chapter 3

MOLLY

“Okay.” Dr. Sandquist was rubbing the top of her nose where it flattened between her eyebrows, and she had her other arm wrapped around herself. Her elbow was resting on her own arm. She looked tired, but that could’ve been because it was four in the morning.

I first met Nea Sandquist in a pottery class. I met a lot of friends in pottery classes. It was kinda my outlet. I liked to take an edible, put on my headphones, and get all spiritual with the clay. I felt a connection to the movie Ghost that I didn’t think was healthy.

“You are in shock, Miss Easter.”

“Molly,” I piped in, kinda hoping for an edible right now.

She sighed. “Molly. You’re in shock, but it doesn’t look like you’ve been physically harmed. The key you swallowed should make its way out of you within a day or two.” She shared a look with Nurse Sloane, the head honcho of all the nurses at the hospital. “I’d like to introduce you to our social worker. He can help you go through the emotional aftereffects of what happened to you. I’d really, really suggest talking to either Matt, our social worker, or he can refer you to someone else, unless you already know someone you could talk to?”

The two detectives were outside the door, and she glanced over her shoulder at them before her head ducked. She stepped a little closer to me, quieting her voice. “I need to let the police in to question you, but in the meantime, is there anyone you want us to call?”

Sloane closed in on the other side. “Jess, maybe?”

Head honcho. Sloane knew everyone and everything.

I shook my head. “Not unless . . . no.” I changed my mind. “I have time to call her myself. Where are my employees?”

“They were released and sent home after they gave their statements.”

I loved Sloane. I had a mentor crush on her. Sometimes, when I was little and I was brought into this hospital, I liked to pretend that Sloane was my mother growing up. She could put anyone in their place, take charge of any room, and make police jump at her instructions. She was a big part of the reason the two detectives, Worthing and Monteyo, were still outside the room and hadn’t barged in.

They’d tried in the beginning, but she’d taken one look at them and snapped her fingers. “Outside. Now.” Her tone was super sharp, and they did what she said.

No one messed with Sloane.

“Molly, do you want us to call a lawyer for you?”

Most people might be confused about why she was offering this. I’d been the victim. It was my place that was held up—no. Never mind. I just remembered that I had indeed shot someone. This suggestion made total sense, but for a minute I thought maybe Sloane was referencing the other elephant in the room.

Everyone on the street was aware of the Mafia war going on.

When that robber had first come in, I’d thought that Easter Lanes would be collateral in the war because of my loose connection to the Walden Mafia family. I was relieved to find out he was just a typical run-of-the-mill idiot criminal.

“Is that guy I shot—is he dead?”

Sloane and Nea stiffened before sharing a look.

“No. Oh gosh. No, Molly. From what we were told, your hand jerked, and the bullet grazed the side of his face.” Nea motioned down her cheek. “He’ll have a nasty burn for a long time, but it was mostly superficial. He’s handcuffed and in police custody at the hospital.”

My shoulders sagged. I felt like I just gained back five years of my life. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Did you think—”

I shook my head before she could even say it. “I didn’t know. I was . . . never mind. Thank you.” I shared a silly smile with both of them. “I didn’t kill someone. Phew. I mean, they probably won’t charge me with much for self-defense, right? It was self-defense. It’s not like I’ll get assault with a weapon or something, right?”

They were doing that look-sharing thing again before Sloane spoke, and her voice was curt. “No. They will not be charging you with anything. I will make sure of that.”

Okay. Who knew a nurse had such pull with the police? But go Nurse Sloane. Mentor slash crush.

I gave her another smile while starting to think maybe I had ingested an edible and didn’t remember it. “You’re super cool, Nurse Sloane.” I was starting to feel rainbows and unicorns. That was a momentous feeling. I’d be up for meeting a yeti at this point. “I always wished you were my mom. Did I ever tell you that?”

The ceiling was moving. The clouds were coming in.

I was sure I was seeing Mount Everest too.

“The drugs kicked in.”

A hand went to my arm and another behind my back. I was being lowered down to the bed. “You can take a nap, Molly. I’ll handle the detectives and get them out of here. When you wake up, everything will be fine. You don’t need to worry about a thing.”

I was trying to tell Sloane that was amazing, and thank her for it, but one of the unicorns started to talk to me. I was going to shut up.

I didn’t want to miss this conversation.