“I’m already here,” I said without thinking.
He paused. “In Reedsport?”
“Yeah.”
There was a stretch of silence that had me pinching my brow. Jake knew a lot of things about my life, but I never told him about Riley. I never told anyone about Riley.
“Which hospital?” I asked, to veer him off the line of questioning I knew was coming.
“There’s only one hospital in Reedsport, Beck.”
“Right. Okay. I’ll head there now,” I said, as I made eye contact with Riley.
“Beckett?”
“Yeah.”
“You okay? You sound different.”
I had no doubt he was right. Forty-eight hours with Riley and I was feeling like a whole new person.
“I’m fine, Jake. Talk to you soon.”
We sat in silence for a few seconds as I tried to figure out how to tell Riley his close friend was in the hospital.
Riley asked in a hesitant voice, “You need to go?”
I reached for his hand and hauled us to our feet. “Weneed to go. Amelia’s hurt. She’s in the hospital.”
“What?” he cried.
I hated to ask this, but I needed to. “Do you know her boyfriend? Michael?”
His eyes widened. “Michaelhurt her?”
I nodded once. “Then he escaped arrest. Do you have any idea where he might be?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I only met him a few times before she moved to Atlanta with him. I didn’t like him, though. He was horrible to her.”
“Okay. Well, maybe she can tell us something. I’ll drive if you tell me where to go.”
“The dogs,” he said in a daze. “We need to swing by my house first.”
“Of course.”
***
When we reached the hospital, Riley was shivering next to me. I wished more than anything I could put my arm around him, but once again, I wasn’t sure how he’d take it.
We asked the receptionist which room Amelia was in, and as soon as we entered, I had to fight back a shudder. Her face was covered in black and blue bruises, and one of her arms was in a sling.
Amelia fell to pieces the moment she saw Riley and he all but ran to her, taking her gently into his arms. She clung to him like her life depended on it and I realized they were a lot closer than I originally thought.
“What happened?” Riley asked when she calmed down.
Her eyes fell. “I found out who bought the box from my friend, so I went to buy it back from him after explaining what I did. I just wanted to make things right, you know? I was going to call Beckett when I got home, but…” she stopped, brushing away some tears.
“That’s great you found it,” Riley assured her.
