Refuge for Flora by Deanndra Hall
Chapter 10
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, now, ain’t that a helluva way to greet me?” Barrett grinned and leaned over to kiss her. “Conor is with Jonas and Kirby. They’re working on the case. They told me to take a break, so here I am!” A bag of something dangled from his fingers.
“Tell them I said thank you. What’s in the bag?”
“Sub sandwiches, pickles, chips. I got Mrs. Murphy a club sandwich on regular bread. I figured the sub roll might be too hard for her to eat.”
“Thank you. I think you’re right on that. Mrs. Murphy, look who’s here!”
The old woman looked up and grinned. “Well, now, ain’t you a sight for sore eyes! Glad yore here. This girl’s been pining for ya something fierce.” Flora started to say something, but the old lady cut her off. “Don’t you lie. You know ya have.”
“I was just going to say that you’re telling the truth. I have been pining for him.” Flora grinned at Barrett. “Let’s get some paper plates and we can all eat in the living room.”
They laughed and talked all through dinner. “And then I took a step and next thing I knew, I was in it up to my knees and my boots were full of mud!”
Flora laughed. “And hog shit!”
“Yeah. And hog shit. God, that was rank. Took me three days to get the smell off me, and it lingered in my truck for like a month.”
“Ick!” Flora took a look at her elderly charge. “Mrs. Murphy, you need more to drink?”
“Please. My mouth is so dry.”
Barrett hopped up from his seat. “I’ll get it. What do you want?”
“Just one-a them soft drinks’ll be fine, boy.” As Barrett disappeared into the kitchen, she leaned over and whispered to Flora, “He’s handsome and right handy to have around too.”
“Don’t I know it! I think he’s a keeper.” She quieted as soon as he stepped back into the room.
“What? What did I miss? You two talking about me?” he asked as he poured the drink into Mrs. Murphy’s insulated tumbler.
Flora winked with a grin. “Only good things.”
“I said yore handsome and handy to have around,” Mrs. Murphy said around a mouthful of food.
Barrett laughed loudly. “Oh, handsome and handy to have around, huh? I guess that’s the perfect combination, right?”
“I reckon so. My late husband weren’t neither. Ugly as the back end of a boar and couldn’t hold a screwdriver if you glued it to his palm. Useless.” Flora was snickering, and she caught Barrett’s eye to find he was fighting laughter.
“So why did you marry him?” Barrett asked.
“What was we ‘sposed to do, live in sin?” Before either of them had a chance to answer, Mrs. Murphy broke into rollicking laughter. “Aww, hell, that’s a bunch-a shit. I married him ‘cause he said he had money. The only money that sumbitch ever had was mine.”
“That’s no good,” Flora offered.
“Yeah. That was right afore I sent him off to Tennessee.” Mrs. Murphy looked off like she was reminiscing.
Barrett leaned over to Flora and whispered, “Sent him off to―”
“Don’t ask,” she whispered back. “You don’t wanna know.”
“Got it.”
They laughed and talked until they realized Mrs. Murphy had drifted off to sleep. “Are you going to be able to stay?” Flora whispered as they walked the short hallway to her bedroom.
“I feel like I can’t, but I want to. You know that.” As soon as they were in the room with the door closed, he spun her and pressed her back to the door. “I’d rather be here with you than anywhere else in the world.”
Flora’s lips found the side of his neck and she breathed in his scent as she nipped his skin. “I want you to stay.”
“It’s six thirty, and I figure they’ll be working until at least ten, so there’s no reason why we can’t …” He tipped his head toward the bed. “Up to you.”
“Well, yeah. Why would I say no?” Those hazel eyes fixed hers with their gaze and Flora melted. Anything Barrett asked her to do, she’d do willingly and gladly. He was the closest thing to perfect that she’d ever seen, and she’d never wanted a man the way she wanted him. It amazed her that he’d want her. He could have any woman he wanted, but for reasons she couldn’t understand, he wanted her. That made her happier than he could ever imagine. She let him turn her and walk her backward toward the bed, kissing her, his lips becoming more insistent until they were almost frantic. The edge of the mattress hit the backs of her knees and she sat down, legs open for him to step in. The rippled skin on his abs was washboard firm, and she dragged her bent fingers up toward his chest, then back down, letting her pinky fingernails graze his tiny, hardened nips as they slid toward his waist. A flush of excitement spread across her chest as he gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled it up and off, and she instantly reached for his belt buckle.
