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“Mrs. McKenzie, where's Chase? He was here. I saw him.”
Didn't I?
Confusion swam in the nurse's eyes. “Chase isn't here. He couldn’t be. He lives in Charlotte.”
“Charlotte? I saw him. The beeping started. Someone else ran in.”
A second nurse pulled open the curtain separating her from the next bed. A mass of red hair spread across the pillow. “Sylvia? Is she going to make it?”
Josh patted Jacquie’s arm. “She's in pretty bad shape, but we can talk about that later.”
Jacquie took a sip from the water cup the doctor held toward her. She inhaled a deep breath and tried to clear her mind, to put the pieces together, but her head wouldn’t stop throbbing.
“You need to rest,”the doctor said and turned to Josh with a warning in his eyes.
“How long will she need to be in ER? I’d like to have her moved to a room where she can be watched.” Josh gestured his head toward Sylvia. “Where they both can be watched.”
The doctor looked at Beverly. “See that it happens.”
Beverly’s eyes were so much like Chase's. She must've dreamt about him. He'd been on her mind before the crash. As she’d said, he couldn’t have been here.
Jacquie’s vision narrowed. The edges clouded over as darkness moved in once more. Panicking, she reached for Josh as everything went black.
She was falling, turning end over end, sliding down the mountain.
Please, God! Please save us.
2
Chase McKenzie woketo the phone ringing on his bedside table. He squinted at the clock, 2:12 a.m. He groaned. This couldn't be good. He answered the phone.
“Chase, are you in Granite Falls?” His mom’s strained-sounding voice filled the line.
“Mom?” Instantly alert, he sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. People didn’t call in the middle of the night unless there was a problem. A bad one. “Granite Falls? No. Why? What's wrong?”
“Jacquie's in the hospital. She thought she saw you standing over her bed right about the time someone overdosed her with morphine.”
“What? Someone tried to overdose her?” He rubbed his hand down his face. “Is she okay?”
“Yes. Considering she almost died tonight. Twice.”
“Twice?” He tried to grasp hold of what she was saying.
“Yes, and she thought she saw you in her room.”
“Me?” Why would she think she saw him?
“But if you aren’t here, then the only explanation is your brother.”
His eyes closed as understanding hit him. This was about Aiden.
“I think Aiden is back, and I think he might be in trouble.” His mother said, finally making sense.
Chase listened with growing disbelief as his mother explained what happened to Jacquie and Aiden’s high school girlfriend, Sylvia. “And you think Aiden is involved?” This couldn’t be happening. “I’ll call Sheriff Donovan and find out what's going on.”
“Sheriff Donovan retired,” his mother said. “Jacquie's brother, Josh Halloway, is the sheriff now. How much help do you thinkhe’ll be if he believes your brother tried to overdose his sister?” Panic edged her voice.
Chase shook his head, got to his feet and started to pace the room. “Why would Aiden be anywhere near Granite Falls? The last I heard he was in Texas. Isn't that what you told me?”
