Deadly Currents

by Beth Groundwater

  With a nod, the woman wrote down both the detective’s name and Mandy’s. “You can take a seat to do that paperwork.”

  When Mandy faced the waiting room, she finally noticed the other occupants. A young mother held a whining toddler with a red face and a weak cough on her lap. An overweight middle-aged woman looked at the wall clock, checked her watch, and repeated the ritual. Anxiety was etched in the deep worry lines on her face.

  Mandy could relate.

  She went to an empty chair and started filling out the forms. She knew the basics, Rob’s address, phone number, and so on. But when it came to next-of-kin, she couldn’t remember any more than the names of his parents, that they lived in Pueblo, and that Rob had dinner with them every other Monday. In fact, Rob had hinted lately that she should go down to Pueblo with him soon.

  Mandy moved on to the next line of the form. She had no idea if he was allergic to anything. What if they gave him an antibiotic that he reacted to? She vowed to trade medical information with Rob as soon as possible. Neither one of them had family now in Salida. They had to look out for each other, now that they were a true couple. Rob said he loved her.

  A realization hit her like a slap. Her pen clattered to the floor. I never told him I loved him back.

  The urge to see him became overwhelming. She couldn’t let him go on thinking she didn’t love him, not after he took a bullet that must have been meant for her.

  She bent down to pick up the pen, but a noise made her raise her head. The orderly had come back out with a rag and a bottle of antiseptic. His hands encased in latex gloves, he went to work cleaning the chair Rob had sat in. Blood covered the chair’s arm and drops stained the floor.

  A chill went through Mandy.

  The orderly saw her staring. “Can’t be too careful about body fluids these days.”

  “I know he doesn’t have AIDS,” Mandy said. “He was just tested.” They had done the responsible thing a month ago, gotten tested for STDs and traded the results. It was embarrassing, but with both of them being trained first-aiders, they knew it had to be done.

  The orderly nodded but kept on cleaning. “Name’s Ed Lindeman, by the way. What’s yours?”

  “Mandy Tanner.”

  “Well, Mandy, your friend looks like he’s in pretty good shape, athletically.”

  “He’s a whitewater rafting guide.”

  “Done some rafting myself,” Ed said with a nod. “You know, folks in good shape have a much better chance of surviving a medical emergency. I think he’ll pull through just fine.”

  “Thanks.” Mandy hoped he really knew what he was talking about.

  Finished with his task, Ed smiled, then walked back through the automatic doors.

  Mandy finished what she could of the forms and turned them in to the receptionist. “Will you call me, please, as soon as Rob can have a visitor or when you know something?”

  “Sure thing, dear,” the receptionist replied. “Try to relax. He’s in good hands now.”

  Too edgy to sit, Mandy paced the length of the room. She checked the clock at the end of each circuit. When the mother and her child were called in, Mandy stepped aside.

  The mother gave Mandy a wan, sympathetic smile when she passed, and Mandy tried to respond in kind. “I hope your little one feels better soon.”

  She resumed her pacing.

  Mandy was wearing a groove into the carpet when the receptionist called her to the desk. “We’re going to admit Mr. Juarez for the night at least. As soon as the doctor’s done with him, he’ll come out to talk to you, but I’ll warn you that he said it would be awhile.”

  Relief flooded through Mandy, making her clutch the counter for balance. “So Rob will be okay?”

  “Of course, honey.” The woman patted Mandy’s hand and looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “He’s just weak and in a lot of pain right now. Not a happy camper. He’ll need some TLC later. I assume you can provide that.”

  She gave a playful wink and turned to her computer screen.

  The outside door snicked open, and Quintana stepped through. He was still dressed in his uniform, even though it was approaching eleven o’clock.

  Mandy ran toward him then stopped, hesitantly twisting her hands. When he opened his arms, she stepped gratefully inside their circle. The tears she’d been holding back started flowing. Suddenly the enormity of all she had been through in the last few days hit her—losing her first rescue victim, then the devastating death of Uncle Bill, followed by an attempt on her own life which had almost succeeded in taking Rob’s.

