A Masterpiece Unraveled (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 2) (34 page)

"You know I tried talking Joe into contacting you after your parents died." Mrs. Whitemore slid a glance at Hunter as he lowered himself onto the chair beside her. They were as hard as a rock. Hospital waiting room chairs sucked. "I think he was too overcome with grief. Charles was the brother Joe never had. Looking at you now, I get it. You're the spitting image of your father. What happened to you after the accident?"

"I grew up in foster homes." Hunter clasped his hands together. "Never adopted. I moved from place to place a lot."

"I'm sorry. I wish there was more we could have done." She kept looking at him with a strange, curious gaze. "I can't get over how much you look like Charles."

There was more they could have done, wasn't there? If they had no other children, why couldn't they have taken him in, unless they had something to hide?

"Mrs Whitemore?" A young male nurse in blue scrubs stood at the end of the waiting room.

"Yes? How is my husband?" Joe's wife shot to her feet in surprisingly quick fashion. Hunter stayed where he was, unsure he had a place or a right to follow her. He stared at them as they disappeared down the hallway, leaving him feeling blank and empty inside.

He wanted Joe to be okay. Fear settled itself in the pit of his stomach, spreading like a virus all over.
Please Joe, make it out of this. I'm sorry I bombarded you like that.
Hunter regretted the way he went about things. If he'd given him time, maybe the outcome would have been better?

Maybe it was time to call Becca. All sorts of odd sensations overtook his body and he needed a steady voice of reason. Before he could make the call a female nurse approached him. "Are you Hunter?"

He snapped to full alert mode. "That's me."

"This is a very odd thing to do, but Mr. Whitemore wanted me to pass along a message." She sat beside him, her green eyes studying his face.

"I think it's his state of distress, but he insisted I get your phone number for him without letting his wife know. He also wanted me to tell you he'd explain everything soon, but for now to know that it was always for safety, and it's not what you're thinking. Does this makes sense to you..."

Hunter nodded. "It does. He's stable and awake? What happened to him?"

The nurse puckered her lips as if she was thinking. "Heart attack, but you're not supposed to know that. Only family. He was awake for a little, while which is when he insisted someone find you." She stood. "I need to go. I just wanted to pass that along because he would not cooperate until I promised him I'd speak to you. He wants me to get your phone number."

Hunter recited it to her as she wrote it down on a scrap of paper. She pocketed the slip of paper, thanked him and ran back down the hall.

Please be okay, please be okay.

*****

At one, Hunter finally called.

"Bec?" His voice was filled with pain and sounded terrible. "He knows something."

"What does he know? He remembers you?"

"For the first few hours, we talked about my mom and dad. He showed me home videos. He has stuff from my old house. I showed him your picture when I mentioned where I live now and that I was with you. I think it literally gave him a heart attack. I'm at the hospital and he's not stable yet."

"Oh baby," she whispered. More than ever she wished she could be with him right now. Hunter was distraught. "I'm sorry."

"He says he's going to give me the home videos, the photos and some of the stuff. He's got some of my childhood things. Says I look so much like Dad." Hunter's voice cracked. "I hope like hell me bringing up the past didn't cause this. What if he dies? I think his wife is upset with me."

Her heart broke right then. "Don't say those things, Hunter. You didn't cause this. If he had a heart attack, it wasn't just because you showed up dredging up the past. Don't let that guilt start."

"I know you're right, but I just can't stop thinking about it. I'm scared." He let out a long, ragged sigh. "He was so insistent earlier to a nurse that she had to give me a message. I think he's trying to admit he did something, but won't say what. His wife doesn't seem to know. The nurse told me he'd explain everything soon. He said it was always for safety and it's not what I'm thinking. The last question I asked before his eyes rolled in the back of his head was if he and my parents helped steal a child."

Becca blinked back tears. "Do you want me to drive down there and wait with you?" The thought of Hunter facing this alone without any support around him hurt. She should have gone with. Even if they went on a plane, there must be more that she could have done. Now he was states away from her, alone and afraid.

