The One who got Away_A Second Chance Romance

by Mia Ford

  “I’m on the way to the hospital,” Kelly cried. “That guy from yesterday came by again.”

  “Heath?”

  “Grandpa went out to talk to him, and that bastard kept hitting him,” Kelly explained between tears. “I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t stop. Grandpa’s not waking up, dad!”

  I almost dropped the phone. The world around me quickly began to swim in and out of focus. I could almost see myself there with her, in the ambulance, sitting next to her unconscious grandfather, desperately trying to reach me. I felt a sudden lurch in the pit of my stomach, and I wanted to reach through the phone, tell her everything was going to be alright. I wanted to apologize for not being there when I should have been, for letting her down yet again.

  The emotions washed over me like a tidal wave, and my mind blanked completely.

  “Dad!”

  Kelly’s shrill scream brought me back. “I’m on my way, Kelly, I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

  “Hurry!” she yelled at me, then hung up.

  I pocketed my phone and grabbed my shirt.

  “What happened?” Jenni asked, already half-dressed herself.

  “They’re taking Samuel to the hospital,” I said, feeling a dark rage build up inside me.

  “Oh god, what’s wrong?”

  “Apparently, Heath thought it was a good idea to cross the line and attack my father.”

  “Kelly?”

  “Shell-shocked,” I replied. “Hysterical.”

  “That son of a bitch!”

  I didn’t answer her, pulling on my shoes as I searched the room for my car keys.

  “I’m coming with you,” she said, rushing into the bathroom.

  “That’s okay,” I said. “Stay here, I’ll be fine.”

  “That’s not a choice you’re going to make for me,” she said, rushing back out and pulling on a t-shirt. She found my keys and tossed them to me. “Now hurry up.”

  We were out the door in seconds.

  * * *

  “He’s going to be okay.”

  I hated hospitals. The last time had not been the best of experiences, and every time I even drove past one, my body would stiffen and my head would swim. There were too many memories linked with it. Shitty food, the smell of detergent and disinfectant, and of course, the endless pain. That was the worst of it.

  Which made the sight if my father in the ICU even worse. He was lying on a bed hooked up to enough wires to light up an entire block. The constant beeping of the heart monitor filled my head, and I struggled just to keep my concentration on what the doctor was telling me.

  “Luckily nothing’s broken,” he said, flipping through the pages of my father’s chart. He looked like a med student, and a part of me wondered if he even knew what he was doing. “At his age, that would have been the biggest problem. He’s stable for now, and once he’s awake, we’ll run an MRI.”

  “When do you think he’ll wake up?” I asked, looking at Samuel through the large glass window separating the hall from the ICU.

  “Hard to tell,” the doctor replied. “I’m guessing pretty soon. It’s probably just the shock of the attack. What happened, exactly?”

  “That’s what I’m going to try and find out,” I replied, my anger now taking a front seat and pushing my worry over Samuel to the back. I wanted to get my hands on Heath and beat his teeth out the back of his fucking head.

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, the Sheriff’s downstairs, waiting to get a statement,” the doctor said. “If you have anything to say, it’ll be best to tell him.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” I replied.

  “Other than that, I suggest you go home,” he continued. “There’s nothing more for you to do here anyway, and we’ll call you if there’s any change.”

  I nodded, shook his hand, and made my way back to the waiting room. Jenni was sitting on one of the bigger couches, Kelly curled up in her arms and asleep. I sat down next to them, stroking Kelly’s hair and quickly pulling away when her body shook like a leaf. Jenni kissed her head, rubbed her shoulder and attempted to calm her down.

  “What did the doctor say?” Jenni asked.

  “Told us to go home,” I said. “And that the Sheriff’s downstairs if I want to leave a statement.”

  “What do you want to do?” she asked.

  “I want to take Kelly home,” I replied. “I’ll pass by the Sheriff in the morning.”

  “I’m so sorry, Alex,” Jenni said, gently shaking Kelly awake. I watched as my daughter’s eyes fluttered open, her face scarred with tear streaks. She sat up slowly, looked around her in confusion, then stiffened when she realized where she was.