  “Rob. Oh, God. Someone shot Rob in the shoulder.”

  Quintana patted her back. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “I think so. I want to see him. I need to see him, but they won’t let me.”

  “I’m sure they have their reasons. Let’s go outside and talk in my cruiser.” Quintana dug a packet of tissues out of a pocket and handed them to her. “It’ll be more private there.”

  Mandy told the receptionist where she would be, then let Quintana steer her outside while she fumbled the tissue packet open and blew her nose.

  Quintana pointed to her Subaru, still parked right outside the door. “Is that your car?”

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot to move it.”

  “Give me your keys, and I’ll put it in a parking space. My car’s right over there.” He pointed to a police cruiser parked a few yards away in the emergency parking lot.

  Once they were both inside the cruiser, Mandy told Quintana the whole story of how the bullet had come through her now-glassless kitchen window and hit Rob.

  He listened carefully and took notes, then flipped his notebook shut. “I’ll get the bullet from the ER. They’ll save it for me. Then I’ll search all our suspects’ homes for guns, check them against the bullet. If anyone doesn’t give me permission, I’ll ask for a warrant.”

  “All the suspects?” Mandy said. “I thought you’d narrowed it down to Paula and Jeff King.”

  “The bullet came through your window about half an hour ago, right?”

  “Right. Rob brought in the pizza about nine thirty, and we’d finished eating it and were talking.”

  “I just finished saying goodbye to Paula King and her lawyer. About the time that shot was fired, I was at the station’s front desk, signing her out. I was on my way home when I got the call over the radio about Rob.”

  Mandy felt a twinge of guilt that he hadn’t had a chance to see his family yet after an already long day. “So you don’t think Paula killed her husband?”

  “I didn’t say that,” Quintana replied. “The only thing we know for sure is that she didn’t fire that bullet through your window. That was someone else. Could have been an accomplice of hers—like her son. Or someone other than King’s killer, who for their own reasons doesn’t like the way you’ve been snooping around.”

  “Did you find out anything from Paula?”

  “She kept insisting she knew nothing about the root and the powder you found. Then her lawyer showed up and said if we didn’t have anything more to go on, we had no basis for holding her. He was right, frankly. We won’t have the lab results for two or three days, and with no proof that what we found was aconite, we had to release her.”

  Dejected, Mandy leaned her head back against the head rest. “We’re not getting anywhere, are we?”

  “On the contrary,” Quintana said. “I’ll have a bullet to match, once they dig it out of Rob’s shoulder.”

  As she imagined how painful that would be for Rob, Mandy winced in sympathy.

  “And potentially, we may have our hands on some of the poison,” Quintana said. “Lastly, you’ve made someone very nervous. I like nervous suspects. Though, I’d much prefer them to be nervous because of me than a young river ranger.”

  He
stroked his mustache. “You need to lay low for a while. This escalation from a rock to a bullet through your window is worrisome. Do you have somewhere other than your house, or your uncle’s place, where you can stay for a few days?”

  “I’ll spend the night here with Rob. I don’t know what I’ll do after that. I don’t know how long they’ll want to keep him here. And if they release him, I don’t know if he’ll need someone to take care of him.”

  Or if I can do it. She wasn’t even sure she and Rob were far enough along in their relationship for her to move in with him and become his caretaker, even for a few days. In the meantime, there was Lucky to think about. Mandy decided to call Cynthia and ask for her help.

  “The hospital should be safe enough. Let me know where you decide to stay after tonight. I wish I could provide protection for you, but we don’t have the manpower.” Quintana gave her an assessing look. “You ready to go back in there?”

  Mandy scrubbed at her tear-stained face. “I guess so.”

  He opened the car door. “Let’s see if they’ve gotten that bullet out of Rob’s shoulder. Then we’ve both got work to do.”

  You could not step twice into the same river,

  for other waters are ever flowing on to you.

