Zero Separation Read Online Free PDF Page B

She’d asked him to see a doctor and he’d refused. He took a flight physical every six months tomaintain his pilot’s license and, according to him, he was fine. But Lauren knew he wasn’t, and the end result was that she felt shut out—even more so after what she’d found.
    If this documentary was the underlying cause of what was upsetting him, then he wasn’t drifting away from her, he was wounded. How could he not be damaged by the power of the images and the memories they invoked. She knew he loved her, that wasn’t the problem. Lauren exhaled slowly and was about to restart the movie when the phone rang. She saw it was Donovan and felt a sense of relief as she answered.
    â€œIt’s me,” Donovan said. “Sorry I couldn’t call you back until now.”
    From the tremor in his voice Lauren knew something was wrong. “What happened? What’s going on?”
    â€œIt’s Michael,” Donovan’s voice wavered. “He’s been shot.”
    â€œOh my God.” Lauren felt flushed, tears starting to form.
    â€œThe police think—” Donovan’s words came out haltingly. “We—Michael—may have stumbled into the middle of an airplane theft.”
    â€œSomeone stole an airplane? Who does that?” Lauren forced herself up out of the chair and made her way back upstairs. Donovan was clearing his throat and she knew he was buying some time, collecting himself. She thought back to their earlier conversation. “When we were talking, you saw something. Did you see what happened?”
    â€œI saw Michael struggling with someone. Before I could get to him, I was hit from behind.”
    â€œAre you hurt?”
    â€œI’m fine, the paramedics checked me out.”
    â€œWhere are you now? Where’s Michael?”
    â€œThey took him to the Boca Raton Community Hospital. I’m still with the police at the scene. They’re telling me I have to go to the station and make a formal statement before I can go to the hospital. It may be a while before I know anything more.”
    â€œThis is awful. Did they at least catch the people responsible?” Lauren knew her husband’s past, his demons, and his tight-knit friendship with Michael were all working against him right now. Her husband’s past was littered with the bodies of loved ones who’d died despite his best efforts to save them. His guilt and remorse at the best of times were enough to smother him. It had taken years to rebuild his world, and Michael and his family were the closest friends Donovan had ever had. Lauren had no idea what might happen to her husband if Michael didn’t make it—especially if Donovan blamed himself.
    â€œNo, they got away. As far as we know, Michael is the only one who saw them.”
    â€œHave you talked to either Susan or William?” Lauren asked, her emotions in check for the moment as she allowed her pragmatic side to click into gear, trying to think of everything that needed to be done and then prioritizing each task. She thought of her dear friend Susan, Michael’s wife, as well as their two boys, Patrick and Billy. They lived ten minutes away and Lauren wanted to get over there as quickly as she could. They also needed to find William VanGelder, Donovan’s mentor and business partner. He needed to be brought into the loop as soon as possible.
    â€œNot yet. We need to get Susan and the boys down here.” He paused. “Michael’s in bad shape, Lauren. He might not—”
    â€œHoney, calm down and let’s do this one step at a time. You need to call Susan now. Tell her I’ll be over there as fast as I can, but she’s going to want to hear about this from you. I’ll call William. He and I can start on the travel arrangements.”
    â€œI needed to call you first.” She could hear him exhale slowly. “Susan was my next call.”
    â€œHang in there.