Just Evil

by Vickie McKeehan

  As they packed up the stuff they thought was important and loaded it into boxes to cart downstairs, Dylan wanted to know, “You planning on telling Kit that at one time her mom was the queen of porn?”

  Thinking of Kit in this house as a child, Jake answered simply, “What makes you think she doesn’t already know?”

  CHAPTER 21

  As she locked up the Book & Bean, Kit felt only a slight twinge of guilt for not following Jake’s directive to the letter. But when Sarah had grown fussy with all the classic symptoms of cutting another tooth, Kit had sent Baylee home early to take care of her daughter. And since Baylee was practically living with Glo, it would have made sense if Kit had closed up the store then and gone home with Baylee. But she hadn’t thought of that until Baylee was halfway to Agoura Hills.

  To keep her promise to Jake, though, she’d called Gloria and invited herself over for Chinese take-out. It would be the perfect time to sit down with her aunt, get her take on the dream, and see what she had to say about the fact that Alana and her father had never been married. And while she was at it, she might as well tell her about Ben Griffin.

  As Kit pulled the Jeep out of the parking lot, she didn’t see the big SUV slide in behind her at the light just before the Jeep moved into traffic on the Coast Highway.

  Traffic on the 1 was surprisingly light for a Saturday night. With the CD player cranked up and Pepper sitting in the back seat, Kit let her mind drift. Listening to Springsteen wonder what it was like in the back of a Pink Cadillac, she wondered if Gloria knew about Alana’s marriage to Frank Geller. The thought of that union had her cringing. She remembered Frank as a rather creepy kind of guy who always appeared as if he were working on his next con, a guy with a definite used-car salesman appearance. She was grateful she hadn’t been around for that marriage.

  As traffic got heavier, every once in a while she glanced out over the water and mentally ticked off the list of things about the dream she needed to remember to mention to Gloria.

  Deep in thought, she didn’t notice the silver SUV come around the Jeep as if to pass. Instead of flying by, though, the vehicle maintained the same speed as she did. By the time she saw that the SUV intended to occupy the same lane as the Jeep, the vehicle had already crossed the dotted line, bumping the driver’s side, causing her to swerve onto the shoulder.

  She had to fight the wheel hard to the left to keep the SUV from completely running her off the road. The big SUV kept pace. There was no room for her to maneuver. She battled with the vehicle, trying to keep from losing control. Thinking that maybe the SUV might simply bump her and go on, she slowed down enough to give the other car the road. But when she braked to slow down so did the SUV.

  Instead of moving on, the vehicle stayed glued to the side of the Jeep. Kit managed to look over and saw a familiar face smiling back at her. Meanwhile, the SUV kept coming, veering farther and farther into her until there was nothing to do but to try and maintain control of the car.

  She did her best until the SUV rammed harder this time, metal-to-metal into the driver’s side with such force it pushed her off the shoulder onto the rough terrain. And still the SUV kept coming. When Kit hit the brakes, the SUV did the same as if anticipating her move. Driving on the shoulder now, both vehicles where in the dirt next to the edge of the cliffs. The SUV kept pushing and pushing until finally there was no place left for the Jeep to go. It plunged off the edge and down the steep cliffs below.

  At their favorite watering hole, a Mexican cantina across from Billing-Pro Software, the three men were on their second round of beers when Jake’s cell phone rang. A glance at caller ID told him it was Gloria.

  Jake answered the phone with all the cheer of a man relaxing in a bar enjoying a Saturday night round of drinks after a long stress-filled week. “Hey Gloria, what’s up?”

  The minute she started to speak, though, Jake knew something was wrong; he could sense it in the way her voice cracked. “Jake, oh Jake, I’m so glad I got you. Kit’s been hurt. She…she had an accident. They’ve taken her to the emergency room at the Medical Center.”

  His world tilted. Hurt? An accident? What the hell? He stood up from the table and swayed, not so much from the beer and a half he’d consumed but from knowing that Kit had been injured and he hadn’t been there to protect her. He threw money on the table about the same time he reached into his jeans pocket to pull out his car keys.

