INK: Vanishing Point (Book 2) (4 page)

“Yes” I say softly looking
at Eli like he’s a piece of crispy bacon.

Eli puts the towel down on the counter
and comes to the edge of the bed, “What?”

Oh shit, I said that out loud,
“Nothing.” My face flushes and I flash a coy smile.

The door opens and the nurse comes in
with a clipboard full of paperwork, “Mr. Walker, this isn’t
a hotel.”

Eli winks at me then goes to his bag and
pulls a t-shirt over his head, then slides on his button-up blue
dress shirt. The color pales in comparison to his eyes that are like
endless azure oceans you can fall into forever.

“Miss Baynes, you are being
released today. I can see this isn’t news to you.” She
looks me up and down, noting my clothes. “There's an X
everywhere you need to sign. I wanted to get this paperwork started
so as soon as Dr. Shah comes in and signs off you can go wherever it
is you’re going.”

“I’m sure you’re sad
to see me go.” I’m having a hard time holding in a
giggle, as if Eli and I got caught doing something. It breaks the
tension. This nurse is particularly rough around the edges.

“Not that we haven’t enjoyed
your visit, but we’ll be glad to be rid of all the extra people
that come along with you.” She hands me a pen and starts
flipping to the pages I have to sign.

Dr. Shah comes in shortly after I finish
signing the paperwork. “Miss Baynes, how are you feeling
today?”

“I’m okay; still a little
headachy but mostly all right,” I answer with a grimace.

“You’ll need to change the
dressing on your neck daily. Use an antibiotic ointment. You’ll
need to come back or visit your GP in about two weeks when the wound
heals to remove the sutures." She shuffles through the
paperwork.

“My main concern is the
headaches.” She pulls a report from the stack “Honestly,
the wound to your head was not that bad, so we aren’t sure why
you would be having headaches, but we did find some anomalies in your
MRI and CT scans. For that reason I’m going to have you follow
up with a neurologist.”

“Okay, I can do that.” I
answer a little curious about what she means by ‘anomalies,’
but I’m guessing the neurologist will be able to explain all of
that.

“Light duty, no heavy lifting. You
need to get an ample amount of rest. Try to avoid stressful
situations.” She still hasn’t looked up from the
paperwork.

Eli comes closer and takes up my hand.
“Is there anything else we should avoid or watch out for?”

“No driving or operating heavy
machinery. I’m prescribing a painkiller for the headaches. Take
them as needed.” She looks up to see Eli’s red faced
grin. “Light activity.”

“Can I go back to work?” Not
that it really matters I do most of my work from home anyway, but an
excuse to not have to go to Orlando would be great!

“I’d give it a few days.
Follow up is very important. If the headaches get worse or you start
feeling any heat or swelling in your neck you need to call your
doctor. The bullet did a lot of damage so you are going to need
physical therapy and you may find that some of your motor skills are
limited, but I have every expectation that you’ll be back to
one hundred percent in no time at all.” She flips the papers
back to the top sheet on the clipboard. “That’s it; you
are free to go.”

“Thank you Dr. Shah.” Is all
I can really think to say, I am really thankful to be going home. She
leaves the room and Eli and I both let out a collective exhale.

His expression darkens and he picks up
both of my hands. I don’t like where this seems to be heading,
like he’s about to tell me something I don’t want to
hear. He couldn’t tell me before I was free to go? Now I’m
probably going to have some kind of nervous breakdown or cardiac
arrest before I ever set foot outside the hospital.

Carl walks in the room glowering at Eli.

Eli returns the look. “We’ll
be a minute.”

“I’m staying.” Carl
folds his arms tightly across his chest.

“Carl can stay; he’s a
friend” I say simply.

Eli considers it all for a minute and
continues, “Fine, stay. Listen, I don’t want you to get
upset. There’s a couple of things that we need to talk about.
We have to go down to the law office. You’re going to meet with
Jason and Bob, then detective Glass is going to question you.”

“About what happened?” I
assumed they knew what happened and just weren’t telling me.

“Yes, we’ll talk more on the
way there, but essentially you need to do exactly as Jason tells you.
No variations, no ad-libbing, got it?” The seriousness about
him says there's more to this than he’s letting on.

“Okay.” Piece of cake,
really.

