This wasn’t me. I couldn’t let it be me.
Had I really thought I was going to walk into a hospital and shoot a patient? Thank God for Melanie. What if she hadn’t called me?
I’d been ready to kill before, and something always happened to talk me out of it.
Or maybe I was talking myself out of it.
Who the fuck knew?
I took a deep breath and counted to ten. Then I got out of the car and walked into the hospital. Officer Jones had told me to meet him in the ICU waiting area.
Jones approached me. “Mr. Steel.”
“Here I am.” I patted my arm. “And here’s a good vein. I assure you that you won’t find any trace of me anywhere near Colin. At least not where you’re looking for it.”
Another man approached, wearing a suit and tie. “Mr. Steel,” he said.
“Yeah? Who are you?”
“I’m Ted Morse. Colin’s father. Might I have a word?”
“I have nothing to say to you.” I turned back to Officer Jones.
“Please. I think you’ll be interested in what I have to say.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Please excuse me,” I said to Jones.
I followed him out of the waiting area and into a hallway. “What is it?”
“I have a proposition for you. One I think you’ll find intriguing.”
“I doubt it.”
“My son is willing to drop his allegations against you.”
“Great. I didn’t do a damned thing except save his life, so let’s get moving, then.”
“He says otherwise. However, I think he could be persuaded to change his story for a price.”
“Of course. A price. I’m innocent here. You and he both know that.”
“I know nothing of the sort. I wasn’t there.”
“He was. And I know the guys who tortured him. Their names are Tom Simpson and Theodore Mathias. That’s who you should be after.”
“Nonetheless, he swears it was you.”
“He’s lying.”
“Perhaps. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that he is the victim here, and he swears you are the perpetrator. But I guarantee you he’ll recant for five million dollars.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“That’s chump change to you.”
“So what? I didn’t do anything to him. I saved him!”
“Consider it a payment for his suffering. He says both you and your brothers threatened him the day before he was taken. In fact, your brother Talon beat him bloody.”