“I do.” Her smile looked stiff. “I’m sorry, Logan.”
Billy Ray stepped in. “What’s not safe, Miz Abbott, is exercising in this heat without water. Remember the H2O and you’ll be fine.”
“Maybe I just won’t let her go without me.” Logan drew her closer to his side. “That way I’ll know she’s safe.”
Billy thought he saw her shudder and he frowned. What was going on here?
“If you folks don’t need anything else from me, I’ll get back to it.”
“Wait!” True called.
Billy Ray stopped and looked back at her. Logan frowned.
“Let me get you a bottle of water. To replace the one you gave me.”
He smiled, thinking her one of the sweetest things he’d ever met. “That’s not necessary, Miz Abbott. I keep a cooler in the cruiser, just in case.”
“Thanks for your help, Billy Ray,” Logan said, smiling. “Tell your uncle Nate I said hello.”
As he drove off, Billy Ray glanced in the rearview. The pair stood as they had been, Logan holding his wife tightly to his side, her smile stiff.
Something fierce stirred up in him. With it the urge to turn back, swoop True Abbott up and take her away. Save her.
But he hadn’t been able to. Money, power and influence had won the day. The way it always did.
“You can go in now, Officer.”
He blinked. The nurse stood at the door, scowling at him.
He forced himself to smile pleasantly at her. She didn’t know, didn’t understand about Abbott. Like the rest of the world, she only saw what he wanted her to.
For True, he silently promised and turned toward the door. No matter what he had to do, if it took his very last breath, he would make Logan Abbott pay.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Saturday, April 19
5:10 P.M.
Bailey looked up as Billy Ray entered the room. Her stomach clenched and she shrank back against the pillows. She wasn’t ready for this. It was too soon.
Logan curled his hand around hers. He leaned down. Murmured so just she would hear, “It’s okay, baby. You’ll be fine.”
Billy Ray stopped at the end of the bed. The intensity in his eyes made her uncomfortable. He shifted that gaze from her to Logan and back.
“It’s good to see you awake, Mrs. Abbott.”
She couldn’t find her voice and Logan stepped in. “What do you want, Billy Ray?”
The lawman glanced at him, expression dismissive. “Give us a couple minutes.”
“Alone?” One corner of Logan’s mouth lifted. “Not happening, Williams.”
“As a sworn officer of the Wholesome Police Department, I have every right to interview your wife regarding the events of Wednesday, April sixteen.”
“And I have every right to refuse to leave her side.”
“I don’t want this to get ugly.”
“And neither do I.”
“Stop it, please. It doesn’t matter because I don’t remember anything!”
Billy Ray seemed to freeze. “What did you say?”
“She has traumatic amnesia,” Logan said. “She doesn’t remember any of it.”
Billy Ray looked as if he had been punched in the gut. He turned to her. “Is that true, Mrs. Abbott?”
She nodded. Her chin trembled.
“Bailey, Mrs. Abbott, you came into the hospital with a lot of blood on you.”
“I had an injury. My head—”
“A lot of blood.”
“I told her,” Logan said.
“Do you have any memory of how that came to be?”
“My head injury?”
“Yes, but not what your husband might have told you. Not a guess. Your own memory of the event.”
“No. The last thing I remember is three days before the accident.”
“Three days?” He all but snorted in disbelief.
“It’s true!” She glanced at Logan, then back at him. “I’m sorry.”
“Henry Rodriquez is dead, did your husband tell you that?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Did he tell you he was murdered?”
“Williams! That’s enough—”
“I bet he told you it was a hunting accident.”
“Yeah, I did. Because it’s what the Saint Tammany sheriff’s detective told me.”
“Even though it’s not hunting season. You don’t find that strange?”
Bailey’s head hurt. She wanted them to stop.
Please … please … stop …
“No, I don’t. My property is posted no hunting and no trespassing, and that doesn’t stop folks from doing both. A month ago, I found deer parts dumped in the creek. Just last week, Henry found a wounded hog not far from his cabin.”
“And you reported both to the sheriff’s office.”
“Of course! For this very reason.”
Please … it hurts …
“Touché, Abbott. Very well thought out. Down to the little woman’s amnesia.”
“What the hell are you trying to say? That she’s faking it? Talk to her doctor, you son of a bitch!”
“I will, believe me. But right now—”
“Stop it!” she cried. “My head hurts! That’s all I know.”
Both men stopped and looked at her. She blinked, seeing them both clearly, her thoughts flooding with something dark. Disturbing. She shuddered and turned her face away. “I’m tired,” she managed, voice quivering. “Please go.”
“Mrs. Abbott, if you remembered something—”
“You’re done here, Williams.” Logan left her side, crossed to the door and opened it. “Get out.”
Billy Ray looked like he wanted to argue. Instead, he said, “You and me, Abbott. In the hall. Now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Saturday, April 19
5:25 P.M.
The door snapped shut behind them. Billy Ray faced Logan. “What kind of bullshit is this, Abbott?” he said, keeping his voice low. “Amnesia?”
“Not bullshit. Sorry for your great disappointment.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care what you believe. Talk to Dr. Bauer. He’ll give you the details.”
“I will. Count on it.”
“Grow up, Billy Ray. This isn’t a school yard competition.”
Billy Ray smiled. “That would imply this is a game. I assure you, it’s not.”