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“You’re a very lucky man, Mr. D’Amato,” a doctor told him after Vic had been poked, prodded, stitched, and bandaged. “Or you had an angel on your shoulder. No broken bones, no spine or head trauma, no large open wounds. Damn miracle, if you ask me.”
“Guess it’s not my time,” Vic mumbled, knowing it was likely due to magic instead of divine intervention.
“Vic!” Simon’s voice cut through the noise. “I’m his partner. Please, let me through.”
The doctor stepped back as Simon rushed to Vic’s side. “Oh, thank God,” he gasped. “You’re alive.”
“I was just letting Mr. D’Amato know that he’ll be cleared to leave after we keep him under observation for a few more hours,” the doctor replied. “He’ll have medication for pain and muscle stiffness, and he should take it easy for a while until he has a chance to heal. If anything seems off, come back in, and we’ll check him—better safe than sorry.”
They thanked the doctor, and he left the room. “God, Vic. You scared me to death.”
“That makes two of us,” Vic replied. “I want to go home.”
“Just as soon as they’ll let you leave,” Simon assured him.
A knock at the door drew their attention. Vic saw Simon step in between his bed and the entrance protectively.
“Detective D’Amato? I’m Officer Stratton with the Myrtle Beach Police Department. I need to take your statement.”
“It’s okay,” Vic told Simon, heading off the protest he could see brewing in his partner’s eyes. “This is my partner. He stays.”
“The first responders said you told them you were chased. By whom?” Stratton asked.
“Didn’t get a good look. Came up on me too fast.” Vic told as much of the truth as he could. “Wouldn’t go around me. I think they were trying to force a crash. I wasn’t familiar with the road, so I didn’t know about the curve.”
Stratton recorded his testimony as Simon stood back impatiently. “Do you have any idea who might have wanted to hurt you?”
Vic gave the man a look. “I’m a homicide detective. It goes with the job.”
“Several of the streetlights on that road went out just before your wreck, and there’s a gap in the traffic cams,” Stratton said. “House lights flickered too, which probably means their security cameras didn’t catch anything either. We don’t know why, but we’re checking for tampering.”
They wouldn’t find anything, Vic knew, but he was glad they were taking his claim seriously.
“My bike—”
“It’s in impound. Standard procedure. We’ll release it to the body shop of your choice when we’re done with it,” Stratton assured him. “Glad you’re in one piece, Detective. Hope you feel better soon. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”
Stratton left, which meant Simon and Vic were finally alone.
“It was dark ghosts,” Vic told him. “They chased me and wanted me to crash.”
“Jesus. Shit.” Simon ran a hand through his hair. “No investigation is worth this. I’ll call Sanderson—”
“No, you won’t,” Vic said sternly. “Without all the wards and protections, I’d be dead. What if the ghosts do that to someone else? We need to put an end to this.”
He could see Simon’s emotions warring in his eyes and knew his partner wanted to argue. Finally, he relented. “I don’t like it, but I guess we don’t have a choice.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Vic told him. “But the meds and everything are catching up to me. Go home. Sleep in a bed. I’ll be fine here.”
Simon shook his head. “Nope. Can’t properly ward a public place like this, and there are too many people in and out. I can do some wards on the room and get your amulet back for you, but I’m your bodyguard tonight.”
Vic could tell this was Simon’s line in the sand, and he didn’t really mind. “You can guard my body anytime,” he replied, a half-assed attempt at flirting.
“Go to sleep.” Simon leaned over to plant a light kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be here if you need anything.”
Vic could hear Simon murmuring protections as he drifted off, too tired and drugged to dream.
“You’re cleared to leave,” the doctor told him in the morning. “You have pain medicine to take with you and a list of instructions. If you feel worse, come back in.” He looked to Simon. “Try to keep him from moving around too much, at least for a couple of days.”
