Beneath the Surface

by Lynn H. Blackburn

  But why would he have backed off for so long?

  One reason popped into her mind.

  Jail.

  He could have been in jail and now he was out.

  Awesome. A criminal was stalking her.

  Stop it. This train of thought wasn’t going to get her anywhere but worked up and agitated. She took a few deep breaths. Tried to use some of the calming techniques her therapist had taught her. They worked reasonably well.

  They’d worked better when she didn’t think anyone wanted to kill her.

  But that wasn’t true anymore.

  Somewhere, probably nearby, there was someone who hated her so much they were willing to end her life and possibly a few more.

  Why?

  Ryan stalked the halls of the hospital in search of a spot that would provide decent phone reception. When he found one, he planted himself against the glass wall and dialed.

  His first call was to the Pancake Hut.

  His second was to the dispatcher at the sheriff’s office. It wasn’t precisely protocol, but he found an officer in the vicinity of the Pancake Hut willing to pick up his order.

  His third was to Kirk. It rang twice and Kirk picked up. “Ryan. What’s going on?”

  “Where have you been, man?”

  “Working.”

  “It’s ten o’clock at night there.”

  “I know that. It was a meeting with my boss. My stupid phone only works about half the time. When I left the office, I got all your messages at once. How’s Leigh?”

  “She’s fine,” Ryan said. He filled Kirk in on the surgery and the situation with the brake line.

  “Someone tried to kill her?” He could hear Kirk’s frustration from forty-three hundred miles away.

  “Yes.”

  “But . . . why?”

  Ryan shared the stalker theory.

  “You don’t sound like you really think that’s what’s going on,” Kirk said.

  “You can tell?” He thought he’d done a good job of hiding that.

  “Dude, I’ve known you my whole life. What aren’t you telling me?”

  “It doesn’t make sense. None of it. And I don’t like things that don’t make sense. It’s possible there’s another stalker out there who has been laying low for the past few months, but this is a weird way of coming back on the scene. I would have expected more flowers, more weird messages, more creepy notes. Not a cut brake line. That’s escalating way beyond anything normal. It might be different if there was a new man in her life, but she isn’t dating anyone.”

  “True.”

  Ryan released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

  “What can I do?” Kirk asked.

  “Just be there for her.”

  “You think we need to come home? I can’t leave Simone over here by herself. I wouldn’t put it past those uncles of hers to kidnap her.”

  “I don’t mean physically be there for her. I mean emotionally. Encourage her to talk to me and keep me in the loop if she even thinks she sees something suspicious. Help me keep her talking.”

  “You got her talking?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Impressive. You’re good. Thanks for taking care of her.”

  Ryan wasn’t sure what to say to that. If Kirk had any idea how much he was enjoying taking care of her, he’d probably reach through the phone and strangle him. “No problem,” he finally mumbled.

  Ryan disconnected the call after promising to call him with any updates. And after promising to continue to keep an eye on Leigh.

  The updates might be hard.

  Keeping an eye on Leigh wouldn’t be.

  Ryan called the dispatcher again and located Leigh’s personal belongings from her car. Then he called Gabe.

  “You missed a fun one today, Parker,” Gabe said as he answered. “Anissa is extra mean to me when you aren’t around.”

  “What’d she do?”

  “She made me do all the no-visibility work.”

  “That’s because besides her, you’re the best diver on the team. She wasn’t being mean. She was doing her job.”

  And doing it well.

  “I guess.” Gabe’s tone gave away how hard it was for him to agree. “She’s letting me cut out early to come check on you in a little bit. And she wants me to give her an update.”

  “See, she’s not so bad. If you’d give her a chance . . .”

  “Whatever. What do you need?”

  “A favor.”

  When he finished with Gabe, he walked down to the main entrance. Five minutes later, a car pulled up.

  “Thanks,” Ryan said to the young officer as he handed him a plastic bag.

