Jill felt sorry for the tired, ragged-looking old woman who hadn’t bargained for any of this. “Thelma, I heard about Larry. Is there anything I can do?”
The woman looked up at her with tears in her eyes. “We were just so shocked to see him here, and now Pete can’t get over it, but Larry’s under arrest and I can’t get him back.”
The boy tried to pull his tubes loose, and the grandmother fought to hold his hands. Dan went to the edge of the bed, grabbed the boy’s wrists, and held them firmly to his sides. “Take it easy, buddy. It’s gonna be all right. You need that tube so you can breathe.”
The boy was crying too hard to listen.
Thelma covered her face with her hands, and Jill pulled her into a hug.
The boy shook his head and Dan let one hand go. Pete pointed to the door again.
“What’s he telling us? Something about his dad?”
Pete nodded his head. He pointed to the wall where the plug was, then held up his hand and bent some fingers. His grandmother saw that and pulled back from Jill.
“The fingers,” she said. “Whenever he does that, he’s talking about the man who planted the bomb. He saw him, and he said he didn’t have some of his fingers.”
Jill looked down at him. “Honey, that man is in jail. They caught him yesterday. He’s locked up.”
Pete shook his head and pointed to his hair. He moved his fingers like scissors on his hair, but Jill didn’t understand. Again, he held up his hand and bent some of his fingers down.
A chill ran down Jill’s spine, and she looked back up at Dan. He, too, seemed to seriously consider what Pete might be saying. Pete was getting more and more agitated, pointing to the door with tears rolling down his face. He wanted his daddy.
Suddenly, Jill felt overcome with the need to go and get Larry, but the police would never listen to her. Maybe they would listen to Stan, but he was still with Celia, waiting for his baby to come.
“I don’t know what to do for him!” Thelma cried. “He’s so upset. I wish Larry had never come back! And I’m so confused…Part of me thinks he couldn’t have unplugged the ventilator, but if he didn’t, who did?”
Pete had stopped trying to pull out his tube, so Dan let his hands go and began stroking his forehead, trying to calm him down. The boy continued to cry.
“Do you really think Larry could have done that?” Dan asked.
“I never thought of that man as a killer,” Thelma said. “But I don’t know anything about what he’s turned into in the last couple of years.”
Jill shook her head. “No, I knew him when he was in town. Unless he’s just gone off the deep end or something, I can’t see him coming in here for that. Besides, if he wanted to…” She couldn’t say the words “kill him” in front of Pete, so she rephrased it. “If he wanted to unplug it, why would he try to…” She glanced at Pete, and saw that he was looking up at her, hanging on every word. “To fix things, at the last minute?”
“Maybe when I woke up he got caught and had to cover his tracks,” Thelma said. “But he was already holding Pete. I’m not sure, but I think I woke up because he yelled.” She shook her head. “Or maybe he wanted to look like the hero, coming in on a white horse to rescue his child.”
Jill thought that over for a moment. Maybe it was possible, but even as she considered it, Pete started shaking his head again, pointing to the door, kicking his feet with weak energy as tears rolled down his face. He wasn’t going to rest until his father came back.
A doctor who had seen the activity of his heart monitor rushed into the room. “Pete, what’s the matter, son? You’ve got to calm down.”
“He wants his daddy,” Thelma said.
Pete stopped kicking and nodded, as if at last he had been understood.
“All right,” the doctor said. “I’ll see if I can catch him before they take him out of the building.”
His grandmother stiffened, as if she didn’t know if that was a good idea or not. Pete suddenly grew still at the prospect.
“He doesn’t think his father did it,” Dan whispered.
Jill leaned over the bed. “Pete, do you know who unplugged your breathing machine?”
Pete nodded.
“Was it your daddy?”
He shook his head no.
“Who was it then?”
He held up his hand and bent some of the fingers again. Jill straightened, frustrated. “That’s impossible. Frank Harper is in jail.”
