Swept Away (Wildfire Lake #3) - Skye Jordan Page 0,65
We’ll see what they have to say for themselves.”
“Hawthorne,” I tell him. “ Hawthorne’s the weak link.”
At the hospital, I jump from the car before Lucero has fully braked and jog to Piper’s side, hurrying alongside the gurney on the way into the ER through the trauma bay. Doctors meet us at the gurney and issue orders to other personnel. A nurse touches my arm. “Can I get you to give me some basic information?”
I don’t respond. I’ve got hold of Piper’s hand, her fingers icy in mine. She’s barely conscious. “Your mom’s on her way. I’m right here. Fight, Piper. Fight the way you always fight me and your mom.”
Then they push through the trauma bay doors, where I know I’m not allowed. I might have busted in anyway, but the nurse is tugging on my arm.
“She’s in good hands. Now, is she allergic to any medications?”
I shoot answers to the nurse’s rapid-fire questions, probably faster and more accurately than her mom can.
The nurse assures me their best trauma surgeon is on duty when dumb, dumber, and dumbest are dragged through the ER and tossed in separate holding rooms, each with a supervising cop.
I go right to Tommy Croft, who’s standing by Dale’s room. “Did he talk?”
“Couldn’t fucking stop talking,” Tommy says. “I think I need some water. Stand watch for me?”
“Damn right.”
“Back in twenty.”
As soon as Tommy wanders out of the ER, I enter Dale’s room and he looks up. “Hey, man.” He struggles to his feet and moves to the opposite side of the room, back against the wall. “Hey, this wasn’t my idea. I was just along for the ride. We didn’t know Piper’d get hurt.”
I prowl the room, hands on hips, following Dale’s retreat. I keep my teeth clenched to hold the fury—and any legal violations—inside my stupid mouth. But I don’t need to say anything, Dale spills like a broken spigot.
“This was Smith and Willow’s idea. Piper really wanted to be friends with us, you know? So Smith and Willow came up with these things she had to do, like, I don’t know, a test or challenge or something, to prove she was loyal.”
We’ve made one full circle around the room, but Dale keeps moving to put as much distance between us as possible.
“It started small, like cutting class and smoking and passing drugs between us. And tonight was the final challenge, to rob the dispensary. But she fell and broke the window, and that set off the alarm. No one was supposed to get hurt or even get caught. It was just an accident.”
“And you all ran like fucking rats, leaving her to bleed out. You motherfucking cocksucker.” I’m trembling with the restraint required to keep from pummeling him. But I’m still trying to figure out how I missed all this. “When did this start?”
“N-not too long ago. Willow knew Piper wanted friends for the summer, so they started this maybe a week ago.”
My mind tries to spin backward, looking for signs I missed. But just like her father, Piper’s a good liar. And even after I saw the signs with Keith, I couldn’t keep him safe. Why in the fuck did I think I’d do any better with his daughter?
“Smith and I thought you’d find out for sure,” he says, darting looks between the floor and me as I continue to stalk him in the room. “Your girlfriend caught us cutting school and smoking one day, and I told Smith and Willow we should end it, but Willow was having too much fun, and when you didn’t find out, they thought they were safe.”
Not Chloe’s fault. Piper’s words fill my head, quickly followed by Chloe’s earlier phone call.
My throat closes. Please, please, please, don’t let this be true. I have to push my next words out. “What girlfriend?”
“That blonde one. The one with the killer body who teaches yoga.”
My stomach drops to my feet. “How do you know she saw you?”
“Because she came right up to us in the alley behind the deli and was all like ‘you need to get back to school’ and even offered us all a ride, but the only person who listened was Piper.”
This news guts me.
Someone pounds on the glass to the room. It’s Lucero, glaring at me for talking to Dale without an attorney. I’ve gotten all I can. For now.
“You’d better hope they put you in jail,” I tell him, “or you’ll be answering to me.”
I exit the room just as Tommy comes back