Double Full (Nice Guys 1)

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Jace was startled awake by the sound of the doorbell and then the heavy pounding on his front door. After a second round of banging, Jace registered Colt wasn’t getting the door. He smiled. Colt must have locked himself outside. Jace thought about making him wait, but decided against it. He rose quickly, looking over at the alarm clock. He’d apparently slept the entire morning and half the afternoon away. He hadn’t had this much sleep since Colt arrived, and his head took a second to clear from the sleep-induced fog clinging to his brain.

“Hang on! I’m coming,” Jace yelled to the front door and grabbed his jeans, putting them on as he made his way to the entrance. Smiling, he reached over to unlock the door, but the lock wasn’t set. His smile instantly faded as he opened the door to see two island police officers standing on his front porch.

“I’m Officer Kahala and this is Officer Laemoa, we’re looking for anyone connected to Jace Montgomery.” Two men stood at his front door. Officer Kahala was about Jace’s height; Officer Laemoa was much shorter, and a lot more muscular.

“That’s me,” Jace said, confused.

“Sir, how are you related to him?” Officer Kahala asked. They were no nonsense, and made Jace’s nerves a little frantic.

“I’m Jace Montgomery.” That seemed to throw them off. He watched as they exchanged looks with one another, then in unison they turned back to Jace.

“Did you rent a blue 2012 Toyota Prius?” Officer Laemoa asked.

“Yes, sir,” Jace affirmed.

“Is there another Jace Montgomery traveling with you?” the other officer asked.

“No sir, what’s this about?” Jace asked.

“Sir, your car’s been in an accident. The driver’s in critical condition at Island Memorial. Your wallet was in the car. We were operating under the assumption this individual was you. Do you know who had your car?” The officer held out Jace’s identification and his heart seized. He couldn’t decide if it was pounding out his chest or had stop beating all together. His brain froze, and he turned his head toward the sliding glass door, praying Colt was outside on the back deck. When he saw no one there, he closed his eyes, letting the weight of the world center into him. This couldn’t be happening, his knees threatened to give under his weight.

“I'm here with a friend. I’ve been asleep. Let me see if I can find him.” Jace left the officers and went through the house searching room by room, the panic intensifying with every step he took. Colt wasn’t in the house. Jace hit the back door, searching the back of the house. Colt loved to go running. Maybe he was jogging along the beach. Jace lifted his hand to his brow to block the sun’s glare and frantically scanned the distance both on shore and off shore. He saw nothing.

“Sir, who was traveling with you?” an officer said from behind Jace.

“Colton Michaels.” His hand remained in place, shielding his eyes from the sun as he kept them trained down the beach, praying Colt would magically appear before him.

“And he’s not here?” Officer Kahala finally asked.

“Not that I can see.” He took a second more to admit the obvious.

“Sir, we’re going to need you to come with us.” For some reason, those words cemented everything for Jace. His heart already knew and his head finally gave in. All the fear settled in his gut. Colt must have had an accident. Jace went straight for the house.

“How bad of a condition is he in?” he said, walking straight inside.

“We’re not at liberty to discuss that, sir,” Officer Kahala said. Jace grabbed a T-shirt and sandals from his bedroom, tugged the shirt on as he went for the kitchen and grabbed his cell phone. His iPod was right beside them. Colt had given him that iPod ten years ago. It meant something, and he palmed it too. Jace didn’t ask another question. He was dressed and in the squad car in less than five minutes.

Chapter 27

Jace walked silently through the halls of the hospital following the two officers. With every step, dread coiled in his stomach. How had this happened? What had Colt been thinking? From the time they entered, curious faces kept looking his way as he kept pace with the men in uniform. The officers seemed to know everyone and were met with friendly greetings as they sauntered through the building in long slow strides. Jace’s fearful heart desperately wanted them to move a little faster. It didn’t work. Instead the steps from the front door to the ICU folded in around him as if he were taking his last walk down death row. The cold sterile halls and dull monotone color led him straight toward the death chamber.

He didn’t want this to be Colt in the car accident, but his every instinct prepared him for the worst. Jace’s heart thumped wildly in his chest with each excruciatingly slow step they took. The officers needed no direction; they seemed to know exactly where they were going. They walked past the nurse’s station and no one stopped them as they rounded the corner, heading straight to a back room.

The hospital rooms had large windows placed partially across the front of each room and all had the doors open. Jace had no problem seeing each patient lying in their beds. Jace supposed the windows and wide open doors were a way for the nurses to keep watch over their critical patients. For some reason the thought seemed to make matters that much worse, and he forced his gaze straight head, focusing on the back of one of the officer’s heads.

There were two rooms at the end of the corridor, and both looked to have the same setup as the rest of the rooms in this part of the building. As the officers veered to one side, Jace strained so hard he got tunnel vision, trying to see through the windows at the end of the hall. He had to see if Colt was lying in one of those beds.