Dan frowned. “You don’t think…”
“Let’s go make a phone call,” she said. “Pete, we’ll be right back, okay? The doctor’s going to get your daddy. You just rest for a minute, okay?”
Pete was growing tired and weak, and he nodded as they left the room.
Chapter Seventy-Six
It didn’t take long for Jill to find out that Frank Harper had escaped from jail, and that they were looking for him in Newpointe at this very moment. Panicked, she ran up to the floor where Stan and Celia were having their baby. She began to pace frantically in front of the door, waiting for Stan to come out.
“Are you okay?” Dan asked her.
“Yes,” she said, “but if Frank Harper has escaped from jail, and little Pete thinks that he saw him unplugging the ventilator, then that means he’s here in this hospital!”
Dan was beginning to sweat. “You know, Jill, I’d really like to get you out of here. Let’s just leave, okay?”
“But what about Pete? What about Stan and Celia? I mean, what is he up to? Why would he want to kill Pete?”
“Because he’s a witness to the post office bombing,” Dan said.
“Maybe,” she said, still pacing. “We have to warn Stan. He could come after him. We have to tell the police…”
A nurse came through the door, and Jill almost attacked her. “Has the baby come yet?”
“Just about,” she said. “It’s crowning. Shouldn’t be too much longer.”
Jill wiped the perspiration forming on her forehead, and Dan took her hand and headed for the stairwell.
Chapter Seventy-Seven
It’s a girl!” The baby’s cry went up and filled the room, and Celia laughed with relief as she looked down at her beautiful daughter.
They put the baby into Stan’s arms, and he began to mist up as he bent down to show his wife.
“She’s beautiful,” she said. “Oh, Stan, isn’t she beautiful?”
“Just like her mama,” Stan managed to say. He couldn’t believe how blessed he was.
Jill and Dan found the police huddled just outside the hospital. Larry sat in a squad car as one officer questioned him.
“Excuse me. Sir, excuse me…” Jill pushed her way through the officers and reached the cop who was talking to Larry. “I just found out that Frank Harper escaped from Newpointe Jail this afternoon. I was just with Pete Hampton upstairs, and he’s indicating that Harper is the one who unplugged the ventilator. I think Frank Harper is here, somewhere, in the building.”
“Frank Harper?” Larry asked. “Isn’t he one of the guys who blew up the post office?”
“Yes!” The cop seemed to be ignoring her. “Are you listening to me?” she asked him.
“Ma’am, they’re looking for Frank Harper in Newpointe. He escaped on foot, and he couldn’t have made it here.”
“He could have if he stole a car, and that’s one of the things he does well. I’m telling you, he’s here. Pete saw him.”
“I thought the boy couldn’t talk.”
“He can’t. He motioned. Frank Harper is missing some fingers. Pete keeps holding up his hand like this.” She showed him, and the man rolled his eyes.
“He wants his daddy. Now, why would he want his daddy if he was the one who tried to kill him?”
“Maybe he doesn’t know he tried to kill him!” the cop shouted.
Larry was shaking his head. “They won’t listen. They’re convinced I came here to kill my son.”
“People have done a lot of crazy things to kee
p from paying child support,” the cop said.
“I don’t pay child support!” the man shouted. “Never have. I’ve been hiding from my family for the last two years. Why would I come out of hiding now and make myself known to my son, just so I could kill him?”
Jill couldn’t take anymore. She turned back to Dan. “Let’s go back and find Stan. He’ll listen.”
“But the baby…”
“Stan needs to know that Frank Harper is in there!”
Dan nodded, took her hand, and pulled her back through the cluster of police.
They reached the fourth floor again, and were told that the baby had come. They asked the nurse to go tell Stan they needed to speak to him, that it was urgent. As they waited, they paced in front of the door, waiting for Stan to come out so they could tell him what had happened with Frank Harper. It seemed to take forever, but finally, he came through the door, grinning from ear to ear.
“It’s a girl!”