“Flora …”
“Um-hmmm.”
“You sure about that?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m positive.” The grin that stretched across her face squeezed her eyes closed. With a nimbleness that surprised even her, she unbuttoned his jeans, slid the zipper tab down, and pressed them open and back. The hardened ridge of his manhood under his boxer briefs greeted her, and she was pretty damn happy to see it. Everything between her legs tingled, and she squirmed against the sheets a little to try to scratch that itch. Just as her fingers touched the elastic band, a hand clutched the hair at her crown and pulled her head back.
The desire in his eyes surprised her. “Am I the man you want, or am I your way out?”
Her lips grazed his belly just below his navel and she spoke against his skin. “I don’t think you can get me out. I think he’ll find me and kill me before you can. But I’ll die with your name on my lips. Nobody’s ever acted like they gave two shits about me, but you … I can feel how much you care, Barrett, and I’ve never had that. You don’t have to love me as long as you at least treat me like a human being.”
“I do love you, Flora. I’m not going to treat you like a human being. I have every intention of treating you like the queen I know you to be. You’re an amazing woman, and I fully intend to make you see just how amazing you really are.”
Not one single cell in her body could wait another minute as she pulled that elastic out and down to free his hardness. She didn’t lap the crown, just ran her mouth as far down over it as she could and listened to him hiss. God, he smelled amazing, and his hands were gentle as his fingers threaded through her hair. A glance upward told her his head was thrown back, and she heard him whisper, “Oh, god, babe. Your mouth is magic. Jesus, babe, I … Oh, yeah. Just like that. Babe, I’m gonna … If you don’t wanna … God, Flora, I’m …”
His attempt to push her back was weak at best, and the instant he let loose, she swallowed his essence down like the finest whiskey, its saltiness burning as it slid down her throat. He seemed to teeter just a little and she wrapped her arms around his hips, holding him steady. She swallowed again before she asked, “You okay?”
“Fuck, I think every drop of blood I have made it into my cock. Holy shit, girl.” He dropped onto the mattress and crawled up to the pillow, so Flora followed him and stretched out. Their faces were inches apart, and he kissed the tip of her nose. “It’s gonna take some work to get me up. I think you pretty much drained me dry.”
“Nah. It’ll be fine.” She’d already reached for his softness and was working it gently, coaxing another erection along. “Unless you just don’t want to.”
“Oh, hell, no. I didn’t say that. Nuh-uh. Not at all. I’m good with it, really. Know what would help?”
“What?”
“Get those clothes off.”
Flora shot up, yanked her top and bra off, then shimmied out of her shorts and panties. “Better?”
Barrett had dragged his jeans off and lifted his hips to slide his briefs down. “Oh, yeah. That helps immensely.” Those large hands cupped her breasts, fingers splayed, and the heat that pooled low in her belly drove her very nearly mad. Feeling him inside her was the only thing she really wanted, needed, craved. It was hard to catch her breath as she lost herself in his kisses, first sweet and tender, then firm and insistent. It shocked her when he pulled away from her. “Shit.”
“What?”
“I don’t have any condoms with me.”
“If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me.”
“I just … I don’t want to be disrespectful of you.”
“You could never be disrespectful of me. You don’t have the capacity to be disrespectful of me. No matter what happens, I believe we’re supposed to be together.” She was opening her heart to him, and for the first time in her life, she felt safe with a man. “Do you?”
“I do.” She let him roll her to her back and opened her legs for him to slip between them. His hands cradled her cheeks and Flora wanted to stay like that forever, looking deep into each other’s eyes, that sweetness and fullness of their feelings filling the room. “I will kill that bastard before I’ll ever let him hurt you again. You’re mine, and you’re safe now. I’ll see to it. You never have to be afraid again, Flora. Never.”
When his hardness filled her, Flora knew for the first time in her life that she was exactly where she was supposed to be. In that shabby little room filled with seventies girly junk, on that silly little twin bed with pale candy stripes on the dust ruffle, she was home in the arms of a man who loved her so much that it flowed from his heart into hers. He bent to kiss her as he stroked into her, and she pressed her hands to his cheeks. “I love you, Barrett,” she whispered as he drew back.
