1. See This Through

1

SEE THIS THROUGH

S ix Months Later

Jarrett Bond heard the birds chirping and felt the warm seventy-degree breeze on his neck and arms.

November first and it felt more like spring than fall and he was thrilled he'd taken the day off to get some peaceful fishing in before winter hit.

Thepeace and quietwas well deserved in his mind, as he'd been working close to seventy hours for the past few months on several cases.

And when his line tugged some, he started to reel it in only to find it empty, but his worm missing.

"Figures," he said, baiting his line and tossing it again.

He turned his head when he heard a rustling but didn't see anything. Probably some animals frolicking on this beautiful fall day.

He pulled his line in again and was going to toss it a bit more to the right.

When he pulled his pole back and was ready to let go and release it over his shoulder,heheard louder leaves crackling and turned his head to see a person tumbling down the hill and landing close to the shore. They weren't moving so he rowed there as fast as he could.

If he was any further away he would be diving in and swimming but knew it'd be better to not ruin his damn phone since he'd be calling for help.

He jumped out, quickly gauging the water would only be up to his knees, and ran the rest of the way while yanking his canoe to shore and abandoning it.

It was a woman with long brownish-red hair covering her face. He felt for a pulse and got one nice and steady, but the woman was out cold.

He pulled his phone out and dialed.

"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?"

"This is Investigator Bond with the State Police. I need an ambulance in Sunshine Cove. I'll drop a pin to my location." He pulled his phone back and did what he'd said.

"The ambulance is being dispatched. Can you tell me what is going on?"

"Youngfemale just took a tumble down the hill and hit her head. She's unconscious, but breathing and has a pulse. I don't see any other injuries besides a head wound."

He was just damn lucky her face hadn't landed in the water, but it was close to it. She could have drowned before he could get to her.

He didn't want to move her other than just doing an assessment with his hands. He had no idea if there was a neck or back injury at this point.

"The ambulance is about eight minutes out," the dispatcher said. "Stay on the line with me so that I can give updates."

"I know the drill," he said.

Jarrett continued to monitor the woman and was looking around hoping to find a phone or any ID on her, but she was twisted funny, her butt on the ground and his guess was there was a phone in her back pocket. At least he hoped so. No one left home without a phone on them now.

"I hear the sirens," he said a few minutes later. "I'm going to run up on the hill and flag them down. No way they can drive down here."

He hung up and dashed up the hill toward the road, waved his hands and the ambulance came to a stop.

"We've been filled in," Cody said. He knew this EMT who came from the firehouse where his brother Alex was a captain. He wasn't sure who the other was and it didn't matter.

"Down the hill," he said, moving back. He watched as the EMTs came out with a stretcher from the back and their bags.

They all made their way down to the woman lying on the sand. Something reflected a few feet from her to the side and he walked over to see a phone lying there. He'd bet anything it was the woman's, and when he flipped it over he saw a picture of her and a cat.

He put the phone in his pocket and made his way to the EMTs.

"She's out cold," Cody said. "But everything appears fine. Hopefully nothing major, but we're going to move her slowlyandget her on the stretcher and bring her to the ER.

"I've got her phone," he said. "Do you want to take it?"

"Hand it over," Cody said. "I'll give it to the hospital for them to see if they can open it and find an emergency contact if she doesn't come to."

"I'll head over too," he said.

He'd have to see this through. He couldn't walk away without knowing who she was and if she was okay or not.

Once they had the woman on the stretcher, he helped the two of them carry her up to the ambulance. He wasn't sure how they'd do it alone, as the terrain was crazy steep even if it wasn't that far of a drop.

He went back down and pushed his canoe into the water some, hopped inandpaddled back to where he'd launched it further down the shore.

He pulled it out and brought it to his SUVandsecured it on top and then drove home quickly to put his canoe on the side of theone-cargarage.

Then he ran into the house and changed so he wasn't going to the hospital tracking in water and sitting around with wet sneakers and socks.

He was at the ER forty minutes later and walking to the desk. "Hi," he said, pulling his badge out. "Jarrett Bond. They just brought an unconscious woman in via ambulance. I was wondering if I could get in the back to find out if she's awake yet. I'm the one who found her."

"Sure," the woman said, buzzing him in. He didn't think they would tell him no, but he'd always do things by the book.

So much for his day off.

He walked to the nurse's station to see if he could find anything out when his cousin, Dr. Hudson Mills, moved out of a room.

"Hey," Hudson said. "I heard you were on the scene of the woman brought in."

"Yeah," he said. "Is she awake?"

