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Scott and Kyle were already in Kendall’s room. They received Tazeem and Chess with notably more warmth and enthusiasm than they’d afforded them during their previous meeting, probably because they now had confirmation that Evie was the one behind the whole email affair thing.
Kendall was half-seated in the hospital bed. The white and gray hospital gown did nothing for her already pale complexion, but she looked much better than she had when the paramedics had loaded her into an ambulance a few hours ago.
As soon as she saw Chess and Tazeem, she smiled brightly. “Hey!”
“Hey.” Chess smiled back even as Tazeem rolled her closer to the bed.
“We’ll give you some privacy,” Scott said, and seconds later, he and his partner were out of the room.
Chess’s attention was completely on Kendall. “How are you doing?”
“Better than before.” Kendall’s smile dimmed slightly as she gave Chess a once-over. “And you? How are you? Are you seriously hurt?”
“Just a few bumps and scratches. Nothing as serious as being unconscious,” Chess dismissed with a wave of her hand. “What did the doctors say about that? Are you okay?”
“They said it was just a concussion, but I’ll be fine in a day or two.” Kendall’s gaze moved from Chess to Tazeem. “Scott told me you sent the boys off with Senia?”
“Yeah, I did.” Tazeem offered, “I figured that this wasn’t the best place to bring them.”
“Thank you.” Kendall smiled wanly. “I don’t want Frankie to see me like this.”
“To see you how?” Chess took her hand. “You look great.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere.” Kendall gave a low laugh. However, her expression soon became somber again. While squeezing Chess’s hand, she said, “I’m sorry.”
“Huh?” Chess’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Sorry for what?”
“For everything. For dragging you into my mess. For almost getting you killed.” Tears pooled in Kendall’s eyes. “I shouldn’t have asked you to meet me. If I’d known what Evie was planning, I wouldn’t-” Her words halted even as a tear dropped down her cheek.
“I know.” Chess patted her hand and muttered soothingly. “I know.”
“It’s just… It’s just… I wasn’t thinking straight when she called me,” Kendall haltingly explained. “She said that if I went to the motel and met her, she’d tell me where Derrick was. Then when I got there, she insisted that you had to be there too, and even though I knew it was stupid, I called you because I wanted to see Derrick so much. I wanted to make sure that he was okay, that he wasn’t-”
A sob cut into Kendall’s words, and soon she started to cry in earnest. Chess moved closer to console her. Figuring that this was his cue to give the ladies some privacy, Tazeem quietly moved towards the door.
Scott and Kyle were lounging in the waiting area. Tazeem joined them there, and they updated him on the status of the investigation.
Apparently, Evie was singing like a bird. She’d already confessed to killing Derrick, cutting off his hand, then dumping his body into the lake. The cops were currently dragging the lake for Derrick’s corpse. They expected to find him soon.
Even though Tazeem disliked the guy, he felt sorry for him too. No one deserved to go out like that.
30
“I
CAN’T BELIEVE EVIE DID all that for a job!” Chess exclaimed later that night as she and Tazeem lay in bed. “That’s crazy, right?”
“It’s crazy,” Tazeem agreed. “And I hope her crazy ass gets locked up for a long time. She almost killed you.”
“Almost is the keyword. She didn’t manage it.” Seeing how grim his expression was, Chess cupped his cheek as she assured him, “I’m okay now, and it’s all over.”
They’d come back to the house just as Senia was getting the boys ready for bed. As soon as Jay saw Chess, he ran into her arms and burst into tears. It took a lot of soothing for her to assure him and Frankie that both she and Kendall were okay. Even then, Tazeem had to practically peel the little boy away from Chess.
Jay’s emotional outburst was a reflection of everyone else’s feelings. Though Senia didn’t cry, she kept hovering around Chess, fussing over her, and randomly hugging her. Tazeem was worse. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight or hold. He just wanted to keep her right next to him, almost as if he was afraid that if he let her go something bad might happen.
Her family’s concern was as heartwarming as it was sobering. They obviously loved and cared for her very much. For the first time, Chess thought about what it would’ve meant had she not survived the day’s events, and how it would’ve affected her family.
Feeling awful for having put them through that rollercoaster of fear, she wondered if there were steps she could’ve taken to be safer.
