And now, years later, she was back, and another girl she loved was hurting. She couldn’t bear to lose this one, too.
Jack put his hand on her leg and squeezed affectionately. “What about you? Are you doing okay?” he asked.
She was trying to figure out how to answer the question when her phone rang. It was Ethan.
“Hey, cowboy—” she began, but Ethan’s words tumbled right over hers.
“I’m at the hospital,” he said. “But AnnieLee’s not here. Ruthanna, she’s gone.”
Chapter
78
Ruthanna let the phone fall from her fingers onto the carpet. Jack began to rub her back, as if he could smooth away her rising panic.
“That damn fool girl ran,” she said.
Jack bent down, picked up her phone, and held it out to her. “Call the hospital,” he urged.
“What for?” Ruthanna snapped, her numbness shifting quickly to anger. “Should I ask how the hell they let a banged-up girl in a hospital gown and no shoes sneak out the back door?”
“You could ask if anyone saw anything—”
“Ethan’s on top of that already, Jack,” she said. “And you know full well what’d happen if I called them up. I’d pitch a hissy fit so big it’d have a tail on it, and there’s no way that would help.”
“It might make you feel better,” Jack said.
“Yes, it might,” Ruthanna agreed. “All the same, I think I won’t do it.” She put her face in her hands. “Why didn’t I just stay with her?”
“Because you thought she was safe there,” Jack said gently.
“I did,” she whispered. And knowing how wrong she’d been about that made her want to cry. “I thought they were taking care of her.” She squeezed her stinging eyes shut. She never should have left; she should’ve sat by AnnieLee’s bedside until she woke up.
Unless, of course, AnnieLee hadn’t really been sleeping in the first place.
Then Ruthanna heard Jack say, “Damn it,” and she looked up to see him scrolling down his phone.
Her heart gave a lurch. “Damn what?”
He held up the screen so she could read the headline.
AnnieLee Keyes Jumps from Luxe Vegas Hotel
[Click HERE for DRAMATIC Photos]
Speculation the rising star was suicidal
Ruthanna grabbed the phone and clicked through, but when she saw the photograph of a blurry, white-robed figure—AnnieLee, caught mid-plunge—she put the phone down. “Suicidal? That’s horseshit!”
“Anything to get eyeballs,” Jack said.
“Don’t I know it,” Ruthanna said bitterly. “The people behind these gossip sites will piss on your leg and tell you it’s raining. But it’s one thing to say I’m having an affair with my personal trainer and another thing entirely to say my protégé flung herself off a balcony on purpose!”
“I’m sure Eileen is doing everything she can,” Jack said. “But once these guys smell blood…”
Ruthanna didn’t plan to read the article. “Are they saying that she tried to kill herself or that she already did?”
“Depends on which site you’re reading.”
“Maybe they’re the ones I should call,” Ruthanna said angrily. “‘FYI, AnnieLee didn’t mean to jump out of a window, but she did mean to up and vanish, so maybe you can pull your heads out of your—’”
“Ruthanna,” Jack said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You know how this goes. We release a statement. ‘AnnieLee Keyes was injured in an accident, and is recuperating under a doctor’s care in an undisclosed location. She requests privacy,’ et cetera. It’s a terrible reality, but there’s a standard PR line.”
Ruthanna knew Jack was right, but it hardly mattered, because she didn’t truly care what people said—she only cared that AnnieLee was safe. She dialed AnnieLee’s cell, and it rang six times before going to voicemail. Ruthanna didn’t bother leaving a message.
“I’m going to call the police,” she told Jack. “I’m going to talk to someone who actually knows what they’re doing, and I’m going to make them find her.”
She paced the room as she dialed. A few minutes later, she was connected to a woman who introduced herself as Officer Tucker.
“I’d like to report a missing person,” Ruthanna said.
“All right,” the officer said. “May I have the person’s name?”