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t have all the details. Baylee and I are on our way there now. Someone arranged for Pepper to be taken to the vet. The person who called…they said…the person that called said…they had to stabilize her before they could load her into the ambulance. Someone ran her off the road and…her Jeep plunged down an embankment. She…” Her voice trailed off and Gloria began to sob.

  “I’m on my way Gloria. I’ll meet you there.” Jake’s pace picked up as he moved toward the entrance to the restaurant with Reese and Dylan on his heels. “Kit had a car accident. I’ve got to go.”

  At the look on his friend’s face, Dylan grabbed Jake’s arm, only to have him pull away. Noting the glassy shock in Jake’s eyes, Dylan and Reese exchanged looks. It was Reese who took Jake’s keys from him and volunteered, “I’ll drive.”

  “I thought you had a date.”

  “So, I’ll be a little late.”

  Jake knew he was in the right place when he spotted an anxious Baylee pacing back and forth in front of a semicircular reception desk with a sleeping Sarah on her shoulder. When Baylee looked up and saw Jake approaching, she put out the one hand she’d been using to rub the baby’s back and took Jake’s hand in hers. Softly, so as not to wake the baby, but trying not to cry, she told him, “She’ll be okay, Jake. She’s tough.”

  “I want to see her. Where is she? How bad is it?”

  “You will. But right now they’ve taken her down the hall to do an MRI. Quinn says the doctor’s pretty sure she suffered a concussion, but they want to see how extensive it is, check for internal bleeding.”

  Jake flinched. He didn’t want to think about Kit with a concussion let alone in the closed scanner. “She’s claustrophobic. She won’t do well in that closed up space.”

  Baylee gave him a sympathetic look. “She’s a little out of it, Jake, groggy. I don’t think she’ll be aware that she’s in there. Besides, Quinn’s with her. She isn’t alone. We lucked out having Quinn on duty tonight.” Baylee made a face. “There were some lacerations…on her face, some bruising.”

  Jake winced.

  Noticing his grimace, she explained, “From the airbag. Her head and right shoulder took the worst of the impact, as well as her right leg. Right leg isn’t broken though. At least that’s what Quinn said. She’s been in there with her since they brought her in, says Kit will need some stitches on the side of her head.” With her free hand she pointed to the side of her own head just above the ear. “When they get her shoulder back in place, she’ll be good as new.”

  To Baylee’s credit she did her best to put a positive spin on Kit’s injuries, but Jake just wasn’t in the mood to be appeased. He wanted answers; he wanted to see Kit, see how she was for himself. He looked around and realized the waiting area looked like any typical ER on any given Saturday night. The place offered nothing but standing room only. Since there were no available chairs, and he didn’t feel like sitting anyway, he searched out Dylan and Reese, only to realize they’d been standing directly behind him the entire time. A couple of feet away he spotted Gloria for the first time; she looked upset, tears running down her cheeks.

  Dylan poked Jake in the ribs with his elbow. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to the ladies?”

  “Dylan and Reese, you remember Gloria Gandis. And this is Baylee Scott and her daughter, Sarah.” Baylee nodded in their direction, but it was Gloria who saw Dylan and Reese through misty eyes and said, “Kit will be so pleased that you came to see her.”

  “Has anyone spoken to the police? Can they tell us what hap
pened and how the accident happened?”

  Baylee looked uncomfortable. “Quinn talked to them earlier. There were witnesses who said an SUV deliberately ran her off the road, pushed Kit’s Jeep down the side of a cliff. The SUV took off, didn’t stop.” She anticipated Jake’s question before he had time to ask. “No one got a license plate, just a description of the car; late model SUV, silver, big.”

  Jake’s knees went weak at the thought of Kit lying in that car, unconscious, hurt. Just then he looked past Baylee and saw Quinn heading their way. Dressed in her white coat, the woman didn’t look old enough to be a doctor.

  But Dr. Quinn Tyler was all business, when she nodded in greeting. “She’s getting stitched up. I wanted to do the honors, but I flipped Dr. Anson for it and lost.” When she realized her joke hadn’t been well received, Quinn shifted back to serious. “She’s still in and out of it, but you guys can see her now, one at a time. Who wants to go first?”

