Heat pushed into the room, and smoke curled in under and around the closed door. Sirens wailed in the distance as I dragged myself to another desk, desperation pushing me beyond my pain limits. There! Scissors! I grabbed the instrument and clutched it in one hand while I dragged myself back to the exterior door and the rope that kept me captive inside an inferno.
I opened the twin blades, my fingers and thumb in the grips, and sliced it closed. Another scream threatened, and I squelched it, knowing the pain it would cause would only slow me down. The scissors were dull. I rocked them back and forth, and tiny threads from the rope began to fray apart. Sweat popped out on my brow.
Faintly, I heard someone yell my name. Keith. He was here. I sawed on the rope frantically, fraying more tiny threads.
“In here!” My hands raised to pound on the back door.
Muffled sounds came from the other side as I sawed more threads loose, not cutting enough of the rope to make a difference.
A voice I didn’t know yelled through the door. “Jenna Quinn, are you behind this doorway?”
“Yes.” My voice came out in a scratchy croak, and I coughed. I sucked in a deep breath and tried again. “Yes! The door is tied shut! I’m trying to cut the rope with dull scissors!”
“Is there fire anywhere in the room?” the voice yelled.
I raised up and looked. “No, just some smoke coming in around the edges of the door I closed to the front room!”
Indistinct voices, muffled because of the door, yelled to one another, and I ramped up my efforts to saw through the rope with the dull blades.
“Jenna!” Keith’s beautiful, amazing, perfect voice yelled through the door. “They’ve brought a saw to cut through the door around the lock. Back away and stay low to the floor. They’re trying to contain the fire to keep it off the back of the building until they can get you out.
I dropped the scissors and slid backward under a desk, covering my face with a layer of my jacket to keep the smoke out. The loud screech of the saw sent waves of intense pain through my head, and I slumped to the floor in the fetal position, my arms wrapped around my head.
A final screech, and a circular spot around the door lock fell away, and bolt cutters extended inside to snip the remaining rope. The door flew open, and within seconds, strong arms scooped me up from the floor. As we emerged into fresh air, I opened my eyes, forcing them to focus on Keith’s face as he carried me toward an ambulance.
His voice pushed through my brain’s haze. “You’re okay. Don’t leave me. You’re okay.”
I tried to respond, but darkness pulled me down into its clutches.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Something jolted underneath my bed. An earthquake? There weren’t earthquakes in North Carolina. Were there? Another jolt forced my eyes open. Strangers peered down at me, and straps held me to a tiny bed. I struggled to comprehend, opening my mouth to protest, but no sound came out, just a shuddering cough.
“She’s awake.” Keith’s face swam into view. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.” His warm hand clutched mine tightly where it lay on the blankets.
As he spoke, I felt a sharp turn, and the ambulance slowed to a stop. The back doors flew open, and more strangers grasped at me.
Keith slid to the ground ahead of me, and I groped for his hand.
“Don’t leave me.” I parroted his words back to him.
He slid in between two paramedics. “I won’t. I promise. I’ll be with you every step they allow.” He jogged in tandem as emergency room staff took my stretcher inside. “You’re going to be okay.”
Maybe if he said it enough, I’d begin to believe it. I wasn’t sure. My head pounded, and my chest felt as if it was still trapped inside the burning library. “The books?” I gasped.
Keith’s laugh eased a few of my fears. Surely if he was laughing, I wasn’t dying.
“Sweetheart, leave it to you to worry about books when you’re headed into the ER.” He squeezed my fingers.
I did my best to squeeze back, but I wasn’t sure if I’d managed it or not.
A nurse stepped in front of Keith as they approached a set of double doors. “Sir, you’ll have to remain in the waiting room. We’ll call you back once we have assessed the patient and are assured she’s stable.”
Keith flashed his badge. “Ma’am, with all due respect, we need to stay with this witness. I will not be in your way, but I will be where I can keep my eyes on her.”
The nurse nodded and stepped aside, allowing Keith to follow me as they pushed my gurney through the emergency room bays to an empty slot, sliding the curtain closed around me once they’d locked the wheels and released the restraining belts.
