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“Sit tight, Son. I’ll be right there,” Marsh said, then grabbed a raincoat from the closet in his office, took the car keys from his desk drawer, and ran.
***
Just hearing his dad’s voice was reassuring, but Michael couldn’t stop shaking. It was all from the adrenaline crash and the shock. He’d never seen it coming. One moment he was just sitting, waiting for the light to change, and then impact! It slid his car all the way into moving traffic. It was only by the grace of God that neither of them were hit by other cars, and now traffic was at a standstill and being rerouted as he waited.
He wanted to call Liz, but after their lunch today, he realized they had a long way to go to get back to where they’d been. And so he sat, waiting for his dad to arrive. When he finally saw the dark-green Jaguar coming up the street, he grabbed his things and got out in the downpour, then called out to the officer nearby. “Officer! That’s my dad coming to pick me up. Is it okay to leave my car?”
“You’ll need to leave the keys in it,” the officer said.
Michael gave him a thumbs-up and then started running through the rain.
Marsh had pulled over to the curb and unlocked the door when he saw Michael coming toward him. Just the sight of his son upright and in one piece was a relief. And then Michael opened the door and all but fell into the car.
“Thanks for coming, Dad,” he said, and dropped his briefcase on the floor between his feet.
“My God, Son. Of course. Are you sure you’re all right? I could run you by the ER just to make certain.”
“I think I’m okay, but my head is throbbing. From whiplash, I think,” Michael said.
Marsh gripped his son’s arm and gave a quick squeeze. “Then I’m taking you to the ER. You are so very precious to me. Is it okay for us to leave the scene?” he asked.
“Yes. They’ve already taken our statements. The other dude knows he was at fault. We’ve exchanged insurance info and IDs,” Michael said, but his eyes were welling with sudden tears. He knew his dad loved him, but he’d never been one for displays of affection, which made what he’d just said more meaningful.
“Okay. To the ER we go. Did you call Liz?” Marsh asked.
Michael’s father knew nothing about the fallout between him and Liz, so Michael lied. “No. I didn’t want her out in this weather.”
“Oh, right!” Marsh said, and took the next street left to get to the hospital.
As he turned, Michael pointed. “There come the wreckers.”
“They’ll have the cars out of the intersection in no time. We’ll check with impound tomorrow and deal with all of that then. Just rest easy.”
Michael groaned. “What a mess,” he said, then leaned back and closed his eyes.
His trip to the ER was tedious. They took him straight back into an exam room, but then wheeled him to X-ray. By the time the ER doctor came back to read the X-rays, Michael was getting stiffer, and the pain in his body was increasing by the minute.
“Mr. Devon, you don’t have any broken bones, but you did suffer whiplash and a slight concussion. You will need to take it easy and rest for the next few days. I’m going to suggest a cervical collar for the next week at least. It will give the strained muscles in your neck and shoulder time to heal. You can remove it to shower, but otherwise keep it on until you contact your regular doctor later in the week.”
“Yes, sir,” Michael said, and then sighed.What a hassle.
“Can he take anything for pain?” his father asked.
“I’m preparing a prescription for muscle relaxers. It’s only good for three days’ worth. After that, over-the-counter pain meds will be fine. Take care leaving the building. The rain is still coming down,” he added.
A few minutes later, they loaded Michael into the Jaguar and headed back to Hotel Devon. “I’m dropping off the prescription on the way home. I’ll have them deliver it to the hotel. You need to get in bed,” Marsh said.
“Thanks, Dad,” Michael said, but the urge to cry was huge.
He knew it was shock and an adrenaline crash, and knowing Liz had him on a kind of probation made him anxious. What if she never forgave him? God. What a fucking mess he’d made of everything.
Chapter 13
The spreadsheet Rusty emailed to Jay Howard had become their new lead. They had teams pulling security footage from the most recent locations where the credit cards had been used, then comparing those with charges from Emily Payne’s personal credit cards on the same days, trying to put her in the same cities, in the same areas, on the same days. And another team was researching every aspect of Emily Payne’s life.
What turned up was shocking.
Howard opened an email from one of the research teams, then shifted his glasses and leaned forward so that he was looking through the bifocals to read it.
