***
I drifted off somewhere in the middle of the afternoon and woke to the nurse shaking my shoulder.
"Mr. Hayes. There's a cop here that wants to talk with you." She rubbed my shoulder softly.
"What?" I jerked up, only to have her push me back. My dreams left me sweating like a whore in church. Jenna strapped to a bed while I violated every part of her. I let out a long sigh and turned to watch a tough-ass-looking guy walk in the room.
"I won't take up much of your time, Mr. Hayes."
"It's Nate, man." I ran my hand over my hair. "Can you hand me that jug of water over there? This shit they're using to clean my system is leaving me so dry it feels like my fucking eyeballs are going to crack."
He chuckled and turned. "I'm Cole Matthenson. I'm new to the area."
"Oh yeah. You're the cop that was up at Kadia. Someone mentioned you'd stopped by." I reached for the jug and shook my head as he tried to hand me a glass. "I don't need that." I chugged most of the water, not giving two shits that the guy might be grossed out by me. Fuck him if he was.
"That place is... interesting."
"You can say that." I wiped the back of my mouth and handed him the jug. "Thanks."
"Sure. Can I ask you a few questions about what happened with you and your girlfriend?"
"Jenna's not my girlfriend." I leaned back as sickness rolled in the pit of my stomach.
"Oh. All right. She said she was." He smirked. "Women."
"What do you need to know?"
"Can you give me the details on where I could find a Miss Denise Webb? Jenna mentioned the girl's name might actually be Ashley. I'm not sure which it is, but it would seem that she was involved in all of this stuff."
"I have no clue where she is. You guys should check my apartment and probably Darek Webb's place. She was his wife."
"The late Darek Webb, correct?"
"Yeah." I leaned back and let the weariness I was holding back roll over me in thick waves. "Make sure you guys keep an eye on Jenna. She's not safe."
"Who should we be concerned about coming after her?" He lifted his pad of paper. "A Mister Erik Bertinelli?"
"Naw. Erik's a good guy."
The cop chuckled. "Really? That's not the information I'm able to pull up."
"We all got shit on our record around here. Something you good guys wouldn't understand."
"You'd be surprised," he mumbled and glanced down at his notepad as he took a few more notes.
"Where is Jenna?"
"She left with Mr. Bertinelli earlier from what I understand." He shrugged. "Do you guys sell Zandra out of Kadia?"
"Nope. You need to talk with Fredrick-"
"Carrington. I know. I have. Several times. The guy is hoping to get me to join his staff, but he's not hearing me.”
“Seems a little odd that the boss man would be recruiting from the local police force.” I lifted an eyebrow. Was this guy for real?
“He’s a powerful man. He knows that my uniform doesn’t fit right. My past won’t let it. Besides, my day of clubs and crime are long behind me."
I smiled. "You say that until you start to miss it. There is freedom in the darkness that will never be found anywhere else."
"Yeah, and sanity in the light." He tapped the pen to the paper. "Anything else you might want to let me in on? I've heard the main details about what happened. You didn't take the third pill, did you?"
"No. I would have to save Jenna from the horror of what that shit did to me, but I couldn't find the goddamn thing." I let out a short sigh. "I'm tired if you're done with your questions."
"Sure. We'll send a patrolman to watch over Miss Webb. Her father might have already requested one. It wouldn't surprise me much."
"I like her father. He's a good guy."
"Yeah, but he's been through hell lately. I'm pretty sure the whole damn state is about to get in an uproar about this drug you suffered from."
"Maybe they should. Who knows?" I shrugged. "It's fantastic in small doses, but toxic when you OD."
"Most things are, right?" He nodded. "Thanks for your time, Nate. I'll be in touch if we have any follow-up questions."
"All right." I leaned back and watched him go as fear permeated the center of my chest. I needed to get the fuck out of the hospital and get over to Jenna's place. I wouldn't go in and let her know I was watching, but someone needed to keep her close. Ashley wouldn't rest easy without knowing that she'd finished the job and completely smashed my heart.
Maybe the only option was to find Ash and wrap my hands around her throat. To watch her squirm beneath me until she stopped breathing.
"Stop it," I groaned and pressed my hand to my face. I hated who I had become. The guy in the coffee shop that fell in love with the DA's daughter didn't exist. It was time to start acting like he was buried six feet under.
No more trying to resurrect the dead. I was who I was, and I got what I deserved. Play with fire, get your ass burnt.