I struggled to sit up, but gentle hands held me down until I stilled. Swiftly they moved me to the emergency-room bed, and the gurney disappeared from the bay.
A woman leaned over me, gray curls surrounding a weathered but sweet face. “Ma’am, I need you to be still for a bit longer, okay? We need to check a few things before we’re ready for you to move around.”
“Okay,” I whispered and slumped back onto the bed.
Seconds later, another woman entered. “I’m Doctor Lincoln.” She strode to my side, a clipboard in her hands. She flipped pages on its surface before setting it aside and reaching for my head, running her fingers across my scalp with a feather-light touch. “Looks like you hit your head. Did you fall?”
“No.” I didn’t recognize my hoarse croak. “Someone hit me with something.”
Dr. Lincoln pressed her lips into a frown, and she pulled a pen light from her pocket. “I know this will be hard, but I need you to keep your eyes open for me, okay?”
I nodded, willing my eyelids to stay open as she quickly flashed her light across my pupils.
“Looks like your pupils are dilating and contracting properly. A good sign.” Dr. Lincoln smiled at me and turned to Keith. “Are you her husband?”
Keith blinked, his mouth opened and closed, and he flashed his badge. “She’s a … I’m not—”
“Yes, you are.” Dr. Lincoln abruptly turned back to me. “Current hospital policy says only your spouse can be in here with you. Your husband can stay with you and move with you to a room when we have one ready. We’d like to run a few tests and keep you overnight for observation.” As quickly as she’d entered, she swept aside the curtain and left.
Well, okay then. I guess I was married. For tonight anyway. I looked at Keith, and he looked as confused as I felt.
“Somehow I don’t remember proposing.” He grinned at me. “Or the wedding. Maybe I hit my head too?”
A chuckle burbled up, and I winced as it pounded through my head. “Don’t make me laugh,” I gasped.
Warm fingers slid through mine. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’ll be more careful.” Keith placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
The curtain swished aside again, and the nurse with the gray curls stepped in, pushing a computer cart. “I’m Amanda. I’ll be your nurse until you move to a room. Can you answer a few questions?”
At my nod, she launched into questions about my date of birth, social security number, legal name, and insurance company, making me doubly glad I’d bought insurance the previous month.
After a barrage of questions, Amanda opened a drawer on the cart and pulled out blue gloves, pushing her hands into the protective coverings. “Just going to draw a little blood, dear.”
I closed my eyes and held out my arm, glad when the last vial was drawn.
“All done now.” Amanda stacked the blood vials on her cart, slid the curtain back, and wheeled the cart out, closing the door behind her.
A chair stood in the corner, and Keith slid it close to the bed and sat next to me, wrapping my hand in both of his, letting the silence of our tiny bay envelop us. The beeps and whirs and voices from the other emergency room bays faded away as I soaked in his warm strength. Periodically, he leaned in and kissed the back of my hand, stroking his
thumb across the kiss each time as if to massage it in.
Amanda returned. “We’re moving you to a room upstairs.” She rolled a gurney into the bay. “Let’s get you up and onto this thing.”
With Amanda on one side and Keith on the other, I swayed to my feet and stepped to the gurney, dizzily sinking to its surface for what my brain saw as a roller-coaster ride. The brisk pace Amanda set with the gurney still seemed to take forever before they finally helped me from the gurney onto a bed.
“Would you like help getting out of your clothes and into a gown, or will your husband help you with that?” Amanda laid a gown on the bed.
Keith’s face turned a crimson color, and he coughed. “I’m sorry.” He coughed again. “I need to get something to drink.” Another cough sounded as he scrambled from the room.
Amanda turned to me, a grin on her face. “He’s not your husband yet, is he?”
I forced my chuckle back down into my chest, so it didn’t trigger a pounding in my head like before, but I let a wide smile slide across my lips. “No, he’s not.”
She slid my sweater over my arms and head, careful not to brush my bruised spots. “I didn’t figure he was. But I won’t tell.”
