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“It’s alright. Everything will be alright. Don’t even worry about any of that. Just rest. Hudson will take care of you,” I tell her, kissing her gently before I pull back and give Hudson a death stare.
“A small concussion, but the rest is superficial grazes and bruising. She can go home tonight. She is one lucky woman. It could have been a hell of a lot worse,” he tells me. “I’ve got her.” With a nod, he confirms she is truly okay, and I squeeze her hand again before I stand up and step toward the door, the sheriff following me into the hallway.
“What happened?” I ask him quietly, feeling something is amiss.
“Speed. She took the corner too quickly. The truck is a total loss,” he explains.
“She wasn’t speeding,” I tell him straight up, and hejust raises his eyebrows like he doesn’t believe me, which pisses me off even more.
“Speed is the only factor. She took the corner too fast. It was dark. She is a newcomer and doesn’t know the roads.” My anger only rises when he shrugs like it is an open and shut case.
“Sounds to me like you are making assumptions rather than doing any type of investigation.” I tell him what I really think, and his eyes thin as he looks at me.
“It may not have only been speed. We have taken blood to run a tox screen as well,” the sheriff says, proving that I can, in fact, be more pissed about this.
“There is no way she was drinking and driving,” I spit at him.Why is Victoria getting this small-town cop bullshit?
“Standard procedure. I need to do it.”
I grit my teeth together and give him a silent nod. I have known him and his wife, Rochelle, for years. They own the diner, and Rochelle cooks lunch for my team every week. We have spent holidays together. Worked together on community projects. He knows that I am not happy about any of this.
“I think you and I both know there are no drugs or alcohol in her system.”
“Then speed is the only factor,” he says, and my shoulders stiffen.
“She wouldn’t be speeding.” I sound like a broken record as I run my hands through my hair, trying to think. “She said the brakes didn’t work, but that truck was serviced just before Marie died. I took it there myself. There is no way the brakes were faulty.”
“What are you implying, Tanner?” He watches closely, and I seethe next to him.
“Do you already have the truck?” I ask him, wondering if I should take a look at it.
“My boys pulled it from Bob’s farm. Fence will need fixing, but she didn’t hit any animals or buildings, so there was minimal damage to his land,” he says. I don’t give a shit about Bob’s farm, and in this situation, I know Bob wouldn’t either.
“She wouldn’t have been speeding. Especially not at night. Not in that truck. It could barely drive as it was.”
“Tanner,” he warns, and I turn my body to step toward him.
“That is my fucking woman in there,” I bite out, pissed off that this happened, angry that we have no idea what exactly caused it, and upset that I wasn’t here when she needed me. The familiarity of not being able to find someone, for not being here and with her, reminds me of when Connor’s mom left. The red and blue lights in the darkness of the hospital parking lot look the same as they did that night when me and the whole town of Whispers spent days and nights looking for her, thinking she was lying hurt or dead somewhere. It wasn’t until a week later her parents got a note, telling them she was in fact okay and had run away to start a better life. Then the whole town looked at me with nothing but pity. Pity for the kid left holding a baby.
The sheriff looks at me with a little more empathy and nods, now understanding exactly who she is to me.
“I’ll get it looked over. I’ll let you know if we find anything.”
I leave him standing in the hallway as I step back into the room. Victoria needs me now, and I am not leaving her side.
32
VICTORIA
The house is quiet. I have no idea of the time, but it is pitch-black outside, and the way I am feeling, I would guess it is past midnight. Sitting on the sofa, I think about the night over and over. The sheriff didn’t believe me when I said the brakes failed. I know he thought I was speeding or drunk.
“Girls, you better get going home. It’s late,” Tanner says to Lacy and Jasmine, who followed us home to ensure I was okay. I give them a small smile and wince, the pain in my cheek constant. I have never been in a car accident before, and now as my cheek throbs, I would never like to experience one again.
“We will be back in the morning,” Lacy says to me as Jasmine squeezes my hand.
“Thanks, girls,” I tell them, trying to smile.
“I’ve left the painkillers with Tanner. Hudson said to take two before bed tonight. They will help you sleep,” Jasmine says, giving me a small smile.