  —On The Universe, Heraclitus Of Ephesus (540–480 BC)

  A ray of morning sunlight shone through the venetian blinds across Rob’s hospital room window and lit on Mandy’s face. Even with her eyes closed, the brightness made her squint. As she slumped, curled in a ball, in the chair beside Rob’s bed, pains started reporting in from various parts of her body. Her tailbone twinged, her cricked neck ached, and she felt like some sadist was stabbing a serrated knife under one of her shoulder blades. With a groan, she straightened out her stiff arms and legs, flexed her back, and leaned over to check on Rob.

  His face was in repose, and he breathed deeply, still in a drug-induced slumber. A huge mound of bandaging encased his shoulder. His arm was bound to his body. He tried to shift his position, failed, and grunted in his sleep.

  Mandy wanted to touch him, reassure herself by feeling the warmth of life coursing through him, but she didn’t want to wake him. She tried to be satisfied with gazing at him, counting his breaths, watching his eyelids twitch.

  The sun’s rays slowly traveled across the floor until a nurse rattled in with a cart. The moveable shelf on top held a breakfast tray, and the stationary shelf below held a tray of medical supplies. She picked up an ear thermometer and fitted a disposable cap on it.

  “Do you have to disturb him?” Mandy whispered.

  “We’ve got to make sure he doesn’t have a fever,” the nurse said. “That’s a sign of infection, and we don’t want that. I’ll need to wake him to check his dressing anyway.”

  When she poked the thermometer in his ear, Rob grimaced and stretched out his legs under the covers. His eyelids fluttered. One opened, revealing a malevolent eye peering at the nurse. “What kind of way is that to wake someone?”

  The nurse smiled and extracted the thermometer. “Ninety-nine. Not bad.”

  Mandy leaned in. “How’re you feeling, Rob?”

  “Lousy.” He scanned her rumpled clothes and tousled hair. “Have you been here all night?”

  “Yeah.” She gave his hand a squeeze, then held on. “I didn’t want to leave you alone, in case—” She gave a little shrug. “In case you woke up and needed something.”

  “Sorry to break up this tender moment, but I need to get in there and check that bandage.” The nurse stood next to Mandy with the tray of bandaging supplies and a bemused smile.

  Mandy rose, then grabbed the side of the bed for support. Her left leg felt like bees had moved in and were humming an angry chorus together. “My leg’s gone to sleep.”

  “Wiggle and stomp it,” the nurse said, and put the tray of supplies on the nightstand next to Rob’s head.

  Mandy hobbled toward Rob’s feet, held on to the bed rail and shook her leg until the buzzing died down.

  The nurse slowly unwrapped the outer bandage on Rob’s shoulder, revealing a blood-stained inner bandage, then a row of stitches along an angry, purple wound.

  Suddenly light-headed, Mandy looked away.

  The nurse shot her a glance. “Why don’t you go freshen up, wash your face?”

  “I do need to pee,” Mandy mumbled.

  She backed out of the room and fled down the hallway, looking for a public restroom. The one in Rob’s hospital room was too close. She had to get away—from the wound, the smells, the too-knowing nurse, and Rob, so he couldn’t see how much his injury disturbed her. When she found a restroom, she headed straight for the sink and splashed cold water on her face until her hands stopped shaking.

  How am I going to take care of Rob if I can’t stand the sight of his wound? She leaned on the sink and looked at her reflection in the mirror. You’ll just have to get over it, you wimp.

  She plastered on a brave smile and dried her hands. When she returned to the room, the nurse had finished rebandaging Rob. She cranked up his bed so he was in a half-sitting position.

  The nurse pushed the top of the cart holding the breakfast tray over Rob’s lap and peered at Mandy. Apparently liking what she saw, she gave a little nod. “Okay, how about if you help your friend here eat his breakfast? He tells me he’s right-handed. Since the left shoulder is injured, you should only need to take the lids off and cut his food for him.” She picked up the tray of bandaging supplies and left.

