“I’ll be back. Text me if you need me.”
Her brother left the room and she reached for Rory’s hand, holding it lightly in hers.
“Don’t piss Rene off,” she whispered. “I don’t want her mad at me.”
She didn’t know if Rory could hear her, but she’d keep talking. Keep letting him know she had him. She wouldn’t leave him. And she’d damn well kick his ass when he woke up over this for scaring her.
At least thirty more minutes went by with no change, then Ford came in with Clay. She should have figured they’d be together.
“How’s he doing?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. He’s not responding, but I’m talking to him. Do you know what happened?”
Ford squatted down closer to her to talk. “His brake line was punctured. Not sure when it was done. Those things can be fast or slow.”
She closed her eyes and sank into the chair, her hand gripping Rory’s tighter. “This is too much. This isn’t just getting him to leave town because of some business deal or because it’s bad for tourism.”
“No,” Ford said. “It’s not.”
“Who is looking into this? County or State Police?”
“State Police, but I talked to an investigator and captain I know. I shared what I thought I could.”
“What was on record,” she said. “Right?”
He nodded his head.
She felt pressure on her fingers and spun to see Rory moving his arm.
He let out a moan and then tried to open his eyes.
She got closer and was quietly urging him to wake up.
“Where am I?” he asked.
“You’re in the hospital,” she said, her hand on his face barely touching him, just enough for him to know she was here and it wasn’t a dream. “You got in a car accident.”
He blinked his eyes a few times. “My brakes were gone.”
“We know,” Ford said.
Rory seemed to adjust his vision. “The glove box.”
“Got it,” Clay said, looking at Ford.
Gale frowned and then realized what was going on.
Rory had Clay’s gun in the glove box and that was most likely why her brothers were together. While Ford was talking to the State Police, Clay would have retrieved that quickly so no one got jammed up.
She pulled her phone out and texted Blaze quickly to let him know Rory was awake.
“Do you remember anything?” she asked, her voice as soothing as she could make it. Definitely not something she’d perfected in her life.
“Gale, let Blaze come in and look him over before we ask too many questions.”
“It’s alright,” Rory said. “I was getting close to the exit and went to slow down and the brakes were gone. I kept driving hoping that as I went up the mountain I’d slow enough. I was, but then feared picking up speed on the way down. I thoughtrunning off the road was the best option. Guess I didn’t plan it as well as I thought.”
“Would have done the same damn thing,” Clay said.