  The aroma of pancakes and bacon wafted through the halls as he hurried back to Leigh. He knew she was going to give him grief about the Kitchen Sink, but he hadn’t eaten in hours. And he wanted her to have some warm food. No one wanted to eat cold grits.

  The officer outside Leigh’s room nodded toward the door. “Nurse is in there, Investigator Parker.”

  “Thanks. What’s your name?”

  “Peter Stanfield. Most people call me Pete.”

  “Thanks, Pete. Anyone else been around?”

  “No one but the woman that delivered the food tray and the one that shows up every hour to take vitals. Oh, and the one that came by a few minutes ago to get her tray. If anyone goes in there except for the nurse, Megyn, I go with them.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Happy to do it. I hadn’t met her before today, but she’s super nice.” He glanced around the hall. “You really think someone might try to pull something on her in here?”

  “I think it’s highly likely,” he said. “Someone familiar with the hospital and grounds was able to puncture her brake line sometime between eleven last night and seven this morning. There’s a good chance they’re an employee.”

  Pete’s face hardened. “I’m on it.”

  Megyn emerged from Leigh’s room. She glanced at the bag in Ryan’s hand. He braced himself for a tongue-lashing.

  She glared at him for a long moment before snorting in laughter. “She’s a big girl. But if she throws up everywhere, I’m coming after you.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said as he tapped on the door.

  Leigh was on the phone as he entered.

  “I know. I will. Okay. Yeah. He’s right here. Won’t go away. What did you say to him?”

  The words might have hurt if she hadn’t winked at him as she said them.

  Leigh winked at him? Interesting. He’d almost blown it earlier. She was a victim—as much as he hated to use that word, it was accurate under the circumstances—in an active investigation. One he was in charge of.

  And Kirk would kill him.

  Might be worth it though.

  Still, this was neither the time nor the place. Her emotions had to be at a breaking point. This would have been a frightening enough situation if she hadn’t been traumatized in the past few months. Adding a stalker to the mix meant she was in a fragile state at the moment.

  Not that he thought she was weak. Far from it. She was one of the toughest people he’d ever known. But even the most imposing tower could be weakened after taking a blow to a support structure. And her support structures had taken a beating.

  He pulled a bottle of Coke from the bag and presented it to her like a sommelier presenting a bottle of wine. Still talking to Kirk, she twisted the cap off and took an approving sniff.

  He couldn’t keep himself from laughing.

  He pulled Styrofoam boxes from the bag, then plastic packets of butter, tiny bottles of syrup, and forks and knives as Leigh wrapped up her call with Kirk.

  He heard her sigh as she placed the phone on the bedside table.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Kirk’s upset. Wants to come home. I told him not to. Not that he could anyway. He can’t leave Simone, and she can’t get off work. He’d probably lose his job too. The case he’s working on is important.
”

  “You’re important too.”

  A soft smile lit her face. “That’s what he said. But I think I’ve convinced him to sit tight for now.” Her expression grew pensive, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask her what she was thinking about.

  He arranged the eggs, grits, toast, butter, and jelly on the tray and rolled it so it was across her bed.

  She smiled her thanks.

  “Mind if I ask the blessing?” he asked.

  “Please do.”

  “Father, we thank you for the food. We thank you for your protection of Leigh today, and we ask that you will give us wisdom and discernment as we investigate and help us to find out what’s going on. We ask for your continued protection over Leigh, and we thank you that we can come to you boldly and know you hear us. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

  “Amen.” She lifted her head and pointed to the food. “Thank you.”

  He poured a healthy serving of syrup over his pancakes. “No, thank you,” he said. “Always happy to have an excuse to eat the Kitchen Sink.”

  They chatted easily. They talked about Kirk’s case and Simone’s family. He told her about Zoe’s antics and Caleb’s mad LEGO skills.

  He tried to pace himself, but it took him no time at all to inhale his food while she picked at hers. A few bites of egg. A few bites of toast. Then a pause before she attempted the grits.

