Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Over and over until visiting hours ended.
When the new nurse, the night one, came in, everything literally stopped.
The parents that had been quietly looking at their own babies started to leave, and I realized that I was expected to go, also.
I wanted to cry.
Reed touched the tips of his fingers to my face, and then smiled knowingly.
“Let’s go,” he murmured. “We’ll be back early.”
We would.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
***
I hated leaving, but the NICU had strict policies that they adhered to when it came to visitors.
Not that I could complain. Those strict policies were protecting my two boys, and I wouldn’t fault them for that.
“What now?” Reed asked.
Confused, I looked up to find him standing directly beside me, but his eyes were on the tall man that was leaning against the wall opposite of where we were exiting.
His eyes were hard, and surprisingly soft at the same time. As if he felt for what he was about to do.
“Do y’all have a minute?”
Chapter 19
Twatapotamus: a thing you’re being right now.
-Text from Krisney to Reed
Reed
“Do y’all have a minute?”
I wanted to snarl that we didn’t, but I knew that this couldn’t be avoided any longer. I’d been putting him off for over a week to have his discussion with Krisney. It was time.
I’d given my family all the time I could. If they hadn’t found Caria by now, it was time to involve the cops.
My eyes took in the detective.
He wasn’t anyone that I knew, which meant he was probably new.
Which was a good thing seeing as Hostel hasn’t had the best police department for years. Anything had to be better than what they had.
At one point, the entire police department had been put under investigation. They wouldn’t have put a new guy in there unless he could prove himself.
I hoped.
“Kris,” I murmured. “This is the detective over your case.”
Krisney wasn’t stupid. She was, in fact, rather smart when it came to life in general.
And she saw, just as well as I did, that this man wasn’t the laid-back man he was trying to portray.
Then again, we’d both been active duty military for a while before we’d gone reserve. We weren’t new to the game.
Krisney offered her hand to the detective, and then gestured toward a couple of seats at the end of the hall.
“I’m about to fall over,” she admitted. “If I don’t sit, I might fall.”
The detective didn’t even hesitate.
He let go of her hand and held his arm out for her to do what she needed to do.
Which made me proud of her.
I was happy that she wasn’t trying to push her limits.
She’d just gotten released from the hospital earlier that morning. Technically she should’ve been at home, resting.
But I knew better.
At least this way I’d been able to keep an eye on her, and make sure that she didn’t overdo it.
But now I wondered if I’d have to do that at all. The woman was so fucking smart that it hurt.
“Your fiancé is right,” the detective said. “I’m the detective over your case. My name is Officer Cree, Tyler Cree.”
“Nice to meet you,” Krisney said as she sat.
The relieved look on her face made me wonder if I’d need to get a wheelchair for her to get to the truck with. The one she’d taken down here was gone the moment she got out of it.
“I wish we’d met under different circumstances.” He paused. “How are the children?”
Krisney’s smile lit up her entire face. “They’re small, but they’re fighting.”
He nodded. “Good to know.” He sighed and took a seat, the one opposite us, and started. “I want to know what happened. Do you have time…are you up for it?”
Kris looked down at her hands. “Where do you need me to start?”
“Start with how you met Caria.”
Krisney looked at me.
“That would be where I come in, I suppose.” I cleared my throat. “I started work here when Krisney was sixteen weeks pregnant. That was four months ago.”
He nodded, his eyes on me. “Okay.”
“Caria was already at the doctor’s office when I started. We’ve had no relationship beyond that of co-workers whatsoever. There was one occasion when we went out to get coffee for the entire clinic, and another after I had just started, when we went out for lunch as a group with a few other members of the staff.”
I could feel Krisney’s eyes on me as I spoke, just as curious about my relationship with Caria as the detective was.
Krisney and I hadn’t spoken much about anything after our surgeries. At least when it came to Caria, and why she did what she did.
Honestly, I wasn’t too sure that I wanted to think about it.
If I thought about it, then I wanted to commit murder. And that was in direct violation of my oath as a doctor.