by Carrie Carr
"She's going to be fine," he assured her. "At least until she gets home and gets a piece of Ellie."
Martha looked up at her husband's face. "You saw that, too, did you?"
"Uh-huh. Maybe someone should talk to Ellie and see if she has a death wish."
"That might not be such a bad idea. She and Lexie just now started getting along, and I'd hate for that to change just because Ellie's got a hankering for what Lexie has." Martha hugged Charlie. "Why don't we go get some coffee, and you can tell me what happened to our girl today." They started down the hall, with Charlie explaining the events as best as he knew them.
Amanda opened the treatment room door and stepped inside. She saw the still form on the narrow bed, covered to the chin with a sheet and heavy blanket. Unsure if her lover was awake, she kept her voice low. "Lex?"
Her brain still foggy, Lex wasn't sure if she had heard anything or not. She turned her head toward the sound and saw what she thought was a vision. Opening her mouth to speak, Lex tried to form words, but couldn't seem to remember how. She frowned, confused.
Amanda moved closer. "Honey, can you hear me?" She looked around for a chair and saw lying on a trashcan what was left of the shirt that Lex had worn that morning. It had been cut off her body and was liberally soaked with blood, which confused Amanda. The doctor had told her that Lex had a knot on the side of her head, and was suffering from shock. They planned on keeping her overnight for observation, but she was otherwise fine. Was he lying, or does he not know what he's doing?
Lex's frown disappeared, replaced by a slight smile. She's not a dream. It was hard to tell, since she'd had some strange ones every time she dozed off. She slipped her hand out from under the blanket and waited until Amanda took it. "Hey."
"Hi." Amanda sat next on the bed to her partner, holding their linked hands to her chest. She doubted if she'd ever be able to let go. "You gave us quite a scare, you know." She could still see traces of dried blood on Lex's neck and in her hair. "What happened?"
"To tell you the truth, I was pretty damned scared, too." Lex closed her eyes and could see the alley again. "It's all pretty blurry." She remembered seeing Andrew Wilson across the street from the bank, and following him between the buildings, and then having a gun pointed at her. The more she struggled to think, the more it hurt. "I can't. Head hurts."
Amanda could tell it pained Lex and tried to put her at ease. "It's okay. Just relax." She stroked Lex's hair until the injured woman's breathing smoothed out. A light knock on the door caused Amanda to turn her head, and she smiled at Charlie and Martha as they stepped inside.
"How's she doing?" Charlie asked, while Martha went to the other side of the bed to see for herself.
Not releasing her hold, Amanda continued to speak quietly. "Her head hurts, and she's a little disoriented. She can't seem to remember much about what happened to her."
"From what the doctor told us outside, that's not too uncommon," Charlie tried to reassure her. "But I'm hoping once the guy across the hall wakes up, he can shed more light on things."
"What guy?" Martha asked. Once she assured herself that Lex was going to be okay, she wanted all the details as to what had transpired.
Charlie backed away from the bed, beckoning them to follow. "The man who had the gun." He didn't want Lex to overhear, both to keep her calm, and to not taint her memory of the incident.
"He's here?" Amanda snapped, clenching her fists at her sides. "The son of a bitch who tried to shoot Lex is still nearby? Are you people crazy?"
"Calm down, Amanda. He's under guard." Charlie moved to block the door so that Amanda couldn't go after the man. "Not to mention that he nearly bled to death on the way to the hospital, so I doubt he's going anywhere for a while."
Now that she knew that Lex was in no immediate danger, Amanda calmed down. At least a bit. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the sheriff. "Good. Serves him right."
Martha's eyes widened. Never had she heard Amanda say anything even remotely negative about someone else, much less wish death on them. She stepped closer and began to rub the young woman's back in a soothing pattern. "Do you have any idea what happened?"
"From what I've been told about the evidence at the scene, the two of them were in the alley across from the bank, and he had a gun. There was a struggle, he was shot in the leg, and Lex cracked her head on the building behind her. When the paramedics arrived, she was in shock, but was trying to stem his loss of blood. Otherwise, he'd have died."
