“No drug is good, and you drugged him against his will.”
River shrugged. “I knew what I was doing. You know Iama doctor. Regardless of what Maxwell thinks of my type of medicine, I am a doctor.”
“Even so, I’m sure Dr. Thornton was still very scared.”
“He didn’t need to be. The gun was a fake. Surely you guys know that.”
“Yes. We know that the gun found at the scene was fake, but Dr. Thornton didn’t know that.”
“Well, he should have. I abhor guns.”
My stomach churned at his dismissive tone. It was true the gun found at the scene hadn’t been real. But Max had obviously been in fear for his life; that’s why he’d escaped and almost died out in the desert. I studied River, trying to decide if he was pretending not to know how hazardous his actions had been. Was it possible he truly didn’t comprehend how reckless he’d behaved? Or was this all an act?
“You truly see nothing wrong with what you did to Dr. Thornton?” Deputy Juan asked softly.
River blinked at Deputy Juan. “Well, I will admit it all spiraled out of control.”
“Is that a yes or a no? I can’t tell.”
There was a stubborn jut to River’s jaw. “If Maxwell had just stayed in the room I prepared for him, he’d have been perfectly safe.”
Deputy Juan tilted his head. “So, you see nothing wrong with what you did?”
Avoiding Deputy Juan’s gaze, River muttered, “You can’t possibly understand where I’m coming from.”
“How about you explain it to me? I’m all ears.”
River studied his nails, cheeks flushed. “I doubt you’ll be able to empathize. You’re a cop, so you probably can’t see my side of things.”
“Try me. I’m a very understanding person,” Juan said coaxingly.
River met Juan’s gaze, appearing conflicted. “Do you know about my sister?”
“Yes.”
Appearing surprised, River asked skeptically, “So, you know the details?”
“I know she died during an operation performed by Dr. Thornton.”
Nodding, River said, “Yes. But the hospital covered up the truth. They protected Dr. Thornton instead of telling what really happened that day.”
Juan didn’t respond.
Leaning forward, River said, “I had to get to the bottom of things. Do you see? I needed to know exactly what happened the day Lucinda died. I know in my soul that Maxwell screwed up during her operation. I… I just wanted him to admit it. What’s wrong with that? Shouldn’t he admit it when he screwed up? And he did, you know—he made a fatal mistake during the operation. That’s why Lucinda died, because ofhisnegligence.”
“The facts say otherwise, River. Dr. Thornton was exonerated of any wrongdoing.”
“Facts.Facts. What facts? The word of the man who botched the operation? The word of a hospital that protected him to save their own ass? You must know how this stuff works. You can’t be that naive, Deputy.”
A muscle worked in Deputy Juan’s cheek. “Let’s get back to what happened the night you kidnapped Dr. Thornton. Tell me from the beginning what you did to him.”
Sighing, River sat back in his chair, grabbing the bottle of water Deputy Juan had given him. “I knew you didn’t really care about my side of the story.”
“Idocare. I have great empathy for what you’ve been through, River. But I’m here to figure out what happened the night you kidnapped Dr. Thornton. That’s my job. I need to take your statement concerning that night. I understand losing your sister was the catalyst, but my involvement is limited to what happened here in Rainy Dale. Dr. Thornton almost lost his life because of you. I’m trying to figure out why things went down like they did.”
“You’ve met Maxwell. How could things ever go any differently?” River huffed. “Just for the record, I came to Rainy Dale intent on giving Maxwell the benefit of the doubt.”
Deputy Juan narrowed his eyes. “You just told me a moment ago that you know Dr. Thornton killed your sister through negligence. How is that giving him the benefit of the doubt?”