Shay

We walk through the double doors of
Roth, Carmichael, Eddins and Brunner. Genie bolts up from behind her
desk. She takes me up in her arms and squeezes me tight. “Oh
Shay, thank God you’re okay. We were so worried.”

Wincing, I step out of her embrace,
“Thanks Genie, it’s good to be ‘okay.’”
Whatever okay is. Eli was still completely tight-lipped all the way
over.

Genie looks past me to Eli. “How
is everything?” Her meaning is layered.

“Everything is fine but I need an
empty office and some time with Shay alone.” His eyes quickly
motion back to the cop and Carl, who just walked into the lobby.

“No problem sweetheart; this way.”
She leads us down the hallway and opens the door to Oliver’s
office. I’ve spent some time in here over the years, but
nothing has changed since he died. It’s still furnished with a
leather couch, a beautiful mahogany desk and my artwork on the walls.

“Oliver’s office?”
Curiosity rides my tone.

“Yes it is, Aiden insists we leave
it as is. Jason says we’ll fill it eventually.” She
sighs, recognizing the waste of space. “Y’all take as
much time as you need. I’ll buzz you if we need you.”

“Thanks so much, Genie. Tell Jason
we’ll be ready in about thirty minutes and you should call
Preston and Glass to set up the meeting,” Eli says, closing the
door as she leaves.

Sitting uncomfortably on the couch, I
feel like I’m about to be scolded, but Eli looks so guilty.
It’s as though he doesn’t know what to say or where to
start, so I do. "So spill it. What the hell happened? Who the
hell shot me?”

“First I think it’s
important to figure out what you do and do not remember.” He
picks up my hand, “I know you’ve said there were holes in
your memories. That you remember the signing, and you remember the
last meeting we had here.”

“Yeah I remember all of that. I
remember coming back from Tampa, I remember the meeting, but that’s
it.” I put my head in my hands. It's so frustrating not being
able to remember anything. Especially since I’m sure I’ll
get the whitewashed version that is designed to protect me. I just
want to know exactly what happened.

Eli guides my chin to meet his gaze.
“I’m here with you, its okay. We’re going to get
through this.” He says searching my eyes. I can see that he’s
trying to figure out what to say.

“Let’s go a little further
back and tackle this chronologically.” He takes my hands again
and goes through an inventory of events that have transpired. I
remember nearly everything he’s going over but then he hits a
nerve. “Do you remember Taffy?” He says it with caution.

The name sparks an emotional response. I
have to take a moment to put it together, but I then remember
Sparkles the Hooker. I pull my hands away from his and he smiles.
“Okay, so there is our first hole.”

“Nice choice of words, Eli.”
I have gone from complacent to confused to angry in five seconds
flat, sadly not close to a record for me. I’d like to kick Eli
in the balls and run.

“You never read my note.” He
tries to pick up my hands again but I move away from him on the
couch. “If you had you would know that Taffy is, well was,
Jerry's girlfriend. She was using my bathroom because the mirror in
the other was broken.” His expression darkens.

Relief fills me and I once again swing
my mood back to being slightly okay. It doesn’t mean I like the
bitch. “So she’s Jerry's girlfriend?”

“She was.” There’s
something behind his expression that is suffocating my moment of
relief from thinking that Eli could have possibly been involved with
a skank like her.

“So one of the two of them had a
moment of clarity and dumped the other?” I ask, not knowing
whether Jerry or Taffy is the biggest drain on humanity.

“No Shay, Taffy’s dead.”
He watches closely for my reaction.

A gasp escapes as Eli’s words
rattle the memory free, “Oh God, the nightmare.”

“What nightmare?” Eli’s
tone is laced with urgency.

“I had a nightmare in Tampa.
Didn’t Aiden tell you about that?” I ask realizing that
he still hasn’t told me where Aiden is. “Where’s
Aiden?”

“He didn’t tell me about the
nightmare.” He hesitates a few moments, “We’ll get
to Aiden next, but we need to discuss what happened with Taffy.”

“What…what happened?”
I ask dreading the answer, because I’m pretty sure I know the
answer. What’s worse is the burning question about why “Eli”
was the last word to escape her lips.

“She was found in a refrigerated
warehouse, making it difficult to determine time of death within an
eight-hour period.” Eli takes a breath, “You were in
Tampa during the window.”

