Her Scream in the Silence (Carly Moore #2) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,131
went to meet her, he had some of his men bring us to my house. I wanted to take you to the hospital, but Bingham said his medic could counteract the drug’s side effects better than any hospital. His guy stayed the entire first night and has been out multiple times to keep an eye on you. We’ve gotten you up a few times to pee, but other than that you’ve slept.”
“I don’t remember any of that.”
“The medic said you probably wouldn’t.”
Then a new horror hit me. “Did I talk while I was out of it?”
“Only gibberish,” he said. “Nothin’ that made sense.”
It scared me that I’d been so vulnerable—even more so because I remembered so little of it. “What did Charlie/Shane Jones give me?”
“Something Mobley and the others brought in from Atlanta. A bad batch. Jones gave some to Greta, and while she suffered, she said it was much milder than your reaction. Bingham thinks you were lucky to survive.” Then he added, “It’s the same drug that killed Hank’s daughter.”
“I thought it was supposed to make you high. All it did was make me feel like I was coming down with the flu.”
“Like I said, bad batch.”
“What happened with Jones?” I asked.
He released a bitter laugh. “Bingham enacts his own justice, and the sheriff’s department is none the wiser.”
My heart sunk. “I’m sorry, Marco. I know you were hoping to do this the right way.”
He gave me a tight smile. “The important thing is that you’re safe. Greta and Lula too.”
Something about his tone caught my attention.
“He blackmailed you, didn’t he?” When he gave me a blank look, I said, “He wouldn’t let you take me to the hospital, but it was pretty generous of him to provide medical assistance, so I’m sure he got something for it. He asked you not to involve the sheriff, didn’t he?”
“Don’t feel bad,” he said. “You saved my life. I saved yours. We’re even.”
So why didn’t it feel like that?
Because he hadn’t just saved my life. For my sake, Marco had given up his morals and his aspirations for the sheriff’s department.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“No. My guts feel like they’ve been scrubbed with sandpaper.”
“The medic says you probably won’t be able to go back to work for a few days.”
That sobered me some. “I’m not sure I’m going back to the tavern.”
“Max said you have your job back.”
“I know,” I said. “But if Max had just been honest with us, then we never would have gotten this deep.”
Wyatt too, but I didn’t want to say it.
“He and Wyatt did what they thought was best given the circumstances. They think you’ve got a bad case of the flu,” he said in a tight voice. “They don’t know how many times you came close to dyin’ over the last few days. We didn’t tell them about what happened with Jones. Greta and Lula have sworn they won’t tell a soul.”
“How are they explaining Greta’s face?”
“She’s tellin’ everyone her ex kidnapped and beat the shit out of her, but she refuses to press charges. Hines is Bingham’s man, so he won’t make a peep.”
“And Mobley?”
“Disappeared.” He swallowed, then said, “But Bingham paid Mobley a visit and got the location for where Charlie Jones was keepin’ you and Greta.”
“And then Bingham shut him up permanently,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
Marco didn’t need to respond, and he didn’t.
“How did you end up showing up with Bingham?”
“Ruth called me and said you’d disappeared after going to the back room. She was scared, saying you disappeared shortly after Bingham came to see you. Charlie was careless when he kidnapped you, because there was an obvious sign of a struggle and your coat was still there. So I went to Bingham’s property to tell him you’d been taken. I demanded he give you back if he was the one who’d taken you, but he swore he didn’t have you, which put Charlie Jones at the top of the suspect list. Seein’ as how Bingham’s not bound by the law, he drove straight to Mobley Funeral Home and demanded answers.”
“You were with Bingham when he questioned Mobley?”
“No, but I was in my car in the parking lot. I’m still an accessory.”
I closed my eyes and tears leaked from the corners. “Marco. I’m so sorry.”
Marco pulled me into a hug. “I’m not. I’d do it all over again, and then some, to save you.”
The whole nightmare replayed in my head. I started to sob. He let me cry myself