"She should have let him," Amanda muttered, still shaken. She couldn't even imagine the terror that Lex had gone through, having a gun pointed at her like that. "Do we know why he had a gun? And why Lex?"
Charlie scratched the back of his neck. "Well, we're working on that." Truth was, with the check Wilson had in his coat pocket, he had a pretty good idea as to what the motive had been. He knew he shouldn't discuss the details of the case yet.
"Right." Amanda recognized that look and also knew that she wouldn't be getting any more information out of Charlie. "Do you think it would be okay if I stayed here tonight with Lex? I don't want her waking up alone."
Knowing that he'd been let off the hook, the sheriff nodded. "I don't see why not. Let me go talk to her doctor, and let them know."
"He's not a very good liar," Amanda commented to Martha.
Martha gave Amanda a one-armed hug. "Why do you think I married him? Well, besides the fact that he looks so cute in his uniform." She leaned in close to whisper, "Not to mention, how good he looks out of it."
"Eew." Amanda covered her ears. "I didn't need that visual, thank you very much." It was like thinking about her parents having sex: Amanda knew it happened, she just didn't want to know about it. But she was thankful for the distraction, which allowed her emotions time to settle down after the morning's events. She kissed the older woman on the cheek and returned the hug.
Chapter Twenty
IT WASN'T THE weary ache in her bones that woke Lex, or the painful tempo in her head that matched her heartbeat. The last vestiges of an all-too-real nightmare were the culprit, and she struggled to regain her composure as she looked around. The room was unfamiliar, and for a brief period of time she didn't know where she was. Attempting to ward off the headache, Lex's eyes searched the dimly lit room for anything that could jog her memory. When they lit upon a sleeping figure curled up in a beat-up, padded chair, Lex couldn't help but smile. A strangled cry from the restless form was all she needed to move into action. As she sat up, Lex ignored the sudden dizziness and swung her feet over the side of the bed, and fell to her knees next to the chair. "Amanda, sweetheart. Wake up."
The soft plea caused Amanda to jerk upright, and her eyes flew open in alarm. Even in the dim light, she was easily able to make out the features of the woman before her. Amanda raised one hand and shakily traced a pattern across Lex's face. "You're okay," she whispered, her voice cracking.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Lex used the arms of Amanda's chair to push herself into a standing position. The dizziness returned, which caused her to stumble back against the bed.
In an instant, Amanda was up and reaching for Lex. "I don't think so." With her help, Lex was back under the thin covers in no time, and only then did Amanda feel like she could relax. She sat on the edge of the bed, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. "What were you doing out of bed?" Over and over again, she fiddled with the blanket, more to have something to do with her hands than anything else.
"I woke up and was worried about you." Whether it was the medication or the bump on her head, Lex suddenly felt extremely tired, and had to fight to keep her eyes open. "That chair can't be very comfortable. Why don't you just come up here with me?"
As much as she wanted to comply, Amanda didn't know if that was a good idea. But when her partner scooted to the far edge of the bed and held out her hand, all Amanda's reservations went flying out the window. She slipped off her shoes and crawled in beside Lex and snuggled close to her, fearing if s
he held her tightly that Lex would shatter.
Comforted at last, Lex said, "Love you," and allowed herself to drift off into a dreamless slumber.
Amanda felt the body she held relax, and knew that Lex had fallen asleep. "I love you, too," she whispered. Lying in the narrow bed, holding Lex's head to her chest, her tears fell into the dark hair as she came to grips with what she had almost lost on this day.
The man who had been in the alley with Lex had not yet regained consciousness, and Lex herself hadn't been much help in clearing up the details of what had happened. All she could remember was the struggle over the gun, then her head being slammed into the brick wall behind her. The paramedics on the scene had reported that Lex was using her shirttail to try to stem the flow of blood from the man's heavily bleeding leg, but she had been non-responsive to their verbal commands, obviously suffering from shock.
Each time Charlie questioned Lex, he was able to get a few more answers, but Amanda had finally put a stop to his interrogation when Lex got upset and her headache became worse. Amanda knew it was only a temporary respite, but she vowed to protect her lover from everyone, including family, for as long as she could.
