We All Sleep Alone (Finley Creek #11) - Calle J. Brookes Page 0,41
her tonight. Nor would he ever forgive.
A cell phone rang nearby.
From the body bag.
Chuckie unzipped the bag quickly. She pulled the cellphone free of the man’s breast pocket.
It was the second phone they’d found on him. Who needed two phones? Jake wished he didn’t even have to carry the one. Chuckie looked at Jake. “You want to do the honors? Or should I?”
She never looked at Dan. She was one of the very few women who didn’t seem to get along with Dan. She far preferred Jake.
Jake could handle that. When all of this was over, he was going to ask the woman out. Nothing serious, but…he was tired of dealing with the darkness all the time. When this case was finally over and all of his hard work over the last year and a half paid off, he…was going to do some reevaluating of his life. See what he wanted to do now. “You go ahead, Chuck.”
“It’s Councilwoman Jennifer Henedy, boys. Anyone want to speak with her?”
Jake shook his head. There were a million and one reasons a councilwoman would be calling a councilman. “The only real question is why is she calling him at one a.m.?”
“That’s something Callum and I will ask in the morning,” Dan said.
Marshall nodded. “Jake, if we find out she’s involved, hand this over to Callum and Evers. They just finished with the Talivois case.”
Jake bit back a retort. He got where both men were coming from. That didn’t mean he had to like it. Things were starting to look a little too connected to him for this case. There had to be a reason for it.
He stared at the man’s body for a long time. He knew one thing was for sure.
Those responsible for making a cluster fuck of the hospital where his niece and Annie and their friends worked were on borrowed time. Jake was coming for them. No one threatened his family and got away from it.
No one.
He owed them for Annie now, too.
45
Izzie was having a hard time wrapping her head around it.
A prominent Finley Creek councilman was dead, the deputy mayor Carl Buchanan was in a coma, Wallace Henedy’s son was barely hanging on after being shot near his spine, and Annie was in room 403. Turner Barratt, the mayor and the man off his rocker in love with Annie, had been dead according to the news channels and brought back to life in time to lead the cavalry to save Annie. The cavalry consisting of Elliot Marshall and Izzie’s uncle Jake.
It was by sheer luck that Annie had survived.
Izzie finished with Carl and made notes in his chart and initialed them. She said a prayer that he would pull through. She’d met him before and found him very kind and likeable.
He hadn’t deserved this. His grandson was all alone now, two floors up in pediatrics, recovering from another surgery on the injuries he’d received in the tornado over two months ago.
Thirteen and basically all alone.
Izzie would check on him herself first chance she got.
Annie had been a wreck when she’d given Izzie a hurried run-down on what had happened tonight. When she’d made Izzie promise to keep her informed of what was going on with Carl—and his grandson. Annie had been full of instructions about the boys and where to find them and what she wanted to happen with them.
Izzie had reassured her; those boys would be fine. She and Nikkie Jean would make absolutely certain of it.
Annie and Turner had already spoken with the hospital social workers, who’d started the process for Carl’s grandson. Annie and Turner were going to take Jason home with them until Carl could care for him again. They were both adamant about seeing that he was taken care of, no matter what happened to his grandfather.
Izzie paused outside 403 and pulled in a deep breath.
Annie should still be sleeping. Izzie would check on her, then check on Jason. Then decide what to do tonight.
She’d always been the one at Annie’s side before, but Turner was there now. He probably would be forever.
Izzie slipped into the room quietly. She’d sit with Annie for a little while. Try to remind herself that Annie was alive and would be fine in the morning. Life was so fleeting. That was a lesson that had practically been pounded into her head lately.
She’d almost lost Annie, and she hadn’t even known something was happening. Other than that feeling in her gut that had told her something was wrong.