Vicious Valentine by Patti Benning (best fiction novels to read txt) 📗

hospital called her as his emergency contact, and she called me, thinking we were still together. I told her we weren’t, but I thanked her anyway. I don’t know what to feel, Hannah. I thought he was behind all of this, but… I’m not so sure now.”

“Do they know yet if it was a targeted attack, or a random mugging?”

“I have no idea,” Vanessa said. “But it seems like too much of a coincidence for it to be random. Unless… What if he was trying to cover his tracks? What if he hired someone to hurt him, to throw the police off his trail?”

“You’re just going to drive yourself crazy thinking like that,” Hannah said. “What did his sister say about his recovery? Will he be all right?”

“She said that he’s in pretty serious condition, but the doctors think he will have a full recovery. I don’t know what to do now. Should I visit him? Should I keep my distance? Oh goodness, do I need to tell Helena?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any answers,” Hannah said helplessly. She hugged her friend. “Maybe Caroline will know what to do.”

“Maybe,” Vanessa said miserably. She sniffed. “I should swear off men entirely after this. Corbin has been far more trouble than anyone deserves.”

Hannah stayed up with Vanessa until she seemed calmer, then they both went up to their rooms again. Hannah stayed awake for a little while longer in case Vanessa needed something else, but the house fell silent around her, and eventually she drifted off again, only to be woken up what felt like seconds later by her alarm.

Vanessa was already up and back in the kitchen by the time she made her way downstairs. She was making eggs, and had a pot of coffee brewing.

“Did you sleep at all?” Hannah asked.

Vanessa shrugged. “I think I dozed off for a bit, but I’m not really sure. Caroline and Dean are on their way over. They should be here soon.”

“Okay. Do you want me to take over breakfast?”

Vanessa shot her a look. “You might be a fancy chef, but I’m pretty sure I can make decent enough eggs for your refined taste buds.”

“Okay, okay,” Hannah said, raising her hands in surrender. “I’ll just… sit here, I suppose.”

“Have some coffee. I know I kept you up half the night.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, though she got up to pour herself a cup anyway. “Any news on Corbin?”

“No. His sister said she’d let me know if anything changed, so I’m guessing no news is good news.”

“I hope so. Have you called Helena yet?”

Vanessa made a face. “I really don’t want to. I’m hoping someone else tells her. I’m still not sure if this means Corbin is innocent or if he is just one step ahead of everyone else. I don’t know what to believe. I hate it. I hate feeling like this. I don’t know if I should visit him and tell him I hope he gets better soon, or be glad that he’s in the hospital where he can’t follow me around day in and day out anymore. If he’s the one who killed Rory…” She trailed off, then said in a firm voice, “Well, in that case, then I wish he’d never even made it to the hospital in the first place.”

Hannah raised her eyebrows, but before she could say anything, a knock sounded on the front door and she got up to let Caroline and Dean in.

When she opened the door, Caroline gave her a quick hug and then hurried toward the kitchen at Hannah’s gesture. Dean paused in the doorway, looking around as he always did when he came to her house.

“I swear, this place looks better every time I stop by.”

“The progress is slow but steady,” Hannah said. “Come on in, Vanessa is making breakfast.”

There were just enough seats for the four of them at the island. Vanessa plated the eggs and took some toast out of the toaster while Hannah dug around in the refrigerator for jam and butter. Once the meal was ready, she sat down and listened while Vanessa filled Dean in on everything. He had gotten the basics from Caroline, but he still needed the details. When she was done, they were all silent for a few moments.

“Well, what now?” Caroline asked as she buttered a piece of toast.

“We were hoping you would have an idea,” Hannah said. “I’m out of my depth here.”

“We all are,” Vanessa said. “And look, I know it’s going to sound kind of self-centered of me, but I really think that someone is after me. I’m the only common link in all of this. I was about to go on a date with Rory when he was killed, I was here while whoever was in that silver car was poking around the house, and Corbin is my ex. If Corbin isn’t the one behind it, which I’m thinking is less likely now that he’s in the hospital, we have to figure out who is before they come after me.”

“Helena,” Hannah said, the word escaping as soon as she made the connection. “Do you think it could be her? No offense, but you don’t exactly seem to have the best relationship with her. She might have managed to overhear something about your date with Rory, and you told her that you were staying here, so she would have known where to find you yesterday evening. She would have had easy access to Corbin, too.”

Vanessa frowned and prodded her eggs. “Maybe. You’re right, we don’t exactly get along. We talk, sometimes, but she’s more of a frenemy than a friend. We tend to clash whenever we are in the same room. And of course, things did come to a head on Valentine’s Day when I found out that she was lying about why she needed time off work and saw her with Corbin.”

“Could one woman really be behind all of this?” Dean asked. When all three of the women there looked