Carter Reed 2 (Carter Reed 2)

“From what I’ve heard, I think so. Amanda asked me to give you a ride over or just to be here when you got out.” He looked around, but no one else had appeared. “We didn’t know who they would detain and so forth. You know.”

“The others are still being questioned?”

“Well, Carter and the other guy, Michael. The guy who was shot, he’s at the hospital.”

Drake. I nodded, my mind buzzing. What about Peter? Was he still—

“Amanda said another guy is at the hospital, too,” Brian added. “She didn’t know his name, just said she recognized him from your security team.”

I pinched my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Right.” Peter was safe. Everyone was safe. “I’d like to talk to Amanda.”

His eyebrows went up. “Pardon?”

I held out my hand. “Your phone. I’d like to call Amanda.”

He reached for his phone, but was slow bringing it out. “Because…”

“Because.” I smiled at him. “You don’t think I’m stupid enough just to get in a car with you? There are a lot of people who know a lot about me. Anyone of them could spin a nice web for me to believe. Give me your phone. I will dial her myself, and then maybe I’ll get in a car with you.” He started to press a number on his phone. I stopped him. “No, no.” Taking it from him, I waved toward the desk. “I’ll call from over there. Thank you.”

“Uh…”

Taking the phone to the front, I called to make sure it was Amanda. At the sound of her voice, my knees gave out. I grasped the desk to keep from falling.

“Emma?”

My throat wasn’t working. “He—hey.” Damn, I had missed her. “You, uh, have a guy here on your behalf?”

She laughed, sounding relieved. “Yes. That’s Brian. We were all going to wait, but he didn’t want us there. He said he didn’t want me waiting around a police lobby unless I had to, so when he found out which hospital your sister had been sent to, we came here—Theresa and Noah, too. We all wanted to rally around and support you guys. How are you? How’s Carter?”

I sucked in a breath. The tears were coming. Just hearing Amanda’s voice had opened the floodgates. I tried fanning myself. I was tired of crying. “Uh, we’re okay, I think. Have you guys been able to see my sister?”

“No.” She was moving somewhere, and suddenly her voice was clearer. “I’m in a closet now. I can hear you better this way.” She sighed. “No. They won’t even let us on her floor. Theresa snuck up, though. She said there were cops outside her door, but they caught her and escorted her back down here. Noah knows the hospital’s administrator, but even he couldn’t pull strings. We’re stuck. From what we’ve been able to overhear, though, her parents are flying in soon. She got quiet. “Emma, are those your parents?”

“No. Andrea was adopted.”

“Oh.”

Yeah. My throat burned.

“Okay.” She kept her voice at a whisper. “I saw one of Carter’s guys here, too. He walked through the lobby to the elevator. Theresa tried to slip into the elevator with him, but he didn’t let her. We don’t know if he went up to see your sister or if—”

“No. Drake’s there. The medics took him and my sister to the hospital. I’m sure Peter is there for him.”

She was quiet for a moment.

“They’re the security guards you just mentioned,” I explained.

“Oh. Gotcha. I didn’t know all their names.”

I nodded to myself. It felt so good to hear her voice, hear her laughing again. A lump formed in my throat. “Okay,” I rasped. “I’m assuming your boyfriend is a safe driver.”

“He’s a cop. He tends to speed sometimes, but yeah, I think he’s safe.” She laughed. “I’m glad everything’s okay. I’ve missed you, Ems.”

The lump grew, and I whispered back, “I’ve missed you, too.” I had missed all of them, even Noah. “I’ll see you in a few then.”

“Okay. See you.”

It felt weird getting into a car with Amanda’s boyfriend—and no one else. For an entire year I had been surrounded by Carter and his men. Being with a stranger brought old memories to the surface, back when I traveled alone—before Carter came back into my life and I was living with Mallory. I realized if she had seen me with this guy, she would’ve wanted to date him. And Amanda would’ve hated it. I chuckled.