The Kings of Whitehaven Her Keepers by Stacy Rush
Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Trip

“What the fuck do you mean there is no footage of the accident?” I ask the clerk incredulously, “You have cameras all over the f**king town and you’re telling me that you don’t have footage of a big car accident that occurred only two hours ago?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you!”

I glare at the woman, “Do you know who the fuck I am?”

“Yes, Mr. Huxley, you’re the mayor’s son.” She says it as if it leaves a sour taste in her mouth.

I slam my fist down on the counter, “I’m also best friends with Xánder Whitmore, who personally asked me to get this footage for him since his cousin and stepsister are now in the hospital!”

“I don’t know what to tell you, the footage isn’t here, have a look for yourself!” She moves out of the way and lets me have at her computer.

I hate to say it, but she’s right. I thought she was just being a bitch and not wanting to show me, but there is no footage of that time frame. It makes the whole thing look suspicious because there is footage up until about fifteen minutes of the accident and then continues shortly after the area was cleared for traffic once again.

I turn to the woman, “Have you been here all afternoon?”

She stares at me as if I have two heads, “Aside from my hour break, which I took late today, yes, I was here.”

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same day that footage disappears. Do you usually take late breaks?”

“No, but the Commissioner had me doing some extra filing which kept me later than usual.” She doesn’t seem to be lying to me, but I do notice how it’s all starting to click in her head, “I swear, I don’t know what happened to the footage.”

“Well, if you happen to replace it, please give me or Xander Whitmore a call.” I tell her as I get up out of her chair, “If you think of anything else, or hear anything else, you will be generously rewarded.”

“I don’t take bribes, Mr. Huxley, but I will let you know if I replace anything, because I don’t want to get caught up in the middle of anything illegal.

I grin, “That’s a good girl.” I wink at her when I notice that my words make he face flush. When I turn to take my leave, my grin drops into a frown and I hurry out of the City Hall, so I can get to the hospital.

Xander had told me that he had already made the decision that we are the only two allowed in to see Garrett and Red, so when I get to the hospital, I’m not surprised to already see a security guard standing outside of their door. I show him my ID and he lets me through. It’s good to see Garrett up and talking but Red has yet to come back to the room, which causes a slight ache in my chest.

I hear Garrett say how he can’t remember anything after leaving the clinic and I decide to make my presence known, “I have a feeling that whatever it was, it was intentional.” I close the door behind me.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Well, I’d say someone is a bit cranky!

I look at our little patient, “It means, your accident wasn’t an accident.”

“Why do you say that?” Xander frowns.

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“Because I just left City Hall and all the footage was conveniently erased, all the way up until the road was reopened again.”

“What the fuck? What does the clerk have to say for herself? That’s her job, does she not know who we are?” Xander’s anger is getting the best. of him, as always.

“Calm down, Xan. The clerk is clear but I’m afraid the commissioner may have a hand in it since he had given her extra work, making it so she would have to take a later break.”

“Son of a bitch!” Xander exclaims.

“Exactly my thoughts, but the next question is, was this a threat on Red or warning for us?” I ask, looking back and forth between both my friends.

We are interrupted when the door opens, and a couple of nurses roll in Red’s bed with her in it. She looks so tiny as she sleeps under all the blankets, “Won’t she be hot with all those covers on her?”

One of the nurses smiles kindly at me, “Patients tend to be a little chilly when waking up from the anesthesia, so we keep them covered until they want them off. She should be waking up at any time. Press this red button once she wakes and we will come check on her. The surgeon will be in shortly.” Both nurses walk out, leaving us to stare at our little ward.

The more I stare at her, though, the angrier I get. Red really is

blameless in all of this; she didn’t ask for any of it. Yeah, we are dicks, but we are this way for a reason. That’s not going to stop just because the three of us want to take a dip or two or three in Kambree Hayes, the future of Hillcrest

“f**k, this is all my fault!“.

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Garrett’s admission snaps me back to the conversation, “Why would you even think that?” I frown at my friend.

“I should have been paying better attention to our surroundings instead of trying to look down Kammy’s shirt as she leaned over to mess with the rad…” he stops himself and then his eyes go wide, “Holy shit, I remember!”

Xander and I start to get excited, “Well,” Xander urges, “What do you remember?”

Garrett’s eyes are all over the place as he thinks back to right before the accident, “I remember her asking if I minded as she reached for the radio and I saw movement in my peripheral view and when I looked up, I saw it coming right at us.

“What did you see?” I ask as I sit on the edge of his bed.

He looks straight at me, “A black sedan with a man driving.”

“So, this must have been about Bree then, and she hasn’t been imagining the sedan.” Xander’s lips are tight as he looks over at our ward, “We need to replace this prick! I’m going down to the police station tomorrow to see if they have found anything with the letter my father gave them. Hopefully they have something.”

“That’s odd that they haven’t gotten back to your father. Have you asked him?” Garrett asks this.

“No, I haven’t really thought about it with everything else that has been going on with us, but I will definitely make it a priority now.”

Movement from Red’s bed draws all of our attention and both me and Xander get up to go to her bedside. I make sure I leave room for Garrett to see, since he’s not able to get out of bed just yet. We watch

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closely as her head moves back and forth and then her eyebrows pinch together. If I was a better man, I’d say she looks cute, but I’m not, so I just keep my eyes focused on her waking up; I want to see if she knows- anything. I doubt it, especially if she was looking at the radio, but it doesn’t hurt to try. If someb*dy is stalking someone and trying to kill someone in our town, then they need to be stopped, no matter what.

Ever so slowly, I watch her eyes start to open, but then they shut again, “Reach over and turn that overhead light off, it’s probably too bright in here for her.” Xander says without taking his eyes off her.

I reach up and pull the string, turning the light that is right over her bed, off. She starts all over trying to open her eyes and this time, she succeeds. Her beautiful green eyes stare back at us after a few blinks trying to adjust them.

“There are those beautiful greens that we have been waiting to see. How are you feeling?”

She turns her head slightly my way and graces me with a little smile, “Really sore…”

“Shit, press that red button like the nurse instructed.” I tell Garrett but he already has his thumb pressing the button down.

“What happened?” Her voice is a bit croaky, so I grab the glass of water and let her sip on it as I hold the straw.

“You and Garret were in a car accident,” Xander reminds her, “Do you remember anything?”

She shakes her head a little but grimaces, “Is Garrett okay? Where is he?”

“I’m here, Kammy.” She turns her head and spots him right beside her and she smiles.

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“I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Me? You are the one that took most of the force, you just came out of surgery.” Garrett explains.

“Hm, that explains why I have the feeling that I have been cut open.” She tries to chuckle, but it doesn’t work so well.

“I’m betting you would like some pain meds right about now, Miss Hayes?” One of the nurses from earlier comes walking in with a paper cup in her hand, “These should help with the pain. We also have a fentanyl drip set up for you as well. Whenever the pain gets to be too much, just press this button and it will give you a dose. Don’t try abusing it, though, because we are watching closely, and it only allows so much at certain times.” The nurse winks at her and then goes about checking Red’s vitals before leaving us alone once again.

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