I thought of Zoe’s glowing blue hands. She said she’d fixed Ethan enough to make sure he survived but not so much it would tip off the paramedics. It seemed she did exactly what she’d said. The mere idea that she could fight off death was exhilarating to think about. “I’m glad he’ll be okay. Maybe we’ll be able to get a chance to talk to him tomorrow.”
“I don’t know about him, but we will get a chance to talk to Lisa,” Chris said. “She contacted us shortly before you guys returned. She wants to meet the people who rescued her husband. I mentioned we had questions about what happened, and she said she’d be willing to answer them if she got a chance to talk to her two heroes.”
I shifted uncomfortably on my chair. “We’re not the heroes. Zoe and Aric are the real heroes.”
“And yet she wants to talk to you.” Chris smiled widely. “This is just the best thing that could’ve possibly happened. It’s as if you guys getting lost in the woods was destiny or something.”
I swallowed a mouthful of potato salad – which suddenly tasted dry and pasty – and nodded. “Yeah. Destiny.”
“We’ll talk about the interview tomorrow,” Jack instructed. “For now, it’s late. Charlie and I are both exhausted. We need some sleep.”
“And you should definitely get it.” Chris hopped to his feet. “I don’t want anything to get between you guys and that interview tomorrow. You should go to bed right now.”
Even though part of me wanted to question Jack about what had happened, press him on the issue, I knew now was not the time. We’d been through too much to process everything, and pushing him before he was ready was a surefire way to get an answer I didn’t want to hear.
Instead, I offered Chris a wan smile that I hoped he took as genuine. “That sounds like a plan. All I can think about is sleep.”
“Me too.” Jack wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and cast me a brief look. “Sleep is definitely our number one priority. The rest can wait until tomorrow.”
I read between the lines and knew what he meant. He didn’t want to talk about it either. He was probably as confused as me … or worse.
“Yeah. Sleep. I can’t wait to close my eyes and put this day behind me.”
“That makes two of us.”
23
Twenty-Three
I expected Jack to be waiting for me when I woke the next morning. I fell asleep hard and fast, but he haunted my dreams … in a really hot and steamy way. I assumed things would be the same for him, so I was up and showered early.
The hallway outside of my bedroom was empty, though.
I tamped down my disappointment and headed toward the restaurant. I wasn’t surprised to find everyone already assembled – even Millie, who hated early mornings – and Chris and Jack were deep in conversation when I took the open chair between Bernard and Hannah.
“Good morning.” Millie beamed at me, a hint of mischief lurking behind her eyes. “How did you sleep?”
“Fine.” I poured myself some coffee and ordered without looking at the menu when the waitress approached. Once she was gone, I focused on Chris because it somehow seemed easier than making eye contact with Jack. “So, are we still on for the interview?”
Chris straightened in his chair, nodding as he abandoned his quiet conversation with Jack. “Lisa Savage is expecting you in an hour and a half. She’s looking forward to meeting the people who saved her husband.”
“And what about Ethan? How is he doing?”
“He’s still unconscious as far as we know. I’m not sure what the doctors are saying.”
“Well, hopefully we’ll get some news on that, too.” For lack of anything better to do, I poured myself a glass of juice and downed half of it before continuing. Even though I was properly hydrated after our adventure, I couldn’t shake the feeling of thirst that plagued me for much of the preceding day. “What do you want us to focus on when we interview her?”
“Well, she’ll probably ask questions of you first.” Chris was all business, even though I noticed his hand appeared to be leaning Hannah’s way under the table. I wanted to look and confirm that it was on her knee, but there was no way I could manage it without being obvious, so I fought the effort. “Answer her, tell her whatever she wants to know, and then get the lowdown about what happened that night at the campsite. We need to know exactly what she saw.”
“And what if she saw nothing?”
“Then we need to know that.” Chris was pragmatic. “She might have blocked out what happened. I’m hopeful, though.”
“Are you going to the hospital with us?”
Chris shook his head. “The rest of us are going to the river where you found Ethan. We want to take a look around to see if we can find prints or anything. Just you and Jack are going to the hospital.”
“Imagine that,” Laura muttered, a petulant frown clouding her features. She was clearly annoyed, which tickled me to no end.
“You guys need a day to recover anyway,” Chris added, ignoring Laura. “When you’re done at the hospital, head back here. We’ll meet you when we’re finished in the woods.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jack said, leaning back in his chair when the waitress arrived with his breakfast. “A nice, quiet day. I think that’s exactly what the doctor ordered.”
I WAS A BALL OF NERVES by the time we landed at the hospital. Jack did his best to avoid being alone with me until the rest of the group departed. After that, he kept the conversation focused on Lisa Savage and our approach to questioning her. He didn’t offer anything close to an opening to discuss personal matters.
“Let me do most of the talking,” Jack instructed as we exited the elevator on the sixth floor and headed toward Lisa’s room. “If she questions you, answer her, but otherwise I’m in charge.”
I bit back a hot retort. “I’ve got it.”
“Don’t be rude or anything. Just be calm and quiet.”
“I’ve got it.”
