Page 69 of Degrees of Power
“What happened to his arm?” I ask, taking in the plastic sling-like device that has my father’s arm outstretched.
“The impact of the truck fractured the humerus, scapula and clavicle. The bone in the top of his arm, shoulder and collar bone have all been broken in multiple places. Again, with time these will heal. We’re most concerned with the pressure in your father’s head, which is why we had to place him in the coma,” she says.
“They were hit by a truck? I don’t even know what happened, just that they were in a bad automobile accident,” I say, attempting to wipe the tears falling from my eyes away.
“I’m sorry, unfortunately that’s all I know, but the police officer who contacted you knew you wouldn’t arrive for a few hours, so planned to come back,” she explains.
“Thank you so much for your kindness,” I say, taking a tissue from the bedside to wipe my runny nose. I glance up as Don joins me at my father’s bedside and the minute I look at him and see the pain in his eyes the tears begin to flow even faster. He squeezes my hand.
“Carlos is a fighter. He’s been through hell and back and this will not stand in the way of his dreams, Katarina,” Don says.
“I hope you’re right,” I say, wiping my nose and trying to contain the tears that continue to fall.
“Sheldon, would you escort Katarina to her mom’s room? I’d like to spend a little time with Carlos and then I’m going to hang out in the waiting room tonight if that’s okay with you,” Don says to me.
“Nonsense, you’re family. You mean the world to him, you know that. If you’re going to remain at the hospital, just stay in his room with him. It would make me feel so much better to know he’s not alone and I can’t be in two places at once,” I say, patting his shoulder before allowing Sheldon to escort me back to my mother.
“I hate to ask you logistical questions right now, but what are you planning for the night? If you want to stay here we’ve got the entire perimeter and interior covered, if you want to go to a hotel to rest, we can make that happen, I just need a little time to secure the facility,” Sheldon says.
“No problem, Sheldon. You can plan on us being here for a while. I brought a few pairs of comfy clothes and a toothbrush. I’m good,” I say, settling into the recliner by my mother.
“Very good,” he says, pulling the sliding sofa out and removing the cushions that expose a makeshift bed. He opens the closet and pulls down a pillow and blanket, laying them on the bed for me.
“Thanks, Sheldon. You didn’t need to do that,” I say, glancing up at the knock on the door and the two police officers entering the room.
They glance somewhat nervously at my mom’s feeble body. “Mrs. Prestian, we hate to interrupt time with your mother. However, we were wondering if we could have a few moments with you, preferably somewhere private? The nurses suggested that we use one of the family conference rooms just down the hall,” the tall one says.
“Of course. This is Sheldon, and he’ll be accompanying us,” I say, following them along the hallway to a small room that contains a sleek black oval table and eight chairs. I glance around and although there are no windows, the hospital staff have made it cheery with whiteboards, scenic pictures of nature, and a coffee bar. The shorter, dark-haired police officer pours coffee into one of the Styrofoam cups. “Would anyone else like one?” he asks.
“I’d welcome some caffeine,” Sheldon says, taking the cup the officer hands him before situating himself at the end of the table facing the door.
“We apologize it’s so late. We wanted to allow Mrs. Prestian time to travel and spend a bit with her parents before we intruded, but also need to share what we know with you. While you may have heard it on the news, there’s a lot to the accident that doesn’t make sense. Your parents were hit head on by a semi driver, Mrs. Prestian. He pauses at my gasp. “I’m sorry if this is hard for you to hear, but it’s important for us to find out if your parents may have had any enemies, anyone that may have wanted to do them harm. We’re well aware of your father’s, um, position, and unfortunately this appears to be an orchestrated hit,” he says.
“You mean someone intentionally drove a semi truck into their car,” I say, slowly trying to digest this information.
“While we can’t be certain, there are enough details that lead us to believe that it was not an accident. Unfortunately, we can’t release those specifics just yet, but we need to learn if you know of anyone that would want to harm your parents, Mrs. Prestian?” he prods.
I do not look up, recalling the multiple times that Chase has not prevented the police from doing their job, but kept them out of the way so that his own men could do it faster.
“Gentlemen,” I say, finally leveling my gaze at them. “As you referenced, my father is well-known in this city and across the country for that matter. He has many business investments and at any time someone could take issue with a deal that didn’t go the way they intended it to, an investment that went sour, or any number of things. I wish I could provide you with something helpful. If someone deliberately tried to murder my parents, I would like nothing more than to have them brought to justice,” I say, meeting their watchful eyes head on, hoping my eyes are as hooded and controlled as possible.
“If you think of anything, anything at all, we would welcome a phone call,” the tall guy says, standing up and pushing his chair in. He offers me his card. “I’m glad you could be here for your parents and my thoughts are with you and your family,” he says before they leave.
The door closes and I feel a sense of relief, finally able to let down my guard. “Kate, you did a great job answering their questions. Excellent job and such a poker face. Chase will be so proud,” Sheldon says.
“Do you know anything more than what they’ve told us?” I ask, knowing he does but not sure if he’ll divulge it.
“Chase pays me to know more than them, but I didn’t know before they called you. I should have though. The security team Carlos has in place should have gotten hold of me right away since Jay is off the grid. We’re looking into why that didn’t happen and they’ll need to answer to Carlos and Chase, but I can tell you what we’ve learned since if you want to hear it,” he says.
“Tell me, Sheldon.”
“It was completely orchestrated. The police are right, but they know so little. Your parents were supposed to be on lockdown. Your mother wasn’t happy about the situation. Apparently it was some sort of special anniversary date and he doubled security, booked an entire restaurant so that he and your mother could have a nice dinner out. The semi was stolen approximately seven hours before your parents set out on the highway to the restaurant. I’ve engaged our intel teams to tap into Carlos’s security and see if they can find a plant. They had to have one in order to know his exact plans if they knew they were driving into the city instead of taking the helicopter. They also had eyes in the sky since the truck driver knew exactly when to accelerate, bear down, and cross the center line. Your father didn’t have a chance of correcting, Kate,” he says gently.
Inside my body is raging with emotion, screaming at the injustice, an inferno that will not be put out easily. Outside I appear calm, evenly overly collected.
“Thank you, Sheldon. Please keep me apprised as you learn more. I assume you have people screening my father’s help? This is the second time that an inside job has occurred. His head of security should be fired. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on my parents and then get a little rest before the physicians start their morning rounds,” I say, standing and walking toward the door.
“We’ll have someone stationed right outside your mother and father’s door all night. If you need to leave the room for any reason, they are going to follow you.”
