Intense (Dark Hearts)

“I’m sorry, Roman.” My head shoots straight up as I stare at her like she’s nuts. She has nothing to be sorry about, and then she gives me the slightest smile, righting my world.

I wag my finger at her and playfully say as I stand up, “You should be, little girl. Who is ever going to make me whole but you?”

“Roman, you’re crazy.” She closes her eyes and smiles, falling asleep. “She’s going to be in and out of it, but it’s good that she remembers you.”

“Will she remember what happened to her?” I already have vengeance in my head. The bastard that did this to my girl is going to pay, but I’m going to make sure to keep that from Dr. Eames.

“We can only hope.” I turn to the door to see a man in a suit. I don’t know him, but I don’t miss the badge on his hip. “Can we speak outside for a minute, Mr. Edwards?”

“Yes.” I bend down and kiss Amelia’s cheek because I can’t help myself. Giving her one last look, I walk outside with the man.

“I’m Detective Sotomayor. How do you know the woman?”

“She’s my woman.”

“She has you listed as her stepbrother,” the doctor interjects.

“Yes. Well, that’s not important, but I must call my dad and her mother, and then we can talk. Excuse me.”

I dial my father, knowing he’ll be calmer than Rachel.

“Dad,” I choke out.

“What’s wrong, son?”

“Did you and Amelia have a fight?”

“No. She’s in the hospital.”

“What? What happened?”

“I don’t know. She was in the car with some people, but she shouldn’t have been in the car with anyone. They said she jumped out of the vehicle. Fuck. I think someone tried to kidnap her.”

“We’re on our way. How is she?”

“I spoke to her briefly before she passed out. They say she’s gonna make it.”

“Okay. I’ll get us there ASAP.”

“Remember to take it easy. I’ll be with her. I’m not leaving her side.”

“What happened to your guard?”

“I don’t fucking know. He was supposed to be watching over her.” I can see the detective lurking over my shoulder. “I have to go speak to the cops.”

“Okay. We’re on our way.”

“Where are the other two people?”

“The man is in surgery. He had a pencil jabbed in his eye. According to the bag in the vehicle, Ms. Reeves purchased it half an hour before the incident.”

“Yes, the security guard I hired to protect her told me she was at the bookstore.”

“Okay, so either it’s a feat of epic proportions that it landed in his eye as they crashed, or she stabbed him with it.”

“Then he must have kidnapped her. I know her, and trust me, I have tested her goodwill. She wouldn’t do that.”

“That’s what I was suspecting, since the man had a gun on him and this picture was found in the vehicle. I think he may have kidnapped both of them.” He shows me the evidence bag with the crinkled image.

“That fucking bitch,” I roar. “She isn’t a kidnapping victim. She’s his partner. That evil wench is Anna Danvers, my biological mother. She just came to my office to create a scene and get me to leave Amelia. When I didn’t buy her shit, she must have gone straight for Amelia. I could kill her.”

“Calm down.” I attempt to move past the officer, but he signals for the other officers who are nearby, and they hold me back. “Relax. If what you’re saying is true, she isn’t going anywhere but lockup after she’s released.”

He looks over my shoulder at the other officer. “Call hospital security and make sure there’s a cop by her door at all times. Same for the guy if he makes it out of surgery.” So he’s not here.

“Who is the guy? Do you have an image of him?”

“This is his driver’s license.”

“I can’t fucking believe it. This bastard. He’s the guard I paid to look after Amelia when I wasn’t around.”

“Interesting. Do you think he had something to do with it or do you believe it was all your mother? Maybe she stabbed him with the pencil.”

“No, she was most definitely involved. By the way, her name is Anna, not my mother. She should already be in prison. We can’t prove it was her, but back when I was a kid, my father had been poisoned. They were able to determine it was ethylene glycol, but they couldn’t find the source. I knew it was her because she’d thrown out the antifreeze that was in our garage the day he went to the hospital. Anna never went into the garage for anything. I mean anything. Of course they didn’t believe me, and after that she ripped me from his life.”

“I see. Well, she won’t be getting away with this.”

“I need to get back to Amelia. It’s all my fault she got in this spot to begin with.”