“Okay, so I’m clear.”
I’m feeling a little bad that I'm more concerned about my own
skin than hers, but hey, I still have mine, for now. Thinking that
way makes me feel so much worse. Especially because now I realize
that she wasn’t with Eli and she was never a threat to us.

“Nobody can account for your
whereabouts during a good portion of the estimated TOD. The front
desk clerk saw you leave the hotel at the beginning of her shift,
then saw you come back while she was going home, eight hours later.”
Eli presses his lips into a thin line, “Where were you, Shay?”

His tone is accusing and it’s
making me feel uncomfortable. Squirming in the seat, I answer
defensively, “I went down to the dock, I had dinner with McNab,
then came back to you and Aiden at the –” I remember now
walking in on the two of them. Now I’m getting pissed. I can
feel my heart rate pumping as I continue, “I came back to you
and Aiden in fisticuffs trying to kill each other.”

“We talked with McNab. He confirms
that you were with him, but Glass isn’t buying it.” He
looks down with regret and shakes his head, "I hope for your
sake that the waitress can confirm that you were both at the
restaurant.”

“Eli, are you questioning whether
I’m telling the truth?” My tone is sharp.

“No, I’m just hoping McNab
is telling us everything. If we catch him in a lie then using him as
your alibi is right out the window.” He pleads with his eyes.
"Who the hell is this guy anyway?”

“He’s a friend, and he
doesn’t lie.” I hiss, "He also believes in my
innocence.”

To find some peace I go to the window
and gaze out onto the river. It hurts and irritates me that now Eli
apparently needs third-party confirmation that I’m not a
killer. The dock comes into view and the sting of Aiden’s
absence spikes in my heart. My arms fold around me to staunch the
pain, but it doesn’t help.

Eli wraps his arms around my waist and
kisses the top of my head, “I believe in your innocence, but I
have to think like a prosecutor right now. It’s the best way I
have to protect you.”

“I wasn’t even on the same
coast when she was killed; how could they possibly pin this one on
me?” I question, turning around.

“Because Glass wants you to go
down for it; face it, you’re an easy target. She can be
connected to you. They’ve already questioned me about whether
she and I had an affair.” He shakes his head, expelling a
sarcastic laugh.

I look at him with a deadly seriousness,
“Did you?”

“No,” he protests, then
flashes me his killer grin, “Shayleigh Baynes, is that the
green-eyed monster raising your beautiful ire?" He reins me in
by the waist and locks his amazing eyes on me.

I lower my brows and look up at him
through my lashes. “Maybe.”

“Well you have nothing to worry
about. She and I didn’t exactly get along.” Shadows of
remorse flicker in Eli’s eyes.

I realize how insensitive I’m
being. Guilt creeps in for accusing him of being with her, and not
even considering that Jerry just lost someone he cared about. “How
is Jerry holding up?”

“He’s fine. He’s
already moved on. I don’t think he even went to the funeral.”
Eli muses at what a dick Jerry is.

My folly was thinking Jerry had a heart.
“Sounds about right!” I want to ask Eli what happened,
but I already know. I was there in the dream and remember everything.
But now those sketches will never be finished. My Sanguine Specter
comic is done.

There’s a knock on the door and
Jason pokes his head in, “Hey, Glass and Preston will be here
in about fifteen minutes and I’d like some time with Shay
before they arrive."

“Sure thing,” Eli answers.
“Give us a minute we’ll meet you in the conference room.”

Jason retreats through the door. Eli
returns his attention to me. “We are going to go over some
things before they get here. I need you to pay attention and do
exactly as you are told. You can’t freak out on Glass, no
matter what he says.”

“Just hold my hand and kick me
under the table if you think I’m getting any wild ideas.”
I smile as though I’m already trying to acquiesce to his
request.

“That’s the thing. I can’t
be in there.” Remorse rides his heavy tone.

“Why not?” Oh God, I don’t
want to face Glass without him. I’m hoping to draw on his calm
to maintain my own.

“There are a couple of reasons,
the most important of which is I’m not supposed to be anywhere
near this case, but I’m working on that. I've got to make
myself scarce before they get here.” He cups my face in his
hands, “I’m not leaving you; I'm going to make everything
okay.”