CHAPTER FIFTEEN
JEFF HADN’T EVEN made it to the police barricades surrounding the house where Ray Conklin was holding Evan when Olivia called.
“Evan’s free, but his arm is broken. He’s on his way to the hospital in an ambulance now. I’m with him.”
Jeff should have been with him, not his fucking PI.
At least he’s not alone.
“Conklin?”
“He’s dead.”
Rest in Hell, motherfucker.
“I’ll tell you everything when you get here.”
Five minutes later, Jeff sprinted through the brightly lit hospital parking lot faster than he’d ever run in his life. It wasn’t nearly fast enough.
After checking in at the ER, he was shown to the room where Evan lay on a huge bed, his right arm resting on a table, bandaged and splinted and covered with ice packs.
Relief, fear, and joy stirreda cyclone of emotion that nearly brought Jeff to his knees.
“Daddy?” Evan’s eyes widened and then he burst into tears.
Jeff nodded at a woman in scrubs and moved past her to stand at his son’s side. “Hey, peanut. I’ve missed you.”
Lifting a hand, he hesitated. Where was it safe to touch?
The woman said, “It’s just his arm and a bump on the right side of his head. No complaints of painanywhere else.”
With a nod of thanks, he took Evan’s left hand. God, where to begin? It had been four months since they’d spoken and he had no idea what his son had been through. But Evan recognized him. That was a good start.
Over the next hour, Jeff stayed with him as much as he was allowed for X-rays and surgical prep. Evan had a compound fracture of his humerus—the upper arm bone—whichrequired surgery to realign the bones and keep them fixed in place with pins.
Good thing Conklin was already dead. The bastard.
Once Evan was wheeled away for surgery, Jeff was asked to check in at the registration desk before becoming a fixture in the pediatric waiting room.
Olivia found him at Registration, filling out insurance paperwork. Despite the late hour, she appeared perfectlycomposed in a button-up shirt and slacks, her tight curls oiled and scraped into a bun. “How’s he doing?”
His baby, the light of his life, was under the knife, and Jeff couldn’t do squat keep him safe. Just like he hadn’t kept him safe from Bridget or Roy.
What kind of father was he? He should have pushed Olivia harder to tell him where Evan was. After all,he’dbeen paying her, not the cops.Maybe if Jeff had been there he could’ve prevented— “You should have let me get him.”
“It would’ve turned ugly and you know it.”
Given what they knew now, she’d made the right call, but it still pissed him off.
Jeff blew out a sigh. “Probably. I’m just…” Angry, scared, overwhelmed? All of it.
“There’s nothing you could have done, but I’d be just as upset in your shoes.”
He nodded. Thewords on the stupid form wouldn’t come into focus. How the hell was he supposed to concentrate? A million things could go wrong. An allergic reaction, a bad doctor, too much blood loss… “He’s in surgery. They have to reset his arm and fix it with pins.”
“Poor kid.” She moved in next to him and rested her elbows on the counter. “He’s had a rough few months. You both have.”
“He’s alive and safe.That’s all that matters.”
