wife is left in a coma. You’d think people would be burning the midnight oil to find whoever did it.”
“Yes.” His tone of voice had been very noncommittal. “You’d think.”
“I take it you’re not leaving it alone, though.”
She shook her head. “No, nor do I intend to. I want justice for my sister. And for Dane. That may be all I can ever give her from now on.” She set the empty coffee cup on the tray table.
“I understand.”
“What would you do if you were me?” She paused, as if gathering herself. “This is the situation. No one can identify the driver. Nobody has come forward with any information except the paramedic, who gave it very reluctantly. Now she seems to have disappeared, along with the traffic cop. And everyone from the police to the law firm Dane worked for keeps telling me to focus on getting my sister well and letting Dane rest in peace. Don’t create stories where there aren’t any.”
Blaze took a swallow of coffee then set the cup down.
“I’m sure I’m not the first person you’ve come to about this. Galaxy is rarely first in line on anything.”
“You get the impossibles, right? But yes, I tried to hire three different private investigators, all with excellent references and credentials. Each one in turn said they’d check into it, then after just a few days returned my retainer. They politely assured me Tampa has an excellent police force that had done its work and was as baffled by the situation as everyone else. Of course, they didn’t mention who the ‘everyone else’ is. They just said sometimes things like this happen, they were sorry about Dane and I should concentrate on helping my sister get better. Same old, same old.”
Needing to do something with her hands, she picked up her coffee cup to take a sip, but all that was left were dregs, so she set it back down.
Blaze was silent for a long moment while he studied the report in his hands.
Peyton would have given every penny in her purse and then some to know what he was thinking at that moment.
“What still puzzles me, just as it confuses you,” he said at last, “is how not one person could accurately describe the car. I know it happened fast, but not everyone is shell-shocked stupid. Someone had to see something that registered, even if just for a few seconds. You said there were others leaving the restaurant, plus the guy in the parking lot. Why wasn’t anyone suspicious at the similarities in the stories? I can understand a couple of people not looking into it, but all of them? The more I think about it, the more I get the idea there’s more going on here that we don’t know.”
“That’s the thing that keeps eating at me. And believe me, it’s not for my lack of trying to get answers. I think if I showed up at the police station again or pestered—well, tried to pester—city officials, they might have me arrested.”
“How much of this does Nolan know?”
She shrugged. “Probably more than I should have told him. We talked several times whenever he came in to check on Brianne. Or maybe I should say I ran off at the mouth. I spent a lot of time in the chair next to my sister’s bed and he was the only other human I saw for more than two minutes at a time. He’s a good listener.”
“That he is. The reason I ask is because it’s unusual for him to send someone to me. He must have really connected with your sister and the situation.”
“I think he did.” She nodded. “He’s really great. Very caring. Very patient-oriented. I think he gave me your number after seeing me sit beside her bed for so many hours and destroying myself because nothing about the accident made sense and nothing was being done. That’s where I am at the moment and why I’m here.”
Peyton leaned back, limp, as if all the air had suddenly left her body. She’d been carrying this with her from the moment she’d walked into the hospital and seem Brianne lying in bed, so still, barely breathing. Rage and shock had helped her keep it together so far, along with a need to be strong for her sister and Dane’s parents. But sitting here, in the ultimate in luxury aircraft, with a man who was her last hope, she felt herself fraying badly around the edges.