“I love you too, baby girl. I’ve never held anything as precious as you in my arms before.”
Ten minutes later, his stickiness inside her and her cheek resting on his chest as his arms closed around her, Flora sighed and smiled. Her fingers dawdled along the hair on his chest and down his abs, around his navel, and back up again until her hand rested on his chest. “I guess you need to go home, huh?”
“I wish I didn’t have to. I mean, Conor would understand if I didn’t come back, but―”
“No, he’s here to help us and he’s your house guest. You should be there. It’s fine. It’s not like you’re leaving and I’m wondering where you’re going or who you’ll be with. I know what’s going on. And tell them … Please tell them that I appreciate everything they’re doing to try to keep me safe. I really do.”
He kissed her forehead and cuddled her closer. “I’ll tell them. I …” He stopped.
“What?”
“I called a cousin of mine in Arkansas and I’m thinking about driving you down there. You’d be safe and―”
“No. I can’t leave Mrs. Murphy. I just can’t. She needs me, Barrett. That wouldn’t be fair.”
“I know, I know.” He kissed her forehead again. “I’m just trying to find ways to keep you safe, that’s all. I’m … I’m scared, Flora.”
“That scares me.”
His chin rested on the top of her head as they lay there and he sighed before he spoke. “Good. You need to be scared enough to do what will keep you safe. I’d stay here with you all day every day if I could, but I can’t, so it’s important that you do what you can to stay safe. Promise me you will, babe. I can’t lose you.”
“I will. I promise.” It was a promise she hoped she could keep.
* * *
Something had flittedthrough Barrett’s mind the next day and he made a phone call. Ten minutes later, his phone rang. “What are you up to, young’un?”
“I wondered how much latitude you had to work on something with us?”
“Quite a bit. What’s up?”
By the time Barrett had finished briefing his friend, Bud was on board. “Are you sure you can do this?”
The older detective snorted. “Well, hell yeah. You’re in our KDFWR district, so we’re required to help you if you need it. We’re both state agencies. That trumps county and city―always.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate that. I’m trying to think of people I know who aren’t in this area so I know these guys will not have seen them. Conor’s laying low, and you’re not here, so you’re both good candidates.”
“If I can help, I will. You’ve helped me out a few times, and I really appreciated it. It’s my turn.” When Bud had asked people to assist in the search for Renita, Barrett hadn’t hesitated, even though it meant camping out in somebody’s spare room for a few days. He knew how to search on a grid and had assisted in enough rescues and recoveries to be a good bit of help, and he never wanted to lose his ability to say yes when someone needed an extra pair of hands or feet.
“So I’ve got an idea of something you can do. Let me talk to the other guys and see if we can arrange it. Might have to do some digging, but I think we can pull it off.”
“Okay. You just tell me where, when, and what I have to do, and I’ll be there. And Barrett?”
“Yeah?”
“You take care of that girl. She’s a wonderful person and the two of you can be very happy together once this is all behind you.”
“Thanks. I’m trying.” Barrett hoped his friend was right. Flora was the woman he’d been waiting for. He never thought he’d wind up with a girlfriend who needed someone to keep her alive, but it looked like that was exactly what he’d found. And that was okay, as long as he could pull off the Hail Mary they needed.
* * *
“So how long now?”
“Just another week, babe. It’ll be fine. You’ll see. We’re so close I can almost hear those assholes crying in their jail cells down at county. I know you’re trying to be patient. I am too. But tonight, I’ve got to go do my turn on fishing duty. We heard there were some guys out at the wildlife management area phoning fish.”
“I remember my grandpa doing that when I was little.” Flora hadn’t heard of anyone doing that in years. They used an old hand-crank telephone and some lead weights, ran leads down, and cranked the phone to generate current. It stunned the fish and they could scoop them up. And it was highly illegal.
“Yeah. We’ve had four reports of it so far, so we’ve got to try to catch them. Everybody else has had a turn, and tonight’s mine, so that’s where I’ll be. But I’ll be wishing I was with you the whole time. You know that.”
“And I’ll be wishing you were with me too.”
“I probably won’t get finished until midnight or so, but I’ll check on you around ten. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good. Please be careful.”