  Jake deferred to Gloria, but obviously hoped she’d pick up on how much he wanted to see Kit. Sure enough, he saw the green light in her eyes before she nodded and heard her say, “You go on, Jake. I’ll go next, and then we’ll let Baylee go in and take her turn before she has to leave to put the baby to bed.”

  Jake didn’t wait for a consensus but turned on his heels, followed Quinn down the corridor, and disappeared.

  When he was gone, Dylan stared at the baby, who by now was wide awake and looking around at all the people. He also noticed how Baylee was struggling to hold her for such a long time with no place to sit down. He put his hands in his pocket and leaned closer to where Baylee stood.

  He looked into her face and her huge blue—almost turquoise-colored—eyes. He’d never seen anyone with that particular shade of eyes before. In the way of most single men, he shot a glance at her left ring finger. There was no ring.

  He took a step closer so he could get a better angle at the baby’s eyes. But Baylee turned around abruptly. Their eyes met. She instinctively took a step backward, leery of the close contact. Dylan just smiled easily and commented, “That’s a good-looking baby you’ve got there. She has your eyes. And it looks like you might need a place to sit down. Why don’t I see if one of these nice folks will find their manners and let you have a seat?”

  Baylee drew in a quick breath. The man looked like a surfer with sun-toned skin and blond hair pulled into a neat ponytail. He stared at her through calm blue eyes; there was an easy demeanor about him.

  She immediately went on red alert. She had no business thinking about any man. She’d been fooled into trusting the wrong one once before. She knew a gentle manner could be deceiving. But when Sarah reached out to touch Dylan’s nose, Baylee caved in a little and said, “Thank you, but what I really need is a place to…to feed her. Coming to the hospital is throwing her off her routine and she’s getting...hungry. I’ll just head outside to the car and…”

  Dylan thought he understood. The woman needed a place to nurse. He looked around the room. It was overflowing with people. “Wait here,” he said as he went over to the reception desk, talked with a nurse for a few minutes, and then came back to Baylee. “There’s a family restroom down the hall for mothers with children. There’s a place to sit and room to feed her. I’ll show you where it is. Where’s your bag?”

  Baylee pointed over to where Gloria stood guarding an oversized, overstuffed olive green bag. He calmly walked over, took it from Gloria, and turned to Baylee. “It’s just down the hall to the left, this way.” He nodded his head for her to follow.

  Reluctant, Baylee just stood there but then felt silly. It was a public place. He was just being helpful. When Sarah began to fuss, Baylee tagged after Dylan, who had hefted Sarah’s diaper bag over his shoulder as if it were an everyday occurrence, and both of them set off down the corridor.

  Quinn took the time to prepare Jake for the scene behind the curtain. “She’s a little banged up.” And that was putting it mildly, thought Quinn. But she didn’t want the man to go nuts when he saw what she looked like. “Bruises are starting to form, turn purple, so don’t be shocked by what you see. She did, after all, just go one-on-one with a 6,000 pound car and an airbag. And I don’t want you passing out on me. You aren’t queasy around needles, are you?”

  “No,” was Jake’s quick reply. But as he stood, just this side of some flimsy curtain barely separating the too-small space from another patient; he thought he might not be as comfortable around needles after all. And to top it off, as if it were possible, the man stitching Kit up looked even younger than Quinn.

  Kit rested on the bed with a goose egg-sized knot and a purple bruise on the right side of her forehead. Her right shoulder was wrapped in some kind of a sling and her normally golden skin had turned a pasty white. Blood loss, he knew, would account for the paleness. Her right leg was under the sheet so he couldn’t assess the damage to it.

  Thinking about her childhood and how many times she’d been hurt with no one to care for her, seeing her like this, so vulnerable, broke Jake’s heart.

  But the doctor was talking in an upbeat kind of way as he worked, and he had some sort of an accent. “Look here now, lass, it seems you have a visitor. Kit is a fine-looking lady and she’ll not be the worse for wear when I’m done with her. As I was telling your girl here, I got excellent marks in school for my stitches.”