  “Grandpa?” she asked, looking at me with eyes that quickly watered.

  “He’s okay,” I said. “Still asleep, but the doctors tell me he’s going to be just fine. We’ll go home and come back in the morning.”

  Kelly quickly shook her head. “I don’t want to leave him.”

  “It’s not up to us, sweetheart,” I said. “They’re kicking us out anyway. There’s nothing we can do here anyway.”

  “I don’t want to leave,” she sobbed. She leaned into my arms and began to cry again. I held her tight, the fury inside me burning. A part of me knew that if I came across Heath right now, I’d probably kill him.

  “I know,” I said, kissing her head. “Come on, we’ll be back in the morning. That’s only a couple of hours away.”

  Kelly nodded and let me pull her to her feet. She held Jenni’s hand, leaning into her as we made our way to the elevators and rode one down. The hospital was empty this time of the night, the fluorescents casting an eerie glow as we walked down the narrow hallway and turned a corner into the emergency room. A single nurse manned the station there, chatting quietly with a man I assumed was the Sheriff. He was dressed casually and looked like he had been dragged out of bed.

  He caught my eye, said something to the nurse, then walked up to us.

  “Mr. Logan,” he greeted, sticking his hand out. I took it. “I’m Sheriff Baker. I’m terribly sorry about Samuel. He’s an old friend, and when they told me about what happened I came down right away.”

  “Thank you, Sheriff,” I said. “If it’s okay with you, I need to get my daughter home. She’s had quite the shock for the day.”

  “I can only imagine,” the Sheriff sighed. He looked at Jenni, then quickly back at me. “Any idea who was responsible for this?”

  I nodded. “Heath Collins.”

  The Sheriff frowned and looked at Jenni again. “Are you sure?”

  I turned to Kelly who nodded. “Yes,” I said. “I’ll give you a full statement in the morning. But for now, I suggest you arrest Heath and keep him overnight.”

  “That’s going to be difficult without a full statement,” the Sheriff said, scratching the back of his head, his eyes darting between me and Jenni. He looked uneasy, and I began to understand what Jenni meant by the force’s incompetence. This man should have been in his car by now, calling in the arrest.

  “I don’t see how,” I said, already knowing that I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. And that only made me angrier. Heath could be halfway across the state by now. “If you want a statement now, I’ll give you one. But the longer you wait to make that arrest, the more likely you won’t be able to do it. If Heath has a brain in his head, he wouldn’t stick around and wait.”

  “How about you pass by the station tomorrow,” the Sheriff said, “and we’ll clear all this up.”

  “What the hell is there to clear up?” The anger in my voice was apparent, and the Sheriff took a step back, his hand falling on the holster at his waist.

  “Alex, let’s go,” Jenni said.

  “The fuck I am,” I said. “I don’t know how you got that badge, but this is ridiculous!”

  “Dad,” Kelly said. “I want to go home.”

  My eyes locked on the Sheriff’s, and a hint of a smile played at the corner of his lips. He looked at Kelly. “I’m sorry about
your grandfather, but we’ll get this all sorted out, I promise.”

  My fists shook, and I only calmed down a little when Kelly wrapped a hand around mine and pulled me along. I pulled her to me, staring angrily at the Sheriff.

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Sheriff,” I said. “But if Heath’s gone by the time you get your ass off your seat, I’m not going to be this calm.”

  “Good night, Mr. Logan,” the Sheriff nodded. “Jenni.”

  “Sheriff,” Jenni replied and gently pushed me along.

  We walked out, the cool night air failing to calm me down as I led Kelly to the car and opened the door for her to get in. I turned back to the hospital, with half the mind to go back in and give the Sheriff hell, but quickly fought back the urge. I looked at Jenni and shook my head in frustration.

  “Can you fucking believe this?”

  Jenni wrapped her arms around Kelly’s and looked at the hospital. “Actually, I can,” she said. “I told you before, Baker’s useless.”

  “And what do you suggest I do?”

