Chapter 2 - Four Words That Stopped My Heart
The man in the doorway was Detective Marcus Bell.
I placed the voice right away. He'd coached Noah's rec-league soccer team two seasons back — orange slices at halftime, whistle around his neck, patient with the kids who cried. I never pictured I'd be flat on a hospital mattress thanking God for him.
Daniel laughed. It was the laugh he used when he wanted to sound sure of himself and wasn't. "Drained? That's a big thing to say out loud, Detective."
"It is," Bell said. "That's exactly why I want you to walk me through how a car that passed inspection four days earlier ends up with a bone-dry brake line."
Vanessa started toward the hall. "I really don't think a hospital room is the place for—"
"Sit down, Vanessa."
She sat.
Daniel's jaw flexed. "You don't have the right to—"
"I've got every right. We towed the vehicle this morning. The mechanic's report is already in the file."
Noah pressed himself against my side. I could feel him shaking through the blanket.
Then Daniel's phone lit up and buzzed against the tray table. He looked down at it.
His face changed. Whatever name was on that screen drained the color out of him. He killed the call with his thumb, but Bell had already leaned over to see it.
"Somebody you need to get back to, Daniel?"
Daniel didn't answer.
But Vanessa breathed out four words, barely louder than the IV pump, and my bl00d turned to ice water.
May you like
"She already knows everything."
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