Page 108 of Hurt Me Not
“Oh Jesus fucking Christ?—”
“Sorry, no, it’s just little old me. Now stop bothering her unless you want another misconduct lawsuit on your hands. Funny, should you even be out in the field right now? Aren’t you on an involuntary leav?—”
The officer turned and left with a huff. His partner gave me a look.
“If you find out anyth?—”
“She knows who to call. Now leave.”
The mystery woman watched him with a narrowed gaze until he left, then she turned to me with a sigh. From my vantage point on the hard hospital chair, I had to crane my neck to look at her. The lights caused my eyes to tear up.
Just the lights… Right.
“Jax sent you, I’m guessing.”
Her eyes looked me up and down.
“A fellow acquaintance of Jax,” she replied. “I’m Laura. Now, can I suggest you take me to your girlfriend’s room so we can discuss your side of the events?”
Girlfriend.It had slipped out so easily when I was talking to the officers, but hearing it from her made heat rise to my face.
I nodded and led her to the room right next to us. Making out the form on the bed, just lying there, hurt my heart every single time.
I closed the door behind us.
“We only have a half an hour left for visiting hours, and I would like to spend some more time with her, so?—”
“Don’t they let you stay?”
I shook my head.
“I’m not family,” I whispered, finally forcing my eyes to look at the bed.
Emerson was nothing more than a lump covered in white hospital garments and scratchy blankets. Wires were attached to her, and the breathing machine covered a good portion of her lower face.
The doctor had told me that if she didn’t wake soon, they would put a tube through her trachea. The thought alone made me nauseous.
“That’s interesting, since herfamilytried to kill her,” she said, a cutting edge to her tone. “I will fix that. Now tell me everything.”
“I killed him.”
Sorry, not sorry, Emerson.But I’d gotten my hands dirty for her. She deserved that, and so much more. And I refused to feel bad about it.
“The body?”
“Gone.” My eyes went to Emerson again. Guilt racked me.If only I’d killed him sooner.“Burned in a group cremation with his ashes spread in the beautiful tunnels of the city’s sewers.”
“Creative,” she praised. “But I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear any of that.”
I actually wished I could take credit for it,butit was all Jax. Well, Jax and whoever was in her cleanup crew.
“Am I going to jail?” I looked at Laura, but her expression hadn’t changed, even if I had just confessed to murder.
“Unlikely,” she said. “The people you’ve been working with have great connections—and money. Just don’t go growing a conscience on me and confessing it to the police. Whatever happens, you ask for me, okay?”
I nodded and accepted her card as she handed it to me.
“I have many more questions, but I can tell that tonight is not the night for them. I’ll visit again tomorrow, okay?”