“I always am, but I’ll be extra careful from now on. How’s that?” he asked and laughed.
“Not good, but better!”
“Okay! Bye, babe. Talk to you later.”
“Yeah. Bye.” The call ended, and Flora sat there and sighed. The only time she really felt safe was when Barrett was around. There was no time to sit and think about him, though. It was time to make sure Mrs. Murphy had some dinner.
She’d started the microwave for her own dinner after serving Mrs. Murphy and was pulling a drink from the refrigerator when she heard a strange sound. It was hard to tell what it was until she heard a voice croak, “Flor …”
Rounding the corner of the kitchen doorway, she found Mrs. Murphy on the floor, on her side, and wheezing. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“My chest. It feels … heavy … I can’t …” The old woman’s eyes closed.
“Oh, shit! Oh, god, Mrs. Murphy! Wake up!” Flora shook her and shook her, but she got no response. Her phone was on the kitchen counter, so she ran back to it and punched 9-1-1.
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
“The lady I live with is on the floor! And I can’t wake her up! She said her chest felt … Oh, god, please come!”
“Where are you, ma’am?”
“Eight forty-two Magruder Road! Please hurry!”
“Okay. And do you know CPR?”
“Not really! Oh, god, what do I do!”
“Listen to me. What’s your name?”
“Flora.”
“Okay, Flora, I’m going to tell you exactly what to do, okay? Put your phone on speaker. Got it?”
“Yeah. It’s on speaker. Now what?”
“You’re going to roll her to her back. Then we’re going to check her airway. Ready?”
Flora could feel hysteria taking over. “I guess. Please! Send somebody! I don’t know if I can do this!”
“It’ll be fine. Just listen to the sound of my voice, Flora, and do exactly as I say.”
The 9-1-1 operator gave her instruction, but after a few minutes her arms were aching and she was crying so hard she could barely speak. The sound of the operator’s voice was still coming from the phone and Flora was still pumping on Mrs. Murphy’s chest when she saw red lights. “Oh! They’re here!”
“Don’t stop what you’re doing! Is the door unlocked?”
“No.”
“Then run and unlock it, and come right back.”
“Okay.”
In seconds, two EMTs powered through the front door. “Miss, we’ll take over now. Just have a seat.”
“But she’s my―”
“Yes, ma’am. Just let us work. Mercy Regional, this is McCracken County EMT five nineteen, over.”
“EMT five nineteen, this is Mercy Regional. Go ahead.”
“We’ve got a female, approximately―”
“Ninety,” Flora answered.
“Ninety years old. Pulse is …”
A buzzing had started in Flora’s head and she felt weak as she watched the two men working over Mrs. Murphy. In a few minutes, they were joined by a couple of volunteer firefighters who helped them with equipment. One of them grabbed a gurney from the ambulance and rolled it in. They loaded up Mrs. Murphy, and Flora shook with fear. “Is she …”
“No, but she’s very weak. We’re taking her to Mercy. Want to follow us?”
“Yes, please. I don’t know where that is.”
“Okay. Hey, Rubble, can you drive to the hospital and let her follow you? She doesn’t know her way there,” one of the EMTs yelled to a firefighter.
“Sure. Just follow us, ma’am. We’ll get you there.”
The ambulance screamed out the drive and Flora was left to grab her phone and bag and follow the fire truck to the hospital. Once they reached the emergency department doors, the truck honked and went on, leaving Flora to park and go inside.
After the darkness of the highway, the lights inside the hospital seemed blinding. “Where’s my friend, the lady with the heart attack? Mrs. Murphy?”
“They’ve got her back there now, working with her. Can you fill out some paperwork for her?”
“I really don’t know enough to be able to do that. Just the simplest of information.”
The lady at the desk shrugged. “That’s something. Maybe we can find her in the system with whatever you can give us.”
Flora sat and filled out the paperwork, but there wasn’t much she could write in. All she knew was Mrs. Murphy’s name and the address. Even though she knew the woman’s age, she didn’t know a birthdate. It occurred to her that she should probably call Barrett and tell him where she was, so she reached into her bag, but her phone wasn’t there. She was sure she’d slipped it in there. Where was it? She remembered her bag falling onto the floorboard when she went around a corner, so the phone probably fell and was still in the car. There was no way for her to call Barrett―his number was in the phone, so she hadn’t memorized it. All she could do was sit down in the waiting area and hope someone would come out to talk to her.
