“Or the person caught him by surprise before he could leave to go wherever he thought they were meeting,” Rover says.
“That’s possible too.” I sigh. We don’t know enough. And considering one of us has been with the guy constantly, Joseph’s done a great job of hiding the ball. “Anything odd going on at the food bank?”
“No. No one’s here. I’m on my way to you.”
“Sounds good.” I pocket my phone.
“Sir?” someone says behind me.
I turn to find a police officer.
“I’m Officer Williams. I need to ask you a few questions.”
“Of course.”
“What is your name?”
“Cody Anthony, I work for Reed Hawthorne Security. I have a card in my wallet.”
The officer nods, so I pull out a card and hand it to him.
I explain, “I was on assignment protecting Joseph Taylor, the man I pulled out of that burning house.”
That’s not a total lie. Even though Morgan Thompson took over, I agreed to help Rover out today.
The officer glances to the ambulance where a medic is inserting an IV into Joseph’s arm. “Doesn’t look like you were doing a good job.”
I bite my tongue. No need to tell him Joseph ditched his security; not yet. Not until I know why.
Seemingly unbothered by my lack of response, he asks, “Why are you protecting him? Someone after him?”
“Yeah. I think it’s Vince Gardiner, but I can’t be certain. That man,” I point in Joseph’s direction, “has lied to me about everything. Protecting him has been a challenge.”
With a nod, the officer pockets my card. “I’ll likely be in touch, Mr. Anthony.” Then he walks away.
I make my way to the ambulance. “How’s he doing?”
Joseph tries to sit up. “He’s awake,” a medic says.
“Good. Who tried to kill you?” I ask, stepping up beside the gurney.
“Sir, you can’t be in here,” one of the medics says, but he stops short of pushing me out. I have at least six inches on the man.
Joseph removes the oxygen mask. His voice is hoarse. “Some guy called and told me to be at my house alone this morning.” He begins to wheeze.
“Who told you this?” I press.
One of the monitors he’s attached to starts beeping rapidly.
“Sir, you need to leave now.” The medic gives me a push this time.
I jump out of the ambulance.
“We need to get to the hospitalnow.” Todd, the medic says.
“Which hospital?” I ask.
“Quincy’s.”
