Chapter Twenty-Four

“HI MOM! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

Jessie gave her Mom a big hug in the hallway of the hospital. She and her Dad had brought dinner from her mother’s favorite restaurant. A bad car accident had kept her Mom late at work and ruined their birthday dinner plans, so they decided to bring the dinner to her.

They had set the food up in a small conference room that wasn’t being used by anyone so late in the evening.

“So what’s going on with your patient?” Jessie asked, taking a bite of her huge salad.

“Car accident. A young woman, about your age actually. It’s not looking good, I’m afraid. Her little girl was in the car with her, but fortunately she’s going to be fine.”

JACK FINISHED HIS SECOND WHISKEY.

“Fuck!”

The Caps were going down in flames early.

Chris motioned for the waitress, a cute redhead that had been flirting hard with Jack since they walked in.

Jack’s phone buzzed. A phone number he didn’t recognize came up on the screen.

He answered it.

“Jack Turner.”

“Hello, Mr. Turner?”

“Yeah.”

“My name is Leah, I’m calling from Southern Medical Center in reference to your daughter, Kennedy. I’m afraid there’s been an accident.”

Jack hesitated. “Sorry, I didn’t quite get that. Can you say that again?”

The woman on the line repeated herself.

“Think you’ve got the wrong Jack Turner.”

The woman confirmed Jack’s address.

“Yeah, that’s my address, but I don’t have a daughter.”

Chris looked away from the television and turned toward him.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Turner. I don’t understand. Yours is the name and phone number listed as the emergency contact at the child’s school.”

“I don’t know anything about that. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Do you know Brandy Richards? She’s the child’s mother. I’m afraid she’s critically injured. Your daughter, however, appears to have sustained only minor injuries.”

“Can you not call her that? She’s not my…” Jack was starting to get irritated.

He quickly searched his memory for the name, Brandy. The only Brandy he could remember fucking was one of the strippers from his buddy Donnie’s bachelor party. She used to dance at a club downtown. He’d hooked up with her a few times about five years ago.

He felt his heart sink at the same time his pulse started racing. He had fucked her once without a condom, bent over his kitchen table. He had pulled out though. As drunk as he’d been, he clearly remembered shooting his load all over her amazing ass.

He was usually very careful but he’d fucked up that night. He got tested every few months and thought he’d dodged the bullet when he came back clean after that little slip up.

He hadn’t seen her since then and honestly hadn’t give her another thought.

“Mr. Turner? Are you still there?” The voice on the line sounded concerned.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Jack answered.

“Mr. Turner, maybe you could come down here. We can try to straighten this out.”

“How old is the kid?” Jack asked.

Chris gave him a funny look.

“She turned four this past May, Mr. Turner.”

He supposed it was possible. Not likely, but possible.

“Okay. I’ll be there soon.” He hung up the phone. “Fuck.” Jack stood up, putting his phone in his pocket.

“What’s going on? Who was that?” Chris asked.

“Hospital. Calling to say my kid was in a car accident.”

Chris looked confused. “You don’t have a kid.”

“I know, right?” Jack shrugged.

Find out what happens next in Burned, the continuation of Jack and Jessie’s story, and
the second book in the Wrecked Hearts Series.