  “You aren’t going to throw up, are you?” he asked. “’Cause that nurse is gonna beat me up if you do.”

  She snorted. “Megyn wouldn’t hurt a fly. I think you’re safe.”

  “That’s a relief, but you didn’t answer my question.”

  “I feel okay. Just trying to be sure it stays that way. It all tastes great, but I’ll never be able to finish it. Will you take some of it?”

  “What?”

  “Based on the way you polished off those pancakes, I’m guessing you haven’t eaten all day. And you haven’t had the advantage of being under anesthesia.”

  “I’d hardly call that an advantage.”

  She smiled as she pushed the grits in his direction. “Want some?”

  He shouldn’t.

  “Oh, okay,” he said. He took the bowl of grits and tipped it over his plate.

  A loud crashing sound came from the hallway. The grits missed the plate and hit the floor as he jumped to his feet. He reached for his weapon and stood between Leigh and the door.

  The door flew open and Megyn stood there, her face ashen. “I’m sorry to bother you, but something is very wrong with this officer.”

  “What?” Leigh’s question followed Ryan to the door. He didn’t dare race into the hallway. It could be a trap.

  “What’s going on?” Relief flooded through him at the sound of Gabe’s voice.

  “Pete,” Gabe said. “What happened, man?”

  Ryan still hesitated. Gabe could take care of himself, but opening the door could put Leigh in danger.

  Then Gabe called out, “Parker? Everything okay in there? I could use a hand here.”

  Ryan poked his head out the door. Megyn was on the floor beside Pete, who was struggling to stand.

  “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” Pete slurred his words and it took Ryan a second to figure out what he’d said.

  Ryan looked from Pete to Megyn to Gabe. Megyn was horrified. Gabe was . . . not.

  “Yo, Pete, my man,” Gabe said as he approached him with measured steps. He made eye contact with Ryan and then dropped his eyes to the weapon at Pete’s waist.

  “Get away from me,” Pete mumbled. He continued to try to stand, but he couldn’t seem to get his legs underneath him. “I’m too young to die.”

  What was going on? Pete was acting like he was on some sort of weird acid trip.

  Oh.

  Gabe had reached Pete. “Pete, nobody’s gonna hurt you, man. Let’s sit here for a second and you tell me what’s going on.”

  Pete flailed against the wall. He cried something about seeing through a hole, but by now his words were so slurred, Ryan couldn’t make any sense out of them.

  Gabe never took his eyes from Pete. Ryan had no idea what he was up to, but he trusted his friend. Gabe knelt over Pete and in a flash had him flipped over onto his stomach and handcuffed.

  Pete continued to thrash about as Ryan removed his service weapon.

  “Sorry to do that to you, Pete,” Gabe said soothingly. “I promise you’re safe. Just trying to protect the ladies.”

  “Ryan, call for backup.”

  Ryan didn’t wait for an explanation. He dialed the dispatcher and called it in as Pete moaned from the floor.

  “Ma’am,” Gabe said to Megyn, his voice soothing and calm.

  “Yes?” Her voice quavered, but she approached with caution. “I believe this officer has been drugged. He’s going to need medical attention.”

  She nodded.

  “Now,” Gabe said with a bit more urgency. Megyn darted to a phone. He heard her say something that echoed through the hallway speakers. Hopefully that was her calling in the cavalry.

  “What happened?”

  Leigh’s voice came from much closer than it should have. Ryan turned and she stood beside him, IV tubing dangled from her arm.

  “What are you doing? You need to get back in bed. You just had surgery.”

  She ignored him and knelt by Pete. It must have hurt because she let out a small grunt as her knee hit the floor. “Pete? Hey, Pete?”

  She checked his eyes and then her eyes widened. “A K-hole?” She directed the question to Gabe.

  “Maybe. He’s tripping on something.”

  “We need to get him sitting up. Now,” she said. More like ordered.