I slipped my bra off while Amanda turned her head and held the hospital gown up as a shield, giving me at least the illusion of privacy. Sliding my arms into the sleeves, I shifted to let it drape around me.
Amanda circled the bed and snapped it behind my back. “Up we go now.”
I wobbled to my feet and unsnapped and unzipped my jeans, pushing them down past my hips before settling onto the bed again.
Amanda helped me swing my feet onto the bed, took off my shoes and socks, and pulled my jeans off my legs. “There, now you’ll be more comfortable.” She settled the blankets around me and adjusted my bed, showing me the buttons to push if I needed to change the settings and moving the TV remote out of reach. “Can’t watch TV right now. It’ll make your headaches worse. Just push the call button if you need me.”
Keith entered as Amanda left, his hand held over his eyes. “Is it safe to come in?”
I suppressed another laugh. “Stop making me laugh. It hurts. And yes, you can come in.”
He dropped his hand and strode to my side, his eyes dark with emotion. “At least you’re around to laugh.” He dragged a chair next to the bed and sat, reaching out to put a hand on my arm.
I rolled to my side and looked at him. “I’m really sleepy. If you don’t mind, I’d like not to talk for a while.”
Keith nodded and leaned in to kiss my forehead. “Anything you want, sweetheart. You rest. I’ll be here.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“The doctor said you need to rest for at least two more days.” Rita gently shoved me back against a bank of pillows leaned on my headboard. “Stop trying to be superwoman, and let your body heal.”
“You shouldn’t be missing work to play nursemaid to me.” I crossed my arms and glared at her. The doctor had allowed me to go home after checking my vitals all day Sunday, so I’d slept in my own bed Sunday night, with Rita ensconced in my guest room in case I needed anything.
“It’s Monday. Mondays are always slow. I took the day off.” She calmly tucked the blankets in around my legs, speaking as if to a petulant child.
Okay, so maybe I was being a bit petulant, but Rita wouldn’t let me get out of the bed to do anything but go to the bathroom. “It’s my house, and I can do what I want.” That definitely was childish, but I didn’t care at this point.
“Of course you can.” Rita smiled sweetly at me. “As soon as the doctor says you can.”
I stuck my tongue out at her back as she left and snuggled down into the soft pillows. I wasn’t allowed to read, look at my computer or phone, or watch TV for at least another twenty-four hours, because these activities might trigger headaches.
At least they’d let me shower once I was home. My clothes and my hair had reeked of smoke, and I’d refused to get into bed the previous evening until they let me scrub myself clean. Rita had positioned herself outside the bathroom just in case I fell, and she’d helped me to the bed when I exited, wrapped in a bathrobe, a towel around my hair.
Once I was dressed in a pair of fleece pants and a T-shirt, Rita had ushered me to bed, letting Keith kiss me goodbye before shooing him out the front door. This morning, I was under orders to have no electronics, no books or newspapers, not even a pencil and paper, and until he dropped by again, no Keith. That only left sleep, and to tell the truth, exhaustion still tugged at me. I closed my eyes, letting sleep have its way.
A soft tapping at my door jamb woke me.
“Jenna, are you awake?” Rita whispered as she tiptoed into the room and stood over me.
I didn’t open my eyes. “I wasn’t, but I am now.”
“I’m so sorry. The police are here. Do you feel up to talking to them, or should I tell them you’re asleep?”
I rolled over to look at her and shifted myself up to lean against the pillows. “I’ll talk to them. I have all day to sleep.”
Rita chuckled while she fluffed my pillows and adjusted my blankets. Maybe she had been a nurse in a past life. “Honey, you’ve been asleep for five hours. It’s two thirty.” She walked to the doorway and gestured to someone in the other room.
Tish Riddick appeared, stepping toward my bed. “Hi, how are you feeling?”
I raised my hand to my head. “Head still hurts some, but it’s better.”
“Thank goodness you’re okay.” She pulled out a little notebook, giving me flashbacks to Detective Sutter. “I don’t know what we’d have done with Logan if you weren’t.” She grinned and sat on the chair Rita had pulled into the room.
