Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I knelt down beside her as I whispered, “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”
“I’m good, Billy. Just go.”
“Okay.” I kissed her once more as I warned, “Be careful with those pills. You know…”
“I know.”
I stayed there for a moment, watching her sleep as I battled the thoughts racing through my head. I needed to go to work and finish my forensics report, but the thought of leaving my beloved wife in such a state had me riddled with guilt.
Grace sensed my trouble and placed her hand on mine as she whispered, “I’ll be fine. Go.”
“I’ll be back as soon as I can, and Kiersten will come straight home after school.”
She nodded, then rolled over, signaling that it was time for me to leave. I waited a moment longer, just long enough to make sure she wouldn’t change her mind, and then I gathered my things and headed to the car.
My guilt weighed on me as I left the house and drove into the office, but the second I got to work, I dove into my case, and everything else was forgotten.
That’s how it was with my work.
Once I started trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, I would become obsessed with finding the perfect match and naming the perpetrator behind the crime. And this particular case was a tough one and had me running in circles. Everyone knew that Ace, the Red Kings’ gang leader, was behind the rape and murder of a sixteen-year-old, but there wasn’t much evidence, and the DA was counting on me to find a way to prove it.
I don’t know how long I’d been at it when my cell phone rang. I grabbed it out of my pocket, and when I saw that Kiersten was calling, I immediately answered, “Hey, doodlebug. I’m sorry that I’m running late, but I should...”
“Daddy, there’s something wrong with Momma.”
“What do you mean?”
“She won’t wake up.”
“I’m sure she’s just really tired, sweetheart,” I explained. “She had one of her bad migraines and...”
“I know how she is with her migraines, Dad. This is different.” She sounded like she was on the verge of tears as she said, “Something’s really wrong. I’ve tried everything, and she won’t wake up. She won’t even move.”
Kiersten was thirteen and old enough to know if something wasn’t right, so I didn’t question her further. I simply said, “Call 911. I’m leaving now and will be there as soon as I can.”
I hung up the phone, then ran out of the lab and got into my car. My heart was pounding, and I could barely think as I raced to the house. When I pulled up, the ambulance was there, and Kiersten was waiting for me on the front porch. As soon as I reached her, she wrapped her arms around me and sobbed, “I’m so scared, Daddy.”
“I know, sweetheart, but I’m here now. Everything’s going to be okay.” I glanced over at the door as I asked, “How’s your mom?”
“I don’t know.” She sniffled as she looked up at me and said, “They told me to come wait out here.”
“Okay, I’ll go in and see if I can find out what’s going on.”
She nodded, then watched as I disappeared through the front door. When I got to the bedroom, I found the paramedics standing over Grace with somber looks on their faces. I knew right away something was terribly wrong, but I didn’t know how bad it really was until one of the paramedics said, “I’m sorry, sir, but she was gone when we got here.”
“What?”
“She’s gone, sir.”
Refusing to believe that I’d lost her, I rushed over to the bed and pulled her into my arms, cradling her against my chest as I rocked back and forth. “I need you to wake up, sweetheart. Do you hear me? You gotta wake up!”
“Sir, she’s not going to wake up. She’s gone.”
“No!” I bellowed. “She’s just sleeping. She’ll wake up! She has to!”
“Sir...”
“Just give me a minute!” I loved this woman to my very core, and I couldn’t imagine living without her by my side. I could see that she wasn’t responding to me, but I continued to cradle her lifeless body against my chest as I cried, “You can’t leave us, Grace. You hear me? You can’t leave us. I can’t do this without you. You know that. Please, baby. Just wake up.”
Again, no response.
I looked down at her angelic face, and my heart shattered at the realization that she was gone. It broke me to know that I would never see her smile again. I would never hear her voice or feel her arms around me, and it was my fault. I should’ve been there. I should’ve made sure she was okay, but I was too fucking selfish—too wrapped up in my own fucking career.