“Yeah, we know. They told us.”
Stan’s grin faded. “What’s the matter? You wanted a boy?”
Jill shook her head, unamused. “Stan, Frank Harper’s escaped.”
“He’s what?”
“He’s escaped. And I have reason to believe he’s somewhere in this hospital, Stan.”
“No way.”
“Somebody unplugged Pete’s ventilator and almost killed him. His father found him gasping for breath, and they’ve arrested him thinking he’s the one who did it.”
“No way,” Stan repeated. “Larry Hampton may be a jerk of a father, but he’s not gonna kill his little boy.”
“Then you need to talk to them,” Jill said, “and get him back up because Pete wants his daddy now that he knows he’s here. But not only that, Stan. I’m scared to death of what Frank Harper is up to. The police downstairs won’t listen to me. They’re convinced that he couldn’t be in New Orleans, but I know and you know that he could have stolen a car before they even got the dogs out. He’s here. Little Pete kept holding up his hand with his fingers bent down…”
“He did?” Stan asked. “That would indicate Frank Harper, but how could he have gotten in without being recognized? His picture’s been all over the news.”
Dan put his arm around Jill’s shoulders. “Stan, I’m thinking Harper may have cut his hair. Pete did a scissor-like motion on his hair, and kept holding up the hand with lost fingers.”
Stan looked back at the door where his wife and child lay. “I don’t like this,” he said. He pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and called his office.
“LaTonya, it’s me, Stan. What’s going on with Frank Harper?”
He listened for a moment, then shot a look to Jill. “Let me talk to him.” As he waited, he put his hand over the phone. “Some rookie who’s been on the force for four weeks was guarding him when he escaped. She’s going to get him so I can talk to him.” Stan straightened again and looked down at the floor. “Yeah, I just wanted to know what Jerry Ingalls said about Frank’s escape…What do you mean, what do I mean? You interviewed him, didn’t you? Did you ask him what Frank told him before he escaped?…I don’t care how busy you’ve been. I don’t care if every cop in town is out looking for Harper. I want you down there talking to Jerry Ingalls. Call me back immediately! I want to hear from you as soon as you have any information.”
By the time the rookie got back to him, Stan was pacing outside the door to Celia’s room with the cell phone to his ear. Jill and Dan were huddled against the wall, waiting. “What did he say?” Stan asked the young cop.
“Well, he claims that Frank Harper is headed there. Where you are.”
“What for?” Stan shouted.
“Something about wanting to put the kid out of his misery. Ingalls said he was feeling guilty about the kid’s mother. And he said something else, Stan, but I don’t know…”
“I didn’t ask you to know or not know!” Stan said. “What did he say?”
“Ingalls said Harper talked about planting a bomb there.”
“Oh…no…” Stan started to run even as he kept the phone to his ear, and Jill and Dan began to follow him into the stairwell, down the stairs, onto the first floor…He ran through the doors and found the cluster of cops still talking to Larry Hampton. Jill and Dan had trouble keeping up with him, but they managed to as Stan bolted through the cops and yelled, “Frank Harper is in the building! We’ve got to evacuate.”
One cop turned around. “The guy who blew up the post office?”
“He’s here,” Stan said, out of breath. “We’ve got to get everybody out. Now. He told his cell mate that he was going to kill Pete Hampton, and that he might blow up the whole hospital.” He pointed to Larry. “You’ve got the wrong guy.”
The cop filling out the arrest report looked up.
“I told you what happened,” Larry said. “He tried to kill my boy. Now, will you let me get back to him and make sure he’s okay?”
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Stan said. “He saved the boy. He’d be dead if his dad hadn’t walked in.”
Larry’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m glad I came. I almost didn’t.” He turned back to the cops. “Can I go? Please, I have to get my son out of here.”
When the cop hesitated, Stan stepped in. “You don’t have time to take him in. You have to help me evacuate this building. It’s gonna take all of us. We need to notify the FBI and alert the bomb division. We’ve got to find out if there’s a bomb in this building, and we’ve got to find Harper, and we’ve got to get my wife and daughter out of here immediately.”