  Jenni sighed. “I don’t know,” she said, looking at Kelly. “Go home for starters. In the morning, we’ll pick up where we left off.”

  I ran a hand through my hair and clenched my teeth. I wanted to punch someone, badly. If I didn’t I was going to go fucking insane. Jenni rested a hand on my arm and squeezed.

  “Fine,” I gave in, my frustration boiling inside me. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

  “I’d rather stay with Kelly,” she replied.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I said.

  “Actually, I do,” she said. “I want to.”

  I looked at her for a beat, wanting to take her in my arms and kiss her if it weren’t for how pissed off I was. She rubbed my arm and opened the passenger door.

  “Come on,” she said.

  I closed the door, took another look at the hospital, then got into the car and drove us home.

  Chapter 16: Alex

  I woke up the next morning feeling worse than I had when I went to sleep. The image of my father lying in the ICU stayed with me through the night. I had nightmares of him crawling out of his bed, calling out my name and searching for me while a dozen or so Heath’s laughed all around him. It made me sick in the stomach.

  I got dressed quickly, eager to get to the police station and really take out my frustration on the Sheriff, and made my way downstairs. The aroma of scrambled eggs and bacon mixed with the gentle giggling coming from the kitchen.

  Kelly was at the kitchen table, stuffing her face with what looked like the breakfast for champions. Jenni was sitting across from her, hair tied back in a loose ponytail and eyes still drooping with sleep. She looked gorgeous nevertheless. My mouth watered as the aroma of breakfast filled my nostrils.

  “Morning,” I said with a smile, opening the fridge and taking out the orange juice.

  “You sure took your time,” Kelly said, frowning at me. “We should have been at the hospital by now.”

  “You look like you woke up five minutes ago,” I replied, grabbing a glass and sitting down beside her.

  “And I’m ready to go,” she said. “So, let’s go.”

  “In a minute,” I replied, taking the fork from her hands and tossing a bite of eggs and bacon into my mouth. She elbowed me in the side, took her fork back and pointed it at me angrily.

  Jenni laughed and held up her mug. “Fresh pot,” she said, gesturing to the coffee machine.

  “That’s okay,” I said. “Seems like the chipmunk’s in a hurry.”

  And so was I. Ever since our meeting with the Sheriff at the hospital, I wanted to give the bastard a piece of my mind. I had contemplated finding Heath myself, making him pay for what he did, but I knew that wasn’t the right solution. What good was my badge if I didn’t follow the laws I had sworn to uphold? Besides, the Sheriff’s incompetence would give me an excuse to make his life a living hell. If shit like this went down around Kent and he was doing nothing about it, then he shouldn’t be the man for the job in the first place.

  I drank my juice, tried to steal more breakfast from Kelly’s plate, then rushed upstairs and got changed into jeans and a t-shirt. By the time I came back down, Kelly was already waiting by the door, tapping her feet impatiently and urging me to hurry up.

  “You’re not coming?” I asked Jenni.

  “No,” she said. “I have to get to the diner, and then run a few errands. I’ll meet you both back here for dinner.”

  “You really don’t have to do this, you know?” I said, although a large part of me was grateful for her being here. “We’ve put you through enough.”

  “Shut up, will you?” she said, turning me around and pushing me out the door, much to Kelly’s delight. “Now get going, and give Baker hell.”

  “I totally intend to,” I replied.

  * * *

  I dropped Kelly off at the hospital and made my way downtown. I knew I should have gone in with her, but I felt that if I had, I wouldn’t have been able to pull myself away from Samuel’s side. Right now, I was furious, and I wanted to keep that feeling alive until I got to the station.

  Besides, I couldn’t shake away the feeling of guilt I had. I should have been there when it had happened. I should have dropped Jenni off, driven home and been at my father’s side when that bastard Heath came calling. My instincts had warned me about the possibility of something like this happening, and I had brushed it off, thinking that I was just being paranoid. That visit from Heath on the day I arrived was enough to give me an idea of how messed up he was. I had been naïve to think Kent was still the small town I had grown up in where everyone left their doors unlocked and you could take a walk around town at midnight without having to worry about anything.

