Alive? Did he think Colin was dead? My heart thrummed wildly. “That’s not true. There were three other people with me the last time we saw him.” I thanked God for the alibi of Talon and his brothers. The way Ted was talking, I thought he might be trying to pin this on me.

“And who would that be?”

“Talon Steel and his brothers, Jonah and Ryan Steel. Colin and I had just come out of a restaurant, and the Steel brothers were coming out of a bar across the street.”

Ted huffed into the phone. “Drunk, no doubt.”

“No, they were not drunk. Also, it was Friday night and it was warm. There were other people walking around.”

“And that’s the last time you saw my son?”

I didn’t like his tone. Ted Morse was a powerful man, and as an attorney, I knew better than to spill my guts like I had. “Ted, if you want to talk to me any more about this, you’ll need to call back some other time. I’m in the hospital right now. My mother’s been in an accident, and she’s currently in ICU.”

Silence for a moment. Then, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

His tone didn’t indicate sorrow at all.

“So I’m sure you understand why I can’t talk anymore. Goodbye, Ted.” I ended the call.

Marj had left a couple hours ago, promising to read Talon the riot act for leaving me here. I desperately wanted to call him just to hear his voice. Instead, I went back to the waiting room where my father sat. “There wasn’t much down there. Here are a couple of ham-and-cheese sandwiches.”

“Thanks, sweetie.”

“No problem.” I unwrapped one and took a bite. I didn’t want to talk about Ted and Colin, so I said something else that had been on my mind. “I can’t get over Mom’s boyfriend leaving her here.”

“That is weird,” Dad agreed. “How much do you know about him?”

“Not much. She said he was a senator from Iowa. I’ve never heard of him. But it’s not like I keep up with who the senators are in Iowa. Honestly, I’m not sure what Mom saw in him. He was good-looking enough, olive skin and a great head of hair, nice build. But he had a slimy look about him, you know? I can’t really put my finger on it, but something about him seemed off.”

“You didn’t like him?”

“I can’t really say that. All I did was have dinner and go swimming with the guy. He was perfectly polite to me, and he had a gorgeous tattoo—a phoenix on his forearm. You know I’ve wanted a tattoo for the longest time, and that image was just so apt for my life right now.”

My dad shook his head. “I’ll never talk you out of that tattoo, will I?”

I smiled. “Sorry, Dad. I’m going to be inked at some point. I don’t know when, though. I had originally planned to come to the city this weekend and scout out some shops, but Mom’s accident obviously superseded that intention.”

“I’m sorry your mom is in here suffering, but if there’s any good in it, it’s that it kept you from getting a tattoo.” He smiled at me.

“Only postponed it, Dad.”

Talon had reacted horribly to the idea of me getting a tattoo. It was the image—the phoenix—that had upset him. What did he have against the phoenix?

I couldn’t be concerned with that now. I was about to take another bite of my sandwich and then get back to the subject of Nico Kostas, when one of the new duty nurses came out.

“Mr. Roberts, Ms. Roberts, Ms. Bailey has regained consciousness.”

I stood up quickly, knocking over my coffee. “God, I’m so sorry.”

The nurse smiled. “Happens all the time up here. I can only let one of you in right now.”

I looked to my father.

“You go, Jade. She’s your mother.”

I nodded and followed the nurse. My mother was still hooked up to all the machines, and her eyes were still slits, though the swelling had gone down quite a bit. Amazing what a difference a day made.

“She looks the same.”

“She’s conscious. Just say hello to her. Tell her you’re here.”

I took my mother’s hand. “Mom?”

Her eyes fluttered just a touch.

“Mom, it’s Jade. I’m here. You’ve been in an accident, but you’re going to be okay.”

Her eyelids fluttered again, and her lips started to move. I couldn’t make out anything she was saying.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to try to speak. Just know that I’m here. Dad is here too. Everything’s going to be fine.”

She moved her lips again, and one word croaked out. “Nico.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes in front of the nurse. Her daughter was here, her ex-husband was here, but the only person she wanted was the guy we hadn’t seen head nor tail of since the first night.

“Nico will be here soon, Mom.” It was most likely a damned lie, but I didn’t want to upset her.

Her eyes flickered closed. I squeezed her hand, but there was no more response.

“It looks like she’s drifted out of consciousness again,” the nurse said, “but this was an excellent sign. The doctors are very happy with her progress.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Can I let my dad come in?”

“He’s welcome to come in for a few minutes, but she’s no longer conscious.”

I went back to my dad and told him what happened.

“I’d like to meet this Nico,” he said.

“I’m sure he’ll turn up sooner or later,” I said. “A bad penny always does.”

 

I was exhausted when I got to work the next morning. My dad had driven me back to Snow Creek at nine o’clock last night, and then he drove back to Grand Junction, where he was staying at a motel. I said a quick hello to Michelle and David and then sat down at my desk and checked my calendar for the day’s events. I had a city council executive session this afternoon, but for now I was free. I took care of some administrative crap and then continued my investigation. I had fired up the Internet when Michelle poked her head into my office.

“Jade?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you heard from Larry today?”

I shook my head. “No. I haven’t seen him since Friday.” The ghost of him standing in the hallway talking to Nico drifted into my head. I was sure it had been Larry, though he hadn’t been wearing shorts and flip-flops as he had been when I’d last seen him at the office. Of course, it had been near midnight when I saw him at the hospital.