Page 19 of Vega

“The hospital? Why are you calling me?”

“My name is Officer Grant. I’m with the Chicago Police Department.”

I stood too quickly. The room tilted, and I grabbed the back of the couch.

“What happened?”

“Who am I speaking with?”

“You called me!” I snapped.

“Ma’am, your number called the victim’s phone—”

“Victim?”

“Multiple times tonight. Your number is simply saved as wifey. That’s why I asked who I was speaking with as a courtesy.”

“My name is Ella. Where is Kash?”

“Ma’am, Mr. Collins was found inside his vehicle a few hours ago.”

Found. The word didn’t make sense.

“Is he hurt?”

“Mr. Collins was pronounced dead at the scene.”

The room stopped existing. The couch disappeared. The lights blurred.

“No.”

“I’m very sorry.”

“No, you have the wrong person.”

“We confirmed his identification.”

“Kash said he would be right back.” The words came out before I understood why I was saying them.

“Ma’am?” The officer continued speaking, but I couldn’t follow the words. He mentioned the car, the hospital, and someone needing to identify the body.

Kash was supposed to walk through the front door. He was supposed to pull me into his lap until I stopped being mad. He was supposed to marry me. He was supposed to give me babies.

“Ella?” the officer said.

My knees weakened.

I lowered myself onto the couch, but I couldn’t feel it beneath me.

“Ella, are you still there?”

I stared at the front door, part of me still expected it to open and Kash to walk through it.

“Hello?”

The phone slipped from my hand.

The officer’s voice continued from somewhere near the floor. “Ma’am? Hello?”