More and more time passed, and she was growing more afraid by the minute. Would she even have a place to live the next day? Was Mrs. Murphy going to be okay? When she’d waited as long as she could, she told the lady at the admissions desk that she was going to the restroom and would be right back if they came out to talk to her. The more she walked, the farther away the sign for the ladies’ room looked and by the time she got there, she was afraid she wouldn’t make it.
After she was finished and had washed her hands, she headed back out to the waiting area. From somewhere up ahead, there was a lot of commotion and someone was yelling and making a fuss. There were several little rooms off the waiting area where walk-ins were evaluated, and when she got nearer, she could hear the person yelling.
“I don’t need no damn stitches! I need to go! We got business to take care of, damn it!”
“Calm down. Just let ‘em stitch it up and it’ll be okay.”
“Fuck, no, it ain’t gonna be okay!”
“You want your damn arm to fall off? That’s what’ll happen if’n that gets infected. Let ‘em look at it.”
Something about the voices made Flora feel a little light-headed, and when she rounded the corner of the hallway, one of the men turned toward her movement.
It was Bradley.
Every nerve in her body lit up, and Flora sprinted down the hallway. From somewhere behind her she could hear yelling. “Hey! Stop! Damn it! Is that you, Flora? Stop, god damn it!” But she just kept running. There were double doors at the end of one hallway, and she burst through them and kept going, through a maze of tables and cabinets, then flew through another set of double doors. The stairwell was right in front of her, and she darted through that door and ran up the stairs as fast as she could go. She opened the door on the first landing, but she didn’t go through―she kept going up instead, hoping that if he was following her, he’d think she’d ducked into the hallway of the second floor. At the second landing, she opened the third-floor doorway, but she stood just inside it, the door barely cracked open, and listened. There was no sound. Nothing. She’d been standing there, listening closely, for about five minutes when a voice said, “Miss? Is something wrong?”
“Uh, yeah. Someone was chasing me.”
“Do I need to call security.”
“No!” Her heart pounded out of control. If security came looking for Bradley and Darryl, they’d know for sure that it was her. No, it was best if she just stayed put. “Um, is there a waiting area on this floor? With a phone maybe?”
“Sure. The surgical waiting area is right down here, and there’s a house phone in there. The operator can connect you with anybody you need to talk to. Just follow me.” She wasn’t sure if the man was a doctor or a nurse, but he was being very kind to her, and he had no idea how much she appreciated it in that terrifying moment. “Here you go. The phone’s right over there.”
Flora sat down and took a deep breath. Even if they were looking for her, it would take them a while to find her up there, and once she’d made her call, she’d find somewhere to sit where she could be out of view but still watch for them. There was no one else in the waiting area, so she picked up the phone and dialed nine. “Mercy Regional. How may I direct your call?”
“I’m upstairs in the surgical waiting room with … my dad.” That sounded good. “And my friend is down there somewhere. She came in by ambulance. I help take care of her. I was down there, but I had to come back up here, and I don’t know how she’s doing.”
“What’s your friend’s name?”
“Marilyn Murphy.”
“Hold, please.”
In a few seconds, a voice answered, “Emergency department.”
“Yes, I’m Mrs. Murphy’s caregiver. I had to come upstairs to check on a relative. Is she okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. Looks like she’s going to need a pacemaker, and they want to keep her overnight to run some tests. She’s being admitted to the fourth floor tonight. If you’ll come back tomorrow, we’ll know more.”
“Okay. Thank you very much.” Flora hung up the phone, then headed down the hallway. She had no idea where she was going, but she walked until she found a hallway where most of the lights were out. Sure enough, that wing wasn’t in use, so she slipped into one of the rooms, scooted back into a corner, and sat there, arms wrapped around her knees. What should she do? She couldn’t call Barrett. She had no one’s phone number, not Zyan and Landee’s, or Kirby’s, or Jonas’s, or Conor’s. There was no way for her to contact anyone. There was only one thing for her to do.
Wait.
* * *
The zip tieshad gone on and the guys were leaning up against Barrett’s truck. “Whaddya got over there, Walker?”
“Let’s see … Looks like I’ve got a small generator and some really big dip nets! Look at this.”
