Chapter 2 - The Man Who Owned the River
The ambulance carried Caleb to St. Vincent Medical Center with Audrey sitting beside him.
Dorian followed in one of his SUVs.
Nobody asked whether Audrey wanted to go.
The boy had refused to release her hand.
Every time a paramedic tried to separate them, Caleb’s heart rate climbed.
So Audrey remained beside him while warm blankets were layered over his small body and oxygen was fitted beneath his nose.
“You’re safe,” she whispered.
Caleb stared at the ambulance ceiling.
He didn’t answer.
At the hospital, everything happened quickly.
Chest X-rays.
Blood tests.
Warm IV fluids.
Doctors checking for secondary drowning complications.
Audrey stood dripping water across the emergency-room floor until a nurse found her clean scrubs and a hospital blanket.
“You need to be checked too,” the nurse said.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
Audrey looked down.
A cut along her palm had reopened.
She hadn’t noticed.
Twenty minutes later, while a doctor examined her bruised hip, the curtain opened.
Dorian Ashford stepped inside.
Someone had found him dry clothes.
Black again.
Of course.
Audrey wondered whether the man owned anything that wasn’t black.
“How is he?” she asked.
“Stable.”
Dorian studied her.
“You were told?”
“A nurse came by.”
He nodded.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Finally Dorian said, “Thank you.”
Audrey blinked.
It sounded almost painful for him.
“You’re welcome.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
He glanced at her bruised hand.
“What happened?”
“Your river tried to kill me.”
For the first time, something almost resembling humor passed through his expression.
“My river?”
“You own everything else.”
He stared at her.
Audrey immediately regretted the joke.
Then one corner of his mouth moved.
Barely.
“Not the river.”
“Good. I was going to complain about maintenance.”
The expression disappeared.
“Why were you there?”
Audrey crossed her arms.
“That sounds suspiciously like an interrogation.”
“It is.”
“Then maybe start by telling me how you knew my last name.”
Dorian didn’t answer.
“Exactly,” Audrey said.
She picked up her wet jacket.
“Goodnight, Mr. Ashford.”
He moved slightly, unintentionally blocking the curtain.
Audrey looked at him.
“You’re standing between me and the exit.”
Dorian stepped aside immediately.
That surprised her.
“I had your number checked,” he said. “Audrey Voss. Twenty-seven. Certified nursing assistant. Two jobs. Apartment on Laurel Street.”
Audrey’s anger rose.
“You investigated me while your son was being treated?”
“I investigated the stranger holding my son.”
“The stranger who saved him.”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
Dorian’s voice softened.
“And that is why you’re still being thanked instead of questioned by police.”
Audrey almost laughed.
“Is that supposed to impress me?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She started toward the door.
“Caleb asked for you.”
That stopped her.
Audrey turned.
“What?”
“When he woke up properly, he asked where the river lady was.”
Her anger vanished.
“Can I see him?”
Dorian hesitated.
Then nodded.
Caleb looked tiny in the hospital bed.
His hair had dried unevenly. An oxygen tube rested beneath his nose. His cheeks had regained a little color.
When Audrey entered, his eyes immediately found her.
“You stayed.”
“Of course.”
She sat beside him.
Dorian remained near the wall.
Caleb stared at Audrey’s hand.
“You got hurt.”
“So did you.”
“Because of me.”
Audrey leaned closer.
“No.”
Caleb looked down.
“You listen to me. None of this happened because of you.”
His eyes filled with tears.
Audrey waited.
“What happened on the bridge?” she asked gently.
Dorian straightened.
Caleb’s breathing changed.
Audrey noticed.
“Forget the bridge,” she said immediately. “Tell me about your drawing.”
Caleb looked surprised.
“The wolf.”
His gaze shifted toward his coat on a nearby chair.
“You found him?”
“Him?”
“Arthur.”
Audrey smiled.
“The wolf’s name is Arthur?”
Caleb nodded.
“My mom named him.”
Dorian looked away.
Audrey noticed that too.
“Arthur is a good name.”
“He protects people.”
“Then I think Arthur has an important job.”
Caleb’s fingers moved beneath the blanket.
“My mom said wolves stay with their family.”
The room went quiet.
Dorian’s jaw tightened.
Audrey realized Caleb’s mother was gone.
She didn’t ask how.
Caleb looked toward his father.
“Dad?”
Dorian came closer.
“Yes?”
“Can she stay?”
Dorian’s eyes moved to Audrey.
Audrey answered first.
“I can stay until you fall asleep.”
“No.”
Caleb’s hand grabbed hers.
“Until morning.”
Dorian looked at the monitor.
Then at his son.
“Until morning,” he said.
Audrey turned.
“I have work.”
“I’ll compensate you.”
She frowned.
“I wasn’t asking for money.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t make everything sound like a transaction.”
Dorian’s face hardened.
Caleb watched them.
Audrey sighed.
“I’ll call my manager.”
Three hours later, Caleb was asleep.
Audrey sat beside him reading messages from her supervisor that grew increasingly annoyed.
Dorian stood near the window.
“You’ll lose your shift,” he said.
“Possibly.”
“I can fix that.”
“Please stop trying to fix things with money.”
Dorian looked genuinely confused.
“It usually works.”
“That might be the saddest thing you’ve said tonight.”
He turned toward the city.
For the first time, Audrey saw exhaustion in him.
Not physical exhaustion.
Something older.
“His mother died four years ago,” Dorian said.
Audrey remained silent.
“Car accident.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
“You blame yourself?”
His eyes shifted toward her.
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“It’s a medical-worker habit.”
“You’re not my medical worker.”
“Then ignore me.”
Another almost-smile.
Then his phone vibrated.
Dorian checked it.
Whatever he read erased every trace of softness from his face.
“What?”
He didn’t respond.
“Dorian?”
It was the first time Audrey had used his first name.
He looked at her.
“The security system at my house was disabled for eleven minutes tonight.”
Audrey slowly stood.
“From outside?”
“No.”
Dorian’s gaze moved toward sleeping Caleb.
“It required an internal authorization.”
Audrey felt cold again.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning whoever got my son out of that house didn’t break in.”
His voice became quiet.
“They were already inside.”
Across the room, Caleb made a frightened sound in his sleep.
Audrey went to him.
His fingers closed around hers.
Dorian watched.
Then his phone vibrated again.
This time the message contained a photograph.
Dorian stared at it for several seconds before turning the screen toward Audrey.
It showed the rear entrance of his mansion.
Timestamp: 10:42 p.m.
A shadow stood beside the open door.
The face was hidden.
But one detail was visible.
A silver ring on the person’s hand.
A wolf engraved across its surface.
May you like
And somewhere beneath Caleb’s hospital blanket, the boy began to whisper the same three words again and again.
“Don’t tell Dad.”
