“What happened?” she asked.
“You passed out,” I said. “I caught you, but you went down pretty hard. I need you to lay here for just a few minutes while I take care of some things.”
I walked over to the living room, the glass crunching under my shoes. I stood there for several moments, just glaring out over the ocean. The anger in my chest was out of control, and I couldn’t believe that the mob had found Josie. They had thrown a damn brick through my front window just to prove their point. On top of all that, Josie’s father was dead, apparently from some sort of car accident. Now, I knew he wasn’t a model citizen, but I didn’t take him for someone who would steal a car, get wasted, and drive around until he crashed into a telephone pole. I felt like there was more to the story than that, and I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for the mob to give me the answer.
I picked up my phone and dialed the security service I used for the office. I asked them to send several men over and keep them on rotation until further notice. Whether we were home or not, the place and everyone in it needed to be protected from these guys. I knew I could trust this company because their background checking policy was so thorough, I probably couldn’t even work for them. Most of the men they hired were former military or worked for the secret service in the past.
I knew that it was going to be hard on Josie, but we needed to go down to the morgue and talk to the person that worked there. There were a lot of missing pieces to this puzzle, and I wanted to know for sure that her father had died from the accident and not from mob involvement. I couldn’t leave Josie there at the house, even with security. I needed to know where she was at all times, and the risk was just too great. Before we left, I called a window company and told them to check in with the men at the front. They would make sure they got in to get their work done. I needed the house to be put back together and the mess to be cleaned up because it was the last safe place that I knew of, unless I packed Josie up and took her out of the country. Unfortunately, that scenario wasn’t possible since she wasn’t allowed to leave the state.
When we got to the morgue, Josie clung closely to me, and we walked up to the front desk. I requested to see the coroner on duty and then waited to be called back. Josie leaned her head against my shoulder as we waited for the coroner to emerge. I could feel that her hands were still shaking, but at least, the color had come back to
her cheeks and lips. This poor girl had been through enough, and now, she had to bury her father. It just didn’t seem fair. When the coroner arrived, we followed him back to the main area of refrigerated coolers holding bodies.
“We are here to talk to you about Carl Gray,” I said.
“Carl Gray,” he said, thinking. “Oh, yes, the car accident. I don’t think you will want to view the body. The damage is pretty extensive.”
“We aren’t here to see the body,” I replied, feeling Josie grasp harder to my hand. “I wanted to ask you a couple of questions.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll do my best.”
“Are you sure this was a simple drunk driving accident?”
“I am positive,” he said, picking up a file and opening it. “Mr. Gray’s alcohol level was three times the legal limit. He died on impact since he was going about thirty miles over the speed limit. It is really a shame to see that kind of thing, especially with an older man. However, from what the police had told me, he had more going on than just having a bit of a drinking problem. Apparently, he had a gambling problem as well. I’m not judging, but that type of accident is pretty normal for people like him. I’m sorry if that is not helpful enough.”
“Was there any way that his death could have been a homicide?”
“I mean, anything is possible, but I highly doubt it,” he said, shaking his head.
He walked over to his desk and opened the file so he could read the details. I stepped in front of Josie since there were several pictures inside of her father’s body. She clung to my back like a scared little mouse, unable to move from that spot. The place was sterile, and the smell of formaldehyde wafted through the air. It made me remember when I had to go in and identify my parents’ bodies after they had been fished out of the water. Anderson had offered to do it since I was still recovering from my injuries, but I insisted, so he wheeled me in my wheelchair, and I looked down at their broken and bloated bodies. That image was still burned into my mind, so there was no way I was going to let Josie see her father like that.
“To be honest,” he said, shaking his head. “And I don’t mean any disrespect, but I’ve seen my fair share of dead drunks before. To me, this just seems like another sad case of a man that drank too much and met his ugly fate against a telephone pole.”
“Thank you,” I said, turning to Josie and nodding toward the door.
We left the morgue and walked out to the car, looking around to make sure there was no one following us. I had already made Josie an appointment at the funeral home for the next day so she could begin the arrangements for her father. I knew she was highly shaken, but I also knew that I needed to ask her some questions. I needed to really understand what shape her father was in when he met his end. I didn’t want to rule out mob involvement, but it was looking pretty straightforward.
“Look,” I said, taking her hand. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. If anyone can understand how the death of a parent feels, it’s me, but I have to ask you some questions. They may be hard to answer, but I need you to muster up that strength and give me your best shot.”
“Okay,” she said, sniffling and shaking her head.
“Was your father a drinker?”
“No,” she said. “I mean, he didn’t use to be. The only time recently that I would see him drink was when he didn’t have any money to gamble with. Even then, he wasn’t wasted. It was more like he had a few drinks and then went to bed, tired from the alcohol. Of course, I haven’t been around him when he was out, so I guess anything was possible. Everyone told me one addiction often could turn into another.”
I nodded my head and rubbed my hand down her hair. She buckled her seat belt and sat back as I put the car in drive and pulled out of the coroner’s office. This was definitely a shock and a terrible way to go, but it looked pretty simple. In reality, it looked like Josie’s dad wanted to gamble, but between the mob being after him and his bank account being low, which we checked during the investigation, he decided on a cheaper habit to indulge in. I didn’t know the story behind him stealing a car, but at this point, anything was possible. I guessed he probably felt guilty about his daughter being pinned with a murder she didn’t commit, and it sent him off the deep end. I knew he loved her, he must have, but I also knew as a man, having an addiction and depending on someone else to take care of you probably could easily turn you into a harsh and angry man. It was pretty clear to me that we could rule any mob involvement out of her father’s death. It was a shame that he died in a car accident, but if he really had gone on impact, he might have saved himself a really painful and agonizing death at the hands of the mob. They weren’t known for having mercy for the people they were after, and for Josie’s father, there was no reason for them to be kind.
“I hate to even ask this question,” she said, looking at me. “But what in the world could happen next?”
“Hopefully, we find out what is going on, and we can completely get these charges wiped away,” I responded trying to calm her nerves. “Right now, though, we are going to get some dinner, and when the window is done being fixed, we are going to go home, clean up the dinner we never got to enjoy, and relax a bit. I have some good movies, and we can veg out and just enjoy the rest of the day. I know it sounds hard to do, but you need to relax.”
“Everything in my life has gone to shit,” she said with tears in her eyes. “My whole world is crashing down around me, and I am powerless to stop it. My father is dead, the mob is after me, I’ve been framed for murder, and I don’t have a job to go back to anymore. I don’t even know what to do with myself. I’ve lost everything.”
“Not your entire world,” I said, taking her hand and smiling.
She pulled my hand up to her cheek and rested her face on it. I could feel the tears running down her cheeks, but it was okay. She had been so strong, it was bound to come crashing down on her at some point. All I knew was, I needed to protect this woman in any way I could. She had become my world, and I loved her with all my heart.
“You still have me,” I said, smiling.