Barrett stepped closer to the boat. There was a fiberglass pole mounted on both port and starboard sides, and there were lines from the generator wrapped around the poles as they disappeared into the water. “So the power goes down the poles …”
“There’s a chain stretched across from the bottom of one pole to the other. They run the current through that and just mosey on down the river, scooping up the fish from behind them as they float to the top.”
“Well, isn’t that handy? You boys got quite the setup there! You’re being detained for violations of Kentucky Revised Statutes one fifty two sixty five, three sixty-two, and three sixty-five. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand your rights as I’ve presented them?” Both men nodded. “Answer verbally.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, asshole.”
Barrett shook his head. “Oh, I see you finished that course, ‘How to win friends and influence people.’ But you obviously failed.”
Walker Harrold stepped up to the little group. “McCracken County’s about twenty minutes out.”
“Good. I’m about to lose my patience with these two drunk motherfuckers.” Barrett whipped out his phone. He’d tried to call Flora earlier, but she hadn’t answered, so he tried again. When her voicemail kicked in, he waited until the beep. “Babe, this is the second time I’ve tried to call you and I’m getting a little worried. Please call me back. Bye.”
Walker stepped up beside him. “Everything okay?”
Barrett slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Oh, I’m sure it is. Probably just me being paranoid.”
It was almost thirty minutes before a deputy showed up to take the two men to the county jail. Barrett had filled out paperwork on one of them and Walker on the other, so they were finished with that little task. “Look, we got who we wanted to get. Go. Anything else comes up, I can handle it,” Walker assured him.
“Thanks. I think I will. Let me know if you need me.”
“Will do. Night.”
Barrett pulled out of the parking lot at the boat ramp and headed up the hill. It would take him a few minutes to get to Mrs. Murphy’s house, but he was sure everything would be fine when he got there. Flora had probably run the battery down on her phone and hadn’t gotten it recharged.
But his heart froze when he pulled into the drive. There were no lights on in the house―none. Not one single glimmer. He tried the front door, but it was locked, so he went around to the back door, but it was locked too. A glance through the living room window from the porch told him there was no one inside, but there were some things on the floor, and from where he stood, they looked like wrappers from medical supplies. Barrett ran back to his truck and picked up the radio mic. “Central dispatch, this is KDFWR unit four twelve. Over.”
“Unit four twelve, central dispatch responding. Over.”
“I need to know if emergency services were called to eight forty-two Magruder Road this evening. Over.”
“Copy, four twelve. That’s a roger. Call came in at nineteen forty-three for an ninety-year-old female with cardiac distress. Transported via ambulance to Mercy Regional.”
“Copy, dispatch. Thank you. Out.” At least he knew what had happened, and it hadn’t happened to Flora. But she should’ve stayed at the house and locked herself in. He checked―yep, the Buick was gone, so she’d most likely followed the ambulance.
Barrett slung gravel as he powered out of the driveway and headed toward Paducah. Why had she left? She’d been told repeatedly to stay there where she was safe. At least she was at the hospital. There was security there, and she’d be surrounded by people. She’d be fine as long as she stayed put.
He took a minute to drive through the parking lot when he got to the hospital. At that hour of the night, there weren’t many cars there and, sure enough, the Buick was sitting outside the emergency department doors. The automatic doors let out a whoosh! as he stepped through, and the admissions clerk looked up. “May I help you?”
“Yes. I’m looking for an elderly woman who came in via ambulance earlier. Murphy?”
“Yes, officer.” That was the moment he realized he was still in his uniform. He’d totally forgotten. “She’s being admitted for insertion of a pacemaker, so they’re taking her to a room.”
“Do you know the room number?”
“Not yet. We’ll―”
A voice from down the hallway yelled, “I don’t need no damn stitches! I need to go! We got business to take care of, damn it!”
Then another voice chimed in. “Calm down. Just let ‘em stitch it up and it’ll be okay.”
“Fuck, no, it ain’t gonna be okay!”
“You want your damn arm to fall off? That’s what’ll happen if’n that gets infected. Let ‘em look at it.” Barrett turned toward the voice, and when he saw the profile with the scar, he knew it was Bradley. Then he caught it―the moment the man saw something, or someone, and he yelled out, “Hey! Stop! Damn it! Is that you, Flora? Stop, god damn it!” The sound of running feet filled the air around him, and Barrett found it hard to breathe.
