Page 107 of Diamonds in the Mud

Jameson

I got the call while I was out grabbing lunch. Hearing Rayne’s voice instantly excited me. Then her words sank in.

“Nadia just OD’d.” Her voice was a little shaky. “I was able to bring her back, briefly. The EMTs are still working on her.”

“Where are you?” I asked after hearing the weariness in her tone.

She was quiet for a moment as if she was thinking. “210 Cardinal Street.”

“I’ll be right there,” I said, glancing around as I drove down the side streets. When I pulled up in front of the small house and parked next to Rayne’s Jeep, the ambulance was just pulling away, sirens blaring.

Seeing the look on Rayne’s face, I rushed to engulf her in my arms.

“It looks as if she’d been on a drug binge since the arrests,” Rayne said into my chest. “Her place is a disaster.”

I glanced over her head into the open door and could see the mess. I’d witnessed drug binges before. There was junk food trash, soda cans, needles, and drugs lying everywhere. Yeah, Nadia had locked herself away for at least a few days.

“Why’d you come here?” I asked, curious.

“Izzy visited me. She’s pissed. Upset about you. Hurt about the arrests. She blames me.” She sighed and leaned back. “Something she said nagged me enough to stop by. I had just picked up lunch to take to my mother. She finished her last chemo round and I wanted to celebrate with her. Besides, today is a jinx day.” She shook her head. “I’ll explain what that means later. Anyway, it nagged me. Izzy said that Nadia hadn’t been around since the arrest. She thought we’d hauled her in too. Only…”

“We didn’t,” I supplied. “There was no evidence Nadia or Izzy were anything but entertainment to the Reapers.”

Rayne nodded. “So I stopped by.” She motioned with her head. “When she didn’t answer, I looked in the window and saw her. I had to bust the door down. She was blue and barely breathing. While I was on with 911, she stopped breathing.”

“You got here just in time,” I said with a smile. “Sounds like whatever jinx you had paid off.”

She closed her eyes. “I’ve been certified in CPR since I was fifteen. This is the first time I’ve ever had to use it. My brain just sort of… clicked into gear. I was afraid I’d forget the counts. Breaths versus compressions. I didn’t.” She smiled slightly.

I held onto her as a patrol car pulled up with Owen and his new partner, Simon, who had replaced Abe. “We heard,” Owen said, walking up and hugging Rayne. “You okay?”

To be honest, I wasn’t normally a jealous man. The easy way Rayne and Owen acted around one another was like how siblings are together. But for a split second, jealousy reared its awful head and I had to focus on squashing it.

“Yes, but I’m taking off the rest of the day.” She glanced around. “Maybe you could...”—she nodded towards Nadia’s place—“finish things here?”

Owen nodded and then eyed me. “Owen Morrison,” he said, holding out his hand towards mine. “I’ve heard you are DEA.”

“Jameson Morales,” I replied and shook the officer’s hand. I knew who the man was. I’d run every officer in the county. Owen, as far as I could tell, was not only clean but a decent man.

“You and Rayne?” Owen asked. I nodded, wondering if there was history between them that I didn’t know about. “I’m dating Sabrina,” he added with a smile. “Rayne, she’s like a sister,” Owen supplied. “One that is obviously shaken. Take her home.” Owen hugged Rayne again. “I heard your mom just rang the bell at the clinic.” He smiled. “Go celebrate with her.”

“Thanks,” Rayne said. I took her hand and started leading her towards the cars, but she stopped and threw over her shoulder, “You’re shaping up to be a decent cop.”

Owen laughed. “It was touch and go there for a while, wasn’t it?”

Rayne smiled and then nodded.

“Want to leave your car here?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I’m good to drive.”

“I just picked up my lunch. How about I follow you and we can celebrate Edith’s victory together?”

“I think she’d like that.”

When we pulled up to her parents’ house, I parked beside her Jeep in their long driveway. I knew that it was a significant day and Rayne would easily push the horror of what had just happened, what she’d just had to do to save a woman’s life, to the back of her mind for her mother.

We found her mother sitting in the sunroom we’d sat in the night before after dinner. The woman’s eyes were shining with relief and yet I could easily see the exhaustion. She looked tired but happy, her strength evident despite the toll of her cancer treatment. Nelly, the in-home nurse, stood up as we entered.