"Not yet," Hudson said. "I'm going in there now. The nurses are checking her over and getting her vitals. I've done a quick check of her and nothing seems broken, but I'm going to have to run tests and hate doing that blind."

"Did you check her phone for an emergency contact?" he asked.

"No one said there was a phone on her," Hudson said.

"I gave it to Cody. The EMT."

Hudson turned to go into a room and he followed. "Is there a phone here belonging to the patient?"

The nurses looked around the room. "Is that it on the counter?" Jarrett picked it up and saw the picture. "Yep."

"Don't know why they put it here," Hudson said, moving the phone in front of the woman's face to unlock it. "Here is an ICE, so let's give them a call."

Hudson put it on speaker and dialed. It rang three times and then a man answered, "Hey, Andi, what's going on? You never call."

"This is Dr. Hudson Mills with the Amore Island Hospital. You're listed as an ICE on this phone."

"Oh my God," the man said. "What happened to Andi?"

"She took a fall down a hill and is unconscious with a head injury. She's stable and I'd like to run more tests but need to know of any allergies, injuries, or any other medical conditions."

"She's allergic to peanuts or tree nuts. I can't remember which," the man said.

"That's fine," Hudson said. "We'll document both. Any medical conditions we need to be aware of? Past injuries or surgeries?"

"Dr. Mills?" the nurse said, pointing to the woman's leg. There was a scar on it that didn't look that old to him. The pant legs had been cut up the sides.

"No medical conditions," the man said.

"We see a scar on her left ankle and shin area. Did she have surgery?"

"Yes," the man said. "She broke her ankle and has a pin in it. The other scar on her shin was from a cut at the same time of the break. Over a year ago."

"That's good. We'll know when we run scans. Any other metal in her body?"

"I don't think so. Listen I'm going to catch the first flight out and be there as soon as I can. I hope to be there by dinner or a little later having to get to the island."

"Can you give me the patient's name?" Hudson said.

"Andi Benson. Andrea Benson,shegoes by Andi. I'm her cousin, Jack Wilson. She's good about doctors. I think she has one there so maybe her records are in the system."

"I'm going to have the nurse talk to you, Jack, and we'll start running tests on Andi and look for her information here. Thanks."

"Can you keep me posted with updates even if I'm in the air?" Jack asked.

"Does Andi have any immediate family or someone in the area?" Hudson asked.

"No," Jack said. "I'm her only family and no one in the area. She just moved there a few months ago too."

"Thanks for the information," Hudson said. "I'll keep you posted as we find things and hopefully she'll wake up soon."

Hudson passed the phone to one of his nurses.

"I'll stick around for a bit," Jarrett said.

"Looks like it's your day off," Hudson said. "Sure you want to?"

"I feel like I should, knowing she's here alone. Maybe she'll wake up before Jack gets here and we can find out what happened."

"What do you think happened?" Hudson asked.

"I have no idea. I was fishing and heard a noise and she came tumbling down the hill. Maybe she was alone and tripped. Maybe she was with someone and was pushed. I need to find that out."

Hudson nodded his head. "Sure you don't want to call in one of Mac's detectives?"

His brother Mac was the chief of police on the island. "No," he said. "I've got it since I found her."

Jarrett looked at his watch and saw it was barely eleven. He had no clue where Jack was coming from or how long it'd take to get here. He'd go get some food and wait around for a few hours and try to get some work done since he had his laptop with him. If he had to leave, they'd keep him posted, he was sure.

He went to the cafeteria and was paying for his sandwich when his phone rang and he saw it was Mac.

"Hey," Jarrett said. "I'm sure you found out."

"Not much stays quiet on this island," Mac said. "I'll send someone over to check the scene and see if there was more than one set of footprints. I know you. You're going to worry this is a crime when it could be someone that is a klutz."

"Thanks," he said. "I don't want to leave her. Something in the cousin's voice and the need to get here fast sent tingles down my spine."

"You think there is a problem?" Mac asked.

"No clue. But something isn't right. For a guy who said she never calls him, he was quick to say he'd be here tonight and wanted updates."

"You going to run her prints?" Mac asked.

"No," he said. "No reason to. But let me know if you find anything at the scene. I'll send you the location from the ambulance."

"I already have it," Mac said.

"Thanks," he said. He knew he could count on his older brother. "Appreciate it."

"Don't overwork yourself," Mac said. "Just saving you a lecture from Mom. Don't forget. Dinner on Sunday."

"I didn't forget," he said.

His mother wouldn't let him.Andmaybe he wanted to spend some time with his brothers and their wives and see how the other side lived since he was filling his days with work rather than finding a partner.

Since he knew what it was like being alone, his gut told him not to let Andi wake up that way either.