She blinked slowly. Her eyes flitted around the room and then settled on him. She squinted as though having trouble seeing him. “Nick?”
Her voice was weak and slurred, but at least she was with him—for the moment. “I'm right here,” he assured her. He’d ask her what happened, but if she’d been given Rohypnol or something similar she wouldn’t be able to remember, and she’d be confused and struggling to concentrate on what he was asking her.
“I feel sick,” she mumbled. Her eyelids were quivering as though they wanted to close, and she was fighting it.
“I know, honey, an ambulance is coming, just try to rest.”
Instead, she tried to wriggle herself into a sitting position, but her movements were clumsy and uncoordinated.
“Stay put.” He put a hand on her shoulder and held her down.
“Summer? Hope?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked. He was not going to tell her right now that her friends were missing.
“Talking. Summer worried Luke,” she answered.
“Do you remember anyone else being here?” He helped her to sit up, then moved to sit beside her.
“Just Chance.”
Chance. They had assumed the shooting was linked to Summer since it had been her house, but could Hope have been the real target? Nick knew Chance reasonably well since the man worked with his wife and was engaged to one of Aggie’s best friends, and he couldn’t imagine him shooting at or drugging and abducting anyone. Maybe he had been taken too? But why leave Aggie? It didn’t make sense.
Noneof this made sense.
“So tired.” Aggie slumped against him.
“Just rest, baby. Just rest.” He drew her onto his lap and cradled her, rocking her gently to try and soothe both her and himself.
Who had taken Summer and Hope? Was Chance a victim too or the perpetrator? Was it related to the shooting? Was Summer or Hope the real target? Or both of them? Did it have anything to do with his brother being suspected as the Nursery Rhyme Killer?
So many questions. Drug tests would answer what had been used to drug Aggie, but that was it. It wouldn’t tell them who had done it or where they had taken his wife’s friends.
“Nick?” Aggie’s soft voice whispered.
“Here, honey, right here.” He kissed the top of her head and held her tighter, more thankful than he could express that Aggie had been spared. But how would he tell his little brother that another person he cared about had just disappeared from his life?
* * * * *
6:12 P.M.
He was beginning to lose hope that he would ever walk out of this room a free man.
Luke didn’t want to give up, but right now, he wasn't seeing a way out of this. He had told the detectives he was innocent until he was blue in the face, but they weren’t listening. They had made up their minds, and they weren’t interested in hearing anything he had to say. They took everything he said and twisted it around to try and make him look guilty. He didn’t know how to fight that.
Most of all, he was worried about Summer. This had to be hard for her. Seeing her past play itself out again right when she had decided to let it go and move on.
As badly as he wanted to see her, he wouldn’t have her come down here. He didn’t want her to have to be a part of this. Right now, there was no end in sight. He hadn’t been charged yet, but he knew it was coming. Then there would be months in prison while he awaited trial. There were no guarantees he could convince a jury of his innocence so he could be facing the rest of his life in prison.
It was better to just cut ties with Summer now. They hadn’t known each other long, and although he knew that feelings were already developing on both sides, it was easier to end things now before those feelings grew stronger. Luke had no doubt that Summer would stand by him no matter how this played out, but he didn’t want her to give up her whole life for him. He wanted better for her. He wanted her to have the happiness she deserved.
He didn’t regret these last few days with her. Only that it had to end so soon. But he was glad that their brief affair had at least given Summer the push she needed to dig herself out of the hole she had buried herself in. Hopefully, she would meet someone, get married, have children, and be happy.
Knowing she was happy would be enough to get him through a life behind bars.
This wasn't his first time sitting in an interrogation room and being accused of something he hadn’t done. He had been terrified that he would be charged with his fiancée’s death, and unsure how to convince the cops that he hadn’t been driving and switched places with Sadie after the crash. He would never do that. If he had been driving drunk and crashed his car, killing the woman he had loved, he would have owned his actions.
Thankfully, the police had done a thorough investigation, and the evidence had ended up proving that he was telling the truth and cleared him. But this time the evidence seemed to keep stacking up against him. It was all circumstantial, but he didn’t know how to convince them of that.