“You let him leave?”
“Excuse me for focusing on getting out of the car alive!”
Margo smiled and gave him a nod.
“You’re right. That was just my frustration talking.”
Reid couldn’t handle more than producing half a smile, but that was not only because of Margo’s reaction. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be at home, on the couch…no, scrap that… in bed with…
“Luke!”
Without a word the young man threw himself in his arms and without hesitation Reid pulled him very close, both arms tightly around him.
“It’s okay,” he kept whispering in Luke’s hair, but somehow the words didn’t sink in. He could feel the fear, the dismay, the … hold the phone… was that guilt and shame?
He kept Luke at arm’s length and waited until Luke looked him straight in the eye.
“I’m okay. This is not your fault.”
“I can’t believe I dragged you into all of this,” Luke replied, close to tears, and Reid rolled his eyes at Margo. How can I get through to him?
The cop in her wanted to hear more about Reid’s story. The mother in her wanted to comfort Luke. The mother won.
“Luke, come here and sit down. You’re shaking,” Margo led him to a chair and made him sit. Reid pulled his chair next to him, looking worried.
“You need to listen to me, Luke.” His voice was calm and collected. “I’m okay. Just be thankful I’m such a charming guy, your bad dad couldn’t resist me.”
Luke gave him just a glance of a smile, but it was a promising first step out of the hysteria. Ah, there you are!
Margo was called away for a moment and she closed the interrogation room door behind her. She felt for Luke. She knew she had made some huge mistakes with her boys, but Damian and Lily… she shook her head, walked to her desk and gave the waiting officer a questioning look.
“What’s up?”
“We found Dr. Oliver’s car,” he gave her some pictures, “but it wasn’t empty.”
“This isn’t Damian Grimaldi,” Margo examined one image closely, “Do we know who it is?”
The officer shook his head. “We don’t. Forensics is out there, but no information yet.”
“Okay.” Margo nodded, deep in thought. “Not much more I can do, then. I’m going back in.”
She noticed Luke had calmed down and she smiled at him.
“I know you’ve had a lot to endure, Luke, but you’re not responsible for any of this. You didn’t ask for it, you didn’t approve it and you didn’t have a say in it. Leave it where it belongs. With Damian and Lily. Don’t give them the power to feel less about yourself.”
“Amen,” Reid whispered and Margo was taken by surprise by the gratitude in his eyes.
Luke took a deep breath. He knew Margo was right. He knew Reid was right. But somehow it was hard not to feel guilty. If he just would have stayed with Noah, maybe his mother… He shook his head to shuffle off those thoughts. This had to stop. He looked for diversion and found it on the table.
“What’s this?”
Margo slammed her hand on the pictures, preventing him from seeing them without warning.
“This is not fun to look at,” she turned to Reid, “The good news is: we found your car.”
Reid was surprised to see Margo’s face. What happened? Did Damian smash it? It was just a car. An object. He didn’t care.
“What did he do with it?”
“We’re not sure, actually. But this was in the back seat.”
She pulled away her hand and revealed the pictures.
“And in case you’re wondering… yes, the guy is dead.”
“But that’s not Damian,” Luke looked at Margo and felt relieved when she nodded.
“No, it’s definitely not Damian. That we know for sure, this time. But we don’t know who it is and why he’s in Reid’s car.”
“I don’t think I know him,” Reid took a good look and placed the photograph back at the table. “So what does this all mean?”
“You don’t think Reid killed him, do you?” The panic was back and Margo put her hand over Luke’s.
“No, not for a minute,” she reassured him. “I do understand your fear, after the traumatic experience with Holden being framed…”
“By Damian,” Luke whispered.
“By Damian,” Margo repeated, “but if that’s what Damian is trying to do, it will not work.”
“I hope not,” obviously Luke was not completely convinced.
“I must say…I’d be surprised if this is Damian’s work,” Reid weighed in. “He specifically told me he wouldn’t ruin my life…”
“You can’t take Damian at this word, I’m afraid,” Luke bit his lip. “Who else would do something like this?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Margo assured him and turned to Reid.
