told him.
“Your car is totaled, and your rear bumper was completely torn off. I’d say that’s a little worse than a little bump.”
“My car is totaled?” Lisa whined. “I loved that car. It was my baby, my friend. I swear it had a personality. I’ll never get another one like it. Never.” She lay back on the bed, crestfallen.
I liked the effect.
Nick reacted.
“I know what you mean,” he said, walking closer to her. “I had a sixty-five Camaro like that. A drunk driver plowed into it while it was parked in front of Bectal’s ice cream parlor. I was sixteen. My first car. I cried for two solid days.”
As if on cue, Lisa began to cry.
“Now don’t go doing that. I’m not good at crying women, especially one I like.” He turned to me. “Do something.”
“When she gets like this, I’ve found it’s best to just to sit with her until it passes.” I glanced at my watch. “Oh, look at the time. I have to run.” And I rushed out of the room, hoping that Nick wouldn’t follow me, which he didn’t.
As I walked out of the ER I ran into Jade carrying the two cups of coffee.
“Guess what?” I said. “I got in touch with Dickey and told him all about the accident. He was relieved to know you’re all right.”
“Is he on his way?” she asked all doe eyed, handing me a concoction of coffee that must have been five hundred calories. I took a sip. It was like drinking straight syrup.
“That’s awful,” I said and dumped it in a trash can. Then I took Lisa’s and did the same thing.
“Why would you do that? I don’t get you guys. There’s something strange going on here, ya know? I may not always come across like I’m smart, but I’m a member of Mensa and I know when someone’s trying to put one over on me.”
“There’s nothing strange. Everything’s fine. Just fine.”
“No it’s not and I’m not leaving this hospital until you tell me what’s going on.”
She sat down hard in a chair in the ER waiting room, folded her arms and planted her feet, a look of determination on her smudged face.
I sat down next to her. “Here’s the thing,” I began, trying to figure out how to tell her that Dickey was dead. She stared at me and I could tell she wouldn’t take the news well. “Do you have a friend you can stay with for a few days?”
“Yeah,” she said. “But what does that have to do with anything? I feel fine.”
“I think whoever was driving that truck was actually after you.”
Okay, so I couldn’t tell her about Dickey, but I was telling her the truth. I really did think the guy in the Tundra was after her.
“Me? Why would anyone want to hurt me?”
“Jealousy,” I whispered. All right, it was a big fat lie, something I was getting quite good at.
“You mean somebody’s jealous because I’m engaged to Dickey?”
Not where I was going, but it worked. “Shh. I wouldn’t say that too loud around here. There’s no telling who could be listening.”
“I never thought of that.”
“Oh yeah. Dickey was a babe magnet. Somebody might want you out of the way.”
“Out of the way, like in dead?”
I gave her a look, nodded and pretended to check out the room like there might be someone listening to us. Of course, there were only two other people in the room, a man with a gash on his forehead, and a middle-aged woman who looked as if she was about to pass out in her chair.
“My advice would be to get as far away from here as possible and to stay with a friend for a few days.”
“But what about my honey-bear? He loves me and I love him.”
“If he loved you, he would have been here at the hospital. Last I looked he hasn’t shown up. Not a good sign.”
Big tears rolled down her cheeks. “Maybe we were moving too fast. My friends said I should think about it a little more before I commit.”
“I’d have to agree with your friends. Especially after today. Don’t you think?”
She nodded, pulled out a tissue from her pocket wiped her tears and blew her nose with a great big high-pitched honk. It made me want to laugh, but I controlled myself.
“But now I’m scared to drive back to the city.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have a plan.”
Which I did. Suddenly I knew exactly what I had to do with