Page 20 of Love At Peace

“Sure,” Marty replied. “I’ve met most of everyone in Burton by now.” His smile wasn’t smug, but I could tell that he was amused with that question. I got the impression he was trying to get me to lower my guard for the sake of being more lighthearted and preventing me from worrying too much. Until there was a reason to, at least. I couldn’t take offense to that. He wasn’t being a jerk or dismissing me about this.

“I’ve dealt with a few of the renters here. Previous renters.” He lifted his head, looking up at all the floors. “And I know the residents on that side of the building have been here longer than Jerry’s been managing it.” He gestured at one end of the squarish building. “I can’t see how any of them would be picking Eric up to bring here. Most of them are senior citizens who wouldn’t be driving at the time that text was sent to his phone.”

“Can you unlock his phone if you need to?” Roarke asked.

I hated that on the principle of it being such an invasion of privacy. David used to employ all kinds of tactics like that on my phone in Chicago.

“If need be,” Marty said.

“There’s a woman who lives here—” I stopped myself short when Roarke swore. He and Gavin had started to walk around the perimeter of the lobby space, but something had snagged his attention. He stood at the railing blocking a stairwell that led to the basement.

“Marty,” he said, stern and serious as he jumped over the railing to get down into the stairwell faster.

I jogged over, my heart lodged in my throat as it thundered faster. His tone, his somber expression, and his urgency to move couldn’t mean anything good.

This was no longer a concern. It felt like an emergency.

“Eric?”

As Marty and I rushed over together, we clambered onto the stairwell.

My cousin lay at the bottom. His face looked swollen and his leg was bent at an awkward angle. But he blinked his eyes open. He was breathing, if wincing in pain.

“Eric!”

We weren’t close. We never had been and likely wouldn’t ever be best buds. But he was family, and I freaked out at the sight of him in pain.

“Easy, easy,” Marty warned as we all got close. “Eric, are you all right?”

He couldn’t speak well, indicating his jaw. “I thun I bro ma ja,” he slurred.

Marty spoke into his radio piece for an ambulance as he assessed him. While he couldn’t talk well, he was slightly cognizant to point at where he hurt. “I thun ma anku ith ained.”

Sprained ankle. Broken jaw. I wrung my hands together and watched as Marty continued to assess him. It cracked my heart to see him in pain, but I wouldn’t get in the way and try to move him.

Within minutes the officials were there to take over that. EMTs came in to transfer him onto a stretcher, and I got all the information about where I could see him. I almost decided to ride with Eric in the ambulance, but I worried I’d be in the way, too.

“What is going on out here?” someone asked as Eric was carried out of the bottom of the stairwell.

Numb with shock and gripped by panic, I watched Marty scan the basement area where Eric had been found.

Looking up, I spotted that woman, the mom of the toddler. She had her propped at her hip, drinking from a sippy cup as they peered down the stairwell.

“Hey, Marty. What’s going on?” she asked.

“Someone seemed to have fallen down the stairs,” Marty guessed.

The woman walked down, holding her toddler. “Are they okay?”

Marty nodded. “He was awake. We’ll have more details later.”

As she reached us on this floor, she shook her head and indicated at the other half of the stairwell that led down to the point of the V where we were. “I bet he came from that unit.” She huffed, looking at me. “That’s the one I saw her at. And that man.”

“Who?”

“Well, that apartment,” she said, pointing up, “has been empty for months. There was a heating and mold issue, I think.” She grimaced. “And I swear Jerry’s being stingy on fixing it. I’m so glad my unit is way across there.”

“Who’s in the other one?” Marty asked, pointing at where only one other door stood at that landing where Eric could have come from.