Page 25

24

LARK

“I ’m leaving the city now via helicopter, but I don’t have time to return to Canada Lake. I’m going straight to the compound,” Alessandro said when I answered his call.

“What did Vincent say?”

“He talked in circles, but I now believe that your mother and mine are somewhere on that compound. I also believe they’re in imminent danger.”

I gasped. “Oh my God.”

“Tank is mobilizing the team, and I’m meeting them there. I’ll be back in touch as soon as I can.”

“Alessandro, please be careful.”

“I will.”

The call ended, and my eyes met Alice’s when she walked down the stairs to where I sat in the lower level’s living room.

“I just talked to Pershing,” she said.

“Then, you know there’s a team traveling to the compound. Alessandro is certain both our moms are there. He also said they’re in danger.”

Before she could answer, there was a loud crash in the hallway. I jumped up and raced to Gram, who had fallen to the floor.

“She’s not breathing!” I yelled.

Alice was right behind me. “Get help. I’ll start CPR. Pershing should still be upstairs.”

I ran to the stairs and screamed his name. A split second later, he appeared, racing toward me.

“It’s Gram. She isn’t breathing. Alice is doing CPR.”

He nodded once as he pulled out his phone. “I need Flight For Life at the Kane Mountain compound. Potential heart attack. The victim is unconscious. Is she breathing?” he asked Alice, who shook her head between reps.

“What’s going on?” yelled Blackjack, running in the door that led from the boathouse.

“Emergency services are on the way,” Pershing reported. “Take over from Alice.”

Blackjack knelt beside her and, when she moved aside, began his own rounds of CPR.

“There’s only one place the chopper can land,” Pershing said to Alice.

“Got it. I’ll go wait.”

“What’s the ETA?” he asked whoever was still on the other end of the call. “Six minutes,” he said as he knelt beside Blackjack after hanging up.

“What should I do?” I asked.

“Pray,” Pershing responded.

The sound of the helicopter approaching filled the air, drowning out everything else except the frantic beating of my own heart. Gram’s face was so pale, her usually vibrant features slack and lifeless. The sight made my chest ache.

I watched helplessly as the EMTs raced inside and took over from Blackjack, their movements precise and practiced.

“BP’s dropping,” one of them called out. “We need to move now.”

They transferred Gram onto a stretcher, then lifted it, carrying it outside. I tried to stay close but out of their way. “I’m going with her,” I said, my voice barely recognizable to my own ears.

Pershing shook his head. “Alice and I will drive you to the hospital once they get her loaded. You don’t want to be in that helicopter if something goes wrong.”

His words had me doubling over in pain. If something went wrong, it would be my fault. I’d pushed too hard, demanded answers she wasn’t ready to give.

My phone buzzed with another call from Alessandro. I answered with trembling fingers.

“Lark? What’s happening?”

“They’re airlifting Gram to a hospital.” My voice cracked. “Alessandro, she might die because of us. Because we wouldn’t leave well enough alone.”

“I’m coming?—”

“No,” I blurted. “This is your fault as much as mine. All of it. If you had just stayed away, if you hadn’t started digging up the past…” Tears streamed down my face. “Gram was right.”

“Lark, please?—”

“Just stay away.” I ended the call, my hands shaking so badly I almost dropped the phone.

Alice appeared at my elbow. “Come on. We need to go.”

The drive to the hospital passed in a blur. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Gram’s face as they carried her out.

I leaned against the seat, remembering the words I’d said only last night. That nothing in my life had ever felt so right. How everything between us had was that way. And yet, what had happened? The selfish, thoughtless choices I made had put my grandmother’s life in danger.

Once at the hospital, we sat in the sterile waiting area outside the emergency room bay. Nurses approached, saying tests were being run. Doctors came and went but didn’t speak.

Finally, after what felt like hours, one of them approached. “Are you Ms. Gregory?” the man asked.

“I am.”

When I moved to stand, he put his hand on my arm and sat beside me instead.

“Your grandmother suffered a very mild myocardial infarction, also known as a heart attack. She’s stable, and we believe she’ll pull through without any damage.”

“Can I see her?”

“She’s being taken to a room where we’ll keep her for observation overnight. It’s on the fifth floor. You can wait up there.”

Alice stood when the doctor and I did, taking my hand in hers. “Let’s go.”

Another hour passed before someone came into the other waiting room and called my name.

I stood. “I’m Lark Gregory.”

“You can see your grandmother now, but keep it brief.”

I followed her in and saw Gram lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by beeping monitors and IV lines. But her eyes were open, alert. When she saw me, she reached out one fragile hand.

“Little bird,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t.” Tears streaked down her cheeks as I took her hand, careful of the IV. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who pushed too hard.”

She shook her head. “No. You deserved to know. I’ve carried these secrets for so long…” Her voice trembled. “Vincent…helped us. He protected your mom and you. I still couldn’t forgive what his father and grandfather did.” She closed her eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“How could I explain that the grandson of the man who destroyed our family became our salvation?” Her fingers tightened weakly around mine. “When Summer came to me that night, terrified and pregnant, she told me I had to accept help from the Castellanos, and if I didn’t, they’d kill her.”

“Who would?”

“The Mazzeos. Vincent made sure they never found her.” She shifted her body then winced.

“We don’t need to talk about this now, Gram. You need to rest.”

Her eyes closed, and her breathing evened out. Listening to the monitors attached to her beeping steadily, I processed what she’d said. All these years, I’d imagined my mother abandoning me for a more exciting life. Instead, she’d been hiding, protected by the very family I’d been taught to hate.

I leaned forward, resting my head on the bed rail, and cried harder than I ever had before.

“Miss?” I raised my head, looking up at a nurse beside me. “I need to check a few things.”

I stood. “Of course. Do I need to leave?”

“You’re okay, but you might be more comfortable in the other chair.”

I moved to the opposite side of the bed, sitting down, then leaning against the bigger chair. My eyes drifted closed; I was too exhausted to keep them open.

I slept fitfully with troubled dreams filled with shadowy threats. Alessandro’s voice called my name but from somewhere I couldn’t reach.