Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

            TUESDAY, MAY 30, 11:30 A.M.

            “Look, Liza, I did it! Isn’t it pretty?” Brooklyn beamed.

            She’d used a lot of her energy to push down on the BeDazzler tool, forcing the shiny rhinestone gem into an extra hospital gown. Her face was flushed from the exertion, the edges of the scarf she wore to cover her baldness damp from her perspiration.

            “So pretty!” Liza held the cotton gown up. “This is going to be the awesomest thing.”

            They’d chosen a simple heart design. Brooklyn had wanted to do something elaborate, but Liza had convinced her that if they started small, they could be finished faster and she could wear the gown while she worked on the next project. In truth, Liza wasn’t sure how long she’d be here and she didn’t want to leave Brooklyn with nothing.

            Still smiling, Brooklyn sagged into the wheelchair. “Can you do the next part? I’m tired.”

            “I can indeed. You just rest and tell me what to do.”

            Brooklyn grinned at that. “I’m the boss.”

            “So what color do we use next, boss?”

            “Red.”

            Liza saluted. “Yes, ma’am.” She reached for the red gem but froze when she saw a man entering the solarium. Frail-looking and about seventy, he wore round-rimmed glasses and his face seemed familiar. And then she knew.

            Oh my God. It was him. It was Pastor.

            She’d seen the photo tacked to the bulletin board in Tom’s home office, the one taken of Pastor, his wife, and the twins shortly before he’d run to Eden thirty years ago. He was older now, of course, and looked terrible, his skin gray and his hair thinning, but it was him.

            He was being pushed by one of the nurses, and following behind was a woman in her midfifties. Her hair was liberally streaked with gray and pulled off her head in a simple bun.

            But it was the item she wore around her throat that had Liza’s attention. A locket on a thick, heavy chain. An Eden locket. The nurse pushed Pastor to one of the tables by the window and covered his lap with a blanket. He leaned his head back, as if enjoying the sun on his face.

            Belatedly aware she’d been staring, Liza jerked her attention back to the pile of red gems. But her hands were shaking so hard that she couldn’t get the gem into the little plunger.

            It was rage, she realized. Pure, unadulterated rage. She hadn’t felt this angry in so long.

            Not since she’d pushed Fritz’s body off her own, grabbed her rifle, and started firing at the insurgents who’d attacked her unit. Who’d killed her friends.

            Because that was what Pastor had done. He’d allowed people to be attacked and killed. She wanted to run over there. She wanted to break him. Hurt him. Kill him.

            But she couldn’t, of course. So get it together, Liza.

            Carefully placing the gem on the table, she flattened her palms on her thighs, the soft cotton of her scrubs absorbing some of the clamminess. She drew a breath, remembering the relaxation techniques she’d learned to battle the anxiety of waking from a nightmare.

            “Liza?” Brooklyn’s voice had grown small and a little scared. “Are you all right?”

            Her brain raced to think of something comforting to say, because the truth was not an option.

            She lifted her head to smile at the little girl. “I’m okay. You ever have a nightmare, and then the next day you remember part of it and just, like, get a little scared again?”

            Brooklyn nodded sagely. “Sometimes I dream that I die.”

            Liza sucked in a harsh breath. “Oh, honey. What an awful dream to have.”

            Brooklyn lifted a shoulder. “I know. I wake up and I’m afraid. The last nursing assistant wasn’t very nice. She’d tell me to go back to sleep, even when I was crying.”

            Liza reached out, palm up. Brooklyn took her hand and squeezed. “I told my mom when she visited, and Mom told Nurse Williams to get another assistant. That’s you.”