Chapter 5 - The Waiting Room
The emergency room smelled like bleach and copper.
Harrison Cole sat perfectly still in an uncomfortable plastic chair.
His suit was ruined.
His hands were still covered in his sister’s dried blood.
He hadn't washed them.
He needed to look at it.
He needed the anger to stay white-hot and focused.
A team of detectives stood nervously near the double doors of the surgical wing.
They were waiting for Harrison to speak.
No one wanted to push him.
Everyone in the precinct knew who he was.
Finally, the lead detective cleared his throat and stepped forward.
“Mr. Cole?”
Harrison slowly raised his eyes.
“Vanessa Kensington is in custody,” the detective said softly.
“She’s being booked for aggravated assault. Maybe attempted murder.”
“No maybe.”
Harrison’s voice was a dry rasp, completely devoid of emotion.
“It was attempted murder.”
“She intentionally targeted a pregnant woman at the top of a stone staircase.”
He stood up, towering over the detective.
“You will charge her with attempted murder in the first degree.”
“If my niece doesn't survive this, you will upgrade it to murder.”
“And you will deny bail.”
The detective nodded quickly.
“The judge already denied bail, sir. Given the circumstances.”
“Good.”
Harrison turned his gaze back to the surgical doors.
“Where is Richard Harrington?”
“He’s at the precinct, sir. Giving a statement.”
“He claims he tried to stop her.”
A humorless, dark chuckle escaped Harrison’s lips.
“He watched.”
“He is a coward, and he watched his wife fall.”
Before Harrison could give the detective further instructions, the surgical doors swung open.
A surgeon in green scrubs walked out.
His mask was pulled down around his neck.
He looked exhausted.
Harrison stepped forward, his heart hammering against his ribs for the first time in years.
“My sister.”
The surgeon took a deep breath.
“She has a severe concussion, three broken ribs, and a fractured collarbone.”
“She lost a lot of blood from a laceration on her leg.”
The doctor paused.
“But she is young, and she is fighting.”
“She’s going to make it, Mr. Cole.”
Harrison closed his eyes for a split second, letting the relief wash over him.
Then his eyes snapped open.
“The baby.”
The surgeon offered a tight, hopeful smile.
“It was a miracle, Mr. Cole.”
“The way she fell, she managed to twist her body to protect her abdomen.”
“We had to perform an emergency C-section.”
The doctor pointed down the hall.
“She’s premature. She’s small.”
“She will need to be in the NICU for a few weeks.”
“But she is breathing on her own.”
“You have a niece, Mr. Cole.”
Harrison felt a tear slide down his cheek.
He didn't bother to wipe it away.
He walked past the surgeon, past the detectives, straight toward the NICU viewing window.
Inside an incubator, a tiny, fragile life was hooked up to monitors.
She was fighting.
Just like her mother.
Harrison pressed his blood-stained hand against the glass.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered to the tiny girl.
He took out his phone.
He dialed a number he reserved only for absolute emergencies.
“It’s Cole.”
He didn't wait for a greeting.
“Richard Harrington is sitting in an interview room at the 14th precinct.”
“I want his passport flagged.”
“I want every remaining dime in his name frozen by midnight.”
“And I want a private investigator sitting outside Vanessa Kensington’s jail cell.”
The voice on the other end simply said, “Consider it done.”
Harrison hung up.
He looked back at the tiny baby in the incubator.
The defensive war was over.
Khloe was safe.
The baby was safe.
May you like
Now, Harrison Cole was going on the offensive.
And he was going to burn Richard and Vanessa’s world to ash.
