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Once it’s just the three of us, the first police officer starts asking questions again. “Downtown café? You don’t happen to have a number for them.”
“I sure do.” Mason grabs his wallet from his pants. He flips it open and pulls out what looks like a business card. He hands it to the cop.
“Hang tight. I’ll make a quick call.”
He steps away for a few minutes, making a call on his cell phone. When he returns, his demeanor has changed from suspicious to somehow friendly. “Sorry about that. You’re good to go.”
Good to go? How hard did I hit my head?
“I’ll have one of my guys stay behind to help,” Mason explains. The cop thanks him and dismisses us.
A weird feeling of déjà vu overcomes me. This is just like when Griffin pulled us over. Although these are real cops, and Griffin isn’t, is he? Dammit. There’s so much I still don’t know, and it’s driving me insane. I have to know more. As soon as I get the chance, I’m demanding answers from Mason. I’m not letting him give me the runaround any longer.
Right now, on the other hand, all I care about is getting out of here. Mason opens the back door of the black SUV we came in and helps me inside. My brother gets in on the other side of the car while the two men get in the front.
“Where to, boss?” the guy in the driver’s seat asks.
“Back to the hotel,” Mason orders, with an angry bite in his voice. He slides in beside me and slams the door shut.
I have no idea what’s got him so angry all of a sudden, but before I deal with him, I turn to my brother. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“I’m not sure to be honest. After we hung up the phone, I didn’t hear anything else. I figured I had just freaked myself out. I was watching TV when the explosion came out of nowhere.”
“How the fuck did you guys miss this?” Mason yells at the guys up front.
Oh. That’s why he’s pissed.
“Sir, there is no excuse for what happened; I’m not sure how they got past our security, but I take full responsibility,” the guy in the passenger seat explains.
“We’ll talk more about this later. Right now, send a message to medical, tell them I have a patient coming in with smoke inhalation.”
“Yes, sir,” both of the guys say at the same time, reminding me of the military. Now that I think of it, they both have military haircuts as well—shaved to the skin except at the top.
“You should see a doctor as well.” Mason’s fingers gently circle my wrist. He lifts my hand closer to his face to inspect my skin.
“It’s not deep, and it doesn’t even hurt. I don’t need to see anyone for this.”
Mason frowns, placing my hand in my lap carefully. “We’ll see.”
I’m too overwhelmed to fight him on it at the moment. So I take a deep breath and sink into the leather seat to let my body calm down for a minute. My heart continues to race, and the fear I felt for my brother’s life still lingers.
The car falls into an uncomfortable silence. Luckily, the hotel isn’t that far away. The driver pulls the car into the same alley leading to the underground garage Griffin used.
When I glance at Jase, confusion and worry are written all over his face. I reach for his hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. One corner of his mouth lifts up into a crooked smile, but it doesn’t reach his sad eyes.
“Take him to medical and send me updates as soon as you get them. I’ll take Teagan upstairs to get her cleaned up,” Mason orders as we pull into a parking spot close to the elevator.
“Yes, sir.”
Both guys and Mason open their doors to climb out of the car. Mason turns back and holds his hand out to me while the guy from the front opens my brother’s door and helps him out.
“I thought Jase was supposed to go see the doctor?”
“He is. We have a doctor on staff here,” Mason explains.
Of course, they do. Why wouldn’t this hotel have a medical department and doctors on staff? I’m adding this to my long list of things that don’t add up as I follow Mason into the elevator.
My brother leans against the wall for support.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Jase nods. “Just a bit shook up, and tired. I’ll be fine. I promise.”
“You better be,” I warn, forcing a smile. “I’ll check on you later.”
My brother exits on the first floor and the two men follow him, leaving Mason and myself alone in the small space.
“I’ll let you clean me up, but you owe me some answers.”
“I think we should wait until tomorrow.”
“Then I’m going back down to be with my brother. The only reason I came up here now is so you can explain. I’m done playing this game in the dark.”
