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Megan looked up, and he closed the gap to kiss her on the lips before sitting down to eat.
The news came back on the TV, and the reporter looked grim. “A local woman is recovering in the hospital in stable condition after being attacked on a run in Dury Park last night, and police are asking for your help. Keira McKinney, a thirty-year-old mom, went for a run yesterday afternoon, but never returned home.”
“Oh my God!” The sound of Troy’s chair hitting the floor made him realize he had jumped up.
“You know her?” Megan asked, leaning forward to see if there was more to the story.
His mouth went dry, and a wave of heat flooded over him as the blood pounded in his ears. “We used to date in high school. I bumped into her about a week and a half ago at the store.”
The TV cut to a park scene, which looked like an empty path. “Keira McKinney’s family noticed something was wrong when the mom of three did not return from her evening run. After two hours with no word, the woman’s husband, Steve McKinney, dropped their children at his mother’s house and drove to the park using the location services he had enabled on her phone. It was then he found her unconscious in a dry creek bed in the woods.”
Troy wanted to act. To do something. His hands itched to grab his phone and try to contact her, but he didn’t have her number or any business reaching out to her. He had just seen her. How could this happen?
“Troy?”
His head snapped in Megan’s direction, and he tried to use the expression on her face to judge how long he had been standing.
“Are you okay?”
No. He was not okay. He was anything but okay. Keira McKinney was one of the kindest, sweetest people with the best heart. She was a mother, a wife, a daughter, and she was fucking attacked.
The newscaster continued. “McKinney called 911, and first responders transported her to the hospital for treatment for her injuries. Police noted her wallet, jewelry, and headphones were all taken from the scene in what appears to be a robbery. They believe no technology was taken due to the tracking ability. As of our last update, police are asking anyone in the community with information to come forward.”
Images of terrible things came back to him in a rapid, horrific slideshow of worst-case scenarios. Did they grab her hair? She had beautiful hair. Dark and curled in ringlets. In high school it went all of the way down her back. Her laugh was so light, and she was so excited by everything in life. Would that optimism dim? Would the light go out of her eyes? He had seen that before.
“Troy? Come sit down.”
He nodded, and Megan steered him toward the couch.
“I’ll call Ash and see if she’s heard anything. The news isn’t always the whole story, especially with something active.”
“True.” He sat watching the TV, hoping for more information or simple answers, but there were none. “Thank you,” he added to her, but she was already on the phone in the kitchen. He could hear her soft voice in a hushed tone so as to not upset him, which he hated. Judging by the disappointment in her voice, he could tell there was no new information. How could there be? He had just watched the news.
Anger at nothing came from deep inside. She was a mom of three boys at home. One of the best people with the kindest heart. She probably made cookies and crafts and took pictures of terrible drawings and hung them on the fridge. He saw someone grabbing her hair, the classic takedown, bashing her head and tossing her limp body in the ditch. They took her wedding ring, probably already pawned it for quick cash. Poof. Gone. Just like that. No one cared.
Absently, he wondered who would tuck the boys in while she was in the hospital? How did Kiera’s husband tell the children why their mother wouldn’t be home that night? Did they sleep? How could they? The world wasn’t safe.
He knew this to be true, and that little children had to know that so young brought on a deep feeling of sorrow and rage.
It shouldn’t be this way.
Visions of Adam, his mom, and the fire in Iraq flashed through his head, looping faster and faster. He couldn’t see where he was; all he could see was smoke and fire and death, as one after the other, smiling faces were extinguished.
CHAPTER32
“Okay, thanks,” Megan said, while pacing. “Yeah, keep us posted. Alright, sounds good.”
She ended the call with Ash and went back to find Troy standing again, starting to tremble.
“I talked with Ash.”
“No new information.” It wasn’t a question. His tone was flat and distant. Megan wondered if it was intentional. Megan made sure she was in his line of sight and slowly stretched out her hand to touch him with plenty of warning. He knew she was there and didn’t flinch when she touched his shoulder. Was it intentional to keep his feelings at bay?
His eyes were flat, cold.
“I’m sorry this happened. I’m glad they found her when they did.”
“Her husband found her.”