Rita sat on the foot of my bed. “We all would have been devastated.”
“I’d prefer not to talk about how everyone would feel if I had died.” I shifted uncomfortably. “You had some questions for me?”
Rita jumped up to adjust my pillows again, misreading the reason for my discomfort.
“Can you tell me what happened Saturday night?” Tish crossed her legs and held the notebook poised in the air, pen at the ready.
“It’s all pretty hazy. I remember bits and pieces, but not all of it.” I closed my eyes and thought back. “I saw something, someone, in the back parking lot at the library. I tried to call Keith but couldn’t get him. Rita was in the bathroom at the Piggly Wiggly.”
“I am so sorry I wasn’t there. I got caught by Mrs. Willis from church. Who knew she shopped in the middle of the night? Who does that? But she just had to tell me all about her cousin’s daughter’s wedding to the coroner’s son. Right down to every detail, including the fact that they left for the honeymoon in a hearse. Not a good start, if you ask me.” She settled onto the foot of my bed again.
Tish made a note in her booklet. “Go on, Jenna.” She shot a pointed look at Rita.
“Since I couldn’t reach Keith, I decided to find a spot in the parking lot where I could see the face of the person who came back out of the building.”
Rita made a tsking sound and shook her head.
“Ms. Wallace, I am happy for you to remain while I talk to Jenna, but if you keep interrupting, I’ll have to ask you to wait in the living room.” Tish’s firm tone left no room for argument.
“I’m sorry. Go ahead.” Rita crossed her arms.
I wasn’t fooled by Rita’s acquiescence. I knew at some point she’d fume and fuss because I hadn’t waited for her or Keith. Had it really been less than two days ago? I shook my head, instantly regretting it, as a dull ache settled behind my eyes. I took a few deep breaths, relaxing so the pressure would ease a bit.
Rita jumped to my side, placing the back of her hand against my forehead. “Are you okay? Is it too much? We can wait if you need to.”
I opened my eyes and smiled at her. “I’m fine. Just a little headache. Really.” I refocused on Tish and her questions as Rita settled at the foot of the bed again.
“If you
were outside the building, how did you get locked inside?” Tish flipped to a new page.
Maybe she should get a bigger notebook, so she could write more on each page. Those little pages didn’t hold enough information. Why did they always use such tiny ones? I reined in my wayward thought processes. “I couldn’t find a place to hide, and the door was cracked open a bit, so I decided to peek in.”
“And by peeking, you mean you decided to play hero and catch the person in the act?” Tish narrowed her eyes.
“Not on purpose.” I sighed, knowing how my actions must look to the detective. “I didn’t want all our hard work to be for nothing. The person had already killed Linus Talbot and poisoned my dog. I couldn’t let them hurt anyone else. I had to find out who it was, so you guys could arrest them.”
Tish propped her forearms on her crossed legs and leaned forward. “Jenna, that’s our job. We’re trained to catch bad guys. You’re not.”
I sighed. “I know. I know. But at least now you guys are taking the book thefts more seriously.”
Tish leaned back and referred to her notebook. “Yes, I did go over the files you sent. I had already discussed it with Logan, and we’d agreed to look into it ourselves. He did convince me, however, that we could trust you to call us with anything you saw.”
“Hey, ease up.” Rita came to my defense. “She’s already been through enough as a result of her leaping before she thought things through.” She patted my feet under the blanket.
Maybe she wouldn’t rake me over the coals as much as I feared. One could only hope.
Tish sighed. “You’re right.” She looked at her notebook, seeming to scan her notes. “Did you see who hit you and set fire to the building?”
“No.” I closed my eyes again. “It’s just a mishmash of images after I went in. The building was dark. I remember seeing a figure with a flashlight. There were locked doors. I remember lying on the floor and smelling gasoline and then smoke. At some point, I was looking for scissors and trying to cut through a rope. I’m sorry. I wish I could be more help.”
Murder by the Bookend Page 20