“Thank you.” I leaned my head against his shoulder. Then everything went black.
I came to in the ambulance, completely disoriented. Fear overcame rational thought, and I thrashed and cried until Luke’s face appeared above me. He gripped my hand. “It’s all right. Hold still. They said you just need a few stitches.” He brushed my hair back from my face with his other hand and leaned in close. “Shh—try to relax.”
Focusing on the feel of his fingertips against my clammy skin reminded me that I was alive. “He killed Briette.” I sobbed, and the pressure from my heaving chest caused pain to arc through my body.
“We’re going to have to sedate her.”
“No.” Luke’s voice was firm as he spoke to the EMT. Then he turned to me and put both his hands on the sides of my face. “Adri, look at me. You have to stop moving. Breathe. You’re safe now. I know Dallas hurt you, but you’ll be okay.” He kept one hand on my face, and the other clasped my fingers. “Can you lie still?”
I nodded as tears rolled down my cheeks. I closed them and took a few shallow breaths. When I opened them, Luke was still right there, worry lines crinkling his brow. “The police have Dallas in custody. They showed up right after you blacked out.”
I took a minute to absorb that and then asked, “How did you know?”
“That you needed help?” He smiled. “Lorea called me. She said you sent her some weird text to call Tony, but she couldn’t reach him on his cell. She was freaked out and said she was calling 911. She knew I lived nearby, so she told me to run to your house and go in through your patio door. She told me where you kept the spare key.”
“Dallas was watching me. I couldn’t call for help.” My voice sounded raspy, and I coughed to clear my throat.
“I told her to call the police, and I would come to your house. When I got there, I saw Dallas’s car and had a bad feeling. I know it’s crazy, but I never liked him. He was strange.”
“Why didn’t you say so?”
He raised his eyebrows. “I did. Remember at Brock’s house? You were pretty ticked at me. Anyway, I’m thankful I found the key.” Emotion flickered across his face, and he stopped talking.
I was about to say thank you again when the doors to the ambulance flew open and the EMTs carried me inside the hospital. Eleven stitches and some pain meds later, I rested on a hospital bed in recovery. Tony had taken my statement and questioned me on specific details.
“Adri, I’m really sorry about this.” He patted my arm. “It shouldn’t have happened.”
“It’s over now. Luke saved me.” I closed my eyes. The medicine took the rough edges off my pain, and I began to relax.
“I’ll follow up with you later.” Tony stepped away from the bed. “Luke wondered if he could talk to you for a minute when I’m through taking his statement.”
“Of course,” I answered. “He saved my life.”
Tony grinned. “You said that already, but I’m sure glad he did.”
My eyelids felt heavy, and I dozed off until I heard the scraping of a chair against the floor. My breathing relaxed, and it took some effort to open my eyes. Luke sat beside my bed. He leaned forward in his chair and grasped my hand.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been stabbed by a psychotic boyfriend.”
Luke shook his head. “I’m really sorry. In my defense, I did ask you out.”
Laughing would surely hurt, so I smiled instead. “It’s not your fault.” Then I changed my teasing tone to the more serious thought that had been buzzing through my mind. “I only dated him because I felt Briette wanted me to.”
Luke leaned forward in his chair. “Who’s Briette?”
“She was my best friend. Dallas killed her.” I could feel my lip trembling. “I kissed him. I kissed the man who murdered Briette.”
“Don’t do that to yourself. How do you know he killed your friend?”
I covered my mouth with my hand and saw the glint of diamonds. The ring was still on my finger. I held my hand out in front of me. “This was her engagement ring. That’s how I knew. Dallas asked me to marry him and gave it to me.” I slid the ring off my finger and cupped it in my palm. “When Briette was murdered, her ring was missing. The police thought the crime was connected to the theft.”
Luke stared at the ring. “That’s horrible.”
“I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t seen this ring.” I shuddered. “Every time I would think about whether or not to go on another date with him, I would remember how Briette tried to convince me to give guys a chance to show their best selves.”
Luke was quiet for a moment, and Briette’s words hit me again with new meaning when I looked in his eyes.
He rubbed the back of his neck and spoke softly. “You solved her murder. Don’t you think that’s what she would want?”
I thought about Luke’s words and closed my eyes. Could it be true? Did Briette have a hand in bringing Dallas and me together so she could finally be at rest? My fingers tingled, and I opened my eyes.
The diamonds surrounding the emerald flashed as I moved my hand. I looked toward the window to see a bright ray of sunlight coming through the half-open shades. The light reflected off the gems, and warmth filled my body. An image of Briette came to mind, and this time when I thought about her, it felt different. I studied Luke, sitting quietly at the edge of the bed.
“I think you’re right,” I whispered. “I kept giving Dallas another chance—going out with him even though I wasn’t sure. I made myself like him. I think Briette brought Dallas to me. She wanted me to date him
