Part 16 (1/2)
As he'd been doing every day, Dan drove down the street where Maris had been hit. Did he hope to find a blue Chevy with front-end damage and a shattered winds.h.i.+eld parked as bold as bra.s.s at the curb? Stupid, this daily ritual, and obsessive. He thought about the guy in the hospital, a man familiar to him and not to Maris, but as the hit-and-run had taken place fairly close to Dan's house, it might be a friend of a neighbor he had seen on occasion. The picture in the paper ought to help. He kept an eye on Maris as he drove along the road in case she got upset, but she didn't appear to recognize the location when they pa.s.sed it, staring out the window with a tired, disinterested expression. When he got her back to his place, he'd make sure she was tucked in and comfortable before heading to the station.
No one but Jamie knew she'd be staying with him, and that was the way he planned on keeping it. Jamie thought he'd gone off the deep end with a decision like that. How much crazier would Jamie view him if he found out Dan had fallen for her? Because despite the certainty of heartache Dan saw in his future-as clearly as Maris picked up on people's thoughts circling in the air-he couldn't help himself. His race along the sidewalks, listening to the commotion of the accident through his phone, had pretty much clinched it for him. Sitting at her side during her days of recovery from a hemorrhage in the vessels around her brain had sealed the deal, tied up as neatly as the laces on his boots.
And if she was guilty of murder, what then? Would his emotions just stop? He doubted it, but he wouldn't stand in the way of justice. He couldn't, no matter how slow and painful the death inside of him would be.
Chapter 16.
Dan tucked the blankets around her shoulders as if she were a child. Maris shook her head at him. ”Do you have children?”
”No. My ex-wife and I...we didn't want to have any for a while and then, well, we didn't. I guess that's a good thing.”
Maris wriggled her arm free. She reached for the magazine he'd placed on the nightstand. ”I'm not really tired.”
”I don't care. Last thing I need is you stumbling down the stairs or something while I'm gone. I'd appreciate it if you'd stay put.” He removed the magazine from her hand. ”Even though I gave you that, you shouldn't be reading it. I think the term is brain rest.' Close your eyes.”
She snorted. ”Yes, sir.” A second later, she cracked one lid apart and discovered he hadn't moved. Dan, don't look at me like that. ”What's wrong?”
”Nothing's wrong. I'll be back in an hour or so. I'll bring some soup.”
”I don't have a cold.”
”Will you just let me be kind in my own way? Please? Besides, there are no groceries in the house.”
She grabbed his hand and folded her fingers over digits still chilled from the cold rain. ”Thank you. I appreciate that you came to the hospital and sat with me every day, too. The nurses told me,” she added, before he a.s.sumed otherwise. She'd lost her psychic connection with him until the fourth day of her hospital stay when she'd opened her eyes and heard footsteps in the hallway, followed by his voice in her head. You'll be awake today, Maris Granger. Today is the day. She'd been moved from ICU that afternoon to a regular room.
Dan pulled his hand back. ”I've got to go.”
He shut the guestroom door as he departed, and several minutes later she heard the front door close. The rain pounded harder on the roof.
He'd been puzzled by her insistence of taking the spare room but hadn't argued. She didn't belong in his bed. Not in that way. Theirs was a relations.h.i.+p rus.h.i.+ng backward. She visualized it as a time-lapse video in reverse, the flower starting in full bloom and minimizing in growth until the green sprout disappeared into the earth, a seed closed and awaiting sunlight and warmth that would never come.
There was no hope for them. The aura like a dark second skin, flaring and shrinking around Dan's body, was still there, and she had no idea what to do about it.
Dan handed Jamie Rogers the sketch. ”So, you think you could get that in the paper?”
”What really makes you think this might be the guy?”
”Nothing stronger than a hunch.” Dan ground a knuckle into the base of his skull. ”Got any aspirin?”
”A hunch, huh?” Jamie pulled a bottle out of his drawer and tossed it in Dan's direction.
Dan popped the cap and took one without water, grimacing at the taste, but the pill went down. ”One of my own. Not hers.”
”How's Maris doing?”
”Good.” Dan recapped the aspirin and handed the bottle back.
”You don't sound so sure.”
”I'm not. I don't mean health-wise. The doctor said she's recovered, rather amazingly, but she can't, you know, drive or anything.”
Jamie arched a brow at him. ”Anything?”
”Shut it, Rogers. I'm not an animal. That's fine.”
”Then what's up?”
”She...she's different somehow. I can't quite explain, but she doesn't seem herself.”
Jamie opened the drawer and returned the pain reliever to its place. He slipped the sketch into a folder. ”No offense, but how well do you know her that you can tell she's changed at all?”
Dan said nothing.
”Plus she's been through some nastiness. Give her time.”
With a snort, Dan crossed his arms over his chest. ”Listen to you. I thought you condemned my thing with Maris.”
”What makes you think I still don't? But it's your life, and you and I have been friends for a long time. I'm just trying to be there for you, buddy.”
”Don't call me buddy.”
”It's better than what I'd like to call you for the risks you're taking. What am I supposed to do with this sketch, anyway, since it's only a hunch?”
”Person of interest. Word it so it looks like we think he's a witness. People might be more inclined to come forward with information about him then.”
Jamie stared for a few seconds before nodding. He stood. ”I'll contact the paper tomorrow. Want to go for a beer or something?”
Dan rose, too. He put the chair back where it belonged. He thought about Maris, hoping she'd fallen asleep. ”Sure. Only one and a bite to eat. Somewhere they have soup because I told Maris I'd bring some back for her.”
”Listen to you, all domesticated and s.h.i.+t. Don't you have a can in the closet somewhere?”
He glared at Jamie, who burst out laughing.
”Kidding, Stauffer. Just kidding. Follow me to the Sickle. They always have great soup. And it's quiet there.” Jamie lowered his voice. ”I have a few things to tell you.”
Twenty minutes after consumption of their meal and a second beer for both of them, Rogers still hadn't opened up. Dan signaled the waitress and asked her for an order of the minestrone to go.
”What's your hurry?” Jamie said. ”Afraid your girlfriend won't be there when you get home?”
Dan lowered his gla.s.s to the table. ”What's your f.u.c.king problem all of a sudden?”
”Sorry. Nothing. Well, that's not true. You...you always were, I don't know, confident? Secure? You've been antsy this whole meal, like you can't wait to get out of here.”
Spinning his gla.s.s in the ring of condensation, Dan considered his reply before opening his mouth. ”I'm not any less confident or secure than I was. What you mean is that I used to treat the women in my life without any real concern. But now, there's someone I worry about. What the h.e.l.l is wrong with that? You and Roxie have been together how long? Five years? Are you telling me you don't give her any consideration?”