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Prologue
“Avery, there are two police officers here asking for you.”
Avery looked up from where she was speed walking to her next patient. She was behind as it was and the last thing she needed was an interruption.
“Can you tell the patient in room three I’ll be a few minutes longer?”
The patient, Sunny, a feisty longhaired cat, would understand, but her owner might not after waiting for thirty minutes already.
Avery hurried toward the front of the building where the reception area was. There were two police officers standing there and she decided it was best not to hear what they had to say in front of the other pet owners.
“Can you have them come back to the conference room?” she asked the woman at the desk. The clinic she worked at was huge and top of the line. Avery had been thrilled to be hired right out of college and loved not having the responsibility of being her own boss. Though there were times she was starting to realize it might be easier when she always found herself overbooked.
She turned and moved in the direction of the conference room, then waited for the officers who came in after her.
“Dr. Avery Keegan?”
“Yes,” she said. “That’s me. Can I ask what this is about?”
“Do you know a Colleen Pacer?”
“Yes,” she said quietly. “That’s my best friend. What’s wrong? What happened to Colleen?”
Her heart was racing. Colleen lived fifteen minutes from where Avery was in Danbury. It was the Danbury Police that was standing here too. But Colleen did work in Danbury. And she worked at City Hall. These two officers probably knew her, and by the looks on their faces and the shaking of the one officer's hand, she didn’t like where this was going.
“There’s been an accident. She’s in the hospital. You are listed as her ICE on her phone.”
“How bad of an accident?” Her mind was racing. She had to get Josie. She needed to see Colleen. She could call her mom to help, but her mother had her hands full with her grandmother right now too.
“Bad enough,” the officer said. “They’d like you at the hospital to make some decisions unless there is a next of kin.”
This didn’t sound good. “Her daughter. But she’s only seven.”
“Is there somewhere she can go?”
“She’s at daycare. I need to go to the hospital first, right?”
“That would be wise,” the officer said. The one that was shaking. “We’ll escort you.”
She nodded her head, then ran to her office and got her purse, only going through the motions, trying not to panic.
The receptionist was coming down the hall and Avery knew she had tears in her eyes and said, “I’ve got to go. I’m sorry.”
She couldn’t worry about her job right now. They’d figure it out. They had to.
She was driving faster through town than she ever had with the police escort and wasn’t sure if she was scared for her life or more afraid of what she’d find out at the hospital when she arrived.
After parking her SUV, she ran into the ER. “I’m Avery Keegan. I’m here in regard to Colleen Pacer.”
“Yes,” the nurse said. “Please come with me and a doctor will be in to see you shortly.”
“Can you tell me what is going on?” she asked.
“A doctor will explain.”
“What kind of accident was it?” she asked. “Can anyone even tell me that?”
“She was hit by a car while walking.”
