“So he only has a motorcycle, and it was old when he got it in high school. I can’t believe he’s still driving the thing. I don’t care how gifted Zack is, that bike is going to blow up one of these days, and I hope Jeremiah’s not on it when it goes.”
New motorcycle or, better yet, a car. It was going on my list.
“Do you live in Sac?”
“I don’t, no, but I do a lot of traveling back and forth to see him.” It wasn’t true. Yet. But it would be soon, because frequent commuting to see Jeremiah was, without question, in my immediate future.
“That’s great. I was worried he still didn’t have anybody, so I’m thrilled to hear he’s got himself a boyfriend.”
“Yes, he does,” I assured him. “Please feel free to share that information with anyone who inquires.”
“Oh. Okay, I certainly will.”
Small towns were a wonder, no worry over privacy in the least.
“I’ll be there later today, Officer Kramer. I appreciate you contacting me. Jeremiah mentioned he’d asked any- and everyone to call me last night, so I’m glad someone finally got around to it.”
“He was in and out of consciousness last night, and not making much sense when he was awake, but I always try to do what a victim asks of me, no matter what anyone else says.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Like I said, Merrell Barrett was at the scene, though I’m still unclear as to what he was doing there, but since he’s gonna be the new mayor, everyone is sort of getting a head start on doing what he wants.”
“And he preferred you didn’t call me.”
“That’s right. He told the officers on the scene there was no one to call, but I followed the ambulance to the hospital, and as soon as they lifted Jeremiah out of the back and he saw me, he asked me again to call you. The fact he was that hurt and out of it, and yet coherent enough to make the request not once but twice, told me I needed to follow up as soon as I was off duty this morning.”
I changed my mind. There was only one person to kill, and that was Merrell Barrett. “Thank you again, Officer Kramer. I appreciate you going out of your way to reach me. You have a great day.”
My father was a bit too excited that I was driving back to Sacramento.
“I wouldn’t go, but you seem to be okay.”
“I’m great,” he assured me. “I have a clean bill of health, just need to take it easy for a week. And there’s the no-sex thing––”
I groaned painfully.
“––but other than that, yeah, kid, I’m good. You go and take care of the hero with the concussion and the bruises.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Kiss him and make him better!” my sister, Courtney, called out since he had me on speaker. “And you better bring him for Thanksgiving.”
“That’s a given,” my mother announced coolly. She wasn’t happy I was leaving, but she was pragmatic. My father was well, and he’d have everyone else there. But to jump in my car for someone I wasn’t serious about, leaving my father when, in theory, he needed me, that would be unforgiveable. Jeremiah had to show up for Thanksgiving at this point. It was no longer an option for him to turn me down.
So I packed for a week, because I figured I would stay in Sacramento, do my work with the Rauch Group, and if Jeremiah allowed me to, I’d help him get resettled. I really wanted him to let me figure out his life, but it was also pushy as hell, and putting my compulsive need to fix all things front and center in a brand-new relationship was possibly not the step I wanted to take. He would figure out soon enough that finding solutions for everybody to live their best life was one of my most annoying habits.
11
Jeremiah
“What are you doing?”
Lifting the pillow off my face, I looked at Chyna Evans, the nurse who had started her shift around noon and was now taking care of me. I had been brought to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, because even though there were several urgent care centers in Barrett Crossing, there was nothing on the scale of an actual hospital.
“I did something stupid,” I explained, stopping there. I didn’t need to give her the whole story of how I’d checked my phone and been surprised at the length of my call with Cameron. Fragments