THE DEPUTY OUTSIDE the closed door stretched his arms over his head in an effort to keep from falling asleep. He hated having to work guard duty, especially on someone who was not only handcuffed to the bed, but was clearly in no shape to attempt to escape. Hearing quiet footfalls coming closer, he jumped to his feet, glad to see a friendly face. "Good evening, Nurse Duggan."
Slender, with brown eyes and short dark hair, the nurse held a Styrofoam cup, which she handed to him. "I thought a cup of coffee might help."
"Thank you, ma'am." Inhaling the strong aroma, Deputy Terry Mardsen thought he could easily fall in love--with the coffee. "Is it always this quiet around here?"
"To tell you the truth, this is the most exciting it's been here in a while." She nodded toward the door. "I need to go in and check on my patient. Why don't you take a quick break? I don't think he's going anywhere."
Deputy Mardsen looked around to see if they were alone, then glanced down at his watch. It was after three in the morning, and he knew the nurse was right. "Thanks. I think I'll go see if there's something good in the snack machine." He took another deep drink of coffee, then left the cup on his chair before moving stiffly down the hall.
It didn't take long for Nurse Duggan to check on Andrew Wilson. She was about to leave the room when his eyes opened, and he reached out for her. She said, "Well, hello there."
He tried to sit up, but was easily held down by the nurse. Turning his head, Wilson noticed that his hand was cuffed to the metal railings on the bed. "Wha--"
"Just stay calm, sir. Let me go get the doctor for you, and he can answer any questions, all right?" She hurried from the room, not even noticing that the deputy hadn't returned to his post.
Around the corner, a pudgy, sweating man watched the goings on with great interest. He took the few steps needed to slip inside the hospital room, then locked the door behind him. "Hello, Wilson. Good to see you awake."
Wilson flinched at the sound of the voice. He reached for the call button, but Billings quickly used his gloved hand to move it out of reach.
"That's no way to say hello, is it?" Billings went to the left side of the bed and dug into his jacket pocket and removed a syringe. "You fucked up, big time. I've been ordered to cut our losses and get the hell out of this hick town."
"But--" Andrew had to clear his throat to continue. Hoarse from lack of use, his voice sounded as if he had swallowed rocks. "What about the land we already have? And the work that's been done?"
Billings took the lid from the empty syringe and held it between his fingers. "We haven't gotten much of the land cleared, so that's not that big of a deal. They'll sell it back to the idiots around here, and take a loss." He opened the plunger wide, then inserted it into the intravenous tube that was taped to Andrew's hand. "What have you told the authorities, Wilson?"
"Nothing, I swear!" Andrew tried to reach the tube to pull it out of his hand, but couldn't. "Let me go, and we can both get out of here, Mr. Billings." His voice continued to rise, until Billings grabbed a pillow with his free hand and held it over Wilson's face.
"I can't. You'd never make it past the door with that leg wound. Sorry about this, kid." Pushing the plunger, Billings watched as the bubble of air made its way through the IV, all the while holding the young man down with his other arm. "Survival of the smartest, boy. Rule number one."
He put the cap back on the syringe and stuffed in into his pocket, then took special care to straighten up the bed. "Too bad, kid. You had some promise. Just a few more things to handle." Unlocking the door, Billings sneaked out of the room and into the night.
CHARLIE SAT AT his desk, staring at the papers strewn about. He had recently returned from the hospital, trying to find a link between the man who tried to kill Lex and whoever was buying up all the land outside of town. They were very good at hiding their corporate tracks, as no two "buyers" were the same. But he had the sneaking suspicion that it was all tied together.
He rubbed his eyes and sighed. The day had already been long, and he figured it would be well into the evening before he left the office. The buzz of his phone caused him to sit up straighter.
"Sheriff, Deputy Mardsen is on the line. There's a situation at the hospital."
Charlie rose and grabbed his hat. On his way out of the office he paused at his secretary's desk. "Did he say what it was about?"