“Is there anything else you can add to your statement?”
Reid shook as head. “I told you everything I could remember,” for some reason Damian’s face flashed before him and he continued: “I don’t know if it’s important, but Damian didn’t look good. I mean, ill. He said he was doing fine, he needed sleep and normal food, but I don’t know… something else might be going on. So you might check local pharmacies.”
Margo made a note of that and looked up at him again, saw him staring at Luke, smiled and gave a little cough.
“Sorry, I got sidetracked for a minute.”
“No problem at all. But do you remember more?”
Reid thought about it, but this time nothing came to mind, so he shook his head.
“I think this is it.”
“Okay. Thank you for your help. I’ll leave you guys to it. Would you like some police protection? At the gate or something?”
“It didn’t stop Damian from hiding in my car, so I don’t feel the need, but if you..”
Reid’s hand softly stroke Luke’s hair and the blond shook his locks.
“No, it only makes me feel like I’m the criminal,” Luke admitted and Margo smiled.
“Luckily we all know you’re not,” she said lovingly and tapped him on the hand.
“Don’t let this get to you, Luke. I do realize that’s easier said than done, but please try. You have this great man in your life,” she ignored Reid’s “That had to hurt” as best she could, “you share this beautiful house that almost made me envious and you have the loving support team with Holden and Emma…focus on that…”
“Count your blessings,” Reid rounded up, reminding Luke to an earlier conversation, “and let Damian and Lily count their losses.”
“Well said,” Margo extended her hand to Reid and he pressed it firmly. After greeting Luke, Margo opened the door and almost bumped into one of her officers.
Her “What?” was answered by something in the man’s hand.
“What’s that?”
“We found it next to the victim in the car,” the officer handed her the plastic bag with a golden thingy in it. “It looks like some kind of charm.”
“It does,” Margo agreed and raised the bag to eye level to look at it closer. Seeing the devastation on Luke’s face made her move the bag to his eyes and he nodded.
“I gave her that charm on her birthday. It’s my mom’s.”
***
With a soft sigh of relief, Reid entered the hospital. Finally! Familiar ground at last.
His happiness was short-lived, though. Bob was coming up to them and he didn’t look happy. At all.
“Dr. Oliver, where have you been?” In a glance Bob noticed Luke’s upset demeanor and his look became even more annoyed.
“Did you two have a fight or something?”
“If life was only that easy,” Reid replied, equally irritated. “Obviously having a wife with her own TV station doesn’t help keeping up with the news, so let me fill you in, Dr. Hughes,” the emphasis on the formal title sounded cold, “Damian Grimaldi broke out of prison, yesterday.”
Bob paled and focused on Luke. “Is he after Luke?”
“No, Dr. Hughes. He was after me. Being the boyfriend from hell and all that.”
Without any more explanation, he brought Luke to the nurses station, where Alison Stewart came to the rescue.
“Luke, what’s wrong?”
“We’ve had quite a horrific morning,” Reid explained when Luke didn’t answer, “and I want to keep an eye on him, but I have some appointments I need to address.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll look after him. My shift is over anyway and Luke’s a friend. We’ll be okay. Trust me.”
“I do,” Reid gave her a quick smile and tapped Luke on his shoulder. “I’ll be back soon. Hang in there.”
Still ignoring Bob, Reid took off to his office and if the older doctor hadn’t been right behind him, the door would have slammed in his face. Reid was mad. No question about that. But about what exactly?
“Do you want to tell me what happened…”
“No, Dr. Hughes, I don’t. Not after your little stunt out there. To be called to account in front of everybody,” Reid shook his head, “Unacceptable. So please leave, so I can do what I need to do. And for your information: I’m taking a few days off.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Bob said calmly. “About my inappropriate reprimand and about taking a few days off. We’ll talk later.”
Reid’s “Not if I can help it,” was lost on the closing door.
Bob hesitated when he saw Luke and Alison together in the coffee corner. He didn’t want to interrupt them, but where else could he go for the details? Ah! He went to his office, closed the door, picked up the phone and made contact.
“Margo! It’s Bob. Can you fill me in?”
