When I woke up, I was in bed, surrounded by monitors and covered in tubes.
“Mr. Lennox?” A nurse, petite and blonde, leaned over my bed. “Mr. Lennox, you were in a car crash.”
“I know,” I rasped out. Immediately after speaking, I winced. My head was spinning, and even though I was already lying down, I somehow felt like I was going to collapse. The room around me was flashing different colored lights, and I closed my eyes, wincing in pain. “I know I was in a car crash,” I repeated, making my voice steadier this time. “My driver… my driver stopped at an intersection, and someone hit us.”
The nurse nodded. “That’s very good. That’s exactly what happened.”
“What happened to Audrey?” My eyes flashed open again. “Where is she? What happened to her? Is she okay?”
The nurse frowned and flipped through a pad she was holding on her lap. “I’m sorry, sir, is she someone we should know about?”
“She was in the car with me,” I said, my tone snappish. “She and her dog, some lab-mix mutt.”
The nurse blinked. “There was no one in the car with you, Mr. Lennox,” she said, sounding uncertain. “I’m sure of it. When the paramedics arrived on the scene, it was only you.”
“What about the driver? His name was Lenny. Come on, don’t tell me he disappeared, too.”
The nurse bit her lip. “He wasn’t at the scene,” she said softly. “He may have sought treatment on his own if he was injured.”
A black fog of panic descended over me, and I closed my eyes. Shit.
“Mr. Lennox? We need to take you in for more tests today. You have a concussion, and you’re incredibly dehydrated. We’re giving you an IV now with some antibiotics to ward off infection, but we want to make sure there was no lasting brain damage.”
“No,” I said wildly, flailing my arms and trying to climb out of bed. The nurse pushed me back with surprising strength. “I have to find Audrey.”
The nurse shook her head. “I’m sure whoever she is, she’s fine,” she said in a patronizing way. “I’m sure everything’s going to be okay, sir. I’m sure it is.”
“No!” I yelled. “She was in the car with me, and they took her! They took her! Audrey!” I yelled even louder. “Audrey!”
The nurse had an alarmed expression on her face as she leaped up. “Sir, if you don’t calm down we’re going to have to tranquilize you. You can’t be thrashing around like that, it’s not good for your concussion!”
Seeing the look of terror in her eyes, I deflated. I had to find a way out of here, and fast. “You know, nurse, I actually feel fine,” I snapped. “I think I could probably leave. And I’m expected at work, you know, I’ll need to go into the office.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said, cajoling me. “I’m sure they’ll know to expect you out for a few days after they hear about the crash. You made the morning news!”
I rolled my eyes and flopped back against the stiff hospital pillows. “You’re not listening to me.” I growled. “I have to get out of here, now.”
The nurse chuckled. “Sir, don’t let your lack of insurance make you paranoid! It doesn’t matter, we have to accept all patients now.”
“I have insurance,” I said through gritted teeth. “But I don’t need to be in the hospital right now. I’m completely fine, and you know it.”
The nurse frowned. “You’re a little grumpy this morning. I’m going to get you some juice and a little snack to get your blood sugar up. Then we can talk about having those tests later on.”
I watched her swish out of the room, feeling more helpless by the second. I’d known there was something fishy about that driver, Lenny. I wondered if somehow Hodges had infiltrated my staff and sent one of his stooges to bang me up in a car crash. And Audrey! Audrey! She wouldn’t have just walked away, leaving me to die. That wasn’t like her. Even though I knew she was angry with me, I couldn’t imagine that she was the kind of woman who would abandon me because of an accident. The Audrey I knew would have stayed, holding my hand until the paramedics arrived.
My gut twisted and for a moment I felt like I was going to be sick. I closed my eyes. Audrey and I were having a normal morning; we were just on my way back to my condo. She was going to change, and I was going to shower and go into the office. I thought of the bags of clothing and shoes that I’d bought for her. RH Shoes.
I frowned. Something about that name didn’t sound right. It was a fancy store, but how come I hadn’t heard of it before? It had seemed odd that my assistant would have recommended the store to me with it being such a no-name brand. Everyone who worked for me knew that I only cared about established brands.
Suddenly, it hit me. My driver had been working for Hodges. And whoever had sent me in the direction of RH Shoes had been working for Hodges, too. I began to panic as I realized the level of deception that had been worked on me.
RH Shoes. RH stood for Richard Hodges. And that goddamn shoe store was how he’d managed to embezzle money from LennoxCo all those years ago.
Shit.