Читать книгу Seek And Find - Dana Mentink - Страница 11

Three

Madison woke, awash in pain, feeling as if someone had applied a hammer to her skull. It hurt to breathe, to blink, to turn her head. Where was she and why was it an agony to move? She forced her eyes open, taking in the pearl-gray walls, the blur of white sheets, an antiseptic smell in her nostrils.

I’m in a hospital. She tried to sit up.

A hand pushed her back down. “Stay still. You’re at the Canyon County Medical Center. You have a mild concussion, and you’re fortunate it wasn’t worse than that, from what I hear.”

Forcing her eyes open, she became aware that the hand belonged to her sister, Kate. Pale blue eyes, white-blond hair, wearing a denim skirt and a Cactus Café T-shirt.

“What happened?” Madison croaked.

“You would know better than anyone, but the report is that you were struck in the head at the bridal salon.” Kate finally smiled, quick and nervous. “If you wanted a good smack upside the head, you could have come to me.” She squeezed Madison’s fingers, and the pressure did more than any drug to ease Madison’s discomfort.

She tried to smile back, but the pain shooting through her temples prevented it. In spite of the agony, she was thrilled to have Kate there, her precious baby sister. “How did you find out?”

“I was halfway through my very first shift with my tray full of burgers and fries when the sirens started up. The whole town heard it. The restaurant emptied out so I ran over. An officer named Harrison was with you. I met his brother Sterling last week when I was here pounding the pavement, looking for work. Sterling was sweet, tried to help me find out where to apply for a job.”

Officer Harrison. She recalled a fuzzy image of him leaning over her, holding her hand, saying something low and comforting.

“I can’t tell you what I felt like when I saw who they were loading onto the stretcher,” Kate said, voice trembling.

“Sorry,” Madison mumbled.

Kate’s brows furrowed, and she let go of Madison’s hands. Their connection ended. “You’re digging into some story again, aren’t you?”

“I was just going to ask a few questions when I heard a...”

Kate pulled on her ponytail, a nervous gesture from childhood. “I don’t want to know. Why can’t you get a normal job and quit poking around in other people’s business?”

Like Uncle Ray had done in theirs. His actions had ensured their father would go to prison, but Kate steadfastly refused to believe his guilt. Not her daddy, her hero, accused of killing a mother Kate did not even remember. Kate believed her life had been torn apart by Ray’s mission to unmask their father as a killer. Madison felt as if her life had just begun then, as if she was awakening from a long, numbing slumber. Kate had despised Madison for believing Uncle Ray.

“I was just going to ask if the shop owner needed help,” Madison said, but she could see her sister did not believe her. “Where’s the doctor? I want to get out of here.”

Officer Ken Bucks knocked softly on the door. “Ms. Coles? I’m glad to see you’re awake.” He nodded to Kate and stared at Madison before letting out a sigh. “I feel like I should have kept a better eye on you, and maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I should know by now that Desert Valley isn’t the sleepy town it pretends to be. I apologize, ma’am.”

“It’s not your fault,” Madison said before introducing her sister. Bucks shook Kate’s hand.

“We’re all curious to know what happened in the salon,” Bucks said. “Are you ready to give a statement?”

Madison peered around him. “I, uh, I thought Officer Harrison would take it, since he was the one who found me.”

“He’ll be along soon, but he asked me to get the details down now, before they’re forgotten.”

“Well, I can’t really help you identify the man who did this. I just didn’t see him that well.”

“Can you give me anything? Height? Hair color?”

“Only that he was white, big and bald.”

“Excuse me,” said the doctor from the doorway. “I’ve got to do an exam on Ms. Coles now that she’s awake.” She moved past Bucks and reached for the curtain to pull it around them. “Would you two mind stepping into the hallway?”

Kate and Bucks retreated. While the doctor checked her chart, Madison tried to reconstruct exactly what had happened. She’d been attacked, and she could have been killed. She itched to know what the bridal salon owner had told the police. The doctor’s probing awakened new twinges of discomfort, but something else bothered Madison, too.

Why exactly was she disappointed that it wasn’t James Harrison there to take her statement?

* * *

After getting an initial report from Bucks, James waited in the hallway while the doctor examined Madison. He introduced himself to a young woman who didn’t look much like Madison, but turned out to be her sister, Kate.

