“What’s wrong? You never call this late.”
“Evan was in an accident with one of the other players and his girlfriend.” The tears started flowing. “Brianna didn’t make it and Derek almost died. Someone ran them off the road on their way home, and I know how good you are with solving these kinds of cases.”
Mason sighed. “Holy fucking shit. Have there been any other incidents?”
“Just an altercation out in Arizona after last weekend’s game. I don’t know if you watched it, but—”
“You mean with Levi Milner? Yeah, I saw what he was doing.”
“Then you might want to know that he and Evan had words after the game. Is there any way you can investigate him?”
“Yeah, I’ll look into it. In the meantime, I’m going to have Jason Avery talk to you. He’s an undercover detective out there.”
“I know who he is. He’s good friends with Luke Collins.”
“I’ll have him give you a call in the morning. Tell him everything you know.”
“Will do, Mason, thank you. It feels like I’m right back in Vegas with everything falling apart.”
“No, you’re not. What happened to Austin in Vegas was fucked up. That’s not going to happen again.” Before Mason became an undercover cop, he was a legend in the MMA world, a heavyweight champion. When other fighters started showing up dead, he was called in by the Vegas PD chief of police to go undercover to see if he could find the killers. I never thought Austin would be one of those victims. Now Evan was being targeted…but why?
“I sure hope you’re right.”
“I am. I’m going to help you in every way I know how. Jason’s one of the best and he knows a lot of people. He’ll be your eyes and ears.”
We said our goodbyes, and I slowly walked back to Evan’s room. Luke was leaving as I approached, and I stopped him. “Your friend Jason is going to be put on Evan’s case. I called Mason and he’s going to have him help us. We need to find out who did this.”
He nodded, his jaw tense. “I agree. Evan’s never had anything like this happen before. I don’t know what the fuck’s going on. But whatever it is, Jason will figure it out. I’ll be back up here tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I whispered before he walked off. Evan’s door was cracked, so I tiptoed inside and shut it lightly. He was still awake and smiled sadly when I approached.
“Why don’t you go home and get some sleep? I’ll be fine here.”
“I’m not leaving you, Evan. I’m staying with you.”
I started to sit down, but he shook his head. “Not there, sunshine. Here,” he said, patting the space beside him.
“Evan, no. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“If you don’t get up here, I’m going to drag myself out of this bed and make you. Don’t make me have to do that. I could’ve died tonight and all I want to do is hold you. Please, Summer.”
Gently, I climbed up on the bed and snuggled up to his side. He winced, but instead of letting me back away, he held me tight. “I need this. I have to know you’re not going anywhere.”
“I’m not. I’ll always be by your side.” It wasn’t long before he drifted off to sleep, but I lay there too terrified to close my eyes. I could only imagine the horrible things I would see if I did.
Chapter 23
Summer
After a few hours of sleep, I slipped out of the hospital bed and grabbed a cup of coffee from the cafeteria. I hate coffee, but I needed the caffeine. Kate and Cooper were sitting at a table, eating breakfast, looking glum. I was thankful Kate had pulled some strings so I could stay the night with Evan. Usually it wasn’t allowed, but Evan had been adamant that I stay.
“Anything new?” I asked, taking a seat.
Kate rubbed her tired eyes. “The police are going to talk to Evan sometime this morning. Other than that, I guess everything’s under investigation.”
“What about arrangements for Brianna’s funeral?”
“Her family’s taking care of that. Joel is meeting with the team today and asking for donations to help out. They’re kind of waiting on Derek to wake up before they set a date.”
A lone tear fell down my cheek. “I see.”
“What about on your end? Did you talk to Mason?”
I took a sip of my coffee and almost gagged. “I did. He’s going to get Luke’s friend Jason to help out. He’s supposed to call me today.”
She sighed. “That’s good. I know Jason very well.”
Picking up my coffee, I stood up and pushed in my chair. “What about the game tonight? Will there still be one?”
Cooper cleared his throat. “Joel said the team’s fired up and ready to go. They want to do it for Derek, Evan, and Brianna.”
“Are you going to play?” I asked him.
He started to say no, but Kate put a hand over his mouth. “Yes, he’s going to. I guess he feels he needs to babysit me.”
Cooper chuckled. “Somebody has to.”
“All right, you two, I’m going to check on Evan and then head to his house to get him some fresh clothes.”
“I can do that if you want. That way you can stay with him,” Kate offered.