Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 69

*Michael*

I walked out of Shelby’s hospital room feeling shattered. I don’t know what I expected. She had every right to yell at me and wish I wasn’t there. I was the reason she was there in the first place. I made my way back down to the waiting room where Bruce was sitting, but he was no longer alone; a police officer in full uniform was waiting for me to return.

“You must be Mr. Michael Astor,” the officer said, rising from his seat.

“That’s right. What can I help you with, sir?” I asked, glancing down at Bruce. His face gave nothing away.

“I need to speak to Miss Hatton first, but I would ask that you two remain in the hospital until I return. I may need to bring you in for questioning,” the officer said.

“Why do we need to be questioned in regards to a car accident?” Bruce asked. “We’ve been searching all night to replace where these two were; we even made calls to the police trying to get accident reports. No one seemed able to talk to us then.”

“Initially, we didn’t have the names of the two patients, so we couldn’t reach out to the family. The sudden storm caused many people to run off the roads, but it turns out that this accident may not have been entirely weather related. I will have more information once I talk to Miss Hatton,” the officer said,

I made no mention that we were not Shelby’s family.

“How did you not have their names? What about their driver’s licenses?” I asked, trying to hide my frustration at the lack of communication.

“Neither Miss Hatton nor the driver had Identification on them,” the officer answered, then turned and walked down the hall.

I turned to Bruce looking for answers.

“Answer all of his questions but be vague,” Bruce said, anticipating my question.

“Bruce, I know that Lance at least had his license on him. I don’t expect that Shelby would leave without taking her wallet with her. This isn’t making sense,” I said.

“The break-in at the penthouse, the threatening phone call, now an accident that is starting to look less like an accident. I think it is a safe guess at who is behind this,” Bruce said, standing up to pace the waiting room.

“Do we need to bring up Blaine? ” I asked, wondering if it really could have been his doing. I was kidding myself deep down; I knew Blaine was behind all of this.

“We know that Blaine is here in Colorado; that means he has already broken bail. There may already be a warrant for his arrest; he likely found a way out of his ankle monitor and police may have already been notified. Giving his name to the police in regard to this car accident is only going to add fuel to this fire. Blaine is out for b***d. We now know just how far he is willing to go. If we push him anymore, we may be putting Shelby in more danger,” Bruce explained.

“So, what are we supposed to do then? I can’t just sit here and do nothing when I know he is responsible. He’s the reason I sent her out into that storm. He’s the reason that Shelby cast me out of her hospital room. He’s the reason she is there in the first place. He made me hurt her, and she may never forgive me for it,” the anger was boiling inside of me.

At that moment, I swore to myself that I would make Blaine pay for everything that he had ruined in my life.

“Let me work to get more information, to gather more evidence before we involve the police any further. Let Blaine think he got away with this for now.” Bruce put up his hands to stop me from interrupting. “Just for now, we will get him in the end; I can promise you that.”

All I could manage was a nod in response. We both sat in silence in the hardback chairs of the waiting room until the officer came back. He led us silently down the maze of hallways and stopped suddenly, opening a door for us. The hospital provided an empty conference room for the officer to question us.

“Please, take a seat. This won’t take long,” he said, gesturing to two chairs across the table from him.

Neither of us spoke, but we took the two seats as he asked.

“Miss Hatton was staying at your private cabin; is that correct, Mr. Astor?” Officer Johnson asked.

“That is correct. We were taking a short vacation to go skiing,” I answered.

“And it was also your car and your personal driver involved in the accident?”

“Yes, sir. My driver’s name is Lance Lenwood. Do you have any news about his health? The hospital staff will only tell me that he is still in surgery.”

“Unfortunately I do not have any updates on Mr. Lenwood. All I know is he suffered extensive injuries and lost a lot of b***d, Mr. Astor.”

“Son of a b*tch,” I muttered, running my hands through my hair.

“Can I continue my line of questioning, Mr. Astor? I know this is hard, but the sooner we get through these, the sooner you can get back to Miss Hatton and Mr. Lenwood.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Miss Hatton was on her way to your private jet, is that correct?”

“Yes, she was on her way back home to Cambridge.”

“And why did she decide to leave during the middle of a snowstorm on Christmas Eve?”

“I’m sorry, but what does this have to do with the accident? You said it might not be weather related; what does that mean?” Bruce interjected.

“We are trying to paint a better picture of what happened on the night in which Miss Hatton was put in this situation. At first, we believed a drunk driver was at fault, but after talking with Miss Hatton, we have reason to believe this accident may have been intentional. We just have to rule out all possibilities.”

“What circumstances are you referring to?” Bruce continued.

“All of her belongings were taken from the scene. Is there anyone you know of that would have wished Miss Hatton harm?”

“None that I can think of. She is a sweet girl without any enemies. I was just trying to get her home before Christmas. I’ll let you know if I think of anyone,” I answered flatly.

I was not about to make myself a person of interest by telling the police we got into a fight and ended our relationship before she left for the airport.

My stomach churned with the guilt of knowing that I had sent Shelby out into a snowstorm with no protection. Blaine was behind this. He had ransacked her car and left her hurt just to get back at me. I immediately knew that Bruce was right. We had to let Blaine think he had gotten away with this. Maybe then he would let down his guard.

“If that is all, Officer, I would like to go check on Shelby to make sure she’s okay. You have my name and contact information if you have any further questions,” I offered.

“Yes, that’ll be all for now; please reach out to me with any new information that may be relevant to replaceing the person who did this.” With that, Officer Johnson left us alone in the conference room.

Without another word, I walked out of the conference room and back down the gloomy hallway toward Shelby’s hospital room. I cracked open the door and saw her asleep on the bed. My heart wrenched at the site of a large, purple bruise on the side of her face. A nurse that I didn’t notice stepped out from behind the curtain.

“She needs her rest,” she told me.

“Can I just sit with her for a while? I promise I won’t disturb her,” I asked.

“I guess that would be all right, but let her get her rest. Is there anyone else we can expect to visit today? Any friends or family?” the nurse asked.

I realized that because of me, Shelby was here alone. I was the one responsible for shattering her heart. I could blame Blaine all I wanted, but the truth of the matter was he was doing this all because of me. I was really at fault for everything that had happened to Shelby over the last six months. She truly was better off without me in her life.

I shook my head at the nurse.

“I’ll leave you two be then,” she said before leaving the room.

I took up my previous post on the uncomfortable chair in the corner. I watched Shelby’s chest rise and fall with her breath as a way to assure myself that she was all right. The hour ticked by, but I didn’t want to move.

“Shelby, I’m so sorry that I let this happen to you. I promise that I won’t let anything happen to you ever again. I won’t let Blaine get to you,” I whispered as softly as I could.

Knowing that Shelby would not want me to be there when she woke up, I rose and placed a soft k**s on her forehead.

“I love you,” I whispered to her before I walked out of her room to replace Bruce.

“I need you to stay here with her in case Blaine comes back,” I said as soon as I found him back in the same chair in the waiting room.

“I’m sure she would much rather see you when she wakes up,” Bruce answered.

I couldn’t bring myself to admit the way she reacted the first time she saw me in her hospital room.

“She doesn’t want to see me; I can assure you that. Not after everything that happened last night. Please let the nurses know to notify me as soon as she’s well enough to be discharged. I will have the jet ready to take her home,” I said with finality.

“Of course, sir,” Bruce said, knowing it wasn’t worth the fight to get me to stay.

I had to get away. Blaine would follow me wherever I went.

The further away I went from Shelby, the safer she would be.