Fragments (The Broken Series Book 2) by Carrie Cox Page A

him.”
    I tried to smile at her, but I couldn’t help thinking that she was wrong. I wasn’t the best person to be looking after Jack.
    After Rita left, I figured I would brood all night, worrying about Jack. It had been one hell of a day.
    But I didn’t get a chance to brood.
    Something happened that blew everything else out of the water.

21

    I had gone upstairs to change and get ready for bed. I was pulling on my oversized, baggy nightshirt when there was a soft knock at my bedroom door.
    My first thought was that it might be Jack. I suppose that was what I was hoping for, but when I opened the door, I saw Maria, the housekeeper, standing there.
    She had her hands in front of her, clasped together tightly. I saw the tension around her eyes.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Has something happened to Jack?”
    Maria shook her head. “No. I’m sorry to disturb you, Kristina. I know it’s late, but there’s a phone call for you, and it sounds important.”
    “A phone call for me?” I repeated stupidly.
    Maria nodded. “Yes.”
    She wouldn’t hold eye contact. This had to be bad. I padded outside my bedroom barefoot to follow Maria downstairs. There was no phone in my room, in fact, the only landline telephones I’d seen were the one downstairs in the hall, or the one in Alexander’s office, so I turned as if we were going downstairs, but Maria caught my arm.
    “This way. You can use the upstairs extension.”
    She led me along the corridor and then into a room I’d never entered before. It looked something like a guest suite at a hotel. It had a sitting area and an office area as well as a bed.
    I thought perhaps this was where Alexander’s business associates stayed if they were guests at the house, although no one had stayed here while I’d been there.  
    Maria gestured to the phone on the desk. “You can take the call here,” she said.
    A bright red light was flashing on the top of the phone. The handset was cordless and covered with buttons. I hoped I didn’t have to do anything more sophisticated than pick it up.
    I lifted the receiver, and I could hear slight static on the other end of the line. It sounded like someone was calling from a cell phone.
    “Hello,” I said.
    Maria backed away with one hand pressed to her stomach.
    “Tina?” A voice on the other end of the line said. Even if he hadn’t used the shortened version of my name, I would have recognized his voice.
    But he sounded different somehow. His voice had lost it’s usual smooth, confident tone.  
    “It’s Benjamin.”
    It felt like the floor fell away under my feet. My stomach churned, and my hand flew up to cover my mouth.
    Oh, God, this could not be good news, not at this time of night.
    “Tina, are you there?” he asked in response to my stunned silence.
    I nodded as I held the phone to my ear before quickly realizing that he couldn’t actually see what I was doing.
    “Yes, sorry. Is it Kate?” I asked.
    The pause on the other end of the line made me feel even sicker. “Benjamin, please tell me what’s wrong.”
    “You need to come back to the States.” His voice was gritty and harsh. “As soon as you can.”
    Again I stupidly nodded. “Okay, but tell me what’s wrong with Kate.”
    “I don’t know,” Benjamin said. “She was fine this morning, but when I came back from work, she was lying on the bathroom floor and…there was a lot of blood.”
    “Blood,” I repeated, numbly. “Is the baby okay?”
    Benjamin didn’t reply directly. “You just need to get back here, Tina. She’ll want you here.”
    “Okay, I’ll get the first flight I can,” I said.
    “I’ll arrange a car to pick you up at the airport. Phone me on this number, or text me, to let me know what time you are due to land.”
    “I will. I’ll text you the flight number as soon as I’ve booked it.”
    “I can wire money to your account for the flight,” Benjamin said.
    “No. It’s fine. I’ll handle it. I’ll be there