“Sir? Sir, are you―”
“That hallway?” he whispered to the woman. “Where does it go?”
“Sir, you can get just about anywhere in this hospital from that hallway depending on which way you turn.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!Barrett didn’t know what to do. Somewhere in the bowels of the hospital, Flora was running, and Bradley was behind her. But in a few seconds, he saw Bradley step back into the main hallway, and Barrett listened without looking at the man.
A voice from inside the cubicle yelled, “Was that her?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t get a close enough look.”
“Well, god damn it, find her! We come all this way lookin’ for her and you let her get away?”
“She could be anywhere by now. This is a big place. I don’t know where to even start looking.”
“Then we need to be outside when she comes back out.”
A doctor stepped up to the cubicle door and Barrett heard him ask, “Mr. Stevens?”
Everything in his brain slowed and he felt slightly queasy, but just as quickly, it righted itself and he leaned toward the admissions clerk. “I need you to get on the paging system. I need you to page Dr. Barrett Quarles to the fifth-floor nurses’ station.”
“There’s no―”
“Just do it. Please. Which way are the elevators?” She pointed. “Wait until I’m in the elevator and on my way up, then make the page. Dr. Barrett Quarles, fifth-floor nurses’ station. Can you remember that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Thank you.” Barrett walked as calmly as he could manage to the elevator bay halfway down the secondary hallway and pushed the button. As soon as he got in, he hit the button for the fifth floor. He was passing the third floor when he heard the page go out.
“Dr. Barrett Quarles to the fifth-floor nurses’ station, please. Dr. Barrett Quarles, fifth-floor nurses’ station.”
All he could do was pray that wherever she was, Flora had heard the page and would make her way to the nurses’ station by the time he got there. The door opened on the fifth floor and he strode straight toward the big desk. “Have you seen a woman around here, smallish, reddish-blond hair and green eyes?”
“No, sir. Oh. Your name is Quarles. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I’m just hoping she heard―”
“Barrett?”
He turned and in a split second, she was in his arms. “Oh, god, I was so scared,” he whispered into her hair.
“Me too. That was―”
“I know. I heard the whole thing. What are you doing here? I told you not to leave the house!”
“Mrs. Murphy had a heart attack, I think. I couldn’t just let her go to the hospital and me stay at the house. I’m responsible for her. I had to come.”
“She’s staying overnight so you’re not responsible for her right now. You need to come with me. I’ll get you out of here, and we’ll worry about the car later. Where the hell is your phone?”
“I think it’s in the car. It was in my bag, but it spilled on the floorboard, and I guess that’s where my phone is.”
“Okay. It doesn’t matter. You’re with me now. That’s all that counts.” He turned to one of the nurses. “Got a way for me to call the admissions desk downstairs?”
“Sure. Just use that phone over there and dial nine, tell them who you want to speak to.”
“Thanks.” Barrett dragged Flora with him as he headed for the phone and called the admissions desk. “Hey, this is Officer Quarles. Those two guys down there in that cubicle … Are they still there?”
“Yeah.”
“How much longer will they be there, do you think?”
There was a snicker from the other end of the phone. “How much longer do you want them to be here?”
“At least thirty minutes or more.”
“You got it. I’ll tell the doctor to drag his feet. Find what you were looking for?”
“I did, and thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Barrett hung up the phone. “Okay. We’re going down the staff elevator to the back side of the building. I’ll go back through and get my truck, then come around to pick you up. Got that?”
“Yeah. Okay. But I’ll be alone and―”
“Just long enough for me to get the truck, and you’ll be fine.” Barrett turned back to the nurse. “Can you have security meet me at the first-floor doors to the staff elevator?”
“Yes, sir, sure can.”
“Thanks.” He smiled at Flora as they stepped onto the elevator. “See? We’ve got this under control.”
Five minutes later, they were in Barrett’s truck and rolling down the highway, passing the mall and heading out into the western end of the county, with Flora scooted up against Barrett so tightly that he could feel her ribs. But he didn’t care. She was safe with him. Nothing else mattered.
Except for the truck that followed about a quarter of a mile behind them―the one he didn’t see.