"Angel, it's almost a ten hour drive!" Hunter exclaimed. But he didn't say no. He didn't say yes, either.

"I know. I just want to be there for you. And with you."

"I do want you here with me, you know that, but -" There were voices in the background. "Hold on for a second, Bec."

Silence. Did he take another call?

Then he came back. "Let me call you back in a little bit, okay? I just needed to hear your voice and update you. I miss you so damn much."

"Please take care of yourself, okay? No guilt thoughts." Becca closed her eyes. A few tears ran down her cheeks. She wiped them away.

"I'll try, I promise." He sounded so distant and full of agony.

"I love you forever, Hunter."

She wasn't sure if he heard her. The call disconnected, and Becca's heart sank. It was more than a ten hour drive and she wasn't even sure where Hunter was. She wanted to be there to hold him and make sure he was okay.

"Becca?" Dr Velez's voice startled her, bringing her back from her troubled thoughts.

"I'm sorry! Hunter called and..." She shook her head.

"Don't be sorry. Is he okay? You said he went to meet someone he knew as a child, right?"

Becca nodded, pulling herself together. "Yes. The man is in the hospital and Hunter is really upset." Of course there was more to it, but she left those parts out. "I know my concentration is horrible today."

"You could have taken time off so you could have gone with him," Liane informed her.

"I just started! I didn't want to ask that so soon!" Becca protested. She stuck her phone back in her purse, hoping to hear from Hunter again soon.

Somehow, she managed through the rest of the day. She'd had the offer a few times to go home early and wait for news, but Becca didn't want to be alone. Despite her lack of concentration, being here and working with patients helped. Checking the phone for any missed calls for the thousandth time today, her shoulders sagged from disappointment when there was nothing from Hunter. She wasn't sure if silence meant good news or bad. She wished she could hear from him either way.

Becca was only home for about a half hour and just finished dinner when the doorbell rang. She peered through the peep hole and her heart raced when she discovered a police officer on the other side of the door. "Can I help you?" Nerves consumed her, wondering what this had to do with.

"You're Rebecca Lange, correct?" the officer asked, giving her a once over.

"That's me."

"May I come in? I have some information about Carrie Wells that you need to know."

Sylvia? What else could they have on her? She was dead! Becca took a step back, allowing the officer in. She watched his every move carefully.

"You were the one who identified the body a few weeks ago, correct?"

"Yes," she squeaked out.

With a nod, the officer consulted some papers. "I'm sorry to say, but the body was incorrectly identified. After a few tests and dental records, we discovered that the body was that of another woman who'd recently gone missing."

Becca rubbed her eyes, blinked, then rubbed them again. "What are you saying?" Did she seriously just hear him right?

"The woman you know as Carrie Wells isn't dead, which means she's still at large."

Chapter Twenty Eight

Hunter waited for Joe to come out of it all day. Mrs. Whitemore came out every so often, the latest time to let him know he was in surgery. Hunter paced the hospital waiting room. A little boy who'd been sitting with his family followed him, smiling as he went back and forth. Hunter stopped pacing to sit back down again and the boy ran to his family.

When his phone rang registering Vince's number, he swore. The last thing he wanted right now was to meet up with Vince and miss out on any word of Joe, but he'd promised. If Vince had information on Becca's past, then Hunter had to find out, even if it meant leaving the hospital. "Hello?"

"I'm in Providence. Where are you?" Vince asked.

So he'd actually come out. Vince wanted something so bad he really left Vermont to talk to him about it? What the hell was it?

"At a hospital. A friend I was visiting had a heart attack."

"Sorry to hear it." He sure didn't sound that sorry. "Are you able to meet up?"

Yeah, so much for sorry. Jackass.

"If you come get me. I didn't come here in my rental car and I'm not about to bother my friend's wife to take me back to it."

"Sure. Give me the address and I'll be there."

He'd never once learned the address of the hospital, so Hunter found a nurse and asked her.

"Got it," Vince said. "On my way."