“Don’t be so quiet that she thinks you’re weird, though. That might backfire on us.”
I wanted to throttle him … and then maybe try another kiss. Instead I shook my head and sighed. “I’ve got it, Jack. I’ll try not to embarrass you.”
Jack was taken aback. “That’s not what I meant.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I paused in front of Lisa’s open door. “Let’s do this.”
“Charlie, wait … .”
I ignored him and knocked on the door, pasting a pleasant smile on my face as Lisa looked up. She gestured for us to enter and shifted on the bed so she could prop herself. She looked unnaturally pale, exhausted even. I had a feeling her evening was one for the records thanks to the realization that her husband was actually alive. It was good news, but she’d already braced herself for his death. It wasn’t something that could be easily absorbed.
“Come in. Come in.” Lisa forced a bright smile as she looked between us. “You must be Charlotte Rhodes and Jack Hanson. I was told you were coming.”
“Charlie,” I automatically corrected, immediately wishing I would’ve had the foresight to stop myself from sticking my foot in my mouth right off the bat. “Most people call me Charlie. I forget my real name is actually Charlotte sometimes.”
“Of course.” Lisa’s smile was benign as Jack and I took the open chairs at her bedside. “So … um … this is weird, huh?”
“It’s definitely weird,” I agreed, ignoring the way Jack shifted next to me. If he wanted me to be quiet he should’ve locked me in the Jeep. There was no way I wasn’t going to be part of this conversation. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired. Drained. I don’t know what to feel. They won’t allow me to see Ethan because he’s still unconscious in the intensive care unit. I saw him through the window, but it’s not the same.”
“Why won’t they let you sit with him?”
“I’m not sure.” Lisa shrugged her diminutive shoulders. “They’ve given multiple reasons. One is that they’re not quite sure what’s wro
ng with him and they have to run a lot of tests. They don’t want to upset me by drawing blood.”
“Oh, well … .”
“I think that’s a bunch of crap.” Lisa’s eyes fired. “I don’t know why they’re trying to keep me from my own husband, but I don’t like it one bit. My doctor said that it wasn’t good for me to be up walking around and that I should try to relax, but I’m not sure I can.”
“I don’t think I’d be able to if I were in your shoes,” I admitted. “If someone I loved was sick in the hospital, nothing could keep me from staying at his or her side.” I thought of the way Jack sat by my side after I was almost killed in Texas. “I’m sure it will work out.”
“I hope so.” Lisa played with the nubs on the blanket covering her legs. “I understand you guys found Ethan. I was hoping you could tell me a bit about that. I mean … I just want something, even if it’s a very brief explanation, so I can picture how it happened.”
“I’m afraid that’s not a very exciting story.” I licked my lips and looked to Jack.
“Oh, no.” He sounded irritated. “Why don’t you handle all the questions, just like we talked about?” His message was clear. I hadn’t listened and he was angry.
I decided to ignore his bad mood. “We arrived before you were found. We’re with The Legacy Foundation. We’re often called in when there are unanswered questions regarding a disappearance or death. We were investigating when we got word that you’d been found.
“After that we were hopeful we’d be able to find Ethan,” I continued. “As part of our investigation, Jack and I returned to your campsite yesterday to look around. It’s essentially exactly how you left it.”
Lisa shuddered. “I don’t care if I ever see it again. Actually, that’s not true. I know I never want to see it again.”
I couldn’t blame her. “We kind of got ahead of ourselves while we were searching and wandered away from your campsite and got turned around. We were lost when we ran into a couple who live nearby – they’re just off the main road – and by then everyone realized we were missing and went out searching. They decided to help and found us first.”
“Wow.” Lisa’s eyes were wide. “So, you guys were lost, too.”
“We just happened to stumble across your husband,” I explained. “The woman who found us mentioned there was a river that wasn’t far away, so we headed in that direction just to look around and that’s when we found Ethan. It really was a fluke. She’s the one who put everything together and decided to search there. She’s kind of amazing for even thinking of it, if you ask me.”
“It sounds like it.” Lisa’s face took on a far-off expression. “It might not have happened if you guys hadn’t gotten lost.”
“While we weren’t happy about being lost at the time, it turned out for the best, so I think we’ll both be able to laugh about it in a few weeks,” I offered. “No one wants to be the person who gets lost, but I’m glad we were able to be part of the team that found your husband.”
“Did he say anything when you found him?” Lisa’s eyes were glassy. “Did he mention me? Did he say anything?”
“He wasn’t awake, ma’am,” Jack replied, obviously getting over his desire to stick me with the conversation after I ignored his instructions. “He was unconscious. Because of his location we knew it would be difficult for the paramedics to find us – even though we weren’t that far from the road it was still kind of the middle of nowhere – so we carried him back to the Winters’ house and waited for the paramedics there.”
“And how long did it take for them to arrive?”
“Not long. A few minutes. They started working on your husband immediately. That’s the last we saw of him.”
“And now he’s fighting for his life two floors down,” Lisa mused. “I mean … what are the odds? You only found him by chance.”
