Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
He glanced at the traffic around him, noting they hit every red light, and anxiety flooded him. “Brandy called you?”
“She said it was the last thing Samantha asked of her before she passed out.”
“Fuck.” He slammed his hand against the seat beside him. Maybe if he hadn’t been so cagey about his work and plans, trying to protect her from thinking she caused him problems, she’d have had Brandy call him.
“Call me as soon as you know something,” Ian said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He disconnected the call and Dex sat during rush hour, his pulse racing, as it took what felt like forever to get there.
He rushed into the hospital and a young woman was at the main desk. “I’m here for Samantha Dare. She was brought in by ambulance.”
“Are you family?” she asked.
“I’m the closest thing to family for the moment. Her mother and brother are on their way from Florida and I’m their only means of obtaining information.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call her brother and you can talk to him.” With a few taps, he pulled up Ian’s name from his contacts. “Look, Ian Dare. Same last name.” He turned the screen toward the woman. “I can even get Samantha’s mother on the phone, if that’ll help.”
“Okay, okay. No need. Family is fine.” She scrolled through her computer and met his gaze. “Samantha Dare is currently in surgery. The waiting room is on the fifth floor. If you go there, someone will come out and ask for family members. Do yourself a favor and come up with a relationship,” she said, giving him a friendly wink.
Before he could see what kind of friendly, he thanked her, accepted the sticker with VISITOR written on it, and rushed toward where a security guard pointed to the elevators.
Once in the waiting room, he called Ian who was pulling into the airport and told him what little he knew. Then he settled in for a long night.
Half an hour later, Brandy walked into the room looking dazed, a police officer by her side. She wore blue scrubs and was rubbing her hands together, obsessively. He didn’t want to think about why she needed to change her clothes or wash her hands so thoroughly she was now traumatized.
“Brandy?” He spoke gently, knowing she’d been through an ordeal.
She jerked her head toward him. “Dex? What are you doing here?”
“Ian called me.” Besides, Samantha was hurt. Where else would he be?
Brandy walked straight to him, burrowing her face in his chest and broke down, big gulping sobs coming from her slight frame.
“Sir? I need to talk to the victim’s family. You’re her…”
“Dex Sterling. Her fiancé.” The word came out and he had no desire to take it back.
Brandy straightened and looked up at him. He winked at her and she seemed to understand he needed the officer to know how close he and Samantha were.
“He already questioned me.” Brandy trembled.
Worried about her, Dex wrapped an arm around her. “Come on. Let’s sit,” he said, easing her into a chair.
Though he wanted to get the details of what happened from Brandy, who’d been with Samantha, Dex had no choice but to talk to the officer. “How can I help you?” he asked the man wearing a uniform.
“When was the last time you spoke to Ms. Dare?”
“Around lunchtime. I called to tell her I had a business dinner.”
He typed in the information on a phone app and proceeded to ask him the standard questions he’d expect, mostly about her relationship with her partner. The man finally left him alone and Dex turned to Brandy and sat down beside her.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
She swiped the tears dripping down her face with the back of her hand. “I… We… Samantha and I walked outside. We were going to go for dinner. Then she remembered she forgot her phone upstairs, so we decided she’d go up and I’d wait in the lobby.”
This was the easy part of the story, he knew, and she told it quickly, growing silent afterward. “Take your time,” he said, though he wanted her to keep going.
She drew a shaky breath and continued. “Samantha turned to go inside. Someone bumped into me, so I didn’t actually see what happened. It was rush hour and the sidewalk was busy.”
“It’s okay,” he said, rubbing her back.
“I heard a loud sound. I guess the shot. Samantha turned and she was bleeding. She dropped to her knees and I… I screamed. There was so much blood.” She shivered, her teeth chattering, and Dex shrugged off his suit jacket so he could put it over her shoulders.
“No! No jacket.”
“But you’re trembling,” he said, confused.
She glanced up at him. “A man used his suit jacket to stop the bleeding. It hurt her. She cried out.” She shook her head back and forth and he laid his jacket on the chair beside him.