“Wouldn’t Emily get rid of those all at once?” Josie asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s got her own palterer, you know. I don’t know what it tells her to do.”
Thirty-Four
Gretchen drove Josie back to the hospital. “What do you think of this kid?”
Josie shook her head, watching the city pass by outside her window. The sun hung low in the sky. In another hour it would be night. “I don’t know what to think. The first time I met him, I thought he was living in fear of his father. Then I thought he was a sensitive soul who wanted to help us. Then I thought he was the one shooting at me. Then I thought he was a sad, lonely boy living with a father who wasn’t prepared to properly support him. Now? I have no idea.”
“You think there really was another man there that day, like Rory said?” Gretchen asked.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. We have one set of fingerprints from the house that we haven’t been able to match to anyone, which gives his story credence. But if Rory was telling the truth, wouldn’t he provide more detail? Also, no one has ever actually seen Rory with the gun.”
“Right,” said Gretchen. “I agree. I’m going to draw up a warrant to have the entire Bryan premises searched to see if the gun turns up there. What I’m wondering is, what is Rory’s end game here? He’s just going to wander around the woods for the rest of his life?”
“He’s fifteen,” Josie pointed out. “His brain isn’t fully developed. We know he doesn’t want to get caught. Lorelei isolating him for so many years doesn’t exactly help with his fear of people or outsiders.”
“True. Then there’s Emily. She can’t have gotten very far on foot.”
“Mett said he was sending searchers down that way and that he was going to try to get the dogs back.” Josie felt as though she should say more, offer more, but all she really wanted was to get back to Lisette. Gretchen left her outside the hospital and went back to work.
Josie noticed something unusual the moment she stepped foot in the ICU waiting room. Shannon, Christian, Patrick, Trinity, Drake, Misty, Noah, and Chitwood were standing in a semicircle, talking in low whispers. For a moment, Josie stood frozen in the doorway, fearing the worst had happened. Lisette had passed on during her procedure, and they were trying to figure out how to tell her. Then she saw a bouquet of flowers on one of the tables along the wall. It lay on its side, stems bound with a white lacy ribbon.
“What is going on here?” she said.
Noah said, “Lisette is fine. She tolerated her procedure well. She’s been awake. Asking for you. She, uh, won’t let go of the wedding idea.”
Josie walked over to the flowers and fingered the ribbon. “What is this?”
Trinity came over and took Josie’s hand. “Just hear us out, okay? Remember how Lisette said she wanted to see you get married before…” Trinity trailed off, realizing what she was about to say.
Shannon picked up the thread. “You guys can always have another ceremony or reception—anything you want—some other time.”
Josie looked around the room. “What are you not telling me?”
They all stared. Josie’s heart sank. No one spoke. Then a voice came from the doorway. Sawyer. “She’s got internal bleeding in her small bowel. They’re having trouble controlling it. They can take her back to surgery, but her body’s already been through so much, they’re not sure she can tolerate it.”
“She’s going to die,” Josie said softly.
Sawyer nodded.
Shannon came over and stepped between Josie and the table. “I’m so sorry, Josie.”
“How long?”
Again, no one spoke. Josie looked back at Sawyer. “How long does she have?”
He shook his head, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Hours? Maybe a day? They’re going to wait till morning and if she’s still with us, they’ll take her back into surgery again and try to find the source. It’s a slow leak, but she can’t keep losing blood this way. She simply won’t make it.”
Josie’s knees gave out. Trinity and Shannon caught her. Noah rushed over to her. The three of them guided her to a chair and sat her down. He knelt in front of her and took her hands. “We don’t have to do this. It was just something we were discussing.”
Misty said, “I got the flowers. It was silly, but I was so upset. I wanted to do something. It’s Lisette’s dying wish. I wanted to be ready in case you agreed to it. Dr. Feist said your dress is downstairs in her office. We could do it—oh, and the Chief, he can officiate, believe it or not.”
Josie’s eyes wandered up and over to Chitwood’s face. He shrugged. “You take some online classes. You get certified to marry people in the Commonwealth. I did it for some friends a few years back.”
Josie kept staring at him.
He kinked a brow. “What?” he said. “I’ve got friends.”
Josie looked back at Sawyer. A muscle ticked in his jaw. His blue eyes, as ever, were penetrating. “I said some things,” he told her. “But if this is the time we have left with her, we should give her what she wants.”
Josie said, “She wants you and me not to fight, Sawyer.”
“Not as much as she wants to see you get married. I don’t get it, but I don’t need to. I found her. At the end of her life, I had a chance to meet her and know her and learn about my father, my grandfather, her family. She could have turned me away, but she didn’t. If this is what she wants, Josie, just give it to her.”
Josie turned toward Noah, who still knelt before her. “This is your wedding, too,” she whispered. “Your first wedding—and hopefully your only wedding—we had all those plans—"
Noah smiled.