  So much has changed.

  I clenched my teeth and shook my head in frustration. Changed or not, I wasn’t going to let Heath get away with this. If the Sheriff wanted to take his sweet time, I was definitely going to light a fire under his ass and get him moving.

  The station was just off North Main Street, down Berkley Drive and surrounded by open fields. The post office sat idly on the other side of the road adjacent to the supermarket that boasted its rich supply of organic food. There were very few cars parked here, but my eyes immediately caught the Mustang parked at an obscure angle to the curb. I pulled up beside it, and as I climbed out of my car, I took note of the license plates and made my way up the steps and into the station.

  Being a DEA agent in Miami, I was used to the welcoming sound of a busy police force running back and forth, rushing to get things done. Telephones would be ringing, fingers would be tapping furiously at keyboards, and someone would always be shouting in the phone. It was a symphony of activity I had learned to love and appreciate.

  Walking into the Kent Sheriff’s Station made me feel like I had stepped into a church. A couple of officers sat lazily at their desk, staring at their phones with their legs propped up. A copy machine was being operated somewhere in the background, the swishing sound of paper falling into the tray almost deafening in the otherwise silent space. No one seemed to even notice that I had walked in.

  I walked up to one of the officers and asked to see the Sheriff. The officer looked up at me, stretched and yawned, then looked back at his phone.

  “What do you need to see him about?”

  “I was asked to come down and give a statement,” I replied, fighting the urge to grab the phone and smash it against the wall.

  “You can give your statement to me,” he said, swiping a finger across the screen of his phone.

  “I would, but you seem a little too preoccupied by important police matters for me to bother you,” I replied. The officer shot me an annoyed glare that made me smile. “I’d rather talk to Sheriff Baker.”

  “He’s in his office,” the officer said, returning to the phone.

  I couldn’t resist the urge any longer and snatched the phone from his hands.

  “Hey!” he sh
outed, standing up quickly.

  I pushed him back into his seat and tossed the phone onto the desk. “Where’s his fucking office?”

  “Mr. Logan?”

  I turned to see the Sheriff standing by an open door, a mug in his hands and a cigarette in his mouth.

  “Sheriff,” I greeted. “Your officer here was just showing me to you.”

  Baker didn’t look impressed. He shot an angry glare at the officer and gestured for me to follow him.

  “I’ll let you get back to your Candy Crush game,” I said over my shoulder as I made my way past the empty desks and into the Sheriff’s office. I stopped cold when I saw Garth Liston sitting inside.

  “If it isn’t Alex Logan,” Garth smiled. “I was hoping to bump into you today.”

  “Garth,” I greeted coldly.

  “Please, Mr. Logan, sit down,” the Sheriff pointed at the chair opposite to Garth. “I called in Mr. Liston this morning so we can sort out last night’s incident together.”

  “I think you misheard me last night, Sheriff,” I said, sitting down and folding my arms over my chest, glaring at Garth. The smile on his face annoyed me, and the fucker’s nonchalance was unnerving. It was like I had stepped into his office instead of Baker’s. “I remember distinctly telling you that Heath Collins attacked my father.”

  “That’s why the Sheriff called me,” Garth said, smiling at Baker as if letting him know that he’d handle the conversation from here. “You see, Heath is under my employment, and I handle all matters related to my employees.”

  “Really?” I asked. “So, you’re the one who told him to beat the shit out an old man?”

  Garth chuckled. “This is all a big misunderstanding,” he said.

  “I’m not exactly sure how,” I shot back, clenching my teeth and trying to keep the anger out of my voice. “My father’s in the ICU because of your employee. The way I see it, he should be arrested.”

  “Sheriff, you have to understand, there’s a story behind this,” Garth said, turning to Baker and ignoring me completely. “I’ve been assigned with the purchase of a plot of land for the new casino. You know, the one that’s supposed to bring new jobs and money into Kent? Well, the place my clients have an eye on just happens to belong to Samuel Logan.”