"No, sir, just that it was something you'd better see."
Wasting no time, Charlie was halfway down the hall and had to yell over his shoulder. "Tell him I'm on my way."
THE HALLWAY WAS filled with doctors, nurses, and sheriff's department personnel, all of whom chattered amongst themselves. Sheriff Bristol was in the hospital room with Nurse Duggan, who once again told her story.
"He woke up a little after three, and I immediately went in search of the doctor on call. As far as I could tell, Mr. Wilson didn't appear to be in any discomfort." She watched as the sheriff studied the dead man's wrist. "The chafing wasn't there before I left, but I thought that maybe he just tried to get loose before I came back."
Charlie nodded, and walked around the bed. "Maybe." He squatted and raised the blanket, then shook his head. "If a man is thrashing around enough to bruise his wrist, you'd think that the sheet and blankets would be worked free, wouldn't you?" Standing up, he moved to the foot of the bed, where he once again lifted the blanket, and saw that the sheet kicked loose. "Like this."
Well, I'll be damned. The old country sheriff isn't quite as slow as he acts. Nurse Duggan crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you saying he was murdered?"
"I'm not saying anything until we get an autopsy performed." The idea that someone had walked right into the room and killed Andrew Wilson brought a chill to Charlie's spine. He pushed by the nurse who had found the dead man. She seemed like she was still in shock. "Excuse me. I have some things to take care of." He walked out of the room and beckoned one of the nearby deputies. "After the body has been removed, I want this room blocked off. No one in and no one out." He leaned in closer, so that they wouldn't be overheard. "I also want a twenty-four hour guard on Lexington Walters, until I say differently. But be discreet. I don't want to alarm her, or her family."
"Yes, sir." The deputy stepped away quickly, talking in low tones on his walkie-talkie.
Charlie looked at his watch and decided that a visit upstairs would be in order. Maybe Lex is up to talking about things now. At the very least, I need to pass along some information to Amanda. He headed for the elevator, with more than just the dead man on his mind.
The lift's doors opened, and Charlie took in the quiet activity on the floor as he made his way to Lex's room. Just as he was about to lightly knock on the door, it opened, and he stood face to face with Amanda, who held back a startled cry.
"Charlie! You scared me half to death." Sh
e looked behind her. Satisfied that Lex was still resting, Amanda pushed the sheriff back into the hall and closed the door. "She's asleep." Her tone was slightly accusatory, almost daring him to try to get by her.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to frighten you. Why don't you let me buy you a cup of coffee?" He saw a deputy standing over by the nurse's station and gave him a slight nod. "I came to talk to you, not to Lex."
Amanda immediately felt sorry for her attitude, but then focused on what he had said. "Why? Is there something the matter?" She noticed the man Charlie had acknowledged. "Wait a minute. What the hell is going on around here?"
"Let's go somewhere quiet, so I can bring you up to speed."
Allowing herself to be led into an empty lounge, Amanda felt her apprehension grow. "Enough of the cloak and dagger routine. What's happening? I saw one of your deputies out there.
Is Lex in some sort of danger?"
"It's just a precaution." Charlie took off his hat and sat on one end of a cot, suddenly feeling his age and wondering if he was getting too old for the stress of the job. "The man we found in the alley with Lex died a couple of hours ago."
"Oh." Amanda paced around the room, absently glancing at the pictures and posters that littered the walls. She turned to look at Charlie. "He was in pretty bad shape, though, right?"
"That's just it. He'd awakened, and the nurse went to get the doctor. When they got back to the room a few minutes later, the man was dead." Seeing the frightened look on Amanda's face, he hurried to reassure her. "It could have been anything, though. We'll have to wait for the autopsy report to be sure."
Amanda crossed her arms over her chest, feeling chilled and sick to her stomach. "But you think he was killed, don't you?" Her voice shook as she asked quietly, "When is this going to end?"
Charlie got to his feet and crossed the room, then pulled the young woman into his arms. "I won't let anything happen to her, I promise." Now if I could just make myself believe that, maybe we all have a chance.