  Glad to have something useful to do, Mandy set to work uncovering Rob’s scrambled eggs and slicing his ham.

  He took a few bites. “This tastes pretty good. I’m surprised how hungry I am.”

  Mandy brushed back a lock of Rob’s hair that had fallen over his forehead. “I told Detective Quintana what happened. He came in and got the bullet from the doctors last night.”

  “Does he have any idea who did it?”

  “He knows Paula King didn’t, since she was with him. He’s going to search everyone else’s houses and cars for the gun.”

  “Lenny Preble and Evie Olson, too?”

  “And Nate Fowler and Jeff King. Those are the people I pissed off with my questioning. If he doesn’t find anything at their homes, Quintana may search the property of some other folks who were on the trip.”

  “What’s he going to do to protect you?”

  “Not much. He can’t. There aren’t that many cops on the Chaffee County Sheriff’s rolls.”

  Rob put down his fork and frowned at her. “Until he finds out who did it, this person could take another pot shot at you. That bullet wasn’t meant for me. You need to hide out.”

  Suddenly feeling shy and unsure of herself, Mandy looked up under her lashes at Rob. “I was kinda hoping to invite myself over to your place after you check out of here—just for a few days, you know, to help out. To show you … like you were saying your Pop showed your Mom.”

  Understanding bloomed in Rob’s eyes. He reached over with his good hand to cup her cheek and stroke it with his thumb. “I’d like that, mi querida.”

  “Knock, knock. You decent?” Cynthia came through the doorway with a stuffed teddy bear that held a miniature paddle in one hand, and in the other, a helium-filled Mylar balloon proclaiming, “Get Back To Work, You Slug.”

  Rob grinned. “What would you have done if I wasn’t decent?”

  “Enjoyed the view.” Cynthia leered at him. “How’s the patient? Not feeling any pain, I hope.”

  “The doc has me pretty drugged up,” Rob said. “In fact the world’s looking downright rosy. I could get used to this stuff.”

  “Good.” Cynthia kissed Rob on the cheek, put the bear on his nightstand, and gave Mandy a hug. “I fed Lucky for you this morning. That dog misses you.”

  “Thanks. Poor Lucky’s had to put up wit
h a lot lately.”

  Cynthia rubbed her hands together. “Okay, here’s the latest blonde joke to cheer you both up. Why did the blonde nurse bring a red marker to work?”

  “You’ve got me,” Rob said.

  “In case she had to draw blood!”

  Rob tilted back his head and laughed. “Good one. Just what I needed. Now you need to talk Mandy into taking a break.”

  “No way,” Mandy said, buttering his toast. “I’m sticking with you.”

  “The nurses are taking good care of me, and you look bushed.”

  Cynthia scanned Mandy’s face. “Dark eye circles aren’t exactly your look, girl. If you were going for sultry, you missed and wound up with haunted.”

  Haunted by the threat to Rob’s life, by the fact that I caused it. Mandy opened the jelly container and picked up a knife to spread some on Rob’s toast. “But you need me to help you eat. I want to take care of you.”

  She wanted to tell Rob why, that she loved him, but Cynthia was in the room. Why didn’t she say it before, when she had the chance, rather than make that lame reference to his Pop?

  Rob took the knife out of Mandy’s hand. “I hate grape jelly.”

  Mandy looked at the packet label. “Dammit. I knew that.”

  “I don’t intend to be here very long anyway,” Rob said. “I’m going to talk the doc into letting me sign out today.”

  “Today?” Cynthia asked. “That’s so soon.”

  “I’ve got a business to run.”

  “With one good arm?”

  “My staff will help me. And Mandy will be there to help at the house.”

  Cynthia crossed her arms, lifted a brow and looked from Rob to Mandy. “Oh? I hadn’t heard about this new arrangement.”

  “It’s temporary,” Mandy said.

  Rob grinned at her. “I’m looking forward to you scrubbing my back.”

  Mandy could tell from his grin that he wasn’t just thinking about his back. A flush warmed her cheeks.