C4 4

“Carter’s team was dispatched to Ellie’s place.” Ben’s familiar with my brother’s position with the Jackson Harbor Fire Department, so I don’t have to explain. “He called me as soon as she was in the hands of the hospital staff.”

Ben pays for both of our coffees, and I follow him to a table in the back corner. When we sit, he holds up a small audio recorder. “You okay with me recording this conversation?”

I blink at him. “Should I have a lawyer or something?”

He arches a brow. “Do you need one?”

I shake my head and wave to the recorder. “Whatever. It’s fine. Record to your heart’s content.”

“You and Miss Courdrey are close?”

“You’re going to act like you don’t know shit about my life now?”

He waves to the recorder. “For the record?”

I blow out a long breath. Tendrils of steam rise from the cup, and I watch them tangle before they disappear into the air. “Yeah. We’re friends.”

“And her fiancé, Colton McKinley—you’re close to him, too?”

Fiancé. That word still does a number on me. She might as well have taken the diamond from him and shoved it right into my heart.

Am I close to Colton? He was like a brother once. We grew up together. Did everything together. Even his years living in Florida didn’t come between us. The only thing that could do that was Colton himself. His dumbass decisions. His shitty priorities. His drugs. “We’ve been friends all my life.”

“Colton had a temper, didn’t he?”

My gaze flies up to meet Ben’s. He knows Colton. And the answer to that question. “He wouldn’t do this to her. Not even on his worst day.”

“Maybe he snapped.”

I shake my head, even though doubt claws at my chest, even though I instantly think of the night she showed up at Jackson Brews in the rain, blood streaming down her face. That night, my first instinct was to believe Colton had been high and hit her. I swallow hard. “Not even on his worst day.”

“Not even if he discovered you’d been sleeping with his fiancée?”

I open my mouth to deny it, but when I see the hard edge to Ben’s jaw, I close it again. “She never cheated on him.”

“Do you think he saw it that way?”

“He. Didn’t. Do. This.”

Ben leans forward, propping his chin on his fist and waiting.

“He wouldn’t do this,” I whisper. And I know it sounds like I’m trying to convince myself.

Ethan is stoic when he appears in the waiting room. My brother’s been a doctor for years, but since I don’t spend much time at the hospital, I’m not used to seeing him in medical scrubs. Something about the sight of him looking so official makes this nightmare seem too real.

“Is she okay?” My voice cracks.

“She’s stable.” He grimaces and looks away. “Where’s Colton?”

“That’s the million-dollar question.” I shake my head. “Nobody knows. He’s not answering his phone or replying to messages.”

“Is Ava around?” he asks, referring to Ellie’s best friend and Colton’s sister.

Ava McKinley’s been pacing the halls for the last hour, disappearing down the corridor and appearing every ten minutes or so to check for an update. Now she comes around the corner and walks straight up to Ethan. “Is she okay?”

My brother drags a hand through his hair and shakes his head. “It’s too early to say.”

Ava’s hand trembles as she lifts it to her lips, and I just feel . . . so fucking numb. Colton’s baby just died, and he’s not even here to hold Ellie.

“Do you have contact information for her family?” Ethan asks. “Her mom or a sibling or . . .”

“I don’t,” Ava says, “but I know where to find it. I’ll call them for you.”

“Good. They should come quickly.”

I grab my brother’s arm. “What does that mean?”

Ethan looks dead tired, but worse than that, I don’t see the hope in his eyes I so desperately need to see right now. “She has swelling in her brain, so they’re putting her into a medically induced coma.”

“What?”

Ava covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh my God.”

“Let me see her,” I say.

Ethan shakes his head. “Levi, come on. You know I can’t do that.”

“Fuck you, Ethan. Let me back there.”

“No one can see her right now,” he says firmly. “You should go home. Get some rest. You can’t help her sitting out here.”

I lower myself into a waiting room chair and glare at my brother. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He shakes his head. “Suit yourself.” Then to Ava, he says, “Contact her family.”

Ava nods, and we both watch him go. When my brother’s gone, Ava turns to me. “Don’t you have a race in Indianapolis tomorrow—today?” She looks at her watch. “Shouldn’t you be leaving?”

I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She nods, and I know she understands. Ava wouldn’t leave Ellie right now either.

I squeeze the knots at the back of my neck, where tension has coiled tighter and tighter since I got the call. Where the fuck is Colton?