  Ryan jumped to help Gabe position Pete against the wall, while keeping an eye on the hallway.

  “You could take the handcuffs off, Gabe,” Leigh said.

  So they were on a first name basis, were they?

  “He’s not a danger to anyone.”

  Ryan wasn’t sure she was right, but Gabe was the drug expert. He helped keep Pete propped up as Gabe removed the cuffs.

  “Thank you. That’s going to make it much easier on the team,” Leigh said.

  Every time they tried to let go of Pete, he slid down the wall or crumpled to one side or the other. His eyes were unfocused and they couldn’t get any response from him.

  Leigh kept one hand on his wrist. “His heart rate is skyrocketing,” she said.

  Ryan and Gabe both jumped back as Pete vomited all over himself. Some of it got on Leigh. She never flinched.

  That must have been why she wanted him sitting up. He could have choked. “You might want to try to collect some of this for evidence,” she said. If she was grossed out, she didn’t show it. “Megyn, could you get us some basins?”

  A commotion drew Ryan’s attention to the elevators. Doctors and nurses were converging on their location.

  “Leigh, we need to get you back in your room,” Ryan said.

  “In a minute,” she said. “I need to report.”

  “Leigh Weston.” The doctor who reached them first did not look happy. “What are you doing out of bed?”

  “Dr. Sloan, this officer has been guarding my room all afternoon,” she said. “I have no idea how it could have happened, but he’s presenting with signs of a Special K overdose.”

  The doctor didn’t seem upset anymore. “How long?”

  “Less than five minutes since Megyn noticed erratic behavior. He hit the hole, vomited, and went catatonic.”

  “That’s awfully fast,” Gabe said under his breath.

  The doctor began yelling orders, and then they had Pete on a stretcher and were racing him down the hall in under a minute. As they turned the corner, the doctor looked back.

  “Get back in the bed, young lady,” he said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Are you okay?” Ryan asked Leigh.

  Her expression could melt steel. “I’m fine.” She swallowed hard.

  Two offi
cers stepped off the elevator and Ryan pointed at them and then to the right and left. “Take each end of this hall,” he told them.

  Ryan looked at Gabe. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “Me too.” Gabe retrieved a small box from the floor and handed it to him.

  Megyn leaned against the wall. She pushed her hair back from her face with a shaking hand. “This is why I don’t work in the ED. He started jabbering. Making no sense at all. And then it was like his legs gave out. He dropped. Right in front of me. He’s so young. What could have happened to him?”

  Gabe walked over to where Megyn stood and leaned against the wall beside her. “I’m not sure,” he said. “But I need to ask you a couple of questions. I’m sorry to do it, but it might help us find out.”

  She swallowed hard and her face took on a determined expression. “No. Don’t apologize. I’m tougher than I look. I’ll answer all your questions if you can ask them while I’m helping my patient get back in her bed.”

  Thank goodness.

  Gabe gave her an encouraging smile as they entered Leigh’s room. “Have you seen anyone today you weren’t expecting?” he asked Megyn.

  Ryan appreciated the way she took her time responding.

  She bit down on her lip and shook her head. “I don’t know. We’re crazy busy. They’ve got people from all over the hospital working in places they don’t usually work today. The nursing assistants are overworked. The food service folks are understaffed. I honestly don’t know if there was anyone here that shouldn’t have been.”

  Leigh leaned against the bed. “Oh no.” Her voice was rough.

  “What is it? Are you hurting? You need to get off your feet.” Ryan took her arm, but she refused to budge.

  “No. The food.”

  The food? Who cared about the food?

  “My food. It was supposed to be me,” she said in horror.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I gave Pete my gelatin.”

  “What?”

  “My gelatin, from my tray. I didn’t want it. When the girl came to get the tray, he came in the room with her. He made a comment about me not eating anything. I told him I thought about the gelatin but I couldn’t get motivated to eat it, and he said he’d always had a soft spot for it. I told him to take it.”

  She dropped her head. “He did.”