Page 35 of Witness To Murder
“Father apologized for ignoring her and promised it would never happen again, and just like that, life returned to normal, except for one thing.” He held up one finger. “From that point on, no matter how busy work got, we took a real family vacation every year, and each year on their anniversary, our parents took a mini vacation, just the two of them, to wherever Mother wanted to go.”
“I love it! Your family sounds wonderful.” Leah supposed the way she had pined for siblings her whole life made her more vulnerable to someone like the roommate who had misled her so completely. Or maybe she just wanted to believe such a cool relationship could be real. Either way, she yearned for those close attachments. Too bad she’d always chosen the wrong people to form attachments to.
“I’m certain they would adore you,” he said. “Both sisters and my mother are avid readers. You would have much in common.”
Another stream of warmth filled Leah at the possibility of meeting his family. She smiled, though her lips tried hard not to shake with uncertainty. “I’d love to meet them one day.”
His smile slipped and he reached for his cell phone. He looked at Leah. “It’s Detective Lambert.”
Leah held her breath.
Owen took the call but didn’t put it on speaker since they were in a restaurant. He made several comments, but none that provided any inkling as to what Lambert was saying. When he finally ended the call, Leah found herself holding her breath once more.
“Two things.” He pressed his lips together for a moment as if he wasn’t looking forward to the necessary share. “The body of the real Isla Morris’s mother was found in a freezer in the basement of the Morris home. It will take some time before the ME can determine cause of death.”
The possibility that the woman Leah had trusted killed the poor woman tore at her like the claws of a rabid bear. “This just gets worse.” She blinked back the tears of regret and frustration. “I’m afraid to ask what the second thing is.”
“If you still want to see Painter,” he said, obviously no happier about this part, “Lambert has made the arrangements.”
The warmth Leah had been enjoying while listening to Owen talk about his family vanished. A cold flood of defeat and fear replaced it.
Another person was dead. And then there was the other. She didn’t want to see Chris…but she had to.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
East Huron Street, 3:30 p.m.
AUNIFORMED POLICE OFFICERstood outside the hospital room.
Owen showed his ID, and the officer nodded. “Detective Lambert gave approval for the two of you to go in.”
Owen looked to Leah. “Do you want me to go in with you?”
She chewed her lower lip a moment before forcing the words from her mouth. “I should do this alone.” She didn’t want to do it alone, but she couldn’t be sure what Chris would say… Oh God, how had she allowed her life to end up at this place?
So damned screwed up! She’d spent all these years pretending this day would never come. But here it was.
Owen nodded. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
Leah resisted the urge to hug him. She wasn’t sure there was a way to ever properly show her gratitude. This decision to see Chris alone, she hoped, would not make Owen doubt how much she trusted and appreciated him.
Still, this private meeting was necessary.
Leah took a breath and stepped up to the door. The officer opened it and she went inside.
The first thing to hit her senses was the beeping from the machines monitoring the patient’s vitals. The lights in the room were dimmed a little. Then her attention settled on the bed. A sheet covered his body from the waist down. He wore a faded blue hospital gown. Since the gown had very short sleeves, it was easy to see that his arms were no longer the thick, muscular ones from all those years ago. The tattoos that had impressed her as a teenager had faded and shriveled to the point of being unrecognizable. But it was his face that really startled her. He looked far older than he had back then. A scruffy beard covered his jaws and chin. His blond hair was darker than before and on the stringy side. His closed eyes were sunken, leaving his cheekbones jutting out painfully.
This looked nothing like the guy she’d fallen so hard for. But then, she had been a kid. Barely eighteen. She had been desperate for excitement.
She had been immature and incredibly foolish.
Slowly, she approached his bedside. His arms lay alongside his torso, his left arm clustered with IVs and a blood pressure cuff.
She placed her hands on the bed rail and considered what to say. Maybe nothing. He seemed to be asleep. But then, she might never get this chance again. Alone, anyway.
His eyes fluttered open, taking the decision out of her hands.
Deep breath.“Hello, Chris.”
