger motives we were ignoring—and you were right on all counts.”
Davis looked back. “Last week, Mrs. Finley’s son, Colin Finley, passed away from a stroke in the care facility he was living in. The facility was underfunded, mismanaged, and criminally negligent. It seems not only did the nurses neglect to give Colin his necessary meds that day, they also failed to perform their regular bed checks. If they had, there was every chance this tragedy could’ve been prevented.”
My broken heart sank.
“Shocked and grieving, Mrs. Finley walked into your home to kill the person she blamed for Colin’s death. If Madame Kim hadn’t squashed her lawsuit, she would’ve had the money she needed to give Colin the best care.” He sighed. “Or so she believed.”
I tried to speak—my jaw working, but my voice had given all it was going to.
“That facility is now under investigation and Mrs. Finley will be charged for her crimes, but I know none of that makes up for your loss,” he told me. “I am sorry, Mrs. Kim, but I hope now you can grieve in peace, knowing that you fought for your mother and for the truth.”
No!
Davis tipped his head, then walked away.
“N—!” I tried to get out, my weak body not even trying to respond to my commands to move.Come back!
“She’s getting a bit agitated,” the paramedic lady said to someone. “I’m going to give her something to help her relax.”
Alex climbed into the ambulance, taking a seat by my side. Nothing but love and concern shown in his eyes as he took my hand.
“Don’t worry, baby,” he said over my internal screaming. “I’m right here.”
Darkness crowded in quickly, stealing me away.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
THAT NIGHT, I SAT INsilence—watching my sleepy Lantana town pass by the window.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Alex reached over and stroked my arm. “They said you could stay overnight. Maybe we should’ve—just to be safe.”