“How much time do we have?” the cop asked.
“I have no idea. We’ll just have to go on faith.”
Unaware of what was going on in the hospital around her, Celia waited for them to bring her the baby after cleaning her up. Aunt Aggie was in her room with her, finally relaxed after the tension of the day.
“Where’d that Stan go?” Aunt Aggie asked. “He oughta be here with his wife.”
Celia didn’t know where Stan was, but she knew that if he wasn’t here, there was a good reason. So she tried to be patient. “He’ll be here, Aunt Aggie. Maybe he got a call or something. Or maybe he decided to contact relatives.”
“I called ever’body who needs to know already.”
“Did you call the Fords, Aunt Aggie?”
The old woman thought a moment. “Ever’body but the Fords.”
Celia chuckled and picked up the phone. She dialed Susan’s number in Newpointe.
Susan answered, and Celia could hear the children talking in the background.
“Hello?”
“Susan, it’s me, Celia.”
“Celia, honey! Where you callin’ from?”
“I’m in the hospital! I had the baby.”
A cry went out over the phone line. “Celia had her baby! Celia had her baby! Girl or boy?” she asked, coming back to the phone.
“It was a girl,” Celia said. “She’s beautiful. We’re gonna name her Agatha Nicole.”
“You’re namin’ her after Aunt Aggie! Oh, honey, I’m on my way.”
Celia laughed. “No, you don’t have to come. It’s a long way.”
“Forty minutes aren’t anything,” Susan said. “I’ll be there. You just try and keep me away.”
Susan hung up the phone and turned around to Debbie Ingalls. She looked tense and preoccupied, as she had since Ray had called to let them know that Frank Harper had escaped. “You haven’t been out of this house in a couple of days. Why don’t you pack up the kids and come with me to the South Shore to see Celia’s baby?”
Debbie shook her head. “That’s okay. We can stay here.”
“Honey, as jumpy as you been, and with Frank Harper on the loose again? I don’t think I’m gon’ leave you by yourself. Now, you just get your stuff together and come with me. If they won’t let the kids up, you can wait in the lobby, but at least you’ll feel safe.”
Debbie considered that for a moment, then looked
back at her children. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt. It would be a nice diversion.”
“We’ll get ice cream on the way,” Susan said.
“They’ll ruin your car.”
Susan waved her off as if she didn’t care. “We’ll bring towels,” she said. “There’s nothin’ they can do that a good washin’ won’t fix.”
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Frank Harper was filthy from mixing fertilizer and diesel fuel with the other ingredients he needed to build his bomb. He had stolen a rifle from out of a pickup truck and pawned it to get the cash to buy the bomb materials from various hardware stores. He loaded the barrels onto the bread truck he had “borrowed” after the business had closed for the day. It had been so easy he couldn’t believe it. And he had the detonator put together, and the timer ready to be set.
He headed back to the hospital. As he reached it, he saw the activity of the police cars and people being evacuated from the building. He realized they must have already found Pete and figured out he was here. Did that mean the boy had survived being unplugged from the ventilator? He hoped not. He wanted the boy to die peacefully, not in an explosion like his mother. But he supposed that dead was dead no matter how it happened.
The fact that he might have been found out didn’t faze him as he crossed the parking lot in the bread truck. They were looking for someone going out, not coming in. He had the perfect cover.
He pulled the truck to the side of the building where he knew the kitchen was and pulled into the delivery drive. He climbed into the back of the truck and set the timer for fifteen minutes. Then grinning, he got out and left it there.
If he ran, he’d have plenty of time to get far enough away that the explosion wouldn’t reach him, but he’d still be able to watch it. He looked around with pride as he saw the task force with their FBI T-shirts. A bomb squad had pulled up to the front door with the bomb robot, and they were taking it in as patients filed out of every exit.
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