Feeling torn, Hunter glanced back toward the hallway where Mrs. Whitemore walked through sometimes to check with him. He didn't see anyone. What more could he do? He wasn't family, at least not in the blood sense. Mrs. Whitemore didn't really want him there, that much was obvious. He'd talk to Vince, check back in and then go back to his car. He'd have to stay another night. He wasn't ready to go yet until he at least knew Joe was out of surgery and stable.

It wasn't long before his phone rang again. "I'm here," Vince said.

"I'll be out in a minute."

Vince drove a Mercedes, not a car he'd expected the stuffy man to drive. Hunter climbed in, unsure of this whole thing. "What the hell do you have to say so important you drove out of your way to meet me?"

Vince pulled forward. "Do you think we can discuss this over something to eat? I've been driving a few hours and really want to find a place to stop."

"Sure, I guess. Don't ask me what's around here because I don't know."

"What are you doing out here, anyway?"

Hunter buckled his seatbelt. "Connecting with a friend." Didn't he just say that a little while ago?

"How's Rebecca? Is she better now that Carrie's ... gone?"

"Carrie's real name is Sylvia. Besides, do you really care how Becca is?"

Vince slid an annoyed frown his way. "I do care about her."

Sure he did. Hunter bit back a retort. "She's doing better, about that part at least. She still lacks the truth since some people won't tell her." So much for holding back. He'd started off well.

"What good will it do her, or you for that matter?"

"Well, considering you decided to give us a glimpse of something because you want a favor, I'd say it'll do us very well. You think leaving that kind of message on Becca's phone wouldn't press either of us to search for the truth? How would you feel if it were you?"

Vince didn't respond. He drove out of the parking lot. A few blocks down the road he found a small diner. "This good?"

"Whatever you want is fine with me." Hunter wasn't sure he could eat anyway, but he had to at least try. Vending machine food and drinks were the only thing he'd had all day since breakfast. He could stand to get something substantial in him.

Once they were settled in a corner booth facing the hospital, Vince searched the menu. "How easy is it to be accepted into your program for brain trauma?"

"Depends. You wouldn't qualify though. It's to help study the brain and I have this feeling you lack one." Something about this guy brought out the idiot in Hunter. At this point, as tired and nervous as he was, he didn't care. Becca would get a kick out of his response. She'd probably cover her mouth and hold back a laugh.

Damn, he missed her.

Vince rolled his eyes. "I don't know what Rebecca sees in you."

Restless, Hunter flipped through the menu. He didn't know what Becca saw in him most times either, but he was glad she loved him. "Truthful answer, it's not up to me to decide. A team of doctors has to make a decision and there's tests and things they do. I'm not an expert. I don't run things from the inside of the facility itself."

Vince rested his hands together on top of the table. "My niece isn't showing any progress after an accident last year. Your program might be our last resort."

Hunter sat up straight and closed the menu with a loud slap. "You want me to get your niece in the program? You're telling me you want this as your favor? Let me guess, you'll give me information if I can get her in, right? Man, I always knew you were low, but this goes beyond that!" He wanted to punch this guy right about now! The nerve!

"You're calling me low? Wouldn't you do everything you could for someone you love?" Vince leveled him with a cold, hard stare. "You're here listening to me. What does that say? You want information and would go to extreme lengths to get it."

Hunter smacked the table. "This is blackmail, you asshole! The only reason you want to give me information is to suit you! You're using my weakness against me. Not that it's a weakness, but you know what I mean. You know my heart is close to TBI and you're using it to your advantage."

"Does it matter as long as we both get what we need from it? It's not blackmail. It's a deal. Man to man."

He shot to his feet. "You're no man!" Anger made his pulse points pound. Blood roared in his ears. Man, if he weren't in a public place right now...

No. Hunter wouldn't give this man that much power.

Blackmailing. What a bunch of shit. The last time Hunter tried to get someone in the program to save, it backfired. What would happen if he did agree to this and Vince's niece didn't make it? What if something happened and this man would have even more reason to hate him? But damn it, what if someone hadn't given Becca the chance? This was too close to home, and asshole Vince knew it!