Liability (Suncoast Society #33)(71)

“I don’t know when he’s going to be able to come back to work,” he told the guy, who looked shell-shocked. “Right now, we’re in wait and see mode.”

“Can he have visitors?”

“He can, but he’s not conscious, and the visiting time and number of visitors is limited.”

“Can I give you my cell number, and you can text me with updates? I’ll pass the word along to everyone.”

“Thanks.” Cole did just that. “Let me know if there’s anything else I need to do for now.”

“I’ll talk to HR and let you know. Man, I’m really sorry. We kind of need him around here, he’s amazing.”

Cole fought the wave of sadness threatening to overwash him. “Yeah, he is. And so do we.”





Cole called Kim and briefly updated her after he arrived at work and before he walked into the building. Tilly texted Cole when she arrived at the hospital a little after nine, reporting that Mason’s parents were there, too.

At least there were boots on the ground, so to speak.

Like Kim had rationalized, Cole knew he had to work, had to focus on his job now, and save his accumulated time off for when he’d really need it once Mason was up and moving and ready to come home.

Or go to a rehab facility, which had also been mentioned.

Since no one knew yet exactly what Mason’s abilities would be, or what care he’d require, all that was up in the air.

A little before noon, he took a quick walk down to his own HR office in the building and gave them a heads-up that he had an ongoing family emergency. He stayed away from specifics, citing privacy issues and an ongoing criminal investigation, all of which were true.

When Ed called him a little after noon, Cole closed his office door to talk to him. “Don’t keep me in suspense, please.”

“No bond. As I expected. The DA who caught the case is a good one. He’ll nail the little bastard to the wall. There’s video evidence, his cell phone pings, the stuff they pulled off Mason’s phone—all of that makes this a slam-dunk. Oh, and…” Ed hesitated.

“What?”

“Physical evidence.”

Cole closed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. “Just tell me.”

“Blood on front-end damage on the guy’s car. You signed permission forms for them to take a sample from Mason at the hospital, so they’re still waiting on the results. But when it comes back as Mason’s blood, that’s it. Get this, little * tried to claim he hit a deer Saturday after he left his hotel.”

“He’s not a Florida boy, is he?”

“Nope. No deer in Sarasota. Not in the city. Maybe out in the eastern part of the county.”

“Thanks for keeping me posted.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll stay on top of this for you. How is he today? Any change?”

“Not yet. Tilly’s been texting me updates all morning.”

Ed hesitated. “As his attorney, I have to make certain judgment calls. I know he loves you and Kim, but I don’t have paperwork for you from him. Your names aren’t on anything. If his parents start trying to fight you guys, legally there might not be too much I can do.”

“I hope that won’t be a problem. They seemed relieved that we want to take charge.”

“Okay. Good.”

When Cole got off the phone with Ed, he checked in again with Kim. She sounded a little weepy, but it was a relief to know she was handling things as best she could.

“What did Emery say when you told him?”

“You mean after I got done snot-sobbing on his shoulder?” she asked. She punctuated that comment with a sad chuckle. “He understands and said he’ll work with me on time off.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.” She hesitated for a moment. “What do you want me to do about this evening?” she asked, almost sounding timid.

It took him a moment to realize she sounded close to dropping into sub mode.

“Let’s both go to our respective places after work, pack for several days, and meet up at Mason’s. Then we can go to the hospital together from there.”

“Thank you.”

He really hoped she didn’t try to rely on him for that, to be a “Sir” to her. He didn’t think he could emotionally handle it at that point.

Hell, it was all he could do to remain vertical right now and not curled up into a fetal position.

How could they go from a f*cking high point of Friday night and Saturday morning, of starting to dig into the topic of where to steer their complicated emotional ball of whatever it was that they had, to now trying to claw their way out of an emotional tar pit?

“Love you, sweetheart,” he said. “I need to go eat something for lunch. Make sure you get something to eat.”

“Em brought me a salad. I’m staring at it right now.”

Cole sighed. “Please eat. You need to. You can’t get sick. I need your help. I can’t do this alone.”

“God, we’re a mess, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, but no matter what, we’ll figure our way out through this. Together.”

“Together.”





On the way to the hospital that evening with Cole driving them, Kim tried not to obsess on a future not yet certain for Mason. Seeing the deep lines in Cole’s face when she met him at Mason’s condo also drove home the fact that she needed to try to be strong for him.