original
question.
“Well, I know you cannot travel back and forth with me. So
the real question is, where do you want to hole up and heal?”
He seems to ponder the question for a few minutes before finally
looking at me. “I don’t know, Ry. I would like to go home, but I don’t want you
being all alone when you come back from New York either. Although in New York, I
would have access to the team trainers and physicians for therapy. What do you
think?”
He makes an excellent point about the trainers and
physicians, which makes my mind up for me.
“You have to go home, J. It would be best for you and your
recovery there. Hopefully the rest of this crap will be over with by the time I
get back anyway.”
I can tell he doesn’t like the idea, but he agrees that is
the best decision. Right now, the only choice for him is to go home and heal. He
will be miserable until he is back to normal and he has a long road ahead of him.
Still trying to rationalize our decision, he asks, “So when
will Austin be back?”
I wish I knew the answer to that question. Hell, I wish I
could talk to him.
“I’m not sure, J, and since we can’t talk, I don’t know his
plans.”
He seems ready to say something else when Ruzek appears at
the door smiling. At least the visitors seem to bear good news today.
Chapter 17
Rylee
Ruzek comes strolling into the room with a cat ate the
canary grin on his face. His short blond hair is styled in that messy way and
his dark green eyes are alight with pleasure. He is dressed in his usual casual
wear of dark jeans, form-fitting gray t-shirt and black work boots.
I look at him and he smiles triumphantly.
“So what has you so chipper this morning, Detective?” I ask
with a hint of playful sarcasm.
He ignores my question and looks to J. “How are you feeling
today, Mr. Ash?”
J answers with the perfunctory, “I’m all right. Been better,
but could be worse.”
Ruzek moves the chair from next to J’s bed over between us
so he can easily see us both. Then he seems to think better of it.
“Oh sorry, do you mind if I move this?”
We chuckle. “No, by all means go ahead.”
He seems embarrassed by his obvious comfort level with us,
but takes a seat after closing the door to the room. He leans back and crosses
one leg over the other in what feels like an attempt to stall before he finally
breaks the strange silence in the room.
“So would you guys rather have the good news, or the not so
good news first?”
He gives me a small wink and I am not sure what to make of it.
I say, “Not so good” at the same time J says, “Good news, please.”
He looks to us both and I nod, giving J the priority here. He
is in a hospital bed after all. “OK, so the good news is that Austin had an
idea.”
OK, I am sure that happens from time to time, but I fail to
see how that qualifies as good news. Then Ruzek stands up and pulls two brand
new smartphones from his back pocket.
“Here you are, Rylee, and here you go, Mr. Ash,” he says as
he passes them across the room.
J looks at me in confusion before speaking up, as if I have
the answer to the mystery prizes.
“One, please stop calling me Mr. Ash. If you can call her
Rylee, then you can call me Jeremy.” Ruzek nods. “Two, what do new cell phones
have to do with Austin and good news?”
Ruzek sits back down before he explains. “As you both know,
we are trying to limit communication between the three of you in an effort to
figure out where Rylee’s stalker is getting his information. Austin called me
yesterday from an unknown number to see if you guys could use burner phones to
keep in contact with one another.”
I silently wonder what number Austin could have called from,
but I guess it could be his mom or sister’s cell number. Really, I couldn't
care less. The truth is I am ecstatic I will finally get to talk to him. I look
expectantly at Ruzek.
“So this means I can talk to Austin,” I say with an absurd
amount of
question.
“Well, I know you cannot travel back and forth with me. So
the real question is, where do you want to hole up and heal?”
He seems to ponder the question for a few minutes before finally
looking at me. “I don’t know, Ry. I would like to go home, but I don’t want you
being all alone when you come back from New York either. Although in New York, I
would have access to the team trainers and physicians for therapy. What do you
think?”
He makes an excellent point about the trainers and
physicians, which makes my mind up for me.
“You have to go home, J. It would be best for you and your
recovery there. Hopefully the rest of this crap will be over with by the time I
get back anyway.”
I can tell he doesn’t like the idea, but he agrees that is
the best decision. Right now, the only choice for him is to go home and heal. He
will be miserable until he is back to normal and he has a long road ahead of him.
Still trying to rationalize our decision, he asks, “So when
will Austin be back?”
I wish I knew the answer to that question. Hell, I wish I
could talk to him.
“I’m not sure, J, and since we can’t talk, I don’t know his
plans.”
He seems ready to say something else when Ruzek appears at
the door smiling. At least the visitors seem to bear good news today.
Chapter 17
Rylee
Ruzek comes strolling into the room with a cat ate the
canary grin on his face. His short blond hair is styled in that messy way and
his dark green eyes are alight with pleasure. He is dressed in his usual casual
wear of dark jeans, form-fitting gray t-shirt and black work boots.
I look at him and he smiles triumphantly.
“So what has you so chipper this morning, Detective?” I ask
with a hint of playful sarcasm.
He ignores my question and looks to J. “How are you feeling
today, Mr. Ash?”
J answers with the perfunctory, “I’m all right. Been better,
but could be worse.”
Ruzek moves the chair from next to J’s bed over between us
so he can easily see us both. Then he seems to think better of it.
“Oh sorry, do you mind if I move this?”
We chuckle. “No, by all means go ahead.”
He seems embarrassed by his obvious comfort level with us,
but takes a seat after closing the door to the room. He leans back and crosses
one leg over the other in what feels like an attempt to stall before he finally
breaks the strange silence in the room.
“So would you guys rather have the good news, or the not so
good news first?”
He gives me a small wink and I am not sure what to make of it.
I say, “Not so good” at the same time J says, “Good news, please.”
He looks to us both and I nod, giving J the priority here. He
is in a hospital bed after all. “OK, so the good news is that Austin had an
idea.”
OK, I am sure that happens from time to time, but I fail to
see how that qualifies as good news. Then Ruzek stands up and pulls two brand
new smartphones from his back pocket.
“Here you are, Rylee, and here you go, Mr. Ash,” he says as
he passes them across the room.
J looks at me in confusion before speaking up, as if I have
the answer to the mystery prizes.
“One, please stop calling me Mr. Ash. If you can call her
Rylee, then you can call me Jeremy.” Ruzek nods. “Two, what do new cell phones
have to do with Austin and good news?”
Ruzek sits back down before he explains. “As you both know,
we are trying to limit communication between the three of you in an effort to
figure out where Rylee’s stalker is getting his information. Austin called me
yesterday from an unknown number to see if you guys could use burner phones to
keep in contact with one another.”
I silently wonder what number Austin could have called from,
but I guess it could be his mom or sister’s cell number. Really, I couldn't
care less. The truth is I am ecstatic I will finally get to talk to him. I look
expectantly at Ruzek.
“So this means I can talk to Austin,” I say with an absurd
amount of
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