Tell Me Lies by Tessa Dayne Page A

condition.  Their actions told him enough.  They had gently lifted her head, placing a neck brace around her slender throat.  Then they had rolled her onto a backboard before loading her onto the gurney.
     
    Tears welled in his eyes as he remembered placing kisses against her soft throat several hours ago.  Had it been just those few short hours ago when they had been so happy?  When they had lain in bed, cuddled against each other and murmured words of love.
     
    “Sir?”
     
    Jonas turned to the officer, wishing he were already at the hospital.  He needed to see Paige.  “Please…call me Jonas.”
     
    “Mr. Barnett…Jonas…can you tell me what happened here tonight?”
     
    “We were at a party being thrown by my fiancée’s boss, Darcy Milian.”
     
    “Were either of you drinking?” the officer asked.
     
    “No! We’re pregnant.  I mean, Paige is pregnant.”
     
    “I understand, Jonas.  I have three kids of my own.  It seems we are as pregnant as our wives are.”
     
    “This is our first,” Jonas said softly.
     
    “Can you tell me what prompted you both to leave the party?  Especially you, without a coat?”
     
    “Paige’s ex-boyfriend, Darren Armstrong, was accidentally invited to the party.  It was an oversight on Darcy’s part.  He and Paige had an altercation.  Words were exchanged.  She came to find me and Darcy, who promptly went to ask him to leave.”
     
    “And did he?”
     
    “No.  He found Paige again.  They must have argued.  I saw her leaving the penthouse with her coat and I followed her.”
     
    “Did you see this ex-boyfriend?  What’s his name again?”
     
    “Darren.  Darren Armstrong.  And yes, I ran into him as I went after Paige.”
     
    “Did you exchange words?”
     
    Jonas thought back to the exchange he had with Darren, the words ringing in his ears.
     
    “I don’t know what is going on in her head these days.  She was never such a lying, deceitful bitch before.”
     
    “We had words,” Jonas said, flexing his hand, remembering how good it had felt to strike Darren.  He was not a normally violent man, but Darren had deserved what he had gotten.
     
    “I think you did more than exchange words, Mr. Barnett.  Did you fight?” he asked, noticing the scrapes on Jonas’s knuckles.
     
    “I hit him.  Yes.  He said some very derogatory things about Paige.”
     
    They pulled into the emergency room parking area and parked.  The officer turned to Jonas and smiled.
     
    “Let’s get you inside.  I want a doctor to look at you.  Make sure you are okay.”
     
    “I’m fine, really.  I just want to get inside and find my fiancée.”
     
    “Listen Mr. Barnett….Jonas.  My wife will kill me if I let anything happen to her favorite scruffy gypsy.  Just let the doctor look you over.  I’m sure it will be some time before you will be able to get information on your fiancée.  Besides, I would like to fill out the accident report and get your statement for the record.  I can do that while the doc takes a look at you.”
     
    Jonas nodded slowly.  He was feeling a lot warmer, but he couldn’t remember how long he had been out in the bitter cold without a coat.  He couldn’t remember how long he had knelt in the snow by Paige’s side.  Maybe it was a good idea to see a doctor.
     
    ~*~
     
    Jonas settled into the ER cubicle, waiting impatiently for the doctor.  While he waited, he answered Officer Gabriel’s questions, reliving the night’s events.  The curtain slid aside and they both looked up to find a woman in a white lab coat standing in the doorway.
     
    “Well, I think I have everything,” Officer Gabriel said, closing his notebook.
     
    “Thank you,” Jonas said, nodding toward him.
     
    “And thank you.  For, well, you know,” he said, patting his chest pocket.
     
    Jonas smiled.  The autograph for his wife was the least he could do.  Officer Gabriel had taken care of him when he needed it.  He had stayed