Page 64 of The Secrets We Hide
“I think that’s all she’s got in her.” Layla went to the other side of the bed. She used the back of her hand to stroke Mandy’s cheek. Then she looked at Emmy and shook her head. “Maybe try again tomorrow evening?”
“Okay.” Emmy started to go. “Do you mind getting security up here until one of my deputies arrives?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you.”
Emmy walked into the hallway. Her ears held on to the sound of the heart monitor as she walked toward the emergency stairs. It wasn’t until she was pushing open the door that she heard the thump of Jude’s boots behind her.
From nowhere, Emmy felt a sudden flash of irritation. She needed time to think about what Mandy had said. Emmy had already wasted almost two hours talking about dirty cops and the FBI and all manner of bullshit when what she should’ve been focusing on was protecting a vulnerable child who was completely alone in the world.
Jude followed her down the stairs. “Allison was searching for the driver’s licenses. That implies that leaving was a last-minute decision.”
“I’ll get somebody to take you home.”
“Oh-kay.” Jude drew out the word. “Have I done something?”
Emmy picked up the pace as she dialed Brett’s number. Listened to five rings before the call went to voicemail. She hung up and dialed again.
“Emmy?” Jude rounded the landing above her. “What’s going on?”
“I have work to do. I don’t need my big sister holding my hand.” She ended the call and dialed again. “I told Brett to put a deputy on Mandy’s room. Goddammit. He’s not answering.”
“His phone is off in the middle of a homicide investigation?”
“I don’t need that tone, either.”
“What you need is to jerk a knot in Brett’s ass so he respects your authority.”
Emmy tapped Brett’s number again. Her hands had started to sweat. She had to get out of this hospital. “Maybe he would respect my authority if you weren’t always under my feet like a puppy pad waiting for me to shit myself.”
“Emmy Lou.” Jude had managed to narrow the distance between them. “Establishing the chain of command is always a priority. Everything flows from that. You can’t investigate this case single-handedly. You need a team behind you that follows your orders. You have to make it clear to Brett that you’re in charge.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” Emmy spun around to face her. “Enlighten me with your three hundred years of investigative experience, Dr. Archer.”
“You think you’re giving him inches but he’s taking yards.”
“Oh, wow. Thank you. I didn’t realize Brett was constantly undermining my authority until you trotted out a ruler metaphor.” Emmy tapped the number again as she continued down the stairs. “You either don’t understand, or you’ve forgotten how much people loved Dad. Brett worshipped him. He’d push back against anybody trying to take over.”
“You’re nottryingto take over. You areliterallyhis boss.You don’t have to prove to anybody that you deserve to wear Dad’s shoes.”
“Iliterallyspent half my day wearing somebody else’s damn shoes.”
Emmy was about to hang up the phone when Brett finally answered.
“What?” His voice was groggy. She could hear a baby crying in the background. “Jesus, Emmy, I was asleep.”
“I told you to assign a deputy to Mandy Vickery.”
He was silent a beat, then repeated, “What?”
“I told you to put a deputy on Mandy’s door as soon as she was out of surgery.”
“Well, yeah,” Brett said. “But then you told me to go through all our cases that overlapped with Allison’s. I needed the extra manpower.”
Emmy gripped the phone so hard that she felt like it was going to break. “Brett, get your lazy ass out of bed and drive to the trauma center right now or don’t bother showing up for work ever again.”
“Emmy, I—”