“I’ve got to get back to work. My first day.”

“Here in Desert Valley, your sister said.”

“Yeah. I’m living with Madison in Tuckerville. Not too bad a commute.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “My dad would hate this little town.”

“Did you get word to him about Madison’s attack?”

She laughed, a hard bitter sound. “Somehow I don’t think the warden will issue him a leave pass.”

Their father was incarcerated? James burned to ask her about it, but she had already turned away and stridden down the hallway. He’d find out. Later.

The doctor finished his exam and left the room. James was about to enter when he heard sniffling. Madison. The crying awakened the protective instinct that had gotten James into plenty of trouble in his lifetime. What was it about a woman crying that got right inside him? He remembered his teen crush on sixteen-year-old Paige who’d cried on his chest about some injustice or another. It had awakened such a strong feeling of protectiveness inside James. All these years later and a woman’s tears still got to him. Ridiculous...and dangerous.

Madison’s tears were perfectly appropriate. She’d done nothing, threatened nobody, yet someone had assaulted her. With the doctor gone, her sister absent, she was likely feeling lonely. And why exactly should he care? She’d been nosing around, trying to rake up some dirt for a story, no doubt. “Aww, just get in there and do your job,” he muttered to himself before he knocked on the door.

“Yes?” she said in a small voice.

“It’s Officer Harrison. May I come in?”

There was a pause and another sniffle. “Sure,” she said after a moment.

She was wiping her face with a tissue, rust-colored hair trailing over the pillow like a spread of fall leaves, freckles showing on her pale cheeks.

“Hi,” he said, suddenly awkward at the sight of her.

She flicked a glance around. “Where’s Hawk?”

“He’s with another officer right now in the lobby. He’s not the best behaved in a medical setting. He eats things he shouldn’t.”

She smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. “If I had any food, he could certainly have mine. I’m not a big meat loaf fan. Don’t suppose they serve sushi around here.”

His nostrils flared. “Sushi? Raw fish stuff?”

“Not all of it is raw, but yes. You’re not a fan.”

“Er, no. I prefer eating things that have been up close and personal with the grill.”

She chuckled, wincing at the pain.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like someone used my head for a soccer ball.”

He had to laugh at that one. “Been there a time or two. Got thrown from a horse more times than I can count, and played in a pickup basketball game last week where I got my bell rung pretty good.” He paused. “Can you remember anything about the guy who hit you?”

“Officer Bucks came in a while ago asking the same thing. I told him I can’t identify the guy because I only saw him from the corner of my eye before he tried to smash my skull in. Big, white, bald.” Her mouth quivered, just for a moment.

James noted that her eyes were the color of coffee with just a hint of cream, or maybe the tint of clover honey fresh from the comb. The image took him back to his ranch, to his father pulling the frame from the beehive, glistening with honey. The wonder of it had overwhelmed him back then. He blinked. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”

Her tone went sharp. “Are you? Aren’t you thinking I’m a nosy reporter and I got what I had coming to me?”

“No, ma’am, I wasn’t.”

She stared at him.

He shifted. “Well, I’ll admit to thinking the ‘nosy reporter’ part, but nobody deserves to be attacked, reporter or not.”

She shrugged and pulled at the blankets. “Believe it or not, I wasn’t bothering anyone.”

“Why were you in the store in the first place?”

“I’m working on a story about local businesses, how they’ve been hurt by the crime spree. The owner didn’t want to talk to me, but later I heard some guy harassing her when I went around the side.”

“Harassing how?”

“He said something about not telling her again, that someone was going to get hurt.”

His stomach muscles tightened. “Frances said she didn’t talk to him at all, didn’t even see him.”

Madison’s mouth fell open. “Why would she lie?”

“I don’t know that she’s lying,” he blurted out.

“Well, I’m not,” Madison said hotly, sitting up against the pillows. “I realize I’m the newcomer here, but I have no reason to make things up.”

He shrugged. “I’m sure you don’t, except to concoct a juicy story for your paper.” Aloud. He’d actually said that aloud.

She stiffened, hands gripping the sheets. “I happen to have integrity.”

