That’s what I’d like to know.
Janie went to her purse, which she’d previously left on the nightstand next to his bed, pulled out her phone and looked at the screen. “It’s a D.C. number.” She frowned, putting the call on speaker before answering. “Hello?”
“Yes, this is Barbara Stevens, at George Washington University Hospital. Is this Jeannette Reynolds?”
The hospital?
“Yes, this is she.”
With her eyes locked on Emmett’s through the shadows of his room, they waited for more.
“Miss Reynolds, I’m a nurse in the emergency room here at the hospital, and we have a patient who has you listed as their emergency contact with medical power of attorney.”
Emergency contact?
“Who?” Her sleep-deprived mind worked to make sense of the strange call.
“Her name is Devon Brighton, and she’s?—”
“Devon?” Janie gasped upon hearing her best friend’s name. She couldn’t comprehend what she’d just been told. “There must be some mistake. Devon’s my best friend, but she lives in St. Louis, Missouri. So I’m not sure who you have there, but it can’t be her.”
“I’m afraid her identity was confirmed by Capitol Police. I’m sorry. I know this must come as a shock, especially at this time of night. But I assure you, Miss Reynolds, your friendisa patient in our E.R. And I really think it would help her to see a familiar face once she wakes up.”
Wakes up?
Tears rushed to the surface. “What happened?”
“Authorities are still investigating, but from her injuries, it appears as if Miss Brighton was beaten.”
“Someonebeather?”
Oh, Devon.
Tears welled in her eyes, and the room began to spin as she lifted her watery gaze to Emmett’s.
“I’ll get dressed.” He dipped his chin. “It’s only a ten minute drive from here.”
“We’re on our way,” Janie told the kind nurse before ending the call and heading for the hallway.
While Emmett got ready, she went to the spare room where she’d been keeping her clothes. It took all of two minutes before they were both walking out of his apartment together. By the time they reached thehospital, Janie felt as though she was on the verge of full-blown panic.
“We’re here to see Devon Brighton,” she blurted as they approached the reception desk centered in the lobby of the E.R.
Before the woman working the desk could even respond, a man’s familiar voice sounded from a few feet away.
“Shaw?”
She and Emmett both turned to see Detective Boone walking toward them.
“Detective.” He greeted the other man with a jut of his head.
Like the night she’d first met him, Boone was dressed in a pair of nice pants and a button-down shirt. The tie he had on was a bit loose at the knot, and there was a weary look in his eyes.
“Did I hear that right?” His dark eyes slid to hers. “You’re here to see my victim?”
“I’m here to see my friend.”
A tense moment passed between them before Emmett intervened. “Janie got a call from a nurse here saying her friend from Missouri had been brought in. Devon Brighton.”