  He winked at Kit for effect and went on cheerfully, “We’ll have her fixed up here in no time and resting in her own room. She’ll be good as new; won’t you, now?” He motioned at Jake with a nod of his head and said, “You can hold her hand if you like.”

  Jake stepped forward, wanting to touch, but half-afraid he’d hurt her more if he did. She looked so fragile. When he placed his hand in hers, found it cold, he wrapped both of his hands around her smaller one and held on like a lifeline. “I’m here, Kit. I should never have left you alone. Don’t try to move. I’ll just hold onto you while the doctor makes you better.”

  When she didn’t answer, the doctor told him, “She’s a little muddled right now, but she knows you’re here, that she’s not alone, don’t you lass?”

  Undeterred, Jake leaned down to her, whispering words of comfort in her ear until he heard the doctor snap off his gloves and announce he was finished.

  “We’ll be moving her now to her own room. You can follow her up if you like.” And with that, the doctor left them alone.

  Jake sat down on the bed by her side. “I was so worried, Kit.” His knees were still shaking. “Are you in pain?”

  Weakly, barely above a whisper, she asked, “Pepper? What about Pepper?”

  He was grateful to finally hear her speak, and he had no idea how the dog was, but he reassured her anyway. “Someone saw that he was taken to the vet. I’ll check on him as soon as we get you settled. Don’t worry, I’ll see to him, Kit; see that he’s taken care of.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.” He kissed the palm of her hand, “Are you in pain, baby?”

  “I’m okay. Throbbing, everything’s throbbing a little.” She wanted to just drift away, but as if from a distance she thought she heard Gloria tell Jake, “The police are out in the waiting area. If you’d like to have a word with them, I’ll stay with Kit and go with her to her room. You can meet us up there when you’re done. I’m told they’re putting her in room 512. Baylee will want to take her turn to see that she’s okay before she takes the baby home.”

  Jake leaned into Kit, over her, took his time trying to decide where to plant a kiss. Finally settling on her forehead first, he placed a tender kiss, lips barely touching skin, before moving on to her nose, then to her chin and finally, gingerly, kissed her lips. When she closed her eyes sleepily, he left her with Gloria, left her to sleep while he tried to get some answers out of the police.

  When Jake got back to the waiting area, a uniformed police officer was explaining what he knew about the accident to Dylan and Reese. “Witnesses said the SUV crossed a lane of traffic at high speed bef
ore bumping her Jeep. Then for approximately a half a mile the SUV continued to bump the car until the Jeep finally careened out of control and went off the cliff, landing some twenty-five feet down on a drop-off point. Some of those cliffs are so steep they plunge right off into the ocean. It could have been much worse. She’s lucky the car came to a stop when it did, or that the gas tank didn’t take a hit and explode, or that the Jeep didn’t roll over on impact.

  “Unfortunately, the witnesses we’ve spoken to so far didn’t get a license plate number and can’t agree on what the driver looked like. And most of the people, the witnesses, agree the car was either gray or silver in color, but they aren’t certain which. That isn’t unusual with these kinds of accidents, what with dusk just setting in. The car took off, didn’t hang around long enough for anyone to get any more detail than that. More than likely we’re dealing with a drunk driver and that’s why they didn’t stop. These things take time to sort out…”

  “This was no accident.” Jake wasn’t buying the drunk driver scenario. “You’re telling us you have no fucking clue who did this to her? That you have no reliable witnesses, don’t know what type of vehicle ran her down, other than it was either a gray or silver SUV? Essentially, you’ve got nothing?”

  Reese recognized the anger building in Jake with every word. When Reese saw that Jake was about to step into the officer’s face, he pushed him back a step, only to be shoved back in response. Reese hoped the physical contact with him would temper Jake’s attitude toward the cop. But Jake was just warming up. Over and through Reese, he told the officer, “You need to call Homicide, talk to Max St. John or Dan Holloway, make them aware that someone tried to kill her tonight; tell them what happened here.”