“I haven’t met many reporters with integrity,” he muttered, another thing he shouldn’t have let slip out of his mouth. So much for tact, Harrison.

She blushed. “That was over the line.”

He looked away for a minute, let out a breath and remembered what kind of God-fearing man he wanted to be. Slow count to three. “You’re right. I apologize. I...I have had some bad experiences with reporters, but I shouldn’t take it out on you, especially after what you’ve been through.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “You or the other officers could have returned my calls, you know. Didn’t your secretary tell you I phoned?”

“Carrie forwarded the messages like she’s supposed to.” He toyed with the radio clipped to his belt. “I figured one of the other officers would be better at handling your questions.” He tried not to notice her eyes too much. Keep it professional. “Anything else you remember from the salon?”

She considered. “The guy said ‘Tony,’ too.”

“Tony?” Now his nerves were good and truly jangled. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, why? Who is Tony?”

He forced himself to answer. “The owner’s fourteen-year-old son.” Something cold slithered in his belly. Why would a woman lie about being threatened? One really big reason: to protect the person who mattered most...her son. He’d once seen a mother who could not swim leap off a dock to save her drowning toddler. Frances would lie to protect Tony. He was certain of it. He was readying another round of questions when a nurse popped her head in, face grave. “Officer, can I see you out here for a minute?”

He went to her.

“We’re going to keep this door closed, okay?” the nurse said to Madison.

“Problem?” he asked when he got to the threshold.

She nodded.

“Be right back,” James said to Madison, following the nurse outside.

People were moving quickly outside in the corridor, their shoes squeaking on the floor. He knew the signs. Trouble.

* * *

Curiosity burned Madison’s insides. Easing herself to her feet one painful movement at a time, she stood, clinging to the bed rail. A moment of dizziness nearly overcame her, but she breathed through it. Forcing her feet to cooperate, she stopped to pull on another hospital gown, using it for a robe. She inched the door open.

Nurses were scurrying along, closing all the doors. She saw James talking to a hospital engineer next to a closed set of metal doors intended to seal off this section of the hospital from the rest. Fire? She’d worked in a hospital gift shop long enough to know that most fire alarms amounted to nothing more than a smoking bag of microwave popcorn, or a patient sneaking a cigarette in the bathroom. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a movement from behind a cart piled high with towels.

Who would be standing there, hidden between the wall and the towels, when there was clearly an emergency situation brewing? She stepped out, moving quietly toward the cart.

Again a flicker of movement, stealthy, quick.

She caught the faint scent of smoke in the air as she took another step forward. Not a false alarm after all. Hand outstretched, she meant to push the cart, move it backward to flush whoever was behind it out into the open.

Her fingers touched the cold metal bars.

“Hey,” James said, startling her. She spun so quickly she became dizzy. As she stood there clutching the gown to her body, she wished he did not have to be so good-looking, with a strong jaw, sapphire eyes and thick blond hair she wanted to touch. He took her firmly by the wrist. “You have to get back into bed and keep the door closed.”

“I’m fine.”

He frowned. “That wasn’t a suggestion.”

“But there’s someone behind the cart.”

James gave her a dubious look, but he let go of her wrist and swiveled the cart away from the wall. There was no one there.

“I saw...”

“You can tell me later. Back into your room.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she snapped.

“Apparently you do, and if it’s going to be me, I charge nine bucks an hour and all the potato chips I can eat.” He led Madison into her room and waited until she climbed back into bed.

Her cheeks burned. “Well, is it a fire? Can you at least tell me that?”

“We’re checking it out.” James was already heading to the door. “You’re going to be perfectly safe. Stay here.”

Madison sank down into the blankets, annoyed that even the brief foray out of bed had left her knees shaking and a strident pain in her temples. She wished James would hurry back and fill her in, but he was busy doing his cop thing, and she didn’t think he’d tell her much, anyway.

Closing her eyes and trying to breathe away the pounding in her skull, she attempted to relax. The need to know refused to be quieted. Everything is being handled and no one is going to answer any questions for you, Mads, so just deal with it.

But maybe she could find out something on social media. Perhaps some patient had heard what was going on and sent out a quick Tweet or Facebook post. She opened her eyes and reached for her cell phone just as a pillow descended over her face, strong hands sealing off her air, cutting off her scream.