Page 126 of Freshmeet
“Connor,” a deep voice called out from the desk.
Dropping his chin to his chest, Connor turned. “Hey, Uncle Rick.”
“A word?”
Connor started toward him, and Rick gestured for me to follow.
“I don’t think—” Connor stepped in front of me, as if his uncle was dangerous.
Rick scoffed. “Come on. Let’s go talk to your mom.”
I reached out and caught Connor’s hand, squeezing his fingers. He squeezed back, his shoulders relaxing.
“We’ll wait here,” Mona called out, leaning against Kat with a yawn.
“You don’t have to,” I said halfheartedly. Maybe I was being selfish, but it was reassuring to have them in the same building.
“We’re not splitting up,” Kat said with her eyes shut and hood up. Her tone left no room for argument, not that I wanted to argue.
I bit back a smile and followed Connor and his uncle through the maze of the hospital down to the cafeteria.
“Are you hungry?” Connor murmured.
I shook my head. There was no way I could eat after the night we had survived. All I could think about was the coroner showing up before we left.
Rick sat next to Colleen while Connor and I sat on the other side of the table.
“I’m going to get right to it. The cops were wrong.”
Connor tilted his head. “Obviously.”
Rick pinned him with an unimpressed look. “After they arrested the guy who broke into your apartment, he was let go.”
“Why?” Connor gritted out, his hold on my hand tightening.
“You chased him, beat the shit out of him on Main Street, Con. To keep you out of trouble, we told him to get his ass out of town.” Rick cleared his throat. “Then you were ran off the road and we found him behind the wheel of a stolen truck. The cops checked his whereabouts during the three murders, and he was always in the vicinity. They found evidence he was at Thousand Hills the night the sorority girl was murdered.”
“Hailey,” I snapped.
Rick dipped his chin. “The night Hailey was murdered. So, they were confident they had the right guy. Clearly, they were wrong.”
“What does this have to do with me? With us?”
Shaking his head, Rick sighed. “I don’t know. I’m sorry,” he said, sitting up straight when a doctor approached the table.
“Sorry to interrupt.” The handsome man laid a hand on Colleen’s shoulder. “Jamie just came out of X-rays and is back in his room.”
“Is he awake?” She covered his hand with hers and stood.
The doctor smiled gently down at her, his bronze skin somehow resistant to the harsh hospital lighting. “Not yet.”
Rick stood, holding his hand out to the doctor. “Rick McCormick. I’m Jamie’s uncle.”
“Dr. Reyes. I work here at the hospital with Colleen.” His deep brown eyes dropped to her, and he gave her a warm smile.
My bag buzzed, and I dug through it while they all chatted.
“Oh, it’s your phone.” I handed it to Connor.