“We still found him.” I smiled. “As for Ethan fighting for his life, the paramedics were hopeful that he’d make a full recovery. That’s what they said when they transported him here. One of our colleagues has a medical background, and she talked to them. They said your husband was in surprisingly good shape given how long he’d been out there.”
That was clearly news to Lisa, and I couldn’t help but wonder why the hospital staff was keeping her in the dark. Of course, for all we knew, Ethan could’ve taken a turn for the worse during the night. We had no idea what was wrong with him, or what needed to be done to save him. Why Lisa wouldn’t be privy to all of her husband’s medical information was a mystery.
“I hope your information is true,” Lisa supplied, her lips a thin line rather than a smile. “I don’t know what I’d do without Ethan. The thing is, I thought for sure he was gone. Hearing he was alive was like receiving a gift I didn’t even know I could wish for. When I woke up this morning I was certain it was a dream.”
“It’s the best dream ever, right?” I flashed a bright smile. “I’d be so excited in your position. It must be terrible to not be able to see him.”
“It’s … torturous,” Lisa agreed. “Still, he’s alive. That’s the most important thing.” She took a moment to collect herself and then pushed forward. “So, I understand you have some things you want to talk to me about, questions and the like. What are they?”
“Oh, well … .” I shifted on my chair.
Jack smoothly stepped in to handle the next bit of conversation. “We’re interested in knowing what happened the night you were separated from your husband. We know it’s difficult to think about, but we need to know in case our investigation needs to dig deeper into exactly what is living in those woods.”
“I don’t know how much I can tell you.” Lisa’s expression turned stark. “It’s all so jumbled in my head. I try to remember and yet … it’s not all there.”
“Just tell us what you do remember,” Jack prodded. “We understand it might not be a complete picture.”
“Well … we were in the tent. I’m not sure how long we’d been inside because I’d fallen asleep. It was hot, and I remember wishing we could get some air to circulate – like maybe we should’ve packed a battery-operated fan or something – but I fell asleep anyway.”
Lisa looked determined as she focused. “So, I woke up to a noise I didn’t recognize. At first, I thought it was an owl or something, and then I remembered thinking that was ridiculous because I had no idea what an owl sounded like. I was quiet, Ethan was still asleep. He hadn’t stirred.
“Then I saw this weird shadow against the tent wall. I couldn’t figure out what it was because we’d doused the fire before going to bed,” she continued. “I figured the moon was high and bright so we had to be seeing a shadow of sorts, but there was nothing outside our tent that could’ve made that big of a shadow.
“I was in that spot that’s kind of between sleep and wakefulness – you know the one I’m talking about – so I was kind of slow to react,” she said. “The next thing I know there were claws coming through the side of the tent and I could hear an animal growling, snapping its teeth.”
Lisa’s voice ratcheted up a notch and turned shrill. “Ethan was awake by now, and he told me to hide in my sleeping bag while he checked it out. I didn’t want to, but he was adamant. I couldn’t do anything but watch, and I heard him outside the tent … I heard him make a noise like he’d been hurt. He told me to stay inside, but I couldn’t. I had to see.
“So, I crawled out of the tent and it took me a second to get my bearings,” she continued. “It was so dark, and I heard terrible noises. When I finally realized what I was looking at I saw Ethan … and I swear he was unconscious. He looked dead. There were these monsters – these big, hairy monsters – and they were dragging him into the woods.”
She saw the woods swallow her husband. I ran the words through my head. That’s probably what it seemed like in the panic-filled moments that followed her waking. She was confused and terrified, and it seemed like the forest itself was a living entity.
“What exact
ly did you see dragging your husband?” Jack asked gently. “Was it a bear? Maybe a man?”
“No.” Lisa vehemently shook her head. “I told the doctors … and I told the police … but they all think I’m crazy. I know what I saw!”
Now we were finally getting somewhere. “What did you see?”
“They were wolves.” Lisa’s voice was low and trembling. “There were at least three of them – maybe four – and they had hold of Ethan, dragging him into the woods. They growled, and I was sure they were going to eat him.”
Jack and I exchanged a quick look.
“What kind of wolves?” Jack prodded. “I mean … were they the sort that run on four legs or two?”
Lisa shrugged. “I don’t know. I think two, but … the doctor said I was crazy for believing that. I don’t want to be crazy.”
“That’s okay.” I patted her arm. She’d really been through it. She would probably never get over the trauma. “What happened then? How did you end up wandering around the woods by yourself?”
“I don’t know how long I sat there trying to grasp what I saw,” Lisa replied. “It might have been five seconds. It might have been five minutes. When I snapped out if it, I knew I had to follow. I didn’t give the plan much thought. I just plunged into the woods, screaming for help and calling Ethan’s name, and I got lost quickly.
“No one came until the day they found me, even though I kept walking around looking for him,” she continued. “I was alone. I thought I would die alone. I was okay with that because then I would’ve been reunited with Ethan. I assumed he was dead, and that makes me feel even worse.”
I thought my heart might break for her. “He’s alive. You have a chance. You’re alive. I’m sure that’s what he wanted more than anything when he was being dragged away.”
The Werewolf Whoops Page 21
