Authors: Sandi Perry
""When
Alex
called
me,
I
absolutely
panicked.
Neither
Jeremy
nor
Kaitlin
had
heard
from
you.
We
had
seemingly
hit
a
brick
wall,"
her
mother
added.
"So,
then
I
called
Kenyon
to
run
back
to
your
apartment
to
see
if
you
were
there.
You
seemed
to
have
vanished,"
Alex
continued.
"Please,
one
narrator,
I'm
getting
a
headache
turning
my
head
like
this,"
she
winced
as
she
spoke
and
tried
to
straighten
up
in
the
hospital
bed
Her
mother
looked
at
Alex
and
reached
in
to
kiss
Allison
gently
on
her
head.
"I'm
going
to
get
us
some
coffee."
Alex
continued,
"I
came
up
with
the
idea
to
call
Scott
and
see
if
you
had
any
flight
plans.
As
soon
as
I
heard,
I
called
your
mother
and
she
told
me
you
were
probably
flying
out
to
the
cottage.
Something
didn't
ring
true
about
it.
So,
I
called
Det.
Fitzsimmons
and
he
said
he
had
left
you
several
messages
and
the
matter
was
urgent.
He
was
reluctant
to
tell
me,
but
I
finally
pried
it
out
of
him."
He
took
a
breath,
"Paul
had
done
a
stint
in
the
Green
Berets
in
his
twenties.
After
his
last
mission,
he
was
let
go
due
to
some
mentally
erratic
behavior.
His
records
were
sealed
and
no
one
ever
knew
of
his
past.
In
addition,
he
felt
entitled
to
a
percentage
of
the
business
because
he
claimed
he'd
given
your
father
the
necessary
business
connections
at
the
start."
He
paused,
"Maybe
you
should
rest
for
now."
She
shook
her
head.
"O.k.,
the
police
had
uncovered
some
threatening
e-mails
he
sent
your
father
shortly
before
the
accident.
They
were
going
to
bring
him
in
for
questioning.
They
suspected
he
was
part
of
the
failed
embezzlement
swindle
that
cast
suspicion
onto
Bradley.
When
they
couldn't
locate
him
at
the
office
in
the
middle
of
the
workday
or
at
home,
well,
you
know
the
rest."
She
was
fighting
to
keep
her
eyes
open
and
he
insisted
that
she
rest
up.
He
walked
out
into
the
hall
and
was
standing
in
front
of
the
room
when
Allison's
mother
came
back
with
the
coffee.
She
handed
him
a
cup,
and
he
drank
from
it
gratefully.
"Did
you
tell
her
everything?"
she
asked.
"Almost.
Her
eyes
started
to
get
heavy,
so
I
left
the
room,"
he
said.
She
smiled
at
him,
"You
know,
you
remind
me
a
lot
of
my
husband."
"Thank
you,
I'll
take
that
as
a
compliment,
but
do
me
a
favor
and
don't
tell
Allison,"
he
leaned
toward
her
as
he
whispered;
"It
might
ruin
my
chances."
A
short
while
later
they
went
back
into
the
room
and
Allison
was
awake
again.
"When
can
I
leave?
We
have
to
get
back
to
New
York
for
the
unveiling
on
Sunday,"
she
whispered.
"The
doctors
want
to
observe
you
for
a
few
more
hours.
You
won't
be
allowed
to
fly
until
Sunday
afternoon
at
the
earliest.
I've
pushed
the
ceremony
back
a
week."
"Mom,
I'm
so
sorry
I
messed
everything
up.
It
was
so
selfish
of
me.
I've
been
acting
selfish
for
months
now,
years,
even."
"Stop
it,
sweetheart.
You've
been
through
a
trauma,
beating
yourself
up
about
your
life
choices
isn't
going
to
be
productive.
You
have
your
whole
life
ahead
of
you;
that's
plenty
of
time
to
make
any
changes
that
you'd
like."
"So,
you
think
I
do
need
to
change
things."
"Change
doesn't
hurt.
As
long
as
it
comes
from
a
positive
place."
Allison
looked
at
the
two
of
them
looking
at
her
and
her
head
started
to
hurt
all
over
again.
"I
can't
believe
you
saved
me...how
did
you
save
me
anyway?
How
did
you
get
here
so
fast?
I
had
the
jet."
"You
must
be
feeling
better
since
I
see
you're
back
to
asking
a
million
questions.
Michael
had
his
pilot
fly
Alex
and
me
up
here.
Alex
called
up
the
local
police
and
threatened
everyone
with
a
lawsuit
if
they
didn't
'get
their
butts'
over
to
the
cottage
pronto,"
she
smiled.